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At the Movies: ‘Amour,’ ‘A Royal Affair,’ more

OPENS TODAY

‘Escape from Planet Earth’
In this animated feature, an astronaut finds himself caught in a trap when he responds to a distress signal from a notoriously dangerous alien planet. (PG, 95 minutes)

LIMITED RELEASE

‘Amour’
An elderly French couple’s bond of love is severely tested when the wife suffers a series of debilitating strokes. Michael Haneke’s film is a multiple Oscar nominee for best picture, director, original screenplay and actress (Emmanuelle Riva). A moving love story, the resulting interplay of ruthless restraint and unavoidable passion, plus the film’s refusal to shrink from depicting the inevitable horrors of physical deterioration, is devastating. (Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times) At Consolidated Kahala (PG-13, 127 minutes)

‘The Berlin File’
A North Korean “ghost” agent finds himself in the cross hairs of an international manhunt when he’s exposed as an illegal arms trade goes wrong in Berlin. At Consolidated Pearlridge (NR, 120 minutes)

‘A Royal Affair’ 1/2
The historical Danish drama — an Oscar nominee for best foreign language film — tells the story of a young queen, married to an insane king, who falls secretly in love with her physician. At Consolidated Kahala (R, 137 minutes)

NOW PLAYING

‘Argo’
Ben Affleck directs and stars in this Oscar nominee that is a seamless blend of detailed international drama and breathtaking suspense, as a CIA “exfiltration” specialist concocts a risky plan to get six Americans out of Iran as the revolution reaches a boiling point. (Christy Lemire, Associated Press) (R, 120 minutes)

‘Beautiful Creatures’
A young man and woman uncover dark secrets about their respective families, their history and their small Southern town. Consider this the thinking person’s “Twilight.” The leads Aiden Ehrenreich and Alice Englert are surrounded by heavyweights Jeremy Irons, Emma Thompson and Emmy Rossum, who all do great character work. (Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle) (PG-13, 89 minutes)

‘Bullet to the Head’ 1/2
After watching their respective partners die, a New Orleans hit man and a Washington, D.C., detective form an alliance to bring down their common enemy. Sylvester Stallone and director Walter Hill join forces for a hard-hitting exercise in beefy, brainless fun. (Jordan Mintzer, Hollywood Reporter) (R, 91 minutes)

‘Django Unchained’
With the help of his mentor, a slave-turned-bounty hunter sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner. There’s something gleefully satisfying in watching evil people get what they have coming, but this Oscar-nominated film is Tarantino at his most puerile and least inventive. He always gets good actors who deliver, though, and performances by Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Oscar nominee Christoph Waltz, Kerry Washington and Samuel L. Jackson make it all intermittently entertaining. (David Germain, Associated Press) (R, 165 minutes)

‘A Good Day to Die Hard’
Bruce Willis returns as John McClane, who this time travels to Russia to help out his seemingly wayward son and finds out instead he’s a CIA operative working to prevent a nuclear-weapons heist. (R, 97 minutes)

‘Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters’ 1/2
Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton star in this unique spin on the fairy tale that is more Gatling guns and grenades than the Brothers Grimm. They play bounty hunters who track and kill witches all over the world. High-concept pitch or no, the movie doesn’t really work. (Roger Moore, McClatchy Newspapers) (R, 88 minutes)

‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ 1/2
A curious Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, journeys to the Lonely Mountain with a vigorous group of Dwarves to reclaim a treasure stolen from them by the dragon Smaug. It’s both visually dazzling and utterly distracting, and at more than three hours, the movie is overstuffed with prologues, a sidestepping back story and boring, drawn-out scenes. The first of a trilogy, this may pay off by the time the finale arrives in the summer of 2014, but right now it looks like something that would’ve been better told in one movie. (Christy Lemire, Associated Press) (PG-13, 169 minutes)

‘Identity Thief’
A mild-mannered businessman travels from Denver to Miami to confront the deceptively harmless-looking woman who has been living it up after stealing his identity. Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy star in this unsalvageable wreck of a comedy, regardless of the moments of McCarthy’s hilarious bits of violent slapstick. (Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald) (R, 111 minutes)

‘Life of Pi’ 1/2
Ang Lee’s Oscar-nominated film is about a young man who survives a disaster at sea and is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor, a fearsome Bengal tiger. This is gorgeous, ruminative, soulful, provocatively entertaining and the most artful use of digital 3-D technology to date. (David Germain, Associated Press) (PG, 127 minutes)

‘Lincoln’
As the Civil War continues to rage, America’s president struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield and fights with many inside his own Cabinet on the decision to emancipate the slaves. Steven Spielberg’s splendid, multi-Oscar-nominated film stars Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role and is less a biopic than a political thriller, a civics lesson that is energetically staged and alive with moral energy. (A.O. Scott, New York Times) (PG-13, 149 minutes)

‘Lost in Thailand’
Two rival Chinese business managers fly to Thailand where the company’s chairman is on retreat, and instead meet up with an unexpected travel companion. (NR, 105 minutes)

‘Mama’
Guillermo del Toro is the producer behind this horror story about a couple faced with the challenge of raising the husband’s young nieces, who were supposedly left alone in the forest for five years. Del Toro and collaborator Andres Muschietti make this chilling ghost story work thanks to great performances by Jessica Chastain as the reluctant mother replacement and, as the feral girls, Isabelle Nilisse and Megan Charpentier. (Roger Moore, McClatchy Newspapers) (PG-13, 100 minutes)

‘Oscar Nominated Short Films 2013′
Two separate programs of animated and live-action short films up for contention at this year’s Academy Awards. (NR, 98 minutes/animated, 124 minutes/ live action)

‘Parker’ 1/2
Jason Statham plays a thief with a unique code of professional ethics who is double-crossed by his crew and left for dead. This is a rather perfunctory action film (although it plays like the bloodiest promotional video ever made for Palm Beach tourism), and Statham’s on autopilot here, despite the obvious physical demands of the part. (Christy Lemire, Associated Press) (R, 118 minutes)

‘Quartet’ 1/2
At a home for retired opera singers, the annual concert to celebrate Verdi’s birthday is disrupted by the arrival of a diva and the former wife of one of the residents. The bursts of energy that accompany practices and performances woven throughout give the film much of its vigor. Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon and Billy Connolly star in the genteel comedy directed by Dustin Hoffman. (Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times) (PG-13, 98 minutes)

‘Safe Haven’
Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough star in Nicholas Sparks’ latest treacly romance, as a young woman with a mysterious past falls in love with a widower, forcing her to confront a dark secret that haunts her. It’s a story that involves no heavy lifting for its actors and few surprises, so safe that there’s nothing anybody would consider edgy. (Roger Moore, McClatchy Newspapers) (PG-13, 115 minutes)

‘Side Effects’
The lives of a successful New York couple unravel when a new drug is prescribed by the wife’s psychiatrist to treat her anxiety. Jude Law, Rooney Mara, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Channing Tatum star in what’s supposed to be Steven Soderbergh’s final film. It’s a gripping and entertaining genre exercise much like his trailblazing 1989 debut, “sex, lies and videotape.” (Christy Lemire, Associated Press) (R, 90 minutes)

‘Silver Linings Playbook’
After a stint in a mental institution, a former teacher moves back in with his parents and, during his attempts to reconcile with his ex-wife, meets a mysterious girl with problems of her own. This exuberant, Oscar-nominated movie from director David O. Russell does almost everything right. An intensely focused Bradley Cooper gives a surprisingly effective performance, and Jennifer Lawrence gives her character an aching, tender and lovely quality. (Manohla Dargis, New York Times) (R, 122 minutes)

‘The Sorcerer and the White Snake’
Jet Li plays a sorcerer who fights for the soul of a young physician who has fallen in love with a woman whose true identity is that of a thousand-year-old snake demon. The movie is a Chinese twist on the reliable sword-and-sorcery genre, a piece of effects-driven nonsense that is every bit as bad — in a fun way — as the blockbusters it references. (Roger Moore, McClatchy Newspapers) (PG-13, 100 minutes)

‘Sisterakas’
The Philippines’ highest-grossing film of all time is a broad comedy that revolves around a couple of fashion-crazy half siblings and stars popular celebrities Kris Aquino, Vice Ganda and Ai Ai delas Alas. (NR, 110 minutes)

‘Warm Bodies’
A paranormal romantic comedy starring Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer about the relationship between a teenage girl and a zombie boy that may transform the entire lifeless world. The movie is a sweetly funny and touching riff on “Beauty and the Beast” and “Romeo & Juliet” — if the Beast feasted on flesh or Romeo came back from the dead. (Cary Darling, Fort Worth Star-Telegram) (PG-13, 97 minutes)

‘Wreck-It Ralph’ 1/2
The latest Disney Oscar-nominated animated feature is about a video game villain who wants to be a hero and sets out to fulfill his dream, but his quest brings havoc to the whole arcade where he lives. The studio takes a page out of Pixar’s well-worn playbook and ends up with a screwball farce with a novel setting and more edge than your average Disney ‘toon. (Roger Moore, McClatchy Newspapers) (PG, 108 minutes)

‘Zero Dark Thirty’
The Oscar-nominated drama of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy SEAL Team 6 in May 2011. This is a cool, outwardly nonpartisan intelligence procedural that seamlessly weaves truth and drama, and Kathryn Bigelow’s direction here is unexpectedly stunning, at once bold and intimate. (Manohla Dargis, New York Times) (R, 157 minutes)

SPECIAL

Regal Oscar Movie Week
Noon or 12:15 p.m. today through Thursday, Regal Dole Cannery, $30
The multiplex will feature all nine Best Picture-nominated films at a special package price, alternating presentations of four or five each day. For today, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, starting at noon: “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” “Life of Pi,” “Les Miserables,” “Amour” and “Lincoln.” For Saturday, Monday and Wednesday, starting at 12:15 p.m.: “Django Unchained,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Argo.”

The Met Live in HD: ‘Rigoletto’
12:55 p.m. Saturday, Regal Dole Cannery; $24 general, $22 seniors, $18 children
Director Michael Mayer has placed his new production of Verdi’s towering tragedy in Las Vegas in 1960. Piotr Beczala is the womanizing Duke; Zeljko Lucic is his tragic sidekick, Rigoletto; and Diana Damrau is Rigoletto’s daughter, Gilda. (NR, 215 minutes)

ARTHOUSE

DORIS DUKE THEATRE

Honolulu Museum of Art, 900 S. Beretania St., entry on Kinau Street. (532-8768; $10 general and $8 museum members; tickets also available online at www.honolulumuseum.org)

Honolulu African American Film Festival
Various days and times, through Feb. 23
See feature and schedule at this link.

MOVIE MUSEUM

3566 Harding Ave. (735-8771): $5 general and $4 members; reservations recommended

‘Hiroshima, Mon Amour’
Noon, 2 and 4 p.m. today; and 3:30 and 8:45 p.m. Thursday
The art-house classic was directed by Alain Resnais and written by Marguerite Duras, and stars Emmanuelle Riva (now an Oscar nominee for her role in “Amour”) as an actress who, while making an anti-war film, has an affair with a married Japanese architect as they share their differing perspectives on war. (1959, 90 minutes)

‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’
6 and 8 p.m. today; and noon, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday
An introverted freshman is taken under the wings of two seniors who welcome him to the real world. Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Ezra Miller star. (2012, 102 minutes)

‘The Sessions’
4 and 6 p.m. Saturday
A man in an iron lung (John Hawkes) who wishes to lose his virginity contacts a professional sex surrogate (Oscar nominee Helen Hunt) with the help of his priest (William H. Macy). (2012, 95 minutes)

‘Robot & Frank’
Noon, 2, 4 and 8 p.m. Sunday
In the near future, Frank Langella is a former jewel thief who receives a gift from his son: a robot butler programmed to look after him. But soon the two companions try their luck as a heist team. (2012, 89 minutes)

‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’
6 p.m. Sunday; and noon, 1:45, 5:15 and 7 p.m. Thursday
This fantastical Oscar nominee is about a 6-year-old who must learn the ways of courage and love as she’s faced with both her hot-tempered father’s fading health and melting ice caps that flood her ramshackle bayou community, unleashing ancient animals. (2012, 93 minutes)

‘The Crossing’
Noon, 2 and 6 p.m. Monday
This dramatization stars Jeff Daniels playing George Washington as he makes the perilous gamble of crossing the Delaware River and attacking the British forces at Trenton. (2000, 89 minutes)

‘The Last of the Mohicans’
4 and 8 p.m. Monday
Three trappers protect a British colonel’s daughters in the midst of the French and Indian War. Daniel Day-Lewis stars in Michael Mann’s adaptation of the James Fenimore Cooper novel. (1992, 112 minutes)

BODY & SPIRIT DOCUMENTARY FILM SERIES

Still & Moving Center, 1024 Queen St. (397-7678); $5

‘Minds in the Water’
6:30 p.m. Sunday
This documentary follows the quest of professional surfer Dave Rastovich and friends to protect dolphins, whales and the oceans they all share. (2011, 92 minutes)

MONDAY MOVIE CAFE

TheVenue, 1146 Bethel St. (436-4326); $10, $5 students

‘Map of the Human Heart’
7 p.m. Monday
A white Inuit boy (played as an adult by Jason Scott Lee) falls in love with a mixed-blood Indian girl in a story that spans years. (1993, 109 minutes)

THE KOREAN DIASPORA

Center for Korean Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa (956-7041); free

‘The Grace Lee Project’
6:30 p.m. Tuesday
Documentarian Grace Lee puts a humorous spin on the question “What’s in a name?” as she hunts down other like-named women across the country to see whether they fit the stereotype of the “nice, piano-playing bookworm.” (2005, 68 minutes)