American Anarchist Documentary about William Powell, who wrote “The Anarchist Cookbook” in 1971, which contained information about making explosives and illicit drugs. Not reviewed. Not rated. 80 minutes.
Bokeh Sci-fi thriller about a young vacationing couple who wake up to find that everyone else on Earth has disappeared. Not reviewed. Not rated. 92 minutes.
Chips Action comedy about a rookie CHP officer who is teamed with a hardened veteran. Dax Shepard wrote, directed and co-stars (with Michael Peña). Rated R. 100 minutes.
Fifty Shades Darker Despite the title, this second installment in the “Fifty Shades” saga is softer and more pleasant, with Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan playing lovers growing within and coming to terms with their relationship. The movie is silly, but weirdly appealing. Rated R. 120 minutes.—M.LaSalle
Frantz Director Francois Ozon reimagines Ernst Lubitsch’s 1932 antiwar film as from the perspective of the young German woman (Paula Beer) who has lost her fiancee in World War I and meets a mysterious Frenchman. Beautifully filmed and acted. Rated PG. 113 minutes. In French and German with English subtitles.—M.LaSalle
Get Out This first film from director Jordan Peele is very much a product of 2017, a comic horror film about a young black man (Daniel Kaluuya) who goes with his new girlfriend (Allison Williams) on a visit to her parents’ house. It’s a funny and unsettling mix of paranoia and a comic awareness of its own paranoia, and it’s irresistible. Rated R. 103 minutes.—M.LaSalle
The Great Wall This is a Chinese action/monster movie, somehow starring Matt Damon as an English mercenary. The narrative is clumsy, and the monster scenes are ridiculous, but not ridiculous enough to be funny, just ridiculous enough to be boring. It’s hard to care, and there’s no reason to try. Rated PG-13. 103 minutes.—M.LaSalle
Hidden Figures A by-the-books historical piece, about black female mathematicians working in NASA’s early days, the film is enlivened by the three principal actresses, Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Monae and Octavia Spencer, and by Kevin Costner, who is the perfect vision of the early 1960s man. Rated PG. 127 minutes.—M.LaSalle
I Am Not Your Negro James Baldwin’s writings on race (spoken by Samuel L. Jackson) are interspersed with footage of Baldwin making speeches and appearing on talk shows. The result demonstrates that Baldwin, who died 30 years ago, is as relevant today as he was in the 1960s and ’70s. Rated PG-13. 95 minutes.—M.LaSalle
John Wick: Chapter 2 An action movie that fails even on its own limited terms, it features Keanu Reeves as a one-man killing machine, but also as a hapless victim of circumstance. It’s an exercise in monotonous choreographed spectacle that doesn’t do justice to Reeves and ends up leaving the audience dispirited. Rated R. 122 minutes.—M.LaSalle
Julieta Pedro Almodóvar delivers one of his best films, the story of a woman from age 25 to 56, as played by two actresses who really do seem to be inhabiting the same soul. It’s subtle, brilliantly acted and in touch with essential truths, a great film. Rated R. 99 minutes. In Spanish with English subtitles.—M.LaSalle
Keep Watching Horror thriller about a family tormented by murderous home invaders. Not reviewed. Rated R.
Kong: Skull Island King Kong never looked so good as in this well-directed, well-acted, imaginatively crafted and very respectably written revisit of the King story, this time on his native habitat of Skull Island. Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson and Tom Hiddleston and directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts. Rated PG-13. 120 minutes.—M.LaSalle
La La Land This modern musical takes the best of the old (rich color, extended shots for the dances) and weds it to new music and a contemporary story. The result is one of the best films of the year, with Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling as a pair of strivers who meet in Los Angeles and try to help each other. Rated PG-13. 128 minutes.—M.LaSalle
The Last Word Shirley MacLaine is a difficult retired businesswoman and Amanda Seyfried is a newspaper obituary writer with poetic aspirations, in this slightly canned but satisfying story of two women becoming friends at opposite ends of their lives. Rated R. 108 minutes.—M.LaSalle
The Lego Batman Movie The animated comedy is less awesome than its predecessor, but it’s a clever, well-paced, self-aware and completely satisfying kind of less awesome. It takes the most entertaining secondary character from “The Lego Movie,” then builds 104 minutes around him with little fatigue. All inferior sequels should be as fun as this one. Rated PG. 104 minutes.—P.Hartlaub
Leonard Cohen: Bird on a Wire Documentary about the singer-songwriter’s 1972 European tour. Not reviewed. Not rated. 106 minutes.
Life Science-fiction/horror thriller about the discovery of life on Mars. With Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds, Jake Gyllenhaal. Rated R. 103 minutes.
Logan The ninth appearance by Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in 17 years takes a massive tone shift from the relatively bloodless earlier X-Men films, going berserk in its own moody and ultra-violent direction. Jackman and director James Mangold create something great here, upsetting comic book norms without losing entertainment value. Rated R. 141 minutes.—P.Hartlaub
Love & Taxes Josh Kornbluth stars in this dramatic version of his stage monologue, about his adventures with the tax man, including not filing and dealing with a very expensive accountant. Kornbluth is an appealing actor, and the result is an engaging film. Not rated. 90 minutes.—M.LaSalle
Moonlight One of the best movies of the year, this Barry Jenkins film tells the story of a man, from childhood through young adulthood, and shows how environment can exert enormous changes on the spirit. Vigorously filmed and sensitively guided, this is beautiful work. Rated R. 110 minutes.—M.LaSalle
Mr. Gaga Offering rare insight into ultra-private Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin, this gorgeous if gushing documentary includes into his origins, his artistry and the world-renowned Batsheva Dance Company. Directed by adoring fan and 20-year friend Tomer Heymann. Not rated. 101 minutes.—C.Bauer
Personal Shopper Kristen Stewart strains to hold up the edifice of this awful Olivier Assayas mess, about a personal shopper to a celebrity (Stewart), who is also trying to communicate with the dead. Long, dull and structureless, it brings out the worst in Stewart, who has never seemed so mannered and inauthentic. Rated R. 105 minutes.—M.LaSalle
Power Rangers Science-fiction/adventure film about a group of teenagers with superpowers who fight to save the world. Rated PG-13. 124 minutes.
Raw Director Julia Ducournau understands coming-of-age fears as much as she gets scary movies, and she manages both near-perfectly in this graphic thriller about a cannibal college student. Not for the squeamish, but Ducournau’s expert hand should earn the respect of any cinephile who can handle the explicit content. Rated R. 99 minutes.—P.Hartlaub
The Salesman A husband and wife, actors appearing in an Iranian production of “Death of Salesman,” have their lives thrown off balance when the woman is attacked by an intruder while taking a shower. It’s another perceptive and compulsively watchable examination of domestic life from Asghar Farhadi (“The Past”). Rated PG-13. 125 minutes. In Farsi with English subtitles.—M.LaSalle
The Sense of an Ending Well-acted, understated and British to the core, this drama is based on Julian Barnes’ novel of the same title, charting what happens when the past abruptly catches up with an aging Londoner. Jim Broadbent does a fine job as a man who is old-school but not a caricature. Good supporting work from Charlotte Rampling, Harriet Walker and Michelle Dockery. Directed by Ritesh Batra (“The Lunchbox”). Rated PG-13. 108 minutes.—W.Addiego
Song to Song Terrence Malick’s latest, about songwriters in Austin, is a huge disappointment, over two hours of wistful voice-over contemplation to the sight of various vague characters improvising in the most obvious and tiresome of ways. Starring Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara and Michael Fassbender. Rated R. 129 minutes.—M.LaSalle
Split M. Night Shyamalan’s latest surprise twist is his own career revival. This low-budget thriller about a criminal with multiple personalities is an entertaining original. James McAvoy is excellent playing more than a dozen roles. Even as the story begins to fester toward the end, it never stops being fun. Rated PG-13. 117 minutes.—P.Hartlaub
T2 Trainspotting The sequel to “Trainspotting,” the 1996 film about heroin addicts in Edinburgh, is a likable and sumptuously filmed comedy, delightful to watch from start to finish. Rated R. 113 minutes.—M.LaSalle
Tickling Giants This documentary about comedian Bassem Youssef, the Jon Stewart of Egypt, delivers a loud and clear message about repression anywhere in the world. Not rated. 111 minutes.—L.Hertz
A United Kingdom The marriage between an African king and a white British woman and the subsequent international fallout is the subject of this true story, starring David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike. But the movie, though conscientious, ultimately fails to satisfy as either a love story or as a tale of mid-century politics. Rated PG-13. 111 minutes.—M.LaSalle
Wilson This dark comedy, about a curmudgeonly hermit who tries to reconnect with the world, is loaded with funny characters and moments, even if it doesn’t add up to an emotionally satisfying whole. Rated R. 94 minutes.—D.Lewis
[“Source-sfgate”]