NOW IN THEATERS
BLACK MASS
Johnny Depp unbuckles the swash and returns to serious acting in this often powerful but ultimately unfulfilled real-life crime drama that aspires to operatic proportions but settles for heavy metal. The story of James “Whitey” Bulger (Depp), the sociopathic crime boss who ruled South Boston with a murderous hand until he went on the lam in the mid-’90s, hits impressive high notes, but leaves underdone some crucial elements, as it plows through a gallery of brutal murders and other crimes. Bulger’s childhood pal John Connolly (an excellent Joel Edgerton),
up from the same Southie neighborhood as Whitey, works another side of the street as an FBI agent who starts with good intentions but gets sucked into a bottomless moral compromise. The movie looks great, and is beautifully acted, shot, and edited. What it lacks is that sense of dimension to make us really care. Rated R. 122 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Jonathan Richards)
EVEREST
This adventure film is based on the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, in which several people died in a blizzard while trying to reach the mountain’s summit. Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, and John Hawkes play some of the climbers, and Keira Knightley and Emily Watson co-star. The film boasts such sweeping vistas that it was released in IMAX theaters a week before it showed in traditional theaters. Rated PG-13. 121 minutes. Screens in 3-D and 2-D at Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown. Screens in 2-D only at Jean Cocteau Cinema; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
GRANDMA
Lily Tomlin is a powerhouse in this sweet, funny, thoughtful relationship movie written and directed by Paul Weitz. When her granddaughter Sage (Julia Garner) turns up needing an abortion, Elle (Tomlin) springs into action as the two visit a number of Elle’s friends and acquaintances trying to borrow the money. There’s terrific support from Marcia Gay Harden as Elle’s daughter and Sage’s mother, and from Sam Elliott, who takes us well beyond that lovable growl of a voice to uncover layers and depths of character he’s seldom called upon to tap. Grandma suffers a few awkward moments, but for the most part it stays sharp. Weitz does interesting things with old movie conventions about lesbian relationships and abortion, weaving them into a story that borrows from triedand-true familiar formats — it’s a bit of a road movie, a bit of a buddy movie — and then quietly goes its own way. Rated R.
79 minutes. Violet Crown. (Jonathan Richards)
THE GREEN INFERNO
If you’ve been looking for a current movie in which indigenous people are the savage villains, then don’t worry — Eli Roth
(Hostel) has you covered. He conceived, co-wrote, and directed this film, in which a group of liberals travel to South America to save the rain forest and end up fighting for their lives. Rated R. 100 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2
Adam Sandler again lends his goofy accent to Dracula in this sequel to the 2012 animated hit. This time, the gang of monsters (including voicework by Kevin James, Steve Buscemi, and David Spade) try to help the Count’s half-human grandson unleash his inner monster. Mel Brooks voices the kid’s human-hating great-grandfather. Rated PG. 89 minutes. Screens in 3-D and 2-D at Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown. Screens in 2-D only at DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
THE INTERN
In the latest movie by writer and director Nancy Meyers, Robert De Niro plays a retired widower who can’t figure out what to do with all of his time, so he becomes an intern for the founder of an online fashion site (Anne Hathaway). The jokes stem from the tough old-timer at an internet start-up, and the heartwarming bits from the boss leaning on his sturdy wisdom. Rated PG-13. 121 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Regal DeVargas; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
IRRATIONAL MAN
In Woody Allen’s latest, Abe Lucas (Joaquin Phoenix) arrives as a philosophy professor at a small New England college. He’s preceded by a reputation as a thinker, drinker, and womanizer, and soon students are flocking to his lectures and women are laying siege to his bed. One is Rita (Parker Posey), a dissatisfied married professor. Another is Jill (Emma Stone), a bright, saucer-eyed undergraduate. Abe has lost his lust for life, and for lust, but it’s rekindled when he and Jill overhear a conversation that inspires him to undertake a fateful, existential action. Allen’s scenes neatly lay out the issues, but you are always aware of the armature beneath them. But like most of this director’s work, it’s intelligent entertainment of an above-average stripe. Rated R. 96 minutes. Regal DeVargas.
(Jonathan Richards)
LEARNING TO DRIVE
Wendy (Patricia Clarkson), a New York book critic in the midst of a failing marriage, takes driving lessons from Darwan, a Sikh Indian (Ben Kingsley). A professor in India who was imprisoned for his religious beliefs, Darwan is now a part-time cab driver in the U.S., where he has won political asylum. As she learns to drive, these two people from very different backgrounds bond over their problems and form a friendship. Based on a New Yorker essay by Katha Pollitt. Rated R. 90 minutes.
Regal DeVargas. (Not reviewed)
LISTEN TO ME MARLON
Filmmaker Stevan Riley got access to hundreds of hours of audiotape of Marlon Brando reflecting on his life and his art, and has fashioned a remarkable exercise in something like documentary autobiography. The tapes, which the actor recorded over the course of much of his life, include musings on roles, celebrity, self-criticism, family, and the highs and lows of his long career. The tapes are buttressed with film clips, TV interviews, screen tests, and TV coverage of several tragedies in his life, including the murder trial of his son and the suicide of his daughter. While this documentary is by no means a complete picture, it’s a fascinating self-portrait of the man who was one of our greatest actors — when he felt like it. Not rated. 95 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts. (Jonathan Richards)
MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS
At the end of the 2014 film The Maze Runner (based on the first book in a popular young-adult series), the kids escape the maze. So what can they possibly do for a sequel? This time, they must navigate the Scorch, a dangerous, decrepit, desert city — the movie was shot primarily in Albuquerque — and fight the oppressive organization WCKD. Rated PG-13. 131 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
MR. HOLMES
It is 1947. Sherlock Holmes (Ian McKellen) is ninety, long retired, living in seclusion in Sussex, and keeping bees. He is cared for by his widowed housekeeper, Mrs. Munro (Laura Linney), and her precocious young son Roger (Milo Parker). Holmes is engaged in writing his own recollections of his final case, one that still troubles him, the case that led him to give up detecting. Watson’s account of the affair tricked it out with success, but Holmes remembers it differently — to the extent that he can remember it at all. That great mind is beginning to slip its moorings. There are three story strands covering different periods and places, and director Bill Condon weaves them together with unhurried skill, abetted by the great McKellen. Rated PG. 103 minutes. Regal DeVargas. (Jonathan Richards)
PAWN SACRIFICE
Tobey Maguire plays Bobby Fischer as he rises through the international ranks of chess masters, culminating in the 1972 world championships in Reykjavik. This match found Fischer a major player in the Cold War, as he faced off against his Soviet counterpart, Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber), while also battling his own struggles with mental health issues. Director Edward Zwick (The Last Samurai) tries to make a biopic, a sports movie, and a document of a particular moment in world history, and stretches the film too thin. Maguire occasionally feels miscast, but gives an exceptional performance — along with all of his castmates. The moments that suggest the similarities between Fischer and Spassky hint at greater level of depths than the film delivers. Rated PG-13. 114 minutes. Regal DeVargas. (Robert Ker)
THE PERFECT GUY
Fresh from a breakup in which her whole life came crashing down, Leah (Sanaa Lathan) rebounds with someone who seems like the ideal partner (Michael Ealy). Before long, however, he starts to creep her out. Is he truly dangerous? Rated PG-13. 100 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
THE SECOND MOTHER
Director Anna Muylaert gives us a very enjoyable story, which nonetheless could have been more nuanced. Val (Regina Casé) is a full-time maid who has taken care of Barbara’s only child, Fabinho, since he was a toddler. Barbara (Karine Teles), a famous style-setter, is always busy working. Her husband, Dr. Carlos, is a spaced-out retiree — he has inherited some wealth and has given up his aspirations to be a painter. Val’s labors provide the grease to keep the family’s domestic life running. When Val’s teenage daughter, Jéssica (Camila Márdila), arrives for a temporary stay, this cozy existence is upended. Rated R. 112 minutes. In Portuguese with English subtitles. The Screen. (Priyanka Kumar)
THE VISIT
The latest film by M. Night Shyamalan centers on two children (Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould) who spend a week at their grandparents’ house. When they stay up past their strict bedtime, they learn that Nana (Deanna Dunagan) gets up to some pretty weird stuff at night. When Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie) also starts acting strange, the question becomes whether or not they’ll survive the visit. Rated PG-13. 94 minutes.
Regal Stadium 14. (Not reviewed)
A WALK IN THE WOODS
In 1998, Bill Bryson published a humorous and insightful bestselling book about his attempt at a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail at a relatively advanced age, with Stephen Katz, an overweight, recovering-alcoholic friend. Robert Redford soon snapped up the film rights and now, the movie is here, with Redford as Bryson and Nick Nolte as Katz. Rated R. 104 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown. (Not reviewed)
WAR ROOM
Filmmakers Alex and Stephen Kendrick (Fireproof ) offer up another faith-based movie. This time, they focus on a family that is splintering apart until the mom (Priscilla C. Shirer) meets an older woman (Karen Abercrombie) who keeps a “war room,” where she gets her praying done. Soon enough, it’s time for the family to go to “war.”
Rated PG. 120 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)