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BRAVE

Grant Park, Kildonan Place, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. PG

Pixar Animation turns its high technology to the service of an old-fashioned adventure about a Scottish princess whose rebellion against an arranged marriage results in a perilous, magic-infused mission. In so doing, Brave bravely steps away from that kind of boys-and-their-toys material of Pixar's past in favour of material that is more nuanced, more beautiful, and decidedly more feminine in its perspective. HHHH

Starting today

PUPPET

Cinematheque. Subject to classification.

This documentary looks at the history of puppetry through the work of master puppeteer Dan Hurlin as he creates a new theatrical work about the last days of a Depression-era photographer.

Starting tomorrow

MAGIC MIKE

St. Vital, Grant Park, Polo Park, Towne. 14A

Channing Tatum collaborates with director Steven Soderbergh on a story of male strippers inspired by Tatum's own experiences as an exotic dancer when he was 19.

PEOPLE LIKE US

Globe, Grant Park, Polo Park PG

While putting his deceased father's estate in order, a fast-talking salesman (Chris Pine) is forced to re-evaluate his life when he discovers he has a 30-year-old sister (Elizabeth Banks) he's never known.

TED

Grant Park, Kildonan Place, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. 18A

A grown man (Mark Wahlberg) maintains a relationship with his teddy bear, albeit a raunchy, foul-mouthed teddy bear, in this comedy from Seth MacFarlane, co-starring Mila Kunis.

TAKE THIS WALTZ

Grant Park

A happily but complacently married woman (Michelle Williams) tests the waters of infidelity when she discovers the cute guy (Luke Kirby) she recently met -- and had instant and intense chemistry with -- is her neighbour in this drama-comedy, directed by Sarah Polley.

The AMAZING SPIDER-MAN

Polo Park, Grant Park, Towne (opens July 2), Kildonan Place (8 p.m. on July 2 only), St. Vital (July 3)

The Amazing Spider-Man is the story of Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field).

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The following movies have been previously reviewed by Free Press movie critic Randall King, unless otherwise noted.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER

Grant Park, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. 18A

Those four words of the title, strung together in that order, sound like a lot of fun, don't they? The ridiculous premise should have provided the basis for a free-wheeling, campy good time, but the filmmakers take this concept entirely too seriously. What ideally might have been playful and knowing is instead uptight and dreary, with a visual scheme that's so fake and cartoony, it depletes the film of any sense of danger. HH (Reviewed by Christy Lemire)

THE AVENGERS

Kildonan Place, Polo Park PG

Superhero franchises, assemble! This witty, thrilling comic book movie from writer-director Joss Whedon elegantly combines four existing Marvel movie franchises -- Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans) and The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) -- for an action spectacle that still manages to be smart and savvy. HHHH

BERNIE

Globe. PG

Jack Black gives a delicate and winning performance as Bernie Tiede, a real-life mortician in Carthage, Texas, who commits a terrible crime but is forgiven because everyone loves him. Using actors and real-life townspeople, director Richard Linklater creates a dark and eerily comic piece of the American mosaic. HHH1/2 (Reviewed by Jay Stone)

THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL

Grant Park, PG

The cream of elder English actors (Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson) play retirees who travel to India to take up residence in what they believe is a newly restored hotel, only to discover their new home is less luxurious than advertised. This movie would have been little more than an episode of Fantasy Island with English accents, but thanks to great detail work from the cast and a gentle hand from director John Madden, Marigold Hotel proves you're never too old to bloom. HHH (Reviewed by Katherine Monk)

MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE'S MOST WANTED

Kildonan Place, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. G

An animated film that's vertiginous, explosive, ridiculous, frantic, and anti-Canadian (they joke about our "worth ethic.") Inspired 3D and non-stop silliness make this the most fun you can have at the movies so far this summer. HHHH (Reviewed by Jay Stone)

MEN IN BLACK 3

Kildonan Place, Polo Park, PG

Will Smith rejoins the summer movie circus in this franchise entry featuring a time travel plot, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin as a much younger, '60s-era Tommy Lee Jones. It may come in 3D, but this is very much the same eccentric, wide-angle approach as the previous entries, with the added value of Brolin's comic flare in a deft impersonation of Jones. HHH

MOONRISE KINGDOM

Polo Park. PG

Wes Anderson's latest follows a pair of young teen runaways (Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman) in love, tracing the ripples of their blossoming, forbidden love affair among a scout leader (Edward Norton), a lonesome lawman (Bruce Willis) and the girl's bickering lawyer parents (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand). In the foreground, the movie is a celebration of youthful passion and purpose, but the adults in the cast offering a wistful, sad forecast of estrangement, doubt and compromise to come. HHHH

PROMETHEUS

Grant Park, Polo Park, Polo Park IMAX, Towne, St. Vital, 14A

Director Ridley Scott returns to the sci-fi realm that put him on the map, culture-wise, with this prequel to Alien in which a space crew (including Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron and Michael Fassbender) travel to a distant planet that promises to explain the source of humanity. It may lack Alien's primal terror and no-frills narrative, but it is weirdly rich in biblical imagery and tantalizing subtext, enough to justify a second viewing. HHHH

ROCK OF AGES

Towne, PG

The Broadway jukebox musical plays the rock anthem hits of the '80s against a backdrop of a tawdry, near-bankrupt club where rock god Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise) has scheduled his band's last gig and a couple of young musicians (Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta) are falling in love. Rock of Ages is not so much an organic movie musical but a calculated two-pronged effort to grab a demographic of middle-aged former metalheads and Glee fans. Yet Cruise brings his star quality to bear on the dissipated rock god. HH1/2

SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLD

Polo Park. 14A

With a cataclysmic event about to take place, an unlucky-in-love guy (Steve Carrell) decides to track down the love of his life with an assist from a weird neighbour (Keira Knightley). There are touches of laziness in the script, but in the end, the movie redeems itself with some ironically uplifting moments. Seeking a Friend isn't a film you'd begrudge for stealing 100 minutes of that time, no matter how precious. HHHH (Reviewed by Chris Knight)

SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN

Polo Park, St. Vital, PG

The storybook heroine Snow White (Kristen Stewart) gets made over as a kick-ass warrior princess taking arms against an evil queen (Charlize Theron) with the aid of the huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) who has been assigned the task of killing her. The somber Lord of the Rings-meets-The Brothers Grimm tone is preferable to earlier ninny burlesque Mirror Mirror, but the pace is cumbersome and Kristen Stewart lacks both the classical beauty and the gravitas to qualify as the fairest of them all ... although we might accept her as the fairest of the mall. HHH

THAT'S MY BOY

Kildonan Place, Polo Park, Towne. 18A

Adam Sandler's new movie is a gross-out comedy of witless penis and poop jokes that nonetheless seems to delight his fans. He plays a wasted man who had a son from an affair with his junior high teacher and now wants to reunite with him. The idea of child abuse is just one of the gags. H (Reviewed by Jay Stone)

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 28, 2012 E15