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Movies: New and Noteworthy

Opening This Week The Infiltrator A money- laundering scheme involving drug-lord Pablo Escobar is uncovered by a U.S. agent. Opens Wednesday

Opening This Week

The Infiltrator

A money- laundering scheme involving drug-lord Pablo Escobar is uncovered by a U.S. agent.

Opens Wednesday

Ghostbusters In this reboot of the popular action-comedy series, Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy star as writers-turned-ghost-hunters.

Les Cowboys A father sets out to find his missing daughter with the help of his son. French with subtitles.

Life, Animated A boy who won't speak learns to open up and communicate with the help of classic Disney animation in this documentary.

Microbe and Gasoline Friends take a roadtrip across France in a vehicle they built themselves. French with subtitles.

Excellent (****)

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

Hunt For the Wilderpeople As near a perfect film as I've ever seen, this lushly photographed kiwi comedy from Taika Waititi (What We Do in the Shadows) features a star turn by teen actor Julian Dennison as a maladjusted orphan who bonds with a gruff widower (Sam Neill) during a months-long trek through the bush. 1 hr. 41 PG-13 (thematic elements including violent content, and for some profanity) - T.D.

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.

Very Good (***1/2)

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.

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.

Wiener-Dog Known for his sometimes vicious, even misanthropic satires about life in suburbia, Todd Solondz changes gears with this accessible dramedy about a dachshund who is passed on to several different owners. A meditation on our attitudes to death, the film retains Solondz's edgy humor, but it's softened by a deep sense of compassion. 1 hr. 30 R (profanity, some disturbing content) - T.D.

Also on screens

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.

The BFG *** Steven Spielberg's supersize dream of a movie, adapted from the Roald Dahl children's book about a little orphan girl and the Big Friendly Giant who takes her away. Newcomer Ruby Barnhill and Oscar-winner Mark Rylance star, and even if the story takes some silly turns, there is magic here - on a very large scale. PG (scary images) - S.R.

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.

Central Intelligence **1/2 Kevin Hart follows up the dreadful Ride Along 2 with yet another buddy-action comedy about a mismatched duo who vanquish evildoers. But this one is actually funny. Hart plays an accountant who is recruited by a rogue CIA officer. Played brilliantly by Dwyane Johnson, the spy was once an obese, geeky, lonely boy victimized by bullies. 1 hr. 54 PG-13 (crude and suggestive humor, some nudity, action violence and some profanity) - T.D.

The Conjuring 2 *** James Wan's sequel to his critically successful 2013 demonic shocker tries to pack every idea and horror film trick in the book to achieve something like epic status. Featuring strong turns by returning stars Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson as ghost hunters Ed and Lorraine Wilson, the sequel is about the infamous Enfield Haunting in London, which saw a single mum (Frances O'Connor) and her four small kids terrorized by an evil spirit. 2 hrs. 13 R (violence, gore, terror) - T.D.

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.

Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words *** In this documentary that has three of his four kids' blessing (Dweezil is not on board) Frank Zappa talks and talks some more - to talk show hosts, a game-show audience, even a Pennsylvania state trooper. German director Thorsten Schutte uses the musician's own words to build a picture of the man, minus the usual behind-the-music memes. 1 hr. 33 R (language, some sexual references, brief nudity) - D.D.

Finding Dory *** The cheery, royal-blue, yellow-finned sidekick of 2003's Pixar smash Finding Nemo gets a movie of her own, in which Dory - who suffers from short-term memory loss - finds herself separated from her family, trying desperately to remember where they might be. Aquatic adventures ensue, along with life lessons and swell moral messages, but there's a slightly disturbing, dreamlike thread running through the computer- animated feature, too. 1 hr. 37 PG (adult themes) - S.R.

Free State of Jones **1/2 Matthew McConaughey plays little-known Southern abolitionist Newton Knight in Oscar- nominated Seabiscuit writer-director Gary Ross' exhausting, overlong biopic about a Confederate Army deserter who forms an army of his own to fight injustice in Mississippi during the Civil War. 2 hrs. 19 R (brutal battle scenes and disturbing graphic images) - T.D.

Genius **1/2 A literary biopic that's actually about writing, this uneven film looks at Thomas Wolfe's work with his legendary editor Maxwell Perkins. Fans of Wolfe will love the inclusion of his writing. But many viewers will dislike Jude Law's hyperbolic turn as Wolfe. 1 hr. 44 PG-13 (some thematic elements and suggestive content) - T.D.

The Innocents *** A young Red Cross doctor in post WWII Warsaw provides care for a Benedictine nun after a sexual assault and finds that several of the nuns in the convent are pregnant. The powerful drama, based on the experience of Dr. Madeleine Pauliac, shows women of faith working side by side with nonbelievers to bring light to a dark, horrifying world. 1 hr. 55 PG-13 (sexual assault, graphic depiction of surgery, brief suggestive material) - W.S.

The Legend of Tarzan ** After spending time in London, Tarzan returns to the jungle. Alexander Skarsgård and Margot Robbie star. 1 hr. 49 PG-13 (violence, sexual situations, profanity) - 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.

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates **1/2 Zac Efron and Adam DeVine play brothers in search of women to take to their sister's wedding so they won't ruin yet another family affair. Aubrey Plaza and Anna Kendrick play two debaucherous ladies who mostly see a free vacation. It feels like a series of loosely linked scenes instead of a full-fledged movie; it's not nearly as memorable, smart, or sweet as Wedding Crashers. 1 hr. 38 R (crude sexual content, language, drug use, some graphic nudity) - M.E.

The Music of Strangers *** Candid and picturesque HBO-produced documentary tells the story of cello legend Yo-Yo Ma and his cross-cultural Silk Road Ensemble. It's musically rich, and you'll love the musicians profiled - including an exiled Iranian kamancheh player who maintains his marriage via Skype. 1 hr. 36 PG-13 (brief strong language) - D.P.S.

Now You See Me 2 **1/2 The Four Horsemen return from 2013's hit magician-thieves caper (well, three of them - Jesse Eisenberg, Dave Franco, and Woody Harrelson - joined by newcomer Lizzy Caplan) for another whooshing display of trickery and misdirection. Morgan Freeman and Mark Ruffalo are back, too, with Daniel Radcliffe, seriously bearded, as the new baddie. But for a movie that's all about the magic arts, real magic is in short supply. 2 hrs. 9 PG-13 (adult themes) - S.R.

Our Kind of Traitor **1/2 Ewan McGregor is likable as a Hitchockian Everyman in this adaptation of the man who is sucked into a dangerous spy game when a Russian mobster (a hulking, over-the-top Stellan Skarsgård) hands him evidence against his bosses to pass on to British Intelligence, while Damian Lewis strains credulity as their case officer. One of the very few John le Carré adaptations that doesn't quite hold together. 1 hr. 47 R (violence, profanity throughout, some sexuality, nudity, brief drug use) - T.D.

The Purge: Election Year ** There aren't any big surprises in the third entry in the popular, ultraviolent franchise about the near future, where once a year, for 12 hours, Americans are allowed to commit murder. Frank Grillo returns as a former cop who saves people on Purge night. This time around, he has been hired to protect a presidential candiate (Elizabeth Mitchell) who wants to repeal the Purge. 1 hr. 45 R (disturbing bloody violence profanity) - T.D.

The Secret Life of Pets *** Directed by the Dispicable Me franchise's Chris Renaud, a pet lovers' loving salute to the domesticated animals we rely on to bring us comfort, companionship, and triple-digit veterinary bills. Louis C.K. gives voice to a needy Jack Russell, and Kevin Hart is a white bunny named Snowball (talk about color-blind casting!). An extremely animated animated romp. 1 hr. 30 PG (some scares for little kids) - S.R.

The Shallows **1/2 It's girl vs. shark - and not just any girl, but a highly resourceful, bikini-clad girl - in this campy summer delight, wherein Blake Lively goes mano a fin-o with a great white. Just silly enough to be the perfect summer refresher. 1 hr. 27 PG-13 (for bloody images, intense sequences of peril, brief strong language) - W.S.

Swiss Army Man *** Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe star in a big existential fart joke of a movie - good news if you like fart jokes, not so good otherwise. In truth, this fearless oddity of an indie, written and directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, is propelled by more than mere flatulence. It's about the safe haven of imagination, about loneliness, despair, resilience, obsession, and, um, stalking. 1 hr. 35 R (profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

Tickled *** A reporter fascinated by an online video about the new sport of "competitive tickling" looks into the company that hosts contests in Los Angeles, only to learn it's a front for a global producer of softporn-fetish vids. What the doc lacks in journalistic rigor it makes up for by its sheer oddness. 1 hr. 32 R (profanity) - T.D.

Warcraft *1/2 The first in a planned series of pics inspired by the video games, this incoherent, violent, and intensely loud 3D spectacle is a technical marvel with great CGI effects and fun turns by Travis Fimmel, Ben Foster, and Paula Patton. Yet, despite its pretentions to be the next Lord of the Rings series, it's a soulless mess.2 hrs. 03 PG-13 (extended sequences of intense fantasy violence) - 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.

Zero Days *** Director Alex Gibney presents the story of the malicious computer virus Stuxnet, which incapacitated Iran's nuclear centrifuges in 2009 and 2010 and has since spread to computer systems in several other countries. It's a dizzying compendium of political and nuclear history, modern-day politics, computer-science facts, and righteous outrage designed to spur a public outcry. 1 hr. 56 PG-13 (coarse language) - W.S.