Movies: New and Noteworthy

COMING THIS WEEK

By Gary Thompson

Transformers: The Last Knight. Opens Wednesday. Mark Wahlberg, Anthony Hopkins, and Josh Duhamel participate in another battle among gigantic robots. From Michael Bay. PG-13

Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary. The life and career of jazz great John Coltrane, including his important years in Philadelphia. Narrated by Denzel Washington. Not rated

Hero. Aging actor and western veteran (Sam Elliott) searches for one last role to define his career. Co-starring Nick Offerman. R

Letters From Baghdad

Documentary tells the story of Gertrude Bell - British spy, explorer, and political powerhouse - who traveled widely in Arabia before being recruited by British military intelligence during WWI to help draw the borders of Iraq.

Reviewed by critics Tirdad Derakhshani (T.D.), Dan DeLuca (D.D.), Ellen Dunkel (E.D.), Molly Eichel (M.E.), and Gary Thompson (G.T.). W.S. denotes a wire-service review.

Manifesto Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett delivers a master class in acting by transforming unpromising material as she portrays 13 distinct characters, ranging from a homeless man to a Russian choreographer. 1 hr. 35 No MPAA rating (strong language) - W.S.

Megan Leavey True story of a Marine (Kate Mara) serving as a bomb-detection specialist who is wounded along with the dog she tries to rescue when her tour is over. With Edie Falco, Bradley Whitford. 1 hr. 56 PG-13 (violence) - G.T.

A Quiet Passion This tribute to the genius of poet Emily Dickinson (Cynthia Nixon) - who spent most of her days holed up inside her childhood home - is by turns funny, tragic, and thrilling. Its stilted formality works, especially in the context of a story about how suffocating customs can be for a woman who plans to avoid marriage and stay with her immediate family, where she feels safe. 2 hr. 6 PG-13 (images of war casualties, brief suggestive material) - W.S.

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail ***

Manhattan DA mounts a shaky mortgage fraud case against a family-run Chinatown bank, gets more than he bargained for from close-knit Chinese-American family. From director Steve James (

Hoop Dreams

). 1 hr. 30

No MPAA rating

(adult themes)

- G.T.

Alien: Covenant ** Katherine Waterston and Billy Crudup head up the latest Alien spacecraft to run into an invasive creature that wreaks havoc on their journey. Same-old, same-old. Too much backstory. Enough already. 2 hr. 2 R (violence, gore) - G.T.

All Eyez on Me ** Demetrius Shipp Jr. nails the portrayal of rapper Tupac Shakur, who was gunned down in his prime on a Las Vegas street in 1996. But this disorganized biopic isn't quite worthy of his remarkable life. 2 hr. 5 R (language, drug use, violence, some nudity and sexuality) - W.S.

Band Aid *** Star Zoe Lister-Jones also produced, wrote, and directed this rom-com about a married couple (also Adam Pally) who save their marriage by turning their arguments into songs. First movie made with a virtually all-female crew. 1 hr. 31 R (language) - G.T.

Baywatch **1/2 Crude, comic remake of the original TV show, which was funny enough without trying for laughs. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is the boss lifeguard who makes fun of Zac Efron while beautiful women run around in bathing suits. Priyanka Chopra (Quantico) is the villain. 1 56 R (language throughout, crude sexual content, graphic nudity) - G.T.

Beatriz at Dinner *** A Mexican-American nurse ends up at a dinner among wealthy California swells (John Lithgow, Connie Britton) causing friction-filled conversation that crosses lines of class and culture. From director Miguel Arteta and writer Mike White. 1 hr. 23 R (adult themes, language, class warfare) - G.T.

Book of Henry *1/2 A woman (Naomi Watts) and her altruistic son (Jaeden Lieberher) devise a plan to help the endangered child who lives next door. It's the filmmaking equivalent of a monkey with the head of a goat, the tail of a fish, wings of a bird, and teeny-tiny rat claws. Also starring Sarah Silverman. 2 hr. 5 PG-13 (thematic elements, brief strong language) - W.S.

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie *** The funniest movie of the year . . . if you're 5. Kevin Hart is one of the voices. 1 hr. 29 PG (mild rude humor throughout) - W.S.

Cars 3 **1/2 So-so Pixar outing has racer Lightning McQueen contending with younger rivals, helping another racer learn the ropes. Featuring the voices of Armie Hammer and Bonnie Hunt. Preceded by a top-notch animated short called "Lou." 1 hr. 47 G - G.T.

Chuck *** Funny, poignant, and true story of heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner (Liev Schreiber), whose 15-round bout with Muhammad Ali became the inspiration for Sylvester Stallone's Rocky. With Jim Gaffigan, Naomi Watts, and Elisabeth Moss. 1 hr. 41 R (language) - G.T.

Churchill ** Brian Cox stars as the former British prime minister in a too-theatrical retelling of Churchill's response to the Allied invasion of Normandy. 1 hr. 38 PG (thematic elements, brief war images, historical smoking throughout, and some language) - G.T.

The Circle ** Technological thriller starring Emma Watson and Tom Hanks about a young woman coming to terms with privacy, ethics, and humanity while working at a Facebook-like company that develops a spherical camera that can be planted anywhere to capture anything and anyone at any time grows more overworked and plotty and less convincing as the story plays out. 1 hr. 50 PG-13 (sexual situation, brief strong language, some mature thematic elements) - W.S.

Dean **1/2 Demetri Martin wrote, directed, and stars in this gently amusing, mildly emotional story of a confused young man struggling to come to terms with the death of his mother and the reactions of his father (Kevin Kline). 2 hr. 5 (PG-13) (some strong language) - W.S.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul * The "Wimpy Kid" gang is back for a third go-round that is by far the worst of the bunch. 1 hr. 33 PG (some rude humor) - W.S.

Everything, Everything *1/2 Eighteen-year-old Maddy suffers from a severe immune system disorder and lives in a hermetically sealed mansion. She and the boy next door begin flirting by text and FaceTime. Nothing can vaccinate viewers against the plot development in this far-fetched story. 1 hr. 36 PG-13 (mature thematic material, brief sensuality, and brief coarse language) - W.S.

Ghost in the Shell *** A live-action remake of the Japanese anime classic stars Scarlett Johansson as an antiterror cyborg with escalating questions about her latest mission and her own identity. Conventional action and story, but some interesting and sometimes dazzling visual ideas. With Juliette Binoche, Michael Pitt. 1 hr. 44 PG-13 (violence) - G.T.

The Hunter's Prayer (Not previewed) A hit man (Sam Worthington) spares a teenage girl (Odeya Rush), then joins forces with her to take revenge on the people who murdered her family. 1 hr. 31 R (violence)

I, Daniel Blake *** The winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes last year. An unemployed craftsman in Britain desperately trying to return to a life of dignity and productivity helps a young single mother. 1 hr. 40 R (language) - W.S.

It Comes at Night *** Effective horror movie about a barricaded family (Joel Edgerton, Carmen Ejogo) living warily with another (Christopher Abbott, Riley Keough) after a plague. 1 hr. 31 R (violence) - G.T.

The Lovers *** Debra Winger beds a young lover (Aidan Gillen) and her old husband (Tracy Letts), who's also having an affair, in this offbeat romantic comedy. 1 hr. 34 R (sexual situations, adult themes) - G.T.

The Mummy ** Sputtering attempt to start a new multicharacter franchise has Tom Cruise working with Dr. Jekyll (Russell Crowe) in London to contend with a cursed mummy (Sofia Boutella). OK for a while, but it unravels. 1 hr. 50 PG-13 (brief violence) - G.T.

My Cousin Rachel **1/2 Faithful, handsome adaptation of Daphne du Maurier novel about an English heir (Sam Claflin) romantically intrigued by the widow (Rachel Weisz) of the relative who raised him. Ends up feeling dated. 1 hr. 46 PG-13 (brief nudity) - G.T.

Obit *** Documentary about the obituary writers at the New York Times, where some of the liveliest prose is about the recently deceased. 1 hr. 33 No MPAA rating (adult themes) - G.T.

Once Upon a Time in Venice *1/2 Bruce Willis is a sleazy private eye contending with drug cartels and other factions to find his stolen dog in this botched action comedy co-starring John Goodman and Thomas Middleditch. 1 hr. 40 No MPAA rating (language) - G.T.

Paris Can Wait **1/2 While her filmmaker husband (Alec Baldwin) works, Diane Lane takes a tour of France with his friend (Arnaud Viard), who takes her to great restaurants and hits on her. 1 hr. 32 PG (thematic elements, smoking, some language) - G.T.

Past Life (Not previewed) In 1977, two Israeli sisters delve into the dark mystery of their father's life in Poland during World War II. 1 hr. 49 No MPAA rating.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales ** Johnny Depp returns as Capt. Jack Sparrow in a new version of the same movie we've seen numerous times already. 2 hr. 9 PG-13 (sequences of adventure violence, some suggestive content) - W.S.

Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan (Not previewed) A documentary look at prima ballerina Whelan as she prepares to leave the New York City Ballet after three decades with the company. 1 hr. 30 No MPAA rating

Rough Night **1/2 Five women - Scarlett Johansson, Ilana Glazer, Kate McKinnon, Zoe Kravitz, Jillian Bell - have a bachelorette beach party that goes bad. Awkward mix of black comedy and slapstick, but has its moments. 1 hr. 41 R (language, adult themes, sexual situations, crudeness) - G.T.

Wakefield ** A Manhattan lawyer (Bryan Cranston) decides one night to put his life on hold for a time and secretly goes to live in his attic. The movie feels more like a strange thought experiment than something a reasonable person might actually do. 1 hr. 49 R (language, sensuality, brief nudity) - W.S.

The Wedding Plan (Not previewed) In Israel, an Orthodox Jewish woman (Noa Kooler) jilted by her fiancé decides to proceed with her plans, enlisting the help of matchmakers in hopes of finding a suitable groom who will appear before the wedding day. 1 hr. 50 PG In Hebrew with subtitles. (thematic elements)

Wonder Woman **1/2 Surprisingly fun and energetic DC comic book movie that is welcome relief from recent dour Superman movies. Gal Gadot stars as the Amazon princess who leaves her island with WWI pilot Chris Pine to save the world. 2 hrs. 21 PG-13 (superhero violence) - G.T.