300: Rise of an Empire:  

Although Gerard Butler’s Leonidas character from the first “300” movie is nowhere to be found, his influence is everywhere.  Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), after defeating the 300 marches on Athens the other city states as Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) forms a wary alliance with Sparta to go up against the might forces that would overrun all that the Greeks hold dear.  All CGI, lots of slo-mo blood flowing, and a good sequel for those who liked the original.  Lena Heady (Game of Thrones) is back as Queen Gorgo. Rated 18A.

Winter’s Tale:   

This fantasy-drama got no respect from the critics, and none from the box office, which is a shame as it is an amazing love story with some fantastic and wondrous twists.  Colin Farrell stars as a burglar who robs a high-end New York dwelling, but finds that it is not empty as he thought.  Home alone is a beautiful woman (Jessica Brown Finlay) who is terminally ill.  They develop a relationship which turns out to be one that spans the ages.  Reincarnation comes into play, a flying horse comes in on gossamer wings, and the story is truly a delight.  Sorry that it got a bad rap!  Rated 14A.   

Repentance:

Tom Carter (Anthony Mackie) is a personal coach who  helps people realize their full potential, which seems like a pretty good gig … until one of his clients, a man who turns out to be deranged and delusional, Angel Sanchez (Forrest Whitaker) decided to abduct him.  Once in Angel’s clutches, Tom sees a horrific series of events unfold that has his kidnapper determined to bring retribution to all of Tom’s family, and everyone that is important to him.  An odd film, small budget, but interesting character study. Rated 14A.

His Girl Friday (1940):

For those who like classic films, this one is a sheer delight.  Cary Grant is Walter, a hard-bitten editor of the New York Post.  He is surprised by a visit in his office from Hildy (Rosalind Russell) his star reporter, also his wife.  She informs him that she’s quitting, that she has applied for, and been granted, a Reno divorce, and she is leaving the paper and Walter forever.  He doesn’t want to lose her although he admits to having been a very bad husband … and he doesn’t want to lose his ace reported either.  They truly don’t make them like this anymore! Rated  PG.

Chernobyl Diaries (2012):  

A no-name cast sets out on a visit to Russia, with a wedding in Moscow the main event for the American tourists … who decide, on running into an iffy tour guide named Uri, that they will make a side trip to Chernobyl, just to take pictures and see what’s left of the nuclear reactor that melted down decades earlier.  Uri says he can’t get them right to Chernobyl because the radiation levels are too high, but that he can get them close.  A day of sightseeing goes bad when they find their van disabled … and they find that they are not alone! Rated 18A.