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“Minari,” written and directed by Lee Isaac Chung (PG-13, 1 hour, 55 minutes) Based on the memories of writer/director Lee Isaac Chung of growing up in rural Northwest Arkansas where his Korean immigrant parents struggle to start a small farm, this touching yet unsentimental story penetrates the emotions.
Our Philip Martin wrote: “It is just about a perfect film in that it never takes a false step or overplays for our indulgence. The family’s poverty is neither romanticized nor exploited — their clothes are cheap but clean and their struggle is matter-of-fact. Their immigrant experience isn’t so different from the hardscrabble lives of their neighbors, they put their heads down and keep working.
“There is no shortage of comedy in the film, but it is natural, humane and rooted in character — every shot, line and bit of actorly business in the film feels earned and inevitable … this is not a film where anyone showboats or makes speeches.”
Authentic and often callously honest, the low-budget production doesn’t romanticize an idyllic American pastoral life. That doesn’t detract from the gorgeous cinematography by Lachlan Milne, nor the performances of Steven Yeun as the family’s desperately hard-working dad and of Yuh-jung Youn as his wife’s loving, foul-mouthed mother, which won her a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award in April.
With Yeri Han, Alan Kim, Will Patton, Noel Kate Cho. In English and Korean with subtitles.
“Raya and the Last Dragon” (PG, 1 hour, 47 minutes) Handsomely animated and appropriately voiced, this Disney adventure follows a tried-and-true hero-story formula that will likely appeal to young audiences as well as their parents. Set in the fantasy world of Kumandra where humans and dragons lived peaceably until the dragons sacrificed themselves to save others from a monstrous invasion, a young warrior named Raya takes it upon herself to find her homeland’s last dragon. With the voices of Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Sandra Oh, Benedict Wong; directed by Paul Briggs, Don Hall, Carlos Lopez Estrada and John Ripa.
“Tom & Jerry” (PG, 1 hour, 41 minutes) The classic cat-and-mouse cartoon duo continues the standoffs and rivalries that marked their decades-old relationship, which don’t measure up to the originals. Animated with the voices of Chloe Grace Moretz, Michael Pena, Colin Jost, Jordan Bolger, Rob Delaney; directed by Tim Story.
“Cosmic Sin” (R, 1 hour, 28 minutes) One of the worst in a long line of Bruce Willis sci-fi disasters, this one is set in 2524, when a gruff retired military general (guess who?) is hauled back to the front lines after a brutal alien military attacks a remote planet that a considerable number of humans call home. With CJ Perry, Frank Grillo, Brandon Thomas Lee, Corey Large; co-written and directed by Edward Drake.
“The Nest” (R, 1 hour, 47 minutes) Jude Law has few rivals when it comes to playing a seemingly normal character who turns out to be super-creepy. He hits the mark in this throbbing thriller in the role of a dicey British entrepreneur who transports his American family to an unsettling English country manor. You’ll be one step ahead if you keep in mind that nothing is what it seems. With Carrie Coon, Wendy Crewson, Anne Reid; written and directed by Sean Durkin.
“Above Suspicion” (R, 1 hour, 44 minutes) No Southern cliche escapes notice in this drama about a young woman, desperate to escape her stunted life in a dying coal-mining town in Kentucky, who engages in an ethically questionable affair with an FBI agent who’s there to pursue a notorious criminal case. Based on a true story. With Emilia Clarke, Jack Huston, Johnny Knoxville, Kevin Dunn, Thora Birch; directed by Phillip Noyce.
“The Outpost” (R, 2 hours, 3 minutes) Tense, skillfully directed, and fraught with danger and desperation, this edgy war drama concerns a small team of U.S. soldiers that hunkers down to take on hundreds of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. With Caleb Landry Jones, Scott Eastwood, Milo Gibson, Orlando Bloom, Will Attenborough; directed by Rod Lurie.
“Supernova” (R, 1 hour, 35 minutes) A finely-tuned cast delivers empathetic performances in this romantic drama as partners of 20 years travel across England in an old RV visiting friends, family and places from their past in an effort to stave off the effects of early-onset dementia plaguing one of them. With Colin Firth, Stanley Tucci, Pippa Haywood; written and directed by Harry Macqueen.