Video Alert
ANNIHILATION (Sci-fi thriller, R, 115 m., 2018). In this bold and innovative sci-fi horror thriller from the director of “Ex Machina,” Natalie Portman plays a biologist venturing into a mysterious environmental disaster zone to find her missing husband. Her work here rivals her Oscarwinning turn in “Black Swan.” Rating: Four stars.
GAME NIGHT (Comedy, R, 100 m., 2018). When the Game Night Max (Jason Bateman) usually hosts with his wife (Rachel McAdams) is commandeered by his cocky brother (Kyle Chandler), the merriment quickly spins out of control. The movie runs a little long, but there are more than enough laughs and clever surprises in this broad and sometimes violent farce to warrant a recommendation. Rating: Three stars.
THE 15:17 TO PARIS (Action drama, PG-13, 94 m., 2018). In recreating the 2015 Paris-bound train journey in which passengers subdued a heavily armed gunman, director Clint Eastwood cast the real-life heroes as themselves, and the amateurs come across as such. Though there are a few pulse-quickening moments, the movie is slow-paced and feels padded. Rating: Two stars.
BLACK PANTHER (Superhero action, PG-13, 140 m., 2018). Even if you’re not normally into the superhero genre, if you appreciate finely honed storytelling, winning performances and tons of whiz-bang action sequences and good humor, then you should see “Black Panther.” It’s one of the best times I’ve had at the movies this decade. Rating: Four stars. FIFTY SHADES FREED (Drama thriller, R, 105 m., 2018).Last in S&M-sprinkled trilogy of slick trash with newlyweds Ana (Dakota Johnson) and Christian (Jamie Dornan) eventually leave the sexy stuff behind and fall into a combo platter of cheesy, easily solved mystery-thriller and overwrought daytime soap opera melodrama. Rating: One star. 12 STRONG (War action, R, 130 m., 2018). Chris Hemsworth plays the leader of the real-life U.S. Special Forces team that helped take out key Taliban and al-Qaida strongholds in Afghanistan after 9/11. But with a running time of two hours and 10 minutes, the action-packed but clicheriddled adventure has at least 20 minutes of scenes that are either unnecessary or repetitive. Rating: Two and a half stars. HOSTILES (Western, R, 133 m., 2018). Christian Bale is at the laserfocused top of his game (and perfectly cast) as an Old West soldier escorting a freed Cheyenne chief (Wes Studi) and his family to their ancestral land. The brutal violence is not for the faint of heart, but “Hostiles” winds up being about having a heart in a world that seems almost without hope. Rating: Three and a half stars. DEN OF THIEVES (Crime action, R, 140 m., 2018). For the first hour or so, it appeared as if this Los Angeles-based heist thriller pitting badass sheriff’s lieutenant Gerard Butler against badass gang leader Pablo Schreiber would catch us off-guard in the best way. But just when things should have been heating up, the route grows bumpy and meandering and in some scenes drip-drip-drip SLOW. Rating: Two stars.