PG-13, 1:51, comedy
Director Malcolm D. Lee’s “Night School,” starring Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish, squeaks by barely, with solid comic assistance from the delightful Romany Malco and Mary Lynn Rajskub. Along with Rob Riggle, Al Madrigal and Anne Winters, they’re welcome company as the Hart character’s fellow night school students, prepping for the GED exam under the tough-love guidance of the overworked Atlanta educator portrayed by Haddish. The movie relies on clumsy, poorly staged mayhem, with a glaring lack of finesse in its physical comedy. The actors aren’t the problem with “Night School”; the material is.
PG, 1:36, comedy
“Smallfoot” hinges on a clever reversal of perspective, centering on a tribe of Yetis who fear the unknown creature known to them as Smallfoot. Smallfoot is human, and the notion of taking a monster like Bigfoot and making him the hero, and humans the monster, is the fun of the movie. Our hero, Migo (Channing Tatum), is a happy-go-lucky Yeti who has an encounter with a smallfoot pilot who crash-lands on the mountain. He tells his village, though he’s rebuffed by the Stonekeeper (Common). So Migo goes hunting for evidence. Although “Smallfoot” is formulaic and predictable, what sets it apart is its willingness to dive into the themes of questioning blind faith.
PG, 1:44, fantasy
Make way for warlocks, aka “boy witches,” as defined by Lewis (Owen Vaccaro), the boy hero of “The House With a Clock in Its Walls.” The adaptation of John Bellairs’ 1973 novel makes a play to move in on the young warlock turf vacated by Harry Potter, but the film can’t quite keep time as a proper young-adult fantasy adventure. The story, which takes place in 1955, follows Lewis as he travels to live with his uncle, Jonathan Barnavelt (Jack Black), after the tragic death of his parents. Despite the rich elements — the fantastic cast, the wonderfully detailed production, an oddball family story of black sheep finding each other — there’s something missing from the film.
R, 1:57, drama
Comedy director Paul Feig tries a thriller on for size with “A Simple Favor,” a suburban Connecticut murder mystery that’s “Gone Girl” meets “The Stepford Wives,” as bright and bracing as an ice-cold gin martini, and just as satisfying. Anna Kendrick stars as Stephanie, a mommy vlogger raising her son, Miles (Joshua Satine), on her own. Shunned by the other parents, she takes up with the glamorous Emily Nelson (Blake Lively). “A Simple Favor” twists and turns, and by the end, it teeters on the brink of total incomprehensibility while plunging into full ridiculousness. But that’s exactly what you want for this soapy, stylized and sexy female-driven thriller.
R, 1:36, horror
Spinning off James Wan’s 2013 “The Conjuring,” about real-life married ghost hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren, the franchise started with true tales of hauntings and spectral invasions. Now “The Nun” takes on the back story about the demon in a habit that terrorized Lorraine’s visions. Demian Bichir is perfect as Father Burke, a priest tasked by the Vatican with investigating unusual religious phenomena. After deliveryman Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet) discovers the hanged body of a nun at a cloistered Romanian abbey, Burke is sent to investigate the suicide. Director Corin Hardy delivers a ’70s throwback gothic horror epic. And it’s a total, screaming blast.
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