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Short Takes: Movie listings and reviews for January 18

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Den of Thieves
Courtesy
Josh Bell, Mike D'Angelo, Jeffrey M. Anderson

Special screenings

Bolshoi Ballet

1/21, Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet live from Moscow, 12:55 p.m., $16-$18. Theaters: COL, ORL, SF, SP, ST, VS. Info: fathomevents.com.

Dread Central Presents

1/25, Zombiology: Enjoy Yourself Tonight, 7 p.m., $16. Eclipse Theaters.

Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival

Through 1/28, feature films and documentaries related to Jewish culture and history, times and locations vary, $10 per screening. Info: lvjff.org.

Mary and the Witch’s Flower Premiere Event

1/18, Japanese animated movie plus bonus features, 7 p.m. dubbed, 8 p.m. subtitled, $13-$15. Theaters: COL, ORL, RR, SF, ST, VS. Info: fathomevents.com.

Millennium Fandom Bar

1/24, Iron Man 2, 6 p.m., free. 900 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 702-405-0816.

Mob Month Movie

1/19, Live By Night, 2 p.m., free. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, 702-507-3459.

Movie Matinee

1/19, 2 p.m., free. Summerlin Library, 1771 Inner Circle Drive, 702-507-3866.

Sci Fi Center

Mon, Cinemondays, 8 p.m., free. 1/20, Terror Firmer, 8 p.m., $5. 1/23, Class of Nuke ’Em High, Tromeo & Juliet, plus Q&A with filmmaker Lloyd Kaufman, 8 p.m., $10-$15. 5077 Arville St., 855-501-4335, thescificenter.com.

Tommy Wiseau’s The Room

1/19, movie plus bonus features, 7 p.m., $10.50-$12.50. Theaters: ORL, SC, SF, ST. Info: fathomevents.com.

Tuesday Afternoon at the Bijou

Tue, 1 p.m., free. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, 702-507-3400.

New this week

12 Strong Two stars

Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon, Michael Peña. Directed by Nicolai Fuglsig. 129 minutes. Rated R. Hemsworth plays an Army Special Forces captain who led a classified mission into Afghanistan in the weeks following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The rest of the squad members are mostly interchangeable, their opponents are faceless cannon fodder, and the action sequences are chaotic and cluttered. —JB

Theaters: AL, CAN, CH, COL, DI, ET, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SF, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS

Call Me by Your Name Three and a half stars

Timothée Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg. Directed by Luca Guadagnino. 132 minutes. Rated R. There’s a languid vibe to this nostalgic romance between teenager Elio (Chalamet) and grad student Oliver (Hammer) in a small Italian town in summer 1983. It’s a sensual celebration of young love and lust, and Chalamet is fantastic as the young man fumbling through exploring his identity. —JB

Theaters: AL, DTS, FH, GVR, SC, TS

Den of Thieves (Not reviewed)

Gerard Butler, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Pablo Schreiber. Directed by Christian Gudegast. 140 minutes. Rated R. An elite LA police unit faces off against a gang of bank robbers.

Theaters: AL, CAN, COL, DI, ET, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SF, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS

The Ex-File 3: Return of the Exes (Not reviewed)

Han Geng, Ryan Zheng, Kelly Yu. Directed by Yu-sheng Tian. 120 minutes. Not rated. In Mandarin with English subtitles. Two friends break up with their girlfriends to enjoy the single life, but soon regret their decisions.

Theaters: TS

Forever My Girl (Not reviewed)

Alex Roe, Jessica Rothe, John Benjamin Hickey. Directed by Bethany Ashton Wolf. 104 minutes. Rated PG. A country music star returns to his hometown and reconnects with his ex-fiancée.

Theaters: CAN, COL, SF, ST, TS, VS

Mary and the Witch’s Flower (Not reviewed)

Voices of Ruby Barnhill, Kate Winslet, Jim Broadbent. Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi. 102 minutes. Rated PG. A young girl staying with her great-aunt in the countryside discovers a hidden magical world.

Theaters: COL, ORL, VS

Mom and Dad (Not reviewed)

Nicolas Cage, Selma Blair, Anne Winters. Directed by Brian Taylor. 83 minutes. Rated R. A teenage girl must deal with a sudden epidemic that causes parents to murder their children.

Theaters: PAL

Phantom Thread Four stars

Daniel Day-Lewis, Vicky Krieps, Lesley Manville. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. 130 minutes. Rated R. Day-Lewis gives another great performance—reportedly his last—in another collaboration with director Anderson (There Will Be Blood). This time, Day-Lewis plays a ruthless British fashion designer in 1950s London who enters into a perverse battle of wills with his latest paramour (a star-making turn by relative newcomer Krieps). —MD

Theaters: DTS, GVR, SP, TS, VS

Now playing

1987: When the Day Comes (Not reviewed)

Kim Yun-seok, Ha Jung-woo, Yoo Hae-jin. Directed by Jang Joon-hwan. 129 minutes. Not rated. In Korean with English subtitles. Fact-based drama about protests against the police killing of a student activist in 1987 South Korea.

Theaters: VS

All the Money in the World Three and a half stars

Michelle Williams, Mark Wahlberg, Christopher Plummer. Directed by Ridley Scott. 132 minutes. Rated R. Scott’s slick, tense film about the 1973 kidnapping of J. Paul Getty III is sometimes overly concerned with laying out every detail of the case, but it features a number of taut, suspenseful set pieces and strong performances from Williams (as the kidnapped teen’s mother) and Plummer (as his wealthy, miserly grandfather). —JB

Theaters: COL, SC, TX

Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds (Not reviewed)

Ha Jung-woo, Cha Tae-hyun, Ju Ji-hoon. Directed by Kim Yong-Hwa. 139 minutes. Not rated. In Korean with English subtitles. After his sudden death, a firefighter navigates the afterlife with the help of three guides.

Theaters: VS

Ang Panday (Not reviewed)

Coco Martin, Awra Briguela, Jake Cuenca. Directed by Coco Martin. 128 minutes. Not rated. In Filipino with English subtitles. The grandson of a great hero must fulfill his destiny and save humanity from an evil demon.

Theaters: ORL

A Bad Moms Christmas Two stars

Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn. Directed by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. 104 minutes. Rated R. It’s barely November, but last year’s trio of bad moms (Kunis, Bell and Hahn) are already coping with the holidays—and with their own respective bad moms (Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines and Susan Sarandon). Just like the original, but louder and cruder. It’s a comedy sequel. —MD

Theaters: TC

Blade Runner 2049 Three and a half stars

Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks. Directed by Denis Villeneuve. 163 minutes. Rated R. The long-awaited sci-fi sequel, starring Gosling as an android cop investigating a case that eventually (after many detours) leads to original blade runner Deckard (Harrison Ford), is moody, methodical and meticulous, with stunning visuals, strong performances and an overlong sci-fi story that’s more ponderous than thrilling. —JB

Theaters: TC

Coco Three and a half stars

Voices of Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt. Directed by Lee Unkrich. 109 minutes. Rated PG. Young Miguel gets trapped in the land of the dead during the Mexican Dia de los Muertos holiday in Pixar’s bright, family-friendly animated movie. Miguel’s quest is a mostly simple story about family bonds, but the journey is still well worth taking, thanks to the gorgeously realized world. —JB

Theaters: CAN, CH, COL, DI, ORL, ST, TS, TX, VS

The Commuter Two and a half stars

Liam Neeson, Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. 104 minutes. Rated PG-13. The fourth collaboration between Neeson and Collet-Serra continues in the same tradition, with some swift action, some creative visual touches and a committed lead performance from Neeson, built around a far-fetched high concept (set aboard a commuter train) that gets sillier and more convoluted (and less exciting) as the movie progresses. —JB

Theaters: AL, CAN, CH, COL, DI, ET, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SF, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS

Condorito: The Movie (Not reviewed)

Voices of Omar Chaparro, Jessica Cediel, Cristián de la Fuente. Directed by Alex Orrelle and Eduardo Schuldt. 88 minutes. Rated PG. In Spanish with English subtitles. Popular Chilean comic-strip character Condorito, an anthropomorphic condor, stars in his first movie, as he attempts to save the planet from an alien invasion.

Theaters: CAN, TX

Daddy’s Home 2 (Not reviewed)

Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Linda Cardellini. Directed by Sean Anders. 100 minutes. Rated PG-13. The shared parenthood of former rivals Brad (Ferrell) and Dusty (Wahlberg) is challenged when their own dads (played by John Lithgow and Mel Gibson) come to visit.

Theaters: TC

Darkest Hour Three stars

Gary Oldman, Lily James, Ben Mendelsohn. Directed by Joe Wright. 125 minutes. Rated PG-13. Oldman’s astounding transformation into Winston Churchill is Darkest Hour’s main selling point, but there’s compelling drama in its portrait of the prime minister’s crucial first weeks on the job, as he orchestrates the evacuation of Dunkirk and is pressured to negotiate with Hitler. Too bad an invented sequence toward the end shamelessly betrays history. —MD

Theaters: AL, BS, FH, GVR, RR, SC, SF, SP, SS, TX

The Disaster Artist Three stars

James Franco, Dave Franco, Alison Brie. Directed by James Franco. 103 minutes. Rated PG-13. Franco’s film about the making of notorious cult movie The Room is more of a loving tribute than an exposé. People unfamiliar with The Room may be underwhelmed by this mildly affecting story of friendship among misfits, but Franco packs the cast with enough comedy ringers to make the movie consistently amusing. —JB

Theaters: COL, SC

Ferdinand Two stars

Voices of John Cena, Kate McKinnon, Bobby Cannavale. Directed by Carlos Saldanha. 106 minutes. Rated PG. This loose adaptation of the beloved children’s book features Cena voicing the title character, a kind-hearted, nature-loving, non-confrontational bull who shuns fighting. The jokes are mostly painful, the voice work is perfunctory and the story’s themes are muddled. Even the animation and character designs are second-rate. —JB

Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, COL, DI, SF, ST, TS, TX, VS

Geostorm (Not reviewed)

Gerard Butler, Jim Sturgess, Abbie Cornish. Directed by Dean Devlin. 109 minutes. Rated PG-13. A network of weather-controlling satellites is hijacked, causing worldwide disaster.

Theaters: TC

The Greatest Showman Two and a half stars

Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Zac Efron. Directed by Michael Gracey. 105 minutes. Rated PG. As sugary and insubstantial as cotton candy, this old-fashioned musical turns the life of circus pioneer P.T. Barnum (Jackman) into an all-singing, all-dancing extravaganza that bears essentially no resemblance to reality. It’s a cloyingly inspirational story about following your dreams, with bombastic, overproduced songs that sound more like modern pop than Broadway standards. —JB

Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, FH, GVL, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS

Happy Death Day Three stars

Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Ruby Modine. Directed by Christopher Landon. 96 minutes. Rated PG-13. A spoiled sorority girl (Rothe) relives the day of her murder over and over again in this surprisingly entertaining (if completely silly) horror movie. The filmmakers have fun with the goofy premise, and Rothe gives a winning performance as the seemingly vapid hero who embraces her supernatural fate. —JB

Theaters: TC

Insidious: The Last Key Two stars

Lin Shaye, Angus Sampson, Leigh Whannell. Directed by Adam Robitel. 103 minutes. Rated PG-13. The fourth movie in the Insidious series is actually a sequel to the 2015 prequel, focusing on Shaye’s paranormal investigator as she returns to her haunted childhood home. It’s full of cheap jump scares, slapdash plotting, painful comic relief and shaky performances, making clear that the creators have exhausted all their meager ideas. —JB

Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, DI, FH, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS

I, Tonya Four stars

Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney. Directed by Craig Gillespie. 119 minutes. Rated R. This sharp, entertaining biopic about disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding (Robbie) uses dark comedy, fractured timelines, conflicting first-person accounts and re-creations of actual news footage to rehabilitate and reassess Harding without ever letting her off the hook for her bad behavior. —JB

Theaters: DTS, GVR, SC, ST, TS, VS

Jigsaw One and a half stars

Matt Passmore, Callum Keith Rennie, Hannah Emily Anderson. Directed by Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig. 92 minutes. Rated R. The Saw horror series returns after a long hiatus with no new ideas, merely rehashing the same elaborate death traps and moralistic lessons, and further convoluting the back story of serial killer Jigsaw. The performances are especially bad, and even the gore is uninspired. —JB

Theaters: TC

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle Three stars

Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black. Directed by Jake Kasdan. 119 minutes. Rated PG-13. This quasi-sequel to 1995’s Jumanji boasts a fresh take on the central premise (changing the jungle-adventure board game that comes to life into a video game that pulls players inside its world), some surprisingly sharp writing and a talented, enthusiastic cast with genuine chemistry. —JB

Theaters: AL, CAN, CH, COL, DI, ET, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SF, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS

Justice League Two and a half stars

Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller. Directed by Zack Snyder. 121 minutes. Rated PG-13. This team-up of DC’s biggest superheroes is a simple, streamlined superhero story, with one hero (Affleck’s Batman) gathering others (including Wonder Woman and Aquaman) to take on a world-ending threat. The action is rote, the special effects are surprisingly poor, and the character interactions are only occasionally entertaining. —JB

Theaters: BS, COL, VS

Lady Bird Three and a half stars

Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Beanie Feldstein. Directed by Greta Gerwig. 93 minutes. Rated R. Gerwig’s solo writing and directing debut follows many of the familiar beats of the teenage coming-of-age story, but Gerwig gives it a personal specificity that sets it apart, depicting the sullen, sensitive title character (Ronan) with a low-key authenticity and a sharp (but not unrealistic) wit. —JB

Theaters: GVR, PAL, RR, TX, VS

Molly’s Game Three and a half stars

Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner. Directed by Aaron Sorkin. 140 minutes. Rated R. Chastain’s Molly Bloom is a prime Sorkin protagonist, a type-A overachiever who makes millions of dollars running underground poker games for the ultra-wealthy. Based on the real-life Bloom’s memoir, the smart, witty movie charts her rise and fall, and is more entertaining at its dizzying heights than at its sometimes heavy-handed emotional lows. —JB

Theaters: AL, BS, DTS, GVR, ORL, PAL, RR, SC, SF, SP, SS, TX

Murder on the Orient Express Two and a half stars

Kenneth Branagh, Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley. Directed by Kenneth Branagh. 114 minutes. Rated PG-13. Director and star Branagh never quite finds a good reason for yet another screen version of Agatha Christie’s famous 1934 mystery novel starring snooty Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. He packs the cast with stars and adds distracting visual flair, but it’s all just window dressing for a musty, exposition-filled plot. —JB

Theaters: TC

Paddington 2 Three stars

Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, voice of Ben Whishaw. Directed by Paul King. 103 minutes. Rated PG. Lovable talking bear Paddington returns, this time finding himself framed for grand theft by an unscrupulous actor (Hugh Grant, delightfully hamming it up) and forced to clear his name. It’s a gentle and whimsical story, with bright, inventive visuals and warm, endearing characters. —JB

Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, DI, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SP, SS, TS, TX

Pitch Perfect 3 Two stars

Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow. Directed by Trish Sie. 93 minutes. Rated PG-13. What was once a light, fun comedy about college a cappella singers (now reunited for a USO tour) has turned into a globe-trotting espionage story, complete with action sequences. The mess of half-formed subplots, useless new characters and underwhelming musical numbers prove that the filmmakers are thoroughly out of ideas. —JB

Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, ORL, PAL, RR, SC, SF, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS

The Post Three and a half stars

Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Bob Odenkirk. Directed by Steven Spielberg. 115 minutes. Rated PG-13. Spielberg’s rousing (if occasionally cheesy) drama about The Washington Post’s decision to publish the Pentagon Papers in 1971 focuses on the executives making tough calls, especially an excellent Streep as Post president and publisher Kay Graham, a woman asserting her rightful place in an overwhelmingly male-dominated world. —JB

Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, FH, GVL, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS

Proud Mary (Not reviewed)

Taraji P. Henson, Billy Brown, Danny Glover. Directed by Babak Najafi. 89 minutes. Rated R. A professional hitwoman takes a young boy under her protection.

Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, DI, ET, FH, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SP, SS, TS, TX

The Shape of Water Three stars

Sally Hawkins, Richard Jenkins, Michael Shannon. Directed by Guillermo del Toro. 123 minutes. Rated R. A mute woman falling in love with a sea monster sounds like the storyline for a bad B-movie, not a sensitive and visually accomplished fantasy drama. But del Toro manages to make that premise into something beautiful and occasionally moving, if not quite as emotionally rich as it aims to be. —JB

Theaters: GVR, ORL, SF, ST, TS, VS

The Star (Not reviewed)

Voices of Steven Yeun, Aidy Bryant, Keegan-Michael Key. Directed by Timothy Reckart. 86 minutes. Rated PG. A group of animals led by an intrepid donkey play an important part in the birth of Jesus Christ.

Theaters: TC

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Three stars

Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver. Directed by Rian Johnson. 152 minutes. Rated PG-13. The second installment in the Star Wars sequel trilogy offers less comforting familiarity, but writer-director Johnson doesn’t quite have a handle on how to take the beloved sci-fi franchise effectively into (relatively) uncharted territory. He does his best work when he stops trying for narrative complexity and just stages some cool outer-space action. —JB

Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, DTS, ET, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SP, SS, TS, TX

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Two and a half stars

Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson. Directed by Martin McDonagh. 115 minutes. Rated R. McDonagh’s third film, starring McDormand as the outraged mother of a murdered teen, is quite taken with its own cleverness, to the detriment of storytelling and characterization. The strong performances smooth over some of the rough spots, but not enough to make up for the shifts in motivation and tone. —JB

Theaters: AL, BS, COL, RR, SC, ST, TX

Wonder Three stars

Jacob Tremblay, Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson. Directed by Stephen Chbosky. 113 minutes. Rated PG. Adapted from R.J. Palacio’s 2012 children’s book about a 10-year-old boy (Room’s Tremblay) born with facial disfigurements, Wonder observes the fallout when his parents (Roberts and Wilson) finally decide it’s time for him to attend school with his peers. It’s partly a complex drama, partly an earnest anti-bullying PSA. —MD

Theaters: TX, VS

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

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