Chile Pages,
director Ben Lewin. Berg (played by Paul Rudd) was recruited by the United States government to work as a spy and assassin during World War II, and his story should be riveting, but Rudd is miscast in this demanding role. The Catcher Was a Spy is boring yet confusing, and heavy on stultifying expository dialogue and strange editing choices that call attention to the movie’s lack of energy. It’s neither an effective thriller nor a competent character study. Rated R. 98 minutes. Jean Cocteau Cinema. (Jennifer Levin)
CHRISTOPHER ROBIN
It’s hard to imagine what Disney was thinking with this weird and just-plain-wrong imagining of Winnie the Pooh’s Christopher Robin as an adult (Ewan McGregor) who fights in World War II and emerges a dour workaholic who neglects his wife (Hayley Atwell) and daughter (Bronte Carmichael) until becoming reunited with Pooh (voiced by Jim Cummings) and his other imaginary childhood friends — most notably Tigger (also Cummings), Eeyore (Brad Garrett), and Piglet (Nick Mohammed). Director Marc Forster gives the tale an elegant, pastoral look, and the film offers the occasional chuckle for the littlest members of the audience. The plot is feebly constructed, however, and the special effects used to bring the stuffed animals to life fail to summon magic and instead offer up fuel for nightmares. The worst thing about the movie is that it exists at all — the characters of the Hundred Acre Wood are a celebration of a child’s imagination, and as such, A.A. Milne’s books end with Robin growing older and saying farewell in one of the most bittersweet and poetic finales in literature. The idea that the characters should live on forever, and out in the world rather than a part of Robin’s internal childhood dreams, comes across as a cynical attempt by Disney’s bean counters to keep the property alive. Rated PG. 104 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown. (Robert Ker)
THE DARKEST MINDS
The superhero movie gets a new spin courtesy of this film directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson, based on the young adult novel by Alexandra Bracken. In this world, most children have been killed by a pandemic. The ones that remain are developing superpowers, and as a precaution, everyone under the age of eighteen is rounded up and sent to camps. Ruby (Amandla Stenberg), a young woman with perhaps the most incredible powers of all, escapes with the help of hunky Liam (Harris Dickinson). A bounty hunter (Gwendoline Christie) attempts to track her down. Rated PG-13. 105 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown. (Not reviewed)
DEATH OF A NATION
Filmmaker and political commentator Dinesh D’Souza received a presidential pardon from Donald Trump for making an illegal campaign contribution in 2014, a federal charge to which he pleaded guilty. D’Souza returns the favor with this documentary that aims to compare Trump favorably to Abraham Lincoln. D’Souza sees Trump as someone who will unite a broken country, and attempts to share this vision by suggesting that Democrats are pro-slavery and that Hitler was a liberal. Rated PG-13. 109 minutes. Regal Stadium 14. (Not reviewed)
THE DESERT BRIDE
Teresa (Paulina Garcia), a fifty-something nurse and housemaid, is traveling to a new job when the bus she is on breaks down. Then, a vendor named El Gringo (Claudio Rissi) accidentally drives away with her suitcase. She misses the next bus in order to track him down, and then we are on the road with this unlikely pair as a romance slowly blossoms between the two. Beautifully written and shot, with pitch-perfect acting, The Desert Bride feels like a dream made up of surreal bits and pieces held together by a sense of magic, yet the movie is entirely grounded in the real world and only nods obliquely toward mysticism. Not rated. 78 minutes. In Spanish with subtitles. Center for Contemporary Arts. (Jennifer Levin)
DOG DAYS
This love letter to dogs by director Ken Marino follows the interconnected lives of various characters and their pooches all over Los Angeles. The ensemble approach shows the many facets of the complicated relationships between humans and canines: They can make us laugh, teach us how to love, and drive us nuts. Eva Longoria and Rob Corddry head the cast. Rated PG. 112 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown. (Not reviewed)
EIGHTH GRADE
Comedian Bo Burnham writes and directs this anxiety-ridden but poignant portrait of Kayla (Elsie Fisher), who is navigating acne, cliques, a crush, an Instagram addiction, and crippling shyness in the last week of the eighth grade. By night, she posts YouTube videos of herself dispensing assured advice on how to gain confidence and “put yourself out there” (“Where is there?” she asks philosophically). By day, she’s the only girl at the pool party in a one-piece suit, voted Most Quiet in her class. A day spent shadowing a bubbly high school senior (Emily Robinson) changes her worldview, as does the support of her bumbling single dad (Josh Hamilton). It’s an absorbing, thoughtful, and sweetly funny time capsule of the most awkward parts of adolescence, and a reminder that even in adulthood, we all harbor an inner eighth-grader. Rated R. 93 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts; Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown. (Molly Boyle)
THE EQUALIZER 2
Denzel Washington returns as ex-CIA black ops agent Robert McCall in this sequel to the 2014 action film. McCall once more finds his retirement disrupted by awful circumstances, this time when a close friend of his (Melissa Leo) is murdered. He sets out on a path of extreme violence and revenge that won’t end until the last perpetrator is dead. As with the last film, Antoine Fuqua directs. Rated R. 121 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown. (Not reviewed)
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 3: SUMMER VACATION
Beloved animator Genndy Tartakovsky returns for his third film in this series based on Todd Durham’s book about a hotel for monsters run by Count Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler), his vampire daughter (Selena Gomez), and human son-in-law (Andy Samberg). In this episode, the whole gang (including monsters voiced by Kevin James, David Spade, Mel Brooks, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon, and Fran Drescher) decide they need a little R&R, so they take a monster cruise. While aboard, Dracula falls for the ship’s captain (Kathryn Hahn) — only to find that she’s the great granddaughter of Abraham Van Helsing (Jim Gaffigan), his longtime nemesis. Rated PG. 97 minutes. Screens in 2D only at Regal Stadium 14. (Not reviewed)
INCREDIBLES 2
The 2004 superhero adventure The Incredibles was an early hit in Pixar’s beloved catalogue. This sequel follows a very similar plot. Superheroes are still outlawed and the Incredibles family still uses their powers on the sly, but this time, it’s Elastigirl (Holly Hunter), not Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson), who leaves the nest to take a superheroing job, only to find that the job is a trap. Mr. Incredible settles into his new role as a stayat-home dad, discovering baby Jack-Jack has superpowers in the film’s funniest scenes. While the animation is highly inventive, the gender roles are regressive: Mr. Incredible can’t believe Elastigirl would be better suited for a job than him, she can’t believe he’ll do well as a homemaker, and teenage Violet (Sarah Vowell) stocks her self-worth in what a boy thinks of her. While these roles could be a byproduct of the film’s midcentury, retro-futuristic setting, they still feel stale. In the time since The Incredibles was first released, superheroes have become the dominant force in movies; the public’s shifting perceptions on the genre could have informed a much better movie. Rated PG. 118 minutes. Screens in 2D at Regal Stadium 14. (Robert Ker)
LEAVE NO TRACE
Through films such as 2010’s Winter’s Bone, director Debra Granik has studied American poverty of varying degrees. She immerses viewers in lowerclass struggles, particularly through the eyes of women who must bear the emotional labor of handling broken men. In
Leave No Trace, she tells the story of a veteran (Ben Foster) who suffers severely from PTSD, and his attempts to live precariously off the grid with his teenage daughter (Thomasin McKenzie). He has chosen the life of a vagrant; she has not, but loyally and lovingly goes along with him. Granik so effectively transports viewers into their alternative lifestyle that you begin to see the whole world through their eyes. The characters flit about on the fringes of society with a disconcerting restlessness that is highly evocative, yet the film is not bleak; at its heart is a touching father-daughter tale that may be unconventional but is no less warm for it. Rated PG. 109 minutes. Violet Crown. (Robert Ker)
MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN
Serving as both prequel and sequel to the 2010 hit Mamma
Mia! (which was based on the Abba-centric Broadway musical), this film returns viewers to the Greek island of Kalokairi, where Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), now pregnant, is managing the villa owned by her mother Donna (Meryl Streep). Sophie is going through a rough patch with her husband (Dominic Cooper), and gains wisdom through learning about how her mother (played by Lily James in her youth) met the three men (Jeremy Irvine, Hugh Skinner, Josh Dylan) who share the role of her father figure. In present day, those men (Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgård, and Colin Firth) arrive to celebrate the birth of Sophie’s child, and Sophie’s grandmother (Cher) shows up as well. Dancing, jiving, and having the times of their lives soon ensues. Rated PG-13. 114 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown. (Not reviewed)
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE FALLOUT
In an era when blockbuster movies mean superheroes, science fiction, and special effects until your eyes glaze over, it’s refreshing to watch an action movie that relies on helicopter and motorcycle chases, bathroom punchem-ups, ticking timebombs, and even literal cliffhangers. In the case of this, the sixth Mission: Impossible film, that’s down to star Tom Cruise who, with a pathological determination, insists on doing many stunts himself. Once more, he is Impossible Missions Force agent Ethan Hunt, who is called upon to save the world when a bunch of plutonium goes missing and Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), long under custody, shakes free. Henry Cavill, most famous for playing Superman in the recent DC movies, serves as an excellent foil for Hunt, and the chase is on. Christopher McQuarrie, who also helmed 2015’s Mission: Impossible — Rogue
Nation, returns as director for what is more of a direct sequel than the franchise’s loose premise requires, but offers a sure hand for the crackerjack action sequences and classic spy-movie tropes, which is the whole reason to see the film. Rated PG-13. 147 minutes. Screens in 2D only at Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown. (Robert Ker)
NIGHT COMES ON
This movie directed by Jordana Spiro, who cowrote the screenplay with Angelica Nwandu, is one of those tightly crafted, perfect little movies that tells a complicated story as simply as possible. Angel Lamere (Dominique Fishback) needs to find her father. She’s just been released from juvenile detention, she’s about to turn eighteen, and she has nowhere to live. But her probation officer won’t give her his address, so she finds her little sister, Abby (Tatum Marylin Hall), and they set off to find him. The acting shines in Night
Comes On, with standout performances by Fishback and Hall. Not rated. 90 minutes. Jean Cocteau Cinema. (Jennifer Levin)
SORRY TO BOTHER YOU
Boots Riley, who is best known as part of the hip-hop group The Coup, applies the fierce wit and revolutionary, anti-corporate stance that brought him success as a rapper to this, his filmmaking debut as writer and director. Lakeith Stanfield plays Cassius Green, a young African-American man who is down on his luck until he lands a job as a telemarketer. He initially struggles to make sales, until he learns one little trick: to speak like a white person (dubbed by David Cross). Soon, he’s on the road to riches, but finds that it’s a surreal rabbit hole that grows deeper and deeper. Riley does a masterful job of setting up expectations and then subverting them — both within individual scenes and the movie as a whole. He’s helped considerably by the fact that the superb cast plays the material straight, from Stanfield in the lead role to Tessa Thompson as Cassius’ artist girlfriend to Armie Hammer as a celebrity billionaire in the general mold of Elon Musk. The cast, along with the slick art design, unpredictable plot, and anarchic tone, make this a movie people will be watching for years to come. Rated R. 105 minutes. Violet Crown. (Robert Ker)
THE SPY WHO DUMPED ME
Mila Kunis plays Audrey, a young woman who is dumped by her boyfriend Drew (Justin Theroux). Her friend Morgan (Kate McKinnon) attempts to comfort her, but these feelings take a back seat when Drew shows up again with assassins hot on his trail. Turns out Drew is a spy, and after he is killed, the two women attempt to deliver his package to a contact in Vienna and enter the wild world of international espionage. Rated R. 106 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown. (Not reviewed)
TEEN TITANS GO! TO THE MOVIES
The Cartoon Network TV show Teen Titans Go! — which features DC comics characters the Teen Titans, rendered in brightly comedic stories — comes to cinemas in this colorful satire of the superhero genre. The sugarbombed, rapid-fire pace of the TV show may feel exhausting for parents when it is extended to feature-length running time, but savvy adults are also tossed several bones with jokey references to superhero history. The funniest running gag involves the Challengers of the Unknown, a generally obscure property that never garnered much interest after the 1950s and ‘60s. The plot is loose and leaves plenty of room for divergent gags: Robin (voiced by Scott Menville) feels jealous that every Batman character gets a spinoff movie, so the Titans persuade him to go to Hollywood, where the whole gang squares off against the mercenary Deathstroke (Will Arnett) in hopes of attracting the attention of a director (Kristen Bell). Those with love for the show will find that it scales up to the big screen nicely. Rated PG. 92 minutes. Regal Stadium 14. (Robert Ker)
WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?
In Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, director Morgan Neville takes the audience through the meteoric rise of the children’s television icon Fred Rogers. The story is told by his wife, Joanne Rogers, and his two sons; Mr. Rogers’
Neighborhood characters and production staff; and a few celebrities who recount their experiences with his brilliant mind and inordinately large heart. Rogers’ personal philosophies are sprinkled throughout, particularly as they applied to his beliefs on human dignity and respect. His commitment to his young audience was steadfast, and his earnestness came back to him a hundredfold in waves of support. The impact of Mr.
Rogers’ Neighborhood, which ran for nearly 30 years, is examined, along with its pop-culture parodies and the backlash against his messages of kindness. Overall, however, the world is a better place because Fred Rogers shared what he believed with us. If you grew up watching his show, this documentary will have you humming catchy tunes and revisiting familiar characters. Even if you didn’t, the key message from this evangelist of goodness will not be lost on you. Rated PG-13. 94 minutes. Violet Crown. (Thomas M. Hill)