Film Clips: Martha Marcy Harold May Kumar Marlene

• Courtesy of Universal Pictures
• A novice criminal (Ben Stiller) gets a helpful nudge from ex-con Slide (Eddie Murphy)

OPENING FRIDAY
HELL AND BACK AGAIN (NR) The Plaza Theatre presents this documentary about the war in Afghanistan and U.S. soldiers’ difficulty in returning to society.

LIMELIGHT (NR) Billy Corben’s documentary profiles former New York club owner Peter Gatien, who ruled Manhattan nightlife following the heyday of Studio 54.

MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE 4 stars (R ) A young woman (Elizabeth Olsen) escapes from control of a cult in the Catskills but struggles to adjust to so-called normal life with her estranged yuppie sister (Sarah Paulson). In flashbacks, Oscar nominee John Hawkes gives a performance of understated menace as the group’s subtly manipulative leader, while Olsen affectingly captures the heroine’s struggles to reconstruct her fragile psyche. The film’s most disturbing moments reveal not what the cult did to her, but what she did to others under the cult’s sway. — Curt Holman

MOZART’S SISTER (NR) Director René Féret casts his 15 year-old daughter, Marie Féret, in the title role of this costume drama about the famed composer’s elder sibling Nannerl, who struggles for respect and acceptance as a female musician in a sexist age.

TOWER HEIST (PG-13) Director Brett Ratner delivers a timely power-to-the-people comedy about stealing from the rich what they ripped off the poor in the first place, starring an ensemble cast brimming with some of Hollywood’s most popular, long-standing comics. Fresh out of white-collar “jail” for Madoff-esque scheming, Alan Alda stars as Arthur Shaw, a Wall Street scumbag, whose new penthouse residence is located in a building run by victims of his dirty deals. Bent on retaliation, a building manager (Ben Stiller) enlists the help of an ex-con (Eddie Murphy) to rally his co-workers and a ruined businessman (Matthew Broderick) around a revenge plot to beat Shaw at his own game. Tea Leoni takes a turn as an intimidating FBI agent, and Gabourey Sidibe (Precious star) displays skillful humor in a light-hearted role as a saucy maid.

A VERY HAROLD & KUMAR 3D CHRISTMAS (R ) In the third film of the trilogy, if you can call it that, estranged buddies Harold Lee and Kumar Patel (John Cho and Kal Penn) embark on a madcap holiday adventure involving a package of drugs, a destroyed Christmas tree and depraved celebrity Neil Patrick Harris.

DULY NOTED
BOUND (1996) (R) The Wachowski Siblings make their directorial debut with this almost painfully sexy noir flick starring Gina Gershon, Jennifer Tilly and Joe Pantoliano. Dark Streets and Dangerous Dames: Film Noir. Wed., Nov. 9, 7:30 p.m. Emory Cinematheque. 205 White Hall, 301 Dowman Drive, Emory University. Free. filmstudies.emory.edu/home/events/film-series/emory-cinematheque.html

THE CHELSEA GIRLS (1966) (NR) Andy Warhol and Paul Morissey directed this avant-garde film that followed various libertines simultaneously through the Chelsea Hotel. With music provided by the Velvet Underground. Nov. 5, 2 and 8 p.m. Rich Theatre, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. /www.high.org/Programs/Programs.aspx

PUMPKINHEAD (1988) (R) Lance Henriksen plays a small-town shopkeep who enlists a witch to summon the eponymous monster to exact revenge on the gang who killed his son. Stan Winston did the monster make-up effects. Splatter Cinema. Nov. 8, 9:30 p.m. Plaza Theatre, 1049 Ponce de Leon Ave. 404-873-1939. www.plazaatlanta.com.