latimes.com

OPENING FRIDAY

Cloud Atlas

  Maybe if you’re 20 years old and high in your dorm room with your friends, the platitudes presented here might seem profound. Anyone else in his or her right mind should recognize it for what it is: a bloated, pseudo-intellectual, self-indulgent slog through some notions that are really rather facile. Ooh, we’re all interconnected and our souls keep meeting up with each other over the centuries, regardless of race, gender or geography. We’re individual drops of water but we’re all part of the same ocean. That is deep, man. Perhaps it all worked better on the page. ‘‘Cloud Atlas’’ comes from the best-selling novel of the same name by David Mitchell that, in theory, might have seemed unfilmable, encompassing six stories over a span of 500 years and including some primitive dialogue in a far-away future. Sibling directors Lana and Andy Wachowski — who actually have come up with some original, provocative ideas of their own in the ‘‘Matrix’’ movies (well, at least the first one) — working with ‘‘Run Lola Run’’ director Tom Tykwer, have chopped up the various narratives and intercut between them out of order. The A-list actors who comprise the cast (including Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent) play multiple parts across the various stories and in elaborate makeup that’s often laughable. But rather than serving as a satisfying, cohesive device, this strategy feels like a distracting gimmick. (R, 172 minutes)

Chasing Mavericks

  A young surfer (Jonny Weston) enlists the help of a legendary veteran (Gerard Butler) to conquer one of the largest waves on earth. (PG, 116 minutes)

Fun Size

 Josh Schwartz, executive producer of such TV shows as "Gossip Girl," "The O.C." and "Chuck," turns his attention to the kid-friendly genre with this comedy about a teenage girl (Victoria Justice) whose Halloween plans are derailed when she’s tasked to look after her mischievous little brother. (PG-13, 90 minutes)

Silent Hill: Retribution

 Heather Mason (Adelaide Clemens) and her father have been on the run, always one step ahead of dangerous forces that she doesn't fully understand, Now on the eve of her 18th birthday, plagued by horrific nightmares and the disappearance of her father, Heather discovers she's not who she thinks she is. In both 2-D and 3-D. (R, 94 minutes)

2ND WEEK

Paranormal Activity 4

 Mockumentary filmmakers Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman (Catfish) know a thing or two about misdirecting an audience, as they proved again with 2011’s ‘‘Paranormal Activity 3.’’ Together with returning screenwriter Christopher Landon, this time around they seem short on new ideas, however, relying more on the series’ reputation for low-budget thrills to attract audiences. (R, 88 minutes)

— Justin Lowe, Hollywood Reporter

Alex Cross

 James Patterson titled his 12th Alex Cross crime novel simply ‘‘Cross.’’ The filmmakers who adapted it expanded the title to ‘‘Alex Cross.’’ They might as well have gone for broke and called it ‘‘Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Stab at Expanding Her-His Hollywood Marketability as James Patterson’s Alex Cross.’’ Perry’s name will draw his fans in. Patterson’s name will draw his fans in. There’s no trace of Madea in director Rob Cohen’s adaptation, yet the spirit of the sassy grandma inevitably hangs over the project for viewers curious to see Perry playing it straight and dramatic. Alex Cross the man and ‘‘Alex Cross’’ the movie wind up suffering for it. (PG-13, 102 minutes)

3RD WEEK

Sinister R, 110 minutes

4TH WEEK

Taken 2 (PG-13, 92 minutes)

Pitch Perfect (PG-13, 112 minutes)

5TH WEEK

Hotel Transylvania (PG, 91 minutes)

LEAVING TONIGHT

Here Comes the Boom, Argo, Trouble with the Curve.