Still from The Croods: A New Age. (Credit: Universal Picture)
The Croods: A New Age《疯狂原始人2：新纪元》
豆瓣评分：8.1
The prehistoric family from 2013’s hugely enjoyable cartoon, The Croods, makes a welcome return, so we can expect more frenetic adventures, bizarre hybrid animals, and endearing vocal work by such well-cast actors as Nicolas Cage, Catherine Keener, Emma Stone and Ryan Reynolds. In the much-delayed sequel, they meet another family, the Bettermans (voiced by Peter Dinklage, Leslie Mann and Kelly Marie Tran), whose advanced lifestyle and technology makes the Croods look even more primitive than they did already. “The Croods lead with their heart, and the Bettermans lead with their brain,” says Joel Crawford, the film’s director. “Of course, there’s conflict, they face challenges, but they learn to appreciate each other’s differences. There’s a lot of wonderful, powerful themes. But it’s a ridiculous comedy too.”
2013年的超欢乐动画《疯狂原始人》中的史前家庭即将在万众期待中回归，我们有望看到更疯狂的冒险、古怪的杂交动物，听到尼古拉斯·凯奇、凯瑟琳·基纳、艾玛·斯通和瑞恩·雷诺兹等杰出演员的可爱配音。在这部姗姗来迟的续集中，这家人遇到了另一个家庭——贝特曼斯一家（由彼特·丁拉基、莱斯利·曼恩和凯莉·玛丽·陈配音）。这家人先进的生活方式和技术使得本就原始的克鲁兹一家显得更加原始。该片的导演乔尔·克劳福德表示：“克鲁兹一家是用心去生活，贝特曼斯一家是用大脑去生活。当然，冲突是存在的，他们也面临挑战，但他们学会欣赏彼此的不同。电影中有很多奇妙、有力的主题。但这也是一部荒诞的喜剧片。”
推荐月份：11月
Still from Tenet. (Credit: Warner Bros.)
Tenet《信条》
豆瓣评分：7.7
If any film is going to tempt crowds back to cinemas, it’s Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, a brain-frying science-fiction blockbuster with a high concept and a higher budget. John David Washington stars as a secret agent who learns about mysterious weapons that move backwards through time, and then dashes off on a mission to find the man responsible, a sadistic Ukrainian arms dealer played by Kenneth Branagh.Tenetis a Bond movie that squeezesBack to the Future 2andEdge of Tomorrowinto its last act. After six months with almost no new films in cinemas, it’s good to see a film so crammed with exotic locations, snazzy costumes, shoot-outs and explosions that you get six months’ worth of entertainment in two and a half hours.
如果说有哪部电影可以吸引大众回归影院，那就是克里斯多夫·诺兰的《信条》，这是一部成本超高的高概念烧脑科幻大片。约翰·大卫·华盛顿在片中饰演一位特工，他得知可以令时间倒流的秘密武器后，就火速开始了寻找罪魁祸首的任务，后者是肯尼思·布莱纳格饰演的一名残酷成性的乌克兰军火商。《信条》本质上是一部007电影，结局是《回到未来2》和《明日边缘》的集合体。在经历了几乎没有新片上映的六个月后，能看到一部充满异国风情、新潮服饰、枪战和爆炸场面的电影真是棒极了，在两个半小时内就过足了六个月的瘾。
推荐月份：9月
Still from Onward. (Credit: Disney/Pixar)
Onward《1/2的魔法》
豆瓣评分：7.7
Dragons, unicorns and other fairytale creatures are usually consigned to a mythical past resembling Ancient Greece or Medieval Britain, but the big idea behind Pixar’s latest animation, Onward, is that they are all still alive and kicking in the US today. Tom Holland and Chris Pratt (better known as Spider-Man and Star-Lord) provide the voices of two elf brothers who go on a road trip – or a magical quest, depending on how you look at it – in an attempt to bring their father back from the dead. Ben Travis writes in Empire thatOnwardis “pure, perfect Pixar – a film with such warmth, whip-smart humor and creative energy that it’s a sheer joy to spend a few hours in its presence”.
龙、独角兽和其他神话生物通常都被安排在古希腊或中世纪英国这样的神秘过往，但是皮克斯的最新动画《1/2的魔法》的故事设定却是这些神话生物全都活蹦乱跳地生活在当代的美国。汤姆·赫兰德（蜘蛛侠）和克里斯·帕拉特（星爵）为两个踏上公路之旅——或探寻魔法之旅（取决于你怎么看，目的是让父亲起死回生）——的精灵兄弟配音。本·特拉维斯在Empire网站上写道，《1/2的魔法》是“一部纯粹的、完美的皮克斯电影——拥有暖心、机智的幽默感和创造性活力，观影的几个小时完全是在快乐中度过的。”
推荐月份：3月
Still from Saint Frances. (Credit: Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Saint Frances《圣·弗朗西斯》
豆瓣评分：7.4
Kelly O’Sullivan is both the screenwriter and star of this sensitive indie comedy about Bridget, a directionless Chicago thirtysomething who gets a job as a six-year-old’s nanny. Of course, Bridget is soon learning as much from Frances (Ramona Edith-Williams) as Frances is learning from her. Saint Franceswas the audience-award winner at last year’s SXSW festival, where Brian Tallerico at RogerEbert wrote that “the movie really snuck up on me and walloped me emotionally in the final scenes in ways I wasn’t expecting”. The reason: “we believe in its characters... Bridget makes mistakes, but they feel organic and genuine, not designed as ‘movie lessons’.”
凯莉·欧·沙利文既是这部情感细腻的独立制作电影的编剧，也是主演。这部喜剧片讲述的是一位没有方向感的三十多岁芝加哥女性布丽吉特的故事，她给一个6岁孩子当保姆。当然，布丽吉特很快就从弗朗西斯（拉蒙娜·伊迪斯-威廉姆斯饰演）身上学到了很多东西，而弗朗西斯也从她身上学到了很多。《圣·弗朗西斯》在去年的西南偏南电影节上获得了观众选择奖，影评网RogerEbert的布莱恩·塔勒锐可写道：“这部电影猝不及防地征服了我，结局以一种出乎意料的方式深深触动了我的情感”。原因是“角色让人信服……布丽吉特会犯错，但这些错误都自然而真实，没有说教意味”。
推荐月份：2月
