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” dollie. 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.??? ?
“Close Encounters of the Third Kind”— Steven Spielberg’s science-fiction thriller has been restored in glorious 4K detail for its 40th anniversary. An Indiana working-class guy (Richard Dreyfuss) spots a UFO and becomes obsessed with things shaped like the Devils Tower in Wyoming. (PG) 137 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. (PG-13) L, V. 106 minutes. See it in 70 mm.???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
“Spider-Man: Homecoming”— Jon Watts’ revamped story of Spidey (a youthfully exuberant 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 (erstwhile Batman 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, and with minimal dialogue, too. 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 “Hell or High Water” Sheridan directs his 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. Well-written, but do we need stories about white heroes helping ineffective minorities do their jobs? (R) L, S, V. 111 minutes.???
“Wonder Woman”— Gal Gadot rocks as DC Comics’ Amazonian warrior, constrained by the testosterone in 2016’s “Batman v. Superman.” 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
“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. An ultra-stylized, ultraviolent action film directed by David Leitch, a former stuntman who directed the “John Wick” movies. (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. An animated sequel with more cartoon violence, chases, cliches, explosions and a really creepy obsession with Minions buttocks. (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”— The luminous Brie Larson plays gossip columnist Jeannette Walls in a spotty domestic drama based on the life of the real Walls, daughter of a rebellious, supersmart 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 Limehouse Golem”— Bill Nighy shines as a Scotland Yard agent investigating a series of gory murders in 1880 London. An atmospheric whose-doing-it blunted by gratuitous flashbacks. At the Woodridge 18. (NR) L, N, V. 105 minutes.??
“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 stale jokes and 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
Pits
“Leap!”— Ill-conceived, pandering, historically skewed 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
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.
“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.
“The Good Catholic”— As if Zachary Spicer’s idealistic priest didn’t have enough stress being pulled between a conservative mentor (Danny Glover) and a liberal mentor (John C. McGinley). Then he meets mysterious Jane (Wrenn Schmidt), who really makes him question his true calling. (PG-13) L. 96 minutes.
“Gun Shy”— When a supermodel (Olga Kurylenko) gets kidnapped by renegades in Chile, her aging rock star hubby (Antonio Banderas) goes to get her in this action comedy. At the Woodridge 18. (NR) L, N, V. 105 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.
“Marvel’s Inhumans”— The pilot for a new Marvel television series premiering on selected IMAX screens for a limited two-week run to demonstrate the quality of new Alexa IMAX 65 mm digital cameras. A royal family of inhumans, splintered by a military coup, must reunite and return to their homeland before their way of life is destroyed. (NR) 120 minutes.
“9/11”— Charlie Sheen, Whoopi Goldberg, Jacqueline Bissett and Gina Gershon star in a drama about Americans stuck in an elevator in 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.
“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.
“Terminator 2 Judgment Day 3-D”— James Cameron supervised the transfer of his 1991 2D classic action film into 3-D. Now we have a Hamlet choice: 2D or not 2D. (R) L, V. 135 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. Yet, it’s a “lighthearted” take on the subject. (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. Flower power! Not screened for critics since 2014. (R) N, S. 107 minutes.
