The Waiting City

By John Mulderig Catholic News Service This poignant yet challenging drama follows an Australian couple (Radha Mitchell and Joel Edgerton) to India, where they hope to finalize their adoption of a baby girl. But the tensions created by bureaucratic delays and other complications - as well as their diametrically opposed reactions to their new environment - reveal the underlying fissures within their marriage. Director Claire McCarthy’s well-crafted exploration of emotional bonds and spiritual horizons pits transcendent values against secular ones. The latter is personified by Mitchell’s buttoned-up, work-obsessed character, though the film blurs the line between the pervasive Hinduism on display and the Catholic faith represented by Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity who staff the orphanage where the infant has been living. Complex religious issues, brief graphic marital lovemaking, abortion theme, at least one use of profanity, a few instances of rough and crude language, and some scatological humor. The Catholic News Service classification is L - limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R - restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Takers

Michael Ealy, Chris Brown, Idris Elba, Hayden Christensen and Paul Walker star in a scene from the movie “Takers.” The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III - adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 - pa rents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.(CNS photo/Sony) By Kurt Jensen Catholic News Service Crime drama that devolves into a cliched exercise in gunfire, explosions and insipid dialogue. Director and co-writer John Luessenhop tells the story of a gang of five skilled thieves (Idris Elba, Paul Walker, Chris Brown, Michael Ealy and Hayden Christensen) joined, on his release from prison, by a former cohort (Tip “T.I.” Harris) with a plan for the highly engineered robbery of an armored truck. Giving chase is a grumpy Los Angeles police detective (Matt Dillon). Constant stylized gun violence, an instance of male rear nudity, and pervasive crude and fleeting profane and crass language. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III - adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 - parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

The Last Exorcism

Ashley Bell, front, Patrick Fabian, left, Louis Herthum and Caleb Landry Jones star in a scene from the movie “The Last Exorcism.” The Catholic News Service classification is L - limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 - parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. (CNS photo/Lionsgate) By John Mulderig Catholic News Service Middling fright fest about an evangelical minister and self-confessed charlatan (Patrick Fabian) who brings a film crew (led by Iris Bahr) along to document his final faked exorcism. But he gets more than he bargained for when the Louisiana farm girl (Ashley Bell) whose father (Louis Herthum) summoned him shows signs of genuine possession. While the gore factor is kept comparatively low in director Daniel Stamm’s gothic outing - which toys cleverly with the modern presumption that all phenomena can be explained scientifically - the preacher’s corrosive cynicism and the occult atmosphere by which he unexpectedly finds himself surrounded make this inappropriate for all but well-grounded and judicious adult viewers. Complex treatment of religion, sacrilegious activity, some gruesome images, at least two uses of profanity, brief sexual talk, and references to incest and homosexuality. The Catholic News Service classification is L - limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 - parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

The American

George Clooney stars in a scene from the movie “The American.” The Catholic News Service classification is L - limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R - restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. (CNS photo/Focus Features) By Joseph McAleer Catholic News Service A professional assassin (George Clooney) flees to Italy in search of healing and a better life, only to discover that it’s hard to shake his past. He falls for the proverbial prostitute with a heart of gold (Violante Placido), and receives moral advice from the flawed but sympathetic local priest (Paolo Bonacelli), but must ultimately find his own way. Although the serious intent of the filmmakers is clear, director Anton Corbijn’s adaptation of Martin Booth’s novel “A Very Private Gentleman” makes for a dark, brooding and lethargic film that features graphic sexuality and an insubstantial treatment of Christian morality, only skirting the implications of its main character’s profoundly sinful situation. Bloody violence including multiple shootings, full-frontal female and partial male nudity, and explicit scenes of nonmarital sex. The Catholic News Service classification is L - limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R - restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Flipped

Israel Broussard and Callan McAulliffe star in a scene from the movie “Flipped.” The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III - adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG - parental guidance suggested. (CNS photo /Warner Bros.) By Joseph McAleer Catholic News Service A heartwarming coming-of-age story, based on the Wendelin Van Draanen novel, that chronicles the relationship of two kids, Juli Baker (Madeline Carroll) and Bryce Loski (Callan McAuliffe), over a six-year period. At 7 years old, Juli has “flipped” over Bryce, but her puppy love is not returned. Amid the ups and downs of their friendship, the film examines family life in baby boom-era suburbia, challenging stereotypes and prejudices with a surprisingly strong pro-life message. As directed by Rob Reiner, everything about “Flipped” feels right and genuine, with a prevailing atmosphere of innocence and sensitivity, making this uplifting film probably acceptable for older teens. A handful of profane and crass expressions and scenes of family discord. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III - adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG - parental guidance suggested.

The Switch

By John Mulderig Catholic News Service Seven years after his unmarried best friend (Jennifer Aniston) conceived a son (Thomas Robinson) by artificial insemination, and left town to raise the boy, a successful but neurotic New York stock trader (Jason Bateman) reconnects with her. Struck by the parallels between his personality and the lad’s, he gradually recollects that, while drunk, he accidentally spilled the intended donor’s (Patrick Wilson) “contribution” down a bathroom sink. Then, in a panic, he substituted his own. The film showcases some of the tangled emotional complications brought about by severing conception from its divinely intended source and setting, the bond of marital love. But co-directors Will Speck and Josh Gordon’s frequently distasteful comedy of modern manners, adapted from Jeffrey Eugenides’ 1996 short story “Baster,” takes as a given of contemporary life its heroine’s right to engineer such a rupture. Lost in the moral confusion are touching scenes of paternal love and a fine comic turn by Jeff Goldblum as Bateman’s perpetually flustered business partner. Benign view of artificial insemination, off-screen masturbation, rear and blurred frontal nudity, much sexual humor, at least one use of the S-word, some crass language. The Catholic News Service classification is O - morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 - parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Vampires Suck

By Kurt Jensen Catholic News Service In this pale, stale and mirthless spoof of the “Twilight” films, Matt Lanter is a tortured vampire and Jenn Proske is the mortal high schooler he loves. Completing the triangle is her friend with werewolf issues played by Chris Riggi. Co-directors and writers Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer find the bottom of the comedy barrel and scrape it mightily with a collection of sight gags strung together to approximate the story arc of the famed teen-vampire franchise. Fleeting profane, crude and crass language, some sexual innuendo. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III - adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 - parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Lottery Ticket

Bow Wow and Loretta Devine star in a scene from the movie “Lottery Ticket.” The Catholic News Service classification is L - limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of Ameri ca rating is PG-13 - parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. (CNS photo/Warner Bros.) By John P. McCarthy Catholic News Service Broad comedy centers on a hardworking, good-natured 18-year-old (rapper Bow Wow) from an Atlanta housing project who wins the lottery but must survive a long holiday weekend before he can collect. He must evade the wiles of a menacing thug (Gbenga Akinnagbe) and a natty crime boss (Mike Epps) with the help of a retired boxer (Ice Cube) for whom he runs errands. Director Erik White’s efforts to bridge materialism and spiritual growth are awkward, and viewers seeking an entertaining and perceptive social satire will be disappointed. Nongraphic nonmarital sexual activity, much profanity, at least one use of the F-word, frequent crude and crass language, numerous sexual and contraception references and some violence. The Catholic News Service classification is L - limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 - parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Nanny McPhee Returns

Lil Woods, Asa Butterfield, Oscar Steer and Emma Thompson, right, star in a scene from the movie “Nanny McPhee Returns.” The Catholic News Service classification is A-I - general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG - paren tal guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children. (CNS photo/Universal) By John Mulderig Catholic News Service The eerie but magically effective matron of the title (Emma Thompson) transports herself to wartime Britain, where she comes to the rescue of a frazzled rural mother (Maggie Gyllenhaal). With her husband (Ewan McGregor) away at the front, she is failing spectacularly to cope with the raucous squabbling between her three children (Asa Butterfield, Lil Woods and Oscar Steer) and a duo of snobbish London cousins (Rosie Taylor-Ritson and Eros Vlahos). The cousins are freshly arrived evacuees whose parents have sent them to the countryside for safety. Further straining mom’s nerves are the efforts of her scheming brother-in-law (Rhys Ifans) to pressure her, for reasons of his own, into signing away the family farm in dad’s absence. As written by Thompson and directed by Susanna White, this second screen adventure based on Christianna Brand’s “Nurse Matilda” series of children’s books tells a sweetly nostalgic tale underpinned by lessons about cooperation, sharing, courage and the need to believe in happy endings, with only some mildly gross barnyard humor and slapstick violence to give parents pause. The Catholic News Service classification is A-I - general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG - parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

Piranha 3D

By John P. McCarthy Catholic News Service In this schlocky horror flick, ultra-decadent spring-break festivities on an Arizona lake turn deadly after seismic activity unleashes prehistoric fish with an appetite for slatternly coeds and the otherwise ethically challenged. The local sheriff (Elisabeth Shue) must try to save her teenage son (Steven R. McQueen) and his two younger siblings (Sage Ryan and Brooklynn Proulx). The predatory fish have nothing on director Alexandre Aja’s voyeuristic camera, which takes as much prurient delight in watching gyrating bodies in party mode as it does in showing them get shredded and dismembered. Intense graphic violence, including a decapitation, numerous severed torsos, and other mutilated and dismembered bodies and body parts; full frontal female nudity; much groping and kissing, some of it same-sex; frequent profane, rough and crude language; repeated scenes of underage drinking; and an instance of drug use. The Catholic News Service classification is O - morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R - restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.