Movies: New and Noteworthy

Boy and the World

In this Oscar-nominated animated film from Portugal, a boy leaves his village on a quest to find his father in the city and reunite his family.

Eddie the Eagle Britain's first Olympic ski-jumper is the subject of this biopic.

Gods of Egypt In ancient times, a mortal forges an alliance with a god to stop another god from plunging the world into chaos.

Only Yesterday Japanese animated film about a 27-year-old woman who reminisces about her childhood.

Triple 9 A group of criminals and corrupt cops are blackmailed by Russian mobsters into committing a difficult heist.

Reviewed by staff critics Steven Rea (S.R.), Tirdad Derakhshani (T.D.), and Molly Eichel (M.E.) and freelance critic Drew Lazor (D.L.). W.S. denotes a wire-service review.

Anomalisa From the brain of Charlie Kaufman, codirecting with animator Duke Johnson, a stop-motion animation tale of a sad, unsatisfied man who meets a woman on a business trip, takes her to his hotel room, and, well, yes, there is puppet sex. A portrait of midlife morass, regret, and mundanity, cut with comic and surreal moments. Eerie in its lifelike, and dreamlike, vision. With the voices of David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Tom Noonan. 1 hr. 30 R (profanity, sex, nudity, adult themes) - S.R.

Brooklyn Saoirse Ronan is an Irish girl who travels to New York in search of a new life. It's the early 1950s, and she is full of courage, dread, and loneliness. One of the most memorable characters of recent film, born from Colm Tóibín's novel and brought to exquisite life through a screenplay by Nick Hornby and smart direction by John Crowley. 1 hr. 53 PG-13 (profanity, sex, adult themes) - S.R.

Carol An achingly beautiful love story, adapted from an early Patricia Highsmith novel, about a New York shopgirl (Rooney Mara) and a well-to-do married woman (Cate Blanchett) who fall into an affair. Todd Haynes directs the 1950s period piece, full of obsession and yearnin. 1 hr. 58 R (sex, nudity, profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

45 Years Charlotte Rampling, Oscar-nominated for her performance, and Tom Courtenay, pretty darn brilliant too, star as a long-wed couple whose comfortable, seemingly close relationship is challenged when news arrives from afar - and from far off in the past. A study in economy, in the beautiful symmetry of word and image and music, and a study of a marriage shaken to its core. 1 hr. 35 R (adult themes) - S.R.

Room A woman and her 5-year-old are held captive in a shed - the only reality the boy, born there, has known. Amazing, scary, beautiful adaptation of the Emma Donoghue novel (by the writer herself), deftly directed by Lenny Abrahamson. Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay are extraordinary as mother and son. 1 hr. 58 R (violence, profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

Spotlight Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, and Liev Schreiber lead an ace ensemble cast in this compelling account of the Boston Globe's 2002 investigative series on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. A complex procedural drama told with clarity and accumulating suspense. One of the great movies about journalism, and one of the great movies of our time, period. 2 hrs. 08 R (profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

A War Nominated for a foreign language film Oscar, this restrained, tense character study about the War in Afghanistan is the latest cinema-verite triumph by Danish writer-director Tobias Lindholm (The Hunt, A Highjacking). Pilou Asbæk stars as a Danish officer who is accused of killing civilians. 1 hr. 55 R (profanity, some war-related images) - T.D.

The Big Short

A handful of outsiders takes on the financial crisis over the practices that led to the housing and credit bubble of the mid-2000s. Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Brad Pitt, and Ryan Gosling star. 2 hrs. 10

R

(profanity) -

G.T.

The Club Chilean satirist Pablo Larraín who uses his savage surreal style on a three0film examination of Augusto Pinochet's regime, turns his blade to the Catholic Church in this deeply disturbing black comedy about life in a small group home for disgraced priests who are guilty of a range of nasty crimes. 1 hr. 38 No MPAA rating (violence profanity, deeply disturbing themes) - T.D.

Kung Fu Panda 3 In the third installment of the DreamWorks franchise, Po (voiced by Jack Black) goes on an epic existential journey that reunites him with his long-lost father (Bryan Cranston) and reconnects him through his dad with his inner pandahood. It's a gorgeous visual treat that doesn't fetishize 3D effects, but uses them in service to story and characters. 1 hr. 35 PG (martial arts action, some mild rude humor) - T.D.

The Lady in the Van Maggie Smith stars as a homeless woman who pulls into writer Alan Bennett's driveway - and stays there, for 15 years, in the film adaptation of Bennett's memoir and play. Alex Jennings is Bennett, in bifurcated mode: the timid, reluctant host and the ready-at-the-typewriter artist, eager to get what he can from the unkempt, unpleasant "eccentric" he's allowed into his life. PG-13 (adult themes) - S.R.

Race Stephan James is terrific as Olympian Jesse Owens in this rousing account of the athlete's triumph at the 1936 Olympic s in Berlin. Director Stephen Hopkins' drama tries to do justice to the thorny political and racial issues at the heart of Owens' story, from his experience of bigotry and discrimination to his role in representing American equality and democracy in the face of Hitler's racism. 2 hrs. 14 PG-13 (thematic elements, profanity) - T.D.

The Revenant A wild, woolly, transcendentally cinematic wilderness-survival thriller, with Leonardo DiCaprio as a trapper left for dead in the snowbound 1820s outback, and Tom Hardy as a fellow trapper, a cold-blooded, ornery nemesis. Revenge is the motor that runs this machine - a stunning big screen saga from "Birdman" director Alejandro G. Iñárritu. 2 hrs. 36 R (profanity, graphic violence, adult themes) - S.R.

Where to Invade Next Micheal Moore, who has subjected our social and economic structure to his wrathful critique for three decades, changes tack in his latest opus. He tries to find solutions for America's ills by examining how European governments restrict the power of corporations to control our lives. 1 hr. 59 R (profanity some violent images, drug use, brief graphic nudity) - T.D.

The Choice

** Another entry in the Nicholas Sparks weepy canon features Teresa Palmer and Benjamin Walker as the star-crossed lovers who are sure to experience tragedy and have a scene in a sexy rainstorm, as required by all Sparks properties. Rent The Notebook instead. 1 hr. 51

PG-13

(sexual situations) -

M.E.

Deadpool *** Ryan Reynolds delivers a wonderfully maniacal, career-defining performance as a former special-forces soldier turned mercenary in this frenetic, loving send-up of superhero movies. Morena Baccarin is kittenishly sexy as his true love. 1 hr. 48 R (strong violence and profanity throughout, sexual content, graphic nudity) - T.D.

The Finest Hours **1/2 Loosely inspired by the wreck of the SS Pendleton, a tanker that broke in two during a fierce nor'easter in 1952, this movie struggles to stay afloat in the face of waves of narrative inertia. Casey Affleck as the rescue ship's can-do engineer is the best thing about the film. 1 hr. 57 PG-13 (intense peril) - W.S.

Hail, Caesar! *** Josh Brolin is a studio fixer, keeping his stars in line and their scandals out of the press in the Coen brothers' early-'50s Hollywood lark. With George Clooney as a dashing but dim screen idol, Scarlett Johansson as a water-ballet star, and, in slight but amusing roles, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill, Tilda Swinton, and Channing Tatum. 1 hr. 40 PG-13 (adult themes) - S.R.

How to Be Single **1/2 A well-intentioned romantic comedy about falling in love with yourself stars Dakota Johnson as a woman trying to find herself in singledom with the help of her wild and crazy BFF (Rebel Wilson) and sister (Leslie Mann). Alas, the movie is too much of a mess to land. 1 hr. 50 R (sexual content, language) - M.E.

Oscar-Nominated Short Films 2016: Live Action *** War and conflict are dominant among the five live-action shorts vying for Academy Award glory. From wariness between Israelis and Palestinians to strife in war-torn Kosovo to a frightening U.S. Army sortie in Afghanistan, and even a seemingly innocent visitation between a young girl and her divorced dad - the tension mounts, the drama is intense. Perhaps because it's the sole entry that addresses issues of romance and longing, Stutterer is the one that really stands out - the British film is also beautifully acted, and, yes, hopeful, too. No MPAA rating (violence, profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

Oscar-Nominated Short Films 2016: Animation *** CGI from Pixar, stick figures from Don Hertzfeldt, old-school and new-school animation is represented in this showcase of Academy Award contenders. "Bear Story," from Chile, and "World of Tomorrow," from Hertzfeldt, are among the standouts. One short, "Prologue," with its graphic depiction of ancient warriors, is not for kids. No MPAA rating (violence, adult themes) - S.R.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies *** Jane Austen's novel gets zombified in this adaptation of Seth Grahame- Smith's book that was originally published by Philadelphia publishing house Quirk Books. Lizzy Bennet and Mr. Darcy begrudgingly fall in love just as they do in the original novel, but this time, there's a zombie scourge attacking London. 1 hr. 48 PG-13 (violence) - N.V.

Ride Along 2 ** The first of at least 39 Kevin Hart movies on the 2016 schedule is a sequel to the laugh-riot cop comedy in which the Philadelphia-reared comedian was a high school security guard aspiring to join the Atlanta Police Department. In the sequel, he has gotten his badge and his gun - and somehow gets involved in the pursuit of a Miami drug king. 1 hr. 41 PG-13 (violence, sexual content, profanity, drugs) - T.D.

Risen *** A truly rare event - an original, innovative film about Jesus. Director and co-writer Kevin Reynolds (Hatfields & McCoys) tells the story of Jesus' resurrection from the point of view of an unbeliever, a Roman officer (Joseph Fiennes). Structured like a procedural, the film follows the Roman's investigatio of how Jesus' body disappaered from his tomb. 1 hr. 47 PG-13 (Biblical violence including some disturbing images) - T.D.

Snowtime!** The French Canadian animated feature is initially charming enough - the story concerns a several-days-long snowball fight between two groups of school-age children. Then, out of the blue, the movie turns terribly sad and serious, driving home the film's pacifist message. Is the movie for children (who will be left in a puddle of tears), or for adults (who will find it simplistic to the point of tedium)? 1 hr. 23 PG (disturbing thematic material, some rude humor) - W.S.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens *** J.J. Abrams jump-starts the in-a-galaxy- far-far-away franchise, bringing old timers Han Solo, Leia, and Chewbacca back and introducing a new generation of rebel fighters (played by the plucky Daisy Ridley and the sturdy John Boyega). Half reboot, half remake, all fun. PG-13 (intergalactic violence, adult themes) - S.R.

Touched With Fire **1/2 Artists Carla (Katie Holmes) and Marco (Luke Kirby) suffer from bipolar disorder and meet in a hospital, finding common ground in their fear of pharmaceuticals. The production values and melodrama sometimes seem better suited for a television story, but the movie excels at expressing the painful realities for families who care for sick relatives and catapults viewers into the mind of a bipolar person, with quick-cut montages and layers of dialogue that unfold simultaneously. 1 hr. 44 R (strong language, disturbing images, brief sexuality) - W.S.

The Witch *** An eerie horror film culled from real New England folklore centers on a family banished from their 17th century settlement because of the father's extreme Calvinist piety. When dark things befall the family farm, teenage Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy) bears the brunt of the blame. But is it her fault? Or is something lurking in those New England woods. 1 hr. 30 R (violent content, nudity) - M.E.

Zoolander 2 ** Superdupermodel Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) returns, battling his nemesis Mugatu (Will Ferrell) with his best model bud (Owen Wilson) in tow. Celeb cameos abound, but it's just a bloated redo of the original. 1 hr. 42 PG-13 (sexual content, violence, language) - T.D.