.Movie Reviews

July 27–Aug. 2

Across the Universe (2:13) Julie Taymor/Fab Four musical phantasmagoria about star-crossed lovers caught up in the protests, self-discovery and violence of the 1960s; Evan Rachel Wood stars.

Björk: Biophilia Live (1:37) Catch Iceland’s fave avant-garde electro-pop superstar as she performs every song from her hit album at London’s Alexandra Palace.

Blindspotting (1:35) Stylish and energetic human dramedy about two locals dealing with race, class and crime in a rapidly gentrifying Oakland.

Captain Underpants (1:29) DreamWorks cartoon version of the bestselling kids’ books about a delusional school principal who thinks he’s a dimwitted superhero.

The Catcher Was a Spy (1:38) True tale of renaissance man Moe Berg, the erudite, multilingual major league catcher who spied for the OSS during WWII; Paul Rudd stars.

Dark Money (1:38) Eye-opening documentary about the heroic fight the state of Montana has been waging against corporate donations to political candidates since the Citizens United decision of 2010.

Dark Victory (1:44) Classic tearjerker stars Bette Davis as a hedonistic heiress facing down a brain tumor; Humphrey Bogart and Ronald Reagan are among her suitors.

The Darkest Minds (1:45) A group of mysteriously super-powerful teenagers escape from a government lockup and resist the evil grownups who just don’t understand them.

Eighth Grade (1:34) Coming-of-age comedy focuses on a supposedly unremarkable 13-year-old girl as she navigates the fraught final week of middle school.

Disney’s Newsies: The Broadway Musical! (2:25) Filmed performance of the hit musical about a band of turn-of-the-century New York news kids who lead a strike against Hearst and Pulitzer.

Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot (1:53) Joaquin Phoenix stars as John Callahan, the real-life envelope-pushing paraplegic cartoonist; Gus Van Sant directs.

Equalizer 2 (2:09) Denzel Washington’s back as the moody and mysterious righter of wrongs; Melissa Leo costars.

The First Purge (1:37) Dystopian horror flick about a not-so-distant United States where rampant, violent lawlessness is celebrated one night per year.

Generation Wealth (1:46) All-encompassing documentary look at the modern American obsession with riches and such self-destructive corollaries as narcissism, consumerism and body image.

Hearts Beat Loud (1:37) Sweet-natured musical about an aging hipster who bonds with his teenage daughter when they start an indie rock band.

Hermitage Revealed (1:23) Take an eye-filling tour through the 250-year-old St. Petersburg museum and its priceless collection of everything from prehistoric artifacts to Old Masters to Catherine the Great’s private jewels.

Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (1:25) The monstrous cartoon innkeepers are back and looking for fun on a spook-filled ocean cruise; Mel Brooks, Steve Buscemi and Fran Drescher vocalize.

Leave No Trace (1:48) Poignant tale of a father and daughter’s idyllic life in the Oregon wilds and the encroaching urban Zeitgeist that threatens it.

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (1:50) Prequel/sequel mashup about young Donna’s lovers and Sophie’s impending motherhood reassembles Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Julie Walters and Amanda Seyfried.

The Metropolitan Opera: Turandot (2:20) Catch diva extraordinaire Nina Stemme in Franco Zeffirelli’s dazzling production of the Puccini opera in big-screen high definition.

Mission: Impossible–Fallout (2:27) Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Alec Baldwin and the rest of the IM crew return in an action-packed, race-against-time summer frolic.

Mountain (1:14) Panoramic documentary celebrates the world’s most awesome alps and the climbers who scale their death-defying heights.

Rachel Hollis Presents: Made for More (2:00) The motivational speaker delivers her aspirational message of female empowerment and community.

The Rider (1:43) Neorealist modern Western about an Oglala Lakota Sioux rodeo rider and his family and friends features nonprofessional actors and the epic setting of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda (1:42) Documentary tribute to the acclaimed techno-pop pioneer, Oscar-winning film composer and ardent environmentalist.

Sailor Moon R and S: The Movies (2:00) The popular Naoko Takeuchi manga gets movie-fied in an anime double bill of intergalactic love and justice.

Sea to Shining Sea (1:25) Docu-comedy follows a happy-go-lucky Amsterdam skateboarder and his grumpy American BFF on an offbeat road trip across the U.S.A.

Skyscraper (1:43) Security expert Dwayne Johnson goes all Die Hard when he finds himself in the world’s tallest skyscraper with a stem-to-stern inferno and several hundred people who want to kill him.

Sorry to Bother You (1:45) Boots Riley absurdist fantasy satire about an Oakland telemarketer striving his way through a netherworld of big-tech billionaires and anti-Zeitgeist revolutionaries.

The Spy Who Dumped Me (1:57) Action comedy stars Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon as two innocents thrust into international intrigue by a connected ex; Gillian Anderson co-stars.

Teen Titans GO! to the Movies (1:24) The satirical kids’ TV cartoon series hits the big screen with its brash, goofy humor intact, musical numbers and all.

Unfriended: Dark Web (1:28) Horror flick for the Zuckerberg age as a doofus twenty-something realizes that an evil presence has been watching his every move through his laptop.

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