Arts & Entertainment

An adaptation of the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings, The Descendants protagonist is Matt King, a middle-age Hawaiian who runs a trust responsible for millions of dollars worth of untouched real estate that has been passed down to him and various cousins. He is preparing to sell the area, and make millions for everyone in the trust, when his wife suffers severe head trauma during a boat race. As he attempts to get her affairs in order, he learns that she had been having an affair. With his two daughters in tow, along with his oldest daughter’s doofus boyfriend, Matt sets off to confront the man who made him a cuckold. Director: Alexander Payne. Cast: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Judy Greer, Beau Bridges. Rated: R. Time: 1:55.

A Return to the wild world of Hunter S. Thompson in writer/director Bruce Robinson’s adaptation of the Gonzo journalist’s “lost” autobiographical novel of the same name. Dejected over life in New York City and at bitter odds with the Eisenhower-era conventions of the 1950s, nomadic journalist Paul Kemp flees to Puerto Rico, where he quickly lands a job as a reporter for a San Juan newspaper. Drawing inspiration from author Ernest Hemingway’s popular theory about “The Lost Generation,” the newly liberated journalist develops a taste for rum as he becomes slowly entangled in the lives of American beauty Chenault and her shady husband, Sanderson, a wealthy real-estate developer. Later, as Sanderson’s underhanded business dealings begin to emerge, Kemp’s principles come into focus, and his writing style begins to mature in ways he never dreamed possible. Director: Bruce Robinson. Cast: Johnny Depp, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Rispoli, Amber Heard, Richard Jenkins. Rated: R. Time: 2:00.

This epic World War I drama details the remarkable bond between a man named Albert and his loyal horse, Joey. Adapted from the novel by Michael Morpurgo, War Horse follows the growing friendship between man and beast as Albert trains Joey, and then follows Joey on an incredible journey across the English countryside after the pair are forcibly separated. Along the way, Joey touches the lives of everyone he comes into contact with, including British and German soldiers, as well as a kindly French farmer and his impressionable granddaughter. Later, in no man’s land, Joey’s extraordinary saga winds to a poignant and deeply affecting climax. Director: Steven Spielberg. Cast: Jeremy Irvine, Peter Mullan, Emily Watson, Niels Arestrup, David Thewlis. Rated: PG-13. Time: 2:26.

A discredited journalist and a mysterious computer hacker discover that even the wealthiest families have skeletons in their closets while working to solve the mystery of a 40-year-old murder in this remake of the 2009 Swedish thriller of the same name.

Inspired by late author Stieg Larsson’s successful trilogy of books, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo gets under way as the two leads are briefed in the disappearance of Harriet Vanger, whose uncle suspects she may have been killed by a member of their own family. The deeper they dig for the truth, however, the greater the risk of being buried alive by members of the family, who will go to great lengths to keep their secrets tightly sealed. Director: David Fincher. Cast: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsg√•rd, Steven Berkoff. Rated: R. Time: 1:58.

A young girl named Kristen awakens in a psychiatric hospital after setting a farmhouse ablaze, and finds herself stalked by a malevolent ghost in this psychological shocker. Badly battered and seemingly stricken with amnesia, Kristen forges a fragile friendship with four fellow patients. Her compassionate therapist, Dr. Stringer, works to uncover the source of her mysterious condition. Later, at night, when the lights in her remote ward go dim, Kristen is confronted by an imposing phantom that seems intent on dragging her screaming into the darkness. Eventually, the other girls in the ward begin to vanish, one by one. Kristen becomes convinced that no patient who’s checked in to North Bend Psychiatric Hospital ever comes out alive. Director: John Carpenter. Cast:Amber Heard, Danielle Panabaker, Mamie Gummer, Lyndsy Fonseca, Laura Leigh. Rated: R. Time: 1:28.

Two Danish schoolchildren — one meek and unassertive, the other angry and vengeance-prone — forge a friendship with ugly consequences in this cautionary tale from director Susanne Bier. The story opens with physician Anton, working abroad in a Kenyan hospital, where he’s routinely treating female victims of a psychotic thug known as Big Man.

Anton himself suffers from a dysfunctional home life, given his emotional estrangement from his wife, and his desire to set a positive example for son Elias  — the physician longs to mend both relationships but finds this difficult given his frequent absenteeism. Meanwhile, another family suffers from equally grave issues: Claus and his son, Christian, move from London back to their home country of Denmark; Claus is still reeling from his late wife’s recent death from cancer, and father and son find it more and more difficult to connect with one another. But Christian has much deeper issues than simple filial alienation — an almost pathological addiction to retribution that manifests itself in a knife-wielding attempt to protect new friend Elias from a local bully. Elias and Christian become fast companions, but as they do, it draws out a level of rage in both boys that threatens to culminate in shocking, terroristic levels of violence. Director: Susanne Bier. Cast: Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm, Ulrich Thomsen, Bodil Jorgensen, Elsebeth Steentoft. Rated: R. Time: 1:58.