By Rene Rodriguez, McClatchy Newspapers –
THE AVENGERS (PG-13): This is the one you’ve been waiting for — and the one that carries the future of Marvel Films with it. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) team up to prevent our planet from being conquered by the evil Loki (Tom Hiddleston). Writer-director Joss Whedon (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) gets to play in the biggest sandbox of his career thus far. The question is not whether the movie will be a big hit. The question is only HOW big.
A LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN (PG-13): Kate Hudson continues her quest for rom-com world domination with this story about a young, commitment-phobic woman who falls for her doctor (Gael Garcia Bernal). Kathy Bates and Whoopi Goldberg round out the cast for director Nicole Kassell, whose previous film (the Kevin Bacon pedophile drama “The Woodsman”) was neither romantic nor funny.