FILM | Lions of the Kalahari

Escape to the deserts of Botswana and for a moment enter into the jungle world of the Kalahari lion. Brought to you very realistically thanks to the 180-degree dome film screen at the Museum of Science. Daily through Feb. 17. Science Park. (VMA)

VISUALS | Dependent Objects

The Busch-Reisinger Museum presents an exhibition of sculpture by artists who were ambivalent toward the media. “Dependent Objects” presents the works of German artists beginning in the 1960s including works by Franz Erhard Walther, Hans Haacke, Charlotte Posenenske and Gerhard Richter. Through Jan. 2. The Busch-Reisinger at the Fogg Museum. (JSG)

Films

After the Sunset

It’s difficult to understand how this project actually made it through production, when the actors, screenwriters, director and cinematographer are so obviously phoning in their work. Sunset begins with two master thieves, Max Burdett (Pierce Brosnan) and the luscious Lola Cirillo (Salma Hayek), completing the heist of a one-of-a-kind diamond and then jetting to a tropical island paradise to enjoy their retirement. Unbeknownst to them, FBI agent Stanley Lloyd (Woody Harrelson), still simmering from his botched attempt to prevent their robbery, has tracked them down and means to nab them with a brilliant scheme.There are a few decent comic moments thanks mostly to Harrelson who seemingly takes on the daunting task of playing himself, and the occasional stunning shot compositions. But the sad truth is you would be better served catching up on some sleep than finding out what happens in this mind-numbing dud. (TAO)

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason

Bridget (Renee Zellweger) is back and this time she’s counting carbs, not calories. There are some other surface changes in the life of the world’s favorite singleton: she’s shacked up with the dreamy Darcy (Colin Firth) and is no longer, well, single. But the script is furnished with the same jokes from the first movie, except the second time the “watch Bridget fall flat on her face in a very short skirt” routine is less vaudeville and more ritual humiliation. The movie seems to perpetuate, rather than poke fun at, the ridiculous conventions of the Hollywood romantic comedy. There are some glimpses of the old Bridget: smart, funny, wholly lacking in decorum. But these moments are outnumbered by the formulaic structure of the narrative, to the point where we’re not sure whether this is Notting Hill, Love Actually, or just some hideous amalgam of all the other resolutely WASPy, sickly-sweet Richard Curtis creations. (AEL)

Finding Neverland

In his newest film, director Marc Forster makes a drastic break from his previous work, Monster’s Ball. Johnny Depp plays James “J.M.” Barrie, in the process of writing his masterwork Peter Pan. Like most of Depp’s characters, Barrie is more than a little strange. His last play was a flop, his marriage has deteriorated to the point that he and his wife (played by Radha Mitchell) barely speak to one another, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, he prefers the company of his dog and his own imagination to most of his peers. This all changes, however, when he meets a family of muses in the park one afternoon. Barrie quickly befriends Sylvia Llewelyn Davies—played with daring and grace by Kate Winslet—and her four sons Michael, Jack, George and Peter to their mutual benefit; Barrie needs them for inspiration and to inject some warmth into what was rapidly becoming a hollow life and they need him to help them get over the recent death of Sylvia’s husband, the boys’ father. Occasionally, the tone can be a little too sweet and sentimental: this is not a movie for the hard of heart. However, like Peter Pan says, if you really believe, at times the movie feels like its flying. (SNJ)

Friday Night Lights

The clichéd line is never uttered, but without listening very carefully, you can hear its echo throughout Friday Night Lights: In Odessa, football is a way of life. And, as is quickly shown, the only way of life for residents of this small Texas town, where state champions become legends and those who fall short become mere pariahs rejected even within their own families. Though American society worships successful professional athletes, the cult following earned by 17-year old high school seniors is for the most part less widespread. Director and co-writer Peter Berg rightly devotes more time to the Panthers’ trials in their daily lives—how they survive in the face of such intense scrutiny—than their gridiron exploits to underscore that this isn’t just a game but a profession. (TJM)