In Theaters Now: X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Limits of Control, Battle for Terra & More

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
directed by Gavin Hood
Hugh Jackman, fresh off of a successful hosting job at the Academy Awards, will play Wolverine, everyone’s favorite antihero X-Man, in this prequel to the X-Men trilogy of films. Fans of the films and comics are highly anticipating the movie, which promises a darker look into what makes Wolverine tick, and how he became the controversial hero that he’s known as today after his entry into the Weapons X program. Also starring a jacked-up Liev Schreiber (who put on 40 pounds of muscle for the movie) as Victor Creed/Sabretooth—Wolverine’s half-brother-turned-sworn-enemy—and Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson/Deadpool, Origins should easily live up to the three prior X-Men films, if not significantly overshadow them. It also doesn’t hurt that the film is backed by an exceptional group of moviemakers, including director Hood (Rendition) and writer David Benioff (The Kite Runner).

The Limits of Control
directed by Jim Jarmusch
The Limits of Control is legendary indie writer-director Jim Jarmusch’s (Stranger than Paradise, Broken Flowers) new feature, and it looks like it will not disappoint. The movie was shot in various locations throughout Spain by critically acclaimed cinematographer Christopher Doyle (Hero, Paranoid Park) and tells the story of a mysterious criminal on a journey through Spain while he tries to complete some type of unknown job. The trailer is vague but quite captivating, and the film features an uncommonly talented cast including Jarmusch-film regular Isaach De Bankole, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton and John Hurt. Though the movie will have a limited theatrical release, I would recommend finding the nearest theater showing The Limits of Control and getting yourself over there for what looks to be a truly unique moviegoing experience.  

Battle for Terra
directed by Aristomenis Tsirbas
After directing a number of acclaimed shorts and a successful video game, writer-director Aristomenis Tsirbas makes his jump into full feature CG-animation film with Battle for Terra. This film tells the unique story of a space explorer who crashes on planet Terra and realizes he has to stop his fellow humans from invading the peaceful planet although Earth has become almost uninhabitable due to the humans; environmental destruction (hmmm… I wonder if Tsirbas is trying to say something here). Terra has already garnered an impressive amount of praise and film festival awards due to its relevant and thought-provoking themes and star-studded cast, including Evan Rachel Wood, Luke Wilson, Justin Long and Brian Cox to name a few. Battle for Terra and its small production company, Snoot Entertainment, are out to prove that Pixar and DreamWorks aren’t the only names in the animation game, and it looks like they just may succeed.

Ghost of Girlfriends Past
directed by Mark Waters
Has anyone ever been reading or watching A Christmas Carol and thought, “You know what would be great? A romantic-comedy version of this starring Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner?” Me neither. But apparently writers Scott Moore (Four Christmases) and Dan Epstein (Dan in Real Life) were, because that’s exactly what we’re getting with Ghost of Girlfriends Past. McConaughey takes on the role of the womanizer (surprise, surprise) who encounters the ghosts of his girlfriends past (Emma Stone), present (Noureen DeWulf) and future (Amanda Walsh) at his younger brother’s wedding. So if you’re looking for another predictable romantic-comedy—or maybe just looking to get another glimpse of McConaughey’s abs—then this is the movie for you.