Kam Williams Reviews Movies Opening Dec. 18, 2015

BIG BUDGET FILMS

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip (PG for mile rude humor) Fourth installment in the animated/live action series finds Alvin (Justin Long), Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler) and Theodore (Jesse McCartney) hatching a plan to sabotage their adoptive dad's (Jason Lee) plans to marry a woman (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) they've mistakenly assumed would make a mean stepmother. With Kaley Cuoco, Anna Faris and Bella Thorne.

Sisters (R for drug use, and pervasive profanity and crude sexuality) Sibling rivalry comedy about two sisters, one promiscuous (Tina Fey), one prudish (Amy Poehler), who throw a wild party in their childhood home after their parents put the house on the market. Ensemble includes Maya Rudolph, Kate McKinnon, John Leguizamo, James Brolin and John Cena.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (PG-13 for violence) Director J.J. Abrams assumes the reigns of the franchise for the inaugural adventure of a trilogy unfolding three decades after Return of the Jedi. This installment finds Hans Solo (Harrison Ford) and company squaring off against new nemesis Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and his army of evil Stormtroopers. Principal cast includes familiar faces Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher as well as newcomers Oscar Isaac, Daisy Ridley, Lupita Nyong'o and Domnhall Gleeson.

INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS

The Emperor's New Clothes (Unrated) Russell Brand stars in this class conscious expose examining the wealth gap between the rich and poor exacerbated by the global financial collapse of 2008.

Extraction (R for violence, sexuality, brief nudity and pervasive profanity) Revenge thriller about a geeky government bureaucrat (Kellan Lutz) who goes vigilante when his CIA agent father (Bruce Willis) is kidnapped by terrorists. With Gina Carano, D.B. Sweeney and Summer Altice.

The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun (Unrated) Remake of the 1970 thriller of the same name about a secretary (Freya Mavor) who takes her boss' (Benjamin Biolay) convertible for a joyride after dropping him off at the airport, only to end up the prime suspect for a murder she didn't commit. Cast includes Stacy Martin, Elio Germano and Thierry Hancisse. (In French with subtitles)

Noma: My Perfect Storm (Unrated) Gourmet documentary about chef Rene Redzepi, proprietor of Noma, the Copenhagen restaurant voted best in the world for four years running.

Son of Saul (R for graphic nudity and disturbing violence) Holocaust saga, set in Auschwitz in 1944, revolving around a Jewish prisoner's (Geza Rohrig) desperate effort to give his gassed son a proper burial after saving the corpse from the crematorium. With Levente Molnar, Urs Rechn and Todd Charmont. (In German, Hungarian, Yiddish and Polish with subtitles)