Top Films: April 24-30

Based on the best-selling book of the same name, the film is about a father who works to share his son's experience of the afterlife after the son narrowly escapes death. The film, starring Greg Kinnear and Kelly Reilly, was marketed beyond religious groups in hopes that it would appeal to a wide audience. Johnny Depp is an artificial intelligence expert whose scientist wife, Evelyn, (Rebecca Hall) tries to upload his dying consciousness into a sentient machine. From there, the two-hour movie is a decent "Twilight Zone" episode, but a messy sci-fi thriller. "Transcendence" presents itself as a smart movie, while it bombards the viewer with confusing plot turns, huge lapses in logic and smart characters who are slow to realize the obvious. Kevin Costner is at the center of this behind-the-scenes look at the NFL draft day as the general manager of the Cleveland Browns. Good for most of the way, this horror film - about a killer mirror that causes hallucinations and homicidal behavior - caves in during the last 10 minutes. An intelligent take on the story of Noah and the ark, Darren Aronofsky's film is no silly action movie with a biblical pretext, but a film with lots of application to what goes on in today's world. The family movie is filled with impressive footage, and has a strong protagonist in a mother grizzly who must lead her cubs from a snow-covered mountain to a salmon spawning ground. The story lacks the useful plot turns found in previous Disney documentaries, resulting in some awkward (and possibly deceptive) tension-building editing tricks.