Openings
“ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD” 
“BRICK LANE” ½
(See review on Page XX)
“SAVAGE GRACE” ½
“GONZO: THE LIFE OF DR. HUNTER S. THOMPSON”
(To be reviewed tomorrow)
Running
“CONSTANTINE'S SWORD” ½
A documentary that speaks provocatively to history. Adapted by author James Carroll from his 2001 book, “Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews: A History,” the film is a dense yet fiercely eloquent examination of how and when Christ's message of peace became perverted into an instrument of war. It pulls a viewer back to see the outlines of state-sponsored religious ideology in our history and our current affairs, and it begs us to consider how dangerously far we've come from Christ's message of love for all mankind. The tone is gentle, but the message is unyielding: “No war is holy.” (Ty Burr, Boston Globe) Unrated; 1 hr., 33 min.
“HANCOCK”
This is a movie with an identity crisis, a stultifying stew cooked to a pulp by seven producers, two credited screenwriters, a director who signed on after a couple of others reportedly dropped out and a Fourth of July holiday box-office superstar. “Hancock” is rated PG-13 and pushes the boundaries with crude language (a certain seven-letter word sends Hancock into a fury) and violence. There'll be “Hancock” fireworks, for sure, at the box office (it is Will Smith, after all). Nevertheless, this superhero saga fizzles. (Lee Grant) Rated PG-13; 1 hr., 32 min.
“KIT KITTREDGE: AN AMERICAN GIRL” ½
Kit Kittredge is a girl who is supposed to show modern-day kids what it was like to live during the Great Depression. But with the economy the way it is, it turns out that girls may not learn from Kit so much as they'll be able to relate to her. Kit is one of those American Girls – a franchise of dolls and storybooks covering different periods in U.S. history. Kit hails from 1934 Cincinnati. Dressed in fabulous period dresses and bobbed hair, Abigail Breslin's expressive eyes and inherent cuteness make it easy to believe that this really could be Kit come to life. The plot, on the other hand, is a bit more far-fetched than the short, realistic storybooks accompanying the collection of dolls. (Nina Garin) Rated G; 1 hr., 40 min.
“THE MOTHER OF TEARS”
The latest horror film from Italian expert Dario Argento indulges both his stylistic flourishes (modern deserted locations, extended tracking shots) and his gruesome fetishes (extreme violence, misogynist sexuality) to tell a story of madness and witchcraft in Rome. The film definitely has its moments – and its huge shocks – but the gore is too sadistically dwelled on, and the ending feels rushed and incomplete. In Italian, with English subtitles. (Stephen Whitty, Newhouse News Service) Unrated; 1 hr., 38 min.
“WALL-E” ½
“Wall-E” gets an “E” for energy, and for entertaining, at times, and for erratic. From the spectacular creative team at Pixar, “Wall-E” has too many moments that'll drive you up, well, the wall. “Wall-E” smacks of creative people in a room playing with toys (and a $180 million budget, according to reports), trying too hard, thinking too much. You admire the work, the edgy animation, the chutzpah, but there's only so much heart you can get into a mechanical contraption. The film is preceded by “Presto” (½), a hilarious short cartoon about a magician who neglects to feed his rabbit and how the bunny gets revenge. It's magical. (Lee Grant) Rated G; 1 hr., 37 min.
“WANTED”
A wild bit of masculine wish-fulfillment, in which wage-slave James McAvoy is plucked from his cubicle and given a new life as an international assassin, with Angelina Jolie on his arm and dastardly villains in his sights. The ultra-violent action sequences unfold like a mad mix of “Fight Club” and “The Matrix.” The movie feels like a hallucination. (Union-Tribune) Rated R; 1 hr., 44 min.
“WAR, INC.”
Not dumb and definitely bold, “War, Inc.” is too shrill and nervous to really hit its political targets effectively. The humor's dominant tone is curdled, when it needs to be wickedly caustic. John Cusack plays Hauser, whose latest assignment is to take out a Middle Eastern oil minister, who wants to build his own pipeline through the fictional Central Asian nation of Turaqistan. “War, Inc.” seems out of control and not in a way that illuminates bungled policies. (Bob Strauss, Los Angeles Daily News) Rated R; 1 hr., 47 min.
