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Movie stars: capsule reviews

THIS STORY APPEARED IN

January 27, 2012

Best actor nominee Jean Dujardin and Missi Pyle in The Artist, which is up… (Weinstein Company )

New releases

★★Underworld Awakening Vampires and werewolves are back at each other’s throats in a sequel overly eager to assert that monster mashes aren’t about “Twilight’’ melodrama. Kate Beckinsale wriggles back into her catsuit as Selene, thawed after a human purge of vampires and Lycans that left her in cryo-freeze. India Eisley is the young girl who now shares a psychic link with her, and special abilities. (88 min., R) (Tom Russo)

Previously released

★★★ 2011 Sundance Shorts A selection of last year’s Sundance short films. The hit-to-miss ratio is high, and the films underscore what makes a great short work: a solid idea expanded into a brief, powerful vision of the world. “The Eagleman Stag’’ and “Deeper Than Yesterday’’ are the best of a solid bunch. (86 min., unrated) (Ty Burr)

★★★★ The Artist Michael Hazanavicius’s silent, black-and-white love letter to classic movies isn’t perfect, but it’s close enough to make just about anyone who sees it ridiculously happy - and that includes children and grown-ups who’ve never come across a silent film. Jean Dujardin plays the charming Hollywood ham whose career goes south with the arrival of the talkies; Bérénice Bejo is his love interest. A crowd-pleaser and a joy. (100 min., PG-13) (Ty Burr)

★★★ ½ Carnage Yasmina Reza’s “God of Carnage’’ isn’t a great play and this is hardly Roman Polanski’s finest hour, but the schematic tale of two upscale couples descending into savagery as they discuss a fight between their young sons is good, stinging fun, and the performances are wonderful. John C. Reilly, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, and the peerless Jodie Foster star. (79 min., R) (Ty Burr)

★★ ½ Contraband Mark Wahlberg, money, guns, grime, shipping containers, violence, and several plot holes: It’s a better time than you’d think. With Giovanni Ribisi, Ben Foster, J.K. Simmons, and Kate Beckinsale. (109 min., R) (Wesley Morris)

★★★ ½ The Descendants With his wife in a coma, a prosperous Hawaii lawyer (George Clooney) has to cope with all the parts of his life he didn’t know. A somewhat minor work from director Alexander Payne (“Sideways,’’ “About Schmidt’’) that’s also a movingly rich pleasure about compromise and connection. With Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller as the hero’s daughters. (115 min., R) (Ty Burr)