San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Opening Friday
The Art of SelfDefense
Crawl Marianne and Leonard: Words of Love The Reports on Sarah and Saleem Stuber
Amazing Grace
Held in limbo for decades by technical and legal issues, this Aretha Franklin concert documentary — shot in 1972 at a church in Los Angeles — testifies to the power of an artist at her peak. Then 29 and a mainstream star, Franklin was returning to her gospel roots, and her chill-inducing performances of songs such as “Mary Don’t You Weep” will put all viewers in touch with their higher power. Rated G. 87 minutes.
— C. Meyer
Annabelle Comes Home
The latest in the “Conjuring” series is a meticulously made, wellacted, small-scale horror movies, featuring three girls trapped in what slowly becomes a haunted house. It’s better than a routine genre movie. Rated R. 106 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
Avengers: Endgame
It’s three hours long, and it’s not boring, and that’s saying a lot for this final installment of the Avengers series. The new film, in which the irrepressible gang decides to go back in time, brings the Marvel series to a satisfying close. Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Hemsworth are particular standouts. Rated PG-13. 181 minutes. — M. LaSalle
The Biggest Little Farm Absorbing,
fascinating documentary about a city couple who chuck it all and buy an abandoned farm, but face constant struggle to realize their dream of a self-sustained biodiversity. A film with life lessons, as well as an implied commentary on modern agriculture and climate change. Rated PG. 91 minutes.
— G. Allen Johnson
Booksmart
Two best friends, smart kids who’ve spent four years studying, go on a tear in their last day before graduation, hoping to pack four years of missed experience into one great night. Thought it has some lags, it’s a fairly fun movie, directed by Olivia Wilde and written by four female screenwriters. Rated R. 102 minutes. — M. LaSalle
The Chambermaid
Interesting but inert low-budget answer to “Roma,” about a maid in a high-end Mexico City hotel and how she struggles to stay human amid her day-to-day drudgery. Shot almost entirely within a hotel room by firsttime director Lila Avilés, who adapted her own stage play. The film won an award at the recent SFFILM festival. Not rated. 102 minutes.
— G. Allen Johnson
Dark Phoenix
One of the best X-Men movies, this one explores the idea of mental illness: What happens if an all-powerful person becomes unstable and starts lashing out? Starring Sophie Turner in the title role and featuring a great villainess turn by Jessica Chastain, this is a more thoughtful sci-fi movie, albeit with the obligatory derailment in superhero battles in the last quarter. Rated PG-13. 113 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
Diamantino
Lamebrained Portuguese farce about the world’s greatest soccer player, a virginal animal lover who has just blown the World Cup final, whose evil twin sisters hatch a plot to clone him and embezzle his money, and whose refugee adoptee is a plant by the Portugese Secret Service. Gets points for sheer loopiness, but no. Not rated. 96 minutes. In Portuguese with English subtitles.
— G. Allen Johnson
Echo in the Canyon
A highly entertaining look at the musical Golden Age of L.A.’s Laurel Canyon, around 1965 to ’67, when performers like the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and the Mamas and the Papas were creating groundbreaking work. Narrated by Jakob Dylan (who also executive produced), the film uses archival footage from the glory days and recent interviews with musicians such as David Crosby, Michelle Phillips, Tom Petty, Brian Wilson, Ringo Starr and Roger McGuinn. Dylan also leads a group of younger musicians — including Fiona Apple, Beck and Regina Spektor — in covers of the venerable hits. You can quibble about why some musicians were included and others left out, and the movie is certainly not a comprehensive history of the Laurel Canyon scene, but it’s great fun. Rated PG-13. 82 minutes. — W. Addiego
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
The monsters end up crowding out the people in this long, fight-filled movie, in which Mothra, Rodan, Ghidorah and Godzilla fight it out, while human beings sit passively by, looking up the whole time. Recommended only to people who really and truly love monsters. Rated PG-13. 132 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
The Last Black Man in San Francisco
San Francisco native Joe Talbot’s directorial debut is a strikingly immersive movie, a slow burn filled with subtleties and nuance, with its message nestled in the details as much as the greater story. Jimmie Fails stars in the film. While other filmmakers have effectively captured San Francisco’s landmarks and topography, story co-writers Fails and Talbot seem to be filming the city’s streets with a microscope. Rated R. 120 minutes.
— P. Hartlaub
Maiden
This documentary tells the story of Tracy Edwards, who led an all female crew on an around the world sailing race in Britain in 1989. More than a sports story it’s a character study and a record of the kind of sexism that amazingly still existed in Britain in the late 1980. PG. 97 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
Mid sommar
Writerdirector Ari Aster’s talent is undeniable, but this horror film, about a group of Americans who travel to Sweden and become engulfed by strange cult activity, is a mix of brilliance and awfulness, a disgusting self-indulgent provocation with
some good moments all the same. But everything good in it is over by the first hour, leaving another 80 minutes to slog through. Rated R. 140 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
Non-Fiction
French director Olivier Assayas directs a talented ensemble, including Juliette Binoche and Guillaume Canet, in a comedy of manners set in the publishing industry. The film maintains a strong interest, despite an unconventional and jagged story, which follows the lives of two (cheating) couples over the course of two years. Rated R. 108 minutes. — M. LaSalle
Pavarotti
This Ron Howard documentary, about the life of Luciano Pavarotti, is a straight-up birth-to-death saga about the great tenor, featuring most of the major career and personal milestones. If you love Pavarotti, it’s a great way to spend two hours, and if you don’t know him, it’s a great introduction. Rated PG-13. 114 minutes. — M. LaSalle
Rocketman
This fantasia on the life of Elton John is a minor disaster, presenting the pop star’s career as an alcoholic’s recovery
saga, with lots of selfpitying interludes in which we see Elton’s parents being mean to him. Worst of all, Taron Egerton has a weak voice and sounds nothing like Elton John in the ’70s and something like Elton in his 70s. Rated R. 121 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
The Souvenir
Another quiet, multi-layered character study by the emerging British master Joanna Hogg about a film school student (Honor Swinton Byrne, daughter of Tilda Swinton) in 1980s England whose dreams are derailed by an affair with an older, sophisticated man (Tom Burke) who