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
“Annabelle: Creation”— “Lights Out” director David F. Sandberg sparks unexpected thrills in this admittedly cheesy horror tale inspired by “The Conjuring.” With Anthony LaPaglia and Miranda Otto as a couple who open their home to six orphans and a nun (Stephanie Sigman). Reviewed by Michael O’Sullivan, Washington Post. (PG-13) V. 109 minutes.? ? ?
“Baby Driver”— Edgar Wright directs a snazzy chase action thriller about a getaway car driver (Ansel Elgort) chock-full of adrenaline. With Kevin Spacey, Lily James and Jamie Foxx. Reviewed by Lindsey Bahr, Associated Press. (R) L, V. 113 minutes.? ? ?
“The Big Sick”—Excellent rom-com of humor, stinging truth and true love starring Chicago stand-up comic Kumail Nanjiani as himself, a Pakistani who falls in love with white, Christian Chicago writer Emily Gordon (Zoe Kazan) just before she goes into a coma. A complex comedy of intelligence and emotional authenticity, with Holly Hunter and Ray Romano. (R) L, S. 119 minutes.??? ?
“Dunkirk”— Christopher Nolan’s impressive World War II rescue drama is short on personal connections, but huge on the 70 mm and IMAX canvas he uses to tell the true story of the “little ships” that saved 338,000 Allied troops trapped on the beaches of France by the Nazis. Mark Rylance and Tom Hardy star. See it in 70 mm. (PG-13) L, V. 106 minutes.???½
“Girls Trip”— Four friends (Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith and Tiffany Haddish) head to New Orleans for dancing, drinking, brawling and romancing. Haddish and a grapefruit steal the movie. Really. Reviewed by Sandy Cohen, Associated Press. (R) D, L, N, S. 122 minutes.???½
“Ingrid Goes West”— A creepy social stalker (Aubrey Plaza) follows Elizabeth Olsen’s Instagram-famous “influencer” to the coast in this dark comedy about media and humans. Reviewed by Sandy Cohen, Associated Press. (R) D, L, S. 97 minutes.???
“IT”— The 1986 Stephen King novel translates into a series of repetitious jump-scares, but very effective ones. In 1988, a demonic clown called Pennywise (Bill Skarsgard) targets children in a small Maine town where adults have checked out, leaving seven students (wonderfully cast young actors) to investigate child disappearances. With crisp, randy humor in the dialogue. (R) L, V. 109 minutes.???
“Logan Lucky”— Unpretentiously entertaining heist caper set in West Virginia where a loser (Channing Tatum) schemes to break into the vault of a NASCAR Speedway race. A comic breakout performance by Daniel “007” Craig. With Adam Driver and Seth MacFarlane. (PG-13) L. 119 minutes.???½
“Maudie”— Sally Hawkins’ winning, finely detailed portrait of Canadian primitive artist Maud Lewis highlights this fact-based drama of an unusual romance between Maud and a demanding, uneducated fish salesman (Ethan Hawke). (PG-13) S. 115 minutes.???
“mother!”— Insane sensory assault overload from Darren Aronofsky about an isolated couple (Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem) whose forced peaceful existence is disrupted by an intruding couple (Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer). Plus many others. Superficial but strange and nightmarish tale of tense paranoia. A shot of David Lynch with a Peter Greenaway chaser. (R) L, N, S, V. 115 minutes.? ? ?
“Spider-Man: Homecoming”—Jon Watts’ revamped story of Spidey (Tom Holland) is clever, funny and fast-paced, but action-overstuffed and too long. Fifteen-year-old Peter Parker tries to date a senior girl just as he locks metaphorical horns with a disgruntled city worker (Michael Keaton) selling illegal arms constructed from alien components. (PG-13) L, V. 133 minutes.? ? ?
“War for the Planet of the Apes”— The third chapter in the “Apes” trilogy manages to surprise and captivate. The apes take a long hike while Caesar heads out to avenge his species by killing the villainous Colonel (Woody Harrelson). Reviewed by Lindsey Bahr, Associated Press. (PG-13) V. 142 minutes.???½
“Wind River”—Screenwriter Taylor Sheridan directs this thriller about a Wyoming tracker (Jeremy Renner) brought in to help a tribal police chief (Graham Greene) and rookie FBI agent (Elizabeth Olsen) find the man responsible for the rape and death of a Native American teenager. (R) L, S, V. 111 minutes.???
“Wonder Woman”— Gal Gadot rocks as DC Comics’ Amazonian warrior. Patty Jenkins directs an epically mounted, conventional origin story empowered by Gadot’s confident, physical performance as Wonder Woman, who joins an American soldier (Chris Pine) to fight a German ubervillain (Danny Huston) during World War I. (PG-13) V. 141 minutes.???
Passables
“American Assassin”— Mitch Rapp (Dylan O’Brien) avenges the killing of his girlfriend by wiping out the terrorist cell responsible for her death. Michael Keaton plays his hard-bitten military mentor in a violent thriller that could easily have been adapted for James Bond, right down to the stolen nuclear-device plot. Reviewed by Sandy Cohen, Associated Press.(R) L, N, V. 111 minutes.??½
“Atomic Blonde”— Charlize Theron’s kick-butt fight scenes as MI6 agent Lorraine Broughton give us a reason to see this emotionally devoid, empty spy thriller. She looks for a missing list of British agents believed hidden in a watch. (R) L, N, S, V. 115 minutes.??½
“The Dark Tower”— The last Gunslinger (Idris Elba) fights the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey), who is determined to prevent him from toppling the Dark Tower, which holds the universe together. A hodgepodge of ideas and references. (PG-13) V. 95 minutes.??
“Despicable Me 3”— Gru (Steve Carell) meets his long-lost twin Dru (Steve Carell) just as a 1980s-obsessed ubervillain (Trey Parker) tries to destroy Hollywood. (PG) 90 minutes.? ?
“The Emoji Movie”—T.J. Miller,James Corden, Anna Faris, Jennifer Coolidge, Patrick Stewart and Maya Rudolph star in this animated comedy about an Emoji with multiple facial expressions who wants to be like everyone else with just one. Reviewed by Lindsey Bahr, Associated Press. (PG) 91 minutes.??
“The Glass Castle”— Brie Larson plays gossip columnist Jeannette Walls in a spotty domestic drama based on the life of the real Walls, daughter of a rebellious dad (Woody Harrelson) at war with anything “normal” in the world. With Naomi Watts. (PG-13) L. 127 minutes.??½
“The Hitman’s Bodyguard”— Superficial, standard-issue action comedy about a hitman (Samuel L. Jackson) and a bodyguard (Ryan Reynolds) who bicker their way through visual and verbal cliches on their way to an international trial for a war crimes suspect (Gary Oldman). (R) L, V. 111 minutes.??
“Home Again”— In this rom-com, Reese Witherspoon plays an estranged wife whose trip to L.A. from New York with two daughters puts her in the sights of three available filmmakers thrilled that her mother (Candice Bergen) was a famous movie star. Reviewed by Mark Jenkins, Washington Post. (PG-13) S.? ?
“Kidnap”— Halle Berry puts her expressive eyes to good use as a mother who goes Rambo
when somebody kidnaps her 6-year-old son (Sage Correa), starting a mad cross-country car chase. An effective thriller done in by overwritten dialogue. (R) V. 100 minutes.? ?½
“The Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature”— When the mayor wants to put an amusement park where the nature preserve sits, Surly the purple squirrel (Will Arnett) goes into activist mode with stupid pratfalls. Reviewed by Pat Padua, Washington Post. (PG) 95 minutes.??
“Viceroy’s House”— Heavy-handed drama about the last British viceroy of India (Hugh Bonneville), whose mission to return the nation to its people in 1947 includes creating Pakistan. Reviewed by Stephanie Merry, Washington Post. (NR) 106 minutes.? ?½
“The Villainess”—Sook-Hee (Kim Ok-bin), a trained killer working for a criminal organization, gets caught and forced to work for the South Korean government. Excellent action sequences grace an otherwise routine movie. Reviewed by Alan Zilberman, Washington Post. In Korean with subtitles. At the ArcLight Chicago. (R) L, V. 124 minutes.??
Pits
“Leap!”— Ill-conceived animated tale of an 11-year-old orphan (Elle Fanning) who runs away to Paris with her wannabe inventor pal (Nat Wolff) in the 1880s so she can become a ballet dancer. The thoughtless screenplay feels like a first draft. With Mel Brooks, Carly Rae Jepsen, Kate McKinnon. (PG) 89 minutes.?½
“Rebel in the Rye”—Danny Strong’s feature debut embodies the very phoniness that author J.D. Salinger — and his signature character Holden Caulfield — railed against. Young Salinger (Nicholas Hoult) learns writing tips from his college professor (Kevin Spacey) while trying to woo a New York socialite (Zoey Deutch). Reviewed by Pat Padua, Washington Post. (PG-13) L, S, V. 109 minutes.?½
Unpreviewed
“All Saints”— John Corbett stars as salesman-turned-pastor Michael Spurlock, who fights to keep his church open with help from Southeast Asian refugees. (PG) 108 minutes.
“Baadshahor”— A thriller inspired by real-life events involving stolen gold, a thief (Ajay Devgn), an undercover cop (Vidyut Jammwal) and an army officer (Emraan Hashmi) entrusted with protecting India’s treasury. In Hindi with subtitles. (NR) 162 minutes.
“Because of Gracia”— Dramatic romantic comedy about two young couples exploring friendship and romance while navigating through crises. With John Schneider, Masey McLain, Ben Davies. (NR) 107 minutes.
“Birth of the Dragon”— Philip Ng stars as the immortal Bruce Lee in this bio-drama about how the martial artist emerged from obscurity in 1960s San Francisco. (PG-13) L, V. 91 minutes.
“Hazlo Como Hombre” (“Do It Like a Man”)— A man about to marry his best friend’s sister discovers he’s gay in this comedy. In Spanish with subtitles. (R) S. 109 minutes.
“Lucknow Central”— An unfortunate man is accused of murder and sent to Lucknow Central Jail to await his trial that could give him the death penalty. (NR) 133 minutes.
“9/11”—Charlie Sheen, Whoopi Goldberg, Jacqueline Bissett and Gina Gershon star in a drama about Americans stuck in an elevator in one of the twin towers during 9/11. (R) L. 94 minutes.
“Poster Boys”— Three ordinary guys fight humiliation and public ridicule when their pictures appear on a poster promoting vasectomies. In Hindi with subtitles. (PG-13) S. 128 minutes.
“Punjab Nahi Jaungi”— A Pakistani rom-com about two people from different worlds falling in love, with consequences. In Urdu with subtitles. (NR) 159 minutes.
“The Show”— Giancarlo Esposito directs a modernized “Network,” about a reality TV show whose contestants kill themselves for public enjoyment and ratings. (R) D, L, V. 104 minutes.
“Simran”— A Gujarati housekeeper now working in the U.S. succumbs to capitalistic desires and becomes a criminal. It’s a crime comedy romance. (NR) 238 minutes.
“Snubh Mangal Saavahan”— A groom discovers he suffers from erectile dysfunction in a remake of 2013’s “Kalyana Samayal Saadham.” In Hindi with subtitles. (NR) 119 minutes.
“Toilet Ek Prem Katha”— Rotten Tomatoes says this is the true story of women in rural India who walk far from their homes just to relieve themselves and risk being raped or kidnapped. (NR) 155 minutes.
“True to the Game”—A rising drug dealer (Columbus Short) must choose between love and money when he moves off the street for a better life. With Vivica A. Fox. (R) D, L, N, S, V. 110 minutes.
“Tulip Fever”— An orphan (Alicia Vikander), forced to marry a rich merchant (Christoph Waltz), joins with a painter (Dane DeHaan) to escape together by entering the lucrative tulip bulb market. (R) N, S. 107 minutes.
“Wetlands”—A hurricane threatens to destroy the Wetlands around Atlantic City just as a former Philadelphia cop (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) arrives there to take charge. (NR) 98 minutes.
“The Wilde Wedding”—FormerChicagoan John Malkovich joins Glenn Close and Patrick Stewart in an AARP rom-com about a retired actress preparing to marry husband No. 4. (R) D, L, S. 96 minutes.
