AT THE MOVIES
OPENING
BIG HERO 6 (3-D) ✪✪✪✪
Animated (PG, low-level violence). Futuristic ’toon based on an obscure Marvel comic about an orphaned robotics whizz kid and his big brother. ‘‘A rousing movie that’s satisfyingly infused with traditional Disney sentiment.’’ – Boston Globe.
PREVIEWING
THE IMITATION GAME ✪✪✪✪
Drama (M, adult themes). Benedict Cumberbatch plays Alan Turing, a British code-cracking hero of World War II who was later prosecuted for being gay. ‘‘A highly conventional movie about a profoundly unusual man. This is not entirely a bad thing.’’ – New York Times.
CONTINUING
LOVE IS STRANGE ✪✪✪✪
Drama (M, offensive language). ‘‘Lifted by terrific performances and a noticeable easy chemistry between Alfred Molina and John Lithgow, Love is Strange is an engrossing relationship drama which impresses with its spot-on observations of the frustrations of having multiple-generations under the same roof and making ends meet in modern society.’’ – James Croot.
ANNIE ✪✪✪✪
Comedy/drama (PG). ‘‘A surprise; a smart, clever, respectful retelling of the Broadway classic, which updates the tale to modern-day New York, adds some neat twists, but doesn’t lose the magic.’’ – Steve Killigan.
FOLIES BERGERE ✪✪✪✪
Drama (M, drug use, offensive language). ‘‘Writer-director Marc Fitoussi’s tale is a story of a middle-ager’s misadventures in the City of Light. Managing to balance the comedy and pathos nicely, it helps Fitoussi that he has such a fantastic leading lady in Isabelle Huppert.’’ – James Croot.
OBVIOUS CHILD ✪✪✪✪
Romantic-comedy (R13, offensive language, sexual references). ‘‘Director Gillian Robespierre has collaborated with comedian and occasional actor Jenny Slate to produce a warm-hearted little indie comedy/ drama that somehow manages to be sweetly innocent, while still taking a hard look at one of the most divisive topics in American society.’’ – Graeme Tuckett.
PADDINGTON ✪✪✪✪✪
Family (G). ‘‘Director Paul King has clearly been at pains to look after author Michael Bond’s bear and from his lush, plush looks (a mixture of animatronics and pixels) to the gentle, wistful tones of Ben Whishaw, Paddington has been brought to life in a way that is likely to endear him to a whole new generation of fans.’’ – James Croot.
THE YOUNG AND PRODIGIOUS TS SPIVET ✪✪✪✪✪
Family (M, offensive language). ‘‘This finds Jean-Pierre Jeunet working in America, telling the story of a 10-year-old scientific prodigy (Kyle Catlett), who is travelling alone from the family farm in Montana to Washington DC, to collect his accolades for inventing a perpetual motion machine.’’ – Graeme Tuckett.
THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES (3-D) ✪✪✪✪✪
Fantasy (M, violence). ‘‘This is a tale brought thunderously to a close. It is a film that moved in directions I didn’t see coming, and it delivers us the purpose and the heart of the story – finally – in a fabulously propulsive fashion.’’ – Graeme Tuckett.
WHAT WE DID ON OUR HOLIDAY ✪✪✪✪
Comedy (PG, coarse language). A married couple secretly living apart take their three children to see their grandfather. ‘‘What starts out as an amiable and pretty sharply observed domestic comedy veers off into macabre and truly funny territory.’’ – Graeme Tuckett.
PRIDE ✪✪✪✪✪
Comedy (M, offensive language, sexual references, drug use). Gay-pride Londoners help striking Welsh coal miners. ‘‘One of the funniest, most touching and most unashamedly entertaining good times you’re going to have in a cinema this year.’’ – Graeme Tuckett.
JIMMY’S HALL ✪✪✪
Drama (M, violence, offensive language). Director Ken Loach and screenwriter Paul Lavery ( The Angel’s Share) reunite for a true-life drama about a 1930s Irish activist who clashes with the Catholic Church when he opens a dance hall. ‘‘A solid, if unspectacular tale.’’ – James Croot.
THE DROP ✪✪✪✪
Crime (R13, violence, offensive language). Tom Hardy and James Gandolfini play Brooklyn barkeeps in the sights of a Chechen mobster. ‘‘A gorgeously wrought slow-burner.’’ – Graeme Tuckett.