Arts & Entertainment

A a touching tale of race relations based on author Kathryn Stockett’s best-selling novel of the same name. Skeeter, a 1960s-era Mississippi debutante, has just graduated from college and she’s eager to launch her career as a writer. She sends her community into an uproar by conducting a series of probing interviews with the black servants behind some of her community’s most prominent families. Director: Tate Taylor. Cast: (Oscar winner) Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia L. Spencer, Jessica Chastain. Rated: PG-13. Time: 2:26.

A tense adventure thriller about a group of tough-as-nails oil rig workers who must fight for their lives in the Alaskan wilderness after their airplane crashes miles from civilization. With supplies running short and hungry wolves closing in, the shaken survivors face a fate worse than death if they don’t act fast. Director: Joe Carnahan. Cast: Liam Neeson, Frank Grillo, Dermot Mulroney, Dallas Roberts, Joe Anderson. Rated: R. Time: 1:26.

Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic tale of interplanetary adventure arrives on the big screen in this sweeping sci-fi spectacle. Civil War veteran John Carter was still haunted by the violence he witnessed on the battlefield when he inexplicably awoke on the distant planet of Barsoom (Mars). Upon learning that the inhabitants of Barsoom are bracing for a major conflict and that war appears inevitable, John finds out that love is a rare commodity on the Red Planet, and summons the courage to be the hero the Martians have been hoping for. Meanwhile, John falls under the spell of the enchanting Dejah Thoris, who struggles to suppress her compassion in a society known for its warlike ways. Director: Andrew Stanton. Cast: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Willem Dafoe, Thomas Haden Church. Rated: PG-13. Time: 2:12.

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.