now in theaters
AMERICAN SNIPER Based on the memoir by Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), the most prolific sniper in American military history, this is Clint Eastwood’s most commercially successful movie but far from his best artistically. Eastwood handles the action scenes powerfully but doesn’t thread them together with the kind of nuanced storytelling he’s capable of, and he leaves some loose ends dangling. The home-front scenes of Kyle with his wife (Sienna Miller) and family become a bore, but Cooper is excellent as a man increasingly addicted to combat. Rated R. 132 minutes. Regal DeVargas , Santa Fe. ( Jonathan Richards)
CHAPPIE Director Neill Blomkamp brought us the much-loved sci-fi film District 9 and the little-liked sci-fi film Elysium . Now he offers a glimpse of a future in which society is policed by aggressive robots. A man (Dev Patel) reprograms one to think and feel, and it fights back against the oppression. Hugh Jackman co-stars. Rated R. 120 minutes. DreamCatcher , Española. (Not reviewed)
CINDERELLA Director Kenneth Branagh tackles the famed fairy tale, shooting it as an all-ages costume drama devoid of singing mice. Lily James plays the title character, Richard Madden is Prince Charming, Cate Blanchett plays the wicked stepmother, and Helena Bonham Carter is the fairy godmother. Rated PG. 112 minutes. Regal Stadium 14 , Santa Fe; DreamCatcher , Española. (Not reviewed)
DO YOU BELIEVE? The latest Christian-based drama looks at a wide cross-section of people and shows us how God has had an impact on their lives. Everyone from a white doctor (Sean Astin) to an African-American criminal (Senyo Amoaku, playing a character who is actually named Kriminal) is covered. Mira Sorvino also stars. Not rated. 115 minutes. Regal Stadium 14 , Santa Fe. (Not reviewed)
FOCUS Will Smith attempts a career comeback, playing a slick con man who meets a beautiful pickpocket (Margot Robbie) and falls in and out of love with her over the course of two jobs: one at the Super Bowl in New Orleans and the other at an auto race in Buenos Aires. It’s usually fun to watch slick grifting of this nature, but there aren’t many surprises, the jokes never quite work, and the film is broken up like two episodes of a TV
show. Aiming for The Sting , Focus ends up closer to The Sting II . Rated R. 104 minutes. Regal Stadium 14 , Santa Fe. (Robert Ker)
GETT: THE TRIAL OF VIVIANE AMSALEM Veteran Israeli brother-and-sister directing team Shlomi and Ronit Elkabetz take on the draconian system of Orthodox Jewish law and matters of divorce proceedings in the powerful follow-up to the films To Take a Wife (2004) and 7 Days (2008). Ronit reprises her role as Viviane Amsalem, who faces off against judges, lawyers, and her domineering, emotionally abusive husband but routinely gets ignored at a rabbinical court, where the law is slanted unfairly toward the male as head of the household. This taut, tense, and claustrophobic drama is an indictment of a culture that undervalues women’s voices in matters of authority. Not rated. 115 minutes. In Hebrew, French, and Arabic with subtitles. Center for Contemporary Arts , Santa Fe. (Michael Abatemarco)
THE GUNMAN Sean Penn typically shies away from straightforward action pics, but here he seems to be going for the late-career resurgence that Liam Neeson has enjoyed in the Taken franchise — even working with that film’s director, Pierre Morel. Penn plays a former sniper who is forced back into the life of violence in order to take out a bad guy ( Javier Bardem), with whom he shares a past. Rated R. 115 minutes. Regal Stadium 14 , Santa Fe; DreamCatcher , Española. (Not reviewed)
INSURGENT The 2014 sci-fi film Divergent was a modest success, but it has enough fans for this sequel, released almost one year later. To the uninitiated, the plot may seem like nonsense, but admirers of the first film and the book series on which it is based will get it. Rated PG-13. 119 minutes. Screens in 3-D and 2-D at Regal Stadium 14 , Santa Fe; DreamCatcher , Española. (Not reviewed)
KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE The spy movie shifts away from the gritty realism of Jason Bourne and Daniel Craig’s James Bond and back to the spirit of the 1960s secret-agent men in this colorful, over-the-top caper by director Matthew Vaughn. Taron Egerton plays an aimless kid who is recruited into an elite spy organization by Harry Hart (Colin Firth) and soon finds himself trying to stop a harebrained scheme by billionaire mastermind Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson). This is a satisfying, energetic, irreverent romp that is full of ideas. The MVP award goes to costume designer Arianne Phillips. Rated R. 129 minutes. Regal Stadium 14 , Santa Fe. (Robert Ker)
LEGENDS FROM THE SKY You don’t see too many Navajo sci-fi pics. This one uses a mostly Native cast and crew to tell the story of a veteran (Edsel Pete) who returns to his reservation to find his grandfather missing and a shady government organization in charge. Not rated. 85 minutes. In English and Diné with subtitles. Regal DeVargas , Santa Fe. (Not reviewed) MCFARLAND, USA Kevin Costner, who knows his way around an inspirational sports movie, plays a cross-country running coach in this film, which is based on true events. It’s 1987, and the coach finds himself working in a Latino community full of kids who have never been given a chance. He gets them to believe in themselves, overcome a variety of hurdles, and win a championship. Rated PG. 128 minutes. Regal Stadium 14 , Santa Fe; DreamCatcher , Española. (Not reviewed)
MR. TURNER Mike Leigh’s portrait of J.M.W. Turner is a warts-and-all impression of England’s greatest painter, constructed using the director’s process of improvisation, discussions with his actors to develop a script, and months of rehearsal. The result is a movie that is illuminating, beautifully performed, unimpeachably researched, and shot with an inspired Turneresque beauty by cinematographer Dick Pope. The film is perhaps a little long at two and a half hours, but that’s how long it takes. Rated R. 150 minutes. Regal DeVargas , Santa Fe. ( Jonathan Richards)
RUN ALL NIGHT Liam Neeson takes a break from playing a man whose daughter is in danger in the Taken series and changes things up. Here, he plays a man whose son is in danger, when an angry mob boss (Ed Harris) wants revenge. Rated R. 114 minutes. Regal Stadium 14 , Santa Fe; DreamCatcher , Española. (Not reviewed)
THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL The whole gang is back — most notably Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, and Bill Nighy — for another stay in the hotel for retired Brits in India. This time, Richard Gere brings an American twist to the proceedings, getting a few of the women all atwitter. Rated PG. 122 minutes. Regal DeVargas , Santa Fe. (Not reviewed)
’71 A squad of British soldiers is routed to Belfast during the conflict in Northern Ireland. One of the men ( Jack O’Connell) is separated from the rest and must find a way back to safety. First-time director Yann Demange and cinematographer Tat Radcliffe paint the screen with a fine sense of chiaroscuro, using darkness and silhouettes to evoke wartime noir. However, they don’t let us get to know the protagonist, so there’s little emotional attachment. Rated R. 99 minutes. Regal DeVargas , Santa Fe. (Robert Ker)
STILL ALICE Get ready to add this film to your list of “hardest movies to watch.” A renowned author and linguistics professor, Alice (Julianne Moore, Oscar winner for best actress) is in the middle of a lecture when she loses her train of thought. After visits to a neurologist, she is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. From here, we watch with dread as Alice and her family endure the disease’s progression. The film can feel predictable and a little too neat, but it’s held aloft by Moore. Rated PG-13. 101 minutes. Regal DeVargas , Santa Fe. (Laurel Gladden)
TIMBUKTU In 2012, radical Islamists occupying the northern Mali town of Aguelhok executed an unmarried couple by public stoning. The incident prompted Abderrahmane Sissako to make this film about the imposition of Sharia law after the jihadist takeover of the legendary city at the edge of the Sahara Desert. For the most part, he leaves the violence implied, and the film manages to maintain some lightness, even humor, amid its darker strands. Not rated. 97 minutes. In English and various languages with subtitles. The Screen , Santa Fe. ( Jonathan Richards)
WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS This mockumentary features the daily lives of vampires living together in Wellington, New Zealand. Viago (Taika Waititi), Deacon (Jonathan Brugh), and Vladislav ( Jemaine Clement) argue over the standard of cleanliness in their vampire den and go out for nights on the town. At about 85 minutes, the film is nearly too long, but it maintains its appeal through absurdity and sheer charm. Written and directed by Waititi and Clement (best known in this country for their work on the HBO series Flight of the Conchords ), Shadows presents vampires living in social exile, bumbling along, and doing their best. Not rated. 86 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts , Santa Fe. (Adele Oliveira)
THE WRECKING CREW Denny Tedesco’s music doc pays homage to his father and the other members of the Wrecking Crew — a group of legendary session musicians who recorded on many of the biggest hits of the 1960s and ’70s. In addition to giving these players their due, the film allows them to revisit the parts they made famous decades ago, instruments in hand. Though the narrative drags at times, the film incorporates sufficient humor and history alongside the hits to satisfy music nerds and laypeople alike. Rated PG. 98 minutes. Jean Cocteau Cinema , Santa Fe. (Loren Bienvenu)