New movies showing in Minneapolis
By Wendy Schadewald (Rating system: 4=Don’t miss, 3=Good, 2=Worth a look, 1=Forget it)
“Finding Dory” (PG) (4)
[Mild thematic elements.] — When a lonely, tenacious blue tang fish (voiceover by Ellen DeGeneres) with short-term memory loss is desperate to find her parents (voiceovers by Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy) in this delightful, poignant, humorous, colorful, family-oriented, visually stunning, star-studded (voiceovers by Idris Elba Dominic West, Bill Hader, Willem Dafoe, Sigourney Weaver, John Ratzenberger, Allison Janney, Brad Garrett, Stephen Root, and Kate McKinnon), 3D, 97-minute animated sequel to the 2003 hit “Finding Nemo,” numerous creatures, including two clownfish (voiceovers by Albert Brooks and Hayden Rolence), a mischievous octopus (voiceovers by Ed O’Neill) trying to get to Cleveland, a nearsighted whale shark (voiceover by Kaitlin Olson), and a beluga whale (voiceover by Ty Burrell), come to her aid to search the California Marine Life Institute and the open ocean.
“Free State of Jones” (R) (3.5)
[Brutal battle scenes and disturbing graphic images.] — When rebellious, disillusioned, Mississippi farmer turned Union soldier Newt Knight (Matthew McConaughey) abandons his military duties after the death of his teenage son (Jacob Lofland) during the Civil War in 1862 and returns home to his wife (Keri Russell) and infant son in this gut-wrenching, riveting, well-acted, factually based, 139-minute film, he ends up hiding in the swamps with other soldiers (Sean Bridgers, Christopher Berry, Dane Rhodes, et al.) and slaves (Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mahershala Ali, Donald Watkins, Troy Hogan, et al.) whom he rallies together to fight the Confederate Army (Wayne Pére, et al.) and to secede Jones County from the Confederacy.
“The Neon Demon” (R) (1.5)
[Disturbing violent content, bloody images, graphic nudity, a scene of aberrant sexuality, and language.] — Jealousy and violence ensues in this exceedingly bizarre, disturbing, unpredictable, star-dotted (Keanu Reeves, Christina Hendricks, and Alessandro Nivola), 117-minute film when a beautiful, virginal, naive, 16-year-old girl (Ella Fanning) arrives in Los Angeles to try her hand at modeling and quickly gets seduced by its cutthroat world, and then she finds herself befriended by a lesbian makeup artist (Jena Malone) and two bitchy models (Bella Heathcote and Abby Lee) with ulterior motives.
“Piper” (G) (3.5)
A charming, touching, cute, 6-minute animated Disney film about a frightened, hungry, baby sandpiper bird that learns how to forage and find clams to eat from a young sand crab; shows with the film “Finding Dory.”
On DVD
“Broken English” (PG-13) (2.5)
[Some sexual content, brief drug use, and language.] — After a series of bad dates with men (Justin Theroux, Josh Hamilton, et al.) of questionable character and her nagging mother (Gena Rowlands) meddling in her love life in this uneven, dark, and somewhat contrived, 93-minute, 2007 romantic film, a skeptical and unlucky-in-love special services director (Parker Posey) for an upscale Manhattan hotel heads to Paris with her best friend (Drea De Matteo) to take a chance on love with a Frenchman (Melvil Poupaud).
“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” (PG-13) (3)
[Sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images.] — While fifth-year wizard Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) secretly begins to train other students (Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Cho Chang, Evanna Lynch, et al.) in the art of self-defense magic when a tyrannical, kid-hating, order-loving sorceress (Imelda Stanton) forbids using defensive magic after replacing Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) as headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in this darker, ominous, 138-minute, 2007 sequel, dark Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) plans his attack.
“Introducing the Dwights” (R) (2.5)
[Sexual content and language.] — Bitterness, resentment, and fear take center stage in this quirky, dark, 105-minute, 20007 Australian comedy when a divorced canteen cook (Brenda Blethyn) in Sydney, who sidelines as a bawdy standup comedian and has sacrificed her dream to care for her mentally challenged son (Richard Wilson), learns that her older son (Khan Chittenden) on whom she has grown increasingly dependent has fallen in love with a high-spirited blonde (Emma Booth).
“Labyrinth” (PG) (2.5)
Superb puppets and special effects by Jim Henson and George Lucas highlight this visually stunning, 101-minute 1986 fantasy about a guilt-ridden 15-year-old girl (Jennifer Connelly) who must solve an elaborate maze of the labyrinth in 13 hours in order to rescue her half-brother (Toby Froud) from a scary goblin king (David Bowie).
“Quinceañera” (R) (3)
[Language, some sexual content, and drug use.] [Subtitled] — When a surprised fourteen-year-old Mexican girl (Emily Rios) discovers that she is pregnant by her boyfriend (J.R. Cruz) right before her fifteenth birthday celebration (that is, Quinceañera) and is shunned by her strict, religious father in this stirring, poignant, 90-minute, 2006 film, she ends up moving in with her kindhearted uncle (Chalo González) and a gay cousin (Jesse Garcia) in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.
See related: All Film News on MinnyApple.com
©1986 through 2016 by Wendy Schadewald. The preceding films were reviewed by Wendy Schadewald, who has been a Twin Cities film critic since 1986. To see more of her film reviews, log on to 60-Second Film Reviews.
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