Our critics recommend...

Blue Is the Warmest Color Winner of the Grand Prize at Cannes, where, in a first, the director shared the honor with his two leads, the French film, adapted from a graphic novel, is a love story between a high school girl (Adèle Exarchopoulos) and an art-college student (Léa Seydoux). The long, graphic lesbian sex scenes have caused a big fuss. In French with subtitles. NC-17

Diana The Princess of Wales' secret affair - with a Pakistani heart surgeon - is the focus of the biopic starring a very brave (or very foolish?) Naomi Watts in the title role, about the internationally beloved Brit's fleeting, post-divorce years. PG-13

Ender's Game A leader is needed to save Earth from alien attack, and a brilliant young student in the International Fleet looks like he may be the man, or the boy. Asa Butterfield (Hugo) stars, with Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Hailee Steinfeld, Viola Davis, and Abigail Breslin along for the ride. Based on the Orson Scott Card sci-fi novel. PG-13

American Promise Documentary about two African-American families pursuing the American dream for their children.

   Free Birds Two turkeys team up to travel back in time in an effort to change what Americans eat for Thanksgiving in this animated family feature.

Last Vegas Four aging lifelong friends attempt to relive their youth in Las Vegas in celebration of one's engagement. Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Robert DeNiro, and Kevin Kline star.

Man of Tai Chi A young man who excels at martial arts joins an underground fight club.

Zaytoun An unlikely friendship develops between an Israeli soldier and a boy from Beirut during the Lebanese civil war of the early 1980s.

Reviewed by critics Steven Rea (S.R.) and David Hiltbrand (D.H.). W.S. denotes a wire-service review.

Captain Phillips Based on the real-life story of a U.S.-flagged cargo ship hijacked by Somali pirates, with Tom Hanks in the title role as a steady-as-she-

goes veteran forced to face his own mortality. Paul Greengrass (the second and third Bourne films, United 93) masterfully orchestrates the intense, suspenseful drama. 2 hrs. 14 PG-13 (violence, profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

Enough Said Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini (in his final leading role) are divorced parents, each with a college-bound daughter, who meet, date, and take a real liking to each other. And then the trouble begins. A smart, funny movie for grown-ups from the hugely talented writer director Nicole Holofcener. 1 hr. 33 PG-13 (sex, profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

Gravity A transcendent, zero-g tale of survival, with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as orbiting astronauts caught in a debris storm, quite literally at the end of their tether. A technological marvel, and an emotional, spiritual, and physical voyage of stratospheric suspense. 1 hr. 30 PG-13 (violence, profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

12 Years a Slave The remarkable, essential story of Solomon Northup, a free black man who was was abducted and sold into slavery in the pre-Civil War South. The British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor gives body and soul in the lead, and Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Giamatti, Paul Dano, and Brad Pitt are part of a superb supporting cast. 2 hrs. 13 R (violence, nudity, profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

Rush Ron Howard's epic and exhilarating race-car movie about the legendary rivalry between 1970s Formula One champions James Hunt, a swaggering Brit, and Niki Lauda, a rigorously fussy Austrian. It's a ride. 2 hrs. 03 R (sex, nudity, violence, profanity, intense medical scenes, adult themes) - S.R.

Wadjda A charming first feature from female Saudi director Haifaa al-Mansour about a rascally 10-year-old who covets a bicycle, even though girls are not supposed to ride bicycles - it's undignified and inappropriate in conservative Islamic culture, which is the culture all around her. PG (adult themes) - S.R.

Carrie *** Chloë Grace Moretz is the taunted, traumatized, telekinesis-powered teen in Kimberly (Boys Don't Cry) Peirce's rethink of Brian De Palma's high school horror classic. Not anything the world needed, but not bad. 1 hr. 40 R (violence, profanity, sex, adult themes) - S.R.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 *** Intrepid and irrepressible young inventor Flint Lockwood has more problems with food in this charming animated sequel. With the voices of Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, and Will Forte. 1 hr. 35 PG - D.H.

The Counselor An A-list B-movie crime caper - a tangled tale of doublecrosses and dead people, scripted by Cormac McCarthy, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, and Javier Bardem. Who knows what really happened? 1 hr. 57 R (violence, profanity, sex, adult themes) - S.R.

Escape Plan ** Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger team up in this mildly amusing, if ultimately pointless prison-break thriller. 1 hr. 56 R (profanity, violence, angry men in cages) - T.D.

The Fifth Estate ** Benedict Cumberbatch stars as white-haired WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in this would-be cyber-thriller that suffers from a serious case of information overload. 2 hrs. 08 PG-13 (profanity, violence, adult themes) - S.R.

Prisoners *** In this grim and unsettling film, a father (Hugh Jackman) becomes convinced that a detective (Jake Gyllenhaal) isn't doing enough to solve his daughter's abduction. Powerful but not for the faint of heart. 2 hrs. 26 R (disturbing violence, profanity) - D.H.

Reviewed by Wendy Rosenfield (W.R.), Jim Rutter (J.R.), David Patrick Stearns (D.P.S.), and Toby Zinman (T.Z.) .

I Am My Own Wife (Theatre Horizon) The Pulitzer-winning true saga of an East German transvestite who lived an amazing life. Previews Thursday-Nov. 6, opens Nov. 7.

Once (Academy of Music) Guy and Girl meet, sing, fall. Winner of eight Tony Awards. Preview Tuesday, opens Wednesday.

Pride and Prejudice (Bristol Riverside Theatre) It's the 200th birthday of Jane Austen's masterpiece. In previews, opens Thursday.

RFK (New City Stage) This one-man show about the last years of Robert Kennedy's life returns. Previews Thursday and Friday, opens Saturday.

Stick Fly (Arden Theatre) A well-to-do African American family gets together and begins coming apart in Lydia Diamond's dramedy. In previews, opens Wednesday.

The Woman in Black (Act II Playhouse) This two-character ghost story twists and turns. Previews Tuesday-Thursday, opens Friday.

4000 Miles (Philadelphia Theatre Company) A directionless young man and his reclusive grandmother help each other out in Amy Herzog's Obie-winning play. Through Nov 10.

Blink (Inis Nua) Two shy young people create a voyeuristic relationship in this darkly comic love story by Phil Porter. Ends Sunday.

The Brothers Size (Simpatico Theater Project) Yoruba storytelling meets bayou rhythms in this haunting production of the first play in Tarell Alvin McCraney's "Brothers/Sisters Trilogy." Through next Sunday. - T.Z.

Bunny Bunny (1812 Productions) Ex-Saturday Night Live writer Alan Zweibel's story of his 14-year friendship with laughable, lovable Gilda Radner. Ends Sunday.

A Clockwork Orange (Luna Theatre) Anthony Burgess' dystopian story of teenage violence in a near-future Britain. Through Nov. 9.

Cock (Theater Exile) A funny, sensitive production of Mike Bartlett's play about a dithering guy caught in a bisexual love triangle. Through Nov. 10. - W.R.

The Convert (Wilma Theater) A girl in 1895 southern Africa finds Christianity, then confusion, in this drama by Danai Gurira. Through Nov. 10.

The Devil's Music (People's Light and Theatre) Fans will love this Bessie Smith bioshow, but those unfamiliar will find few touchstones to care about. Through Nov. 24. - J.R.

Emma (Lantern Theater Company) Jane Austen's fetching little busybody just doesn't know when to stop. Extended through next Sunday.

Lend Me a Tenor (Delaware Theatre Company) "Il Stupendo" can't go on, and the Cleveland Grand Opera Company is in trouble! Through next Sunday.

Macbeth (Hedgerow Theatre) The "Scottish play" is given a post-World War I setting in this terrific, terrifying production. Through Nov. 17. – J.R.

Marcus: or the Secret of Sweet (Plays and Players) A young man seeks his identity in the last of Tarell Alvin McCraney's "Brother/Sister" trilogy. Through next Sunday.

Parade (Arden Theatre) Brimful of glorious voices, this musical drama gives us a theatrically exhilarating but politically somber night in the theater. Through next Sunday. - T.Z.

Romeo and Juliet (Curio Theatre) Juliet's a lovely girl. So is Romeo, and they live in a too-idealistic world. Ends Saturday. - J.R.

She Stoops to Conquer (Quintessence Theatre Group) She's high-born, playing low-born, and he's in her sights, in Oliver Goldsmith's comedy. Through Nov. 24.

Spamalot (Media Theatre) This Monty Python homage won the best-musical Tony. Through next Sunday.

We Are Proud to Present . . . (InterAct Theatre Company) This play, about actors creating a play about an African genocide, first numbs, then stuns with its ferocity. Through Nov. 10. - D.P.S.

You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up (Penn's Landing Playhouse) And this critic seconds that. Through Nov. 24. - W.R.

Monsters University *** Pixar's first prequel takes a look at how its Monsters, Inc. stars, Mike and Sully (the voices of Billy Crystal and John Goodman), first met, in the ivied halls of a college campus where the multihued, multilimbed, multi-eyeballed students learn how to be "scarers." Cute, funny, but not in the top tier when it comes to originality. 1 hr. 50 G (mild scares) - S.R.

Sunday at 1 p.m., WRTI (90.1 FM) broadcasts a Philadelphia Orchestra concert from February 2013 featuring Carl Orff's Carmina Burana conducted by Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, who knew Orff and led the work's first performance in Spain. The program also includes the orchestra's principal trumpet, David Bilger, in Hummel's Trumpet Concerto, and Haydn's seldom-heard Symphony No. 1.

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