WORTH SEEING
Which Movies to Watch This Weekend
Call Me by Your Name: This is an emphatic celebration of the mystery and power of sexuality, set in a small Italian town, where the sun, the water and the surrounding beauty reinforce lust and longing. Timothée Chamalet and Armie Hammer are superb in the central roles, and despite an unignorable bathetic turn in the supporting performances, this is an important film. Rated R. 132 minutes.
— Mick LaSalle Coco: Pixar’s new Dia de los Muertosthemed animated movie crams the first sequences with exposition, and then takes a colorful yet light spin through the Land of the Dead. But everything is leading up to a powerhouse finish. The success of this final act, and the way it transforms the entire film, is remarkable. A strong second movie from “Toy Story 3” director Lee Unkrich is one of Pixar’s better productions. Rated PG. 105 minutes. — Peter Hartlaub
Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Mark Hamill takes the all-time “Star Wars” acting prize, as a jaded man confronting a life of failure, in this latest installment, in which Luke Skywalker (Hamill) is asked by the new guard to lead the Resistance. At a certain point some battle fatigue settles in, but this is an appealing entry in the series. Rated PG-13. 152 minutes. — Mick LaSalle
The Disaster Artist: This fact-based comedy, about two friends and the making of a self-financed movie in Los Angeles (“The Room”), is the funniest movie in a year of funny movies, with James Franco, who also directed, as Tommy Wiseau, a bizarre and talentless actor who decides to write and direct his own starring vehicle. Co-starring Dave Franco, and with Seth Rogen in a featured role, the movie is side-splitting. Rated R. 103 minutes. — Mick LaSalle
Ferdinand: There’s real artistry to this delightful — if slightly over-packed — animated adaptation of Munro Leaf ’s 1936 children’s tale “The Story of Ferdinand,” about a bull more prone to smelling flowers than fighting. The voice acting and visuals are spot-on, and director Carlos Saldanha and the screenwriters impart the brutality of bullfighting without becoming too intense for a PG-rated film. Rated PG. 108 minutes. — Carla Meyer