Kam's Kapsules for Movies Opening December 16, 2016

 

Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun

by Kam Williams

OPENING THIS WEEK

BIG BUDGET FILMS

Collateral Beauty (PG-13 for mature themes and brief profanity) Introspective character portrait starring Will Smith as a Madison Avenue executive who writes letters to Love, Time and Death after withdrawing from the world in the wake of a personal tragedy. A-list ensemble includes Academy Award-winners Helen Mirren and Kate Winslet, Oscar-nominees Edward Norton and Keira Knightley, as well as Michael Pena and Naomie Harris.

Fences (PG-13 for profanity, mature themes and sexual references) Denzel Washington and Viola Davis co-star in this screen adaptation of August Wilson's Tony Award and Pulitizer Prize-winning play chronicling the struggles of an African-American family living in Pittsburgh in the Fifties. With Mykelti Williamson, Jovan Adepo, Stephen Henderson and Russell Hornsby.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (PG-13 for violence and extended action sequences) Intergalactic epic revolving around a rebel soldier (Felicity Jones) recruited to lead a band of unlikely heroes on a mission to steal the design for the Empire's weapon of mass destruction. featuring Forest Whitaker, Diego Luna, Mads Mikkelsen, Jiang Wen, Alan Tudyk and Donnie Yen.

INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS

Barry (Unrated) Devon Terrell plays Barack Obama in this biopic about the future President's stint as a student at Columbia University during the early Eighties. With Ashley Judd, Jenna Elfman and Famke Janssen.

The Grace of Jake (Unrated) Musical dramedy about a just-paroled convict (Jake La Botz) who steals a car and drives from California to Arkansas in search of the father (Michael Beck) he never knew. With Jordin Sparks, Lew Temple and Ravi Kapoor.

A Kind of Murder (PG-13 for profanity and violence) Psychological thriller, set in New York in the Sixties, about a miserably-married architect (Patrick Wilson) who becomes the prime suspect when his wife (Jessica Biel) dies under mysterious circumstances. With Eddie Marsan, Vincent Kartheiser and Haley Bennett.

Neruda (R for profanity, sexuality and nudity) Chilean docudrama recounting the hunt in the late Forties for Pablo Neruda (Luis Gnecco) following the Nobel Prize-winning poet-turned-fugitive's conversion to Communism. with Gael Garcia Bernal, Alfredo Castro and Mercedes Moran. (In Spanish and French with subtitles) 

 

Rooted in Peace (Unrated) Eco-documentary challenging Americans to proactively find ways to live in harmony with the environment and with other countries. Featuring commentary by Deepak Chopra, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the late Pete Seeger.

Solace (R for sexuality, nudity, profanity, bloody images and pervasive profanity) Crime thriller about a psychic (Anthony Hopkins) who joins forces with an FBI agent (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) in the hunt for a serial killer (Colin Farrell). With Abbie Cornish, Matt Gerald and Marley Shelton.