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- “The Predator“ (R)
Boyd Holbrook from “Narcos” plays a sniper who pulls a predator’s helmet from the wreckage of a crash site in Mexico and mails it back home to his autistic son. The kid is played by Jacob Tremblay from “Wonder” and “Room”.
Sterling K. Brown is a government agent covering it up the existence of the aliens, and Olivia Munn is a biologist recruited to study the predators.
Unfortunately, her character was introduced in the scene that was cut to remove a sex offender from the cast, and some people say that edit hurt her character development.
The rest of the cast includes Keegan-Michael Key, Thomas Jane, Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy) from “Game of Thrones”, and Jake Busey . . . whose presence serves as a tie-in to his dad’s NSA character from “Predator 2”.
The franchise reboot is directed by “Iron Man 3” director Shane Black. Some of you may remember him as Hawkins, the predator’s first victim in the first “Predator” movie.
- “A Simple Favor“ (R)
Anna Kendrick stars in this thriller about a woman trying to figure out what happened to her best friend after she disappears and is presumed dead. Blake Lively plays her missing friend and “Crazy Rich Asians” star Henry Golding is Blake’s husband.
- “White Boy Rick“ (R)
A guy named Richie Merritt is the FBI’s youngest informant, a 14-year-old drug dealer who works with the Feds to try to keep his dad out of jail. Jennifer Jason Leigh is one of the FBI agents, and Matthew McConaughey plays his gun-running dad.
It’s based on a true story. The kid got busted and was sentenced to life in prison at the age of 17 after the FBI disavowed any knowledge of his informant activities. (You can listen to Matthew McConaughey talk about the movie here.)
- “Unbroken: Path to Redemption“ (PG-13)
This is sort of a sequel to the World War II movie “Unbroken”. It focuses on how Olympic runner Louis Zamperini coped with his PTSD by immersing himself in religion after surviving being tortured in a Japanese POW camp.
Unlike the first movie, it’s not directed by Angelina Jolie, and none of the original cast is back. This one stars a guy named Samuel Hunt, who you might recognize from “Chicago PD”.
