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In this film image released by Warner Bros., Dolly Parton, foreground from left, Keke Palmer and Queen Latifah are shown in a scene from "Joyful Noise." (AP Photo/Warner Bros., Van Redin)

Updated: March 21, 2012 1:35AM

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★★★★ Superior ★★★ Recommended ★★ OK ★ Time-waster
NR Not rated NA Not available

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked ★1/2

The Chipmunks’ father figure, Dave Seville (Jason Lee, looking vaguely hostagelike), takes his diminutive computer-generated friends on a vacation cruise en route to the Grammy-esque International Music Awards, where the Chipmunks and the Chipettes are an eagerly awaited pop sensation. But the antics of Alvin (Justin Long) throw them overboard and they wash up on a deserted island. (G, 87 min.)

Contraband ★★1/2

“Contraband” features Mark Wahlberg as Chris Farraday, a one-time expert smuggler who’s now living a quiet life as a security consultant in the New Orleans suburbs with his hairstylist wife, Kate (Kate Beckinsale), and their two young sons. When Kate’s younger brother (Caleb Landry Jones) botches a run for a volatile local drug dealer (Giovanni Ribisi, tatted, high-pitched and squirrelly) while pulling into the Port of New Orleans, Chris must come out of retirement to make up the loss to this madman. (R, 109 min.)

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close ★★

Tom Hanks plays a dad killed in the World Trade Center attack, leaving behind a troubled young son (Thomas Horn) who sets out to unravel the secret of a mysterious key that his father left behind. The boy’s journey is supposed to be a healing one for him and the people around him (among them Bullock, Max von Sydow, Viola Davis and Jeffrey Wright). The film’s a class act for performances. And as everyone works through their pain, it all sounds so sweet and life-affirming. Yet it feels so extremely soppy and incredibly phony. (PG-13, 129 min.)

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo ★★★ 1/2

To put it bluntly, this movie kicks butt. Rooney Mara, who had a small role in Fincher’s “The Social Network,” gives a controlled detonation of a performance as traumatized victim-turned-avenger Lisbeth Salander. (R, 158 min.)

Joyful Noise ★1/2

Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton co-star as longtime enemies battling for control over a small-town Georgia church choir. Keke Palmer and Jeremy Jordan play teens sharing a forbidden love ... through song. Graff jumps around awkwardly among catfights, performances and surreptitious snuggle sessions between the two young stars. (PG-13, 118 min.)

Pariah ★★★

Adepero Oduye gives a subtly natural performance as Alike, a 17-year-old Brooklyn girl who’s struggling to come out as a lesbian. Her mother hopes arranging a new friendship with a colleague’s daughter, Bina (Aasha Davis), will set Alike down a traditionally straight, female path, but this budding relationship only complicates matters further. (R, 86 min.)

A Separation ★★★1/2

This tale begins as a domestic disagreement in contemporary Iran and morphs into a legal thriller. Middle-class husband and wife Simin (Leila Hatami) and Nader (Peyman Moadi) sit before a judge to explain their dispute. She wants the family to leave Tehran to provide their studious daughter with better educational opportunities. He wants to stay and care for his aging father, who’s suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. When Simin’s divorce request is rejected, she moves out; while the daughter stays. (PG-13, 123 min.)

War Horse ★★

The majestic Joey comes into the lives of a struggling British family just before World War I. The father (Peter Mullan) buys him at auction, even though he knows he cannot afford him; the mother (Emily Watson) insists he return him and get the family’s money back. But plucky teenager Albert (good-looking newcomer Jeremy Irvine) begs to keep him and promises to train him. (PG-13, 146 min.)

We Bought a Zoo ★★1/2

Six months after his wife died of cancer, Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon) is struggling to move on. He’s having trouble dedicating himself to his career as a Los Angeles newspaper columnist and finds himself squabbling with his troublemaking teenage son, Dylan (Colin Ford). Benjamin thinks a change of scenery might help, so he quits his job and moves the family to a rustic, rambling house on 18 acres outside the city. Seems perfect — except for the fact that the land includes an animal park that has fallen into disrepair. (PG, 123 min.)