Final Portrait, Leaning Into the Wind: Andy Goldsworthy
Amy Schumer headlining a high-concept rom-com and a long-time-coming comedy sequel hit multiplexes ahead of the Avengers onslaught, and art houses feature a brutal action thriller and a long-time-coming documentary sequel. I Feel Pretty (pictured) showcases Schumer and a terrific supporting cast in a story that could use a few more jokes.
A fascinating musical is more than just the sum of its songs.
The touring company of Hamilton arrives in Salt Lake City with the ferocious buzz of a superstar pop band coming to town—but a piece of theater isn't the same as a group coming on stage to play the hits. There are things you can't know about a show simply by listening to the songs, no matter how many times you listen to them.
Beirut, Finding Your Feet, Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero
Mutant animals invade multiplexes this weekend, while art house offerings include a fictionalized account of a classic sports rivalry, a complex Israeli drama and a feel-good dramedy about sparring sisters. Rampage's tale of giant animals attacking Chicago is sluggish enough at times that giant animals begin to feel like the least implausible thing about it.
A monster thriller and broad comedy lead the entries at local multiplexes, while the art houses offer stop-motion from Wes Anderson and the pairing of Donald Sutherland and Helen Mirren. Director/co-writer/star John Krasinski has a crackling suspense thriller in A Quiet Place (pictured), right up until it faces The Monster Problem.
Steve Spielberg and pop-culture nostalgia dominate the multiplexes this Easter weekend, while art house offering include an Oscar-nominated Russian drama and a unique animated caper thriller.
A sequel to a feature by Oscar-winner Guillermo del Toro—except without del Toro—leads off the multiplex offerings, while local art-house fare includes a blistering political satire from the creator of Veep. Pacific Rim: Uprising (pictured) loses the director's giddy monster mayhem, but finds perhaps the best Transformers movie yet.
A full post-Oscars week for local releases includes the winner for Foreign Language Film, genre thrillers from Ireland and Japan, and a much-anticipated adaptation of a classic fantasy novel. Director Ava DuVernay's version of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time (pictured) overcomes sluggishness to deliver its empowering message with unsettling visual imagination.
There's a certain freedom that comes from not attempting to puzzle a creative work out logically. Jennifer Nii's The Weird Play erupts from some place deep in the creative amygdala, a questing exposed nerve of a play that's both simpler and more complicated than any synopsis could distill.
