At The Movies

Opening

The Covenant
Something is strange about the big men on campus at the elite Spencer Academy. Could they possess special powers and be linked to a sinister covenant from 1692? (PG-13)

Hollywoodland
1/2
The real-life suicide of former TV Superman George Reeves sets off a torrid investigation of inside-Hollywood sleaze. Ben Affleck plays Reeves and Oscar winner Adrien Brody plays a fictional detective who doesn't believe it was a suicide. Also stars Diane Lane and Bob Hoskins. Feature and review on Pages 16 and 17. (R)

The Protector

In this action thumper, martial arts superstar Tony Jaa plays a Thai fighter who must battle his way across Australia to recover stolen elephants, and in doing so protect a traditional way of life that has been ruined by outsiders. Review on Thursday's Entertainment page. (R)

Trust the Man

David Duchovny, Julianne Moore, Billy Crudup and Maggie Gyllenhaal star in this "dramedy" about two upper-class New York couples with so much time on their hands that they can't help but get into trouble in their relationships. Review in Thursday's Today section.

Now Playing

G - General audiences.

Cars
1/2
Director John Lasseter and his Pixar animation team's latest feature is about a hotshot rookie race car (voiced by Owen Wilson) who learns about life in the slow lane when he finds himself unexpectedly detoured to the sleepy town of Radiator Springs. Kids will find the movie fast and colorful, but adults may find it quite facile.

PG - Parental guidance suggested.

Barnyard: The Original Party Animals
1/2
An CGI-animated movie about a free-wheeling cow named Otis and his misfit farm animals who live the high life when humans aren't looking. But when a pack of coyotes attack, sending the entire farm into fear and turmoil, Otis must reluctantly step up to the grown-up role he's been avoiding his whole life. This movie actually has a clever concept and handles such sensitive topics as birth and death with unexpected grace.

How to Eat Fried Worms

Based on the popular children's book about a new kid who bets the school bully that he can eat 10 worms in a day. It's a fine family movie with a message of tolerance and understanding and a good dose of humor -- plus gross worms!

An Inconvenient Truth

A documentary about former Vice President Al Gore's touring multimedia talk about the moral challenge of global warming. The film's not so much about Gore but mainly on his presentation on the alarming effect of carbon-dioxide emissions on the world's climate, a talk he's given many times over the last few years. For that, it's a necessary film.

Invincible

Mark Wahlberg takes on the inspiring role of real-life zero-to-hero Vince Papale, a 30-year-old substitute teacher and part-time bartender who was plucked out of obscurity at an open tryout for the Philadelphia Eagles and won a spot on the team in 1976 as a wide receiver. The period detail is uncanny and the performances are solid all around.

John Tucker Must Die

When three popular girls from different cliques discover they've all been dating the school stud, they band together to seek revenge with the help of a new girl. While the movie has a dose of the cutes, it's still a cut above the typical adolescent farce.

Lady in the Water

A mystical water nymph lives under the swimming pool of a drab apartment complex. It's an intriguing premise, yet the mythology director M. Night Shyamalan builds around his main characters is forced, pretentious and outright silly at times. Strong performances by Paul Giamatti as the complex's melancholy manager, Bryce Dallas Howard as the nymph and a plucky supporting cast of amiable weirdos makes the fantasy occasionally palatable -- but just barely.

The Lake House
1/2
Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves star in this remake of a Korean film about a doctor who trades love letters with one of her home's previous owners -- and discover that they are living two years apart of each other. You either surrender to this sort of conceit from the beginning, or you don't. But if you enjoy being swept up by romance, the film should at least have the fundamental decency to make sense.

Monster House

A group of kids suspect a creepy old house is really alive and dangerous. Can they save their neighborhood in time? This movie -- being shown in Digital 3D -- features the same blend of motion-capture and CG animation previously used in co-producer Robert Zemeckis' "The Polar Express," and has lots of fun to deliver. It makes for a great, scary film for youngsters.

Nacho Libre

Jack Black plays a Mexican cook who moonlights on the masked Lucha Libre wrestling circuit to funnel his prize money to needy orphans. Black cultivates an exaggerated accent that helps establish the character as an awkward fit in a life that was foisted upon him. But his wild persona cannot be contained, and director Jared Hess ("Napoleon Dynamite") doesn't seem to have been able to control his star. It's an interesting failure in a film that's a mix of Fellini-esque imagery and flatulence gags.

Over the Hedge

Based on the newspaper comic strip, a group of woodland animals visit the strange new world of suburbia upon the prompting of an opportunistic raccoon. A mildly amusing, if hackneyed movie, strictly for the kids.

Step Up

A rebel in trouble with the law becomes the dance partner of a beautiful ballet student at a prestigious performing arts school in Baltimore. It's a thoroughly formulaic but mildly enjoyable dance movie.

Who Killed the Electric Car?

This documentary may not have the answer, but it makes for a lively, informative whodunit about General Motors' energy-efficient EV1 that debuted with fanfare and went out with a whimper. It's an infuriating examination of corporate and public indifference to consumer desire.

PG-13 - Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate from children under age 13.

Accepted
1/2
Justin Long plays a guy rejected from every college he's applied to, so he and his friends start their own fake and functioning university. The movie has a certain subversive élan that keeps it light on its feet -- until the very end when it turns self-righteous and takes itself way too seriously.

Click

Adam Sandler's latest comedy overflows with the juvenile hijinks that initially made him a star and ventures into the serious adult territory of his later, more thoughtful films. He stars as a harried architect who stumbles upon a universal remote that allows him to perform TiVo-like functions on his life. The first hour is often so sub-moronic that it's surprising Sandler and director Frank Coraci are able to achieve real heart at the end.

Crossover

Two friends with different goals in life team up to compete in a high-stakes underground street basketball game. The charismatic actor Anthony Mackie is, unfortunately, drained of all his natural magnetism thanks to flat writing and the movie's low-budget look. All it is is trash talkin' b-ball, hoochie mamas, and a couple of dramatic plot points that come and go with the speed of a fast break.

The Devil Wears Prada
1/2
More college drab than haute couture, a hapless young woman (Anne Hathaway) becomes the assistant to a demanding editor (Meryl Streep) who oversees the fashion bible of New York. Like the hottest new fashion trend, the movie is initially irresistible -- fun, flirty, spirited and sexy. But then it drags the audience down through a love triangle plotline that gets too complicated and heavy.

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
1/2
A young American street racer, living in Japan, gets caught up in the underworld arena of drift racing. Trouble ensues when he falls for the girlfriend of the Drift King, a local champ with Yakuza ties. This is the perfect movie for adolescent boys. The thin story and thinner characters are just setups for the race sequences.

Keeping Up With the Steins

A highly entertaining, not-so-kosher comedy about a high-powered, if dysfunctional, Jewish family in Hollywood and a boy who ends up using his bar mitzvah for the unlikely purpose of actually becoming a man and reconciling his elders.

Little Man

Brothers Marlon and Shawn Wayans' latest screwball comedy is about a short-statured criminal who poses as an adopted baby to recover a stolen diamond from an unsuspecting couple. While big on gross-out humor and slapsticky sight gags that appeal to the lowest common denominator, the movie is small on genuinely clever laughs.

My Super Ex-Girlfriend
1/2
Veteran comedy director Ivan Reitman is back with a tale of an architect (Luke Wilson) who breaks up with his clingy girlfriend (Uma Thurman), only to find out she's a superhero out for payback. It's a silly film with so-so CGI effects. The main selling point is the delightful self-effacing quality of Thurman's performance, making her character appealing no matter how erratic and destructive her behavior.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom reprise their roles in the swashbuckling sequel to the immensely popular 2003 movie. This time, Capt. Jack Sparrow discovers he owes a bloody debt to the legendary Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) of the ghostly Flying Dutchman. It's a darker tale than the first, but director Gore Verbinski has spun a rollicking and well-paced yarn nevertheless.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

The "Anchorman" duo of Will Ferrell and director Adam McKay return with the tale of a NASCAR driver who must face his own demons and fight to retain his place at the top when he is challenged by the arrival of a flamboyant French Formula One star. Like the sport it spoofs, the movie has its thrilling moments but mostly feels repetitive -- it's constantly moving but never really goes anywhere.

The Wicker Man
1/2
Indie fave director Neil LaBute presents his take on the 1970s horror movie about a cop (Nicolas Cage) who investigates the disappearance of a girl on a remote island inhabited by a dangerous matriarchal cult. A deliriously delightful weird streak runs through the film before it spirals into irretrievably ridiculous territory toward the end. It might be the greatest bad movie of the year, with its clunky writing resulting in some surprisingly entertaining kooky moments.

World Trade Center
1/2
Oliver Stone retells the harrowing true story of the last two first-responders to be rescued after the 9/11 attack, John McLoughlin (Nicolas Cage) and Will Jimeno (Michael Peña). For a lightning rod like Stone, this movie stays grounded in facts, not opinions or paranoia, and fights to remain even-handed. It stays smartly rooted in the day-to-day, going between the trapped men and the women at home (powerfully played by Maggie Gyllenhaal and Maria Bello), hoping for the best, watching the minutes tick by.

R - Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Beerfest

The comedy troupe Broken Lizard's latest movie is about a couple of American buddies who stumble upon a secret centuries-old beer-drinking championship in Germany. When they assemble a team of top drinkers to try to win the title the following year, the training takes a toll on all of them. But out of the pain comes off-color and puerile jokes a-plenty. It's all the fun you want without the hangover.

Crank

Action star Jason Statham plays a hitman who wakes up one morning and finds himself juiced with a poison that'll stop his heart unless he can keep his adrenaline extremely high. The filmmakers play up the manic, pointless rage for a gleefully violent romp, stomping on anything and everything along the way, including the reputations of its cast that includes Amy Smart and Efren Ramirez.

Little Miss Sunshine

A hit at this year's Sundance Film Festival, the film follows an oddball clan as they race across three states to get their 7-year-old daughter to a beauty pageant. It's a sunny, prefabricated charmer of a comedy, looking at the all-American obsession with winning and chortles darkly.

The Quiet
1/2
The arrival of an adopted deaf goddaughter delivers a blow to a popular cheerleader's idyllic social life and triggers the unraveling of her family's darkest secrets. It's a movie with some good performances and a smart visual style, but the story is ugly and fake. It's dysfunction repackaged with sarcasm and hip irony.

Snakes on a Plane
1/2
Samuel L. Jackson cusses up a storm as an FBI agent trying to protect a mob murder witness from hundreds of nasty serpents (real and CGI-generated) while trapped in an airliner hurtling across the Pacific 30,000 feet in the air. With all the Internet hype surrounding its pre-release, the movie delivers on its promise of reptilian fun, with a camp mix of comedy, horror and suspense.

Art House | Revival

THE DORIS DUKE THEATRE, HONOLULU ACADEMY OF ARTS

900 S. Beretania St.; $7 general; $6 seniors, students and military; $5 Academy members (532-8768):

Masai: The Rain Warriors
With local short "Suite for 2." At 1 and 4 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Sunday.

Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul
1/2
See review on Page 15. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sunday and Sept. 11; 1 and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 12 and 13; and 1 p.m. Sept. 14.

MOVIE MUSEUM

3566 Harding Ave.; $5, $4 members; reservations recommended due to limited seating (735-8771):

District B13
At 2, 4, 6 and 8 p.m. Friday.

Always -- Sunset on Third Street
At 12:30, 3, 5:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday and Sept. 14, and 8 p.m. Sunday.

Gone With the Wind
At 4 p.m. Sunday.

United 93
At 12:30, 3, 5:30 and 8 p.m. Sept. 11.

BEYOND OIL: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOLUTIONS

Spalding Hall Auditorium, University of Hawaii at Manoa; $5 general and $3 UH students/faculry:

The End of Suburbia
At 7 p.m. Wednesday.