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“Lion”

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“Assassin’s Creed” **1/2

This film is stamped with director Justin Kurzel’s unique visual style, which makes for an exciting if strange ride. Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender) is an inmate who is put to death by lethal injection but wakes up in a clinic at a shadowy corporation. The lead scientist, Dr. Sofia Rikkin (Marion Cotillard), claiming she’s researching “the cure to violence,” harnesses him to a device called the animus and sends him to 15th-century Spain, where he fights the Spanish Inquisition as his assassin ancestor, Aguilar. But it turns out to be a ploy to get Callum into a battle for “the Apple of Eden,” which has the code for free will. Despite the tortured writing, Kurzel shoots the heck out of the film, especially when Aguilar and his companion Maria (Ariane Labed) parkour around ancient Andalusia, kicking butt. (PG-13, 1:48)

“Arrival” ****

Amy Adams portrays linguistics professor Louise Banks, recruited by the military to establish a conversation with aliens who have landed on Earth. She teams with mathematician Ian Donnelly, played by Jeremy Renner. Both are excellent throughout, while addressing topics such as the challenge of communicating with beings whose language is a mystery, and the way international politics can create pressure to cut short scientific problem-solving. (PG-13, 1:56) Ends Saturday at Dole Cannery and Regal Windward.

“Collateral Beauty” *1/2

“Collateral Beauty” misses its mark by a mile, stranding an impressive cast. Will Smith, Helen Mirren Kate Winslet, Edward Norton, Naomie Harris and Keira Knightley star in this tale of grieving ad guy Howard (Smith) who can’t get past the death of his daughter. Pals at work, worried that his slacking is affecting the company’s bottom line, launch a plan that just might qualify for Worst Idea Ever: Hire actors (!) to pretend to be Love, Time and Death (!), three abstractions to whom Howard has been writing letters (!). After some time, too many questions take over. Does anyone at this ad agency do any work? Did I actually just hear the line “Nothing is ever really dead if you look at it right”? Dame Helen, what are you doing in this thing? (PG-13, 1:34)

“Dangal”

Not reviewed

Biopic about Mahavir Singh Phogat, who gave up his dream of winning Olympic gold for India in wrestling for lack of financial support. When his daughters get the better of a group of neighborhood boys during a teasing incident, Mahavir realizes the pair inherited his talent and begins to transform them into world-class grapplers. (Not rated, 2:35) At Dole Cannery

“Doctor Strange” ****

Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is the world’s most accomplished and egotistical surgeon; then an accident mangles his hands and ends his career. Traditional medicine to fix the problem falls short, leaving Strange searching for unorthodox ways of healing. Those efforts unlock mystical powers that turn the man of medicine into a force to protect Earth from supernatural assaults. (PG-13, 2:10)

“The Eagle Huntress” ***

The story of 13-year-old Mongolian girl Aisholpan, who becomes the first girl to join her father’s long line of eagle hunters in a harsh and beautiful landscape, is a thrilling fable of indomitability and father-daughter companionship. The film is crafted to be accessible, with subtitled dialogue supplemented by gently didactic voice-over narration by British actress Daisy Ridley (Rey of “Star Wars”). Aisholpan has the power to inspire girls (and not only girls) everywhere, and Otto Bell’s documentary may turn her into a pop-culture heroine. (G, 1:27) Kahala

“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” ***

Protagonist Newt Scamander, as played by Eddie Redmayne, is amiable, sheepish and surprisingly capable — as if he’s trying to channel Harry, Ron and Hermione from the “Harry Potter” series all at the same time. His allies are a trio of adults: comic relief Jacob (Dan Fogler), psychic Queenie (Alison Sudol) and overachieving witch Porpentia (Katherine Waterston). Scamander is sent to wrangle magical beasts, who are being spotted by the paranoid No-Maj crowd (American for “muggle,” or “humans with no special powers”). The plot is convoluted, but the movie feels like cramming for an exam from the coolest textbook, guided by the most engaging professor at the school. (PG-13, 2:13)

“Jackie” ***1/2

Natalie Portman portrays the elegant first lady in Chilean director Pablo Larrain’s daring psychological portrait of the wife and widow of President John F. Kennedy. Closely shot, with the camera never far from Portman’s face, “Jackie” is anything but a traditional biopic. Flashing back and forth in time, the film plays with history and memory, fact and speculation. It is a fever dream of a movie, tracking its subject as she tries to maintain her composure and her sanity, and as she tries to secure her husband’s legacy. While the casting is uneven, Portman carries the film, portraying Jackie with transfiguring intensity and focus. (R, 1:40)

“La La Land” ****

A musical with big numbers, intimate reveries and adult feelings, Damien Chazelle’s musical “La La Land” is a boy-meets-girl tale with early-21st-century rhythms. It grapples with love between equals in a story about an aspiring actress, Mia (Emma Stone), who meets an ambitious musician, Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), Los Angeles-style during a traffic jam: He honks at her; she flips him the bird. They end up swaying in that fading, soft-light time known as the magic hour, tapping and twirling. This must have been what it was like to see Astaire and Rogers dance for the first time, and one hopes it will appeal to contemporary moviegoers. While “La La Land” engages with nostalgia, it also passionately speaks to the present. (PG-13, 2:08)

“Manchester by the Sea”

****

Dramatist-turned-filmmaker Kenneth Lonergan’s screenplay is character-driven, focusing on people the world normally doesn’t give much scrutiny to. Casey Affleck portrays a gruff Lee, who’s OK getting by on minimum wage as a custodian at a Boston condo complex. A family emergency concerning his brother Joe (Kyle Chandler) draws Lee back to his hometown, gradually unearthing a calamity in his own life. Joe’s son Patrick (Lucas Hedges), now a sarcastic high-schooler, is left in uncle Lee’s unwilling care, but Lee can’t stand remaining in Manchester, and Patrick refuses to leave his school, hockey team, rock band and two girlfriends. That strained relationship teaches both of them that amid harrowing disasters, life goes on. (R, 2:17)

“Moana” ***

Those fretting over the depiction of Polynesian cultures in “Moana” shouldn’t trouble themselves. The movie itself is not realistic. It’s fantasy, magical, with a cave of magic canoes and an anthropomorphic ocean. Kamehameha Schools student Auli‘i Cravalho does a wonderful job as the voice of Moana, bringing depth and heart to the character. Moana feels the ocean is calling to her, but her father, Chief Tui (Temuera Morrison), forbids her to set sail. Suddenly, her island has no fish, and coconuts become infected with a blight, so Moana jumps on a canoe and sets sail. Her quest includes finding the powerful Maui (Dwayne Johnson), returning a green stone heart to a creation goddess, learning wayfinding and stopping the blight. Maui, meanwhile, needs to get his magic fishhook back, but what he really wants is for mortals to admire him for his wondrous feats. (PG, 1:53)

“Office Christmas Party”

**1/2

When it comes to comedy, a filmmaker can do worse than to gather the brightest, funniest stars, situate them in an odd situation — an office Christmas party that doubles as a business transaction — and let ’em rip. That’s what happens in “Office Christmas Party,” the delightfully debauched holiday desecration we need this year. Fabulous weirdos Kate McKinnon and T.J. Miller are in lead roles, supported by some of comedy’s best team players in Vanessa Bayer, Rob Corddry, Randall Park, Sam Richardson and Jillian Bell. Jason Bateman and Jennifer Aniston reprise their chemistry from the “Horrible Bosses” movies and the inimitable Courtney B. Vance makes a memorable appearance. If anything falters, it’s the plot, which goes deep into a tortured tech story, making a sad comment on our culture. Otherwise, the film delights in a grotesque carnival of the worst behavior, but still has its heart firmly in the right place. (R, 1:45)

“Passengers” **

In Morten Tyldum’s “Passengers,” stars Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt have been handed a faulty flight log. Pratt plays Jim Preston, one of a few thousand people in suspended animation on a starship on autopilot for a distant colonized planet. A big asteroid dings the ship, opening Preston’s pod 30 years into a 120-year trip, like a bear woken from hibernation too soon. He goes through various stages reconciling himself to his fate, but eventually his gaze turns toward one of the sleeping passengers, Aurora Lane, played by Lawrence. His decision to wake her is a cosmic mix of creepy, amoral and understandable. A courtship follows. Tyldum fails to reconcile the central twist of Jon Spaihts’ screenplay with the lighter tone he’s seeking — of a big-budget romance in zero gravity. (PG-13, 1:42)

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” ***1/2

The Force is strong with this spinoff, which provides a solid prequel to the original, taking us to a galaxy of new planets shrouded by ice or cloud-capped fog, drenched in rain or adorned by towering palm trees, all property of the evil Empire. At the center is rebel Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) and her allies, whose goal is to capture the blueprints for the Imperial Death Star, designed by her father (Mads Mikkelsen), or perhaps to assassinate him for aiding the totalitarians. As in every “Star Wars” film, the focus is the little guy fighting the big guy. This time the combat leaves palpable scars coated in filth; you experience them and wince. While it revives tropes, classic characters and opaque mysticism about the Force, “Rogue One” isn’t weighed down by fan-service nostalgia. Of course, authoritarians are still entirely evil. Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn is the gold standard of personified malice as the main villain, Krennic. (PG-13 2:13)

“Sing” ***

What “Sing” might lack in originality of concept — “American Idol” with animated animals — it more than makes up for in execution. The story revolves around Buster Moon (a koala voiced by Matthew McConaughey), a theater owner who’s run into tough times. Buster scrapes together $1,000 for a singing contest, but a typo on the fliers raises it to $100,000. Hordes show up to audition, giving voice to characters like Rosita (Reese Witherspoon), an overworked mama pig; Johnny (Taron Egerton), a gorilla trying to break free of his father’s criminal gang; Ash (Scarlett Johansson), a talented teen porcupine with a jerky boyfriend; and Mike (Seth MacFarlane), a spendthrift rat with a Sinatra-esque croon. A series of inappropriate animal/pop song mash-ups, like a snail singing “Ride Like the Wind,” makes the film sing. (PG, 1:48)

“The Super Parental Guardians”

Not reviewed

Filipino action-comedy about two unlikely parents who embark on an adventure with their new children. (Not rated, 1:54)

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

“It’s a Wonderful Life”

12 p.m. and 7 p.m Saturday, Dole Cannery, Regal Pearl Highlands and Regal Kapolei Commons, $5; 7:15 p.m. Saturday, Regal Windward Stadium, $8-$11

Jimmy Stewart stars in the Christmas classic about a suicidal man whose guardian angel gives him the chance to see all that he’s accomplished and what his community would have been like without him. (PG, 2:09)

“Doctor Who: The Return of Doctor Mysterio”

7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, $13-$16, Dole Cannery.

The annual holiday special from the British sci-fi series, which has become a Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) tradition around the world. In this one, New York is threatened by brain-swapping aliens. (PG, 1:30)

ARTHOUSE

MOVIE MUSEUM

3566 Harding Ave. (735-8771); $5, $4 members

>> “Tracks”

11:15 a.m. and 3, 5 and 8:45 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m. and 3, 5 and 9 p.m. Thursday

In the mid-1970s a young Australian woman disappointed with society sets off on a solo walk across West Australia accompanied by four camels and a dog. Based on a true story. Rated PG-13. (2013, Australia, 1:52)

>> “Little Nothings”

(“Riens du tout”)

1:15 and 7 p.m. Friday

An ambitious young CEO is tasked with rescuing a Paris department store from bankruptcy. In doing so, the U.S.-educated Lepetit pushes his personnel to apply the mentality of “the customer is always right.” For ages 12 and older. In French with English subtitles. (1992, France, 1:33)

>> “A Small Southern Enterprise”

1, 3, 5 and 8:45 p.m. Saturday

After deciding to leave the priesthood, 50-year-old Constantino returns home to break the news to his mother, who already is upset at her scandalous daughter. Mama banishes Constantino to the family’s abandoned lighthouse, and it becomes a refuge for lovable sinners. For ages 15 and older. In Italian with English subtitles. (2013, Italy, 1:43)

“A Christmas Carol”

7 p.m. Saturday

Charles Dickens’ classic tale about the old miser Ebenezer Scrooge, who is visited one night by ghosts who teach him the spirit of Christmas. For all ages. (1951, U.K., 1:26)

“Midnight Diner”

11:45 a.m. and 4:15 and 8:45 p.m. Monday

Adaptation of Yaro Abe’s manga about a small Tokyo pub, open from midnight to 7 a.m., and its customers ranging from salarymen, nightclub hostesses and transvestites to yakuza. For ages 15 and older. In Japanese with English subtitles. (2014, Japan, 2:00)

“A School Behind Bars”

2 and 6:30 p.m. Monday

Based on a real prison school program in Japan, this drama focuses on a skeptical young teacher whose adult students prove him wrong. For ages 12 and older. In Japanese with English subtitles. (2010, Japan, 2:02)

“Avis de Mistral”

1 and 7 p.m. Thursday

Comedy-drama about two teen siblings and their deaf baby brother who finally meet their grandfather while on a summer vacation in Provence, where they are stuck on an olive farm devoid of technology. For ages 12 and older. In French with English subtitles. (2014, France, 1:44)

The Sakada Series

6-8 p.m. Thursday, Hawaii’s Plantation Village, 94-695 Waipahu St.

A Q&A session with filmmaker Maribel Apuya and stars of the documentary will follow with refreshments and light Filipino pupu. Free.

A documentary film screening comprises three short films about the Filipino plantation experience and life in Wailuku, Kahuku and Lanai: “A Sakada Story,” “Living Treasure” and “Filipina.”