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Abacus: Small
Enough to Jail “Hoop Dreams” director Steve James profiles the Sung family, a group of Chinese bankers in New York targeted by the government in the wake of the recent mortgage crash. The trial itself is filled with drama, but the resourcefulness and loyalty of the family is the centerpiece. Charged with a crime that could destroy them, their defense feels like a piece of the American dream. Not rated. 88 minutes.
— P. Hartlaub
Alien: Covenant The latest from Ridley Scott is an effective monster film with interesting overtones dealing with the fear of artificial intelligence. Michael Fassbender is superb in a dual role, playing two different robots. Rated PG. 122 minutes. — M. LaSalle
All Eyez on Me Biographical drama about rapper Tupac Shakur. Starring Demetrius Shipp Jr. Not reviewed. Rated R. 140 minutes.
Band Aid Zoe ListerJones marks herself as a genuine triple threat, writing, directing and starring in this slight but well-observed story of a husband and wife who find comfort and artistic fulfillment in writing songs that re-enact their arguments. Not rated. 94 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
Baywatch This adaptation of the long-running TV series about sleuthing lifeguards refashions the concept into a comedy, but the comedy is weak and there is too much emphasis on the lukewarm crime plot. The movie depicts high spirits but can’t quite generate them. Rated R. 116 minutes.
— M. LaSalle Beatriz at Dinner A kindhearted holistic healer (Salma Hayek) winds up at a fancy dinner party with a billionaire creep (John Lithgow) and is unable to control her anger at the depredations of the rich. It’s all pretty heavy-handed, and the dice are loaded completely on the side of the healer. Hayek is good, but the whole affair is simplistic. Rated R. 83 minutes. — W. Addiego
The Book of Henry Naomi Watts plays the single mom of two young boys, one of whom is a genius (Jaeden Lieberher) who begins to suspect that a neighboring police official is abusing his stepdaughter. It’s a blend of tearjerker and thriller that offers an appealing portrait of the mother’s loving relationship with her sons. But the movie is less satisfying when conveying the more downbeat material, showing an unappealing streak of self-righteousness. Rated PG-13. 105 minutes.
— W. Addiego Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie Dav Pilkey’s creation “Captain Underpants” is a very popular book series that doesn’t seamlessly translate to the big screen, and the filmmakers can’t solve this problem. Despite moments where the writing is strong, the animated comedy is a little too dark, a little too nihilistic, a little too empty. Rated PG. 89 minutes. — P. Hartlaub
Cars 3 The third entry in this Pixar series is one too many, with Lightning McQueen — the red car voiced by Owen Wilson — going through a midlife crisis having to do with not being as fast as he used to be. This is a long film that feels longer, with many sequences consisting of nothing but racing, but Pixar’s sterling production values give it something of a lift. Rated G. 119 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
Churchill Brian Cox plays Winston Churchill during an atypical juncture of his life, one in which he was not just worried but wrong, anticipating disaster in the days leading up to D-Day in 1944. The movie has too many similar scenes, and though Cox is the right age and size for Churchill, he lacks the wartime leader’s wit and lovableness — though that
may be a consequence of the movie, in which he gets little chance to do anything but fret. Rated PG. 105 minutes.
— M. LaSalle 47 Meters Down Thriller about vacationing sisters who become trapped in a shark cage deep in the ocean. Rated PG-13. 89 minutes.
Guardians of the
Galaxy Vol. 2 This second installment improves on the first by concentrating on the comedy. It’s like a postmodern take on the sci-fi action film genre, with Kurt Russell showing up this time as Ego, the long-lost father of Peter (Chris Pratt). It’s a pretty good action movie, but it’s also one of the funniest movies of the season. Rated PG-13. 138 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
It Comes at Night It might come at night, but you can stay home from this stretched-out horror/ apocalyptic tale that never gets much past its opening premise, that in some future time society will collapse and everyone will be fending for themselves — and fighting off everyone else. Watching it is as fun as being there. Starring Joel Edgerton. Rated R. 97 minutes. — M. LaSalle
Letters From Baghdad Absorbing documentary about Gertrude Bell, often called the female Lawrence of Arabia, and her role in the making of the modern Middle East. Taken from actual correspondence and journals by Bell and her fiends and colleagues, with Tilda Swinton as the voice of Bell, and filled with archival photographs and film footage, directors Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum intimately evoke Baghdad, Syria and London in the first two decades of the 20th century. Not rated. 95 minutes.
— G. Allen Johnson
Like Crazy Paolo Virzi wrote and directed this Italian best picture winner, with a brilliant Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and Micaela Ramazzotti as a pair of mentally ill women who escape a sanitarium and go on a lifechanging road trip. Not rated. 118 minutes. In Italian with English subtitles. — M. LaSalle
Megan Leavey Kate Mara stars in this real-life story of a small-town good-for-nothing who joins the Marines and becomes part of the canine unit, sniffing out bombs in Iraq. It’s not a war movie, but rather an examination of the real bonds that develop between people and animals. ’ Rated PG-13. 116 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
The Mummy Tom Cruise gives this movie a lift, and so do some superb early sequences and the casting of Annabelle Wallis as an Egyptologist. However, the movie bogs down in action-movie noman’s land after the first half-hour and never completely recovers. Still, not bad — just not good enough. Rated PG-13. 110 minutes.
— M. LaSalle My Cousin Rachel Based on the Daphne du Maurier novel, this is the story of a young man who becomes obsessed and baffled by his guardian’s widow, a charming but mysterious woman (played by Rachel Weisz). It’s a fascinating and well-made film directed by Roger Michell that seems to be a morality tale but is something more complicated. Rated PG-13. 106 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
Norman Richard Gere gets a strong and unusual showcase as a small-time hustler trying to
crack into the big time, by putting over a deal involving American big business and the Israeli government. It features excellent character work by Gere and a swiftly moving story by writer-director Joseph Cedar. Rated R. 117 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
Paris Can Wait Written and directed by Eleanor Coppola, this is an achingly dull and poorly acted film about the wife of a producer (Diane Lane) who goes on a seemingly endless road trip with a man who wants to seduce her. The movie loses its way about 15 minutes in and never gets better. Rated PG. 92 minutes. — M. LaSalle
Rough Night Comedy about a group of young women who hire a male stripper for a bachelorette party. With Scarlett Johannson and Kate McKinnon. Rated R. 101 minutes.
Slack Bay This misanthropic French comedy is an odd combination of “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie,” Monty Python and Laurel and Hardy, with some cannibalism, incest and gender identity issues thrown in. It’s uneven, but shows imagination. Not rated. 122 minutes. In French with English subtitles. — D. Lewis
The Wedding Plan Writer-director Rama Burshtein’s Israeli drama is a twist on crowdpleasing marriage-minded romantic comedies, with a wonderful performance by Noa Koler as a woman who is dumped a month before her wedding. She decides to hold the wedding anyway, confident that God will provide a replacement. Rated PG. 110 minutes. In Hebrew with English subtitles.
— G. Allen Johnson
The Women’s Balcony This crowd-pleaser concerns a rift within an Orthodox Jewish congregation in Jerusalem. It’s entirely predictable but totally charming. Not rated. 96 minutes. In Hebrew with English subtitles.
— D. Lewis
Wonder Woman This is a different kind of comic book movie, with a sense of history and purpose, featuring a starmaking performance by Gal Gadot in the title role. Costarring Chris Pine and directed by Patty Jenkins (“Monster”). Rated PG-13. 141 minutes. — M. LaSalle
Your Name What starts out as a “Freaky Friday”-type body exchange between high school kids — a rural village girl and a Tokyo boy — becomes a rumination on time travel, cataclysmic fate, ruralurban dynamics and, of course, a love story in novelistturned-director Makoto Shinkai’s anime, which is more Miyazaki than “Ghost in the Shell.” Rated PG. 106 minutes.
— G. Allen Johnson