Let’s all go to the ‘Dogs’
The queen, er, Claire Foy, comes undone. Clever canines and mischievous gnomes kick up animated trouble, while those skyscraper-tall kaiju creatures are back, destroyin’ cities galore, minus Guillermo del Toro in the director’s chair and Charlie Hunnam and Idris Elba as flyboys. Sigh.
There’s so much opening this week in the Bay Area, let’s hop to it.
Steven Soderbergh takes out his iPhone7 Plus and shoots to thrill with “Unsane,” a genre mind-messer starring Foy as an is-she-or-isn’t-she-crazy patient hounded by a stalker.
Too creepy? Hold out hope Wes Anderson’s kooky “Isle of Dogs” turns out to be equally fantastic as his “Mr. Fox.” It certainly looks original and weird. Meanwhile, garden gnomes go missing (is that necessarily a bad thing?) in London and it’s up to “Sherlock Gnomes” to sleuth about.
Those wanting to send their overburdened brains off on spring break should check out the special effects smackdown that is “Pacific Rim: Uprising,” with the charismatic John Boyega starring.
If you’re a sucker for biblical epics, “Paul, Apostle of Christ” from Andrew Hyatt gives us an inspirational message ideally timed for the season. James Caviezel and Edgar Ramirez bring the star wattage.
If you feel like a good cry, there’s the tearjerker romance “Midnight Sun” with Bella Thorne playing a young woman who plays the guitar and has to shun daylight due to a rare disorder. Patrick Schwarzenegger co-stars.
Indie picks
Daydreaming about a wine-tasting trip to France? Pop the cork on the gorgeously shot “Back to Burgundy,” a family drama about a trio of attractive vintner siblings who have to juggle personal issues with familial obligations. It’s undemanding but goes down smoothly.
If you prefer something more provocative, “Flower,” a cynical button-pusher of a black comedy, features a fearless lead performance from Zoey Deutch.
The undiscovered gem is “Keep the Change,” an original romantic comedydrama about two New Yorkers with autism and their sexy, tangled relationship that doesn’t always sit so well with hoity-toity relatives. It’s a keeper from Rachel Israel, and opens at the Roxie in San Francisco.
Stream these
“Paradox” from actressturned-director Daryl Hannah gives us Bay Area fave Neil Young — the actor and the musician — in an experimental Western that utterly failed to lasso favorable reviews at SXSW when it premiered. It will be released Friday.
Netflix’s partnership with comedian Adam DeVine continues with “Game Over, Man!” a comedy that looks as if someone threw “The Hangover,” “Paul Blart, Mall Cop” and “Die Hard” into the script juicer. Hopefully it won’t strain patience when it’s released Friday.