Our critics recommend...

At Any Price

See Steven Rea's preview on H2.

The Iceman See Steven Rea's preview on H2.

Kon-Tiki See Steven Rea's preview on H2.

Something in the Air A French teen comes of age amid the social unrest of the '60s and '70s. French with subtitles.

Star Trek Into Darkness The crew of the Enterprise boldly goes to a distant world to capture a man with massive destructive power. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto return as Kirk and Spock; Benedict Cumberbatch is the evil Khan. Opens Wednesday

Venus and Serena Documentary with a behind-the-scenes look at the Williams sisters.

Reviewed by critics Steven Rea (S.R.) and Tirdad Derakhshani (T.D.). W.S. denotes a wire-service review.

Mud Matthew McConaughey has the title role, as a mysterious fugitive discovered by two boys on an island in the Arkansas Delta, in Jeff Nichols' scary, surprising, magical, and downright remarkable film. An instant American classic. 2 hrs. 10 PG-13 (violence, profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

The Angels' Share

Veteran director Ken Loach delivers a playful but powerful heist pic, in which a motley crew of Glaswegian ne'er-do-wells plot to liberate a rare and valuable cask of whisky about to go up for auction. A lot of fun, but also a lot of heart. 1 hr. 46

No MPAA rating

(profanity, violence, adult themes) -

S.R.

The Place Beyond the Pines Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper star in this roaring drama about a motorcycle stunt rider/bank robber and the cop who chases him down. Riveting and electric, and boldly ambitious, with great performances from Eva Mendes, Ben Mendelsohn, Harris Yulin, and Ray Liotta. 2 hrs. 20 R (violence, profanity, drugs, sex, adult themes) - S.R.

No Gael Garcia Bernal stars as a hot young ad exec in 1988 Chile who joins the media campaign to oust military dictator Augusto Pinochet in this fictionalized piece of reeling, ricocheting history. 2 hr. R (violence, adult themes) - S.R.

42 ***

Inspirational, old-fashioned Hollywood account of Jackie Robinson's historic demolition of the color barrier in Major League Baseball, and his relationship with Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers exec who gave Robinson a uniform. Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford star. 2 hrs. 08

PG-13

(profanity, racial epithets, adult themes) -

S.R.

The Great Gatsby ** "Less is more?" Not if Baz Luhrmann is around. The Australian auteur's adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Jazz Age tragedy is a dizzying display of excess, like Busby Berkeley on steroids, with a Jay-Z-produced soundtrack. But at the heart of it all, there is no heart - it's impossible to care. With Leonardo DiCaprio as the mysterious millionaire Gatsby, and a callow, shallow Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway, our narrator. Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton are Daisy and Tom Buchanan, play-acting in glorious Roaring Twenties getups. 2 hrs. 23 PG-13 (sex, profanity, violence, adult themes) - S.R.

Iron Man 3 **1/2 Robert Downey Jr. climbs back into the alloy-plated suit - actually, a bunch of 'em - and has to reckon with a nemesis who wreaks havoc on his home, and his homelife. With Gwyneth Paltrow as live-in girlfriend Pepper Potts, and Ben Kingsley as a bin Laden-like villain. Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, and Don Cheadle also show up in this overlong, overblown sequel. 2 hrs. 10 PG-13 (violence, adult themes) - S.R.

Oblivion **1/2 Tom Cruise stars as a maintenance man stuck on postapocalyptic Earth with only his drones, his Jetsons-meets-

Zaha Hadid house, and his leggy British girlfriend (Andrea Riseborough). Everybody else has left - everybody but a ragtag band of rebels, led by a cigar-chomping Morgan Freeman. Olga Kurylenko also stars, as a NASA pilot who shows up and turns Cruise's hero into a love-addled mess. Polished-to-a-sheen sci-fi. 2 hrs. 06 PG-13 (violence, profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

Pain & Gain ** Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson star as Florida lugheads on a doomed crime spree in this comedy that turns wrenchingly grisly. 2 hrs. 09 R (graphic violence, nudity, sex, profanity, drugs, adult themes) - D.H.

The Peeples *1/2 Craig Robinson stars in what could have been called Meet the Peeples, as in Meet the Parents, if the filmmakers wanted to attract some intellectual property litigation. He's a laid-back, lowly children's entertainer in a relationship with the daughter (Kerry Washington) of an uppercrust and snooty African-American clan. Her parents don't even know he exists, until he invites himself to their Hamptons manse, where mischief and misunderstandings ensue. 1 hr. 35 PG-13 (sex, drugs, profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

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

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Bootycandy

(Wilma Theater) Robert O'Hara's anthology of sketches about growing up gay and African American. Previews Wednesday-May 21, opens May 22.

Grease (Walnut Street Theatre) It's the one that you want, and you know it. Previews Tuesday-May 21, opens May 22.

Heroes (Lantern Theater) There's rebellion afoot at the old soldiers' home. Previews Thursday-May 21, opens May 22.

The Lysistrata Project (Simpatico Theatre Project) This play updates Aristophenes' comedy about rebellious Athenian women bartering for their rights. Previews Wednesday and Thursday, opens Friday.

Spring Awakening (Theatre Horizon) This Tony-winning musical vibrates with teenage desire and exuberance in repressive 19th-century Germany. Previews Thursday-May 22, opens May 23.

Cooking With the Calamari Sisters

(Society Hill Playhouse) Mamma Mia! Two guys portray behavior-challenged Italian sisters in a spoof of cooking shows. Through next Sunday.

Dino! (Walnut Street Theatre Independence Studio) Bad weather maroons his band, so Dean Martin turns a Latin Casino appearance into an intimate one-man show. Extended through June 30.

Failure: A Love Story (Azuka Theatre) A whimsical musical fable of one family, time, love and mortality. Through May 26.

The Hound of the Baskervilles (Curio Theatre Company) A "deliberately tatty" makeover of the Sherlock Holmes classic is out to amuse. Through June 1.

Into the Woods (McCarter Theatre) Stephan Sondheim's enchanting tangle of fairy tales spins them further. Through June 2.

It's My Party: The Women and Comedy Project (1812 Productions) After two years of interviews, workshops and research, Jen Childs brings forth this original piece on the role of comedy in women's lives. Through May 19.

Lend Me a Tenor (Act II Playhouse) "Il Stupendo" can't go on as the star of Othello, and turmoil ensues in the search for a replacement. Through June 8.

Mame (Media Theatre) Andrea McArdle is everybody's favorite madcap aunt. Through next Sunday.

The Misanthrope (Quintessence Theatre Group) A slick, sumptuous updating of Molière's satire about a man who practices scathing honesty and demands perfection from an imperfect world. In repertory with Shaw's Arms and the Man. Through next Sunday. - J.R.

Much Ado About Nothing (Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre) Domenick Scudera's brilliant direction elucidates the duality between earnestness and fear, tenderness and the urge for self-preservation in a fresh, exuberant production. Through next Sunday. - J.R.

North of the Boulevard (Theatre Exile) Bruce Graham's courageous new play about a decaying garage in a declining neighborhood is funny, gritty, and deeply troubling. Through next Sunday. - T.Z.

Othello (Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre) This production lasers in on what motivates its fine Iago's malicious actions. Through May 31. - W.R.

Pride and Prejudice (Hedgerow Theatre)The romantic trials of the Misses Bennet, adapted for the stage. Through June 16.

At 2 p.m. Sunday, WRTI (90.1 FM) broadcasts the Philadelphia Orchestra in an April program featuring Jaap van Zweden conducting Tchaikovsky's Souvenir de Florence for string orchestra, and Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5.

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