Movies

LOS ANGELES: ‘The Avengers’ gets off to good start overseas

The superhero saga “The Avengers” lived up to its blockbuster buzz with $178.4 million in overseas ticket sales days before it opens in U.S. theaters.

'Raven' never takes flight

Yo-ho-hum

Amusing in small doses, “The Pirates! Band of Misfits” is the first film from the makers of Wallace & Gromit to suffer a serious shortage of sight gags, the first where the whimsy feels forced and the strain shows.

Statham’s a ‘Safe’ bet

“Safe” is a slow-building B-movie thriller with a plot that is nothing new for Jason Statham: There’s a girl in need of his protection from assorted gangs of bad men. But the dialogue crackles with flinty one-liners.

Only slightly engaging

Weak comedy: Painfully slow pace damages Judd Apatow's "The Five-Year Engagement," starring Jason Segel and Emily Blunt.

When art becomes an act of bravery

The reflex is to praise ‘This Is Not A Film’ simply out of support for its subject, Iranian director Jafar Panahi. The politically outspoken Panahi (“Crimson Gold,” “Offside”) was sentenced to six years in prison and a 20-year ban on making films, doing interviews or leaving the country after Iranian authorities found him guilty of making “propaganda against the regime.”

mingle in battle of sexes romp Relationship thesis rings true, man- and woman-sized chuckles are delivered

Laughter, romance A humorous self-help relationship book becomes an amusing and often biting take on the war between the sexes with “Think Like a Man,” based on comic polymath Steve Harvey’s “Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man.”

Inside their world

Disney’s 2012 movie offering for Earth Day is a gorgeous and technically dazzling look inside the world of chimpanzees — their use of tools, their nurturing instincts, their means of organization during fights and hunts for smaller monkeys, whom they sometimes eat.

Eye-rolling romance

“The Lucky One” is the edgiest-ever film adaptation of the writings of Nicholas Sparks. Which isn’t saying much.

‘Bike’ renews faith in kindness

If true art is achieving profound results with economy of means, there may be no finer artists in film than brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.

Sushi ‘Dreams’ come true

A celebration of the art of sushi master Jiro Ono, “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” is a mouthwatering cinema experience and an instant addition to the list of great, must-watch movies about food.

Relentless thriller

Hunters become the hunted in the blink of an eye in “The Raid: Redemption,” a neck-snapping/leg-stabbing lead- and blood-spattered action overdose from Indonesia. It’s an orgy of beautifully shot and choreographed brawls, shootouts and knife fights, perhaps the cinema’s closest imitation of a first-person-shooter video game ever.

No better than a poke in the eye

Reading the Internet, one is reminded that once upon a time (it was 2009) Sean Penn, Jim Carrey and Benicio del Toro were being pursued by the brothers Farrelly to play the Three Stooges.

At least there’s gunfire

Ah, 2079! It was the best of times, it was the worst of times — at least in the dark, futuristic world of “Lockout’s” criminal justice system.

Latest ‘American’ film short on imagination

“American Reunion,” the fourth slice of the “American Pie” franchise to plop onto the big screen, is comfort food for fans. Though given the sorts of grossoid indignities visited on innocent foodstuffs in the series, those fans might want to be a wee bit wary about taking another bite.