Movies: New and Noteworthy

COMING THIS WEEK

By Steven Rea

The Conjuring 2 James Wan's supernatural followup finds Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as husband and wife paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren. This time the couple are in England, where an 11-year-old girl appears to be possessed. R

The Fallen Idol Restored and re-released, Carol Reed's 1948 thriller centers around the relationship between a young boy (Bobby Henrey) and his diplomat dad's butler (Ralph Richardson). Based on a Graham Greene short story, and nominated for Academy Awards for best director and adapted screenplay. No MPAA rating

Now You See Me 2 No, "the greatest magic trick ever" that Morgan Freeman is talking about in the trailer isn't Daniel Radcliffe's thick patch of Van Dyke-y facial hair. The Harry Potter star does know a thing or two about wizardry, though, playing the bearded bad guy in this sequel to the box office hit about a gang of ace magicians and thieves. Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson and Mark Ruffalo are back - presto! PG-13

Puerto Ricans in Paris

Comedy about two Puerto Rican New York detectives who travel to Paris while working on a case.

Warcraft A peaceful world occupied by humans faces destruction by alien invaders.

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

The Lobster Oscar-nominated director Yorgos Lanthimos' English-language debut stars Colin Farrell as a mild-mannered widower sent to a hotel where he is encouraged - nay, required - to find a new partner. A surreal, comic, sad, strange, beautiful fable, set in a disquietingly serene not-far-from-now. Imagine Wes Anderson doing Franz Kafka, with George Orwell thrown into the mix. Sublime. 1 hr. 58 R (violence, sex, nudity, adult themes) - S.R.

Bigger Splash

Tilda Swinton is a rock star in retreat on a splendid Mediterranean isle, Matthias Schoenaerts her lover, when along comes the impossibly exuberant Ralph Fiennes, playing a past lover and bringing his nymphet American daughter (Dakota Johnson) along. A remake of the slow-burning 1969 French thriller

La Piscine

, this tale of love and jealousy, obsession and seduction, takes its time getting where it's going, but who cares, it's gorgeous.

R

(nudity, sex, profanity, violence, adult themes) -

S.R.

Dheepan Jacques Audiard's 2015 Cannes Film Festival winner follows a pretend family - a man, woman and child, refugees of the Sri Lankan civil war - as they try to make a new life in a grim, graffitied housing complex on the outskirts of Paris. It's tough, sobering stuff, with a heartbreaking performance by Antonythasan Jesuthasan, himself a veteran of the Sri Lankan conflict. 1 hr. 50 R (violence, profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

Maggie's Plan Rebecca Miller's smart, shambling screwball romance about a single woman (Greta Gerwig) who falls into an affair with a self-absorbed writer and anthropologist (Ethan Hawke), who happens to be married (with kids) to a frosty Danish scholar (Julianne Moore). Complications, and conspiracy, ensue. 1 hr. 38 R (profanity, sex, adult themes) - S.R.

Sing Street John Carney, writer and director of Once, the little Irish movie that could, and did (and then did again as a hit stage musical), is back at the top of his game with this coming-of-age charmer. A shy 14-year-old Dubliner falls for an older girl and goes about trying to impress her by forming a band. It's the mid-'80s, and the music of Duran Duran and the Cure are big, and so is the hair. 1 hr. 46 PG-13 (profanity, violence, adult themes) - S.R.

Sunset Song Set in rural Scotland in the years leading up to WWI, Terence Davies' adaptation of the beloved Lewis Grassic Gibbon novel is a lyrical masterwork about the tug-of-war between modernity and tradition as it manifests in a budding intellectual still enmeshed in the farmland where she was born. 2 hrs. 15 R (sexuality, nudity violence, profanity) - T.D.

Alice Through the Looking Glass *1/2

Sasha Baron Cohen joins Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, and Helena Bonham Carter in this inferior, dull sequel to Tim Burton's

Alice in Wonderland

about the further adventures of Alice and her friends. It's a theme park ride with a hollow heart. 1 hr. 45

PG

(fantasy, action) -

T.D.

The Angry Birds ** Well-made, funny, fast and furious and featuring a strong celebrity voice cast (Sean Penn, Maya Rudolph, Blake Shelton, Jason Sudekis), this computer animated 3D adventure is nothing less or more than a 97-minute ad for the Angry Birds gaming franchise. An island of flightless birds is hoodwinked and almost decimated by a gang of green pigs. Filled with subversive references to dark R-rated films, hard-core tunes, and an underlying sense of menace, it's not really suitable for young kids. 1 hr. 37 PG (rude humor, action) - T.D.

Being Charlie ** Based on the experience of his son, who co-wrote the screenplay, Rob Reiner's heartfelt, if rather tedious story features a strong turn by Nick Robinson as a teen struggling with drug addiction. 1 hr. 37 No MPAA rating (pervasive drug use, profanity, nudity, sexuality, smoking) - T.D.

Captain America: Civil War *** The 13th title in Disney and Marvel's systematic plan for global domination features a dozen superheroes lining up on either side of a tumultuous ideological dispute. It's Team Cap vs. Team Iron Man as the Avengers and gang crisscross the globe, battling a baddie with a German accent - and battling one another. With Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Elizabeth Olsen, Don Cheadle, and more. Many, many more. 2 hrs. 26 PG-13 (violence, intense action, adult themes) - S.R.

Chevalier (Not previewed) Feminist Greek director Athina Rachel Tsangari's subversive black comedy satirizes the rituals of male competition by pitting six pals against each other in a claustrophobic setting: A yacht in the middle of the Aegean Sea. 1 hr. 44 No MPAA rating (violence, profanity, frontal nudity)

Dark Horse *** An inspiring documentary about Dream Alliance, a thoroughbred race horse owned by a syndicate of 23 working-class men and women from an impoverished Welsh town who won the 2009 Welsh National. 1 hr. 45 PG (some mild thematic elements and profanity) - T.D.

Dough **1/2 This droll, heartwarming if formulaic cross-cultural comedy from Britain features terrific performances by Jonathan Pryce as an aging Orthodox Jewish baker and Jerome Holder as the young African Muslim pot dealer who becomes his apprentice. 1 hr. 34 No MPAA rating (profanity, drug use) - T.D.

The Huntsman: Winter's Warrior *** Sampling Tolkien, Disney, and Grimm, this prequel (turned sequel?) to 2012's Snow White and the Huntsman lays on the pastiche in slabs, but no one is slouching here. It's also, despite its title, decidedly femme-centric, with Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain, and Charlize Theron all in on the fairy tale action. 1 hr. 54 PG-13 (fairy tale violence, adult themes) - S.R.

The Jungle Book *** Rudyard Kipling's classic collection of short stories gets live-action adaptation from Jon Favreau (Elf, Iron Man). The movie itself is a mishmash of the 1967 Disney version and Kipling's work, with some famous voices thrown into the mix. (Bill Murray as Baloo the sloth bear is particularly wonderful.) The real reason to shell out money for the tickets is Favreau's breathtaking visuals. 1 hr. 45 PG (sequences of scary action and peril) - M.E.

Love & Friendship *** Whit Stillman adapts a lesser-known, posthumously published Jane Austen novella about a widow of devilish charms - as frank, fearless, and flirtatious a character as Austen ever imagined. Kate Beckinsale brings Lady Susan to life with glee, and a stalwart cast - including Xavier Samuel, Chloë Sevigny, and a scene-stealing Tom Bennett - moves this comedy of manners, of manors, and of sexual politics briskly along. 1 hr. 33 PG (adult themes) - S.R.

The Man Who Knew Infinity **1/2 Enjoyable if sentimental period drama that will appeal to Downton Abbey fans, this true story features a terrific turn by Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire) as Srinivasa Ramanujan, a poor, uneducated Indian genius who became one of the world's foremost mathematicians before his death in 1920 at 32. 1 hr. 48 PG-13 (some thematic content, smoking) - T.D.

Me Before You **1/2 Shameless in every way, this adaptation of Jojo Moyes' tearjerker of a bestseller stars Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke and The Hunger Games' Sam Claflin. She's an unstoppably sunny young woman hired to take care of an accident victim, a handsome and now seriously downcast quadriplegic. Can her botanically themed wardobe choices make him want to live again? Will she throw over her clownish beau and fall in love with her care-giver? Do bees make honey? Do caterpillars turn into butterflies? Does Hollywood love sap? 1 hr. 50 PG-13 (profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

The Meddler *** Susan Sarandon stars as a mother and widow who can't stop herself from interfering in everybody else's life, starting with her daughter's (Rose Byrne). Rich in detail, richly performed, a character study filled with bittersweet comedy and heart. The movie's set in L.A., with J.K. Simmons as a retired cop who offers the possibility of real romance, real intimacy. 1 hr. 40 PG-13 (adult themes) - S.R.

Money Monster *** Directed with cool dexterity by Jodie Foster, this rage-against-the-one-percenters thriller plays like a cross between The Big Short and Network. George Clooney stars as the clowning host of a live stock-tips TV show and Julia Roberts is his producer, running things from the control room until a disgruntled investor (Jack O'Connell) crashes the set, armed and dangerous. R (violence, profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising *** Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne are back as the quasi-grown-up couple terrorized by a party-hardy house of college students - this time, a troop of renegade sorority sisters headed by Chloë Grace Moretz. Zac Efron returns, "mentoring" the freshmen sisters as war is declared. With Kiersey Clemons, Dave Franco, and Beanie Feldstein. 1 hr. 32 R (profanity, nudity, sex, drugs, comic violence, adult themes) - S.R.

Older Than Ireland **1/2 Thirty Irish centenarians - born before the country's independence from Britain - offer good stories and some bad advice, including from Bessie, the documentary's 103-year-old star, who puffs on a cigarette during her reminiscences, which include "I don't think I really loved my husband." In giving equal weight to all subjects, the movie flirts with triviality. But charm comes through. One woman recalls the introduction of electric lighting with, "You could see every bit of dirt in the house!" 1 hr. 21 No MPAA rating - W.S.

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping **1/2 The Lonely Island guys take aim at pop music and pop culture. Andy Samberg plays Conner4Real, a Justin Bieber-style celebrity who is all ego and bravado and no talent. The movie is stupid fun until Conner has to learn a perfunctory lesson about being a decent human being. 1 hr. 26 R (language, nudity, drug use) - M.E.

Presenting Princess Shaw *** Filled with great music, this moving, inspirational doc chronicles how a talented 38-year-old working class woman from New Orleans got her break as a singer when her work was appropriated by Israeli mash-up artist Kutiman. 1 hr. 23 No MPAA rating (adult themes, profanity, smoking) - T.D.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows * A predictable, puerile sequel to the 2014 blockbuster, this tedious 3D action comedy plunges the beloved giant motion-capture animated turtles into another adventure. Megan Fox, Tyler Perry, Will Arnett and Laura Linney picked up paychecks as the human costars. 1 hr. 52 PG-13 (sci-fi action violence) - T.D.

Time to Choose **1/2 Charles Ferguson, who won an Oscar for his brilliant expose of the banking crisis Inside Job, tries very hard - too hard - not to be alarmist in his otherwise intelligent assessment of the environmental crisis. A decade after Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, Ferguson still feels compelled to molly-coddle viewers with an upbeat analysis that focuses on business-friendly solutions and downplays the extent of the problem. 1 hr. 40 No MPAA rating (topic may be alarming for young children) - T.D.

Weiner **1/2 A fascinating if disappointing portrait of New York politician Anthony Weiner, who resigned his congressional seat in 2011 amid a sexting scandal. The film picks up his story two years later, when he runs for mayor of New York and proceeds to self-destruct a second time. Afforded unprecedented access by Weiner, the filmmakers fail to offer any real analysis of the role of the media in sex scandals or Americans' fascination with their leaders' private lives. 1 hr. 36 R (profanity, sexuality) - T.D.

X-Men: Apocalypse **1/2 Too serious and too long, the Bryan Singer-directed prequel/sequel (and overall ninth entry in the X-Men franchise) finds an evil Egyptian super-mutant from 3600 B.C. raining terror on a 1980s world. With James McAvoy as the young Professor X, sad-eyed but sanguine, safe in the knowledge that he will grow old to look more and more like Patrick Stewart. Rose Byrne, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Oscar Isaac, and Tye Sheridan jostle for time in the extremely crowded cast. 2 hr. 24 PG-13 (violence, adult themes) - S.R.