Quick Flicks

NEW THIS WEEK

‘The Rhythm Section’

★★: Blake lively plays a junkie-turned-assassin hunting the villain responsible for killing her family in a plane crash. A dopey and oppressively glum thriller. (R — 109 minutes) P, D, V.

‘Gretel & Hansel’ (Not

reviewed): A horror version of the familiar fairy tale. Which, come to think of it, is pretty scary to begin with. With Sophia Lillis and Samuel Leakey. (PG-13 — 87 minutes) D.

Oscar nominated short

films: The Academy Award-nominated liveaction, animated and documentary shorts are presented as a package. See azcentral.com for reviews.

‘The Wonderland’ (Not

reviewed): A girl, an alchemist and his student to save the world of Wonderland. (Not rated) 116 minutes.

STILL PLAYING

‘Bad Boys for Life’

★★★1⁄2: Will Smith and Martin Lawrence return for a third installment of the franchise in which they play cops. With plenty of call-backs to the other films, it offers plenty for fans. (R — 123 minutes) D, P, S, V.

‘A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood’(eee ):

Matthew Rhys plays a reporter with father issues who gets help from kids show host Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks). (PG — 108 minutes). P.

‘Bombshell’ (★★★★):

Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie lead an ensemble cast in “Bombshell,” a darkly humorous glimpse at the sexual harassment female Fox News personalities endured under late CEO Roger Ailes. (R — 108 minutes) P, S.

‘Clemency’ ★★★★: Alfre Woodard is magnificent in Chinonye Chukwu’s harrowing film about a warden preparing a death-row inmate (Aldis Hodge, also excellent) for execution. (R — 113 minutes) P.

‘Dark Waters’ (★★★★):

Mark Ruffalo stars as an attorney taking on DuPont in Todd Haynes’ drama, based on a real case. Sometimes melodramatic but never plodding, and effective. (PG-13 — 126 minutes). P.

‘Dolittle’ ★★1⁄2: Robert Downey Jr. is as much a hindrance as a help in the latest version of the doctor who can talk to the animals. (PG — 101 minutes) P.

‘Ford v Ferrari’(eee1⁄2):

Matt Damon and Christian Bale star as the men who brought Ford to glory Le Mans in this technically superb (if dramatically flawed) race-car film. (PG-13 — 152 minutes) P.

‘Frozen 2’ ( ★★★ ): This animated Disney sequel is pretty to look at and listen to, but a plot that sends Elsa, Anna and crew into an enchanted forest is a bit of a mess. (PG — 103 minutes).

‘The Gentlemen’ ★★:

Guy Ritchie’s film delivers twists sure to confuse and cringe-worthy racial jokes. Add in some bestiality and an attempted rape of a female character, and you’re left trying to answer the question:

“What did I just watch?” (R —113 minutes) D, P, S, V.

‘The Grudge’ (Not reviewed): A reboot of the remake of the Japanese film; this time around, a detective discovers the house where murders occurred is haunted by a venegeful ghost dooming all who enter it. (R — 93 minutes) P, V.

‘A Hidden Life’

(★★★★★): Terrence Malick has made a transcendent film, a deeply moral meditation of an Austrian man who conscientiously objects to Hitler at profound personal cost. (PG-13 – 174 minutes) V.

‘Ip Man 4: The Finale’

(Not reviewed): Ip Man (Donnie Yen) moves to the U.S., where his student, Bruce Lee (KwokKwan Chan), has opened a school, angering the local martial arts community. (Not rated — 105 minutes)

‘JoJo Rabbit’ (★★★★):

Taika Waititi pulls off a balancing act in his film about a boy (Roman Griffin Davis, terrific) whose imaginary friend is Adolf Hitler (Waititi). Obviously questions of tone and taste arise, but Waititi and the cast make it work. (PG-13 — 108 minutes) P, V.

‘Jumanji: The Next Level’

(★★1⁄2): Danny DeVito and Danny Glover join the cast of this sequel, giving video game avatars Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart new voices to impersonate. The writing is even lazier than in 2017’s “Welcome to the Jungle,” but the CGI ostrich stampede is mildly cool. (PG-13 — 123 minutes) P.

‘Just Mercy’ ★★★: Jamie Foxx stars in an otherwise flat dramatization of a fight to overturn the wrongful conviction of a black man for murdering a white woman. (PG-13 —136 minutes)

‘The Last Full Measure’

★★: Film attempts to tell the story of a fallen Vietnam War hero whose story has gone untold for decades. Told with flashbacks and narration, it does little to inspire. (R — 110 minutes) P, V.

‘Knives Out’ (★★★★1⁄2):

Daniel Craig leads an all-star cast in a grand whodunit that smiles as it spins you on a merry-goround of deceit. ( (PG-13 — 130 minutes). V, P, D.

‘Les Miserables’ ★★★1⁄2:

Emotions roil in an ethnically diverse and impoverished Parisian suburb when three cops, attempting to defuse tensions, instead ignite them by hurting a child. (R — 104 minutes) P, V.

‘Little Women’ (★★★ 1 ⁄2):

Greta Gerwig’s take on the beloved novel of four sisters growing up in Civil War-era New England is handsome and heartfelt fare, if uneven. (PG — 134 minutes)

‘1917’ ★★★★: Sam Mendes’ film about two soldiers racing to the front to deliver a message during World War I is an awesome technical achievement. But the decision to make it look like one long shot sometimes distracts. (R — 119 minutes) P, V.

‘Parasite’ (★★★★★):

Bong Joon Ho looks at class division and warfare through two families at either end of the wealth spectrum in his nearly perfect film. (R — 132 minutes) P, S, V.

‘Quezon’s Game’ (Not

reviewed): Manuel L. Quezon (Raymond Bagatsing), the president of the Philippines, welcomes Jewish refugees from Germany in 1938. (PG-13 — 127 minutes) P.

‘Spies in Disguise’ (Not

reviewed): Will Smith stars in an animated film as a secret agent who gets turned into a pigeon; Tom Holland plays the tech geek who must help him to save the world. (PG — 101 minutes) V.

‘Star Wars: The Rise of

Skywalker’ ★★★1⁄2: J.J. Abrams gives fans what they want in ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.’ The movie is unquestionably entertaining. But it’s not particularly challenging. (PG-13 — 141 minutes) V.

‘Uncut Gems’

(★★★★1⁄2): Adam Sandler is great in Benny and Josh Safdie’s “Uncut Gems.” He plays a jeweler in debt up to his ears, but he’s got big plans. (R — 135 minutes) D, P, S, V.

‘Underwater’ (Not reviewed): Kristen Stewart and T.J. Miller are part of a crew of aquatic researchers trying to survive an earthquake, and something worse. (PG-13 — 95 minutes) P.

‘Weathering with You’

(Not reviewed): Animated film about a boy who runs away to Tokyo and befriends a girl who can manipulate the weather. (PG-13 — 114 minutes) P, V.