Films still screening in Bay Area theaters
“Call Me by Your Name”: This almost sinfully enjoyable movie from writerdirector Luca Guadagnino evokes the pleasures of art, music, food, natural beauty and sexual awakening, while observing and obeying the natural rhythms of the languid 1980s Italian summer in which it is set. The screenplay (by James Ivory) revolves around the 17-year- old son ( Timothée Chalamet) of an archaeology professor (Michael Stuhlbarg) and an older American student (Armie Hammer) who has come for a few weeks to serve as the professor’s research assistant. At first the teenage Elio seems barely aware of the presence of the 24-year- old American, Oliver. But soon the two young men are gravitating toward one another as friends, and eventually more, in a tale about the longing, desire and selfdefinition recognizable in practically every summer romance in any place, at any time. This spellbinding, beautiful film gains even more heft and meaning in its final transcendent moments. ★ ★ ★ (Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post) R, 2:12
“Coco”: With its 19th feature, Pixar takes a step forward in diversity to focus on a Mexican family in a tale about the importance of pursuing your dreams, even when the rest of your clan doesn’t share them. The animation is first-rate — even eye movements and wisps of hair seem genuine. But when the central character — 12-year- old Miguel — ventures into the magical realm of the afterlife to learn about music from his great- great- granddad, the animation becomes truly awesome. Even so, the film’s best moments are the wise, loving exchanges between Miguel and his ancestors, as our tear ducts attest. ★ ★ ★ (Randy Myers, Bay Area News Group correspondent) PG, 1:49 “Daddy’s Home 2”: This surreal sequel to the 2015 hit skates on the comic personas of Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, the returning original dads. New this time are their fathers — John Lithgow as a chatty, retired postman with cookies in his pocket, and Mel Gibson as a macho, womanizing astronaut who wants to give his grandkids guns for Christmas. At times, the humor is deliriously silly, at other moments way off the
mark. ★ ★ (Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service) PG13, 1:40
“Darkest Hour”: Gary Oldman’s grab-for-the- gusto portrayal of a wildly eccentric Winston Churchill in 1940, during his first two months as Britain’s prime minister, becomes increasingly convincing the more we see of it, and his delivery of the PM’s celebrated speeches is mesmerizing. Kristin Scott Thomas gives a regal performance as the only person who can keep Churchill in line, his wife Clementine. Director Joe Wright’s overhead shots, elaborate tracking sequences, chiaroscuro lighting and deft camera movement ensure there are no dull moments in a story whose outcome we know from the beginning. ★ ★ ★ (Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times) PG-13, 2:05 “The Disaster Artist”: The 2003 Bay Area- set, Los Angeles- shot film “The Room” — starring aspiring actor-model Greg Sestero and passionate wannabe star Tommy Wiseau — was a contender for worst movie ever made, before becoming a midnight cult hit. The new film is director James Franco’s playful, rowdy account of how this memorable clunker was made, with James Franco playing Wiseau and Dave Franco playing Sestero. Since Sestero and Wiseau’s friendship survived the tribulations of making “The Room, “The Disaster Artist” is not only wickedly funny but heartwarming, too. ★ ★ ★ (Randy Myers, Bay Area News Group correspondent) R, 1:44
“Lady Bird”: Focusing on a year (2002) in the life of high school senior Christine McPherson (aka Lady Bird), Greta Gerwig’s lovingly composed film bursts with wit, humanity, joy and truth. Young Lady Bird craves a sophistication that she finds totally lacking in her hometown of Sacramento, and can’t quite put into words or actions beyond a vague desire to go to an East Coast college. She doesn’t know that kind of dissatisfaction has plagued every 17-yearold, who would rather die than admit that everything might be OK. Playing the title character, Irish-American actress Saoirse Ronan adds another stunning performance to her résumé. Laurie Metcalf distinguishes herself as Christine’s mother, a hard-working nurse, and so does Beanie Feldstein playing the girl’s best friend. ★ ★ ★ ★ (Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press) R, 1:33 “The Shape of Water”: As a kid, you may have had a nagging question about “Creature from the Black Lagoon”: What did the Gill Man want with the girl? But ultimately monster movies are less about the monster or the girl than about virtue and the brave people who step up to save her from harm. Guillermo del Toro’s film turns all that on its head, giving us a role-reversal romance in the Cold War ’60s, rather than a rape-revenge metaphor. An unlikely princess named Elisa (Sally Hawkins, playing a mute cleaning woman at a military- industrial facility in Baltimore) embarks on an interspecies romance with an endangered humanoid frog (Doug Jones, playing a sea creature captured in the Amazon and brought in by the feds). A scientist (Michael Stuhlbarg) wants to study him, while a military man (Michael Shannon) wants to torture and kill him. As the romance comes to fruition, the silent smiles and sly eyes of the princess speak louder
than words. Ultimately it’s the military man who seems to be the monster. Elisa’s neighbor is beautifully played by Richard Jenkins, as is her co-worker, friend and translator by Octavia Spencer. ★ ★ ★ (Rafer Guzmán, Newsday) R, 2:04 “The Star”: A brave donkey, voiced by Steven Yeun, and his animal friends become unsung heroes of the first Christmas. The movie is sincerely Christian in its outlook, while also a slapstick animal toon. It’s a mix that works only intermittently as it mines every opportunity for goofy animal humor. ★ ★ (Jane Horwitz, The Washington Post) PG, 1:26 “Star Wars: The Last
Jedi”: If the recent “Star Wars” reboot movies have been enjoyable but unexceptional, this one is not just a planet-hopping odyssey. “Jedi” gambles on moments of heartpounding daring and raw emotion, and it wins big. It’s almost as thrilling and memorable as “The Empire Strikes Back.” Writer- director Rian Johnson aspires to the heady idiosyncrasy and emotional truth that animated the original. You may see some
things coming, such as the chance to say a tearful goodbye to Princess Leia (the late Carrie Fisher in her swan song). But for the most part, you never know where the next jump in hyperspace is going to land you, and that’s flat- out exhilarating. ★ ★ ★ ★(Karen D’Souza, Bay Area News Group) PG-13, 2:02 “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Mis
souri”: Director Martin McDonagh’s stinging black comedy taps into the human thirst for revenge with an unpredictable narrative about the way a mother’s quest to avenge the murder of her daughter (the girl was raped and her body burned) upends a town and prompts a showdown worthy of the Old West. Frances McDormand is wonderful as the hard- shelled mom, Mildred; Woody Harrelson plays Police Chief Willoughby, and Sam Rockwell is his mess of a deputy, Dixon. Like a Cirque du Soleil tightrope artist, McDonagh audaciously balances the impossibly harrowing with the laugh- out-loud funny. ★ ★ ★ ★ (Randy Myers, Bay Area News Group correspondent) R, 1:55