Film Clips: This means Ghost Rider’s secret separation

• Columbia Pictures
• Nicolas Cage stars as the Ghost Rider in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengance.

OPENING TODAY

’’GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE (PG-13) Nicolas Cage returns as Johnny Blaze, the motorcycle-riding, flaming-skull-headed comic book character, in the second installment in the Ghost Rider series. This time Ghost Rider tries to protect a boy from Satan, with the hopes that his infernal curse will be lifted.
’’A SEPARATION 4 stars (NR) Filmmaker Asghar Farhadi presents no villains in his powerful, wrenching Iranian drama, except possibly for the legal and political system that puts undue pressure on the lives of ordinary citizens. A woman wants to immigrate from Iran to secure a better life for her teenage daughter, but her husband won’t abandon his Alzheimer’s-ridden father, and their separation sets off a chain reaction of mishaps and confrontations. One of the best films of 2011 and a nominee for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. — Curt Holman
THE SECRET LIFE OF ARRIETTY 4 stars (G) This loose adaptation of Mary Norton’s The Borrowers’’ depicts the wary friendship between a sickly boy convalescing in a country house and the Thumbelina-sized “Borrower” who lives with her mom and dad beneath the floorboards. This contemplative fantasy adventure is never more exciting than when Arrietty goes on an expedition to get a cube of sugar in the colossal kitchen (from her point of view). Like nearly all of the animated films from Japan’s Studio Ghibli, it introduces a sharp, self-reliant young heroine while advancing a message of respect for other people and nature. — Holman
THIS MEANS WAR 2 stars (PG-13) : It’s bromance vs. romance when buddy CIA agents (Chris Pine and Tom Hardy) discover they’re both dating the same woman (Reese Witherspoon). : This Means War attempts to combine the light comedy, sexy actors and explosive set pieces of both rom-coms and action movies, but in some kind of mix-up, presents weak jokes, thin clichés and ugly set pieces. Witherspoon and Hardy are better than the material and Pine proves blandly handsome in a Ben Affleck sort of way. Where Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt play battling spy spouses in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, FDR and Tuck’s escalating rivalry could be called Mr. and Mr. Smith’‘. — Holman
DULY NOTED

BICYCLE DREAMS (NR) This documentary from Stephen Auerbach chronicles the bicyclists competing in the 3,000-mile Race Across America. Wed., Feb. 22, 7 p.m. Plaza Theatre, 1049 Ponce de Leon Ave. 404-873-1939. www.plazaatlanta.com.’’ — Holman
SPLINTERS (NR) This new documentary explores the development of surfing in Papua New Guinea. Tue., Feb. 21, 7 p.m. Buckhead Theatre, 3110 Roswell Rd. splintersmovie.com’’
SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSS SONG (1971) (X) Mario Van Peebles directed and starred in this low-budget, groundbreaking drama that proved a major influence on the blaxploitation films of the 1970s. Sat., Feb. 18. 8 p.m. High Museum, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. $5-$7. 404-733-4200. www.high.org’’
T-MEN 4 stars (1947) Directory Anthony Mann and cinematographer John Alton made the first of their five collaborations with this thriller about two U.S. Treasury agents who infiltrate a counterfeiting ring. If a T-Man gets hurt, does he suffer from T-Pain? Painting With Light. Wed., Feb. 22. 7:30 p.m. Emory Cinematheque. 208 White Hall, 301 Dowman Drive, Emory University. Free. filmstudies.emory.edu/home/events/film-series/emory-cinematheque.html — Holman

’’

’’

’’

’’

’’

’’

’’