Muppets Most Wanted:

As a great Muppets fan, I wanted to love this movie, a sequel of sorts to 2011’s The Muppets in that Jason Segel doesn’t return, but is referred to obliquely.  Otherwise, this film stands on its own … or maybe it slumps just a bit.  Ricky Gervais stars h   er as the appropriately-named “Dominic Badguy” who, despite his helpful intentions during the Muppets world tour, is actually using them, and Kermit specifically, to aid in a huge jewel heist.  A Kermit look-alike with a Russian accent is sprung from the Siberian gulag and is replaced by Kermie … flawed, but still fun. Rated G.

The Railway Man:  

Colin Firth is excellent in this based-on-fact movie about Eric Lomax, a long-retired British Army officer who learns, after many, many years, that the Japanese soldier who tortured and cruelly treated him in an internment camp is still alive, and he decides that he will track him down and make him pay.  Forced to build what would become known as the Bridge on the River Kwai, he feels justified in getting even.  Nicole Kidman co-stars in this story that got a standing ovation from the audience when it debuted at the Toronto Film Festival last year.  Despite its thorny subject matter, the underlying theme is one of forgiveness. Rated 14A.   

Locke:

Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight) is outstanding in this one-man show about a successful construction supervisor driving his BMW to London one night, taking a series of phone calls each of which reveals a little more about a crisis that threatens everything he is, everything he has.  No one else is on camera for the duration of the film, but don’t let that make you think it’s going to be  slow-moving or tension-free.  And exceptional movie that has been  flying under the radar since its release.  Rated 14A.

What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012):

Inspired by, but not based on, the best-selling book by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel, be prepared for the difference if you think you're getting a guide to pregnancy from the first confirmation, to the delivery - that's what the book did, in a Q & A format.  The movie has had the Hollywood treatment and looks at the interconnected lives of five couples, all of which approach pregnancy in a different fashion.  We have a world-travelling couple who think that a baby may disrupt their lifestyles and their relationship, and committed couple who thought they couldn't conceive, but get surprised, and a dance star who never factored a pregnancy into her plans.  Big cast with Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Dennis Quaid, Chris Rock, and Matthew Morrison among others.  Rated 14A.

A Christmas Story 2 (2012):  

The only similarity between this direct-to-DVD sequel to a Holiday classic which took 29 years to show up, are the names of the main characters.  Darren McGavin was the dad in the original, Melinda Dillon played the mom (you'll put your eye out!) and Peter Billingsley played Ralphie, who wanted nothing more than a Daisy Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas.  McGavin passed away in 2006, Melinda Dillon is 75 years old now and hasn't acted on film since 2007, and Peter Billingsley is an adult and a successful movie producer (Iron Man, The Break Up) which means we get an entirely different cast, and a Ralph (Braeden Lemasters) who is a teenager with an eye on his first car.  Other than the title, there is no real similarity to the original film, none of the charm, and none of the originality.  Rated PG.