Fighting crime, Al-Qaida and disordered lives
‘Phantom Thread’
If “Phantom Thread” is in fact Daniel Day-Lewis’ last movie, he’s going out on a high note. Then again, he’s had a career filled with them.
Day-Lewis, who won Oscars for “My Left Foot” and “Lincoln,” reunites with Paul Thomas Anderson, who directed him to his other Oscar-winning performance, in “There Will Be Blood.” As with those movies, this one is set in the past — this time, he’s in 1950s London — but other than that it’s new terrain.
Day-Lewis plays a celebrated fashion designer who takes as his muse and lover a young woman (Vicky Krieps) with a mind of her own. Her independent spirit frays his orderly world in ways that neither of them expected.
Day-Lewis and Lesley Manville, who plays his sister and business manager, are both expected to have their names called Tuesday when the Oscar nominations are announced; Anderson probably will, too.
In her 4-star review, Seattle Times critic Moira Macdonald wrote “Phantom Thread” “casts a remarkable spell; it wraps around you, like a delicately scented cashmere shawl woven from music and color and astonishing faces.” “Phantom Thread” is rated R for language. It runs for 130 minutes.
‘12 Strong’
Not long after the Sept. 11 attacks, a U.S. Special Forces unit is sent into Afghanistan for an extremely dangerous mission: to persuade a general to join forces with them against the Taliban and Al-Qaida. Winning that trust includes adjusting to a different kind of warfare — including on horseback — as they face off against a larger foe.
Based on a true story, “12 Strong” boasts a pretty solid cast, including Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon, Michael Peña, Trevante Rhodes, Geoff Stults, Thad Luckinbill, Navid Negahban, William Fichtner and Rob Riggle.
Directed by Nicolai Fuglsig and written by Ted Tally and Peter Craig, “12 Strong” counts among its producers action maven Jerry Bruckheimer. “12 Strong” is rated R for violence and pervasive language. It runs for 130 minutes.
‘Den of Thieves’
In “Den of Thieves,” Gerard Butler heads up an elite Los Angeles County crime-fighting unit calling itself the Regulators — just like the outlaws hired to protect ranchers in the Old West.
And like those outlaws, they don’t like to follow the rules, especially when they’re taking on their biggest foe: a hugely successful bank robbery crew out to rob nothing less than the Federal Reserve.
The action movie also stars Pablo Schreiber, Curtis (50 Cent) Jackson and O’Shea Jackson Jr. “Den of Thieves” is rated R for violence, language and some sexuality/nudity. It runs for 140 minutes.
‘Forever My Girl’
Boy meets girl, boy seeks countrymusic stardom and leaves girl at the altar, girl never tells him she’s carrying his child.
Fast-forward eight years: Boy comes back home, girl tells him the truth, boy tries to sort out his life and his priorities.
In “Forever My Girl,” Alex Roe is the country star, Jessica Rothe is the girl he left behind and Abby Ryder Fortson is their daughter. John Benjamin Hickey and real-life country stalwart Travis Tritt co-star
“Forever My Girl” is rated PG for thematic elements and language. It runs for 103 minutes.
‘In Between’
Worlds collide, and adjust, in a Tel Aviv apartment in “In Between.”
Three Palestinian women — a lawyer, a DJ and a religious Muslim studying at the university — share the apartment, but when the latter’s conservative fiancé tries to persuade her to move out, it triggers a cycle of change for all three.
Mouna Hawa, who plays the lawyer, and Shaden Kanboura, the religious girl, won for best actress and best supporting actress at the Israeli Oscars, where the movie by writer-director Maysaloun Hamoud was nominated for 10 more awards, including best film.
“There’s no shortage of self-satisfied men in this tale of awakening, and hypocrisy of the most brutal, patriarchal sort meets its comeuppance,” Los Angeles Times critic Sheri Linden wrote. “But however pointed the drama’s lessons, they’re never simplistic and always involving, pulsing with compassion and urgency as Hamoud’s vivid characters defy the rules.” “In Between” is not rated, showing in Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles. It runs for 103 minutes.