Some reviews originate at newspapers that do not award star ratings; some movies are not screened in advance for critics. Ratings range from zero to four stars.
OPENING THIS WEEKEND
"Citizen Koch" * * * Not rated. Reviewed on 5c.
"Ida" * * * * PG-13. Reviewed on 5C
"Ivory Tower" * * * PG. Reviewed on 4c
"The German Doctor" * * * PG-13. Reviewed on 4c
"The Internet's Own Boy" R. Reviewed on 5c
"Transformers" PG-13. * 1/2
OPENING ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 2
"Begin Again" * * 1/2 R.
"Deliver Us From Evil" R. Not reviewed
"Earth to Echo" * * * PG.
"Tammy" * 1/2 R. Reviewed on 4C
"Third Person" * * * R. Reviewed on 8C
Selected mini-reviews of films in theaters, listed alphabetically:
"A Million Ways to Die in the West" Western comedy. R. Seth MacFarlane has delivered a flaccid all-star farce. (Scott Foundas, Variety) 115 minutes
"Chef" Comedy. * * * R. It's the story of a Los Angeles chef who opens a food truck after he loses his job in a high-end restaurant. (Michael O'Sullivan, The Washington Post) 115 minutes
"Edge of Tomorrow" Sci-fi action. * * * PG-13. The time-loop set-up of this frenetic sci-fi flick, starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt as allies in humankind's battle against seemingly invincible aliens known as Mimics, recalls "Groundhog Day." At area theaters in 2-D, 3-D. IMAX 3-D. (Lisa Kennedy, The Denver Post) 113 minutes
"The Fault in Our Stars" Drama. * * * ½ PG-13. John Green's best-selling young adult novel about cancer survivors, Hazel Lancaster and Gus Waters, makes the move to the big screen with grace and wit. (Kennedy) 126 minutes
"Fed Up" Documentary. * * * PG. The latest in a line of documentaries critiquing the American diet, "Fed Up" quickly zeroes in on what would appear to be its villain: sugar. At the Mayan. (Michael O'Sullivan, The Washington Post) 93 minutes
"The Grand Budapest Hotel" Fable. * * * ½ R. Writer-director Wes Anderson's zany fable about concierge Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes), his protégé Zero (Tony Revolori) and the murder of a countess. At the Esquire. (Kennedy) 100 minutes "The Grand Seduction" Comedy. * * ½ PG-13. Cozy, picturesque and soothingly reassuring, "The Grand Seduction" plays like a cross between "Doc Martin" and "Local Hero," a fish-out-of-water fable set within a fabulously scenic backdrop. It's the story of a tiny fishing village in Newfoundland that tries to hoodwink an American plastic surgeon into becoming the town doctor. Taylor Kitsch and Brendan Gleeson are among the cast. At the Chez. (Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post) 112 minutes
"How to Train Your Dragon 2" Animated tale. * * * ½ PG. This rousing follow-up to 2010's is soaring, utterly satisfying fun. (Kennedy) 105 minutes
"Jersey Boys" Musical adaptation. * * R. The leads come with impressive theatrical bona fides — as do the screenwriters. The director is no slouch himself. The music — decades past its inception — still makes you smile. Yet Clint Eastwood's adaptation of the Tony-winning musical "Jersey Boys" — about the rise of Frankie Valli (John Lloyd Young) and 1960s pop sensation Four Seasons — is more plodding than it has a right to be. Sure there's a lot of darkness to this tale of success: original band members Nick Massi and Tommy DeVito both spend time in stir; a neglected marriage finally gives way; a child dies; a band member makes a Faustian bargain that leads to an implosion. But the balance of aching realities and juke-box musical joys has mostly gotten lost in the move from stage to screen. (Kennedy) 134 minutes
"Maleficent" Fairy tale. PG. This film starring Angelina Jolie in the title role, has a clever enough big-picture take on the "Sleeping Beauty" tale, yet it sputters and snags. " (Andrew Barker, Variety) 97 minutes
"Obvious Child" Romantic comedy. R. This provocative romantic comedy from new writer-director Gillian Robespierre, opens with stand-up comedian Donna Stern doing one of her bits. Donna is played by "Saturday Night Live" alum Jenny Slate. As her business-school-prof mother complains at one point, she's a smart, nice Jewish girl who passed her SAT with flying colors. "And now you waste that 720 verbal telling jokes about having diarrhea in your pants." At the Esquire. (Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post) 85 minutes
"The Rover" Australian western. * * * ½ R. Robert Pattinson's squirrely, wounded turn as Rey, a transplanted American in an economically ruined Australia, in David Michod's lean, unforgiving dystopian saga, should go a long way in helping the actor put his identity as the "Twilight" vampire heartthrob to rest. Guy Pearce's performance as Eric, a man unreasonably bent on recovering a car stolen by Rey's brother, Henry, and his accomplices is just as compelling if far more inscrutable. Revenge saga, road movie and post-apocalyptic cautionary tale, "The Rover" finds these very different men hunting down Henry and the others for different, sometimes obscure reasons. "The Rover" has the tang of the Western. Yet, try as we might to fill Eric's laconic loner with some manner of familiar heroism, we are rebuffed. Much like Michôd's astounding feature debut, 2010's "Animal Kingdom," this film tussles with masculinity. When do innocent boys become culpable men? Who shelters, mentors, exploits those innocents? And, like many a postmodern Western, "The Rover" asks what happens on the downslope of Manifest Destiny. The answers are chilling. At the Mayan. (Kennedy) 102 minutes
"22 Jump Street" Comedy. * * * R. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum head back to Metropolitan City to reprise their roles as undercover cops in this follow-up to "21 Jump Street." The film more than plays off sequel inanity. (Sean Fitz-Gerald, The Denver Post) 112 minutes
"Words and Pictures" Comedy. Not rated. The pen may be mightier than the sword, but if a picture is worth a thousand words, who would win in a duel? At the Chez. (Scott Foundas, Variety) 115 minutes
"X-Men: Days of Future Past" Comic book sequel. * * * ½ PG-13. . Director Bryan Singer and writer Simon Kinberg's dynamic installment opens in a dystopian future where bio-robots called Sentinels make swift work of mutants and their human allies. (Kennedy) 124 minutes