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

HH "CIRQUE DU FREAK: THE VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT" (PG-13) This is a sweet sort of vampire story aimed at the younger set, a tale of a "good" vampire who makes a young boy a half-vampire--and his apprentice. Blood and violence is minimized, but there's enough to keep this off limits from those under 13. Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense supernatural violence and action, disturbing images, thematic elements and some language. [RF]

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 in a film that should be funnier. Rated PG-13 on appeal for sexual content and language. [RF, 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 in roles that move them from a brutal murder to a father's high-tech revenge. 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--largely because it captures Jackson preparing for a show that never got to happen. It's also practice, and not a performance, with Jackson saving his voice. Rated PG for some suggestive choreography and scary images. 111 min. [RF, RA, M]

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. That's what makes it increasingly more terrifying when 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 "WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE" (PG) This film of the much-loved children's book starts well, translating a creative child's anger and despair into an imagined world where he can howl with the wild things. But things bog down when he makes it to this world. Rated PG for mild thematic elements, adventure action, brief language. [RF]

HHH "ZOMBIELAND" (R) The film about a world overrun with zombies is worth seeing, for three reasons: Woody Harrelson having a flat-out ball as a hard-charging, tough-guy zombie-killer; a script both funny and filled with tense moments; and a supporting cast you care about. Gore is minimized in the middle to allow for funny moments. Rated R for horror violence/gore and language. [RF]

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