NOW IN THEATERS
THE BFG
In 1982, director Steven Spielberg and the late screenwriter Melissa Mathison collaborated on the family-film classic E.T. and struck gold. Here, they tackle a work by beloved children’s novelist Roald Dahl, and while it seems like this should be a perfect fit, the filmmakers can never quite summon up the requisite magic. A young girl named Sophie (Ruby Barnhill) is taken from her orphanage by a big, friendly giant (a computer-generated creation voiced by Mark Rylance), and eventually helps him to get rid of unfriendly giants. The characters are underdeveloped, leaving us with no affection for them or sense of their emotional stakes. The pace is glacial and the overall tone aims for whimsy but labors too hard at this goal, and it shows. There are jokey scenes that will please the littlest ones, but older kids will be nonplussed, and parents will struggle to stay awake. Rated PG. 117 minutes. Screens in 2-D only at Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Robert Ker)
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Kevin Hart have starred in several buddy comedies each, but never together — until now. Hart plays Calvin, a man who looks up an old classmate named Bob Stone on Facebook. Back in school, Bob was overweight and teased. Now, he looks like The Rock, and he’s a CIA agent. When the mismatched friends reunite, they get drawn into some international-espionage shenanigans. Rated PG-13. 114 minutes. Regal Stadium 14. (Not reviewed)
DARK HORSE
Around the turn of the millennium, Janet Vokes, a barmaid in an economically depressed Wales mining town, convinced her friends and customers to pitch in together, purchase a thoroughbred, and pay for its training. They bought and bred Dream Alliance, and the horse eventually enjoyed success on the racing circuit in the U.K. — attracting a good deal of media attention for how the story upturned class-structure norms. Through new interviews, dramatic recreations, and archival footage, this documentary tells Dream Alliance’s story. Rated PG. 85 minutes. Regal DeVargas. (Not reviewed)
THE FALLEN IDOL
In one breathtaking stretch in the late 1940s, Carol Reed made a string of classic thrillers that equal or better the best of Hitchcock. They are Odd Man
Out (1947), The Fallen Idol (1948), and The Third Man (1949). This one, about an ambassador’s son (Bobby Henrey) who idolizes the embassy butler (Ralph Richardson) and gets him in a heap of trouble while trying to protect him, has been rediscovered as a lost gem in the last decade. It has restored some of the stature of Reed as well. Not rated. 95 minutes. Jean Cocteau Cinema. (Jonathan Richards)
FINDING DORY
Outside of the Toy Story franchise, Pixar Animation Studio’s sequels have been fairly uninspired trips down familiar territory, and this follow-up to the 2003 smash
Finding Nemo is no exception. It centers on Dory, the forgetful blue fish voiced by Ellen DeGeneres. In a rare instance when Dory’s memory works properly, she recalls that her family lives in the Monterey area and sets out to find them, aided by old friends such as the clownfish Marlin (Albert Brooks) and Nemo (Hayden Rolence). The animation is colorful, there are some inventive bits, and an octopus named Hank (Ed O’Neill) nearly steals the show. It’s basically a beat-for-beat remake of the first film, which will please kids more than adults, and attempts to muster fresh energy never quite take off. Rated PG. 103 minutes. Screens in 2-D only at Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Robert Ker)
FREE STATE OF JONES
Matthew McConaughey stars in this action movie based on the life of the controversial historical figure Newton Knight. In 1862, the poor Mississippi farmer deserted the Confederate army and later led a rebellion against the Confederacy, ultimately establishing his own racially integrated community. Gary Ross
(The Hunger Games) directs. Keri Russell and Brendan Gleeson co-star. Rated R. 139 minutes. Regal DeVargas; Violet Crown. (Not reviewed)
GENIUS
The title of Scott Berg’s 1978 National Book Awardwinning Max Perkins: Editor of Genius has been edited down to its ambiguous keyword, and the book comes to the screen under the uncertain hand of Michael Grandage, a noted British theater director making his screen directorial debut. Perkins was the Scribner’s editor who discovered and nurtured Thomas Wolfe, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The film takes on the daunting task of making book editing cinematic. The heaviest lifting falls to Colin Firth, who does a credible job as Perkins, wearing a bemused scowl, which is required to reflect a gamut of emotions, and a fedora, which remains clamped to his head through nearly every waking moment, until one, which registers with a thump. The movie suffers from Brit syndrome, that affliction that insists on casting English or Australian actors as quintessentially American characters (think Tom Hiddleston’s Hank Williams), with Jude Law as Wolfe, Guy Pearce (forgivably excellent) as Fitzgerald, Dominic West as Hemingway, Nicole Kidman as Wolfe’s lover Aline Bernstein, and the lone American, Laura Linney, as the long-suffering Mrs. Perkins. Rated PG-13. 104 minutes. Regal DeVargas. (Jonathan Richards)
NDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE
In 1996, Independence Day was among a new wave of action blockbusters that boasted big budgets and a surprising amount of heart, much of that due to the hard work of Will Smith, who won over ‘90s moviegoers with his alien-fighting comic bluster (see also 1997’s Men in Black). Two decades later, this sequel doesn’t have Smith, but does bring back director Roland Emmerich and actors Jeff Goldblum, Vivica A. Fox, and Bill Pullman, as a beleaguered former president who must once again save his country from an alien invasion. There’s plucky new blood, too, in the form of Liam Hemsworth and Jessie T. Usher, but the soulless script suffers from attentiondeficit disorder, and its nods toward the charmingly cheesy one-liners of the original movie mostly fall flat. Goldblum tries valiantly, but even his charisma is no match against a film more concerned with counting how much time is left until alien annihilation than the actual human feelings of its central characters. Rated PG-13. 120 minutes. Screens in 2-D only at Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown. (Molly Boyle)
LAST CAB TO DARWIN
This Down Under charmer makes good use of the familiar template of the old guy hitting the road in troubling circumstances. In Jeremy Sims’ film, he’s Rex McRae (Michael Caton), a cabbie in the little town of Broken Hill, New South Wales. He’s received a grim medical diagnosis: stomach cancer, metastasized, a few weeks to live. His taxi is the vehicle in which he will take to the highway. His destination is Darwin, across three thousand kilometers of dusty, scenic outback. His goal is the clinic of Dr. Nicole Farmer (Jacki Weaver), a pioneer of legalized euthanasia. En route he picks up a couple of passengers: Tilly (Mark Coles Smith), a free-spirited indigenous youth who fixes Rex’s windshield and hitches a ride, and Julie (Emma Hamilton), a pretty young British nurse who’s seeing the world. Despite a few aspects that don’t seem thoroughly thought through, Last Cab is a fine mix of sentiment and flinty crust. And Caton’s taciturn Rex is a lovely fellow to take a trip with, even one to a destination like this. Not rated. 123 minutes. The Screen. (Jonathan Richards)
THE LEGEND OF TARZAN
Director David Yates helmed the last four Harry
Potter films and brings the same attention to detail to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ literary legend in this thoroughly entertaining tale of Tarzan. The title character (Alexander Skarsgård), having acclimated to London life, is coaxed into returning to the jungle, where he finds a Belgian mining company threatening both the human and animal communities. From there, it’s all pulpy adventure with vine-swinging, train-hopping, ape-fighting, alligators, shirtless men, and damsels in distress. The delightful supporting cast includes Christoph Waltz as a mustache-twirling villain and Samuel L. Jackson as an American gunfighter, all of whom are decked out in imaginative period costumes. While the script could have used another draft, the romance is undercooked, and some of the editing jumps around in weird ways, this stuff is all forgivable in a movie meant for simple, swashbuckling escapism. Rated PG-13. 109 minutes. Screens in 3-D and 2-D at Regal Stadium 14. Screens in 2-D only at Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Robert Ker)
THE LOBSTER
Gorgeous cinematography and a fascinating premise anchor this dystopian film about love and romance. David (Colin Farrell) has lost his wife, so he is sent to a hotel, where he has 45 days to find a new partner or be turned into an animal. Residents of the hotel hunt a tribe of loners who live in the nearby woods, where coupling is punishable by maiming. Many high-level actors — including Rachel Weisz and John C. Reilly — contribute intensely controlled performances, but there is more style than substance to this story. Rated R. 119 minutes. Regal DeVargas. (Jennifer Levin)
LOVE & FRIENDSHIP
This delicious comedy of manners has the exquisite flavor of a scrumptious high tea at Harrods. It’s based on Lady Susan, a little-known comic novella that Jane Austen wrote when she was about eighteen. At the center of it all is Lady Susan, played to conniving perfection by Kate Beckinsale. She is a beautiful widow described as “the most accomplished flirt in all England,” who has little trouble wrapping men around her little finger as she begins shopping in earnest for a rich husband for herself and one for her daughter Frederica (Morfydd Clark). Wit is often present in Jane Austen adaptations, but it generally plays a supporting role to romance. Here, it’s front and center. American director
Whit Stillman and his marvelous cast have more fun than should be legal with this material. Rated PG. 92 minutes. Violet Crown. (Jonathan Richards)
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Visual magic is mother’s milk to Julie Taymor (creator of the Disney stage hit The Lion King), and she quaffs it by the quart in this dazzling 2013 stage production of Shakespeare’s screwball comedy, filmed over four days of its New York run. Taymor has had success in the past with Shakespeare, and here she lights up the stage with breathtaking effects while creating the space for some superb performances. Most memorable of these is the captivating Kathryn Hunter as a rubber-limbed, raspy-voiced, wisecracking Puck, doing the bidding of the King of the Fairies, Oberon (David Harewood). Titania is played by the ethereal Tina Benko, white-robed and front-lit by wand lights jutting from her bosom. Puck, putting “a girdle round about the earth in forty minutes,” brings back the blossom, but after that, things do not go according to plan, and merriment ensues. In an age of action movie CGI effects, it’s exciting to see what real-life, hands-on stage magic can produce. The shadows here do not offend. Rated PG. 144 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts. (Jonathan Richards)
MIKE AND DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES
Zac Efron and Adam Devine play two brothers who manage to ruin every event they attend with their awful behavior. To prevent them from ruining their sister’s wedding, their parents make them bring dates. The plan backfires when the women (Anna Kendrick and Aubrey Plaza) turn out to be wilder than their escorts. Rated R. 98 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
THE MUSIC OF STRANGERS: YOYO MA AND THE SILK ROAD ENSEMBLE
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, thoroughly charismatic and introspective in this documentary, unites musicians from all over the world (with a particular emphasis on the Middle East and Asia) as the Silk Road Ensemble. This engrossing film highlights Ma along with other musicians, including Chinese pipa player Wu Man and Iranian kamancheh player Kayhan Kalhor — and ties it together with outstanding photography, crisp editing, and predictably wonderful music. Rated PG-13. 96 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts. (Robert Ker)
OUR KIND OF TRAITOR
The latest film adaptation of a John le Carré spy novel stars Ewan McGregor as Perry, a teacher who meets Dima (Stellan Skarsgård), a powerful member of the Russian mob, while on vacation. Dima, wishing to become an informant for the British government in exchange for sanctuary, gives Perry a list of names to pass along to MI6. The list contains people involved in money laundering, including politicians throughout the United Kingdom. Soon, Perry finds himself entangled by both sides of the conspiracy. Rated R. 107 minutes. Regal DeVargas. (Not reviewed)
PATHS OF THE SOUL
This movie has many of the same elements as an Andrei Tarkovsky film: ravishing natural landscapes, lifelike rhythms, multiple characters, and spiritual clarity. A group of people from the village of Myima decides to undertake the Buddhist “bowing pilgrimage” to the holy Tibetan capital, Lhasa. Chinese filmmaker Yang Zhang directs this sensitive film about the spiritual life of Tibetans. Crosscultural pollination between the Chinese and the Tibetans is still rare, and the film is a lighthouse that shows how illuminating such collaborations can be, not only for those in the region, but also for the rest of us. Not rated. 115 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts. (Priyanka Kumar)
THE PURGE: ELECTION YEAR
If the 2016 election cycle can seem like America is slipping into utter chaos, then here is a horror film that takes this impression to its extreme. A sequel to the modest 2013 hit about the one night a year where all crime in America is legal (called “the purge”), this film centers on the head of security (Frank Grillo) for a presidential candidate (Elizabeth Mitchell) who is running on the bold platform that the purge might not be a great idea. Rated R. 105 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS
In structure, the latest entry in the summer animation sweepstakes is Toy Story adapted to domestic animals. What mischief goes on when the humans aren’t around? What adventures do these lovable critters get up to? But Pets never rises to the Toy Story level of imagination. The first part of the movie is content to imagine the shenanigans your four-legged pals might actually be involved in when you close that door. But there are 90 minutes to fill, and before long, we’re off to car chases, physical mayhem, and all sorts of reptiles and birds of prey, led by a rogue bunny who has it in for humankind. There are some undeniably funny moments, but also long stretches where you can check your watch or make mental grocery lists. The movie is voiced by an all-star cast led by Louis C.K. and Kevin Hart. Remember when animated features provided employment for poor anonymous working stiffs in Hollywood? What kid really cares if the cat is Lake Bell or the falcon is Albert Brooks? Rated PG. 90 minutes. Screens in 3-D and 2-D at Regal Stadium 14; DreamCatcher. Screens in 2-D only at Regal DeVargas; Violet Crown. (Jonathan Richards)
THE SHALLOWS
Blake Lively plays a surfer who travels to a remote beach to catch some waves by herself. Just before nightfall, she is attacked by a massive shark, but manages to find safety on a small rock some 200 feet from shore. Unfortunately, when the tide comes in, her sanctuary will disappear underwater, which gives her under 12 hours to figure out her escape. Shark horror is an always-welcome summer fixture going back to the days of Jaws, and this film has some terrific B-movie sequences and some epic woman-versusnature images. It’s never really scary or suspenseful, though, thanks to some too-flashy filmmaking — the subject matter calls for cheap film stock and grindhouse aesthetics, not HD digital video and reality-TV gloss. Rated PG-13. 87 minutes. Regal Stadium 14. (Robert Ker)
SWISS ARMY MAN
Daniel Radcliffe continues his admirably eccentric post-Harry Potter career by starring in a black comedy that could be his most bizarre movie yet. He plays Manny, found washed up on the beach and presumed dead by a lost traveler named Hank (Paul Dano). Somehow, Manny begins to show signs of life and becomes a zombie-like human tool that Hank can use for survival, and they become friends as they find their way home. Rated R. 95 minutes. Violet Crown. (Not reviewed)
YARN
Author Barbara Kingsolver contributes a narrative voice-over about the fundamental nature of wool in this documentary homage to knitting and crocheting. Yarn follows female fiber artists from Poland, Iceland, and Japan as they push past what they consider to be a sexist bias in the art world against any medium associated with handicrafts, a bias strong enough to cause some of them to leave their home countries and seek acceptance elsewhere. Not rated. 76 minutes. Jean Cocteau Cinema. (Jennifer Levin)