Movies: New and Noteworthy

COMING THIS WEEK

By Steven Rea

Beasts of No Nation Idris Elba stars as an African revolutionary leading a ragtag band of fighters - many of them children - in Cary Joji Fukunaga's intense and violent drama, fresh from its festival showcases at Venice, Telluride, and Toronto.R

Goosebumps Jack Black plays best-selling children's author R.L. Stine in an adaptation of the scare master's books that brings werewolves, giant insects, and killer gnomes to life. Eeek. PG-13

Steve Jobs With a script from The Social Network's Aaron Sorkin and direction from Slumdog Millionaire's Danny Boyle, a portrait of the Apple co-founder, his obsessions, ambitions, flaws. With Michael Fassbender as Jobs, Seth Rogen as Steve Wozniak, and Kate Winslet as Joanna Hoffman, one of the original members of Job's Macintosh team. R

Bridge of Spies Steven Spielberg directs this true story that stars Tom Hanks as a Brooklyn lawyer who is pegged to negotiate the release of American pilot Francis Gary Powers from the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War.

Crimson Peak A 19th-century Englishwoman (Jessica Chastain) discovers the man she has married is keeping dark secrets from her.

The Cut An early-20th-century Armenian man who believes his entire family has been wiped out in the genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire finds hope when he discovers reason to believe his twin daughters are alive. Various languages with subtitles.

Victoria A runaway girl with a taste for partying joins three men as they hit the town.

Reviewed by critics Steven Rea (S.R.), Tirdad Derakhshani (T.D.), Molly Eichel (M.E.), and Gary Thompson (G.T.). W.S. denotes a wire-service review.

Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution This documentary looks at the controversial organization dedicated to black power. 1 hr. 53 No MPAA rating - G.T.

Black Mass Johnny Depp utterly transforms himself in the role of James "Whitey" Bulger, the Boston mobster who racketeered and murdered his way to power in the '70s and '80s. Directed by Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart), with strong performances from Benedict Cumberbatch, Joel Edgerton, and Dakota Johnson. Dark, bloody, harrowing. 2 hrs. 02 R (violence, profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

99 Homes Drama about flipping and foreclosing Florida properties with Andrew Garfield as a construction worker who gets evicted, along with his mother and his little boy, from their family home. Michael Shannon is the real estate broker who forces them out. A wary alliance is forged in Ramin Bahrani's Great Recession tale. 1 hr. 48 R (profanity) - G.T.

Learning to Drive Patricia Clarkson and Ben Kingsley team up for a small, artfully crafted story of companionship, loneliness, resilience. She's a New York literary critic who has just been dumped by her husband; Kingsley is an Indian Sikh who gives the suddenly shell-shocked and single middle-aged woman driving lessons. The driving metaphors don't need any added emphasis: Put the car (and your life) in forward; be aware and anticipate; control your rage; know where you're going. 1 hr. 30 R (profanity, sex, adult themes) - S.R.

The Martian Matt Damon gives a commanding, oftentimes darkly comic performance as an astronaut left for dead by his NASA crewmates when they beat a hasty retreat from Mars. With a limited supply of food and water and no means of communication, he has to figure out how to survive - and how to contact Mission Control - hoping they can bring him home. Stirring, suspenseful, science-rooted stuff from director Ridley Scott; with Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Kate Mara, and Michael Peña. 2 hrs. 21 PG-13 (profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

Time Out of Mind Richard Gere sheds every vestige of his white-maned movie star persona in the role of a homeless man moving across an indifferent cityscape, trying to find a reason to keep going. A powerful film, shot on the sly, documentary-style. In cameos: Steve Buscemi, Jena Malone, Kyra Sedgwick, Ben Vereen. 2 hrs. 1 No MPAA rating (profanity, violence, sex, adult themes) - S.R.

Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon *** The storied magazine gets a rosy (and funny) history from the people who created it and those who admired it. The way the Lampoon's artwork is used truly brings the magazine's culture to life. But there is not critical lens placed on the magazine that could have given the doc more depth. 1 hr. 38 R (language, nudity, drug use) - M.E.

Everest *** Dramatic thriller based on the true story of the struggle for survival faced by members of a Mount Everest climbing expedition when they are caught in a blizzard. 2 hrs. 01 PG-13 (intense peril and disturbing images) - G.T.

Final Girls 1/2 A high schooler is mysteriously transformed into the world of a 1980s slasher flick that starred her late mother. 1 hr. 30 PG-13 (horror violence, some crude and sexual material, profanity, and drug use) - G.T.

Freeheld 1/2 A New Jersey police officer fights for her partner to receive her pension benefits when she is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Julianne Moore and Ellen Page star. Julianne Moore and Ellen Page star. 1 hr. 43 PG-13 (thematic elements, language and sexuality) - G.T.

He Named Me Malala Oscar-winner Davis Guggenheim's understandably deferential documentary about Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teen who was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman for her insistence that she - and all girls - had the right to an education. A polished piece of advocacy filmmaking, and inspiring, to say the least. 1 hr. 27 PG-13 (graphic news footage, adult themes) - S.R.

Knock Knock 1/2 Keanu Reeves stars as a devoted family man who gets more than he bargained for when two stranded young women knock on his door. 1 hr. 39 R (violence, strong sexual content, profanity) - T.D.

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials *** The saga continues with the Gladers facing their most difficult challenge yet. 2 hrs. 11 PG-13 (violence and action, some thematic elements, substance use, language) - G.T.

Meet the Patels *** This adorable documentary about actor Ravi Patel trying to find a suitable wife also shines a light on what's it like to be the child of immigrants, wanting to live an assimilated life, while also honoring culture. 1 hr. 28 PG (thematic elements) - M.E.

Pan "Welcome to Neverland!" bellows Hugh Jackman's Blackbeard in Joe Wright's elaborate reworking of the J.M. Barrie children's fantasy. Rooney Mara swashes and buckles as Tiger Lily, Garrett Hedlund is Hook, and newcomer Levi Miller plays the boy hero, Peter. 1 hr. 51 PG (violence, profanity, some thematic material) - G.T.

Sicario *** Emily Blunt is an FBI agent who joins a task force of Feds and freelancers in pursuit of drug lords and violent cartels. Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro also star in Denis (Prisoners) Villeneuve's bloody cross-border thriller. 2 hrs. 01 R (violence, profanity, sex, adult themes) - S.R.

Sleeping With Other People *** Jake (Jason Sudeikis) and Lainey (Allison Brie) are disasters in relationships. So instead of ruining each other with sex, they strike up a friendship that turns into something more. But Leslye Headland's second film (after the polarizing Bachelorette) dissects the rom-com and puts it back together again to feel wholly fresh. 1 hr 41 R (sexual content, language, drug use) - M.E.