Mr. Persistence

Mr. Persistence (PG-13; 96 mins.)

A career-minded woman (Jenna Elfman) discovers she is falling for her handsome stalker (Paul Rudd) in this heartwarming romantic thriller. Rudd's character is a perfect study in haplessness and violence, an unstable Chaplinesque figure who wears a top hat and overcoat in mid-August. Elfman is soon swept off her feet, literally and figuratively, by the windowless van-driving lothario, but it seems that her Mr. Right can't do anything right. In one scene that will delight viewers young and old (but may also be deeply upsetting to children and the elderly), Rudd attempts to kill Elfman's pet rabbit, but accidentally cooks up a delicious friccassee. Eerie sepia-toned flashbacks do little to advance the story, but all in all this film serves as a reminder that sometimes we need to pursue love and our selected female projects at all costs.

Tobacco use, coarse language.

Hindenburg

Hindenburg (Not Rated; 112 min.)

In the mold of the epic romance Titanic, this film tells the story of cabin boy Werner Franz (Rupert Grint) and his short-lived romance with Irene Doehner (Miley Cyrus) on the final flight of the Hindenburg. Cyrus offers the first quality performance of her career, but Grint is wholly unconvincing if his intent was to reveal the youthful lust between the two leads. Frankly, his eros comes off as philia, and director Uwe Boll's love scenes are, while honest, quite uncomfortable. Still, Patrick Stewart is brilliant in his portrayal of the conflicted Captain Ernst Lehmann. Pop critics will argue that the cinematic construct is ruined by "knowing what is going to happen," but the Movie Maestros commend Boll's choices to craft a story within the confines of history and to end the movie so abruptly.

Disaster-related peril and violence, extended male frontal nudity, sensuality, and brief language.