Kam Williams Reviews Movies Opening Jan. 16

PHOTO:  Josh Gad and Kevin Hart in The Wedding Ringer

BIG BUDGET FILMS

American Sniper (R for graphic violence, sexual references and pervasive profanity) Clint Eastwood directed this adaptation of the best-selling memoir by Navy Seal Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), the most successful sniper in the history of the U.S. military. With Sienna Miller, Luke Grimes and Jake McDorman.

Blackhat (R for profanity and violence) Cybercrime thriller about a furloughed convict (Chris Hemsworth) who collaborates with American and Chinese authorities to track down the mysterious hacker attempting to cripple the international banking network. With Viola Davis, Wei Tang, John Ortiz and William Mapother. (In English and Spanish with subtitles)

Paddington (PG for mild action and rude humor) Family-oriented adventure about a British family that befriends a talking bear from Peru (Ben Whishaw) who’s on the run from a cold-hearted taxidermist (Nicole Kidman) determined to put him on display at London’s Natural History Museum. Cast includes Sally Hawkins, Jim Broadbent, Julie Walters and Hugh Bonneville.

The Wedding Ringer (R for crude humor, pervasive profanity, coarse sexuality and brief graphic nudity) Kevin Hart stars as the title character in this bromantic comedy as a faux Best Man hired by a socially-awkward groom-to-be (Josh Gad) in need of a BFF. With Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, Alan Ritchson, Catherin Chen, Nicky Whelan, Olivia Thirlby and Cloris Leachman.


INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS

Escobar: Paradise Lost (Unrated) Romance thriller, set in Colombia in the summer of 1991, about a Canadian surfer dude (Josh Hutchinson) who is pressured to serve as a hit man after falling for the niece (Claudia Traisac) of drug cartel kingpin Pablo Escobar (Benicio del Toro). Support cast includes Anne Giradot, Carlos Bardem and Brady Corbet.

Giuseppe Makes a Movie (Unrated) Vanity documentary chronicling the making of Garbanzo Gas by former child actor-turned-low-budget filmmaker Giuseppe Andrews in the trailer park where he was raised.

Human Capital (Unrated) Ensemble drama, set in Lombardy, about two families whose lives intertwine following a Christmas Eve hit-and-run accident that knocks a waiter off a bicycle and leaves him comatose. With Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Valeria Bruno Tedeschi, Matilda Gioli and Fabrizio Gifuni. (In Italian and English with subtitles)

Little Accidents (Unrated) Serendipitous drama about three strangers (Elizabeth Banks, Boyd Holbrook and Jacob Lofland) who form an unlikely bond in the wake of the mysterious disappearance of a teenager (Travis Tope) from a town already reeling from a coal mine tragedy. Co-staring Josh Lucas, Chloe Sevigny and Beau Wright.

Match (R for profanity, drug use and sexual dialogue) Hidden agenda dramedy about a doctoral student (Carla Gugino) working on her dissertation who travels with her husband (Matthew Lillard) from Seattle to NYC to interview an eccentric, Juilliard professor (Patrick Stewart). With Rob Yang, Maduka Steady and Jaime Tirelli.

Son of a Gun (Unrated) Cat-and-mouse crime caper, set in Perth, about a 19 year-old petty thief (Brenton Thwaites) who, against his better judgment, becomes the protégé of Australia’s Public Enemy #1 (Ewan McGregor) after the two stage a daring jailbreak. With Alicia Vikander, Matt Nable, Tammie West and Jacek Koman.

Spare Parts (PG-13 for profanity and violence) Overcoming-the-odds saga inspired by the real-life exploits of four undocumented aliens (Carlos PenaVega, David Del Rio, J.R. Villarreal and Jose Julian) who, with the help of their high school teacher (George Lopez), manage to compete against a team from MIT in a national robotics competition. Ensemble includes Marisa Tomei, Jamie Lee Curtis and Alexa PenaVega.

Still Alice (PG-13 for mature themes, brief profanity and a sexual reference) Julianne Moore portrays the title character in this poignant portrait of a linguistic professor suffering from Early-Onset Alzheimer’s. With Alec Baldwin, Kristen Stewart, Kate Bosworth and Hunter Parrish.

Underdogs (PG for mild epithets) Fact-based football drama, set in Ohio, recounting how a perennial, cellar-dwelling, high school team, with the help of a new coach (D.B. Sweeney), prevailed in a big showdown for bragging rights against their powerhouse, cross-town rivals. Cast includes William Mapother, Richard Portnow and Logan Huffman.

Vice (Unrated) Sci-fi thriller about a businessman (Bruce Willis) who opens an “anything goes” resort with life-like robots that look human. The plot thickens when a self-aware android (Ambyr Childers) with a mind of her own escapes from the compound and makes a break for it. With Thomas Jane, Bryan Greenberg and Charlotte Kirk.