Movies still screening in Bay Area theaters
“The Big Sick”: The screenplay, written by star Kumail Nanjiani and his real- life wife, Emily V. Gordon, was inspired by their courtship. The sexy, beguiling Zoe Kazan brings intelligence and believability to the Gordon role. The romance is almost derailed because Kumail can’t bring himself to tell his traditional Pakistani parents he’s in love with an American named Emily, who comes down with something debilitating and is in a medically induced coma when Kumail finally visits the hospital and meets her parents. Fortunately, this film transcends the clichés of each formula it flirts with. ★★ ★ ½ stars (Bob Strauss, Los Angeles Daily News) R, 2:00
“Columbus”: This beautifully photographed indie drama from debuting Korean American writerdirector Kogonada follows two lovely young strangers — Seoul-based book translator Jin, played by John Cho (Sulu in the “Star Trek” films), and recent high- school graduate Casey, played by Haley Lu Richardson (“The Edge of Seventeen”) — as their friendship develops. They spend a few days talking and exploring Casey’s hometown, Columbus, Indiana — an unlikely setting for several mid20th- century buildings designed by internationally renowned architects of the day — while each tries to come to terms with strained parental relationships. ★★ ★ stars (Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times) Unrated, 1:44 “Crown Heights”: Few dramas about a broken system wrongly convicting innocent people have been as effective as this factbased film. It tells the story of Colin Warner (Lakeith Stanfield), who spent 20 years incarcerated on the flimsiest of evidence, and his best friend, Carl King (former NFL player Nnamdi Asmgha), who with others became committed to getting Warner released — and persisted until that happened. ★★ ★ ½ stars (Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times), R. 1:34
“Dunkirk”: Christopher Nolan’s WWII drama is a stunning, immersive survival film that puts viewers in the midst of the action, whether on the beach with the 400,000 Allied soldiers waiting and hoping for a rescue that may never come; on the English Channel in a little civilian ship with only an aging man and two teenage boys aboard, heading into hostile waters; and in the air above the beach in two lone Spitfires that are about to run out of fuel. “Dunkirk” ranks as the best film of 2017 so far and as Nolan’s best, too. ★★ ★ ★ stars (Lindsey Bahr, Associated Press) PG-13, 1:46
“The Fencer”: This 1950s underdog sports story set in the Soviet Bloc stars Märt Avandi as a real-life champion Estonian fencer whose wartime past as a Nazi conscript makes him a target of Russia’s secret police. He flees Leningrad for a small town in Estonia where he runs a high school sports club. When a student (Liisa Kopel) sees him practicing swordsmanship and tells others, they beg him to teach them so they can enter an all-Soviet tournament. Against his better judgment the teacher finally does. The film showcases some talented young actors, and with any luck we’ll see them again in a more inspired, more accomplished movie. ★½ stars (Maia Silber, Washington Post) Unrated, 1:39
“Girls Trip”: This randy comedy — starring Regina Hall, Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah and Tiffany Haddish, as lifelong friends — nails the loyalty, boldness and heart of these spirited women who are attending an event in New Orleans when the fun turns boozy and bawdy. ★★ ★ stars (Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service) R, 2:02
“The Glass Castle”: Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson and Naomi Watts star in director Dustin Daniel Crettin’s screen version of a 2005 memoir by journalist Jeannette Walls, about her freewheeling, nomadic upbringing in a dysfunctional family. ★★ ½ stars (Stephanie Merry, Washington Post) PG-13, 2:07
“Good Time”: Robert Pattinson (“Twilight,” “The Lost City of Z”) is all but unrecognizable giving a virtuoso performance as an inept bank robber who gets into, and improvises ways out of, one hair- raising situation after another. The cast features Ben Safdie — who co- directs with his brother Josh — plus Jennifer Jason Leigh and Buddy Duress. With its originality, unpredictability and lightning pace, “Good Time” delivers precisely that. (Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times) R ( 1:40) “The Hitman’s Bodyguard”: A hitman (Samuel L. Jackson) must testify at a court in the Netherlands about military crimes committed by a notorious Belarusian dictator (Gary Oldman). But getting the witness to the Hague becomes a big problem after an Interpol transfer goes awry. Called in to help is the world’s top bodyguard (Ryan Reynolds), and his 24-hour trip with the hitman, a former adversary, becomes quite eventful. It’s no surprise the most magnetic character is Jackson’s, whether singing folk songs with nuns or doling out romantic advice via speakerphone during a high- speed chase. A close second is Salma Hayek playing Jackson’s feisty wife. But the nonstop action gets tedious well before the credits roll. ★½ stars (Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service) R, 1:58
“Ingrid Goes West”: In her richest performance yet, bad- girl comic Aubrey Plaza plays a social-media stalker who moves from the East Coast to the West so she get close to her role model, Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen), an attractive young woman who makes a living documenting her restaurant meals and shopping sprees online. Director Matt Spicer and his co- writer, David Branson, nail the celebrity culture, L. A. airhead and cellphone generation stereotypes so precisely that the satire comes across as fresh and timely. ★★ ★ stars (Bob Strauss, Daily News, Los Angeles) R 1:37 “Leap!” Eleven-year- old orphan Felicie dreams of becoming a ballerina in 1870s Paris in this animated Canadian production. Elle Fanning gives a charming voice performance as the girl, and the dancing (choreographed by stars of the Paris Opera Ballet) is lovely. But the storytelling leaves a lot to be desired, and the drawing of the backdrops seems to have gotten more attention than that of the characters. 2 stars (Katie
Walsh, Tribune News Service) PG, 1:29
“Logan Lucky”: Channing Tatum plays laid- off West Virginia coal miner Jimmy Logan, whose wife (Katie Holmes) has traded up for a middle- class husband. Jimmy’s brother Clyde (Adam Driver), now a bartender, lost an arm while serving in Iraq and their sister (Riley Keough) works as a hairdresser. For this family, the American dream has pretty much evaporated. So with help from an incarcerated explosives expert (Daniel Craig), they decide to take something back from institutions that have let them down, by intercepting the cash flow at a big NASCAR race. Though in some ways more trivial than its theme, Steven Soderbergh’s heist flick will put a smile on your face. ★★ ½ stars (Lindsey Bahr, Associated Press) PG-13, 1:59 “The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature”: In an animated sequel — voiced by Will Arnett, Katherine Heigl, Jackie Chan and others — the city-park homes of Surly the Squirrel and his animal friends are threatened by the plan of the Oakton City mayor and his greedy daughter to evict the wildlife and build a shoddy for-profit amusement park on the site. ★ ★ stars (Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service) PG, 1:31
“Patti Cake$”: This exuberant musical comedy from writer- director
Geremy Jasper serves up a feel- good stew of hip-hop and tough love, with Australian actress Danielle Macdonald giving a knockout performance as a young New Jersey bartender who aspires to become a rap star with her group, PBNJ (an acronym of the members’ names). That name sort of sums up the appeal of “Patti Cake$” — sweet, messy, a little square around the edges but awfully hard to resist. ★★ ★ stars (Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times) R, 1:48 “Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World”: This film, directed by Catherine Bainbridge and Alfonso Maiorana, tracks the Native American musicians and styles that have fed this country’s popular music from rock to blues, jazz, country and funk. The musicians who point out the links include Charley Patton, Pura Fé, Link Wray, Robert Trujillo, Randy Castillo, Howlin’ Wolf, Buffy Sainte-Marie, the Neville Brothers, Stevie Salas and more. ★★ ★ stars (Michael O’Sullivan, Washington Post) Unrated, 1:42
“The Trip to Spain”: Michael Winterbottom’s “The Trip…” movies hold out the promise of new places to explore and exotic dishes to savor, but in this third film — again starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as fictionalized versions of themselves — traveling this time through Spain’s Basque country to Málaga. The formula seems a bit tired and the actors’ celebrity impersonations are wearing thin. ★ ½ stars (Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times) Unrated, 1:51
“Wind River”: Screenwriter Taylor Sheridan (“Sicario,” “Hell or High Water”) makes his feature directing debut with an atmospheric murder thriller set on the Wyoming Native American reservation of the title. A teenage girl has been killed and the richly layered story explores tribalism and gender relations within and across Indian and Anglo lines, as a trackermarksman (Jeremy Renner) helps a greenhorn FBI agent (Elizabeth Olsen) investigate. Sheridan crafts solid drama from the battle between community law and the feral law of the frontier, and unspools shocking sequences that turn the story’s character focus and timeline in unexpected directions while bodies pile up. ★★ ★ ½ stars (Colin Covert, Star Tribune, Minneapolis) R, 1:47