ALICE IN WONDERLAND

3-1/2 STARS

Rated PG • AMC Orange Park, AMC Regency Square, Carmike Amelia Island, Carmike Fleming Island, Epic Theatre St. Augustine, Hollywood River City, Regal Avenues, Regal Beach Blvd.

Reviewed in this issue.

ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE SQUEAKQUEL

3 STARS

Rated PG • AMC Orange Park

Jason Lee is back as Dave, along with his furry friends.

AMERICAN LEGACY

2 STARS

Not Rated • 5 Points Theatre

If you thought that “The Big Chill” was the be-all/end-all of movies based on socially awkward reunions prompted by an unexpected funeral, then you haven’t seen John Berka’s “American Legacy.” Raised in Jacksonville, Berka didn’t have the kind of budget that allowed him to cast Kevin Costner as the corpse. Sadly, what the film lacks in funding, it doesn’t make up for with spectacular acting or gripping dialogue.

AVATAR

3-1/2 STARS

Rated PG-13 • AMC Orange Park, AMC Regency Square, Carmike Amelia Island, Carmike Fleming Island, Epic Theatre St. Augustine, Hollywood River City, Regal Avenues, Regal Beach Blvd.

An extraordinary visual feast directed by James Cameron. The year is 2154, and humans have traveled to distant moon Pandora, home to the Na’vi tribe. In some ways, little has changed: Humans are still bent on destroying indigenous people and exploiting natural resources.

THE BLIND SIDE

3 STARS

Rated PG-13 • AMC Orange Park, AMC Regency Square, Epic Theatres St. Augustine, Regal Avenues, Regal Beach Blvd.

A homeless youth rises to an NFL career, thanks to support from a wealthy family. Based on a true story.

THE BOOK OF ELI

3 STARS

Rated R • AMC Orange Park, AMC Regency Square, Cinemark Tinseltown

Eli (Denzel Washington) is a lone warrior traveling desolate, destroyed America. It’s a story about survival and humanity’s preservation, good and bad.

BROOKLYN’S FINEST

3 STARS

Rated R • AMC Orange Park, AMC Regency Square, Cinemark Tinseltown, Epic Theatre St. Augustine, Hollywood River City, Regal Avenues, Regal Beach Blvd.

East Brooklyn’s 65th precinct is home to three police officers whose ethical compasses are way off. In some ways, it’s a retread of every other cop drama, but it also puts a fine point on the chronic temptations that all urban officers face. With Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke, Lili Taylor and Don Cheadle.

COP OUT

1/2 STAR

Rated R • AMC Orange Park, AMC Regency Square, Carmike Amelia Island, Carmike Fleming Island, Cinemark Tinseltown, Epic Theatres St. Augustine, Hollywood River City, Regal Avenues, Regal Beach Blvd.

Shame on Silent Bob. Sure, times are tough and that’s why Kevin Smith agreed to direct a big-budget studio buddy action comedy. But shame on him anyway. Shame on him for betraying everything that he has been as a filmmaker: brash and aggressive, angry but hopeful, and never, ever less than full of heart.

THE CRAZIES

3 STARS

Rated R • AMC Orange Park, AMC Regency Square, Carmike Fleming Island, Cinemark Tinseltown, Epic Theatre St. Augustine, Hollywood River City, Regal Avenues, Regal Beach Blvd.

After a disreputable local shows up at the first game of the high school baseball season toting a shotgun, this Iowa town finds itself in the grip of a nightmare, with possessed locals perpetrating unspeakable acts of violence on their neighbors.

CRAZY HEART

3 STARS

Rated R • AMC Orange Park, AMC Regency Square, Carmike Amelia Island, Epic Theatres St. Augustine, Regal Avenues, Regal Beach Blvd., 5 Points Theatre

Jeff Bridges is a grizzled country singer who falls for a much younger woman (Maggie Gyllenhaal) who turns him on to life after years of introversion and self-abuse. Features an acclaimed soundtrack by T-Bone Burnett.

DEAR JOHN

2 STARS

Rated PG-13 • AMC Orange Park, AMC Regency Square, Carmike Fleming Island, Cinemark Tinseltown, Epic Theatres St. Augustine, Regal Avenues, Regal Beach Blvd.

Savannah (Amanda Seyfried) falls for John (Channing Tatum), an army officer on leave. They decide to marry, but complications ensue. The performances are effective, but this weepy adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel is hit-and-miss.

EDGE OF DARKNESS

2 STARS

Rated R • Cinemark Tinseltown

Boston homicide detective Tom Craven (Mel Gibson) witnesses the murder of his daughter, Emma (Bojana Novakovic), in an attack he thinks was targeting him.

FROM PARIS WITH LOVE

3 STARS

Rated R • Regal Avenues

James Reese (Jonathan Rhys Myers) is a low-level CIA agent who’s called upon to assist Charlie Wax (John Travolta), a field agent who is as profane as he is unorthodox. Reluctant Reese goes along for a white-knuckle ride on his way toward a showdown with the movie’s unexpected villain.

GREEN ZONE

4 STARS

Rated R • AMC Orange Park, AMC Regency Square, Carmike Amelia Island, Carmike Fleming Island, Epic Theatre St. Augustine, Hollywood River City, Regal Avenues, Regal Beach Blvd., San Marco Theatre

A rogue military officer (Matt Damon) acts on faulty intelligence and searches for weapons of mass destruction on his own in an unstable region.

THE HURT LOCKER

3-1/2 STARS

Rated R • AMC Regency Square

This gritty film, which won an Oscar for Best Picture, follows an elite bomb squad in Iraq due to go home soon. It’s more character study than war movie. Starring Jeremy Renner, with Ralph Fiennes and Guy Pearce.

THE LAST STATION

3-1/2 STARS

Rated R • AMC Regency Square, Pot Belly’s, Regal Beach Blvd., 5 Points Theatre

Nominated for Academy Awards, Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer shine as Sofya and Leo Tolstoy in a historical drama that depicts the writer’s struggle to balance fame and wealth with his commitment to ascetic morality.

THE MESSENGER

4 STARS

Rated R • Pot Belly’s; at 5 Points Theatre on March 17 & 18

Ben Foster plays Will Montgomery — just back from Iraq, completely cut off from his emotions — who’s assigned a very emotional job: casualty-notification officer. These

staggering family encounters affect Will in ways he can barely handle.

OUR FAMILY WEDDING

Rated PG-13 • AMC Orange Park, AMC Regency Square, Carmike Amelia Island, Carmike Fleming Island, Epic Theatre St. Augustine, Hollywood River City, Regal Avenues, Regal Beach Blvd.

An interracial couple deals with the stress of their impending nuptials and their relatives, especially their head-butting alpha-male dads.

PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF

3 STARS

Rated PG • AMC Orange Park, AMC Regency Square, Carmike Fleming Island, Cinemark Tinseltown, Epic Theatres St. Augustine, Hollywood River City, Regal Avenues, Regal Beach Blvd.

Dorky kid Percy (Logan Lerman) finds out he’s the son of Poseidon and suspected of stealing Zeus’ lightning bolt. Percy must find the bolt and rescue his mother from the underworld. All in a day’s work.

PRECIOUS

4 STARS

Rated R • AMC Orange Park, AMC Regency Square

Precious (Gabourey Sidibe) is treated as anything but. Finally, when she goes to an alternative school, she meets a teacher, Ms. Rain (Paula Patton), who is kind to her.

REMEMBER ME

3 STARS

Rated PG-13 • AMC Orange Park, AMC Regency Square, Carmike Amelia Island, Carmike Fleming Island, Epic Theatre St. Augustine, Hollywood River City, Regal Avenues, Regal Beach Blvd.

Reviewed in this issue.

THE SECRETS OF JONATHAN SPERRY

3-1/2 STARS

Rated PG • AMC Regency Square

An elderly man teaches three adolescent boys about Jesus in the 1970s. Starring Gavin McLeod, Robert Guillaume and Jansen Panettiere.

SHE’S OUT OF MY LEAGUE

2 STARS

Rated R • AMC Orange Park, AMC Regency Square, Carmike Amelia Island, Carmike Fleming Island, Cinemark Tinseltown, Epic Theatres St. Augustine, Hollywood River City, Regal Avenues, Regal Beach Blvd.

A 5 falls in love with a 10 in this raunchy but loveable romantic comedy. Oddly, she falls for him, too, but he’s so damn insecure he can’t simply enjoy the fling. Can their relationship survive?

SHUTTER ISLAND

2 STARS

Rated R • AMC Orange Park, AMC Regency Square, Carmike Amelia Island, Carmike Fleming Island, Cinemark Tinseltown, Epic Theatres St. Augustine, Hollywood River City, Regal Avenues, Regal Beach Blvd.

U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his new partner, Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) arrive at remote Shutter Island to investigate the escape of a dangerous prisoner/patient from the hospital for the criminally insane. Creepy and atmospheric, yes. Scorsese’s best work? Hardly.

A SINGLE MAN

4 STARS

Rated R • Pot Belly’s

Colin Firth is getting a lot of buzz for his portrayal of a gay man devastated by the death of his lover.

TOOTH FAIRY

3 STARS

Rated PG • AMC Orange Park, AMC Regency Square, Regal Avenues

Dwayne Johnson is a brutal hockey player nicknamed “Tooth Fairy.” When he crushes a little kid’s hockey hopes, he is sentenced to tooth fairy duty as punishment.

UP IN THE AIR

3 STARS

Rated R • AMC Regency Square

Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is a road warrior for a company that handles the nasty work of firing employees.

VALENTINE’S DAY

3 STARS

Rated PG-13 • AMC Orange Park, AMC Regency Square, Carmike Fleming Island, Cinemark Tinseltown, Epic Theatres St. Augustine, Hollywood River City, Regal Avenues, Regal Beach Blvd.

Attractive L.A. couples battle the stresses of the obligatory lovers’ holiday.

WHEN IN ROME

2 STARS

Rated PG-13 • Cinemark Tinseltown

Kristen Bell is Beth, a museum curator whose sister is getting married in Rome. When Nick (Josh Duhamel) coaxes her into swimming in the Fontana di Amore, she steals some coins — other men’s wishes.

THE WOLFMAN

2 STARS

Rated R • AMC Orange Park, AMC Regency Square

The wolfman, played by the already hairy Benicio Del Toro, makes his way through Victorian England separating heads from shoulders and yanking innards from abdomens. It’s ultra-violence on the order of George A. Romero.

THE YOUNG VICTORIA

3 STARS

Rated PG • Pot Belly’s

Emily Blunt plays Queen Victoria, who’s in love with Germany’s Prince Albert (Rupert Friend). Director Jean-Marc Vallée’s mid-1800s England is opulent, filled with gray skies and sumptuous gardens.

OTHER FILMS

AMELIA

This biopic about Amelia Earhart, starring Hillary Swank, is screened as part of the River House’s Dinner & A Movie series from 4:30-7 p.m. on March 18 at 179 Marine St., St. Augustine. 209-3700.

5 POINTS THEATRE

The Pecha Kucha short-film festival is held at 6 p.m. on March 16. “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus” shows at 9 p.m. March 16-18. “Dr. Strangelove” is screened at 11:30 p.m. on March 19. “The Hatchet Sisters” shows at 2 p.m. on March 20. “The Red Baron” shows at 9 p.m. on March 20 and 21. 1028 Park St., Jacksonville. 359-0047.

IMAX THEATER

“Van Gogh: Brush With Genius,” “Sharks,” “Alps: Climb of Your Life” and “Journey into Amazing Caves” are screened at World Golf Village, One World Golf Place, Exit 323 off I-95, St. Augustine. For tickets and show times, call 940-IMAX.

NEW ON DVD

FANTASTIC MR. FOX

Mr. and Mrs. Fox have a great life together — that is, until Mr. Fox slips back into his old life as a chicken thief. His backsliding endangers his entire community, and they must come together to save themselves. The painstakingly created animated film is helmed by Wes Anderson and features the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman and Cate Blanchett.

THE BLIND SIDE

Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for Best Actress for her role in this drama. She plays well-to-do Leigh Anne Touhy, a charitable woman who takes in a black kid from a broken home. With help from Touhy and her family, the youth becomes and All-American football star. Based on a true story.

OTHER TITLES AVAILABLE:

“Brothers,” “Dread,” “The Men Who Stare at Goats.”