Our critics recommend...

The Babymakers

A man who fears he is sterile hires his friends to steal a sperm bank deposit he left years ago.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days See Steven Rea's preview on H2.

Farewell, My Queen See Steven Rea's preview on H2.

Oslo, August 31st A Norwegian man struggling to overcome drug addiction is faced with a series of temptations during a day in Oslo. Norwegian with subtitles.

Ruby Sparks A novelist (Paul Dano) with writer's block finds inspiration from a female character he creates.

Total Recall See Steven Rea's preview on H2.

The Well-Digger's Daughter A working-class father in pre-World War II France is faced with a difficult decision when his daughter gets into trouble with the son of a wealthy man. French with subtitles.

Reviewed by critics Steven Rea (S.R.) and Hillary Rea (H.R.). W.S. denotes a wire service review.

Beasts of the Southern Wild Benh Zeitlin's intensely strange and wonderful film, about a girl named Hushpuppy, her defiant but deathly ill father, and the ragged Louisiana delta community they inhabit is dreamlike and full of grand emotional swells. Moviemaking as outsider art. 1 hr. 31 PG-13 (intense imagery, violence, adult themes) - S.R.

Moonrise Kingdom Wes Anderson returns to live action after his stop-motion experiment Fantastic Mr. Fox, but there are more similarities than differences in this wonderful, wistful tale of 12-year-old lovers on the run. With Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward as the kids, and Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, and Tilda Swinton as the grown-ups. You figure out who's more mature. 1 hr. 34 PG-13 (adult themes) - S.R.

Easy Money

A great gangster pic from Sweden, with Joel Kinnaman (Holder in

The Killing

) as an economics major from the sticks trying to insinuate himself into the moneyed Stockholm crowd - and hatching an ingenious scheme to launder drug money to pay his way. A sinister scrum of Albanians, Bosnians, Russians, and Serbs complicates things, big time. 2 hrs. 04

R

(violence, drugs, sex, adult themes)

- S.R.

Ted Seth (Family Guy) MacFarlane's ridicuously crude and inspired fable about a grown man and his talking plush toy - and the girl who wonders if there's room for her in the relationship. With a straight-faced Mark Wahlberg as the laid-back Beantown schmo, Mila Kunis as his girlfriend, and MacFarlane voicing the title role. Cannabis-soaked, and crazy. 1 hr. 46 R (profanity, crude humor, drugs, sex, nudity, violence, adult theme) - S.R.

The Amazing Spider-Man

**1/2 Competent but hardly necessary reboot, with 3-D bells and whistles, of the still-familiar franchise starring the smart-talking, web-slinging, thug-busting teenager with the serious spider bite. Andrew Garfield, spindly and full of twitchy angst, is the new Peter Parker, a.k.a. Spidey, Emma Stone is his very blond high school lust object, and Rhys Ifans is the mad scientist who morphs into the Lizard. Essentially a teenage identity-crisis love story, piled on with millions of dollars' worth of CGI effects and skyscraper-scaling thugfests. 2 hrs. 16

PG-13

(intense action, adult themes)

- S.R.

The Dark Knight Rises *** The labyrinthine plotlines will drive you batty, and the new villain, Bane, is a muscled-up mug with a Darth Vader wheeze, but so what? Christopher Nolan's gargantuan, gravitas-soaked Bat-trilogy ends in a spectacular display of action and Bat-gizmo cool, and Anne Hathaway's cat burglar Selina Kyle, all lips and legs, brings a much-needed spark to Christian Bale's baleful eyes. With Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman returning, and Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon-Levitt joining the Gotham City throng. 2 hrs. 44 PG-13 (violence, intense action, adult themes) - S.R.

Ice Age: Continental Drift *** Manny, Diego, and Sid are forced into another adventure when their continent is set adrift. 1 hr. 27 PG (mild rude humor, action) - W.S.

Step Up Revolution **1/2 The fourth installment in the popular dance movie series is set in a spicy Miami, introducing a conspiracy of creatives called the Mob, who hip-hop around stars Ryan Guzman and Kathryn McCormick. Spectacular group numbers truly pop in 3-D, but when you take the glasses off, things are hardly revolutionary. 1 hr. 37 PG-13 (profanity, adult themes) - H.R.

Savages Ham-fisted Oliver Stone tale of drugs, sex, and murder, as a beautiful trio of Laguna Beach pot dealers (Aaron Johnson, Taylor Kitsch, and Blake Lively) get seriously pushed around by a Mexican drug cartel and a crooked DEA agent. With Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, and John Travolta, based on the Don Winslow book. 2 hrs. 10 R (violence, profanity, drugs, sex, nudity, adult themes) - S.R.

The Watch ** Four numbskull neighbors in a perfect little town form a neighborhood watch to find out who's behind a string of ghoulish murders, only to uncover a plot that's out of this world. With Ben Stiller, Ben Vaughn, Jonah Hill, and Richard Ayoade, who brings a bit of shaggy British charm to this sketchy comedy. 1 hr. 33 R (nudity, sex, violence, profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

Reviewed by critic Howard Shapiro (H.S.).

A Grand Night for Singing

(Bucks County Playhouse) Five singers and six intrumentalists reopen the venerable theater in grand style with a survey of nearly 40 Rodgers and Hammerstein classics. Ends Sunday.

- H.S.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival) A superb, blistering, and fast-moving production that energizes Tennessee Williams' American classic about a Mississippi family's instability. Through next Sunday. - H.S.

King John (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival) This little-done play by the Bard, about the English king who warred with France and made the Church pay for it, is being done as in Elizabethan times: The cast is responsible for everything, including directing themselves. Through next Sunday.

Mr. Hart and Mr. Brown (People's Light & Theatre) Philadelphia playwright Bruce Graham's latest, set during Prohibition, is a surprising piece built from history, with a terrific cast. Through Aug. 19. - H.S.

Much Ado About Nothing (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival) A rich and wholly entertaining interpretation of Shakespeare's comedy filled with tricksters. Through next Sunday. - H.S.

Not Now Darling (Hedgerow Theatre) It must be summer - here's the annual Roy Cooney farce. Through Aug. 12.

The Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare in Clark Park) The West Philadelphia park is the setting for Shakespeare's comedy involving the pompous Falstaff and his eye for Windsor's finest. Ends Sunday.

The Poe Mysteries (East Lynne Theatre Company, Cape May) Auguste Dupin recalls three of his cases, some of Poe's earliest stories. Through Sept. 1.

Damsels in Distress ***

Whit Stillman returns from taking off the first decade of the new millennium, casting the awkwardly charming Greta Gerwig as a college coed with a peculiar worldview. She and her roommates invite a newcomer (Analeigh Tipton) into their midst,offering advice on campus life, on frat-boy numbskulls, on what to wear. Lots of deadpanning and declaiming, lots of fun. 1 hr. 39

PG-13

(adult themes) -

S.R.