The Arizona Republic

Quick Flicks

-

NEW THIS WEEK

Julia Garner is terrific in Kitty Green’s study of a toxic workplace run by an unseen Harvey Weinstein-like boss. (R — 85 minutes) P.

Cathy Yan’s “Birds of Prey” is the superhero girl-gang film we’ve been waiting for. But it’s more of a Harley Quinn biopic starring Margot Robbie. (R — 109 minutes) D, S, V.

Elijah Wood stars as a man who attempts to reunite with his estranged father in a remote cabin. (R — 93 minutes) N, P, S, V.

A man struggling after the death of his wife and children meets a pro golfer, a little girl and a waitress and gets the chance to play the golf round of his life. (PG-13 — 90 minutes)

Pierfrance­sco Favino plays Tommaso Buscetta, a real-life mobster turned informant. (R — 145 minutes) N, P, S, V.

STILL PLAYING

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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 (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)

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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)

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States