Arts & Entertainment

Inspired by Los Angeles Times writer Leslie Gornstein’s article “A Jinx in a Box,” this film tells the tale of a broken family that comes under attack from a malevolent supernatural entity of Jewish folklore. Director: Ole Bornedal. Cast: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick, Natasha Calis, Madison Davenport, Matisyahu. Rated: PG-13. Time: 1:31.

This fact-based docudrama centers on the nightmarish experiences of an Iraqi army lieutenant whose life became a living hell after he was hand-selected to be a “fiday” (body double) for Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s ruthless son Uday in Baghdad, 1987. Director: Lee Tamahori. Cast: Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier, Raad Rawi, Philip Quast, Mimoun Oaissa. Rated R. Time: 1:48.

A famed author and noted skeptic attempts to debunk a haunting at a prestigious London prep school, and encounters a supernatural force that seems beyond human comprehension in this creepy gothic chiller set in England, 1921. Director: Nick Murphy. Cast: Rebecca Hall, Dominic West, Imelda Staunton, Shaun Dooley, Joseph Mawle. Rated: R. Time: 1:47.

Although Jason Bourne never shows in this fourth installment of the Bourne series, the action of this film runs alongside that of the third, The Bourne Ultimatum, in which agent Bourne goes rogue after a journalist is shot dead while working on a sensational story about sinister CIA operations, including experiments in neuro-pharmacology, creating a team of genetically modified super-agents.

One of Jason’s fellow covert warriors is Aaron Cross, who has to go on the run when intelligence chief Eric Byer, decides that the compromised project has to be shut down and every single agent ruthlessly rubbed out. So Cross takes off, gallantly taking with him the beautiful and bewildered government scientist Dr. Marta Shearing who has also been earmarked for termination with extreme prejudice. A very long chase scene keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Director: Tony Gilroy. Cast: Jeremy Renner, Edward Norton, Rachel Weisz, Joan Allen, Albert Finney. Rated: PG-13. Time: 2:15.

The Expendables return with a vengeance. This time, Barney Ross and his merry band of mercenaries take on a mission from Mr. Church to clear Ross’ record. The mission in question involves acquiring a black box from a downed airplane, with the caveat that they bring along Maggie, a military-trained soldier who throws a gendered wrench into the team’s manly ranks. When another mercenary, Jean Vilain, ambushes the team and messes up their newest member, it’s hunt and kill time for the Expendables. Director: Simon West. Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris. Rated: R. Time: 1:43.

Originally adapted by director Paul Verhoeven in 1990, author Philip K. Dick’s classic sci-fi short story We Can Remember It for You Wholesale returns to the big screen in this remake starring Colin Farrell, Bryan Cranston, and Kate Beckinsale, and directed by Underworld’s Len Wiseman. The planet has been decimated by nuclear war in the late 21st century, leaving only two nations — the United Federation of Britain and the Colony. Douglas Quaid (Farrell) is a factory worker with a stable job and a loving wife (Beckinsale), but upon learning that a company named Rekall could grant him the memory of the ultimate espionage adventure, he decides that a virtual vacation is better than no vacation at all. But in the midst of having the new memories implanted, something goes haywire. Still strapped to the chair as the system breaks down, he’s branded a spy as the authorities close in, and quickly flees for his life. Later, Quaid discovers that he has a secret identity, and he joins forces with rebel soldier Melina (Jessica Biel) on a mission to track down Matthias (Bill Nighy), the head of a fierce resistance movement that’s been labeled a terrorist organization by the tyrannical Chancellor Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston). Cohaagen seeks to control the entire free world, and now the harder Quaid fights to defeat him, the clearer it becomes that his memory had been altered long before he walked into Rekall. Director: Len Wiseman. Cast: Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Bryan Cranston, Bokeem Woodbine. Rated: PG-13. Time: 1:49.