As the dog days of summer start to fizzle out and the rain comes down, hold out on building that ark. This week, Up to Date’s indie, foreign and documentary film critics have a few good movies to keep you warm, cozy and indoors.
Robert Butler
Hell or High Water, R
- Chris Pine and Ben Foster play outlaw brothers who seek revenge on a bank that threatens their family’s land. The relentless chase of Sheriff Hamilton, played by Jeff Bridges, makes for an action-packed Western heist thriller.
Don’t Think Twice, R
- A comedy-drama that follows the fate of a New York City improv group that comes to conflict after one member makes it big.
Florence Foster Jenkins, PG-13
- Meryl Streep plays the role of a wealthy (and tone-deaf) socialite who aspires to become an opera singer in this biographical comedy-drama.
Cynthia Haines
Hands of Stone, R
- Boxer Roberto Durán's life is as hard as the punches he throws. Robert De Niro plays his grizzled coach, who trains the young boxer and future welterweight world champ.
Southside with You, PG-13
- A love story chronicling the first date between Barack Obama, played by Parker Sawyers, and Michelle Robinson, played by Tika Sumpter.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople, PG-13
- A national manhunt is launched when defiant city kid Ricky goes missing in the woods with his reluctant foster uncle, Hector.
Steve Walker
Captain Fantastic, R
- Viggo Mortenson plays an iconoclastic father of six, raising his family off the grid, who is challenged by the capitalist world after the mother of his children dies.
Hell or High Water, R
- This film noir/modern Western hybrid about brothers who rob banks as payback for their disenfranchised friends and family is one of the best films this year.
Florence Foster Jenkins, PG-13
- It's not a surprise that Meryl Streep is technically and emotionally superb as the title character, a rich New York dilettante in the 1940's considered one of the worst singers ever recorded.
