"Savages" (R, 130 minutes, Universal): A candy-colored black valentine to titillation, garish brutality and groovy post-fin-de-siecle excess, this ode to cinema's most exploitative pleasures finds Oliver Stone chronicling America's dark side at its most sun-kissed. As protagonist O (Blake Lively) explains in the detached, So-Cal voice-over that threads through the film, she has been living in a blissed-out menage a trois in Laguna Beach with Chon and Ben, marijuana dealers who grow the the best product in the country. When they come into the sights of a Mexican cartel, O is kidnapped and they become embroiled in a battle.
"Brave" (PG, 93 minutes, Disney): Declaring early that she will be nobody's queen but her own, Merida, the flame-tressed Scottish princess at the heart of this she-ro's quest, is completely on trend within a spate of revisionist fairy tales. After dispatching her suitors at an archery competition, Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald) embarks on an adventure that pivots around the fractured relationship with her mom. As refreshing as it is to see family dynamics, rather than romance, define the fulcrum of the story, the tale that unfolds isn't the most sophisticated.
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"2 Days in New York" (R, 91 minutes, Magnolia Home Entertainment): French actress Julie Delpy starred as New York-based French photographer Marion in the 2007 "2 Days in Paris," in which she takes boyfriend Jack on a disastrous sojourn to France to meet her family. Take "2 Days in Paris," swap Goldberg for Chris Rock, corral the whole clan in New York and you've essentially got the formula for a manic and funny sequel. The film brings Marion's family to Manhattan, where she lives with her new boyfriend, talk show host Mingus (Rock), Mingus' daughter and Marion's son from her relationship with Jack.
"The Watch" (R, 102 minutes, Fox): The premise of the movie is so goofy, the performances so winningly wacky, that a willing suspension of disbelief has rarely been easier. As "The Watch" opens, Evan (Ben Stiller) explains in a voice-over why he's so happy in the suburban idyll of Glenview, Ohio - where he lives with his pretty wife, Abby (Rosemarie DeWitt), manages a nearby Costco and pursues a devotion on civic engagement that borders on the obsessive. When one of his night watchmen is gruesomely killed on the job, Evan immediately organizes a group to prevent further attacks. Soon, Evan is joined by Bob (Vince Vaughn), Franklin (Jonah Hill) and Jamarcus (Richard Ayoade) in a bumbling series of encounters with an unseen, green-goo-spewing foe.
"The Queen of Versailles" (PG, 100 minutes, Magnolia Home Entertainment): Time-share entrepreneur and one-time billionaire David Siegel and his flamboyant wife, Jackie, form the spellbinding center of this Lauren Greenfield documentary. The film began as a chronicle of their profligate nouveau-riche lifestyle and their construction of America's largest home - a 90,000-square-foot pile near Orlando, Fla,. unironically called Versailles. But as Greenfield was filming David (age 74 in the film), Jackie (30 years his junior) and their sprawling family of eight children, devoted staff, countless animals and myriad friends and hangers-on, the financial meltdown intervened.
