Opening Friday
Fifty Shades of Grey — Jamie Dornan is the billionaire with kinky sexual tastes who teaches a college student (Dakota Johnson) a thing or two in this eagerly awaited adaptation of the novel by E. L. James. Rated R. 125 minutes. Review in Friday’s Arizona Daily Star. Foothills, Cinemark, Desert Sky, El Con, Marketplace, Oasis, Park Place, Pavilions, Roadhouse Cinemas, Spectrum.
Buen Dia, Ramon (Guten Tag, Ramon) — An incredible journey leads to an unforgettable friendship. Rated PG-13. 120 minutes. Not reviewed. El Con.
Kingsman: The Secret Service HH — Director Matthew Vaughn (“Kick-Ass”) adapts another comic-book, this one centering on a secret service agent (Colin Firth) who recruits a street kid into his top-secret crime-fighting organization. Rated R. 129 minutes. Review on Page 17. Desert Sky, El Con, Foothills, Marketplace, Oasis, Park Place, Pavilions, Roadhouse Cinemas, Spectrum, Uptown.
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Mommy HHH — The fifth film by 25 year-old Canadian wunderkind Xavier Dolan focuses on the up-and-down relationship between a single mom (Anne Dorval) and her volatile teenaged son (Antoine-Oliver Pilon). Rated R. 139 minutes. Review on Page 12. Loft.
Old Fashioned — A former frat boy and a free-spirited woman attempt the impossible: an “old-fashioned” courtship in contemporary America. Rated PG-13. 115 minutes. Not reviewed. Park Place.
Still Alice HHH — Julianne Moore is the current frontrunner to win the Best Actress Oscar for her performance as a linguistics professor stricken by Alzheimer’s. Rated PG-13. 99 minutes. Review on Page 13. El Con, Marketplace, Spectrum.
Timbuktu HHH ½ — A family living peacefully in the dunes outside Timbuktu, Mali, come under the thumb of foreign Islamist zealots. With Ibrahim Ahmed, Toulou Kiki and Abel Jafri. Directed by Abderrahmane Sissako. In Arabic, Bambara, French, English, Songhay and Tamasheq, with English subtitles. Rated PG-13. 97 minutes. Review on Page 14. Loft.
Continuing Friday
American Sniper HHH ½ — Bradley Cooper produced and stars in this biopic that Clint Eastwood directed about Chris Kyle, the most lethal sharpshooter in U.S. military history. With Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller and Jake McDorman. Rated R. 134 minutes. Cinemark, Desert Sky, El Con, Foothills, Marketplace, Oasis, Park Place, Pavilions, Roadhouse Cinemas, Spectrum.
Big Hero 6 HHH — An inflatable robot and a young prodigy form a team of superheroes. Rated PG. 102 minutes. Gateway, Oracle View.
Birdman HHHH — Alejandro González Iñárritu directs Michael Keaton as a fading actor who once played a superhero and is now trying to restart his career with a Broadway play. Rated R. 119 minutes. El Con, Marketplace, Park Place.
Black or White HHH — Kevin Costner plays a widower who is drawn into a custody battle over his granddaughter. Rated PG-13. 99 minutes. Desert Sky, El Con, Foothills, Marketplace, Oasis, Park Place, Pavilions, Spectrum, Uptown.
The Book of Life — Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum and Ron Perlman provide the voices for this animated tale about a young man who embarks on an adventure. Rated PG-13. 95 minutes. Not reviewed. Oracle View.
Boyhood — The life of a young man, Mason, from age 5 to age 18. Rated R. 165 minutes. Loft.
The Boy Next Door— Jennifer Lopez stars as a recent divorcee who gets the hots for the young hunk (Ryan Guzman) living across the street. Rated R. 91 minutes. Not reviewed. Foothills, Oasis, Park Place, Spectrum.
Dumb and Dumber To H ½ — Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels reunite for this sequel to their low, lowbrow cult comedy hit. No, that is not a typo in the title. Rated PG-13. 110 minutes. Oracle View.
The Gambler — Lit professor and gambler Jim Bennett’s debt causes him to borrow money from his mother and a loan shark. Further complicating his situation is his relationship with one of his students. Will Bennett risk his life for a second chance? Rated R. 111 minutes. Gateway, Oracle View.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies HH — If you managed to slog through the first two installments of Peter Jackson’s bloated trilogy based on the J.R.R. Tolkien novel, it is now finally sputtering to an end. Rated PG-13. 144 minutes. El Con.
Horrible Bosses 2 HH — Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis return in this sequel to the 2011 surprise hit. This time, the trio start their own business. Rated R. 108 minutes. Oracle View.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 HHH — Jennifer Lawrence reprises her role as Katniss Everdeen, who in the first half of the final installment in the series is becoming a symbol for rebellion. With Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson and Philip Seymour Hoffman in one of his last roles. Rated PG-13. 125 minutes. Gateway.
The Imitation Game HHH — Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Alan Turing, the eccentric British genius who built a machine (arguably the first computer) that could crack the complicated encryption code used by Nazis during World War II. Rated PG-13. 114 minutes. El Con, Foothills, Park Place, Roadhouse Cinemas.
Inherent Vice — In psychedelic 1960s Los Angeles, a pot-smoking private investigator is enlisted by his ex to investigate a plot involving her billionaire boyfriend. With Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin and Katherine Waterson. Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Rated R. 148 minutes. Not reviewed. Loft.
Jupiter Ascending H ½ — Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum and Eddie Redmayne star in the latest mind-bending sci-fi fantasy from Matrix creators Lana and Andy Wachowski. Rated PG-13. 127 minutes. Cinemark, Desert Sky, El Con, Foothills, Marketplace, Oasis, Park Place, Pavilions, Roadhouse Cinemas, Spectrum.
Mortdecai — An art dealer (Johnny Depp) races to recover a stolen painting rumored to be linked to a hidden stash of Nazi gold. Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor and Paul Bettany are among the people who get in his way. Rated R. 106 minutes. Not Reviewed. Gateway.
A Most Violent Year HHH ½ — Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain play a couple trying to run a legit oil business in 1981, one of the most violent years in New York City’s history. Rated R. 125 minutes. El Con, Marketplace.
Mr. Turner HHH — Mike Leigh’s meticulously observed chronicle of the life of the British artist J..M.W. Turner, with Timothy Spall deeply moving as the son of a London barber who becomes one of the great painters of his time. Of any time. Rated R. 150 minutes. Loft.
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb HH ½ — Ben Stiller and director Shawn Levy return to the popular franchise about a museum where the exhibits (including the late Robin Williams) come to life when no one is looking. Rated PG. 97 minutes. Gateway.
Paddington HHH — Ben Whishaw provides the voice for the eponymous talking bear, who gets taken in by a family of humans (including Nicole Kidman, Julie Walters, Sally Hawkins and Jim Broadbent). Rated PG. 94 minutes. Cinemark, Foothills, Park Place, Pavilions, Spectrum.
Penguins of Madagascar HHH — Tom McGrath, Chris Miller and Conrad Vernon provide the voices for the trio of penguins trying to save the world from an evil scientist intent on destroying the planet. Rated PG. 92 minutes. Gateway, Oracle View.
Project Almanac — A group of teenagers build a time machine and discover messing with the past can have serious repercussions on the present. Rated PG-13. 106 minutes. Not reviewed. Cinemark, El Con, Foothills, Oasis, Park Place, Pavilions, Spectrum.
Selma HHH ½ — A dramatic account of the tumultuous three-month period in 1965 when Martin Luther King Jr. led a campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. With David Oyelowo, Tom Wilkinson, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Alessandro Nivola. Written by Paul Webb. Directed by Ava DuVernay. Rated PG-13. 128 minutes. El Con, Marketplace, Park Place.
The Seventh Son — Jeff Bridges is a mystical warrior searching for a hero to vanquish an evil queen (Julianne Moore) and her army of supernatural warriors. Rated PG-13. 102 minutes. Not reviewed. Desert Sky, El Con, Foothills, Marketplace, Oasis, Park Place, Pavilions, Roadhouse Cinemas, Spectrum, Uptown.
Song of the Sea HHH ½ — A 10-year-old boy and his younger sister, who is the last of the mythological creatures known as Selkies, embark on a fantastical journey. With the voices of Brendan Gleeson, Fionnula Flanagan and David Rawle. Directed by Tomm Moore. Rated PG. 93 minutes. Loft.
Spare Parts — Four Hispanic high school students form a robotics club. With no experience, 800 bucks, used car parts and a dream, this rag tag team goes up against the country’s reigning robotics champion, MIT. Rated PG-13. Spectrum.
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water HH ½— The beloved Nickelodeon character enters the live-action world, where he squares off against a pirate (Antonio Banderas). Rated PG. 90 minutes. Cinemark, El Con, Foothills, Marketplace, Oasis, Park Place, Pavilions, Spectrum.
St. Vincent HHHH — A retired curmudgeon with a penchant for alcohol and gambling becomes an unlikely mentor and friend to the 12-year-old boy next door. With Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy and Naomi Watts. Written and directed by Theodore Melfi. Rated PG-13. 102 minutes. Gateway, Oracle View.
Taken 3 — Reprising his role as retired covert operative Bryan Mills, Liam Neeson goes on the lam when he is accused of murdering his wife in this thriller. Rated PG-13. 109 minutes. Not reviewed. Cinemark, Spectrum.
The Theory of Everything HHH ½ — A biopic about the British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, tracing his days at Cambridge, his romance with future wife Jane Wilde and his diagnosis with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. With Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Charlie Cox and Emily Watson. Directed James Marsh. Rated PG-13. 123 minutes. El Con, Marketplace.
Two Days, One Night — In this thriller by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, the clock is ticking on a factory worker (Marion Cotillard) who has to persuade co-workers to give up a precious bonus so that she can return to a job eliminated while she was on medical leave. In French with English subtitles. Not rated. 95 minutes. Not reviewed. Loft.
Unbroken HH — Joel and Ethan Coen wrote the screenplay and Angelina Jolie directed this retelling of the harrowing experiences of Louis Zamperini (played by Jack O’Connell), the Olympic runner who was captured by the Japanese during World War II. Rated PG-13. 137 minutes. Gateway.
The Wedding Ringer — Comedian Kevin Hart plays a man who hires himself out for weddings in which the groom doesn’t have a best man. Rated R. 101 minutes. Not reviewed. Cinemark, El Con, Park Place, Pavilions, Spectrum.
Whiplash — Miles Teller (the student) and J.K. Simmons (the teacher) star in Damien Chazelle’s propulsive drama about an aspiring jazz musician’s torturous mentorship at a prestigious New York conservatory. Rated R. 106 minutes. Not reviewed. Loft.
Wild HHH ½ — Reese Witherspoon stars for director Jean-Marc Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club) in this adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s best-selling memoir about a woman who embarks on a 1,100-mile hike by herself. Rated R. 115 minutes. El Con.
The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death — Years after she scared the jeepers out of Daniel Radcliffe, the creepy ghost who lives inside a haunted mansion terrorizes a group of children during World War II. Rated PG-13. 98 minutes. Not reviewed. Gateway, Oracle View.