Movie Reviews

Diesel's Sweeties: Vin Diesel, Donnie Yen and Deepika Padukone in xXx: Return of Xander Cage.

Arts

Running On Diesel Fumes: 'xXx: Return Of Xander Cage'

5:00pm January 19, 2017

by Chris Klimek

A 49-year-old Vin Diesel returns to the hugely unlikely franchise that he and director Rob Cohen launched in 2002. Because sometimes only an "extreme-sports/black-ops squad" can save the world.

Damien Bonnard, India Hair and Raphaël Thiéry in Staying Vertical.

Arts

In 'Staying Vertical,' A Writer Gets Drawn Into The Sexual Life Of A Small Village

5:00pm January 19, 2017

by Ella Taylor

The latest film by writer/director Alain Guiraudie (Stranger by the Lake) is a brutally frank meditation on polymorphous carnality in rural southern France.

Then and now: In his new documentary Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened, director Lonny Price, left, reconnects with fellow cast members — including Ann Morrison and Jim Walton — from the 1981 Broadway flop, Merrily We Roll Along.

Arts

How A 1981 Sondheim Flop Turned Out To Be The 'Best Worst Thing'

5:12pm January 17, 2017

by Bob Mondello

Most musicals that close after 16 performances barely prompt memories, let alone documentaries. But Merrily We Roll Along rolled along so bizarrely, it became the stuff of Broadway legend.

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Arts

Hilarity And Hostility Converge In The Family Comedy 'Toni Erdmann'

1:23pm January 13, 2017

by David Edelstein

The German film centers on a prankster father who barges into the life of his business consultant daughter. Critic David Edelstein says Toni Erdmann keeps you guessing — in a good way.

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Claire (Betsy Brandt) and son Connor (Zev Haworth) search for closure in Claire in Motion.

Arts

'Claire In Motion,' Movie In Stasis

5:00pm January 12, 2017

by Mark Jenkins

Betsy Brandt plays a woman whose husband goes missing in this underwritten, willfully ambiguous film from writer-directors Lisa Robinson and Annie J. Howell.

Mark Wahlberg in Peter Berg's Patriots Day.

Arts

'Patriots Day': A Painful, Painstaking Depiction Of The Boston Marathon Bombing

5:00pm January 12, 2017

by Chris Klimek

The third collaboration between director Peter Berg and actor Mark Wahlberg offers a detail-rich and nuanced examination of the 2013 bombing and its chaotic aftermath.

Emily (Gemma Aterton) and Max (Idris Elba) in 100 Streets.

Arts

'100 Streets' Tells Familiar Stories That Cross Race, Class And Generational Lines

5:00pm January 12, 2017

by Ella Taylor

Idris Elba stars in a London-set ensemble drama our critic calls "soapy, rote stuff," but it's representative of the new generation of filmmakers taking Britain's multiracial society as their subject.

Otto (Brendan Gleeson) and Anna (Emma Thompson) are Alone in Berlin.

Arts

'Alone In Berlin': A Grieving German Couple Sets Out To Undermine The Nazi Movement

5:00pm January 12, 2017

by Scott Tobias

Brendan Gleeson and Emma Thompson deliver strong performances, but director Vincent Perez's staid historical drama swathes its subjects' radical actions in too much art-house-reverence.

Arts

'20th Century Women' Mixes Comedy With Disappointment And Loss

1:28pm January 12, 2017

by John Powers

Set in 1979 Santa Barbara, Mike Mills' new film is the story of a teenage boy and the three women who teach him about life. Critic John Powers calls it an "amusing, deeply-felt work."

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Arts

'Paterson' Paints A Delicate Portrait Of A Bus Driver Who Writes Poetry

2:01pm January 06, 2017

by David Edelstein

Jim Jarmusch's new film, Paterson, was loosely inspired by William Carlos Williams' epic poem of the same name. Critic David Edelstein says the film expertly evokes the inner state of an artist.

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