NOW IN THEATERS
THE BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK THE TOURING YEARS
Ron Howard lovingly directs this documentary, which focuses on the touring career of the Beatles between 1963 and 1966 through found concert footage (some of it too familiar, some of it seemingly fresh material), interviews, and press conferences (when the Fab Four were at their most refreshingly cheeky). The story is not new by any means, but it’s well told at a fast pace and particularly compelling in detailing the private hell of being a Beatle toward the end of their run of live shows. It may inspire fans or even casual appreciators to dig back into the Beatles catalog; after all, as Paul McCartney recently observed in Rolling Stone, “The thing about the Beatles — they were a damn hot little band.” Not rated. 137 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts. (Molly Boyle)
THE BIRTH OF A NATION
Before writer/director/star Nate Parker’s film about the 1931 Virginia slave rebellion led by Nat Turner even hit theaters, it had already generated a storm of publicity, some about the furious bidding war its Sundance Film Festival premiere sparked among studios for distribution rights, and some relating to Parker’s checkered past. The Birth of a Nation itself is ambitious in its scope but flawed. In following Turner’s trajectory from minister to rebel, the movie falls prey to a few familiar biopic clichés: the child destined for greatness, overly dramatic love scenes, a benevolent but myopic slave-owner, and even the climactic uprising, which
features Parker striking majestic poses as he makes stirring speeches — these are all well-trod territory. But the actors are fantastic, including Parker, Armie Hammer (as Turner’s owner), and especially Aja Naomi King (as Cherry, Parker’s wife). Their performances elevate the film, which is ultimately moving in its unflinching depiction of the evils of slavery and the power of rising up. Rated R. 120 minutes. Regal DeVargas; Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown. (Molly Boyle)
BRIDGET JONES’ BABY
Renée Zellweger returns to play author Helen Fielding’s beloved heroine Bridget Jones once more. This time, Jones finds herself in a new pickle: She’s pregnant and uncertain who the father is. Could it be the new man she has taken a fancy to (Patrick Dempsey) or the old flame who has re-entered her life (Colin Firth)? More to the point: who does she want it to be? Rated R. 122 minutes. Regal DeVargas. (Not reviewed)
DEEPWATER HORIZON
In 2010, the oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico known as Deepwater Horizon tapped into a massive bubble of methane gas that caused a series of explosions, eventually polluting the Gulf with petroleum for months on end. Of the 126 workers onboard, 11 were killed, and the rest had just minutes to escape the firestorm. In this action movie set around the ecological disaster, Mark Wahlberg plays a real-life hero who is determined to survive and save his coworkers. Rated PG-13. 107 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
DON’T BREATHE
When three friends break into the home of an elderly blind man (Stephen Lang), they think they’re on the way to a quick robbery and a massive, easy score. Their plans go awry when the man kills one of them and traps the others inside. From there, the chase is on, as the two remaining friends try to evade the man, who possesses both keen hearing and some dark secrets. The simple premise is engaging, and director Fede Alvarez is up to the challenge, swooping the camera around the house in such a way that viewers have a good sense of where everyone’s hiding and how immediate the danger is. Too bad we’re forced to endure a gross plot twist and numerous false endings that ruin the film’s early goodwill. Rated R. 88 minutes. DreamCatcher. (Robert Ker)
THE DRESSMAKER
Kate Winslet stars as Tilly Dunnage, a dressmaker who in the 1950s returns to her hometown in the Australian Outback. With her sophisticated haute-couture designs, she invigorates the rural town with new energy. However, she also harbors a secret and is looking to exact some sweet revenge. Based on the novel by Rosalie Ham. Rated R. 119 minutes. Regal DeVargas. (Not reviewed)
FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS
Meryl Streep crafts an odd but appealing character out of the New York socialite who in the 1930s and ’40s earned renown as the world’s worst concert singer. Directed by Stephen Frears, this highly fictionalized tale (ever so selectively “based on the inspiring true story”) also elicits a more sympathetic portrayal than you might think likely from Hugh Grant, who plays the husband who supports her unbounded aspirations and enforces unswerving devotion from those she seeks to impress. Simon Helberg, as her accompanist, helps glue the movie together; he actually plays the piano, and his reactions to the sounds emanating from “Lady Florence” exemplify stunned disbelief. Streep sings her own bits, conveying the diva’s distinctive style with élan. Rated PG-13. 110 minutes. Regal DeVargas. (James M. Keller)
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN
Based on Paula Hawkins’ bestselling 2015 novel, this moody psychological thriller centers on Rachel (Emily Blunt), a depressive alcoholic divorcée who takes the train to Manhattan every day. From the train, she often catches glimpses of Megan (Haley Bennett) and her husband (Luke Evans), who seem to embody the ideal couple. One day, she sees Megan canoodling with a stranger, and the next morning, Rachel wakes up bruised and covered in blood, unable to remember the events of the previous night — and Megan is missing. Director Tate Taylor (The Help) manages to turn this juicy material into a drawn-out snooze-fest, with an over-reliance on lingering close-ups of his female stars’ faces, as if attempting to get the camera close enough to reveal the characters’ secrets. Blunt is compelling as she tries to make sense of events through the debilitating fog of her alcoholism, but her powerful performance is not enough to carry a film that jumps at the chance to devolve into tawdry Lifetime movie territory. Rated R. 112 minutes. Regal DeVargas; Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown. (Molly Boyle)
HARRY AND SNOWMAN
Director Ron Davis’s tribute to Snowman, the horse that won the triple crown of show jumping in 1958, is a Cinderella story about the bond between two friends. Dutch immigrant Harry deLayer bought the horse off the back of a slaughterhouse truck and discovered the workhorse’s talent for jumping by accident. The film parallels moments in the horses life with that of deLayer who, like the horse, came from nothing and struggled to make a career for himself in a new land. The story has moments of triumph and poignancy as Harry and Snowman’s long relationship takes them on the jumping circuit to win numerous awards, appear on television, and become legends in their field. It’s a moving film about a chance, but life-altering, encounter between man and beast. Not rated. 84 minutes. The Screen. (Michael Abatemarco)
HELL OR HIGH WATER
New Mexico doubles for Texas in this film about two brothers (Chris Pine and Ben Foster) who take to robbing banks while two experienced lawmen (Jeff Bridges and Gil Birmingham) doggedly pursue them. As a heistaction film, the story offers little that’s new, but Taylor Sheridan’s insightful script and David Mackenzie’s deft direction transform the tale into an involving drama about the bonds of love and loyalty and the lengths to which modern-day outlaws and lawmen will go to uphold their respective codes of the West. Rated R. 102 minutes. Regal DeVargas. (Robert Nott)
IXCANUL
María (María Mercedes Coroy) is a seventeen-year-old Kaqchikel girl who lives on the side of an active volcano in Guatemala. Her parents have arranged a marriage for her, which means she must live in the uncomfortable alien environment of the city. When she becomes pregnant, and the pregnancy becomes complicated, she must rely on the modern world she shies from. Not rated. 93 minutes. In Maya and Spanish with subtitles. Center for Contemporary Arts. (Not reviewed)
LONG WAY NORTH
The heroine of this enchanting animated film is a strong-willed aristocratic young woman, and much of the action takes place in icy northerly regions. Similarities aside, this is definitely no Frozen — it’s the directorial debut of Rémi Chayé (who cut his teeth with work on The
Secret of Kells, among others). Sacha, a daughter of nobility in Czarist-era Russia, believes she has found a clue to the whereabouts of her grandfather, an explorer who set off for the North Pole, never to return. She’ll do whatever it takes to find his ship, even it means leaving her family and her comfortable
home and scrubbing dishes in a portside bar. While most modern animated films are loud, crude, and manic, this is a calm, clear example of the expressive power of simplicity. And Sacha is a role model parents should be happy to introduce to their children — no catchy pop tunes, toys, or fast-food meals required. Rated PG. 81 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts. (Laurel Gladden)
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
After a promising start, Antoine Fuqua’s remake of the famous 1960 film about seven gunmen who defend an isolated town from Mexican bandits in order to preserve their place in the West turns into a standard shoot-’em-up with flying lead making up for the lack of smart dialogue. Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, and Ethan Hawke hold their own in the saddle, but some of the others sort of disappear into the bullet-fractured woodwork, and the villainy is played for one note bordering on the ludicrous. Rated PG-13. 132 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Robert Nott)
MASTERMINDS
Zach Galifianakis, Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon, Jason Sudeikis, Kristen Wiig, and Owen Wilson play a bunch of goofballs who pull off a massive bank robbery and abscond with 17 million dollars. That was the easy part — the hard part is trusting one another with the cash when every partner is a half-witted double-crosser. Rated PG-13. 94 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
MIDDLE SCHOOL: THE WORST YEARS OF MY LIFE
Rafe (Griffin Gluck) is a tween stuck in a school with what could be the worst principal ever (Andrew Daly). Faced with an oppressive list of rules designed to stifle any semblance of creativity or expression, Rafe invents his own guidelines: Break every rule in the book. Rated PG. 92 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN
Just in time for Halloween, Tim Burton presents a haunted house of a movie containing children in creepy masks, walking skeletons, eyeball-eating villains, and many other ghastly and ghoulish delights. It comes in the form of an adaptation of Ransom Riggs’ whimsically Gothic young-adult novel, in which a boy named Jake (Asa Butterfield) follows a mystery to a secret institution where children with unusual powers are kept safe from society by the shape-shifting Miss Peregrine (Eva Green). The movie’s first half is too slow, and the premise eventually reveals itself to be more convoluted than necessary, but it’s a rare family film (roughly for ages nine and up) that’s spooky, silly, and sometimes gross. Rated PG-13. 127 minutes. Screens in 2-D only at Regal Stadium 14; Regal DeVargas; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Robert Ker)
NO MANCHES FRIDA
In this comedy from Mexico, Omar Chaparro stars as Zequi, a bank robber who disguises himself as a substitute teacher at an unruly high school in order to access some money that he buried on the school grounds. As he whips the kids into shape using unorthodox methods, he discovers he has a knack for teaching. Rated PG-13. 100 minutes. In Spanish with subtitles. Regal Stadium 14. (Not reviewed)
QUEEN OF KATWE
Disney’s latest feel-good sports movie tells the real-life story of Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwanga), a young Ugandan girl who learns to play chess, discovers her incredible ability at the game, and goes on to compete at the World Chess Olympiad. Lupita Nyong’o plays Mutesi’s mother, and David Oyelowo plays a missionary who teaches her how to play. Rated PG. 124 minutes. Violet Crown. (Not reviewed)
STORKS
Once upon a time, storks delivered babies to new parents. After that became unprofitable, they switched to delivering packages. That’s the premise of this animated comedy, which centers on one stork (voiced by Andy Samberg) who, on the eve of a big promotion, accidentally activates the company’s old “baby making machine” and then attempts to deliver the little tykes before his boss finds out. Rated PG. 89 minutes. Screens in 2-D only at Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
SUICIDE SQUAD
This is a trashy (in mostly good ways) story of a bunch of dangerous criminals who are forced by the government to fight superpowered villains. It nails its casting — Will Smith as the sharpshooting Deadshot, Margot Robbie as nihilistic Harley Quinn, and Viola Davis as the no-nonsense bureaucrat Amanda Waller — all of whom are excellent. However, director David Ayer sends them on an unexciting mission, rendered in a murky visual palette, with a forgettable climax. He tries to usher things along by using dozens of popular rock and rap songs, but the result is a mess. Still, seeds are planted for a superior sequel. Rated PG-13. 130 minutes. Screens in 2-D only at Regal Stadium 14. (Robert Ker)
SULLY
Clint Eastwood takes one of the most publicized news stories of recent years and turns it into nailbiting suspense, with Tom Hanks comfortably filling the role of Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who coolly brought his disabled US Airways jet down on the Hudson River after losing both engines to a flock of geese moments after takeoff. All 155 on board (including Santa Fean David Sontag) survived with only a few minor injuries, and Sully was hailed as a hero. But Eastwood amps up the drama by heightening the confrontational aspect of the National Transportation Safety Board, whose investigators question whether the aquatic landing was necessary, suggesting Sully could and should have made it to an airport. Eastwood and screenwriter Todd Komarnicki jump around in time and in consciousness, interspersing Sully’s nightmares of what might have been. Good support comes from Aaron Eckhart as Jeff Skiles, Sully’s co-pilot, and Laura Linney in her familiar thankless role as the suffering wife. Rated PG-13. 96 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown. (Jonathan Richards)