Now Showing
Some reviews originate at newspapers that do not award star ratings; some movies are not screened in advance for critics. Ratings range from zero to four stars.
OPENING THIS WEEKEND
“A Letter to Momo” Not rated. Reviewed on 4c.
“Dinosaur 13” PG. Reviewed on 4c.
“If I Stay” PG-13. Reviewed on 4c.
“Life After Beth” R. Reviewed on 4c.
“Sin City: A Dame to Kill For” * * *
Not rated. Reviewed on 4c.
“When the Game Stands Tall” PG. Not reviewed. Story this page.
“You Are Here” R. Reviewed on 7c.
continuing
Selected mini-reviews of films in theaters, listed alphabetically:
“A Most Wanted Man” Thriller. * *
* ½ R. Philip Seymour Hoffman is the best reason to see Anton Corbijn’s quietly gripping version of John le Carré’s 2008 novel, adapted by Andrew Bovell. The late, truly great actor gives a haunting, hushed turn as Gunther Bachmann, the canny and burdened, chain-smoking and hard-tippling head of an elite German spy unit working in Hamburg German more than a decade after one of the city’s residents, Mohamed Atta, and his cohort carried out the 9/11 attacks. (Lisa Kennedy, The Denver Post) 121 minutes
“Alive Inside” Documentary. * * * Not rated.
It probably won’t come as a surprise to anyone with a loved one in a nursing home or an assisted-living facility that music can sometimes improve the residents’ quality of life. This is the subject of “Alive Inside,” part documentary, part advocacy and fundraising tool for a movement to place iPods with playlists tailored to individuals in the 16,000 nursing homes across the country.
At the Chez. (Michael O’Sullivan, The Washington Post) 75 minutes
“Boyhood” Drama. * * * * R. In the movie “Boyhood,” we watch as a kid grows up from a little boy into a nearly grown young man, living with his mom and sister in a series of Texas towns, solidifying his relationship with an unsteady father, struggling through schools and stepparents and girlfriends and himself until, in the film’s final scenes, he starts college. Filmed for a few days every year over 12 years, “Boyhood” breaks open a brand new genre. At the Mayan. (Ann Hornaday
, The Washington Post) 166 minutes
“Calvary” Moral drama. * *
* * R. In a confessional booth in a seaside Irish village, a parishioner recounts sexual abuse done to him by priests when he was a boy. Father James — portrayed with grounded grace by Brendan Gleeson in a quiet yet nomination-worthy turn — listens. Then the parishioner’s soliloquy takes a turn. It’s clear that the knows the priest is a decent man. That’s the point. “I’m going to kill you,” he says. “Because you’re innocent.” What a way to begin the rite between priest and congregant.
At the Mayan. (Kennedy) 105 minutes
“The Expendables 3” Buddy action. PG-13. You need “The Expendables 3” like you need a kick in the crotch, and while this running-on-fumes sequel may not be quite as painful a thing to experience, it will waste considerably more of your time.
(Chang) 127 minutes
“The Giver” Sci-fi saga. * * * PG-13.
Clearly, dystopian mavens Suzanne Collins and Veronica Roth tooketh some from “The Giver,” Lois Lowry’s 1993 award-winning children’s novel. The story of Jonas (Brenton Thwaites), an increasingly questioning young man, and his mentor (Jeff Bridges) in memories unfolds in the time after “The Ruin.” Sameness rules the Community Citizens appear happy in their appointed labors. The usual “isms” have been eradicated with a hushed but steady adherence to order and, oh yes, morning injections.
(Kennedy) 97 minutes
“Guardians of the Galaxy” Space action. PG-13. In this alt-“Avengers” superhero film, a a ragtag band of misfits and mercenaries make the world a safer place almost by accident. Zoe Saldana also stars and Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper lend their voices. (Scott Foundas, Variety) 120 minutes
“The Hundred Foot Journey” Dramedy. PG. Two rival restaurants operating in a sleepy French village is not without its pleasures all prepared to exacting middlebrow specifications and ensured to go down as tastily and tastefully as possible. (Justin Chang, Variety) 122 minutes
“Ida” Drama. * * * * PG-13. Pawel Pawlikowski’s masterful story of a young Polish novitiate, who learns she has a living relative and that her Jewish parents were killed during Nazi occupation takes on identity, faith, national history and loss with a meditative, absorbing authority. At the Sie FilmCenter. (Kennedy) 80 minutes
“Into the Storm” Thriller. * * PG-13.
Director Steven Quale unleashes visually stunning twisters in his latest project, which features actors Matt Walsh, Sarah Wayne Callies, Arlen Escarpeta and Jeremy Sumpter as storm chasers. (Sean Fitz-Gerald, The Denver Post) 89 minutes
“Land Ho” Comedy. Not rated. This is a gently elegiac road comedy about two aging buddies vacationing in Iceland.
At the Chez. (Justin Chang, Variety) 94 minutes
“Let’s Be Cops” Comedy. R. “Let’s Be Cops” finds sporadic hilarity in director Luke Greenfield’s farce about underachievers who boost their self-esteem by pretending to be LAPD patrolmen. Jake Johnson of TV’s “New Girl” and Damon Wayans Jr. star. (Chang) 104 minutes
“Magic in the Moonlight” Period romcom. PG-13. Romance blooms in Woody Allen’s high-spirited bauble thanks to fleet comic pacing, a surfeit of ravishing Cote d’Azur vistas and the genuinely reactive chemistry of stars Colin Firth and Emma Stone.
At the Esquire. (Foundas) 97 minutes
“Planes: Fire & Rescue” Animation. * * * PG.
Much of the original crew is back — starting with Dane Cook as Dusty the crop-duster turned world renown racer — but in the service of an emotionally engaging story and even more ace animation.
At area theaters in 2-D and 3-D. (Kennedy) 84 minutes
“Snowpiercer” Sci-fri thriller. * * ½ R. “Snowpiercer” is a futuristic action thriller adapted from a French graphic novel about global warming, a new Ice Age and an arklike train that carries survivors on an endless loop. The cast includes Chris Evans, Jamie Bell, John Hurt, Tilda Swinton, Octavia L. Spencer and Ed Harris. At the Sie FilmCenter. (Hornaday) 126 minutes
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” Turtle action. PG-13. Much slicker-looking but less endearing than its ’90s live-action predecessors, the film manifests all the usual attributes — chaotic action, crass side jokes, visual-effects overkill and Megan Fox. (Chang) 101 minutes
“What If” Romantic comedy. * * ½ PG-13. The de-Potterization of Daniel Radcliffe continues. It’s still hard to imagine the now grown man as anything other than the lovable little orphan with a white owl and a magic wand, but he manages to make us forget, if just for a bit, in this romantic comedy. He stars opposite Zoe Kazan and the duo generates nice chemistry as two slightly awkward introverts who bond over Magnetic Poetry while trying to avoid small talk with strangers at a party. (Stephanie Merry, The Washington Post) 102 minutes
“Wish I Was Here” Dramedy. * * * ½ R.
Writer-director Zach Braff’s Kickstarter at weird, beautiful and thoughtful. “Wish” tells the story of Aidan Bloom (Braff), and his quest to mature, strengthen his family and comfort his dying father. Kate Hudson, Josh Gad, Mandy Patinkin, Joey King and Pierce Gagnonalso star. At the Esquire. (Fitz-Gerald) 120 minutes
