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R, 1:48, horror
It’s been more than 30 years since audiences were introduced to the universe’s deadliest hunter in 1987’s “Predator,” a testosterone-fueled action flick that helped define the over-the-top tone of the era. Since then, sequels and crossover films have failed to capture the interstellar reptilian magic of the original. Now, we can add the latest addition to the series, “The Predator,” to the attempts list. Directed and co-written by Shane Black, who played squad member Hawkins in the original film, “The Predator” follows Army sniper Quinn McKenna (Boyd Holbrook), who has a close encounter with a predator when its ship crash-lands. It doesn’t much feel like a “Predator” movie; the horror elements that made the original so compelling are gone.
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, possessions and spectral invasions. And now “The Nun” takes on the backstory of the imposing demon in a habit that terrorized Lorraine’s visions. Demian Bichir is perfectly cast as Father Burke, a reluctant priest tasked by the Vatican to investigate unusual religious phenomena. After young 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.
R, 1:57, drama
Comedy director Paul Feig tries a thriller on for size with the juicy “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 with a lemon twist, 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, elusive and mysterious Emily Nelson (Blake Lively). “A Simple Favor” twists and turns like a flag whipping in the wind, 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 brand of soapy, stylized and sexy female-driven thriller.
R, 1:50, drama
Even in the well-trod genre that is the ’80s drug movie, the true life story of teen drug kingpin Ricky Wershe Jr., aka White Boy Rick, stands out. The baby-faced baller moved serious weight in Detroit in the mid-’80s, and the legend surrounding him is larger than the real, tragic story. Director Yann Demange’s film “White Boy Rick” balances these details, both outlandish and intimate, carefully. Rick (Richie Merritt), a daring, tough, but ultimately sweet kid who boasts an entrepreneurial streak like his dad, insinuates himself with the baddest crews in town. This film doesn’t hit hard enough, but it’s tender and tragic among the glitz and the grime.
PG-13, 2:01, comedy
Sweet, guileless Rachel Chu (Constance Wu), a New York economics professor, has been dating handsome Nick (Henry Golding). Due back in Singapore for the summer wedding of his best friend, Colin (Chris Pang), Nick is serious enough about Rachel that he invites her to come and meet his family, whom he’s been fairly tight-lipped about until now.This adaptation of Kevin Kwan’s 2013 international bestseller is a tour de force of lifestyle pornography, a slick, enjoyable study of class and cultural difference.
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