Our critics recommend...

Adoration

A high-school student combines his family history, a false identity, and a terrorist plot for a school project and puts it out over the Internet, resulting in a strong public reaction. Directed by Atom Egoyan.

The Brothers Bloom The world's best con men take on one last job, involving an eccentric heiress. Adrien Brody, Rachel Weisz, and Mark Ruffalo star.

Dance Flick The Wayans brothers spoof musical-dance films.

The Girlfriend Experience A high-end New York prostitute (Sasha Grey) juggles her career with other life challenges. Steven Soderbergh (Ocean's Eleven, Traffic) directs.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Ben Stiller returns as the bumbling security guard who interacts with historical figures in exhibits he guards.

Summer Hours Siblings part with memories in the form of their deceased mother's goods, which they are forced to sell. English and French with subtitles.

Terminator: Salvation John Connor (this time, Christian Bale) leads a group of human survivors in an effort to prevent the machines from finishing off mankind. Opens Thursday.

Tulpan A young sheep herder on the Kazakhstan steppe desperately seeks a wife, a requirement for gaining his own flock. Russian and Kazakh with subtitles.

Reviewed by critics Carrie Rickey (C.R.), Steven Rea (S.R.), and Dan DeLuca (D.D.). W.S. denotes a wire-service review.

Goodbye Solo Director Ramin Bahrani's film is a wise and soulful study of two very different men - a resilient Senegalese cabbie and a crusty white Southerner nearing life's end. Set in Winston-Salem, N.C., and full of quietly revealing performances, this is beautiful, powerful stuff that speaks to the human condition. 1 hr. 31 No MPAA rating (profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

Sugar Half Nelson filmmakers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck follow a young Dominican pitcher as he joins a single-A team and dreams of playing in the majors. A baseball movie, a stranger-in-a-strange-land movie, a movie about real people facing real challenges in the real world, this is a modest, masterful gem. 1 hr. 54 R (drugs, adult themes) - S.R.

Anvil!

The Story of Anvil

Sacha Gervasi's absurd and affecting rockumentary follows stalwart Canadian heavy metal demigods Anvil as they struggle and strive to go on headbanging into their 50s. A deeply moving portrait of artists who remain stubbornly, illogically committed to their music, even when it seems that no one is listening. 1 hr. 30 No MPAA rating (Profanity, brief nudity, sex toys used for musical purposes)

- D.D.

I Love You, Man Metrosexual meets caveman in this fresh comedy starring Paul Rudd as a newly engaged guy without a male friend to be his best man, and Jason Segel as a prospect. With Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg. 1 hr. 45 R (profanity, sexual candor) - C.R.

Sin Nombre Cary Fukunaga's startlingly impressive first feature is ruthless in its depiction of the brutality and degradation confronting the hordes of illegal immigrants crossing rivers and hopping trains, trying to get to the United States. The paths of a teenage Honduran girl and a Mexican gang member intertwine as they head for the Rio Grande. 1 hr. 36 R (violence, profanity, sex, adult themes) - S.R.

Star Trek J.J. Abrams' enjoyable reboot of the sci-fi saga takes a refreshing chug from the fountain of youth, imagining what happened When Kirk Met Spock. With Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, and Leonard Nimoy. 2 hrs. 06 PG-13 (brief sexuality, action violence) - C.R.

State of Play A journalist (Russell Crowe) and a politician (Ben Affleck), once college roommates, play hide-and-seek in this enthralling thriller where murder mystery and political scandal intersect. With Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren, and the ever-resourceful Jason Bateman. 2 hrs. 07 PG-13 (violence, profanity) - C.R.

Angels & Demons **1/2

Ron Howard's trimmer follow-up to his bulky

The Da Vinci Code

is a ticking-bomb thriller tightly wrapped in a papal plot and cinched in the ribbons of religion and science. With Tom Hanks as the symbologist teamed with a fetching physicist (Ayelet Zurer) to save the Vatican. 2 hrs. 18

PG-13

(graphic, bloodcurdling and gut-wrenching killings) -

C.R.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past **1/2 Christmas Carol update with Matthew McConaughey as a heartbreaker who behaves badly to protect his fragile heart and Jennifer Garner as the one gal who's onto him. An average rom-com, a better-than-average McConaughey movie. 1 hr. 40 PG-13 (sexual candor, profanity) - C.R.

Next Day Air 1/2 star Lives are thrown into turmoil when a drug shipment winds up in the wrong hands. Donald Faison and Mike Epps star in this crime comedy that aims low and unfortunately hits its target. 1 hr. 30 R (drugs, profanity, violence, sexual content and nudity) - W.S.

Obsessed *1/2 A happily married exec's life takes a turn when an office temp stalks him. Beyoncé Knowles, Idris Elba, and Ali Larter star. 1 hr. 45 PG-13 (mature themes, profanity, violence) - C.R.

17 Again *** Body-swap fantasy that rests on the shoulders of Zac Efron, a 17-year-old hoops star inhabited by the spirit of the 37-year-old Matthew Perry. Mildly diverting for adults, but for its target audience, Efron's outside shot is a three-pointer. 1 hr. 42 PG-13 (language, sexual candor, teen partying) - C.R.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine ** Hugh Jackman revisits his X-Men role to show how Wolverine came into being in this meaningless mishmash of combat sequences, passable visual effects, Marvel Comics backstory, and goofy Liev Schreiber-as-a-villain thespianizing. 1 hr. 47 PG-13 (violence, intense action, adult themes) - S.R.

Reviewed by critics Wendy Rosenfield (W.R.), Howard Shapiro (H.S.), and Toby Zinman (T.Z.).

Camelot

(Plays and Players) Wonder what the king is doing tonight? Find out. Previews Wednesday, opens Thursday.

Grey Gardens (Philadelphia Theatre Company) Mother, daughter, dreams, delusions in a house by the sea. Previews Friday-May 26, opens May 27.

Hysteria (Wilma Theater) Freud meets Dali, strangeness ensues. Previews today, Tuesday, opens Wednesday.

The Producers (Walnut Street Theatre) Springtime for Hitler, etc. Previews today, Tuesday, opens Wednesday.

The Seafarer (Arden Theatre) A ghostly, boozy Christmas Present. Previews today, Tuesday, opens Wednesday.

Altar Boyz

(Bristol Riverside Theatre) Will the Big Apple poison good-boy boy band? Through May 31.

-

H.S.

Footloose (New Candlelight Theatre) The chemistry in this production about repressed kids who just wanna dance is perfect - and the dancing is among the brightest this season. Through May 30. - H.S.

Forbidden Broadway's Greatest Hits (Walnut's Independence Studio) Four talented performers mock Broadway's greatest hits: If you know your shows, you'll have a hugely entertaining evening. Through June 28. - T.Z.

A Funeral Farce (Curio Theatre) A jolly plot (a double-booked funeral parlor) and an able cast can't make this farce quite funny enough. Ends today. - T.Z.

Hamlet (Lantern Theatre Company) This remarkable production is as fresh as today, with an electrifying Geoff Sobelle taking the lead. Ends today.- H.S.

The Little Dog Laughed (Flashpoint Theatre Company) In the Hollywood closet. Through May 30. - H.S.

Made in China (Inis Nua Theatre Company) A stunningly nasty play about Dublin's thugworld. The accents are thick, the slang is low, the violence is vicious, and the actors are terrific. Through next Sunday. - T.Z.

Movin' Out (Academy of Music) Twyla Tharp moves to Billy Joel tunes. Ends today.

The Odd Couple (Devon Theatre) Bad housekeeping. Through June 7.

Respect: A Musical Journey of Women (Act II Playhouse) Women's 20th-century trials and tribulations get little respect in this slapdash revue notable only for Danielle G. Herbert's performance. Through June 28. - W.R.

Say Goodnight Gracie (Society Hill Playhouse) Sweet and sentimental, this one-man biodrama about the careers of George Burns and Gracie Allen is a trip down memory lane for people who remember these show-business greats. Through May 31. - T.Z.

Something Intangible (Arden Theatre) Bruce Graham's world premiere fictionalizes the lives of Roy and Walt Disney in an animated portrayal of entanglements among brothers, commerce, and art. Through June 7.

A Stone Carver (New City Stage) Louis Lippa is forceful in William Mastrosimone's autobiographical work about a stonemanson facing eviction. Through next Sunday.

- W.R.

Thoroughly Modern Millie (Media Theatre) The costumes and choreography say "flapper" all the way in this brightly performed musical about a '20s gal from Kansas who yearns to be a liberated New York woman. Through June 7. - H.S.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop **

Like one of those Pixy Stix periodically sipped by its hypoglycemic hero, a pudgeball on a Segway played by Kevin James, the film lacks nutritional value but makes you giddy. 1 hr. 27

PG

(mildly raunchy humor) -

C.R.