Still more summer movies

  • by David Lamble
  • Wednesday May 31, 2017
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A last list of reminders that summers are no longer a dead zone at the movies for adults.

All Eyez on Me Benny Boom directs this tribute bio-pic about the late rapper Tupac Shakur (Demetrius Shipp, Jr.).

The Book of Henry Jaeden Lieberber is an 11-year-old prodigy called upon to save the girl next door, abused by her stepfather. The ever-reliable Naomi Watts is mom. With Sarah Silverman and Jacob Tremblay.

Cars 3 The hit Pixar animation series returns, with characters voiced by Owen Wilson, Cristela Alonzo and Armie Hammer.

47 Meters Down A film that proves that actors will take almost any assignment to be in pictures. Here two damsels play the role assigned Richard Dreyfus in the original Jaws: stuck in a shark cage cut loose from the mother ship.

Hare Krishna! The Mantra, the Movement and the Swami Who Started It All This is the story of how the Eastern Spiritual Movement got a foothold in America.

Harmonium In this Cannes award-winner from Koji Fukada, a father allows an ex-con to live next door to his family.

The Journey The bitterness of the decades-long war between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland is dramatized in an imaginary car ride shared by mortal enemies: Protestant militant Ian Paisley (Timothy Spall) and IRA leader Martin McGuinness (Colm Meany) at the time of the 2006 peace talks.

Lost in Paris Fiona Gordan and hubby Dominique Abel star in a comedy about a Canadian's misadventures amid the treasures of French culture.

Maudie Sally Hawkins plays Nova Scotian folk artist Maud Lewis, housekeeper and later wife to a grumpy Ethan Hawke.

Moka This Swiss-set revenge thriller finds a mom inserting herself into the life of a driver she believes killed her son. With Emmanuelle Devos and Nathalie Baye. Frederic Mermoud directs.

Once Upon a Time in Venice Bruce Willis is a Venice Beach, CA detective whose beloved pooch is held for ransom. With John Goodman.

Pray for Rain A journalist finds that the drought has increased the crime rate in her Central Valley community. With Annabelle Stephenson and Jane Seymour.

Rough Night A bachelorette party goes horribly wrong when one of the guests accidentally kills a male stripper. With Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, Ilana Glazer and Zoe Kravitz.

Score: A Film Music Documentary Big names in the business illustrate the craft of writing movie music: John Williams, Danny Elfman, Quincy Jones, and Thomas Newman.

The Bad Batch This dystopian fantasy finds a young woman (Suki Waterhouse) lost in a desert community run by cannibals and misfits.

The Big Sick Zoe Kazan is a girl in a coma, leaving her Pakistani-born standup-comedy husband to cope.

In Transit The final film from famed docmaker Albert Maysles (he died in 2015) tracks the route of Amtrak's Empire Builder passenger train from Chicago to the Pacific Northwest.

Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press The Hulk Hogan lawsuit that destroyed the Gawker website is examined for its implications for independent journalists.

The Ornithologist Portuguese filmmaker Joao Pedro Rodrigues follows a bird-watcher on a journey of discovery.

Transformers: The Last Knight Another Michael Bay film about giant robots, with humans Mark Wahlberg and Anthony Hopkins tagging along.

Baby Driver Ansel Elgort is a getaway driver who brooks no interference. Edgar Wright's action comedy got raves at the South by Southwest Festival.

Pop Aye A Thai man buys an elephant from his youth and sets out on a journey with the animal.

The House A scheme to raise college tuition for their daughter leads a couple to start a casino in their home. With Amy Poehler and Will Ferrell.

Inconceivable Nicky Whelan is a mother new to town, who moves in with a married couple (Gina Gershon, Nicolas Cage) and discovers troubling intimacy issues.

The Little Hours Jeff Baena tells the story of medieval nuns who follow odd vows allowing for promiscuous sex and frank language.

The Skyjacker's Tale The forgotten story of the 1984 hijacking of an American Airlines plane.

13 Minutes The director of Downfall returns with a gripping drama about the brave German who tried and failed to kill Hitler in 1939. Oliver Hirschbiegel coaxes a magnificent performance from Christian Friedel as the doomed would-be assassin Georg Eiser.

The Wound The attempt of a working man from Queenstown to save a young Johannesburg street urchin becomes a moving fable in this critically acclaimed South African drama.

Lemon Does Sundance have a sense of humor? Great comedy rarely emerges from Park City's snowy environs. Here an annoying drama teacher (Brett Gelmen acting out his director wife's script) tests the patience of everyone in his life: Judy Greer, Michael Cera and Gillian Jacobs.

Logan Lucky Was Steven Soderbergh dragged out of retirement to helm this heist caper? Adam Driver and Channing Tatum are brothers lured by the cash at a local speedway. Partners-in-crime include Riley Keough, Hilary Swank, Seth MacFarlane, Katie Holmes, and Daniel Craig.

The Unknown Girl Belgium's filmmaking Dardenne Brothers showcase a doctor (Adele Haenel) whose conscience is pricked when her failure to answer a late-night ring results in the body of a young woman on her doorstep. The doctor aims to get off the hook. With Dardenne regulars Jeremie Renier and Olivier Gourmet.

Beach Rats Eliza Hittman, whose 2014 first feature It Felt like Love debuted at Sundance, returns with the tale of a confused Brooklyn teen caught between misbehaving buddies, potential girlfriends and the dark world of online chats with older men.

The Teacher In 1966, what we now call the Czech Republic was ruled by Russian-dispatched thugs. In that year a tiny B&W romance, Jan Menzel's Closely Watched Trains, a fragile comedy-drama about a naive train dispatcher's brief fling at love, won the Best Foreign Film Oscar. Fifty years later, Jan Hrebejk takes a poke at the thugs who held sway over his countrymen in the 80s. Hrebejk's timid teacher asks students, "What do your parents do?" Oscar awaits the answer.