Chile Pages,
which are great fun. The jokes are hit and (mostly) miss, but the subplot with Parker and Mary Jane (Zendaya) offers the sweetest romantic core of any Marvel movie. They should have focused on these basic elements — cramming everything into a massive, multi-movie Marvel universe is starting to feel more like a curse than a blessing. Rated PG-13. 129 minutes. Screens in 2D only at Regal Santa Fe 6, Regal Stadium 14, and Violet Crown. (Robert Ker)
STUBER
Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick) and Dave Bautista (Drax in the Guardians of the Galaxy films) star in this odd-couple comedy about a rugged detective (Bautista) who, for some reason, hails an Uber manned by a nebbish driver (Nanjiani) for a nightlong adventure into the criminal underworld of Los Angeles. They form a friendship as they combine their wits and various strengths to get out of an array of dangerous jams. Rated R. 93 minutes. Regal Santa Fe 6 and Regal Stadium 14. (Not reviewed)
TONI MORRISON: THE PIECES I AM
The appeal of this stirring documentary is the pleasure it affords in the spending of a couple of hours in the world of the great Toni Morrison, her friends, and her literary legacy. It’s always interesting to learn the background story of a major cultural icon — how, from where she started, did she reach where she is today? Director Timothy Greenfieldsanders takes us on that journey. Morrison’s vision originates determinedly and unapologetically from the black experience. It’s informed by her perspective as a woman battling sexism in society and literature, and it’s driven by her love of language and the power of words. The Pieces I Am features extensive interviews with a number of Morrison’s friends and colleagues. But by far the most commanding presence here is the 88-year-old Nobel Prize-winner herself, an imposing figure who sits comfortably and forthrightly facing the camera, recalling the circumstances and trajectory of her career, and laughing a lot. Sometimes the laughter comes from pure enjoyment, and sometimes it’s driven by her wry reflection on what fools we mortals be. Rated PG-13. 120 minutes. The Screen. (Jonathan Richards)
TOY STORY 4
The latest chapter in the Toy Story franchise centers on the cowboy Woody (Tom Hanks), who is feeling less needed under the care of his new owner, a child named Bonnie (voiced by Madeleine McGraw). When Bonnie crafts a beloved homemade toy named Forky (Tony Hale), Woody feels obligated to protect poor Forky at all costs. This is tested when, on a family trip, Forky winds up trapped in an antique store lorded over by a vintage doll named Gabby Gabby (Christina Hendricks) and her delightfully creepy ventriloquist-dummy henchmen. The plan is on to spring Forky, but will this give Woody the contentment he craves? Pixar Animation once more offers a movie that is gorgeous to look at, but the plot lacks the weight of earlier installments, which is especially glaring in light of the perfect send-off the characters received in 2010’s Toy Story
3. Fans of Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) may be disappointed by lack of screentime, but new characters voiced by Keanu Reeves and comedy duo Key and Peele steal the show. This is the least involving of the Toy Story films, but only because their benchmark is so high. Rated G. 100 minutes. Screens in 2D at Regal Santa Fe 6, Regal Stadium 14, and Violet Crown. (Robert Ker)
WILD ROSE
When we first meet Rose-Lynn (Jessie Buckley), she’s just getting out of prison on a drug conviction in her hometown of Glasgow, Scotland. She barely knows her two little kids, whom she’s left in the care of her mother. Marion (the great Julie Walters) thinks it’s time her daughter grew up, accepted responsibility, and gave up her dream of going to Nashville and making a splash as a country singer. But a dream in the heart of a person with the talent to back it up is a tough flame to quench. And Buckley sells that dream, and possesses that talent in abundance. Will Rose-Lynn make it to Nashville? Will she become a star? Will she grow up? Director Tom Harper and screenwriter Nicole Taylor have a few tricks up their sleeves, some of them familiar and some surprising, in what looks at first to be a straightforward star-is-born fable. Rated R. 101 minutes. The Screen. (Jonathan Richards)
YESTERDAY
This truly strange picture by director Danny Boyle tells the story of Jack Malik (Himesh Patel), a struggling songwriter who gets a big break when a strange phenomenon causes the entire world (aside from him) to forget that The Beatles existed. With all traces of the band gone, Jack passes the Fab Four’s songs off as his own — first unwittingly, and gradually with more purpose. The premise could have gone in any number of interesting directions, but instead, the story follows