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 TODAY
“Chappie”
R. Reviewed at .
“Red Army” PG. Reviewed on this page.
“The Salvation” Not rated. Reviewed on this page.
“The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”
* * * PG. Reviewed on 6C.
“Unfinished Business” R. Reviewed on this page.
continuing
Selected mini-reviews of films in theaters, listed alphabetically:
“American Sniper” War memoir. * * *
R.
“American Sniper” is not director Clint Eastwood’s best film — not by a long shot. But this adaptation of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle’s 2012 best-selling autobiography is arguably his most significant. A beefed-up Bradley Cooper brings psychological heft and laser focus to his portrayal of Kyle, who did four tours in Iraq and is credited with 160 confirmed kills.
(Kennedy) 132 minutes
“Birdman” Dark comedy. * * * *
R. In this dark, soaring, fantastical comedy, director Alejandro G. Iñárritu finds no shortage of the damaged. Michael Keaton nakedly embodies Riggan Thomson, a former superhero franchise star angling for an artistic triumph on Broadway. Thomson tries to mount, direct and star in an adaptation — his own! — of a Raymond Carver short story. Edward Norton plays Mike Shiner, the brilliant thespian Thomson hires, who becomes in many ways a necessary arch-enemy. At the Esquire. (Kennedy) 119 minutes
“The Duff” Teen rom-com.
PG-13. Based on Kody Keplinger’s young adult novel, this high school rom-com is tricked out in rhetoric of independence and self-discovery that give it a pseudo-feminist sheen.
(Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post) 104 minutes
“Fifty Shades of Grey” Erotic romance. R. If the problem with too many literary adaptations is a failure to capture the author’s voice, then that shortcoming turns out to be the single greatest virtue of “Fifty Shades of Grey,” the hotly anticipated first film inspired by E.L. James’ best-selling assault on sexual mores, good taste and the English language. In telling the story of a shy young virgin (played by Dakota Johnson) and the broodingly handsome billionaire (Jamie Dornan) who invites her into his wonderful world of hanky-spanky, director Sam Taylor-Johnson and screenwriter Kelly Marcel have brought out a welcome element of cheeky, knowing humor that gradually recedes as the action plunges into darker, kinkier territory. (Justin Chang, Variety) 125 minutes
“Focus” Con-artists romance. * * ½ R. Welcome back, Will Smith. Your grin, your glib retorts, your movie-star stride have been missed. And third-generation con-man Nicky Spurgeon, with his cool demeanor and whiff of vulnerability, suits you. Instead, like the zesty “Ocean’s” flicks, “Focus” is a shiny, diverting ride. (And right about now, that’s OK.) This one takes us from New York to New Orleans to Buenos Aires in pursuit of marks and, just maybe, love. (Kennedy) 105 minutes
“The Imitation Game” Drama. * * * ½ PG-13. Benedict Cumberbatch brings intelligence and anguish to this story about Alan Turing and his war-altering work to crack Germany’s Enigma code. Directed by Morten Tyldum and written by Graham Moore, “Imitation” is loosely based on Andrew Hodges’ 1983 tome, “Alan Turing: The Enigma.” At the Mayan. (Kennedy) 114 minutes
“Jupiter Ascending” Fantasy. * ½ PG-13. Oh, woe are we when contemplating the hole siblings Lana and Andy Wachowski seem to have dug for themselves with this tale of reincarnation starring Mila Kunis as a Chicago housecleaner who learns she’s the ultra rare “recurrence” of Seraphi Abrasax, the matriarch of a long-lived dynasty. Channing Tatum plays Caine Wise, the genetically engineered “splice” sent to retrieve her but thinks otherwise.
In 2-D, 3-D IMAX. (Kennedy) 127 minutes
“Kingsman: The Secret Service” Spy movie. R. For those who think James Bond has gotten a little too serious in his old age, “Kingsman: The Secret Service” brings the irreverence back to the British spy genre, offering a younger, streetwise variation on the 007 formula. Based on Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons’ 2012 comic-book series, Fox’s franchise-ready one-off at first poses as a more teen-friendly option, before taking a hard turn. But the film also reserves the right to go gonzo in its final stretch, and while there’s sure to be an outcry from some corners over the turning-point scene, no one can contest that the finale distinguishes it from other spy-movie knockoffs. (Peter Debruge, Variety) 129 minutes
“The Lazarus Effect” Horror. PG-13. For reasons never made entirely clear, romantically entangled scientific researchers Frank (Mark Duplass) and Zoe (Olivia Wilde) have spent several years at a California university getting closer and closer to their ultimate goal: resurrecting the dead. At least, that’s what Frank hopes to achieve by hooking up various deceased animals, including a pig and a dog, to an elaborate machine and injecting them with a fancy resuscitation serum. (Geoff Berkshire, Variety) 83 minutes
“Leviathan” Drama. * * * *
R. The exquisite drama “Leviathan,” an Academy Award front-runner for best foreign language film, takes viewers on an icy plunge into the grim realities of life in post-Soviet Russia, where citizens are caught in a system of corruption so thoroughly ingrained that it touches even the most intimate, transcendent moments of life.
At the Chez. (Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post) 140 minutes
“Maps to the Stars” Drama. R.
At a certain point in their careers, nearly all aspiring actors in Hollywood are “waiters”: They wait tables, they wait for callback. One-time wannabe Bruce Wagner did his time in that waiting zone, writing this script while working as a limousine driver for the Beverly Hills Hotel. By the time his cynical satire made it to the big screen nearly two decades later — in the hands of director David Cronenberg — its time had passed, the intended toxicity diluted by the fact that nearly everyone involved was now “in.” Somehow, it’s more interesting to watch dreamers struggling to play stars than it is for Oscar nominees to parody the desperate, which is pretty much what Julianne Moore is doing in a fearless performance far more gonzo than the out-of-touch satire that contains it. John Cusack, Robert Pattinson and Olivia Williams also star. At the Sie FilmCenter. (Peter Debruge, Variety) 112 minutes
“McFarland, USA” Sports drama. * * *
PG. Set in 1987 in California’s central valley, this heartening sports flick recounts (with some dramatic tweaks) the story of coach Jim White and his impact on the young men who make up the agricultural town’s first-ever high school cross country track team. Kevin Costner and an appealing crew of young actors (Rafael Martinez, Ramiro Rodriguez, Michael Aguero, Carlos Pratts, Hector Duran, Sergio Avelar and Johnny Ortiz) portray the fish-out-water coach and his migrant charges who compete against the state’s wealthier schools.
(Kennedy) 128 minutes
“The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water” Animated. PG. “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water” is alternately inspired, exhausting, clever, stupid and about as meta as any kidpic this side of “Duck Amuck.”
(Andrew Barker, Variety) 92 minutes
“Still Alice” Drama. * * * ½ PG-13. Julianne Moore is likely to get an Oscar for her portrayal of Alice Howland, a Columbia University linguistics professor who at 50 is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease. At the Chez. (Kennedy) 101 minutes
“Two Days, One Night” Drama. * * * ½ PG-13. Consider Marion Cotillard’s Oscar-nominated performance in “Two Days, One Night” a tour de nuance. Yes, her portrayal of a woman who, at the end of a medical leave of absence learns she is to be laid off from her factory job, is a triumph. But something stripped-down takes place in this hushed but engrossing drama about despair and dignity, worker solidarity and its unraveling.
At the Sie FilmCenter. (Kennedy) 95 minutes
“What We Do In the Shadows” Comedic horror. * * *
R. You’ve got to love a thing to skewer it as well Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement do in their delightfully silly vampire mockumentary. The film’s writers, directors and stars lovingly impale bloodsucker mythology with the sharpened stick of comedy.
At the Mayan. (Michael O’Sullivan, The Washington Post) 86 minutes
