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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.
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“5 to 7” R. Reviewed on 7C.
“Backcountry” Not rated. Reviewed on 7C.
“Beyond the Reach”R. Reviewed on 7C.
“Grey Gardens” PG. Not reviewed. Restored. At the Sie.
“Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter”Reviewed on
“Monkey Kingdom” G. Reviewed on 4C.
“Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2” PG. Not reviewed.
“The Salt of the Earth” PG-13. Reviewed on 7C.
“The Squeeze”PG-13. Reviewed at
“True Story”* * * ½ R. Reviewed on 7C.
“Unfriended” R. Reviewed on 7C.
continuing
Selected mini-reviews of films in theaters, listed alphabetically:
“Danny Collins” Dramedy. * * * R. The beginning of the new Al Pacino flick has a familiarity that teases contempt. Oh no, please, not another aging rock-star saga, not another post-midlife-crisis tale. And while director-writer Dan Fogelman’s movie is in many ways just that, hang with Danny on his conscience-cleansing sojourn. At the Chez. (Kennedy) 105 minutes
“Furious 7” Action. PG-13. “Furious 7” provides both a satisfying chapter in the movies’ pre-eminent gearhead soap opera and a tactful, touching memorial to the late Paul Walker. (Scott Foundas, Variety) 137 minutes
“Get Hard” Comedy. * ½ R. Goofball Will Ferrell and the appealing, ascendant Kevin Hart are sure to survive the idiocy of this triple R-rated comedy about a fund manager sentenced to hard time who seeks out a black tutor in prison survival before he heads to the pen. Are there laughs? Some. (Kennedy) 100 minutes
“Home” Children’s adventure. * * PG. In “Home,” the latest adventure from DreamWorks Animation, the misfit alien protagonist is called Oh (“The Big Bang Theory’s” Jim Parsons) simply because that’s the resigned reaction everyone has when he’s around. (Lindsay Bahr, The Associated Press) 112 minutes
“Insurgent” Dystopian sequel. * * ½ PG-13. While “The Divergent Series: Insurgent” is shorter than the original — which introduced us non-readers to Tris Prior, a Divergent in a five faction, post-cataclysmic world — it is not better. The essential thematic tensions remain. How does one understand oneself within society’s many hierarchies and then be true to that self? In 2-D, 3-D, IMAX 3-D. (Kennedy) 115 minutes
“Kingsman: The Secret Service” Spy movie. R. “Kingsman: The Secret Service” brings the irreverence back to the British spy genre, offering a younger, streetwise variation on the 007 formula. (Peter Debruge, Variety) 129 minutes
“The Longest Ride” Drama. PG-13. As spring perennials go, a new Nicholas Sparks movie has come to seem as inevitable as tax day. Though the character names and faces may change, the place (coastal North Carolina) remains the same, as do the trials facing the star-crossed lovers who traverse its shores. “The Longest Ride” parallels the fates of two couples from different eras navigating the gauntlet of war, class relations, cataclysmic accidents and life-altering medical conditions. Scott Eastwood, Lolita Davidovich, Britt Robertson, Alan Alda and Oona Chaplin star. (Scott Foundas, Variety) 129 minutes
“The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” Aging comedy. * * * PG. Having established a winning communal vibe at the rundown, charming Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in Jaipur, India, young proprietor Sonny Kapoor (Dev Patel) wants to expand. Turns out the Brit pensioners that populate his hotel (and the 2012 sleeper hit) like it too much to leave. At the Esquire. (Kennedy) 122 minutes
“Seymour: An Introduction” Documentary. PG. Although clearly designed as a reverent tribute from one artist to another, this first documentary directed by Ethan Hawke grants full expression to Seymour Bernstein’s wise and witty commentary on a craft that he’s spent decades honing. At the Sie FilmCenter. (Justin Chang, Variety) 81 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
“While We’re Young” Comedy. * * * ½ R. Writer-director Noah Baumbach works wonders with actor Ben Stiller’s more prickly qualities in this charmer about generational envy and affection. Sure, New York documentary filmmaker Josh Srebnick (Stiller) can be difficult, narcissistic even, but his self-doubt is touchingly believable — and funny. Even more poignant and just as amusing is Naomi Watt’s portrayal of Cornelia, Josh’s wife. When the pair meet and fall for 20-somethings Jamie (Adam Driver) and Darby (Amanda Seyfried), their routine takes a holiday, for better and complicated. Adam Horovitz and Maria Dizzia) play Josh and Cornelia’s best friend couple and brand spanking new parents Fletcher and Marina, whom they basically begin to cheat on with the hipster young ‘uns. Charles Grodin hits understated, compassionate notes as Cornelia’s father — a legend in documentary circles. (Kennedy) 94 minutes
“White God” Drama. R. The words “release the hounds” take on vibrant new meaning in this thrillingly strange update of the “Lassie Come Home” formula in which one lost mutt’s incredible journey to sanctuary evolves into a full-scale man-vs.-beast revolution. Otherwise given no explanation in the film, the title “White God” may be a tip of the hat to Samuel Fuller, whose 1982 race-relations allegory “White Dog” takes a similarly conflicted view of the relationship between man and his supposed best friend. Every human character in Mundruczo’s film stands as either a threat or an obstacle to our canine antihero, Hagen — a sturdy, nut-brown crossbreed with a notably perky tail — with the pure-hearted exception of his 13-year-old mistress, Lili (terrific newcomer Zsofia Psotta). At the Sie FilmCenter. (Guy Lodge, Variety) 117 minutes
“Woman in Gold” Art drama. PG-13. Director Simon Curtis’ “good taste” account of how a determined Jewish exile (played by Helen Mirren) sought the restitution of a Gustav Klimt painting seized by the Nazis. This compelling true story forbids any room for perfectly reasonable audiences to question Maria Altmann’s case, striking back at the anti-Semitism of the time with an equally noxious caricature of modern Austrians as law-bending, art-thieving monsters. (Peter Debruge, Variety) 111 minutes
