AT THE MOVIES
Cartel Land: See review on F4,
1/2 Difret: Ethiopian writer-director Zeresenay Mehari focuses on the practice of abduction into marriage, with a 14-year-old girl named Hirut at the core. In her attempt to escape her captors, Hirut ends up shooting her would-be husband. Lawyer Meaza Ashenafi argues that she acted in self-defence. But Meaza is torn between representing Hirut and putting her women’s legal-aid practice at risk. (Melissa Hank) Not reviewed. How to Change the World: See review on F4, 1/2
Turbo Kid: See review on F3, ★★1/2 Une nouvelle amie: Writer-director François Ozon’s film, with the English title The New Girlfriend, is about a young woman who finds out surprising news about the husband of her late best friend. Starring Romain Duris, Anaïs Demoustier and Raphaël Personnaz, and based on Ruth Rendell’s short story of the same name. (Melissa Hank) Not reviewed. We Are Your Friends: See review on F1,
Z is for Zachariah: See review on F2, STILL IN TOWN American Ultra: A bit of a hyperviolent Pineapple Express, American Ultra is better at being a stoner comedy than an action movie, though isn’t on firm footing with either. Mike is lowly but high convenience store clerk who turns out to be a secret agent. There are some clever touches among the bloody fight scenes. (David Berry) Ant-Man: Paul Rudd stars in and co-wrote this latest superhero flick, which is neither as joyously frantic as Guardians of the Galaxy nor as brooding as Batman. But the star and the script sell the slightly silly concept, proving it pays to look after the little details. (Chris Knight) 1/2
Dark Places: Our guide through this mess is Libby Day (Charlize Theron), the survivor of a family massacre on a Kansas farm in the mid-’80s who’s now investigating the theory that her brother didn’t actually do it. It’s neither a story of reconciliation nor a particularly gripping thriller. (David Berry) 1/2 The Diary of a Teenage Girl: In honest account of adolescent female passion and sexual awakening told from the perspective of Minnie (Bel Powley). Rambunctious and ambitious, the film’s thematic point of view plays out achingly well across Powley’s face and body. A disturbingly appropriate Everygirl (David Berry) ★1/2 Fantastic Four: The reboot of the 2005 film is quite possibly the least action-filled action movie in Marvel history. Miles Teller drags as Reed Richards, leader of a team that builds an inter-dimensional transporter and winds up with an array of super powers. Josh Trank directs, barely. (Chris Knight) 1/2 The Gift: Joel Edgerton writes, directs and stars in a film that could give vanity projects a good name. He plays Gordo, a socially graceless guy who used to go to school with Jason Bateman’s character. After a chance meeting, things get weird, but this thriller packs surprises. Don’t watch the trailer! (Chris Knight) Hitman - Agent 47: Rupert Friend stars as the genetically engineered “perfect assassin” in this remake of the 2007 film, itself based on a video game. Zachary Quinto is his nemesis. Hannah Ware a mysterious woman on the trail of a scientist. Cliché-ridden to the underwhelming end. (Chris Knight) Inside Out: Pixar’s latest takes place inside the mind of 11-year-old Riley, who must deal with a move to a new city with the help of five emotions, chief among them Joy and Sadness. It’s funny, but for adults there are unexpected, welcome reserves of depth and thoughtfulness. (Chris Knight)
Irrational Man: Woody Allen’s newest should please his fans. Joaquin Phoenix plays a philosophy professor who discovers a new zest for life while courting a student (Emma Stone). The romance starts with witty banter and works its way down. (Chris Knight) 1/2 Jurassic World: Twenty-two years after the original Jurassic Park, this summer popcorn movie features one-note acting from Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard; the Apatosaurus delivers a nice deathbed scene though. But go for effects and dino-on-dino fighting action and you won’t be disappointed. (Chris Knight) The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: In this Guy Ritchie reboot of the TV series, two warring superpowers come together to stop a rogue group of ex- and neo-Nazis from detonating an atomic bomb. Not that much happens for any reason than to put hot bodies in pretty locations and watch them do cool stuff. (David Berry) 1/2 Mission Impossible — Rogue Nation: The fifth in the series feels far-fetched yet drably derivative. Director and co-writer Christopher McQuarrie gives us great locations and a shadowy international criminal organization. Yet the underwater stunts, while thrilling, are inventive to the point of being ludicrous. (Chris Knight) ★1/2 Mr. Holmes: Ian McKellen gives a nuanced performance as an aging Sherlock Holmes, who struggles with failing memory and acuity in Mr. Holmes. Though the film suffers from a lacklustre plot, director Bill Condon entertains by playing with the clichés of the Holmesian sub-genre. (Chris Knight) No Escape: Jack Dwyer (Owen Wilson) and his family touch down in a nondescript southeast Asian country and spend the rest of the movie trying to get out of it amid a coup. It’s the ultimate argument for the fact that swaggering, ignorant white folk really do ruin everything. (David Berry) 1/2 Paper Towns: Lovestruck Quentin follows the clues left by Margo in this teen romance based on the novel by John Green. Not quite as subversive of normal teen tropes as it wants to be, it nevertheless has a bead on the misplaced melancholy of youth, and is generally clever enough to be reasonably charming. (David Berry) Pixels: 1982 video-game champs must heed a call of duty and return to active service when real space invaders attack Earth in the form of Centipede, Donkey Kong, etc. This mildly amusing nostalgia trip is probably the funniest movie ever to feature both Kevin James and Adam Sandler. (Not a high bar.) (Chris Knight) Ricki and the Flash: Over 60 and rocking out, Ricki Randazzo is a slightly pathetic figure; playing the character, Meryl Streep is an Oscarbaiting sensation. Director Jonathan Demme stocks his cast with real musicians and Streep’s real daughter playing Ricki’s. The pieces mesh in near-perfect harmony. (Chris Knight)
★1/2 San Andreas: It ticks off all the disaster-movie boxes. Dwayne Johnson is the hero, a helicopter rescue pilot. Carla Gugino and Alexandra Daddario are his estranged family, who need saving. Gugino’s new boyfriend is a cad who deserves what he gets. And Paul Giamatti is the scientist who explains it all. A solid genre outing. (Chris Knight) 1/2 Shaun the Sheep Movie: Old-fashioned stop-motion animation meets even older-fashioned dialogue-free filmmaking in this delightfully simple frolic from the Wallace & Gromit studio. Basically, it’s the story of a sheep farmer who gets lost in the big city, and his ovine charges who rescue him. (Chris Knight) ★★★★1/2 Straight Outta Compton: The biopic often must chose between reality and licence — keep to the facts or tell a more compelling story. Straight Outta Compton does a little of both in telling the origins of rappers N. W. A Despite some glossing, its energy and anger still resonate today. (Calum Marsh) Testament of Youth: Based on the 1933 memoir by Vera Brittain, this film respects the life of its subject without veering into hagiography. A headstrong woman in 1915, Brittain (Alicia Vikander) quit Oxford to become a nurse, and found her politics shaped by the horrors of war. (Chris Knight)