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The Big Short One of the season’s most entertaining movies, this black comedy from comedy director Adam McKay finds intelligent amusement in the financial crisis, with a story about a handful of people who made a killing from the collapse. Christian Bale and Steve Carell are superb as a pair of hedge fund managers too sane and too eccentric not to admit the truth when they see it. Rated R. 130 minutes. — M. LaSalle
Bridge of Spies The latest from Steven Spielberg is a sure, solid ride, with Tom Hanks as James B. Donovan, who is enlisted to represent a Soviet spy and then actually endeavors to give him good representation. It’s a wonderful, sprawling character portrait, set against a meticulously re-created 1950s America, without one false note or slow moment. One of the best movies of 2015. Rated PG-13. 141 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
Brooklyn Rich in emotion and period detail, this story of a young Irish woman (Saoirse Ronan) who moves to Brooklyn in 1951 is one of the best films of the year. Rated PG-13. 112 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
Carol Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara share acting honors, in this, one of the best films of the year, about two women, of different ages and backgrounds, who form an emotional connection in 1950s New York City. Directed by Todd Haynes. Rated R. 118 minutes. — M. LaSalle
Chi-Raq An audacious critique of gang warfare in Chicago, Spike Lee’s creative yet disjointed tragicomedy wanders all over the place, but this film still has a strong pulse and bravely explores urgent subject matter. Rated R. 118 minutes.
— D. Lewis
Creed Director Ryan Coogler lends energy and a contemporary edge into the venerable Rocky franchise, with Stallone as the aging champ stepping in to train Adonis, the son of Rocky’s late friend, Apollo Creed. It’s terrific entertainment, with a lovely performance from Stallone, perhaps his best. PG-13. Rated PG-13. 133 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
The Danish Girl This historical drama about the life of transgender pioneer Lili Elbe has excellent acting and impeccable production values, though at times it seems hemmed in by
its own tasteful restraint. Rated R. 120 minutes.
— D. Lewis The Good Dinosaur Pixar’s dinosaurthemed Western adventure has an original concept, disarming emotional heft and features the most impressive visuals in animated cinema to date. It introduces a classic new character — a feral child who is brimming with humanity. The film is limited by visible seams in the script, with a shifting tone that varies from light comedy to surprising menace, sometimes too abruptly. Rated PG. 92 minutes. — P. Hartlaub Heart of a Dog Laurie Anderson’s meditation on death, loss and ultimately life, as exemplified by her beloved rat terrier dog Lolabelle, is one of the best films of 2015 — visually adventurous and lovely, experimental yet accessible, poetic and philosophical. Lolabelle helped Anderson adjust to a post-9/11 world, and the lessons from her loss are helping Anderson through the death of her mother as well as her husband, Lou Reed. Kind of a magical film, this. Not rated. 75 minutes.
— G. Allen Johnson
Hitchcock/Truffaut A very good documentary about the making of a seminal book, which was the result of a series of interviews Alfred Hitchcock granted the young French director Francois Truffaut in the early 1960s. Rated PG-13. 80 minutes. — M. LaSalle
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2
Jennifer Lawrence is such a good actress that watching her make sense of a completely flat character only makes the silliness stand out in sharper relief, in this labored but intermittently amusing finale to the dystopian series. Philip Seymour Hoffman stands out in a handful of scenes, but unfortunately he died before filming what would have been the movie’s most important scene. Rated PG-13. 136 minutes. — M. LaSalle In the Heart of the Sea Ron Howard has made a long snooze of a film that purports to tell the real story of the Essex, the whaling ship whose misfortunes inspired Melville’s “MobyDick.” The fictional story was a lot more interesting. Rated PG-13. 122 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
James White An interesting first 30 minutes, both in terms of story and of camera work, buys this film lots of goodwill, but it descends into cliche and ultimately into pointlessness, a character portrait that ends where it starts. Rated R. 80 minutes. — M. LaSalle
Janis: Little Girl Blue This Janis Joplin documentary is clumsy at times, but most problems are overcome by its meticulous research and incredible access to friends, family and musicians in the singer’s life. There’s enough to keep more casual fans interested, and devotees of the singer will be blown away — excited to find new angles and stories they didn’t know before. Not rated. 103 minutes. — P. Hartlaub
Krampus Horror comedy about a boy who accidentally summons a Christmas demon. Not reviewed. Rated PG-13. 98 minutes.
Legend The Krays, the twin British gangsters who ruled London during the swinging mid-1960s, become the subject for a long, focus-less, seemingly pointless film, with little drama and no period charm. Tom Hardy stars as both brothers and does a nice job with only one of them. Rated R. 131 minutes.
— M. LaSalle Macbeth Shakespeare’s compact play — featuring multiple murderers, madness and intrigues — would seem a natural for cinema, but director Justin Kurzel and three screenwriters adapt this play into dullness. The actors speak as if drugged, just murmuring and mumbling, and the soundtrack (lots of cellos) create an aura of distance. What a waste of Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard, who could have been superb as the murdering Macbeths. Rated R. 113 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
The Martian The latest from Ridley Scott has many great things in it, including a loose and engaging performance from the always-reliable Matt Damon as an astronaut who gets left behind on Mars and must fend for himself. The only problem is that the movie slows down when it should get faster and drags in its last third. Rated PG-13. 142 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
The Night Before Seth Rogen, Joseph GordonLevitt and Anthony Mackie are longtime friends, on one last Christmas night bender before they enter the boring stage of adulthood. Hung with care on the barest of plots, the aggressive randomness of this stoner buddy comedy fuels some genuinely inventive comic moments. The cameos are fantastic throughout. Rated R. 111 minutes.
— P. Hartlaub
The Peanuts Movie This movie based on Charles Schulz’s characters is a snowflake slowly falling to the melancholy notes of Vince Guaraldi — completely true to the creator’s values. The movie feels too long (even at just over an hour and a half) and the ending may rankle Peanuts purists. But the film is funny and sweet and retains a strong spiritual connection to the strip and the best Charlie Brown TV specials. Rated G. 86 minutes.
— P. Hartlaub
Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict Filmmaker Lisa Immordino Vreeland (“Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel”) explores the life of Peggy Guggenheim, whose instinct and taste carved out a place for herself in the firmament of 20th century artists. A fascinating story about the woman who amassed one of the world’s great art collections, all the more interesting because of the remembrances of an array of art pundits and historians. Not rated. 96 minutes.
— L. Garchik
Room An interesting experiment that becomes overlong and wearying, this is the story of a woman, held captive for seven years, creating a reality for her 5-year-old son, while living in confinement. Brie Larson is superb as the mother, but Jacob Tremblay as the
child is a little hard to take. Rated R. 118 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
Secret in Their Eyes This is a very peculiar remake of the Argentine foreign film Oscar winner, in that it has very little in common with the original picture. Nicole Kidman and especially Julia Roberts give interesting performances, playing characters over the course of 13 years, but the film — about the effort to close a murder case, years later — falls flat. Rated PG-13. 111 minutes. — M. LaSalle
Sicario This is a strong film about the war between drug cartels and American government agencies, which captures the insanity and brutality of the conflict in memorable and uncompromising terms. All three leads — Emily Blunt as a green FBI agent, Josh Brolin as a blithe CIA operative and Benicio Del Toro as a mystery man — are superb. Rated R. 121 minutes. — M. LaSalle
Spectre The James Bond series returns to top form, with 007 going up against the best Bond villain in living memory — Christoph Waltz, as a charming lunatic out to control the world. The Bond women (no Bond girls in this one) are Lea Seydoux and Monica Bellucci, and the action sequences are brilliantly crafted. Rated PG-13. 148 minutes. — M. LaSalle
Victor Frankenstein Making an origins story about Dr. Frankenstein, as told from Igor’s point of view, probably sounded like a good idea ... Then again, it probably didn’t. And it wasn’t. James McAvoy’s over-the-top performance is the only fun to be had here. Otherwise this is dreary and predictable. With Daniel Radcliffe as Igor. Rated PG-13. 110 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
Youth This Englishlanguage movie from Italian director Paolo Sorrentino is a handsomely mounted meditation on art, aging and love — substantial
subjects, but the film isn’t heavy-handed. Two old friends, a retired conductor and a film director attempting a comeback (well played by Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel), meet at an elegant Swiss hotel and spa, where they chat and observe their fellow guests. The film doesn’t reach the heights of Sorrentino’s “The Great Beauty,” but is well worth seeing. Rated R. 118 minutes.
— W. Addiego