Steven Rea's Weekend Movie Selections

Genius

A true-life, truly inspirational study of the relationship between American novelist Thomas Wolfe and his editor Maxwell Perkins, who brought

Look Homeward, Angel

and

Of Time and the River

to the world. (Perkins edited Fitzgerald and Hemingway, too. Both characters appear in the film.) Jude Law, spouting wild flourishes of prose, is Wolfe. Colin Firth is Perkins, who whittles it down. Nicole Kidman shines as Wolfe's patron and lover. Laura Linney is Perkins' wife, the mother of a gaggle of girls.

PG-13

The Lobster Oscar-nominated director Yorgos Lanthimos' English-language debut stars Colin Farrell as a mild-mannered widower sent to a hotel in the counrtyside where he is encouraged - nay, required - to find a new partner. A surreal, comic, melancholy fable, set in a disquietingly serene not-far-from-now. Imagine Wes Anderson doing Franz Kafka, with George Orwell thrown in the mix. R

The Secret Life of Pets Directed by the Despicable Me franchise's Chris Renaud, a pet lovers' loving salute to the animals we rely on to bring us comfort, companionship, and triple-digit veterinary bills. Louis C.K. gives voice to a needy Jack Russell terrier, and Kevin Hart is a white bunny named Snowball. (Talk about color-blind casting!). An extremely animated animated romp. PG