The Fourth of July has passed and the fireworks have died down, but you can still simulate the experience of watching glowing stuff in the dark. How, you ask? Why, with a visit to a local movie theater! Up To Date's indie, foreign and documentary film critics offer their top movie picks, sure to bring some sparkle to your weekend.
Steve Walker
The Big Sick, R
- This alternately witty and wrenching autobiographical comedy about a Pakistani stand-up comic and a health scare endured by his Caucasian girlfriend stars Silicon Valley's Kumail Nanjiani, who co-wrote it with his wife, Emily V. Gordon.
The Exception, R
- Fueled by ferocious performances by Christopher Plummer and Janet McTeer as Kaiser Wilhelm and his regal wife, respectively, a high-stakes battle between the disgraced monarchy and the Third Reich entangles a sympathetic Nazi captain and a Jewish house servant.
The Beguiled, R
- Written and directed by Sofia Coppola, this unsettling, libidinous psycho-drama pits Colin Farrell's smoldering yet wounded Civil War mercenary against Nicole Kidman's chilly and pious boarding school headmistress, who becomes unhinged over his effect on her young charges.
Cynthia Haines
The Exception, R
- A German soldier played by Jai Courtney falls in love with a Jewish maid while investigating the manse of exiled monarch Kaiser Wilhelm II. The romance confronts him with a choice: follow his country or his heart.
Michelangelo: Love and Death, Not rated
- An extensive documentary detailing the life of famed sculptor Michelangelo, whose works defined the Italian Renaissance.
Megan Leavey, PG-13
- The true story of a young Marine and her military combat dog, Rex. While deployed in Iraq, an IED explosion injures them both, leading to a heart-wrenching turn of fate.
