Somewhere behind the macho posturing that predominates in the action sequel “XXX: Return of Xander Cage” (Paramount), there’s a plot and a back story.
Movie – ‘XXX: Return of Xander Cage’
Movie: ’20th Century Women’
The moral compass in “20th Century Women” (A24), writer-director Mike Mills’ rambling, unfiltered drama — loosely based on his adolescence in 1970s Santa Barbara, California — is not one of the characters
Movie: ‘Split’
“Split” (Universal), the latest psychological thriller from writer-director M. Night Shyamalan, posits that victims of childhood sexual abuse are not only prone to dissociative identity disorder — split personalities — but also that each persona can have unique physical characteristics.
Movie: ‘Sleepless’
There’s little chance of catching a quick nap during “Sleepless” (Open Road), a noisy, vulgar, and highly violent police drama.
Movie: ‘The Bye Bye Man’
Such is the frantic, oft-repeated mantra of the bewitched and bewildered — not to mention generic — characters who populate “The Bye Bye Man” (STX).
Movie review: ‘Patriots Day’
While “Patriots Day” is an effective dramatization of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and its violent aftermath, the film is also an unsparing portrayal of those events.
Movie: ‘Monster Trucks’
The action comedy “Monster Trucks” (Paramount) certainly lives up to its title. It has strange creatures mysteriously propelling utilitarian vehicles in the absence of an internal combustion engine.
Movie: ‘Live by Night’
The glossy crime drama “Live by Night” (Warner Bros.) traces the rise of Joe Coughlin (Ben Affleck, who also wrote and directed), a Boston-bred gangster in the Florida of the 1920s and ’30s.