“Here” (2011 production, 2012 release). Cast: Ben Foster, Lubna Azabal, Narek Nersisyan, Yuri Kostanyan, Sophik Sarkisyan, Christina Hovaguimyan, Hovak Gaolyan, Hmayak Hakopyan, Narik Beglaryan, Peter Coyote (narrator). Director: Braden King. Screenplay: Braden King and Dani Valent. Web site. Trailer. So much of the time, we spend our lives trying to figure out where we’re at. But, in the process, we often focus on the trivial and overlook what’s truly important. Learning how to overcome that tendency can be challenging, but the rewards are certainly worth it, as two unlikely lovers find out for themselves in the absorbing romance, “Here,” now available on DVD. When satellite mapping technician Will Shepard (Ben Foster) takes a contract to work in Armenia, he’s very much on his own. The American-born cartographer doesn’t speak the language, and he spends most of his time by himself in the field. But, then, given his loner nature, that arrangement suits him well. He can carry out his highly technical work in solitude, unburdened by the distractions of daily life. That all changes, however, when Will meets Gadarine (Lubna Azabal), a free-spirited art photographer, who has returned to her Armenian homeland after a stint in Paris. She’s back to ...

“Star Trek Into Darkness” (2013). Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoë Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Greenwood, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve, Peter Weller, Noel Clarke, Beau Billingslea. Director: J.J. Abrams. Screenplay: Robert Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof. Source Material: Star Trek TV series, by Gene Roddenberry. Web site. Trailer. Those seeking an enlightened path for themselves often gravitate exclusively to “the light,” casually ignoring or even actively eschewing “the shadow” side of things. But is this a wise course? Are there things that “the dark side” can teach us? The answer might come as quite a surprise, but that’s what the crew of an intrepid space vessel is about to find out in the action-packed sci-fi adventure, “Star Trek Into Darkness,” the twelfth and latest movie installment in this long-running entertainment franchise. Some days throw us some mighty big curves. Just as Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), the brash, young, sometimes-reckless commander of the Starship Enterprise, believes he’s about to be awarded a plum mission assignment, he instead gets a hard lesson in “no good deed goes unpunished.” In the wake of a perilous first contact mission to the planet Nibiru during which ...

“The Reluctant Fundamentalist” (2012 production, 2013 release). Cast: Riz Ahmed, Kate Hudson, Liev Schreiber, Kiefer Sutherland, Om Puri, Shabana Azmi, Martin Donovan, Nelsan Ellis, Gary Richardson, Meesha Shafi, Imaad Shah, Chris Smith, Sarah Quinn. Director: Mira Nair. Screenplay: William Wheeler. Screen Story: Ami Boghani and Mohsin Hamid. Book: Mohsin Hamid. Web site. Trailer. In this age of sound bytes and film clips, it’s easy to grow accustomed to seeing our existence in neat, little, compartmentalized snippets. Unfortunately, such conditions also encourage us to increasingly narrow our focus, prompting us to scrutinize individuals and situations as part of ever-shrinking components and, in turn, causing us to lose sight of the bigger picture. But, if we’re to truly understand the world around us, at some point we need to counter this trend and take a broader view of things, an argument eloquently put forth in the gripping new drama, “The Reluctant Fundamentalist.” When American university professor Anse Rainier (Gary Richardson) is kidnapped in Lahore, Pakistan, U.S. intelligence officials and local police are all over the case. They even resort to employing such unconventional measures as calling upon reporter Bobby Lincoln (Liev Schreiber) to interview a popular Pakistani professor, Changez Khan (Riz Ahmed), ...

“Kon-Tiki” (2012). Cast: Pål Svere Hagen, Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Tobias Santelmann, Gustaf Skarsgård, Odd-Magnus Williamson, Jakob Oftebro, Agnes Kittelsen, Peter Wight, Manuel Cauchi, Kasper Ameberg Johnsen, Edward Kling. Directors: Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg. Screenplay: Petter Skavlan. Web site. Trailer. Any ambitious undertaking carries the potential for both great risks and great rewards. All too often, however, we back away, playing it safe (and missing out on one hell of a good time). But then there are those courageous souls who don’t shy away from their challenges, reveling in the adventures that await, unexpected escapades and all. Such is the example provided by the fact-based historical drama, “Kon-Tiki.” Norwegian-born ethnologist Thor Heyerdahl (Pål Svere Hagen) had always been a risk-taker. Even as a young boy (Kasper Ameberg Johnsen), he took chances that the other children considered foolhardy (assessments that sometimes proved correct, too). But such criticisms never quashed Thor’s sense of adventure, a quality that would come to define him in his adult life. In 1937, Heyerdahl and his young bride, Liv (Agnes Kittelsen), traveled to Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas Islands of the South Pacific. There he studied the local culture, with a particular emphasis on the history and ...

“No” (2012). Cast: Gael García Bernal, Alfredo Castro, Luis Gnecco, Néstor Cantillana, Antónia Zegers, Marcial Tagle, Pascal Montero, Jaime Vadell, Elsa Poblete. Director: Pablo Larraín. Screenplay: Pedro Peirano. Play: El Plebiscito (The Referendum), by Antonio Skármeta. Web site. Trailer. When an idea takes root, it can spread like a weed, quickly overtaking anything in its path. This is particularly true for political and social movements, which can go viral in the blink of an eye. Such was the case in one Latin American country 25 years ago, when an innovative notion took off and drastically changed the nation’s character, an endeavor compellingly depicted in the unusual, fact-based comedy-drama, “No.” In 1973, Chilean President Salvador Allende and his Communist/Socialist coalition government were overthrown by a military-led, U.S.-backed coup. Allende’s commander-in-chief, General Augusto Pinochet, assumed the presidency, holding on to that post for 15 years. During his time in power, Chile experienced an economic turnaround, eliminating much of the poverty it had once suffered. However, such prosperity came at a high price; to maintain control, Pinochet and his authoritarian regime ruled with an iron fist, resorting to torturing, murdering, beheading, exiling and “disappearing” those who opposed the dictator and his autocratic cronies ...

“42, The True Story of an American Legend” (2013). Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford, Nicole Beharie, Christopher Meloni, Lucas Black, Andre Holland, Alan Tudyk, Hamish Linklater, Ryan Merriman, T.R. Knight, Toby Huss, John C. McGinley, Max Gail, Brad Beyer, James Pickens, Jr., Brett Cullen, Jesse Luken, Dusan Brown. Director: Brian Helgeland. Screenplay: Brian Helgeland. Web site. Trailer. Our journey through life is often fraught with frustrations, pitfalls and setbacks. These conditions and events may seem so overwhelming that we might easily be tempted to throw in the towel. Under such circumstances, carrying forth with determination and commitment can be quite difficult without a little inspiration, but, fortunately, that’s something to be found in ample quantities in the moving new sports drama, “42, The True Story of an American Legend,” the film biography of baseball great Jackie Robinson. The U.S. was a nation on the brink of sweeping social change in the wake of World War II. After having successfully defeated Germany’s fascist regime, Americans’ attitudes were slowly shifting in such areas as civil rights and racial equality. The thinking was that, if minorities like African-Americans could be called upon to serve their country in time of war, then they should ...