Humpday Two former college pals, one settled and the other a free spirit, dare each other to have sex on film. The movie’s mostly talk, mostly about a young man’s fear of looking unhip. There are caustic laughs but the limitations of director Lynn Shelton’s low-fi style keep the movie from mattering much. (94 min., R) (Ty Burr)
In the Loop A brutally funny political satire about war machinations on both sides of the Atlantic. Director Armando Iannucci amasses a group of boobs, users, and charlatans and asks us to recognize our duly appointed officials. With James Gandolfini as a five-star general. (106 min., unrated) (Ty Burr)
One Day You’ll Understand In 1987 France, a businessman discovers that his mother has hidden her Jewish roots from her children. Rich emotional delicacy ensues rather than melodramatic fireworks. Her reticence has its reasons. Directed and co-written by Amos Gitai. (88 min., unrated) (Wesley Morris)
Orphan Two dumb parents adopt a spookily polite 9-year-old girl who turns out to have a taste for cutlery. As a concept, “Orphan’’ is reprehensible. As a movie, it’s entertaining trash - a good bad movie you can either shriek at, laugh at, or both. (123 min., R) (Ty Burr)
The Ugly Truth Katherine Heigl in another diet-romantic comedy. She plays a TV news producer who accepts dating advice from the chauvinist Neanderthal (Gerard Butler) her station has just hired. The movie has embarrassingly limited ideas about both the sexes and sex. (97 min., R) (Wesley Morris)
Previously released
(500) Days of Summer A gimmicky little romantic comedy with enough charm to get by. It’s your basic boy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) meets girl (Zooey Deschanel), boy loses girl, boy tries to get girl back again, but director Mark Webb shuffles the scenes out of sequence with sweetness, glib wit, and an awareness of the hero’s passivity. (95 min., PG-13) (Ty Burr)
G-Force If you can’t squeeze a decent family movie out of talking 3-D super-agent guinea pigs, you may as well throw in the towel. Despite a high-end cast - Sam Rockwell, Penélope Cruz, and Tracy Morgan provide the voices - the story line is a mishmash. The very small will like it. (89 min., PG) (Ty Burr)