OPENING THIS WEEK
THE FAREWELL
Lulu Wang wrote and directed this dramedy about a young Chinese-American woman named Billi (Awkwafina) who learns that her grandmother (Zhao Shuzhen) is dying of cancer and only has a few months to live. In accordance with her family’s Chinese cultural beliefs, her whole family refuses to inform the matriarch of this diagnosis, instead flying everyone to Changchun, China, to stage a fake wedding for Billi’s cousin (Chen Han), with the understanding that it’s one last gathering around grandma — provided a conflicted Billi doesn’t spill the beans. Rated PG. 100 minutes. Violet Crown. (Not reviewed)
FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW
The Fast & Furious franchise gets its first spinoff with this oddcouple pairing of the cop Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and the renegade Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham). The franchise has long ago cast reality by the wayside, instead allowing its characters to perform impossible feats, and this film fully embraces superhuman powers with a cyber-genetically enhanced villain named Brixton (Idris Elba) who is bulletproof, super-strong, and indestructible. He’ll need those powers against the bulging biceps, fighting prowess, ace driving skills, and blistering one-liners of the two heroes. Rated PG-13. 135 minutes. Regal Santa Fe 6, Regal Stadium 14, and Violet Crown. (Not reviewed)
MAIDEN
In 1985, sailor Tracy Edwards left behind a role as cook on charter boats to compete in the Whitbread Round the World Race. Noting the lack of women onboard her boat and those of her competitors, she put together an all-female crew to compete in 1989, hurdling gender bias in sailing culture and becoming the first woman to receive the Yachtsman of the Year trophy in the process. This documentary by Alex Holmes utilizes footage of the event and invites Edwards and much of her crew to tell their stories. Rated PG. 97 minutes. The Screen. (Not reviewed)
SEA OF SHADOWS
Rated PG-13. 105 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts. See review, Page 46.