#Middlebury
“What Men Want” (R) – Ali Davis (Taraji P. Henson) is a hardworking, top-tier sports agent who is a sore thumb of a woman in a man’s business. Screened out of a partnership by the boys’ club, she turns to a voodoo-gypsy-fortune teller who gives her the ability to hear the thoughts of men. Once she gets past the cavalcade of sophomoric rude references, Ali harnesses her new power and uses it to her own advantage. This is a gender swap update of the Nancy Myers rom-com starring Mel Gibson, and it’s about as good as that one, which is to say a bit predictable and a tad overbearing but still kinda funny and cute.
Lucy and Emmett from “The Lego Movie 2” (Warner Bros. photo)
“The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part” (PG) – Invite the neighborhood kids over for a follow-up to 2014’s goof-fest (and I mean that in the most complimentary way), now with Duplo blocks! The perpetually sunny Emmett Brickowski (Chris Pratt) and his brooding belle Lucy (Elizabeth Banks) now live in a near-apocalyptic future after the arrival of smotheringly cute Duplo big blocks from the Systar System that decimate Bricksburg. But when these space invaders send a general to kidnap Batman (Will Arnette) as a king for Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi (delightfully voiced by Tiffany Haddish), a group including Lucy gets scooped up, and Emmett will have to go after his friends, crossing space and time to save them. It falls short of its predecessor, but only barely. It’s a free-for-all of popular references and cameos with, if can you believe it, a message for kids and parents alike.
“Everybody Knows” (R) – Real-life husband and wife Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz play former lovers Paco and Laura in director Asghar Farhadi’s “Everybody Knows,” a Spanish-language crime drama. Laura returns to her hometown for her sister’s birthday and to visit with her father. There she is reconnected with a former boyfriend who has built a successful business. At a party, her teenage daughter goes missing, and a ransom is demanded. Longtime secrets are slowly unraveled in the midst of investigating the kidnapping.
“The Prodigy” (R) – Tiny terror Miles (Jackson Robert Scott) has a big brain and violent tendencies. His mother Sarah (Taylor Schilling, of “Orange Is the New Black” fame) struggles with loving her baby boy and recognizing the danger that lies within. There’s a backstory involving a serial killer who dies and is possibly reimbodied in Miles, but this movie doesn’t seem to invest much in the storyline. It’s a series of vignettes showcasing creepy child actions (knife sharpening, threatening pictures drawn, blunt objects being wielded) with a couple of jump scares thrown in.
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