‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’ (Jan. 22)
The director Yorgos Lanthimos and the actor Barry Keoghan have two of the most talked-about movies of the fall in “Poor Things” and “Saltburn”; back in 2017, they collaborated on a film that makes both of those efforts seem comparatively tame. Colin Farrell stars as a seemingly normal heart surgeon whose peculiar interactions with Keoghan, the son of a former patient, escalate into deeply troubling territory. Farrell strikes a perfect key of revealing nothing without hiding anything, Nicole Kidman is excellent as his wife (with secrets of her own) and Keoghan’s mere presence is effortlessly disturbing.
‘Baby Mama’ (Jan. 31)
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler took their considerable chemistry from “Saturday Night Live” to the big screen in this charming 2008 buddy comedy. Fey stars as Kate, an uptight executive who hears the ticking of her biological clock and seeks out a surrogate: Poehler is Angie, wildly immature and worrisomely irresponsible. It’s a classic opposites attract story, and the story beats contain few surprises. But Fey and Poehler are so easily entertaining and tuned in to each other’s wavelengths that even the throwaway lines land big laughs, and the stacked supporting cast (including Greg Kinnear, Romany Malco, Steve Martin, Dax Shepard, Holland Taylor, Maura Tierney, and Sigourney Weaver) more than pulls its weight.
‘The Bling Ring’ (Jan. 31)
Last year’s Netflix original docu-series “The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist” dived into the true story of the crew of Los Angeles teenagers busted in 2009 for burglarizing the homes of several boldfaced names. That may satisfy true crime aficionados, but Sofia Coppola’s 2013 dramatization offers more than mere star gazing and rubbernecking. Her textured and experiential aesthetic is a perfect fit for this tale of shiny surfaces and conspicuous consumption; it isn’t exactly sympathetic to the teen criminals at its center, but it is empathetic to the feeling of being surrounded by unimaginable wealth and the thrill of having it (literally) in your grasp.
‘Call Me by Your Name’ (Jan. 31)
Sometimes a movie can seem to mosey and meander, running on vibes and nostalgia, and then snap itself together with full emotional force in its closing passages. That’s what happens in Luca Guadagnino’s adaptation of the novel by André Aciman (with a screenplay by the great James Ivory, of Merchant-Ivory productions). Timothée Chalamet is remarkable in the leading role of the 17-year-old Elio, a withdrawn young man who falls in love for the first time with a visiting graduate student (Armie Hammer). The rural Italian locations are gorgeous, and the supporting players are charming (particularly Michael Stuhlbarg as Elio’s understanding father). But most important, and impressive, is Guadagnino’s skill at capturing the sheer intoxication of one’s first flush of love and playful lust.
‘Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2’ (Jan. 31)
Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who adapted the beloved children’s book for the original “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” in 2009, did not return for this 2013 sequel, and their absence is felt; the new team can’t quite replicate the gonzo energy and wild wit of the first picture. But it maintains that film’s considerable charm, thanks primarily to the winning vocal work of Bill Hader as the perpetually nervous inventor Flint Lockwood and Anna Faris as Sam Sparks, a brainy meteorologist (and Flint’s best girl).
