Arts & Entertainment

A handful of curious Brits become fish out of water when they get mixed up in the dream project of an eccentric sheikh in this satirical comedy. Harriet Chetwode-Talbot is a British businesswoman who manages the financial affairs of a wealthy but eccentric Arab named Sheikh Muhammed. Muhammed’s latest proposition involves paying fifty million pounds to fully stock a Yemeni river with salmon, and thus engender sport fishing in the desert region. To better gauge the feasibility of this wild plan, Harriet contacts Dr. Alfred “Fred” Jones, a Scottish scientist who specializes in establishing fisheries. Jones shoots the plan down instantly, but soon Patricia Maxwell, the press secretary to the British prime minister, catches wind of it and sees it as the ideal way to promote better international relations between England and the Middle East, especially in light of the torrent of bad news concerning terrorism and general unrest in the Arabic countries. She does everything she can to turn Jones around. Though the scientist will have no part of it at first, he’s threatened with job termination if he refuses, and then sets out to create a fully stocked lake in the middle of the desert. As Jones takes on a project that ranks somewhere between ridiculous and impossible, he also finds he’s falling in love with Chetwode-Talbot, though the fact that he’s married and she has a boyfriend fighting in the Middle East makes things sticky. Based on the best-selling novel by Paul Torday, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen received its world premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. Director: Lasse Hallström. Cast: Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, Kristin Scott Thomas, Amr Waked, Tom Mison. Rated: PG-13. Time: 1:51.

Based on the bestseller by David Mitchell,  “Cloud Atlas” follows the stories of six people’s “souls” across time.  The six interrelated and interwoven stories take the viewer from the South Pacific in the 19th century to a distant, post-apocalyptic future.  The ambitious film is directed by the triumvirate of Lana and Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer. It stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant and others, playing multiple characters from the past, present and future. Each actor’s characters, however, are all inhabited by the same soul. “Cloud Atlas” has divided critics, some of whom believe it to be a pretentious and manipulative exercise not worth its 103-million-dollar budget, while others have lauded the directors for their sincerity, sensitivity and ground-breaking creativity.  In years to come, “Cloud Atlas” may be talked about in the same breath as “Blade Runner” or “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Running time: 172 minutes. Rated: R.

A coming-of-age film based on the 1999 novel of the same name, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is not your typical U.S. high-school movie. Charlie (Logan Lerman) starts out as the archetypal freshman loner, but when he meets Patrick (Ezra Miller) and Sam (Emma Watson) he begins to find himself. Avoiding genre cliches, director and author Stephen Chbosky employs a great alternative indie soundtrack and touches on serious issues ranging from love and friendship to suicide and sexual abuse. Watson gives a mature performance suggesting her post-Harry Potter career will be a bright one. 102 minutes.

Yann Martel’s ponderous adventure novel gets the big-screen treatment with this Fox 2000 adaptation. The coming-of-age story surrounds the son of a zookeeper who survives a shipwreck by stowing away on a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena, and a Bengal tiger by the name of Richard Parker. Director: Ang Lee. Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irfan Khan, Tabu, Rafe Spall, Gérard Depardieu. Rated: PG. Time: 2:05.

Bilbo Baggins joins Gandalf and a band of dwarves on a treacherous quest to a distant mountain in this epic fantasy adventure adapted from J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved novel by the creative forces behind the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Director: Peter Jackson. Cast: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Graham McTavish. Rated: PG-13. Time: 2:49.

An aging baseball scout with failing sight hits the road with his estranged daughter to pursue a promising young ballplayer, and they learn just how much they have in common as they make their way from Georgia to North Carolina. For decades, Gus Lobel has been one of the best scouts in Major League Baseball. But these days his eyes just aren’t what they used to be, and as a phenomenal young batter enters the draft, the owners of the Atlanta Braves cast a shadow of doubt over Gus’ judgment. Meanwhile, his daughter Mickey is an aspiring partner at a major Atlanta law firm. In the wake of his wife’s death, Gus sent Mickey away, and their relationship has been strained ever since. But she knows a thing or two about baseball, and recognizing that her father’s job is in jeopardy, she decides to help him — even at the risk of derailing her own career. Now, throwing caution to the wind (and ignoring her gruff father’s objections), Mickey joins Gus for a scouting trip that could keep him in the game until he’s ready to retire, as well as repair a father/daughter relationship that once seemed all but lost. Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, Robert Patrick, and Matthew Lillard co-star. Director: Robert Lorenz. Cast: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, Robert Patrick, Matthew Lillard. Rate: PG-13. Time: 1:31.