THE TOP 5
Here are the top five movies at the North American box office:
The Predator:
Director and co-writer Shane Black had a small part in Predator back in ’87, so this isn’t so much a remake or reboot as revenge. Boyd Holbrook stars as a sniper who witnesses an alien landing; Jacob Tremblay as his child in peril; and Olivia Munn as a scientist who needs saving just because. Violent and mindless, yet fun in spite of all that. ★★★1/2
The Nun:
The latest in the wildly successful Conjuring series — now five films and counting — is set in 1952 Romania, where a priest and a nunin-training are sent by the Vatican to investigate a suicide. Aims to be Our Lady of Perpetual Terror, but here’s a clue as to how it scores on a scale of none to 10; it ain’t called The Ten. ★
A Simple Favour:
Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, Spy), directs this dark, twisted, funny story in which a prim single mom (Anna Kendrick), goes into detective mode after the disappearance of her new friend Emily (Blake Lively). Henry Golding stars as Emily’s husband. Frothy and fun and a little naughty. ★★★★
White Boy Rick:
Richie Merritt is sometimes overshadowed by Matthew McConaughey as his dad, but performs ably in the role of Richard “White Boy Rick” Wershe, youngest FBI informant in history. But the script doesn’t do enough to dramatize his story, with the result that what should play as tragic, comes across instead as flat, with a lot of secondary characters ignored or wasted. ★★
Crazy Rich Asians:
This unabashed throwback to ’90s-era rom-coms is also a bold step forward in diversity, as the entire cast and many of the top crew are Asian or Asian-Americans. Rachel (Constance Wu) is dating Nick (Henry Golding) when she learns that he’s the scion of a super-wealthy Singapore family; she then has to win over his mom. Cue fireworks ... and tears. ★★★★