Movie guide
Four stars: superior. Three stars: good. Two stars: average. One star: poor. D (drug use), L (language), N (nudity), S (sexual situations, references), V (violence). Ratings by Dann Gire, Daily Herald Film Critic, unless otherwise noted.
Picks
“Bridget Jones’s Baby”— Great Britain’s most celebrated singleton finally gets pregnant, but who is the father? Renée Zellweger returns with Colin Firth and Patrick Dempsey as her competing baby daddies. Reviewed by Lindsey Bahr, Associated Press. (R) L, N, S. 122 minutes.???
“Don’t Breathe”— “Evil Dead” director Fede Alvarez goes for suspense in this home-invasion thriller during which a blind homeowner (Stephen Lang) shows he can fight back. And then some. Taut, tense and tawdry tale. With Jane Levy. (R) L, S, V. 88 minutes.???
“Florence Foster Jenkins”— Meryl Streep wows us again as the titular character, a lovable, self-deluded woman in the 1940s who tries to sing opera, but can’t, and doesn’t let that stop her. A crowd-pleasing, eccentric comedy about romance, sort of. With Hugh Grant and Simon Helberg. (PG-13) S. 110 minutes.???½
“Hell or High Water”— Well-crafted modern western about two bankrobbing brothers (Chris Pine and Ben Foster) and the Texas Rangers (Jeff Bridges and Gil Birmingham) on their tails. (R) L, S, V. 102 minutes.???½
“Kubo and the Two Strings”— Gorgeous stop-motion action blends with other forms of animation in this Japanese-inspired family fantasy about a boy’s magical quest through dazzling animated landscapes. Voices by Charlize Theron, Ralph Fiennes and Matthew McConaughey. Reviewed by Jake Coyle, Associated Press. (PG) 101 minutes.???
“Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children”— Young Jake (Asa Butterfield) stumbles upon a secret refuge for supernaturally gifted youngsters hiding in a 1943 time loop in Tim Burton’s visually dense fantasy starring Eva Green. Reviewed by Mark Kennedy, Associated Press. (PG-13) V. 127 minutes.???
“Pete’s Dragon”— David Lowery’s reboot of the 1977 cheesy Walt Disney musical is a far superior work of amazing fantasy, all about the friendship between a young boy (a well-cast Oakes Fegley) and his giant dragon Elliott. (PG) 90 minutes.???
“Queen of Katwe”— Inspiring, true tale of an illiterate girl (Madina Nalwanga) from Uganda who discovers a natural talent for chess and, with the help of a coach (David Oyelowo), becomes a champion. Lupita Nyong’o stars as her disapproving mother. Reviewed by Sandy Cohen, Associated Press. (PG) 124 minutes.???
“Sully”— Clint Eastwood directs a thrilling account of the “Miracle on the Hudson” with a stellar Tom Hanks as the US Airways captain, Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, whose critical thinking skills and sheer cool save the day and make this a perfect movie for our time. With a wasted Laura Linney and a well-cast Aaron Eckhart. (PG-13) L. 96 minutes.???½
Passables
“Bad Moms”— Three stressed-out mothers (Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn and Kristen Bell) fold under their daily pressures and go crazy by breaking all the routine mom rules. With Christina Applegate and Jada Pinkett Smith. Reviewed by Stephanie Merry, Washington Post. (R) D, L, N, S. 101 minutes.??½
“Deepwater Horizon”— Mark Wahlberg and Kurt Russell star in Peter Berg’s fact-based drama about the 2010 BP oil rig disaster that killed 11 people. Action-packed once disaster strikes, but formulaic and dramatically challenged. (PG-13) L, V. 99 minutes.??½
“The Light Between Oceans”— Well-acted, but stodgy, pretentiously photographed and sloggily edited period tragedy about a post-WWI couple (Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander) who live to regret finding a baby and passing her off as their own. From the best-seller by M.L. Stedman. (PG-13) S. 100 minutes.??½
“The Magnificent Seven”— A less-than-magnificent remake of a Western classic about a bounty hunter (Denzel Washington) and six other gunslingers hired to bring down the man (Peter Sarsgaard) who has been terrorizing a town and made a widow of the luminous Haley Bennett. (PG-13) L, S, V. 132 minutes.??
“Snowden”— Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars in Oliver Stone’s fact-based drama about Edward Snowden, the NSA analyst who exposed illegal surveillance activities and became one of the most wanted men in the world. Reviewed by Jake Coyle, Associated Press. (R) L, N, S. 138 minutes.??½
“Storks”— The titular birds have gotten out of the baby business, but an error sets Junior (voiced by Andy Samberg) and a human girl named Tulip on a quest to deliver a bundle of joy to a stressed-out family. The film has a lot of the ingredients for a playful cartoon, but the humor and sentiment don’t quite gel. Reviewed by Jake Coyle, Associated Press. (PG) 86 minutes.??
“War Dogs”— Overwritten, underdeveloped and obvious business comedy about two best buds (Jonah Hill and Miles Teller) who become international arms dealers during the Iraq War. Directed by Todd “The Hangover” Phillips. (R) D, L, S. 114 minutes.??
Pits
“Blair Witch”— A second sequel to the original inspiration for all “found footage” horror tales takes up with college students looking in the Black Hills Forest for clues about what happened to one student’s sister. It doesn’t go well. Reviewed by Mark Jenkins, Washington Post. (R) L, V. 89 minutes.?½
“Jason Bourne”— Frenetic, noisy, blurry action footage suffocates story and character as Matt Damon’s amnesiac CIA assassin discovers the truth about his father and settles a score with a ruthless new CIA director (Tommy Lee Jones). Perfunctory screenplay sets a record for utterances of “Copy that!” With Alicia Vikander and Julia Stiles. (PG-13) L, V. 123 minutes.?½
“Masterminds”— A bored armored car driver (Zach Galifianakis) steals $17 million with partners who double-cross him. A hit man (Jason Sudeikis) chases him. An anemic comedy directed by Jared “Napoleon Dynamite” Hess. (PG-13) L, S, V. 90 minutes.?½
“Suicide Squad”— The most anticipated summer movie turns out to be a dud, a muddled variation of “The Dirty Dozen” with thinly drawn supervillains recruited by a ruthless bureaucrat (Viola Davis) to stop an ancient warlock from stealing the ending to “Ghostbusters.” Only Margot Robbie’s sleazy Harley Quinn knows how to spin writer/director David Ayer’s material, extremely disturbing stuff blunted by a restrictive PG-13 rating. L, S, V. 123 minutes.?½
Unpreviewed
“Banjo”— A Lady-and-the-Tramp romance/musical/drama/comedy directed by Ravi Jadhav. In Hindi with subtitles. (NR) 141 minutes.
“Clinton, Inc.”— A doc reporting on the political dynasty created by Bill and Hillary Clinton. Based on the New York Times best-seller. Directed by Bill Baber. (PG-13) S. 87 minutes.
“Harry and Snowman”— A doc about the man who saved an Amish plow horse from slaughter and two years later, turned him into a triple crown champion of show jumping. Narrated by 86-year-old Harry deLeyer. (NR) 84 minutes.
“Is That a Gun in Your Pocket?”— A vexed Texas wife (Andrea Anders) starts a revolution by persuading women to withhold sex from their husbands until they surrender their beloved guns. With Cloris Leachman, John Michael Higgins and John Heard. (NR) 97 minutes.
“M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story”— A drama based on the life of one of India’s best cricketers, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. In Hindi with subtitles. (NR) 100 minutes.
“Maximum Ride”— Four teenagers with the ability to fly must save one of their own winged kind after kidnappers abduct her. Starring Allie Marie Evans as Maximum “Max” ride. (PG-13) V. 88 minutes.
“Milton’s Secrets”— A wise grandfather (Donald Sutherland) helps a young boy (William Ainscough) deal with bullies, his workaholic, neglectful parents and the uncertainties of the real world. (PG) 89 minutes.
“No Manches Frida”— A comedy about an ex-con who becomes a substitute teacher to retrieve the loot he buried under the school’s new gym. In Spanish with subtitles. (PG-13) D, L, S. 114 minutes.
“Pink”— Drama, deceit and lies await an attorney in this Indian thriller. In Hindi with subtitles. 136 minutes.
“When the Bough Breaks”— Forget postpartum depression. Hot surrogate Anna (Jaz Sinclair) goes off the deep end while carrying a baby for John and Laura (Morris Chestnut and Regina Hall), and then does whatever’s necessary to replace the wife.(PG-13) L, N, S, V. 93 minutes.
