JENNIFER LAWRENCE STARS IN “RED SPARROW”
“Red Sparrow”
Jennifer Lawrence is an undercover Russian operative who becomes romantically entangled with a CIA agent, played by Joel Edgerton. Also starring in this thriller directed by Francis Lawrence (who made the last three “Hunger Games” movies) are Jeremy Irons, Mary-Louise Parker and Cirian Hinds.
Rated R. Playing throughout Houston.
“Death Wish”
The controversial 1974 portrait of urban vigilantism starring Charles Bronson is remade with Bruce Willis as a father and husband who becomes every criminal’s nightmare after his family is attacked. Directing is Eli Roth who, judging from a résumé that includes the “Hostel” movies, is going to make a far more violent movie than filmmaker Michael Winner did with the original.
Rated R. Playing throughout Houston.
“A Fantastic Woman”
Slowly but surely, some of the nominees for the foreignlanguage Oscar are making their way to Houston. First came Sweden’s “The Square,” then Lebanon’s “The Insult,” and now comes Chile’s “A Fantastic Woman.” Telling the story of a trans woman who finds herself at war with her boyfriend’s family after his sudden death, the film has been a huge hit on the festival circuit.
Rated R. Playing at Landmark River Oaks, Houston; Alamo Drafthouse, Katy.
“Nostalgia”
Jon Hamm heads a great cast (Bruce Dern, Catherine Keener, Ellen Burstyn, Nick Offerman) in this series of vignettes about love, loss and memory.
Rated R. Playing at Edwards Greenway Grand Palace 24; Cinemark Tinseltown 17, The Woodlands
“The Party”
Kristin Scott Thomas, Timothy Spall, Patricia Clarkson and Cillian Murphy star in this drawing-room drama set at a dinner party where anger and resentment are the main courses.
Rated R. Playing at Edwards Greenway Grand Palace 24, Houston; AMC Dine-In 8, Houston.
“Saawan”
“Saawan,” Pakistan’s entry in the foreign-language Oscar category (though it didn’t make the final cut), will have its Houston premiere Thursday. The film, based on a true story, focuses on a disabled, 9-year-old boy who’s left to perish in the wilderness but refuses to give up.
Playing 7 p.m. Thursday at University of Houston, Student Center Theater, 4455 University; $10; eventbrite.com
“The Vanishing of Sidney Hall”
A writer who becomes famous for a book based on the death of a high-school friend goes missing and a detective has to find out why. Logan Lerman, Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning and Michelle Monaghan star. Rated R. Playing at AMC Studio 30 and video-on-demand.