Robots and gnomes and dogs: 9 new movies in 7 days
‘Pacific Rim Uprising’
The Jaegers are back, whether you wanted them or not.
The first “Pacific Rim” movie was a passion project of director Guillermo del Toro, a tribute to the monster movies and robot anime he loved. This time around, for “Pacific Rim Uprising,” del Toro (now an Oscar winner for “The Shape of Water”) is just one of the producers.
It’s still Giant Robots (also known as Jaegers, operated virtually by soldiers) vs. Enormous Prehistoric Monsters (a.k.a. Kaiju — think Godzilla and his friends). Instead of Idris Elba leading the charge against the monsters, it’s his son, played by John Boyega.
Rinko Kikuchi, Scott Eastwood, and Cailee Spaeny are also in on the fight.
“This second entry in the franchise ditches, or downgrades, many of the elements that made del Toro’s original unique, while reconfiguring its style and attitude to more closely align with that of the ‘Transformers’ films — a makeover that not only renders this follow-up unremarkable, but suggests … diminished long-term prospects with robot-fatigued audiences,” Variety reviewer Nick Schager wrote. “Pacific Rim Uprising” is rated PG-13 for violence and some language. It runs for 111 minutes.
‘Unsane’
At first glance, “Unsane” looks like something you’ve seen before.
Claire Foy (Queen Elizabeth in “The Crown”) plays a woman who, worried enough about a stalker that she moves to a new town, finds herself in a psychiatric hospital against her will. Is that her stalker among the medical staff ?
The wrinkle with this reality-bending thriller is it’s directed by Steven Soderbergh, who knows his way around a narrative better than most. Jay Pharoah, Joshua Leonard, Juno Temple and Amy Irving co-star. Oh, and Soderbergh shot the movie using an iPhone.
Early reviews are pretty good. “‘Unsane’ constantly makes us question if what we’re seeing is ‘real.’ … Soderbergh and collaborators walk a razor-thin tightrope and do so with Olympian grace,” wrote IndieWire critic Ben Croll, who gave the movie a B. “Unsane” is rated R for violence, language and disturbing content. It runs for 98 minutes.
‘Paul, Apostle of Christ’
The movie “Paul, Apostle of Christ” is actually about two apostles: Paul, tortured and held prisoner in