Zac Efron

Zac Efron is 22, but he already has that onset George Hamilton glow. Which is perfect for “Charlie St. Cloud,’’ a movie about a young sailing champion who angelically postpones his life to play catch with his dead, Red Sox-crazed, 11-year-old brother, Sam (Charlie Tahan). In limbo. Every day. The brother chooses to wait in limbo. But why should you? There are toenails to clip and shelves to dust. Besides, the movie is very much dead already. It has no pulse, no apparent breath, and a curious odor seems to waft from the screen not long after Charlie and Sam win a race together in the opening scene.

Zac Efron felt uncomfortable filming his revealing role "The Paperboy" — and he says that's the way he wanted it. The "High School Musical" actor has moved into decidedly grown-up territory with the film by "Precious" director Lee Daniels, which screened Thursday at the Cannes Film Festival. It's a swampy slice of Southern gothic set in the 1960s, with Efron as an aspiring writer helping his journalist brother (Matthew McConaughey) investigate a possible miscarriage of justice.

Wayland and West Roxbury-bred actress Taylor Schilling dazzled on the red carpet with her costar Zac Efron at the Hollywood premiere of "The Lucky One," which opens Friday. In case you're wondering, her dress is by Calvin Klein.

New releases ★★★ Anita This drama may be about a young woman with Down syndrome (the astounding Alejandra Manzo, in her film debut) but it isn't naively uplifting in the way of a made-for-television movie. When a bomb rocks the Buenos Aires Jewish neighborhood where Anita lives with her doting mother (the great Norma Aleandro), Anita ends up wandering the city and relying on the kindness of strangers. It's an unsentimental portrait of one lost soul among the city's outcasts.

In "The Lucky One," another movie taken from a Nicholas Sparks novel, Zac Efron plays Logan Thibault, a Marine who served in Iraq and is convinced that he was kept alive with the help of a photo he happened upon after the soldier carrying it was killed. Logan is so grateful that, upon returning home, he walks from Colorado to Louisiana, where he finds Beth Clayton (Taylor Schilling), the blonde in the photo, wearing denim shorts, a linen blouse, and one of those crinkly smiles women wear in Tommy Hilfiger ads. Beth's life epitomizes everything annoying about the...

Actress Taylor Schilling, who was raised in West Roxbury and Wayland, experienced a first in Boston a few weeks ago. She watched her new film, "The Lucky One," with a full audience of sneak-preview pass holders who didn't know she was in the crowd. Schilling confessed during an interview at the Liberty Hotel the next day that she was relieved to hear giggling, sighing, and at least one round of applause during the presentation of the film. She was able to breathe a big professional sigh of relief.

17 AGAIN (Comcast Movies and Events) The latest body-transference comedy stars Zac Efron as a high school kid who grows up to be Matthew Perry, then gets his wish to be Zac Efron again. The star is lightweight and likable, and the movie surrounds him with farcical pros like Leslie Mann and Thomas Lennon (above right, with Efron). (PG-13; runs through Jan. 1) TY BURR CORALINE (Comcast Movies and Events) A darkly invigorating stop-motion tour down the rabbit hole of childhood anxieties, courtesy of animator Henry Selick (“The...

West Roxbury and Wayland-bred actress Taylor Schilling, who stars in the new Zac Efron tearjerker, "The Lucky One," attended a screening of the film on Tuesday night at the Loews Boston Common. Fans got the chance to ask her whether Efron is a good kisser (her answer, for the record, was "yes,") and whether she got to meet Nicholas Sparks, the author of "The Lucky One" and "The Notebook," while she was making the film (her answer was also "yes"). Schilling admitted to the crowd that the Boston screening was the first time she had seen the film with an audience - and that it was pretty weird to...

I worry about Zac Efron. Really, I do. I can tell that deep in his heart the teen superstar wants to be a bad boy - to litter, maybe, or park in a handicapped spot and to hell with the consequences. Even if he did, though, no one would believe him. He's just too nice. This isn't a movie star, it's a prom date. Thing is, he's a great prom date; when Efron shows up in the very first shot of "17 Again" shirtless and sweaty on a basketball court, the screening audience I was with pawed the ground in communal ecstasy.

New releases La Danse The great, tireless documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman spent a recent season with the Paris Opera Ballet and merged with the dancers, instructors, administrators, and choreographers. The result is a unique kind of magic: a film about the work in art that is itself a work of art. In French, with subtitles. (153 min., unrated) (Wesley Morris) Invictus A strong, sober-sided, largely satisfying entry in a rarely-seen genre: the Civic Statuary movie.

In "The Lucky One," another movie taken from a Nicholas Sparks novel, Zac Efron plays Logan Thibault, a Marine who served in Iraq and is convinced that he was kept alive with the help of a photo he happened upon after the soldier carrying it was killed. Logan is so grateful that, upon returning home, he walks from Colorado to Louisiana, where he finds Beth Clayton (Taylor Schilling), the blonde in the photo, wearing denim shorts, a linen blouse, and one of those crinkly smiles women wear in Tommy Hilfiger ads. Beth's life epitomizes everything annoying about the...

ON WGBH Greater Boston 7 p.m. WGBH (Channel 2) ON CHRONICLE Fenway 100 7:30 p.m. WCVB-TV (Channel 5) Fenway memories from Mike Barnicle, Dan Shaughnessy, and Lou Merloni. RADIO HIGHLIGHTS The Diane Rehm Show10 a.m. WGBH-FM (89.7) New York Times columnist Ross Douthat. Radio Boston 3 p.m. WBUR-FM (90.9) NightSide With Dan Rea8 p.m. WBZ-AM (1030) Dr. Bill Ahearn on autism. NEWS AND TALK SHOWS Morning CBS This Morning at 7 a.m. on Chs. 4 and 12. John Cusack.

"The Lucky One" is yet another adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel, so you know exactly what you're getting walking into this thing. It's predictable and schmaltzy and sappy and smothered with voiceover that explains the film's already none-too-subtle themes of destiny and fate and second chances. And yet … and yet. In the hands of "Shine" director Scott Hicks, it does what it needs to do to please its target audience with a certain tasteful artfulness and the comforting familiarity of a 1950s melodrama.

Wayland and West Roxbury-bred actress Taylor Schilling dazzled on the red carpet with her costar Zac Efron at the Hollywood premiere of "The Lucky One," which opens Friday. In case you're wondering, her dress is by Calvin Klein.

Actress Taylor Schilling, who was raised in West Roxbury and Wayland, experienced a first in Boston a few weeks ago. She watched her new film, "The Lucky One," with a full audience of sneak-preview pass holders who didn't know she was in the crowd. Schilling confessed during an interview at the Liberty Hotel the next day that she was relieved to hear giggling, sighing, and at least one round of applause during the presentation of the film. She was able to breathe a big professional sigh of relief.

West Roxbury and Wayland-bred actress Taylor Schilling, who stars in the new Zac Efron tearjerker, "The Lucky One," attended a screening of the film on Tuesday night at the Loews Boston Common. Fans got the chance to ask her whether Efron is a good kisser (her answer, for the record, was "yes,") and whether she got to meet Nicholas Sparks, the author of "The Lucky One" and "The Notebook," while she was making the film (her answer was also "yes"). Schilling admitted to the crowd that the Boston screening was the first time she had seen the film with an audience - and that it...

"The Lucky One" is yet another adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel, so you know exactly what you're getting walking into this thing. It's predictable and schmaltzy and sappy and smothered with voiceover that explains the film's already none-too-subtle themes of destiny and fate and second chances. And yet … and yet. In the hands of "Shine" director Scott Hicks, it does what it needs to do to please its target audience with a certain tasteful artfulness and the comforting familiarity of a 1950s melodrama.

ON WGBH Greater Boston 7 p.m. WGBH (Channel 2) ON CHRONICLE Fenway 100 7:30 p.m. WCVB-TV (Channel 5) Fenway memories from Mike Barnicle, Dan Shaughnessy, and Lou Merloni. RADIO HIGHLIGHTS The Diane Rehm Show10 a.m. WGBH-FM (89.7) New York Times columnist Ross Douthat. Radio Boston 3 p.m. WBUR-FM (90.9) NightSide With Dan Rea8 p.m. WBZ-AM (1030) Dr. Bill Ahearn on autism. NEWS AND TALK SHOWS Morning CBS This Morning at 7 a.m. on Chs. 4 and 12. John Cusack.

Zac Efron is 22, but he already has that onset George Hamilton glow. Which is perfect for “Charlie St. Cloud,’’ a movie about a young sailing champion who angelically postpones his life to play catch with his dead, Red Sox-crazed, 11-year-old brother, Sam (Charlie Tahan). In limbo. Every day. The brother chooses to wait in limbo. But why should you? There are toenails to clip and shelves to dust. Besides, the movie is very much dead already. It has no pulse, no apparent breath, and a curious odor seems to waft from the screen not long after Charlie and Sam win a race together in the opening scene.

New releases La Danse The great, tireless documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman spent a recent season with the Paris Opera Ballet and merged with the dancers, instructors, administrators, and choreographers. The result is a unique kind of magic: a film about the work in art that is itself a work of art. In French, with subtitles. (153 min., unrated) (Wesley Morris) Invictus A strong, sober-sided, largely satisfying entry in a rarely-seen genre: the Civic Statuary movie.