Movies: New and Noteworthy

COMING THIS WEEK

By Gary Thompson

Detroit. Kathryn Bigelow's look at the Detroit riots of 1967, focused on a particular incident in which police killed unarmed civilians. Starring The Force Awakens' John Boyega and Will Poulter. PG-13

An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power. This documentary sequel to the Oscar-winning climate-change documentary follows Al Gore around the world as he spreads his go-green message. PG

The Dark Tower. Gunslinger (Idris Elba) pursues mysterious man in black (Matthew McConaughey) in this adapatation of Stephen Kings's fantasy series. PG-13

From the Land of the Moon

Stuck in a loveless marriage, a French woman falls for another man while in the Alps for medical treatment.

Kidnap Halle Berry stars as a mother who will do whatever it takes to get her son back.

Landline In 1995, a teenager living with her sister and parents (Edie Falco, John Turturro) in Manhattan discovers that her father is having an affair.

Person to Person During a single day in New York, a variety of characters grapple with the mundane, the unexpected, and the larger questions permeating their lives.

Wind River An FBI agent and a game-tracker team up to investigate a murder on an American Indian reservation.

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

The Big Sick Based on comedian Kumail Nanjiani's life, a funny, touching comedy of a Pakistani American caught between his religious family and the American woman (Zoe Kazan) he loves. With Holly Hunter, Ray Romano. 1 hr. 59. R (sexual references) - G.T.

Dunkirk Christopher Nolan's visually sweeping, stirring account of the way ordinary citizens, in the early days of World War II, affected the massive evacuation of stranded British troops from a French port surrounded by Germans. With Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy, and Harry Styles. 1 hr. 47 PG-13 (violence) - G.T.

Atomic Blonde **1/2

Charlize Theron is a rampaging British agent in Berlin as the wall collapses in 1989, teaming with another agent (James McAvoy) to help a defector and find a traitor. Works well as actioner, not so well as espionage thriller. 1 hr. 55

R

(violence, 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.

The Beguiled **1/2 Sofia Coppola remakes a Clint Eastwood film and, no surprise, gives it a more feminine viewpoint. Colin Farrell plays an injured Civil War soldier taken in by a group of cloistered women (Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning) and ratchets up the sexual tension. 1 hr. 33 R (sexuality) - G.T.

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.

Despicable Me 3 **1/2 Gru meets his lost brother, Dru, and they team up for a heist, much to the delight of the bored Minions. Featuring the voices of Steve Carell and Kristin Wiig. 1 hr. 33 PG (action and rude humor) - G.T.

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.

Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary *** John Scheinfeld's film probes the spiritual sources of Coltrane's ethereal jazz, with input from fans as diverse as Bill Clinton and Carlos Santana. Biographical material includes interviews with jazz musicians who worked with Coltrane in Philadelphia, where he lived and developed his style. 1 hr. 30 No MPAA rating - 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.

The Emoji Movie * Animated feature focusing on the phone of an awkward high school freshman who is stressed out about what to text the girl he has a crush on. The movie's not terrible or offensive or outright bad; it's just "meh." 1 hr. 26 PG (rude humor) - W.S.

Endless Poetry *** The latest film written and directed by Chilean-born cine-shaman Alejandro Jodorowsky is a dynamically staged and ravishingly shot (by cinematographer Christopher Doyle) giddy tableaux of social and sexual transgressions coalescing around the tale of a young man breaking free of his family's shackles and embracing his calling as a poet. In Spanish with subtitles. 2 hr. 8 No MPAA rating (frontal nudity, simulated sexual activities) - W.S.

A Ghost Story **1/2 Oddball, occasionally effective independent film about a man (Casey Affleck) whose spirit haunts the home he once shared with his wife (Rooney Mara). Affleck spends most of the movie in a sheet with two eyes cut out, a low-tech but audacious visual stunt that sometimes pays off. 1 hr. 27 R (disturbing images) - G.T.

Girls Trip *** Malcolm Lee's vulgar but good-natured comedy about four women (Jada Pinkett Smith, Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Tiffany Haddish) reuniting for a wild weekend in New Orleans. Lots of star cameos, including Kevin Hart, for a split second. 2 hr. 2 R (nudity, obscene language) - G.T.

Killing Ground (Not previewed) Aussie thriller about a vacationing couple (Harriet Dyer and Ian Meadows) who find a traumatized child at an abandoned campsite, before being set upon by rural weirdos. 1 hr. 26 No MPAA rating.

Lady Macbeth *** Newcomer Florence Pugh makes a startling debut in this story, very loosely inspired by Shakespeare, about a young woman (Pugh) in 1865 England who rebels violently when she's forced to marry an older man. With Cosmo Jarvis. 1 hr. 28 R (violence) - G.T.

The Little Hours *** After three profane and abusive nuns run off the convent handyman, a young man in need of a place to hide pretends to be deaf and unable to speak to take his place. Talking is about the only thing Massetto doesn't do with the nuns. Warning: Anyone expecting this movie to show any respect toward the church will likely be shocked. 1 hr. 30 R (graphic nudity, language, sexual content, drug use) - W.S.

Maudie *** Sally Hawkins plays Canadian artist Maud Lewis, who turned a loveless life into a career as a beloved painter of happiness and color. 1 hr. 55 PG-13 (adult themes) - G.T.

The Midwife *** Catherine Frot plays a serious-minded midwife, and Catherine Deneuve is the extravagant and frivolous mistress of her now-deceased father who surfaces, suffering from a brain tumor, after disappearing 30 years before. The film jolts to life whenever its two great Catherines are sharing the screen, whether driving each other crazy or collapsing in tears. In French with subtitles. 1 hr. 57 No MPAA rating - W.S.

Spider-Man: Homecoming *** Actor Tom Holland heads this upbeat, uptempo reboot, awkwardly trying to fight crime (Michael Keaton is The Vulture) and date the beautiful captain of the debate team. With Robert Downey Jr. and Zendaya. 2 hrs. 13 PG-13 (some violence) - G.T.

Transformers: The Last Knight ** The usual noisy Michael Bay mess, starring Mark Wahlberg and Anthony Hopkins as guys who protect good transformers from pesky governments and bad transformers. More ludicrous than usual, if that's possible. 2 hr. 37 PG-13 (violence) - G.T.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets ** Luc Besson's $200 million f/x space dud about interstellar agents (Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne) on a mission to save a floating space station. Special effects can't mask wretched script. With Clive Owen. 2 hr. 17 PG-13 (sci-fi violence) - G.T.

The War for the Planet of the Apes *** Top-notch special effects highlight this adventure story about a contingent of apes (motion-captured Andy Serkis, Steve Zahn) attempting to free captured apes from a labor camp run by a demented Army officer (Woody Harrelson). Unusually inventive and effective score by Michael Giacchino. 2 hrs. 20 mins. PG-13 (violence) - G.T.

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.