Quick Flicks
Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★ Fair ★★★ Bad ★★ Bomb ★
KEY: D, Drug use; N, Nudity; P, Profanity; S, Sexual activity; V, Violence. Reviews are by Bill Goodykoontz unless noted.
Listings are subject to late changes by theaters.
NEW THIS WEEK ‘The Catcher was a Spy’ ★★
(Barbara VanDenburgh) An attractive looking but ultimately vapid historical espionage drama about baseball player Moe Berg’s exploits as a WWII spy. (R – 98 minutes) P, S, V.
‘Distorted’
(Not reviewed) A couple moves into a condo that has a terrifying dark side. (R – 87 minutes) V.
‘Incident in a Ghostland’
(Not reviewed) A family reunites at a house where a shocking incident occurrred several years earlier. (Not rated – 91 minutes)
‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ ★★1⁄2
Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard return for another installment, with J.A. Bayona directing. The dinosaur action moves from the island TO A HOUSE in the confused story. (PG-13 — 128 minutes) V.
‘The Misandrists’ ★★
(Samantha Incorvaia) An injured man walks into the lives of two women who are part of a separatists organization that hates men. (No rating. — 90 minutes).
STILL PLAYING ‘Adrift’ ★★★1 ⁄2
(Samantha Incorvaia) Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin are an adventurous couple who find themselves caught in the eye of Hurricane Raymond after months of falling in love. (PG-13 — 120 minutes). N, P, D, V.
‘Always at the Carlyle’ ★★★★
(Randy Cordova) Effusive, loving look at the iconic New York hotel. Sometimes moving, sometimes informative, but mainly a fun chance for A-listers like George Clooney, Harrison Ford and Jon Hamm to wax nostalgic. (PG-13 — 92 minutes)
‘American Animals’ ★★★★
Bart Layton’s film, about college kids trying to steal rare books, is notable because of the way he tells the story, interspersing the real people with their characters. (R — 116 minutes) D, P, S.
‘Book Club’ ★1⁄2
A terrific cast — Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Mary Steenburgen and Candice Bergen — is wasted in this dopey comedy about ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ reignited their spark. (PG-13 — 104 minutes) P, S.
‘Breaking In’ ★★1⁄2
(Barbara VanDenburgh) Gabrielle Union unleashes a mother’s fury on a quartet of murderous thieves in this violent home-invasion thriller. A B-movie at best, but at least it knows it. (PG-13 – 88 minutes) P, V.
‘Deadpool 2’ ‘Gotti’
★★★★ Ryan Reynolds returns as the Mavel antihero. Cynical as ever, tragedy overtakes him as a new threat named Cable (Josh Brolin) emerges. Funny, selfaware and, as ever, obscene. (R — 119 minutes) D, P, S, V.
‘First Reformed’ ★★★★1⁄2
Ethan Hawke is brilliant in Paul Schrader’s terrific film, about a minister who undergoes a potentially dangerous crisis of faith. (R — 108 minutes) V. (Not reviewed) Actor Kevin Connolly (“Entourage”) directs a biopic about crime boss John Gotti. (R — 105 minutes). V, P.
‘Hereditary’ ★★★★1⁄2
Ari Aster’s feature debut, a horror film about a family struggling with grief, is terrific, as is its star, Toni Collette. Smart, and terrifying. (R — 127 minutes) D, N, P, V.
‘Hotel Artemis’ ★★1⁄2
Jodie Foster stars as a woman who runs a secret hospital for bad guys in writer and director Drew Pearce’s feature debut. The cast is great but the story is not. (R — 97 minutes) D, P, S, V.
‘Hearts Beat Loud’ ★★★1⁄2
(Barbara VanDenburgh) An absolute charmer about a widowed father and coming-of-age daughter connecting, and healing, through their shared passion for music. (PG-13 — 97 minutes) P, D.
‘Incredibles 2’ ★★★★
Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) fights crime while Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) changes diapers in Pixar’s latest sequel. Not the original, but worthwhile, and having Elastigirl front and center is great. (PG — 118 minutes)
‘A Kid Like Jake’ ★★1⁄2
(Randy Cordova) Parents (Claire Danes and Jim Parsons) decide to increase their son’s chances of getting into kindergarten by emphasizing questions about his gender identity. It often feels like the actors are killing time until The Next Big Moment rolls around. (Not rated — 92 minutes) P.
‘Mountain’ ★★★1⁄2
Willem Dafoe narrates Jennifer Peedom’s visually stunning film, which captures beautiful footage of mountains on all seven continents, and the people who climb them. (PG — 76 minutes)
‘Ocean’s 8’ ★★1⁄2
Sandra Bullock plays the leader of an all-woman crime team pulling off a big heist. Despite a great cast and an important cultural moment, the movie falls flat. (PG-13 — 110 minutes) D, P.
‘RBG’ ★★★★
Julie Cohen and Betsy West’s documentary examines the rock-start status of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Glowing, of course, and the civility seems almost quaint, alas. (PG — 97 minutes)
‘The Rider’ ★★★★1⁄2
Chloé Zhao incorporates elements of real life in her drama about a severely injured rodeo cowboy (Brad Jandreau) who struggles to recover. Intensely moving. (R — 104 minutes) D, P.
‘Sammohanam’
(Not reviewed) A cartoonist who doesn’t like actors falls in love with a film star. Sudheer Babu Posani stars. (Not rated — 124 minutes).
‘The Seagull’ ★★★1⁄2
Annette Bening is superb in Michael Mayer’s adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s play, about tangled-up romance and melodrama. (PG-13 — 98 minutes) D, N, V.
‘Summer 1993’ ★★★★
(Barbara VanDenburgh) A young orphan adjusts to her new life in the Spanish countryside in this tender, slow-moving meditation on family. (Not rated – 97 minutes)
‘SuperFly’
(Not reviewed) The 1972 action yarn about a cocaine dealer is updated for a new generation. Trevor Jackson stars. (R — 108 minutes) D, N, P, S, V. ‘Tag’ ★★1⁄2 Jon Hamm and Jeremy Renner lead a good cast in Jeff Tomsic’s film about lifelong friends who have played the same game of tag for 30 years. Has its moments, but it’s tonal shifts kill momentum. (R — 100 minutes) D, N, P, S.
‘Upgrade’
(Not reviewed) A man’s wife is killed in a mugging and he is left paralyzed. A billionaire offers an experimental cure to upgrade his body, and he seeks vengeance. Starring Logan Marshall-Green. (R — 95 minutes) P, V.
‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor?’ ★★★★1⁄2
Morgan Neville’s documentary about Fred Rogers, the children’s TV show host, is quietly moving, much like the man himself, and most welcome. (PG-13 — 94 minutes) P.