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Annabelle: Creation There are some genuine jolts in this prequel to “Annabelle” (part of the same universe as “The Conjuring” films), which involves six girl orphans and a devilish doll. But a lot of it is standard horror tricks that you can see coming for miles. Rated R. 109 minutes. — W. Addiego
Atomic Blonde Charlize Theron dazzles as a British agent sent to East Berlin in 1989 to recover a missing list of double agents, helped by fellow agent James McAvoy. The hand-to-hand combat comes fast and furious in this colorful, fabulously entertaining, although thinly plotted and sometimes tedious, action film. With this film following “Mad Max: Fury Road,” Theron is now the top action actress in the movies. Rated R. 115 minutes.
— G. Allen Johnson
Baby Driver Edgar Wright’s action movie, starring Ansel Elgort as a talented young getaway driver, is propulsive and fun, full of surprises and delights. The gimmick of a very pervasive soundtrack wears a bit, but this is an entertaining genre movie. Rated R. 113 minutes. — M. LaSalle
The Big Sick Kumail Nanjiani co-wrote (with his wife, Emily V. Gordon) and stars in this romantic comedy, based on his own life, about a romance that is interrupted by the woman’s getting sick and falling into a coma. Funny, unexpected, human and appealing, it features winning performances by Nanjiani and especially Zoe Kazan, who is asleep for most of the film. Rated R. 120 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
Columbus This gem of a romantic dramedy, about a translator stuck in a small Indiana town, beautifully illuminates not only the local architecture but also the characters that inhabit it. The film has a quiet wavelength all of its own, but thanks to excellent directing and acting, that wavelength always remains accessible. Not rated. 100 minutes.
— D. Lewis
The Dark Tower Based on a series of Stephen King novels, this sci-fi fantasy involves the struggle between light and order on the one hand, and chaos and darkness on the other. But the movie has enough story only for a very good one-hour, one-off TV drama. The concept has resonance, but in the film everything is on the surface. With Idris Elba, Katheryn Winnick and Matthew McConaughey. Rated PG-13. 95 minutes.
Despicable Me 3 The latest installment in the juggernaut series, about an ex-villain who now chases super-villains, has cute characters, some clever set pieces and dazzling animation, but this time around, the story appears to have been lost in
the shuffle. It’s competent, but rather joyless. Rated PG. 90 minutes. — D. Lewis
Detroit Kathryn Bigelow’s account of the 1967 Detroit riot, written by Mark Boal, is exceptionally paced and photographed, with one long, harrowing scene at its center, an imaginative re-creation of an event at a hotel, in which a handful of police officers abused and terrorized a group of people. Absolutely riveting (and often maddening) from start to finish. Rated R. 143 minutes. — W. Addiego Dunkirk Christopher Nolan’s career-best film tells the story of World War II’s harrowing Dunkirk evacuation as experienced on land, sea and air. It’s inspired filmmaking from the first frame. Rated PG-13. 107 minutes. — M. LaSalle
The Emoji Movie Animated comedy about the adventures of emojis who live in Textoplis. With voices of T.J. Miller, James Corden and Anna Faris. Not reviewed. Rated PG. 126 minutes.
False Confessions Luc Bondy’s last film, a modern-day screen adaptation of the 18th century Marivaux play, has some fine stylistic turns, but it’s defeated by the bizarre casting of the love interests (Isabelle Huppert and Louis Garrel, separated by 30 years) and a certain distance in the playing. Not rated. 85 minutes. In French with English subtitles. — M. LaSalle
A Ghost Story David Lowery’s audacious and methodical fantasy tells the story of a haunting from the standpoint of a sad, disoriented and a rather heartbroken ghost. The movie is slow and contains very little dialogue. It is completely against the pattern of contemporary popular cinema, but if you’re up for a drastic change, you will find it rewarding. Starring Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck. Rated R. 92 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
Girls Trip Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith and the very funny Tiffany Haddish play college friends who reunite for a wild long weekend in New Orleans. Lovable and often side-splitting, full of outrageous humor and well-conceived comic situations. Rated R. 122 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
The Glass Castle Though this filmed rendering of Jeanette Walls’ memoir, about her troubled childhood growing up with an erratic father, goes a little soft in the end, it’s all the same a dramatic portrait of the terrors of childhood, as seen from a child’s perspective. Rated PG-13. 127 minutes. — M. LaSalle
In This Corner of the
World Featuring delicate, pastel, handdrawn animation, this Japanese film, about the lead up to World War II and the experience of the Hiroshima bombing, as experienced from the suburb of Kure, has some touching moments, but it’s defeated by its excessive running time and sluggish narrative. Rated PG-13. 129 minutes. In Japanese with English subtitles.
— M. LaSalle
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to
Power Al Gore is back with a compelling update to his 2006 documentary about climate change. The film gives the latest in scientific research while following Gore on his worldwide crusade that includes a decisive visit to Paris during the Paris Agreement negotiations. Rated PG. 98 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
Kidnap In this thriller, which has echoes of “Taken,” Halle Berry plays a working-class single mom who chases down her little boy’s abductors. It’s a serviceable B-movie vehicle. Rated R. 94 minutes.
— D. Lewis
Lady Macbeth This is a smart, streamlined reimagining of “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk,” transplanted to rural 19th century England, and a star-making showcase for young Florence Pugh, who has the turbulence and composure of the young Kate Winslet. Rated R. 89 minutes. — M. LaSalle The Last Dalai Lama Director Mickey Lemle’s follow-up to his 1991 Dalai Lama documentary shows a Buddhist leader at peace entering his ninth decade, even with so much uncertainty surrounding the future of the position. MVPs in the slow-moving but engaging film include George W. Bush in an interview, and the Lama-inspired musical score by composer Philip Glass and Tenzin Choegyal. Not rated. 90 minutes. — P. Hartlaub
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
The Little Hours Jeff Baena wrote and directed this very funny comedy about three nuns coping with pent-up anger and sexual frustration in 14th century Europe. Aubrey Plaza, Alison Brie and Kate Micucci co-star. Based on Boccaccio’s “Decameron.” Rated R. 90 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
Maudie This year’s example of the Vera Drake Syndrome in action — a movie that has no life and vitality but that you feel guilty for disliking because it tells the story of a nice person — is a biopic about the Canadian artist Maud Lewis (a relentlessly poignant Sally Hawkins) who, if you believe this movie, went through life without a single interesting
thing happening to her. Deadly. Rated PG-13. 115 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
Menashe Set in a Brooklyn Hasidic community, this is the moving story of a widower who runs afoul of his ultraorthodox family and neighbors because of his desire to raise his son as a single dad. It’s a compelling portrayal of a closed society. Rated PG. 82 minutes. In Yiddish with English subtitles.
— W. Addiego
The Midwife Catherine Frot is a veteran midwife and Catherine Deneuve is her temperamental opposite, who pops up from out of the past and forces the midwife to confront her long neglected emotional life. It’s a strong film with terrific performances from France’s two great Catherines. Not rated. 117 minutes. In French with English subtitles. — M. LaSalle
The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature This sequel about squirrels trying to save their park from evil politicians is aimed at parents who have a week left before school starts, and are out of ideas. The first “Nut Job” tried to set itself apart with noirish qualities. The second movie uses non-stop action to distract from its lack of originality. Rated PG. 91 minutes. — P. Hartlaub
The Only Living Boy in New York This misfire concerns a misunderstood millennial man who falls for his rich father’s mistress. There is nothing that the appealing cast can do to overcome the silly dialogue. Rated R. 88 minutes. — D. Lewis
Spider-Man: Homecoming This is yet another reboot of the “Spider-Man” franchise and the least interesting yet, with Tom Holland in the title role. It’s a routine entry with some half-hearted humanizing elements and lackluster action. Still, it’s reasonably entertaining throughout. Rated PG-13. 134 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
Step This inspiring and entertaining documentary focuses on three young African American members of the stepdancing team at a Baltimore charter school, and their issues at home and in school in the era of Black Lives Matter. Rated PG. 83 minutes.
— W. Addiego
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets Director-producer Luc Besson returns to the space opera for the first time since he made “The Fifth Element” in 1997. The production and character design are off the charts, adequately masking structure and pacing deficiencies. There’s so much coolness going on in each individual interplanetary sequence, that the so-so story about detectives investigating a government plot is mostly an afterthought. Rated PG-13. 137 minutes.
— P. Hartlaub
Walk With Me Documentary about Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. Directed by Marc J. Francis and Max Pugh, narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch. Not reviewed. Not rated. 94 minutes.
War for the Planet of the Apes The last in this trilogy of prequels to the 1968 classic finds the apes and humans in a struggle for survival, in this lowkey, thinking-person’s action movie, which concludes the series in a satisfying and intelligent way. Rated PG-13. 140 minutes. — M. LaSalle
Whose Streets? “Frontline” documentary about the aftermath of the 2014 Michael Brown shooting and how the black community in Ferguson, Mo., has fought for changes in police-community relations is loud, unrelenting, angry and passionate. In other words, a movie for our times. Rated R. 90 minutes.
— G. Allen Johnson
Wind River Taylor Sheridan wrote and directed this crime drama, about the FBI investigating a murder on an Indian reservation. The story is conventional, but the setting and the treatment — with its emphasis on the snowy location and the specifics of the culture — turn this into an interesting and satisfying experience. Rated R. 107 minutes. — M. LaSalle 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