Special screenings
Best Picture Film Festival
Through 2/26, all 10 Best Picture Oscar nominees, various days and times, $35. Theaters: GVR, RR
The Big LeBOWLski
2/23, The Big Lebowski screening plus bowling tournament, 9:30 p.m., free. Brooklyn Bowl at the Linq, 702-862-2695.
Day of Action
2/28, Kinsey screening sponsored by UNLV Students United for Reproductive Justice, 6 p.m., free. UNLV Student Union, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway. Info: facebook.com/surjunlv.
Fire at Sea
2/24, documentary screening plus Q&A with experts, 6 p.m., free. CSN Building B, 6375 W. Charleston Blvd. Info: italiano.vegas.
Is Genesis History?
2/23, religious documentary, 7 p.m., $10.50-$12.50. Theaters: SF, SP, VS. Info: fathomevents.com.
The Metropolitan Opera HD Live
2/25, Dvořák’s Rosalka live, 9:55 a.m., $17-$25. Theaters: COL, ORL, SF, SP, ST, VS. 3/1, Dvořák’s Rosalka encore, 6:30 p.m., $16-$23. Theaters: COL, SP, ST, VS. Info: fathomevents.com.
Oscar Movie Week
Through 2/26, all 10 Best Picture Oscar nominees plus Oscar-nominated short films, various days and times, $35. Theaters: SP
Oscar-Nominated Short Films
2/24-2/26, live-action and animated shorts, Fri-Sat 2 & 7 p.m., Sun 2 p.m., $10. Theaters: SC, SP
Saturday Movie Matinee
2/25, 1 p.m., free. Windmill Library, 7060 W. Windmill Lane, 702-507-6036.
Sci Fi Center
Mon, Cinemondays, 8 p.m., free. 2/25, The Rocky Horror Picture Show with live shadow cast, 10 p.m., $10-$25. 5077 Arville St., 855-501-4335, thescificenter.com.
Tuesday Afternoon at the Bijou
Tue, 1 p.m., free. 2/28, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, 702-507-3400.
New this week
Collide (Not reviewed)
Nicholas Hoult, Felicity Jones, Anthony Hopkins. Directed by Eran Creevy. 99 minutes. Rated PG-13. An American in Germany gets in over his head when he agrees to work for a drug dealer.
Theaters: AL, CAN, CH, FH, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SF, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford. Directed by Jordan Peele. 103 minutes. Rated R. A black photographer (Kaluuya) encounters a sinister conspiracy when he visits the family of his white girlfriend (Williams). Peele is mostly successful at balancing comedy, horror and social commentary in his promising debut as a writer-director. The movie never lectures the audience, providing a grotesque exaggeration to highlight very real social problems. —JB
Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Directed by Raoul Peck. 93 minutes. Rated PG-13. This Oscar-nominated documentary takes text from writer James Baldwin (mainly an unfinished 1979 manuscript) as narration for an essay-style examination of race relations in America. Although Baldwin was writing decades ago, his words resonate strongly in the present day, and director Peck matches them up with some powerful imagery. —JB
Theaters: GVR, SC
Rangoon (Not reviewed)
Saif Ali Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut. Directed by Vishal Bhardwaj. 177 minutes. Not rated. In Hindi with English subtitles. During World War II, a woman is torn between her two lovers.
Theaters: VS
Directed by Michael Dudok de Wit. 80 minutes. Rated PG. A Best Animated Feature Oscar nominee, Turtle tells the initially bizarre, ultimately banal story of a man who builds a life on a deserted island with a woman who used to be a sea turtle. There’s no dialogue, which at least helps one to focus on lovely, painterly images of sea and sky. —MD
Theaters: SC
Rock Dog (Not reviewed)
Voices of Luke Wilson, Eddie Izzard, J.K. Simmons. Directed by Ash Brannon. 80 minutes. Rated PG. A dog pursues his dream of becoming a rock star.
Theaters: AL, CAN, CH, COL, FH, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SF, SP, ST, TX, VS
You’re Killing Me Susana 
Gael García Bernal, Verónica Echegui, Ashley Hinshaw. Directed by Roberto Sneider. 100 minutes. Not rated. A Mexican writer (Echegui) leaves her cheating, controlling husband (Bernal) to attend a workshop in the U.S., and he follows her. It’s meant to be a romantic comedy, but the relationship is so toxic and the characters so unlikable that it’s hard to find anything charming or romantic or funny about their inevitable reunion. —JB
Theaters: BS
Now playing
Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons. Directed by Justin Kurzel. 108 minutes. Rated PG-13. The convoluted plot of this disastrous video-game adaptation involves two organizations fighting to possess an ancient device that controls free will, with both modern-day and historical sequences (each starring Fassbender). The plot is incoherent, the tone is ridiculously self-serious and the dialogue is laughable. —JB
Theaters: TC
Dane DeHaan, Jason Isaacs, Mia Goth. Directed by Gore Verbinski. 146 minutes. Rated R. A young, ambitious investment banker (DeHaan) travels to a remote Swiss resort to retrieve his company’s CEO, only to find himself unable to leave. The plot isn’t entirely coherent, but the movie’s lush, carefully composed visual style and slowly building dread make for an enveloping, continually unsettling experience. —JB
Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, DTS, ET, FH, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, SC, SF, SHO, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, Rachel McAdams. Directed by Scott Derrickson. 115 minutes. Rated PG-13. Marvel’s latest superhero movie follows a familiar template in telling the origin story of mystical hero Doctor Strange (Cumberbatch). While the story isn’t groundbreaking, the characters are engaging, the dialogue is snappy, the performances are lively and the special effects are dazzling, making for some astonishing action set pieces. —JB
Theaters: TC
A Dog’s Purpose
K.J. Apa, Dennis Quaid, voice of Josh Gad. Directed by Lasse Hallström. 120 minutes. Rated PG. Gad cloyingly voices the thoughts of a dog who is reincarnated through several lives in this treacly combination of kid-movie animal antics and Nicholas Sparks-style romance. The pacing is uneven, the human characters are one-dimensional and the tone is sappy and manipulative, with multiple tearjerking dog deaths. —JB
Theaters: AL, CH, COL, FH, ORL, RR, SC, SF, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX
Isabelle Huppert, Laurent Lafitte, Anne Consigny. Directed by Paul Verhoeven. 130 minutes. Rated R. In French with English subtitles. The head of a video-game company takes matters into her own hands after being assaulted and raped in Verhoeven’s fascinating, provocative thriller. Huppert is fantastic as a woman empowered by dark experiences, and the movie is graphic and intense without being exploitative (although it eventually runs itself into a narrative dead end). —JB
Theaters: VS
Everybody Loves Somebody 
Karla Souza, Jose Maria Yazpik, Ben O’Toole. Directed by Catalina Aguilar Mastretta. 100 minutes. Rated PG-13. This forgettable and predictable (but occasionally semi-charming) romantic comedy follows a Mexican-American doctor (Souza) torn between her nice-guy co-worker (O’Toole) and her unreliable ex (Yazpik). The story beats are well-worn and the sentiments are clichéd, but the cultural and linguistic shifts between California and Mexico provides some refreshing variation. —JB
Theaters: CAN, ORL, PAL, ST, TS, TX
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 
Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler. Directed by David Yates. 133 minutes. Rated PG-13. This Harry Potter spinoff set in 1926 NYC is an entertaining ride, even if it doesn’t make a case for itself as essential. Wizard Newt Scamander’s quest to recapture his weird, cute and creatively designed beasts is light and fun, but the darker storylines, mostly setting up future installments, are less thrilling. —JB
Theaters: TC
Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Stephen Henderson. Directed by Denzel Washington. 138 minutes. Rated PG-13. Washington’s adaptation of August Wilson’s 1983 Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a working-class African-American family in 1950s Pittsburgh feels entirely stage-bound and artificial, with set design and performances that might make sense for live theater, but which come across as stilted and ineffective onscreen. —JB
Theaters: GVR, VS
Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Marcia Gay Harden. Directed by James Foley. 115 minutes. Rated R. The second movie based on E.L. James’ series of erotic novels immediately reunites billionaire sadist Christian Grey and naive college grad Anastasia Steele. The relative lack of conflict between the main characters is just one of the reasons that Darker ends up as possibly the most boring movie ever made about kinky sex. —JB
Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, DTS, ET, FH, GVL, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Ice Cube, Charlie Day, Jillian Bell. Directed by Richie Keen. 91 minutes. Rated R. There’s almost nothing to like about this comedy starring Cube as an angry history teacher who challenges Day’s nervous English teacher to a fight after a misunderstanding gets the former fired. It’s dreadful, with unpleasant characters, moronic jokes, a paper-thin plot and a disingenuous message that pretends to excuse the repetitive vulgarity. —JB
Theaters: AL, CAN, CH, COL, ET, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Michael Keaton, Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch. Directed by John Lee Hancock. 115 minutes. Rated PG-13. The story of how businessman Ray Kroc essentially stole the McDonald’s empire has the makings of a fascinatingly dark drama. The filmmakers only get about halfway there, though, seemingly not quite sure whether they want to make a tribute to one of America’s most beloved brands or expose the dark underbelly of its origins. —JB
Theaters: COL, VS
Matt Damon, Tian Jing, Pedro Pascal. Directed by Zhang Yimou. 103 minutes. Rated PG-13. This American-Chinese co-production is carefully composed to provide an equally inoffensive balance for both markets, ending up with the worst of both worlds. Damon sports a terrible, constantly varying accent as an 11th-century European trader who comes to China and ends up in a fight against crappy CGI monsters. —JB
Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, ET, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Taraji P. Henson, Kevin Costner, Octavia Spencer. Directed by Theodore Melfi. 127 minutes. Rated PG. The story of three real-life black women who overcame prejudice while working at NASA in the early days of the space program is told with cheesy, crowd-pleasing moments that often simplify and diminish the struggles that the real people endured. Eventually its account of actual triumph over adversity becomes chintzy and disingenuous. —JB
Theaters: AL, FH, GVR, ORL, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Natalie Portman, Billy Crudup, Peter Sarsgaard. Directed by Pablo Larrain. 100 minutes. Rated R. This biopic of former First Lady Jackie Kennedy (Portman) takes place in the days following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The arch style may put off viewers looking for a conventional tribute, but director Larrain offers something more meaningful and lasting, an impressionistic portrait that says more in images than in words. —JB
Theaters: COL
Keanu Reeves, Riccardo Scamarcio, Ruby Rose. Directed by Chad Stahelski. 122 minutes. Rated R. Reeves returns as the weary, unstoppable assassin who just wants to retire in peace, this time drawn back into action by an Italian mob boss. The story lacks the laser focus of the original, and the increased emphasis on franchise-building is a distraction, but Stahelski still knows how to stage stunning action sequences. —JB
Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, DTS, ET, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Emma Suárez, Adriana Ugarte, Daniel Grao. Directed by Pedro Almodóvar. 99 minutes. Rated R. In Spanish with English subtitles. Almodóvar returns to more subdued territory in this drama based on three short stories, featuring Suárez and Ugarte playing the title character at different points in her life. Julieta is a bit meandering and digressive, but Almodóvar’s skill at portraying vibrant female characters serves him well, and the lead actresses are excellent. —JB
Theaters: SC
Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, John Legend. Directed by Damien Chazelle. 128 minutes. Rated PG-13. Stone and Gosling are so terrific together, as an aspiring actress and a jazz pianist struggling to realize their respective dreams in cutthroat Los Angeles, that one can sort of forgive this being a throwback musical in which neither lead is a first-rate singer or dancer. —MD
Theaters: AL, DTS, GVR, ORL, SC, SF, SP, SS, ST, TS, VS
Voices of Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Zach Galifianakis. Directed by Chris McKay. 104 minutes. Rated PG. This animated spinoff of The Lego Movie, starring Arnett’s vain, arrogant version of Batman, retains much of its predecessor’s charm, packing in nonstop visual and verbal jokes while telling a simple, fun story with some solid lessons for the family audience. —JB
Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, DTS, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, TS, TX
Sunny Pawar, Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman. Directed by Garth Davis. 118 minutes. Rated PG-13. Based on a true story, Lion stars Patel as a young man who was raised in Australia (Kidman plays his mom) after getting hopelessly lost at age 5, but who uses Google Earth in an effort to locate the tiny village in India where he was born. Sluggish at the start, moving by the end. —MD
Theaters: AL, CH, FH, GVR, ORL, RP, SF, ST, TX, VS
Casey Affleck, Lucas Hedges, Kyle Chandler. Directed by Kenneth Lonergan. 137 minutes. Rated R. Lonergan’s superb third feature (following the equally terrific You Can Count on Me and Margaret) stars Affleck—now a Best Actor frontrunner—as a janitor with a tragic past who unexpectedly finds himself tasked with caring for his teenage nephew (Hedges). Funny and heartbreaking. —MD
Theaters: COL
Voices of Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Rachel House. Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker. 113 minutes. Rated PG. Influenced by Polynesian mythology, Moana is a pleasant but not particularly distinctive addition to the Disney animated princess canon, with the title character (Cravalho) seeking out a buffoonish demigod (Johnson) in order to save her island home. The animation is lovely, but the songs and the plot are mediocre. —JB
Theaters: COL, TC
Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes. Directed by Barry Jenkins. 110 minutes. Rated R. Divided into three segments, Moonlight follows the introverted, gay Chiron as a kid, a teenager and a young man, coming to terms with his identity growing up in one of Miami’s poorest African-American neighborhoods. It’s rooted in real details, and each segment (even the slow-moving final third) achieves its own grace. —JB
Theaters: SC
My Ex and Whys (Not reviewed)
Liza Soberano, Enrique Gil, Joey Marquez. Directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina. 120 minutes. Not rated. In Filipino with English subtitles. After flirting online, two social media stars decide to meet in person.
Theaters: ORL, VS
Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Sheen. Directed by Morten Tyldum. 116 minutes. Rated PG-13. Pratt and Lawrence are passengers on an interstellar voyage who come out of suspended animation 90 years too early in this muddled sci-fi misfire. Neither the romance nor the action is particularly convincing; the stars have minimal chemistry, and the sci-fi plotting of the climax is rushed and full of holes. —JB
Theaters: TC
Adam Driver, Golshifteh Farahani, Barry Shabaka Henley. Directed by Jim Jarmusch. 118 minutes. Rated R. Jarmusch’s latest structural gem observes a week in the life of Paterson (Driver), a professional bus driver and amateur poet from Paterson, New Jersey. Virtually plotless and deliberately repetitive, the film is a lovely portrait of the inspiration that artists take from daily life. —MD
Theaters: SC
Matilda Lutz, Alex Roe, Johnny Galecki. Directed by F. Javier Gutiérrez. 102 minutes. Rated PG-13. In this long-delayed third Ring movie, a bland teenager (Lutz) and a college professor (Galecki) encounter the cursed videotape and go in search of soggy ghost girl Samara’s horrific history. Apart from a standalone opening sequence set on an airplane, the film just traffics in the usual clichéd jump scares. —MD
Theaters: AL, BS, PAL, RR, SF, ST, TS, TX
Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn. Directed by Gareth Edwards. 133 minutes. Rated PG-13. This Star Wars prequel/spinoff, set just before the events of the original 1977 movie, struggles between fan-pleasing callbacks and telling its own story, about a group of Rebels stealing the plans to the Death Star. Although the individual elements are uneven, they come together in an entertaining and satisfying way. —JB
Theaters: ST, TS, VS
Voices of Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson. Directed by Garth Jennings. 110 minutes. Rated PG. In a city full of anthropomorphic animals, a koala stage impresario (McConaughey) mounts a singing competition to save his failing theater. The story evokes the “let’s put on a show” narratives of classic musicals, but the style is all crass 2016 Hollywood, with a soundtrack full of squeaky-clean, soulless versions of pop songs. —JB
Theaters: COL, ST
Asa Butterfield, Britt Robertson, Gary Oldman. Directed by Peter Chelsom. 121 minutes. Rated PG-13. Space starts with an intriguing concept, about a teenager born during a mission to Mars traveling to Earth for the first time, but the science is sidelined in favor of a Nicholas Sparks-style romance (between the Martian teen and an Earth girl), with cheesy sentiment in place of philosophical concerns. —JB
Theaters: COL
James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Betty Buckley. Directed by M. Night Shyamalan. 117 minutes. Rated PG-13. Shyamalan’s tense thriller keeps up the suspense for its entire running time, telling the story of three teen girls abducted by a man with 23 personalities. It’s another step on Shyamalan’s comeback, telling a sometimes familiar horror story with confidence and a surprising amount of depth. —JB
Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, ET, FH, GVR, ORL, PAL, RR, SC, SF, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Sandra Hüller, Peter Simonischek, Michael Wittenborn. Directed by Maren Ade. 162 minutes. Rated R. In German with English subtitles. An Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, this nearly three-hour German comedy—yes, really!—concerns a prankster dad who creates a ludicrous alter ego in an attempt to cheer up his high-strung, workaholic adult daughter. Its transcendent mix of hilarity and poignancy will be hard to replicate, though Hollywood intends to try. —MD
Theaters: VS
Voices of Justin Timberlake, Anna Kendrick, Zooey Deschanel. Directed by Mike Mitchell. 92 minutes. Rated PG. This animated adventure based on the tiny, colorful, tall-haired dolls manages to avoid being crass, showcasing some cute characters and amusing situations in the process. It’s mostly forgettable and sloppily plotted, but for kids entertained by bright colors and catchy music, it will be a great time-passer. —JB
Theaters: TC
Un Padre No Tan Padre (Not reviewed)
Héctor Bonilla, Benny Ibarra, Jacqueline Bracamontes. Directed by Raúl Martínez. 94 minutes. Rated PG-13. In Spanish with English subtitles. An elderly man must adjust to a progressive lifestyle when he’s forced to move in with his estranged son.
Theaters: TX
Bryan Cranston, James Franco, Zoey Deutch. Directed by Jon Hamburg. 111 minutes. Rated R. With Why Him? director John Hamburg repeats an old and odious formula, the “uptight square versus aggravating free spirit.” The movie contains the usual bits of forced, stupid humor, and it will be quickly forgotten, but, thanks to stars Cranston and Franco, unexpectedly, the occasional moment of genuine, human humor sometimes slips through. —JMA
Theaters: RP, SC, TC, TS
Vin Diesel, Donnie Yen, Toni Collette. Directed by D.J. Caruso. 107 minutes. Rated PG-13. Diesel’s extreme sports-loving secret agent Xander Cage belatedly returns for this moronic and unnecessary action sequel. The story lazily throws in a few plot twists that allow Cage to team up with former associates and enemies, but it’s just an excuse for a series of over-the-top action sequences that mostly fail to deliver. —JB
Theaters: ST
JMA Jeffrey M. Anderson; JB Josh Bell; MD Mike D’Angelo
Theaters
(AL) Regal Aliante
7300 Aliante Parkway, North Las Vegas, 844-462-7342 ext. 4011
(BS) Regal Boulder Station
4111 Boulder Highway, 844-462-7342 ext. 269
(CAN) Galaxy Cannery
2121 E. Craig Road, North Las Vegas, 702-639-9779
(CH) Cinedome Henderson
851 S. Boulder Highway, Henderson, 702-566-1570
(COL) Regal Colonnade
8880 S. Eastern Ave., 844-462-7342 ext. 270
(DI) Las Vegas Drive-In
4150 W. Carey Ave., North Las Vegas, 702-646-3565
(DTS) Regal Downtown Summerlin
2070 Park Center Drive, 844-462-7342 ext. 4063
(ET) Eclipse Theaters
814 S. Third St., 702-816-4300
(FH) Regal Fiesta Henderson
777 W. Lake Mead Parkway, Henderson, 844-462-7342 ext. 1772
(GVR) Regal Green Valley Ranch
2300 Paseo Verde Parkway, Henderson, 844-462-7342 ext. 267
(GVL) Galaxy Green Valley Luxury+
4500 E. Sunset Road, Henderson, 702-442-0244
(ORL) Century Orleans
4500 W. Tropicana Ave., 702-889-1220
(PAL) Brenden Theatres at the Palms
4321 W. Flamingo Road, 702-507-4849
(RP) AMC Rainbow Promenade
2321 N. Rainbow Blvd., 888-262-4386
(RR) Regal Red Rock
11011 W. Charleston Blvd., 844-462-7342 ext. 1756
(ST) Century Sam’s Town
5111 Boulder Highway, 702-547-1732
(SF) Century Santa Fe Station
4949 N. Rancho Drive, 702-655-8178
(SHO) United Artists Showcase
3769 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 844-462-7342 ext. 522
(SP) Century South Point
9777 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 702-260-4061
(SC) Century Suncoast
9090 Alta Drive, 702-869-1880
(SS) Regal Sunset Station
1301-A W. Sunset Road, Henderson, 844-462-7342 ext. 268
(TX) Regal Texas Station
2101 Texas Star Lane, North Las Vegas, 844-462-7342 ext. 271
(TS) AMC Town Square
6587 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 702-362-7283
(TC) Regency Tropicana Cinemas
3330 E. Tropicana Ave., 702-438-3456
(VS) Regal Village Square
9400 W. Sahara Ave., 844-462-7342 ext. 272
