Ratings and running times are in parentheses; foreign films have English subtitles. Full reviews of all current releases:nytimes.com/movies.
‘ABCD 2’ (No rating, 2:27, in Hindi) This Bollywood sequel about a dance troupe (the title comes from “Any Body Can Dance”) heading to an international hip-hop competition in Las Vegas is a contrived affair with limp drama and a pummelingly loud soundtrack. It will leave you exhausted, and not in a good way. Where is Shah Rukh Khan when you need him? (Andy Webster)
‘Aloha’ (PG-13, 1:45) Cameron Crowe’s latest film, set among military officers and contractors in Hawaii, is a mess. A romantic comedy (starring Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone) trips over a bittersweet breakup drama (starring Mr. Cooper and Rachel McAdams) and collides with a dizzy satire about corporate power and the weaponization of space. But amid the frustration and confusion, there are sparks of Mr. Crowe’s wit and humanity, and moments of sweetness and delight. (A. O. Scott)
‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ (PG-13, 2:21) For Marvel agnostics, the single most interesting thing about this sequel is that you can sense that the director, Joss Whedon, having helped build a universal earnings machine with the first “Avengers,” has struggled mightily to invest this one with some life. He has and he hasn’t. (Manohla Dargis)
‘Burying the Ex’ (R, 1:29) The first feature in six years from Joe Dante (“Gremlins,” “Small Soldiers”) finds the filmmaker far from his creative heights. The movie’s snap and affection put other recent zombie-related entertainments to shame, but the freedom of the director’s best work is missing. (Ben Kenigsberg)
‘Dope’ (R, 1:45) A caper movie and a coming-of-age story, Rick Famuyiwa’s exuberant, messy feature pays playful, critical tribute to the ghetto melodramas of the 1990s. Its hero, Malcolm (Shameik Moore) is a nerd navigating a world of drug dealers and racial stereotypes, which the movie both mocks and perpetuates. (Scott)
★ ‘Eden’ (R, 2:11, in French) Spanning two decades and many terrific tunes, Mia Hansen-Love’s perceptive and compassionate tale of a driven D.J. (Félix de Givry) during the rise of French garage music in the 1990s rides its techno-sonic wave with a restless intelligence. (Jeannette Catsoulis)
‘Entourage’ (R, 1:44) Naw, bro. (Scott)
★ ‘Ex Machina’ (R, 1:50) Alex Garland’s slyly spooky futuristic shocker about old and new desires turns on the relationships that bind together a robot called Ava (a terrific Alicia Vikander); the software zillionaire who created her (Oscar Isaac, wonderful); and a visitor (Domhnall Gleeson) who’s seriously out of his depth. (Dargis)
‘Far From the Madding Crowd’ (PG-13, 2:00) In this brisk adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s novel, Carey Mulligan plays Bathsheba Everdene, whose efforts to manage the farm she has inherited are interrupted by the attention of three very different suitors: her stodgy neighbor (Michael Sheen), a dissolute soldier (Tom Sturridge) and a salt-of-the-earth shepherd (Matthias Schoenaerts). (Scott)
‘Heaven Knows What’ (R, 1:33) Largely set on the Upper West Side, Josh and Bennie Safdie’s New York junkie love story has a beautifully attuned eye and ear for Harley (Arielle Holmes) and her fellow street dwellers from moment to moment. Capturing a density of activity as endemic in the city as it is in Harley’s daily hustle, the Safdies fashion a diary of experience that’s more absorbing than straight-up tragedy. (Nicolas Rapold)
‘Infinitely Polar Bear’ (R, 1:30) In her sweet, somewhat nutty feature debut, the writer-director Maya Forbes looks back on her 1970s childhood and her father (played by the infinitely warm Mark Ruffalo), a down-and-out charmer with manic depression. Zoe Saldana co-stars as the infinitely patient wife and mom. (Dargis)
★ ‘Inside Out’ (PG, 1:42) Voiced by a cast of blue-chip comic performers (principally Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black and Mindy Kaling), this Pixar gem works on one level as a workplace sitcom set in the mind of an 11-year-old girl. It’s funny and visually inventive. But it also has a profound and powerful emotional resonance, as Pete Docter, the writer and director, conducts a tour of the mental life of a child on the verge of momentous changes. (Scott)
‘Insidious: Chapter 3’ (PG-13, 1:37) This highly profitable horror franchise — virtually devoid of gore, nudity and cursing — rolls on with this installment, which, like its antecedents, offers simple, cohesive plotting; tidy production values; effective “Boo!” moments; a sense of humor; and most important, the winning actress Lin Shaye as a ghost wrangler. (Webster)
★ ‘Iris’ (PG-13, 1:20) There are few better ways right now to spend your movie minutes than this delightful eye-opener about life, love, statement eyeglasses, bracelets the size of tricycle tires and the art of making the grandest of entrances. The movie was directed by Albert Maysles, one-half of the team behind “Grey Gardens.” (Dargis)
‘I’ll See You In My Dreams’ (PG-13, 1:35) To the lengthening list of well-mannered films aimed at moviegoers who have reached an age when, to quote Shakespeare, “the heyday in the blood is tame,” add “I’ll See You In My Dreams,” a modest, quietly touching portrait of an older woman radiantly embodied by Blythe Danner. (Stephen Holden)
‘Jurassic World’ (PG-13, 2:04) There’s more flab than muscle packed on this galumphing franchise reboot, which, as it lumbers from scene to scene, reminds you of what a great action god Steven Spielberg is. Too bad he didn’t take the reins on this, which features Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard and digital dinos. (Dargis)
★ ‘Love & Mercy’ (PG-13, 2:00) The life and music of Brian Wilson, the sonically gifted, emotionally troubled genius of the Beach Boys, is the subject of this unusually sensitive and astute biopic, directed by Bill Pohlad. Paul Dano and John Cusack give a remarkable composite performance as Wilson at two pivotal moments: in the mid-60s, when he recorded “Pet Sounds,” one of the great pop albums of the era; and 20 years later, when Melinda Ledbetter (Elizabeth Banks), who would become his second wife, helped free him from the influence of his psychologist, Eugene Landy (Paul Giamatti). (Scott)
★ ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ (R, 2:00) George Miller, the Australian action maestro who directed the three earlier “Mad Max” movies before moving on to the “Happy Feet” franchise, returns to roaring, squalling, high-octane form in this episode, which is both a relentless car-chase movie and a stirring feminist fable. Tom Hardy is excellent as the road-weary, haunted Max, but the movie belongs to Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa, a one-armed truck-driver turned liberator and avenger of oppressed women. (Scott)
‘Manglehorn’ (PG-13, 1:37) Al Pacino brings his brand of soulful jive to the lonely Texas locksmith of the title, playing a courtly curmudgeon who’s interested in a bank teller (Holly Hunter) but hooked on a long-lost lover. The director David Gordon Green tells a familiar story of self-realization that gets a bit more groove in its step thanks to Mr. Pacino. (Rapold)
‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’ (PG-13, 1:45) This story of two movie-mad Pittsburgh teenage boys who befriend a classmate with cancer could have been an earnest wallow in maudlin self-pity, and it almost is that. But the director, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon and the screenwriter, Jesse Andrews (adapting his own young-adult novel), keep the movie loose and humorous, and the three main actors (Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler and Olivia Cooke) are pleasant, sympathetic company. (Scott)
‘The Overnight’ (R, 1:20) Bland meets bold in Patrick Brice’s comedy, which dips its toe in the new sexual revolution and comes across as a skittish redo of Paul Mazursky’s 1969 sex comedy, “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice.” Adam Scott & Taylor Schilling & Jason Schwartzman & Judith Godrèche star. (Dargis)
★ ‘A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence’ (PG-13, 1:43) Sketch tragedy? Fatalistic slapstick? Self-hating humanism? Whatever you call it, Roy Andersson’s latest assemblage of dark, impeccably framed vignettes reflects on the awful, funny condition of our species, and a few others as well. (Scott)
‘Pitch Perfect 2’ (PG-13, 1:50) Not perfect, but good fun all the same. The Barden Bellas return for more a cappella high jinks. Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) is in fine form, Beca (Anna Kendrick) is in good voice and there are a few new additions, notably Hailee Steinfeld. The too-busy plot is kind of beside the point, and not all of the jokes work, but it’s almost impossible to see this movie without being at least a little bit tickled and uplifted. (Scott)
‘Poltergeist’ (PG-13, 1:33) Children not familiar with the original 1982 film will be scared by this one, just as their parents were 33 years ago. The tale of a family that moves into a house with a possession problem has been updated with iPhones and drone toys, and its reliance on horror movie tropes is more apparent than ever, but the cast is pretty good, and for those who haven’t seen the original in years, the nostalgia trip is kind of fun. (Neil Genzlinger)
★ ‘Results’ (R, 1:45) A tight, disciplined romantic comedy masquerading as a loose, quirky character study, Andrew Bujalski’s fifth feature assembles a screwball triangle out of an earnest gym owner (Guy Pearce), his top trainer (Cobie Smulders) and a rich, gloomy client (Kevin Corrigan). (Scott)
‘The Salt of the Earth’ (No rating, 1:50) Wim Wenders’s documentary portrait of the photographer Sebastião Salgado is an admiring, generous introduction to a body of work that combines moral witness with visual beauty. (Scott)
‘San Andreas’ (PG-13, 1:54) California tumbles into the sea. Dwayne Johnson saves his family. (Scott)
‘Spy’ (R, 1:59) Melissa McCarthy plays Susan Cooper, a C.I.A. desk-jockey turned international super-espionage dynamo in this loose, buoyant, profane comedy, written and directed by Paul Feig. The supporting players include Jason Statham, Jude Law, Rose Byrne and Miranda Hart. They are all very funny, but Ms. McCarthy is her own best sidekick. She’s a one-woman improv troupe. (Scott)
★ ‘Testament of Youth’ (PG-13, 2:09) James Kent’s stately screen adaptation of the British author Vera Brittain’s 1933 World War I memoir evokes the march of history with a balance and restraint exhibited by few movies with such grand ambitions. Alicia Vikander, who plays Brittain, gives her character a bracing edge of intelligence and a proto-feminist attitude. (Holden)
‘Tomorrowland’ (PG, 2:10) Brad Bird’s live-action science-fiction adventure, starring George Clooney and Britt Robertson, is a sincere lecture on the importance of optimism and the perils of cynicism. Or at least it wants to be, but the futuristic idealism feels more like corporate propaganda. (Scott)
‘The Tribe’ (No rating, 2:12) Set in a Ukrainian boarding school for the deaf, Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy’s film — in sign language, without subtitles — is a formal tour de force. It’s also, less impressively, a punishing allegory of human awfulness. (Scott)
‘The Wanted 18’ (No rating, 1:15, In Arabic, Hebrew and English) This documentary cleverly uses stop-motion animation and other devices to tell the sometimes-absurd story of a group of Palestinians who hid cows that were deemed a security threat by Israeli forces during the first intifada. (Ken Jaworowski)
★ ‘What Happened, Miss Simone?’ (No rating, 1:41) Liz Garbus directed this electric, bracingly urgent documentary portrait, which traces the singer Nina Simone’s life from her early childhood as a piano prodigy named Eunice Waymon to her troubled years — mentally, physically, spiritually — and finally her later return to glory. (Dargis)
‘Wild Tales’ (R, 1:54, in Spanish) As high-spirited as its title suggests, this anthology from the Argentine writer-director Damián Szifron offers up a scabrous, often unsettlingly funny look at human behavior in extremis. The best stories are as narratively stripped down as a Road Runner cartoon; they make worrying over ethics seem somehow self-indulgent. (Dargis)
★ ‘The Wolfpack’ (R, 1:24) A New York story beautifully told, Crystal Moselle’s astonishing documentary tells the tale of the six Angulo brothers who metaphorically escaped from their Lower East Side apartment through their fervent love for movies. It’s an unfamiliar tale, one partly distinguished by its persuasive intimacy. (Dargis)
‘Woman in Gold’ (PG-13, 1:47) The movie rests heavily on the squared shoulders of Helen Mirren whose real-life character, Maria Altmann, is a proud, elderly Austrian Jewish woman struggling for the possession of a priceless Gustav Klimt painting stolen by the Nazis. Her performance salvages a film that without her, would be a laborious slog down a well-trodden path. (Holden)
★ ‘The Yes Men are Revolting’ (R, 1:32) The third and best movie about the mischievous media satirists who stage hoaxes that embarrass corporations opposed to global warming is very funny but a little wistful, because these cheeky activists aren’t getting any younger, and the rewards are meager. (Holden)
Film Series
3-D Summer (through July 4) Three-dimensional films are typically associated with the 1950s, when some 50 different titles ran the gamut from unapologetically lowbrow (“Robot Monster”) to classy, except for the handful of comin’-at-ya! gimmicks (“Dial M for Murder”). But 3-D actually made its debut on June 10, 1915, making this a centennial tribute. The earliest existing example, a 1922 demonstration film called “Thru the Trees: Washington, D.C.,” will be part of an evening of 3-D rarities (June 28 and July 4). The other two screenings are far more established titles with some seriously underutilized supporting talent: the 1953 John Wayne western “Hondo” (Friday and July 4), for which John Ford served as an uncredited second unit director, and the film version of “Kiss Me Kate” (starting June 28), including the first filmed — and tiny — glimpse of Bob Fosse’s choreography. At various times, Museum of Modern Art, Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters, 212-708-9400, moma.org. (Eric Grode)
BAMcinemaFest (through Sunday) This indie-film showcase, entering its seventh year, opens and closes with buzzy titles: “The End of the Tour,” starring Jason Segel as David Foster Wallace, and “Tangerine,” whose depiction of transgender Los Angelenos couldn’t be more topical. But New Yorkers have come to cherish the festival for giving a first glimpse at less flashy films that have garnered serious praise and often prizes at other festivals. At various times, most screenings are at BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, 718-636-4100, bam.org. (Grode)
Jean-Claude Carrière: Writing the Impossible (Tuesdays) Any career that involves writing for Jacques Tati, Nicole Kidman and the romantic pairing of Charlotte Rampling and a chimpanzee would benefit from a taste for the surreal. Luckily, Jean-Claude Carrière has a gourmand’s appetite for the odd, and with more than 50 years’ worth of credits, there’s plenty for the French Institute Alliance Française to choose from. (If only there were room for the five-hour adaptation of “The Mahabharata” he did with Peter Brook.) This nine-week series continues this week with “Swann in Love” (1984), starring Jeremy Irons. (Through July 28.) At 4 and 7:30 p.m., Gould Hall, 55 East 59th Street, Manhattan, 800-982-2787, fiaf.org. (Grode)
Glorious Technicolor: From George Eastman House and Beyond(Friday through August 5) Technicolor really hit its stride in the 1930s, when its sinfully lush hues made it Hollywood’s go-to color process. But although the company itself didn’t turn out a film (the lost romance “The Gulf Between”) until 1917, it was founded two years earlier, which has prompted this centennial tribute. This week’s offerings include “Chad Hanna,” with Henry Fonda playing a 19th-century circus performer (on Saturday and Tuesday), and the 1952 classic “Ivanhoe,’ starring Robert Taylor and Elizabeth Taylor (Monday at 4:30 p.m.). Museum of Modern Art Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters, 212-708-9400, moma.org. (Grode)
‘House Party’ (Friday) References to “Public Enema,” George Clinton breaking records over bad guys’ heads, the inimitable Robin Harris calling some smirky kid a “trout-mouthed heathen” and the most one-sided rap battle this side of “8 Mile”: Reginald Hudlin turned his student film into this loose, lewd distillation of summer fun starring the hip-hop duo Kid ‘n’ Play. Mr. Hudlin’s brother and producer, Warrington Hudlin, is bringing the cult classic to Museum of the Moving Image for a 25th-anniversary screening, and three members of Full Force (who played the aforementioned bad guys) are coming with him. At 7 p.m., 35th Avenue at 37th Street, Astoria, Queens, 718-784-0077, movingimage.us. (Grode)
Movie Masks: The Roles of Masks in Cinema (Friday through Aug. 28) Leatherface, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, the revolving door of “Scream” killers: Modern-day horror film murderers sure like to do their slaughtering incognito. Part of the Cabaret Cinema program, this weekly film series at the Rubin Museum of Art, which runs in conjunction with its “Becoming Another: The Power of Masks” exhibition, mostly steers clear of that genre, focusing on masks that are rakish (“The Princess Bride,” July 10) or sneaky (“To Catch a Thief,” Aug. 28) or creepier than all those slashers put together (“Eyes Without a Face,” Friday). 150 West 17th Street, Chelsea, 212-620-5000, rubinmuseum.org. (Grode)
New York Asian Film Festival (Friday through July 11) The endorsements from Jackie Chan and Fangoria magazine should signal that this festival, now in its 14th year, isn’t likely to yield the next Ozu or Mizoguchi. To be fair, with more than 50 titles offered, audiences can find such contemplative fare as the unsentimental Chinese drama “River Road.” But genre tends to hold sway here, with mindblowers like the hip-hop action musical “Tokyo Tribe” and the scandalous 2005 Korean comedy “The President’s Last Bang.” Special series within the festival pay tribute to the Korean company Myung Films, the Japanese director Daihachi Yoshida and “The Last Men in Japanese Film,” a series honoring the legendary actors Ken Takakura and Bunta Sugawara. At various times; Walter Reade Theater, Lincoln Center, 165 West 65th Street, 212-875-5601; and SVA Theater, 333 West 23rd Street, Chelsea, 212-592-2980;subwaycinema.com/nyaff15. (Grode)
‘The Third Man’ (Friday through July 9) Most people cannot improve upon Graham Greene, but Orson Welles was not most people. His “cuckoo clock” speech, added by Welles on the set and delivered to a horrified Joseph Cotten in the Prater amusement park, would be the unquestioned highlight of just about every film ever made —and it barely cracks the Top 5 in Carol Reed’s 1949 masterpiece, set in the rubble-strewn streets of post-World War II Vienna. This new digital restoration, the film’s first major revamp, promises to make Anton Karas’s (briefly chart-topping) zither score and Robert Krasker’s iconic cinematography sound and look richer and more chilling than ever. At various times, Film Forum, 209 West Houston Street, west of Avenue of the Americas, South Village, 212-727-8110, filmforum.org. (Grode)
