NOW PLAYING
After the Storm The latest insightful family drama by Japanese master Hirokazu Kore-eda centers around a one-time prize-winning novelist who is divorced, broke and longing to reconcile with his ex-wife and son. He takes a job at a detective agency, and his surveillance subjects bear an uncomfortable similarity to his own quietly desperate circumstances. Not rated. 110 minutes. In Japanese with subtitles. — G. Allen Johnson
All These Sleepless Nights This film, about young people in Warsaw who mainly drink, smoke, dance and party, has been called a documentary, but it was made by a director who believes that the line between fact and fiction is permeable. The polished style is definitely that of a fictional film. There are some intriguing moments, but the people portrayed eventually grow tiresome. Rated R. 100 minutes.
— W. Addiego
The Boss Baby “Madagascar” director Tom McGrath returns with a satisfying animated comedy about a corporate baby (voiced by Alec Baldwin) making life miserable for a 7-year-old boy. But there are distracting side plots — and side plots to the side plots — that keep the movie from rising to greatness. Rated PG. 97 minutes. — P. Hartlaub
Cezanne et Moi Daniele Thompson wrote and directed this chronicle of the friendship between Emile Zola, who was born into poverty and achieved wealth, and Paul Cezanne, who was financially secure his whole life, but never achieved worldly success. Guillaume Gallienne’s performance as the volatile Cezanne is the standout. Rated R. 117 minutes. In French with English subtitles. — M. LaSalle
Chips Dax Shepard wrote, directed and stars in this coarsecomic remake of the popular (1977-1983) TV action series, centering around the thrilling escapades of California highway patrolman. The action movie element never catches fire, but the comedy works. Co-starring Michael Pena. Rated R. 100 minutes.
— M. LaSalle Colossal Nacho Vigalondo wrote and directed this exceptionally imaginative highwire act, about a young woman who notices that every time she has an alcoholic binge, a monster acts Seoul, Korea. The movie doesn’t retreat into metaphor but stays wild and imaginative. Starring Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis. Rated R. 110 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
The Fate of the Furious In this latest installment of the “Fast & Furious” action franchise, Dominic (Vin Diesel) falls prey to the machinations of an unscrupulous new lover (Charlize Theron). This new film is a welcome return to the series’ true, silly nature. Rated PG-13. 136 minutes. — M. LaSalle
For Here or to Go? This timely feature addresses immigration issues through the story of the visa problems faced by an Indian software engineer in Silicon Valley in 2008. The film, which also has a rich comic strain, also deals with other cultureclash issues. The characters are likable, but the film tends to declare its issues rather than dramatize them. Rated R. 105 minutes. — W. Addiego
Frantz Director Francois Ozon reimagines Ernst Lubitsch’s 1932 antiwar film as from the perspective of the young German woman (Paula Beer) who has lost her fiancee in World War I and meets a mysterious Frenchman. Beautifully filmed and acted. Rated PG. 113 minutes. In French and German with English subtitles.
— M. LaSalle
Get Out This first film from director Jordan Peele is very much a product of 2017, a comic horror film about a young black man (Daniel Kaluuya) who goes with his new girlfriend (Allison Williams) on a visit to her parents’ house. It’s a funny and unsettling mix of paranoia and a comic awareness of its own paranoia, and it’s irresist-
ible. Rated R. 103 minutes. — M. LaSalle Ghost in the Shell Scarlett Johansson is the world’s first cyborg with a human brain and a completely synthetic body, in this sci-fi film that presents a convincing and utterly bleak vision of the future. It’s a virtual nightmare, in both senses of the term. Rated PG-13. 107 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
Gifted This modest, well-made film overcomes — or rather skirts around — the cliches associated with math geniuses in the movies, with this story of a 7-year-old math prodigy (Mckenna Grace) being raised by her uncle in Florida. Rated PG-13. 101 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
Going in Style Director Zach Braff rejects all old-guy-film stereotypes and crafts an enjoyable movie. The bank heist comedy with Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Alan Arkin isn’t perfect, but it does the most important thing right: It adds dignity to its older characters, instead of stripping it away in the name of humor. Rated PG-13. 96 minutes.
— P. Hartlaub I Am Not Your Negro James Baldwin’s writings on race (spoken by Samuel L. Jackson) are interspersed with footage of Baldwin making speeches and appearing on talk shows. The result demonstrates that Baldwin, who died 30 years ago, is as relevant today as was in the 1960s and ’70s. Rated PG-13. 95 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
In Search of Israeli
Cuisine This easily digestible documentary explores the diverse cultures of Israel with a food and travel tour. It’s not just a food-tasting expedition; it’s an education. Not rated. 97 minutes. — D. Lewis Kong: Skull Island King Kong never looked so good as in this well-directed, well-acted, imaginatively crafted and very respectably written revisit of the King story, this time on his native habitat of Skull Island. Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson and Tom Hiddleston and directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts. Rated PG-13. 120 minutes. — M. LaSalle
Logan The ninth appearance by Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in 17 years takes a massive tone shift from the relatively bloodless earlier X-Men films, going berserk in its own moody and ultra-violent direction. Jackman and director James Mangold create something great here, upsetting comic book norms without losing entertainment value. Rated R. 141 minutes. — P. Hartlaub Personal Shopper Kristen Stewart strains to hold up the edifice of this awful Olivier Assayas mess, about a personal shopper to a celebrity (Stewart), who is also trying to communicate with the dead. Long, dull and structureless, it brings out the worst in Stewart, who has never seemed so mannered
and inauthentic. Rated R. 105 minutes. — M. LaSalle
Raw Director Julia Ducournau understands coming-of-age fears as much as she gets scary movies, and she manages both near-perfectly in this graphic thriller about a cannibal college student. Not for the squeamish, but Ducournau’s expert hand should earn the respect of any cinephile who can handle the explicit content. Rated R. 99 minutes. — P. Hartlaub
The Sense of an Ending Well-acted, understated and British to the core, this drama is based on Julian Barnes’ novel of the same title, charting what happens when the past abruptly catches up with an aging Londoner. Jim Broadbent does a fine job as a man who is old school but not a caricature. Good supporting work from Charlotte Rampling, Harriet Walker and Michelle Dockery. Directed by Ritesh Batra (“The Lunchbox”). Rated PG-13. 108 minutes. — W. Addiego
Smurfs: The Lost Village This animated reboot featuring the troll-like Smurfs has none of the bathroom humor or darkness of the recent live action movies. Smurfette even gets a storyline that borders on female empowerment. Sadly, almost all of this goodwill is wasted on a film that simply isn’t very well-written, imaginative or memorable. Rated PG. 91 minutes. — P. Hartlaub
Song to Song Terrence Malick’s latest, about songwriters in Austin, is a huge disappointment, over two hours of wistful voiceover contemplation to the sight of various vague characters improvising in the most obvious and tiresome of ways. Starring Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara and Michael Fassbender. Rated R. 129 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
Spark: A Space Tail Animated adventure about a teenage monkey and his friends on a mission to take back a planet from an evil overlord. Not reviewed. Rated PG. 90 minutes.
T2 Trainspotting The sequel to “Trainspotting,”
the 1996 film about heroin addicts in Edinburgh, is a likable and sumptuously filmed comedy, delightful to watch from start to finish. Rated R. 113 minutes.
— M. LaSalle Tommy’s Honour Much like golf, this genteel biopic, about links legends Tommy and Tom Morris, moves at a stately pace, but the fine performances and workable storyline keep things on course. Rated PG. 112 minutes.
— D. Lewis
Tomorrow This French environmental documentary has a bit more polish and vitality than what’s become the norm for the genre. The film travels the world looking at global warming, food production and the like, offering possible answers that often focus on decentralization and bottom-up decision-making. Co-directed by activist Cyril Dion and actress Melanie Laurent. Not rated. 118 minutes. In French, English and Hindi with English subtitles. — W. Addiego
Truman This best picture winner at Spain’s Goya Awards (the Spanish Oscars) stars Ricardo Darin and Javier Camara as two friends reunited in Barcelona when one falls seriously ill. It’s a brilliant film, beautifully acted. Rated R. 108 minutes. In Spanish with English subtitles.
— M. LaSalle
Your Name What starts out as a “Freaky Friday”-type body exchange between high school kids — a rural village girl and a Tokyo boy — becomes a rumination on time travel, cataclysmic fate, rural-urban dynamics and, of course, a love story in novelist-turned-director Makoto Shinkai’s anime, which is more Miyazaki than “Ghost in the Shell. Rated PG. 106 minutes. — G. Allen Johnson The Zookeeper’s Wife Jessica Chastain and Flemish actor Johan Heldenbergh are brilliant as Antonina and Jan Zabinski, a Polish couple who used their zoo in Warsaw as a transit point for rescuing Polish Jews from the Warsaw ghetto. This is a humane and extremely well-made film from director Niki Caro. Rated PG-13. 124 minutes. — M. LaSalle