The Dark Tower (Rated PG-13)
Over the past decade, numerous efforts to bring Stephen King’s eight-novel series to the big screen fizzled before the project found a home at Sony. Planned as a film trilogy linked with a TV series, the action unfolds in both present-day New York City and in an Old West parallel universe. Young Jake Chambers (Tom Taylor) joins gunslinger Roland Deschain (Idris Elba) in protecting the universe from a sorcerer known as the evil Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey). The sorcerer seeks to gain control over The Dark Tower, a mysterious structure underpinning various realities. Blending elements of magic, old-school gun skills and spiritualism, hopefully King’s world springs to life onscreen.
Detroit (Rated R)
Director Kathryn Bigelow’s film is set in 1967 as white America grappled with implementing civil rights laws. Following the unnecessarily rough handling of African American patrons of an unlicensed Detroit tavern, the black community revolts with riots, firebombs and looting. Michigan State Police and the National Guard are called in to contain the situation, but racism runs rampant through the ranks of the local police. The story focuses on the infamous incident at the Algiers Motel, an unforgettable and deeply disturbing event. Hopefully, rather than incite anger, this depiction helps us realize some of the great strides made by our culture during the past 40 years.
Kidnap (Rated R)
After several seasons pursuing her missing son on TV’s “Extant,” Halle Berry is at it again in Kidnap. Karla Dyson (Berry) and her young son are enjoying an afternoon in the park when the lad is suddenly spirited away in a blue car. Having lost her cell phone, Karla hops into her maroon minivan, relentlessly pursuing her son and his abductor, whose vehicle has no license plates. The chase takes her through seemingly impossible driving sequences as she risks everything to retrieve her boy. The film depends on Berry’s ability to sell Karla’s mix of grit and terror.
