Deadpool 2

Deadpool 2

Directed by: David Leitch
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Zazie Beetz, Josh Brolin, Julian Dennison, Karan Soni, Brianna Hildebrand, Shioli Kutsuna
Rated: R for strong violence and language throughout, sexual references and brief drug material.

Back in 2016, “Deadpool” brought the Merc with the Mouth to movie screens everywhere, finally in a recognizable form (“X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” I’m looking at you). After the credits, he promised us that the sequel would include his buddy Cable, and this year he delivers. “Deadpool 2” is everything you might want from a sequel. The ultra-violence, grade-school humor, and fourth-wall breaks are back.

A Quiet Place

A Quiet Place

Directed by: John Krasinski Starring: Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe Rated: PG-13 for terror and some bloody images How often do you make noise? So many actions are audible. A shoe sole slapping or squeaking on the floor, dropping a hard object, biting into an apple. Even without speaking, we humans are generally noisy creatures. “A Quiet Place” puts us into a position where noise – even a creaking floorboard – means death. At some point in the near future, deadly creatures appear and start eating people. The creatures are blind, but have incredibly sharp hearing. They’re almost impossible to kill, thanks to what looks like armor covering their eyeless heads and the rest of their bodies. By the time the film starts, the world is silent. Animals that make noise? Gone. People? Almost all gone. The film focuses on a single family trying to survive in this unforgiving and lethal world.

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The Fate of the Furious

The Fate of the Furious

Ealasaid A. Haas Directed by: F. Gary Gray Starring: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Dwayne Johnson, Charlize Theron, Jason Statham, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, Kurt Russell, Scott Eastwood Rated: PG-13 for prolonged sequences of violence and destruction, suggestive content, and language “The Fate of the Furious” is the eighth installment in the popular “Fast and Furious” franchise, and it continues the progression of escalating awesomeness and a steadily growing cast. Not having seen the other movies won’t interfere with enjoying the action sequences, but the secondary emphasis is on family relationships – and without the previous movies, you’ll have to just roll with a lot of the dialog. On the bright side, the progression from 2001’s “The Fast and the Furious” to the new film is a lot of fun to watch. These are movies worth marathoning. “Fate,” like the others, is a cheesy action movie, and it doesn’t just know it, it

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Deadpool

Deadpool

“Deadpool” is one of those rare comic book adaptations that works for both the long-time fan and the newcomer. For those of us who’ve been longing for a feature film about the merc with the mouth, this is the movie we wanted. For folks who don’t even know who the heck Deadpool is, if you like black-as-sin comedy, gloriously over-the-top violence, and fourth-wall-breaking meta-commentary, this is the movie you want, too. There’s a reason this film broke all kinds of opening-weekend box office records.

47 Ronin

47 Ronin

Directed by: Carl Rinsch Starring: Keanu Reeves, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ko Shibasaki, Tadanobu Asano, Jin Akanishi, Rinko Kikuchi, Min Tanaka Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some disturbing images, and thematic elements If you saw the trailers for “47 Ronin,” the Keanu Reeves vehicle helmed by Carl Rinsch (doing his first feature-length film!), you could be forgiven for assuming the flick was another white-savior movie, where all the non-whites need is an American to save them. The trailers make this film look awful. It is not only not awful, it’s actually a fun ride! So, take your preconceptions and toss ’em out the window. This is not the film the trailers make it out to be. The tale of the 47 Ronin is essentially the national legend of Japan, a story about honor, loyalty, and the code of the samurai. The protagonist is Oishi (Hiroyuki Sanada), head of the titular warriors, who seek

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Thor: The Dark World

Thor: The Dark World

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (which is distinct from but resonates with the comics) finished its first phase with “The Avengers,” and phase two is on its way with “Iron Man 3” and now “Thor: The Dark World.” Marvel is crafting this franchise of films so that they all interlock with each other in various ways, and it works. You don’t have to have seen every single other Marvel film to enjoy them individually, but they are much richer when seen as a whole.

Pacific Rim

Pacific Rim

“Pacific Rim” is one of those movies where the trailers don’t do it justice, but can still make it pretty obvious whether you want to see it or not. If the idea of Guillermo del Toro (“Hellboy,” “Pan’s Labyrinth”) directing a movie in which enormous robots fight enormous alien sea monsters fills you with glee, run – do not walk – to the movie theater and see this film if you somehow haven’t already. If you think that concept sounds stupid, or dislike big, loud movies, stay away.

Iron Man 3

Iron Man 3

Iron Man is back, this time in his own movie – but in an unusual move for an action flick, the events of his previous film (the record-setting “The Avengers”) are not only mentioned but having negative consequences for his mental health. He doesn’t have time to sit around and deal with his issues, though – there’s a new villain on the scene, and he makes things personal for Tony very, very quickly.

Django Unchained

Django Unchained

“Django Unchained” is, on its surface, a fairly straightforward “man is wronged and loses his woman, then meets a man who helps him achieve his quest to avenge himself and get his woman back” sort of story. It’s certainly easy to enjoy the film on that level, especially if you’re a fan of Quentin Tarantino’s violent, over-the-top style. However, there are also layers of character development, complex themes, and enough references to fill a book. This is a movie that seems destined to spawn art student theses, not just a Western set in the South.

The Man with the Iron Fists

The Man with the Iron Fists

The moment the opening credits for “The Man with the Iron Fists” start to roll, you can tell exactly what kind of movie it is. There’s an explanatory voiceover and a massive fight, paused periodically for over-saturated, old-school-style still frames for each credit — and the credits are all in both English and Chinese. By the time it got to “Quentin Tarantino Present” (sic), I was sold. This is an homage to Hong Kong action flicks and exploitation films, a blenderized rendition of every trope and camera shot we’ve seen and loved a hundred times.