Current attractions
“The 33”: Antonio Banderas, James Brolin and Juliette Binoche star in the fact-based film about the rescue of Chilean miners trapped underground for 69 days. Based on Hector Tobar’s book,“The 33” dramatizes, and largely falsifies, the reality, with a frustratingly blurred sense of the conflicts below and above ground. (Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune) PG-13, 2:05
“Burnt”: Bradley Cooper is a talented chef with a sketchy background who battles His demons while going for his next Michelin star in this rather half-baked drama.
½ (Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service) NR, 1:40
“Bridge of Spies”: Director Steven Spielberg and star Tom Hanks reteam for this Cold War drama that has Hanks bringing his good guy decency to the role of an insurance lawyer coordinating a spy exchange with Russia. Mark Rylance is pure brilliance as the low-key Soviet spy Hanks’ character is defending. The movie gets the details right, but overstates itself near the end. ½ (Randy Myers, Correspondent) PG13, 2:15
“Brooklyn”: Saoirse Ronan stars in this sensitive adaptation by screenwriter Nick Hornsby of Colm Toibin’s novel about a young Irish girl coming into womanhood as an emigre to New York, where she wrestles with homesickness and meets a promising young suitor — but then returns home for a family emergency and meets another. ½ (Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times) PG-13, 1:23
“Crimson Peak”: A Victorian damsel battles the undead in this bloody disappointing thriller. Guillermo del Toro’s opulent Gothic horror flick tries so hard to turn gender rules on their head that the film collapses under the gloomy weight of it highbrow pretensions. (Karen D’Souza, Staff) R, 1:59
“Goosebumps”: This adaptation of R.L. Stine’s creepy kids’ tale has three teenagers trying to recapture spooky escaped critters from the author’s tales — or die trying. It’s good for a few grins. (Rick Bentley, Fresno Bee) PG-13. 1:43
“Hotel Transylvania 2”: This sequel is cute and diverting enough — the monsters who come to the hotel get seduced by its creature comforts— but it won’t be joining the pantheon of animated classics. (Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service) PG, 1:29
“The Intern”: There’s really not too much at stake in this occasionally frothy rom-com starring Robert De Niro as a widowed retiree who is hired as a senior intern to harddriving startup exec Anne Hathaway. ½ (Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune) PG-13, 1:59
“Love the Coopers”: A star-studded cast (Diane Keaton, Alan Arkin, Olivia Wilde, John Goodman, Marisa Tomei) is entirely wasted in this dreadful story of four generations of a family gathering at Christmas. Watching this dramedy is like having a soldier-doll nutcracker crush your skull in its strong jaw. Maybe worse. (Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune) PG-13, 1:48
“The Martian”: Marooned on Mars when his fellow space explorers left him behind for dead, Matt Damon as indefatigable astronaut Mark Watney manages to survive and save himself — practically all by himself. Jessica Chastain and Jeff Daniels also star in Ridley Scott’s visually arresting film with the somewhat ridiculous conclusion. (Tony Hicks, Staff) PG-13, 2:14
“My All American”: Angelo Pizzo wrote and directed this biopic about University of Texas football player Freddie Steinmark’s life-affirming struggles as an underdog. The old-fashioned film plows no new ground, but will evoke some sniffles.
½ (Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune) PG, 1:58
“Our Brand Is Crisis”: Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton star as rival political operatives squaring off behind Bolivian presidential candidates. While the two have good chemistry and the movie is entertaining at times, it never rises above being merely watchable or tells us anything we don’t already know. ½ (Tony Hicks, Staff) R, 1:48
“The Peanuts Movie”: All the characters loved by generations of fans — Lucy, Linus, Snoopy, Woodstock and blockhead Charlie Brown — are as fresh and charming as ever in this big-screen treatment. The use of 3-D imagery makes the story seem up-to-date, but the “Peanuts” sweetness remains satisfyingly old-fashioned.
(Sandy Cohen, Associated Press) G, 1:32
“Room”: In this astonishing drama, a young mother (Brie Larson) creates the semblance of an ordinary life for her resilient son (Jacob Tremblay) while both are being held captive for years in a small shed. It is a tough watch at points — as it should be — but it’s also a life-affirming adaptation of Emma Donoghue’s novel. It boasts two of the finest performances in one of the year’s best films.
(Randy Myers, Correspondent) R, 1:58
“Sicario”: Emily Blunt plays an FBI agent who joins a government task force targeting a Mexican drug kingpin operating along the border. She gets a brutal wake-up call in realizing her actual role and the motives and methods of her fellow operatives. Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro also star.
½ (Tony Hicks, Staff)
R, 2:01
“Spectre”: Daniel Craig plays James Bond for the fourth — and possibly last — time, and the film spectacularly completes his four-story arc. This time, Bond goes rogue from M16 to uncover the worldwide criminal organization that has been behind so many of his foes. He also discovers a personal connection to it.
(Tony Hicks, Staff) PG-13, 2:30
“Spotlight”: Gracefully understated, yet undeniably powerful, director Tom McCarthy’s film not only captures what it feels like to be a pack of reporters hot on the trail of a clergy abuse scandal, but richly re-creates the Boston setting and the shocking culture of silence within the Catholic Church hierarchy and beyond. The ensemble cast— Liev Schreiber, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams — is dynamite.
(Randy Myers, Correspondent) R, 2:08
“Suffragette”: A riveting chronicle of life for the rank and file of the British women’s movement fighting for the right to vote during the pre-World War I era, Sarah Gavron’s stirring historical drama is anchored by memorable performances from Carey Mulligan and Helena Bonham Carter. This is a harrowing period piece, raw and powerful, that may well leave you in tears. ½ (Karen D’Souza, Staff) PG-13, 1:46
“Trumbo”: A gripping tale, well-told, about the Hollywood blacklisting during the 1950s that sidelined acclaimed screewriter Dalton Trumbo and many others. Bryan Cranston’s spot-on take in the title role is but one of this fine film’s many virtues. ½ (Sandy Cohen, Associated Press) R, 2:04