Openings: ‘The Hunger Games,’ ‘W.E.,’ Jewish Film Festival

The gripping first chapter of ‘The Hunger Games’ lives up to its relentless hype, hitting the screen as if shot from a bow and never letting up.

Opening this week: ’21 Jump Street,’ ‘Friends with Kids,’ ‘Jeff, Who Lives at Home’ and the Maine Jewish Film Festival.

This movie works like gangbusters because it embraces its source material instead of spoofing it.

The Wild West goes to Mars in this effects-laden adaptation of the early-20th-century novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs. And it works!

Dr. Seuss’ cautionary environmental fable emerges from its gorgeous big-screen adaptation with its message intact.

In the relentlessly paced ‘Act of Valor,’ a team of Navy SEALs (played by real-live SEALs), pursues terrorists and smugglers around the globe.

OPENING THIS WEEK “ACT OF VALOR” (R) (1:41) Stars Emilio Rivera, Roselyn Sanchez, Alex Veadov, Nestor Serrano and Jason Cottle. Directed by Scott Waugh. A group of active-duty U.S. Navy SEALs offers a fictionalized account of real-life SEAL operations that will take the audience on an adrenaline-fueled, edge-of-its-seat ride. Opening at: Nickelodeon Fri-Wed 2, 4:45, 7:20, 9:45; […]

‘Act of Valor’ is the first of its kind – a fictional feature film starring active-duty military personnel depicting actual tactics and assets, using live ammo and vetted by the U.S. Navy.