Watch out, Tom Hanks! A papal agent is out to get you for starring in The Da Vinci Code sequel, Angels & Demons (See Opening)

Weekly Film Listings - May 14-20

OPENING

Angels & Demons -(Capitol/SilverCity/Uni 4/Caprice/Star, Fri.-Sat. 7:30, Sun.-Wed., 7:00, Sat.-Mon. 1:30) Combining apocalyptic antimatter and a vengeful secret sect known as the Illuminati, this sequel to the wildly lucrative Da Vinci Code is likely to be devilishly successful at the box office. Starring Tom Hanks, who once again penetrates religious secrets to unearth all-too-human (and nasty) truths. Starts Thurs.

★★½ Lymelife -(Roxy, 7:15; Sat.-Sun., 2:00) Rory Culkin stars in a coming-of-age story that is set in the ‘70s and explores, rather derivatively, the moral rot hiding behind the happy face of America’s suburbs. Starts Fri. See review.

★★ Mamma Mia! - (Star, Fri.-Sat., 7:00, Sun.-Mon., 2:00) Everyone's favourite, ABBA-based musical returns. Weirdly edited and cheesier than feta pie, this is last year's funnest bad movie.

★★★ Sunshine Cleaning - (Star, Fri.- Sat., 9:15, Sun.-Tues., 7:15) Amy Adams and Emily Blunt star in a contrivedly quirky but still effective drama about two semi-estranged and dysfunctional sisters who discover an odd chance to reconcile. With Oscar winner Alan Arkin.

★★★ The Pool - (Odeon) An American director went to India to film this low-key tale of an illiterate 18-year-old who gets involved in the lives of a wealthy family. Starts Fri. See review.

Terminator: Salvation - (Capitol) Can McG (Charlie's Angels) and YouTube potty-mouth Christian Bale reboot the fourth in this increasingly tired series? Hardcore fans can find out at this Wednesday midnight screening before it opens widely next week.

CONTINUING

★★¾ Earth - (SilverCity) This big-screen version of the TV show Planet Earth follows several animal families on their annual migration. The visuals are great, but the kitschy narration is nearly unbearable. Basically, IMAX—with a bigger screen and smaller storyline—is the primo way to get your animal groove on.

★½ Ghosts of Girlfriends Past - (Odeon/SilverCity) The increasingly shallow Matthew McConaughey is well cast as a Lothario who is visited by Christmas Carol-style ghosts who torment him with visions of his childhood sweetheart’s marriage. This is malignant sludge, alternately vulgar and sentimental. Costarring Jennifer Garner and Michael Douglas.

★★¾ I Love You, Man - (Roxy, 9:15; Sat.-Sun., 3:40) This genial “bromantic comedy” stars Paul Rudd as an about-to-be-married guy whose efforts to find a best man for his wedding eventually alienates his fiancee. Note: moves here Fri.

★★★¼ Monsters vs. Aliens - (Capitol/SilverCity) It’s not a classic, but this 3D extravaganza—featuring some cuddly “monsters” that get hauled out of lock-up in order to do battle with a space invader—is fast and funny. With the vocal talents of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Keifer Sutherland and Stephen Colbert.

Mothers & Daughters - (Capitol) Vancouver filmmaker Carl Bessai explores the complicated lives of six modern women.

★★½ Obsessed - (Capitol) A successful, happily married businessman finds his life turned upside down after he starts getting stalked by a pretty secretary who briefly temped for him. This is a glossy, paint-by-numbers thriller of the Fatal Attraction school.

17 Again - (Capitol/SilverCity) Not this again! Once more, we get to watch a guy suffering from a mid-life crisis who magically returns to high school to get a second chance at trying not to grow up as a loser.

★★★¼ The Soloist - (Capitol/Uni 4) This true story features an L.A. journalist (Robert Downey Jr., predictably witty and brilliant) who loses all his objectivity when he begins to profile a mentally ill street person (Jamie Foxx) who used to be a brilliant cellist from Juilliard. Far from the predictable “uplifting” story you’d expect from Hollywood, and directed with elegance (albeit sometimes too studied and poetical) by Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride & Prejudice).

★★★★ Star Trek -(Odeon/SilverCity/Uni 4/Caprice) Another “origins” flick, this one showing us younger versions of James Kirk, Spock, and all the other inter-galactic icons who call the USS Enterprise home. Directed by J.J. Abrams (Lost) with humour, pace and a rollicking sense of style: it’s the Magic Flute of space operas!

★★★ State of Play - (Odeon) Based on an acclaimed BBC miniseries, this political thriller follows a pair of reporters competing with the police to discover who murdered a congressman’s mistress—and why. The great cast includes Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren and Ben Affleck.

★★★ X-Men Origins: Wolverine - (Odeon/SilverCity/Uni 4/Caprice) The great Hugh Jackman gets a lot of screen time in which to slash with his claws and do other anti-social stuff with a host of other mean-minded mutants.

SCREENINGS

In The New World - Rick Raxlen's latest art-driven animation-based film, 7pm THURSDAY at Martin Batchelor Gallery, 712 Cormorant. By donation.

Annie Pootoogook - An intimate video portrait at the drawing process of this contemporary Inuit artist, 7:30 pm THURSDAY at the AGGV, 1040 Moss. Regular admission rates.

Diana Krall Live in Rio - A one-night-only concert screening by the Island’s favourite piano sensation, 7 pm WEDNESDAY at SilverCity.

Movie Monday - screens Shooting Indians : A Journey with Jeffrey Thomas. Movie Monday concludes its three-day salute to Asian Heritage Month with this intriguing appraisal of the legacy of famed photographer Edward S. Curtis as seen through the eyes of a contemporary aboriginal cameraman. Showtimes are 6:30 pm MONDAYS. 2326 Trent. By donation. 595-FLIC. moviemonday.ca

LEAVING THURSDAY

★★¾ Fighting - (Capitol)

★★½ Hannah Montana: The Movie - (SilverCity)

★★★★ Hunger - (Odeon)

★★¾ I Love You, Man - (Odeon)

★★¾ Two Lovers - (Capitol)

IMAX

Cosmic Voyage - (10am, 4:00, 8:00) Let IMAX take you on an inter-galactic voyage to the farthest reaches of our mysterious, beautiful universe.

★★ Extreme - (1:00, 8:00) The latest on the ultimate big screen features radical athletes who like to risk death by surfing 45-foot waves, skiing down near-vertical slopes, and climbing frozen waterfalls. Nice visuals, but this is a loosely stitched together grab-bag of amazing adrenaline junkies whose narration about why they do what they do varies from modestly philosophical to pseudo-mystical blather.

Journey to Mecca -(11am, 2:00, 5:00, 7:00) Both historical and present-day Muslim are depicted undertaking the Hajj, an annual pilgrimmage to Mecca that is the largest religious ritual of its kind in the world.

★★★½ Ocean Oasis - (noon, 3:00, 6:00) This film takes you swimming with dolphins and manta rays in Mexico’s Sea of Cortes, then goes soaring above the nearby tropical desert of the Baja. This is a lyrical immersion into a special part of the natural world.

CINECENTA

Cinecenta at UVic screens its films in the Student Union Building. Tickets are available 40 minutes prior to showtime. Info: 721-8365. cinecenta.com

Trouble the Water -(Wed.-Thurs., May 13-14: 7:10, 9:00) This “redemptive tale of self-described street hustlers who become heroes” is an insider’s look at the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina—and the equally devastating lack of response by the federal government.

★★½ The International - (Fri.-Sat., May 15-16: 7:00, 9:20) Clive Owen and Naomi Watts star in a none-too-interesting thriller about a supercop from Interpol determined to bring down a superbank that regularly commits murder to protect its lucrative blackmarket business in gunrunning and money laundering.

12 -(Sun.-Mon., May 17-18: 7:00 only) This Oscar-nominated Russian film is an exuberant reworking of the famous jury-deliberation drama, 12 Angry Men.

★★★¼ Che, Part 1 -(Tues.-Thurs., May 19-21: 7:00, 9:30) Based on the account written by Che Guevara, this is the first half of Steven Soderbergh’s scattershot and documentary-seeming account of the Argentine asthmatic who joined forces with Fidel Castro to start the Cuban Revolution back in the late ‘50s.