Baby Driver R
This action flick, directed and written by Shaun of the Dead’s Edgar Wright, features a young savant of a car driver known as Baby (Ansel Elgort). Hired by ambitious crime boss Doc (Kevin Spacey) to pilot the getaway car for Doc’s heists, Baby continuously plays music that soothes the lad as he drives. His choices, an eclectic assortment of songs, lend the film emotional heft while controlling its tone. Heart-stopping car chases give way to love when socially awkward Baby falls for diner waitress Carla. Hoping to start a life with her, Baby agrees to one final heist. With Doc bringing on board crazed criminal Bats (Jamie Foxx), a difficult caper soon becomes ultra-dangerous.
The Beguiled R
The Farnsworth Seminary for Young Ladies is a small girls’ school situated on a secluded plantation in the South during the Civil War. After the girls find handsome Union soldier John McBurney (Colin Farrell) suffering from a severe leg injury, he is brought back to the school to recover. Long deprived of male company, several women take an interest in McBurney, and he milks their sympathy and affections. First adapted to the screen in 1971 starring Clint Eastwood, Sofia Coppola here adapts the same Thomas Cullinan novel. Her version made a splash at the 2017 Cannes Festival, winning her the award for Best Director.
Despicable Me 3 PG
This third Despicable Me film finds Gru (voice of Steve Carell) discovering his long-lost identical twin, a villain that prompts our protagonist to question whether he’s able to keep his pledge (to his three adorable adopted daughters) to refrain from further villainy. His twin, the tanned, golden-haired Dru (also voiced by Carell), is wealthy and sports a great wardrobe along with every cool gadget a criminal could want. Little Agnes’ obsession with finding a unicorn is matched only by the minions’ determination to rally behind an ubervillain, such as the angry, washed-up, former child star played by Parker.
The House R
After squandering their daughter’s college fund, Scott (Will Ferrell) and Kate (Amy Poehler) help their neighbors start an illegal “pop-up” casino in the neighbor’s basement. Their neighbor assures the couple that their share of just one month operating the casino will fund four years of college. However, the pair is flabbergasted by the negative effect on their friends who gamble away savings, or become obsessed with the strip club and fight club, also on the premises. What makes a Will Ferrell movie funny is when the doughy comedian strips down to his tighty whities and runs amok. If that’s not in there, demand a refund!
