Movies still playing in the Fredericksburg area

Movies still playing in the Fredericksburg area

Date published: 11/19/2009

HH "ASTRO BOY" (PG) Children will enjoy this cartoon remake, with action that keeps the story moving as a robot boy tries to impress his scientist father. Rated PG for some action and peril, and brief mild language. [M]

HH "COUPLES RETREAT" (PG-13) Thank goodness for Vince Vaughn and the gorgeous island paradise where the film is shot. Those two things just barely nudge this movie, about couples forced into spouse therapy at a resort, into the worth-seeing category. Rated PG-13 on appeal for sexual content and language. [RF]

HH "DISNEY'S A CHRISTMAS CAROL" (PG) This is worth seeing, though only because it's such an amazing piece of technology that makes grand but grimy Londontown come alive in a dazzling 3-D way. It's a shame that there's not more life or joy in it, as director Robert Zemeckis sticks to the Dickens tale so closely it's a dry exercise. Rated PG for scary sequences and images. 96 min. [RF, RA, M]

H "THE FOURTH KIND" (PG-13) There might have been a way to create an interesting movie about alien abductions. This isn't it, instead just 98 minutes of silly blather about aliens who look like owls and pull people into the sky along beams of light. And obviously fake "real footage." Rated PG-13 for violent/disturbing images, some terror, thematic elements, brief sexuality. 98 min. [RF, RA, M]

HH "LAW ABIDING CITIZEN" (R) A thriller about a man failed by the legal system becomes just another film about a crazed guy blowing stuff up. Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx are wasted. Rated R for strong bloody, brutal violence and torture, a scene of rape and pervasive language. [RF, M]

HH "MICHAEL JACKSON'S THIS IS IT" (PG) Die-hard Jackson fans will love this look at him getting ready for a hopefully career-reviving string of concerts. But there's something inherently sad about this whole project. Rated PG for some suggestive choreography and scary images. 111 min. [RA]

HHH "PARANORMAL ACTIVITY" (R) Director and screenwriter Oren Peli understands, and uses in the simplest but most effective way, that there's nothing more terrifying and spooky than the thing we can't see. A young couple, convinced they're being visited by a demon, sets up a video camera in their room--and we see evidence they're not wrong. Rated R for language. [RF, RA, M]

HH "THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS" (R) Here's another film that's not interesting or funny, disappointing because of a great cast. The notion of an Army outfit exploring psychic warfare seems ripe for comedy, but there aren't many funny moments. Rated R for language, some drug content and brief nudity. 93 min. [RF, RA]

RF: Regal Cinema Fredericksburg 15, 540/786-4900 RA: Regal Cinema Aquia 10, 540/659-3200 M: Marquee Cinemas, 540/710-0401 Schedules are subject to change. Call ahead to verify locations.

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Date published: 11/19/2009