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At the Movies: ‘Jack Reacher,’ ‘Django,’ more

OPENS FRIDAY, DEC. 21

‘Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away’
In this 3-D presentation, two young people journey through the dreamlike worlds of the extraordinary circus to find each other. (PG, 91 minutes)

‘Jack Reacher’
Tom Cruise plays a homicide investigator who digs deep into a case involving a trained military sniper who shot five random victims. (PG-13, 130 minutes)

‘This Is 40′
Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann reprise their roles from Judd Apatow’s “Knocked Up” as a married couple with two daughters. It’s five years later, and the movie follows their three-week navigation of sex and romance, career triumphs and financial hardships, aging parents and maturing children. (R, 134 minutes)

OPENS TUESDAY, DEC. 25

‘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. Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kerry Washington star in Quentin Tarantino’s latest film. (R, 165 minutes)

‘Les Miserables’
The adaptation of the hit musical set in 19th-century France, directed by “The King’s Speech’s” Tom Hooper and starring Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway and Russell Crowe. (PG-13, 157 minutes)

‘Parental Guidance’
It’s the collision of the generations as an old-school couple agree to look after their three grandkids when their type-A helicopter parents need to leave town to work. Billy Crystal, Bette Midler, Marisa Tomei and Tom Everett Scott star in the comedy. (PG, 104 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. Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver and Chris Tucker star. At Consolidated Kahala (R, 122 minutes)

NOW PLAYING

‘Anna Karenina’ 1/2
Tolstoy’s classic novel re-imagined by director Joe Wright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard, and largely set in a 19th-century Russian playhouse. Theatrics are at the heart of this adaptation. Keira Knightley’s Anna makes a very good case for the female fashion of the day and suggests a society woman both pampered and suffocated. Jude Law, as her steely but heartbroken cuckold of a husband, provides the film with its strongest emotional connection to the audience. (Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune) (R, 84 minutes)

‘Argo’
As the Iranian revolution reaches a boiling point, a CIA “exfiltration” specialist concocts a risky plan to free six Americans who have found shelter at the home of the Canadian ambassador. Ben Affleck directs and stars in this seamless blend of detailed international drama and breathtaking suspense, with just the right amount of dry humor to provide context and levity. (Christy Lemire, Associated Press) (R, 120 minutes)

‘Cloud Atlas’ 1/2
An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution. Tom Hanks and Halle Berry star in this bloated, pseudo-intellectual, self-indulgent slog through some notions that are really facile. (Christy Lemire, Associated Press) (R, 172 minutes)

‘Flight’
Denzel Washington plays an airline pilot who saves a flight from crashing, but an investigation into the malfunctions reveals something troubling. This is a thrilling, engrossing and even darkly funny movie, anchored by a tremendous performance by Washington. (Christy Lemire, Associated Press) (R, 138 minutes)

‘The Guilt Trip’
Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogan star in this comedy about an inventor who is about to embark on the road trip of a lifetime, but a quick stop at his mom’s house turns into an unexpected cross-country journey with her along for the ride. This is a warm and delightful movie, and the interaction between the two actors is completely convincing as mother and son. (Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle) (PG-13, 95 minutes)

‘Hitchcock’
Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren and Scarlett Johansson star in the love story about influential filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock and wife Alma Reville during the filming of “Psycho” in 1959. Despite the expected fine acting, director Sacha Gervasi unfortunately attempts to match the Master of Suspense’s serrated humor by having real-life inspiration serial killer Ed Gein act like Hitchcock’s dark passenger, offering nasty bits of advice. (Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post) (PG-13, 98 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)

‘Killing Them Softly’
Brad Pitt plays a professional enforcer who investigates a heist that went down during a mob-protected poker game. This is an incredibly stylish genre exercise set in the world of mobsters, junkies and lowlifes, but it’s also trying incredibly hard to be socially relevant by trying to prove that organized crime functions as its own capitalism. The heavy-handed message leads to the film’s downfall. (Christy Lemire, Associated Press) (R, 97 minutes)

‘A Late Quartet’ 1/2
Members of a world-renowned string quartet struggle to stay together in the face of death, competing egos and insuppressible lust. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Christopher Walken and Mark Ivanir star in this minimalist and melancholy mood piece that has some beautiful moments but, unlike the complex Beethoven piece that is at its center, ultimately feels unfinished. (Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times) (R, 105 minutes)

‘Life of Pi’ 1/2
Ang Lee’s latest 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, 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 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)

‘Monsters, Inc. 3D’
The beloved Disney/Pixar animated movie from 2001 comes back to theaters in 3-D form. Billy Crystal and John Goodman play the odd couple of Mike Wazowski and Sulley who discover what happens when the real world interacts with theirs after a 2-year-old girl accidentally sneaks into Monstropolis. (G, 92 minutes)

‘Red Dawn’
A group of teenagers looks to save their town from an invasion of North Korean soldiers. Chris Hemsworth, Isabel Lucas and Josh Hutcherson star in this unnecessary remake of the 1984 original, a vigorous but pointless exercise. (Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle) (PG-13, 114 minutes)

‘Rise of the Guardians’
The latest project from DreamWorks Animation is about a group of immortal beings who team up to protect the innocence of children around the world when an evil spirit launches an assault on Earth. It’s an attractively designed but overly busy and derivative mishmash of kid-friendly elements. (Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter) (PG, 97 minutes)

‘Skyfall’
In the latest James Bond movie starring Daniel Craig, Bond’s loyalty to his boss M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, Agent 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost. This movie is a mixed bag. Some of it is terrific and some of it is spectacular. It succeeds in restoring the Bond saga to life, delivering all the kinetic satisfaction of a taut action thriller with a mature sophistication rare in blockbuster films. (Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune) (PG-13, 143 minutes)

‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2′
It’s the final chapter of the Gothic tween fantasy/romance story, and the franchise finally embraces its own innate absurdity with a gleefully over-the-top conclusion. After the birth of Renesmee, the Cullens gather other vampire clans in order to protect the child from a false allegation that puts the family in front of the Volturi. This movie is entertaining in a totally nutso way. (Christy Lemire, Associated Press) (PG-13, 115 minutes)

‘Wreck-It Ralph’ 1/2
The latest Disney 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)

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 honolulumuseum.org)

Happy Birthday Gene Kelly!: ‘An American in Paris’
1 and 7:30 p.m. today
Vincente Minnelli’s multiple Oscar winner stars Kelly as a struggling artist and features the famous extended dance sequence with Leslie Caron, set to the music of George Gershwin. (1951, 91 minutes)

‘Singin’ in the Rain’
1 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday
The greatest of the MGM musicals is a loving insider spoof of Hollywood’s switchover from silent to sound filmmaking. Co-directed by Kelly and Stanley Donan, the great cast includes Debbie Reynolds, Donald O’Connor and Jean Hagen. (1952, 103 minutes)

Opera in Cinema: ‘The Pharoah’s Daughter’ from the Bolshoi Ballet
1 and 6 p.m. Sunday ($25 general and $20 museum members)
A young English lord, traveling through Egypt, takes shelter in a pyramid, where he has fantastic dreams about the pharoah’s daughter rising from her tomb. Music by Cesare Pugni, with Pierre Lacotte choreography commissioned in 2000. (175 minutes with two intermissions)

Pythonathon!: ‘A Liar’s Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman’
1 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
A miniseries of films involving the legendary madcap British troupe begins with this animated adaptation of Chapman’s fictionalized memoir, featuring the voices of his fellow Pythons. (82 minutes)

‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’
1 and 7:30 p.m. Thursday
King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the grail in this infamous medieval romp that inspired a hit Broadway musical. (1975, 91 minutes)

MOVIE MUSEUM

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

‘To Be or Not to Be’
Noon today
Jack Benny and Carole Lombard star in the classic Ernst Lubitsch comedy about the efforts of a Polish theatrical company in 1939 to aid the resistance. (1942, 99 minutes)

‘Wondrous Oblivion’
1:45, 3:30, 5:15, 7 and 8:45 p.m. today
Set in 1960s South London, a Jewish lad learns the finer points of the game he loves, cricket, from his Jamaican neighbor. Delroy Smith and Sam Smith star. (2003, 101 minutes)

‘Ramona and Beezus’
Noon, 2 and 4 p.m. Saturday; and 4 p.m. Sunday
Selena Gomez and Joey King star in this adaptation of Beverly Cleary’s popular children’s book series about the misadventures of a young grade-schooler and her big sister. (2010, 103 minutes)

‘Nabbie’s Love’
5:45, 7:30 and 9:15 p.m. Saturday
A woman quits her job in Tokyo and returns to her home on a small Okinawan island, only to find out that her grandmother is involved in a torrid affair. (1999, 92 minutes)

‘Arthur Christmas’
Noon, 1:45, 6 and 7:45 p.m. Sunday
Santa’s youngest son looks to use his father’s high-tech operation for an urgent mission in this animated feature. (2011, 97 minutes)

‘A Christmas Carol’
Noon and 6 p.m. Monday
This British film with Alastair Sim as Scrooge is a faithful rendition of the Dickens classic and arguably the best one in a long line of adaptations. (1951, 86 minutes)

‘Storm Boy’
Noon, 1:45, 3:30 and 5:15 p.m. today
An Australian family film about a boy who must choose between his outdoor life on the deserted south coast and the demands of society. (1976, 87 minutes)

‘Three Wives’
Noon and 8:45 p.m. Thursday
A trio of Italian women from different backgrounds fly to Argentina in pursuit of their husbands, who left them on New Year’s Eve and who all happen to work at the same bank that is missing a large amount of cash. (2001, 105 minutes)

‘La Maison de Himiko’
2, 4:15 and 6:30 p.m. Thursday
A financially struggling Japanese woman is offered a job at a seaside rest home for elderly gays that was founded by her long-absent father, now a transgendered woman supposedly dying of cancer. (2005, 130 minutes)