OPENING FRIDAY

“The Bye Bye Man”

“Elle”

“Live by Night”

“Monster Trucks”

“Patriots Day”

“Sleepless”

Not reviewed

Jamie Foxx stars as an undercover police officer in Las Vegas who battles corrupt colleagues and gangsters while trying to save his kidnapped son. (R, 1:35)

NOW PLAYING

“Assassin’s Creed” **1/2

This film is stamped with director Justin Kurzel’s unique visual style, which makes for an exciting if strange ride. Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender) is an inmate who is put to death by lethal injection but wakes up in a clinic at a shadowy corporation. The lead scientist, Dr. Sofia Rikkin (Marion Cotillard), claiming she’s researching “the cure to violence,” harnesses him to a device called the animus and sends him to 15th-century Spain, where he fights the Spanish Inquisition as his assassin ancestor, Aguilar. But it turns out to be a ploy to get Callum into a battle for “the Apple of Eden,” which has the code for free will. (PG-13, 1:48)

“The Eagle Huntress” ***

The story of 13-year-old Mongolian girl Aisholpan, who becomes the first girl to join her father’s long line of eagle hunters in a harsh and beautiful landscape, is a thrilling fable of indomitability and father-daughter companionship. The film is crafted to be accessible, with subtitled dialogue supplemented by gently didactic voice-over narration by British actress Daisy Ridley (Rey of “Star Wars”). Aisholpan has the power to inspire girls (and not only girls) everywhere, and Otto Bell’s documentary may turn her into a pop-culture heroine. (G, 1:27)

“Fences” ****

Director-star Denzel Washington captures the poetry of playwright August Wilson’s text, and the result is an experience of exuberance and richness. Washington portrays Troy, a scarred and formidable personality. He was a star in the Negro baseball league, but he was 40 when baseball integrated, so he never knew real money or fame. Instead, Troy works as a sanitation man, aware of his own magnificence while hiding his bitterness at the same time. He seems unconsciously to want to destroy his family, his wife (Viola Davis) and a teenage son (Jovan Adepo). He also has an older son, a struggling musician (Russell Hornsby) who craves his approval, but Troy won’t give it. Washington gives one of the best self-directed performances in cinematic history, and Davis is staggering, especially in a scene in which she lets loose her fury. (PG-13. 12:18)

“Hidden Figures” ***

“Hidden Figures” takes us back to 1961, when segregation and workplace sexism were widely accepted facts of life. The word “computer” referred to a person, not a machine. The most important computers here are three African-American women who work at data entry jobs for NASA but go on to play crucial roles in the space program. Based on Margot Lee Shetterly’s nonfiction book, the film, directed by Theodore Melfi, turns the entwined careers of Katherine Goble (played with perfect nerd charisma by Taraji P. Henson), Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) and Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) into a rousing celebration of merit rewarded and perseverance repaid. There is something to be said for a well-told tale with a clear moral and a satisfying emotional payoff. (PG, 2:06)

“Jackie” ***1/2

Natalie Portman portrays the elegant first lady in Chilean director Pablo Larrain’s daring psychological portrait of the wife and widow of President John F. Kennedy. Closely shot, with the camera never far from Portman’s face, “Jackie” is anything but a traditional biopic. Flashing back and forth in time, the film plays with history and memory, fact and speculation. It is a fever dream of a movie, tracking its subject as she tries to maintain her composure and her sanity, and as she tries to secure her husband’s legacy. While the casting is uneven, Portman carries the film, portraying Jackie with transfiguring intensity and focus. (R, 1:40)

“La La Land” ****

A musical with big numbers, intimate reveries and adult feelings, Damien Chazelle’s musical “La La Land” is a boy-meets-girl tale with early-21st-century rhythms. It grapples with love between equals in a story about an aspiring actress, Mia (Emma Stone), who meets an ambitious musician, Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), Los Angeles-style during a traffic jam: He honks at her; she flips him the bird. They end up swaying in that fading, soft-light time known as the magic hour, tapping and twirling. This must have been what it was like to see Astaire and Rogers dance for the first time, and one hopes it will appeal to contemporary moviegoers. While “La La Land” engages with nostalgia, it also passionately speaks to the present. (PG-13, 2:08)

“Lion” ***

“Lion” is the incredible true story of two remarkable journeys that Saroo Brierley took in his life — one far away from home, and his return trip. Based on his memoir, “A Long Way Home,” the film is split in two. The first half depicts the travels of young Saroo (Sunny Pawar), who is just 5 when he becomes separated from his brother in Khandwa and ends up 900 miles away in Kolkata. Two decades later, after he’s been taken from an orphanage and adopted by an Australian couple, he returns as the adult Saroo (Dev Patel) in the emotional journey, using modern technology to find his family. Both Pawar and Patel are impressive in their portrayal of Saroo young and old, and Nicole Kidman, as his adoptive mother, Sue, in a brief but juicy role, is luminous as a woman who demonstrates her boundless love in sharing a son with another mother. (PG-13, 2:00)

“Manchester by the Sea” ****

Dramatist-turned-filmmaker Kenneth Lonergan’s screenplay is character-driven, focusing on people the world normally doesn’t give much scrutiny to. Casey Affleck portrays a gruff Lee, who’s OK getting by on minimum wage as a custodian at a Boston condo complex. A family emergency concerning his brother Joe (Kyle Chandler) draws Lee back to his hometown, gradually unearthing a calamity in his own life. Joe’s son Patrick (Lucas Hedges), now a sarcastic high-schooler, is left in uncle Lee’s unwilling care, but Lee can’t stand remaining in Manchester, and Patrick refuses to leave his school, hockey team, rock band and two girlfriends. That strained relationship teaches both of them that amid harrowing disasters, life goes on. (R, 2:17)

“Master”

Not reviewed

Korean action-adventure film about an investigation of a massive fraud case at a major company. In Korean with English subtitles. (Not rated, 2:23)

“A Monster Calls” ***1/2

“Monster” is almost too ambitious to be completely realized. But when it works, its story has a power that lingers in the mind. It’s a gently spooky hybrid, mixing fable and reality, animation and live action, special effects and sincerity, based on a modern, international classic that won awards for its artwork. The story provided J.A. Bayona, a gifted visual director, plenty to work with. He was helped by strong acting, from Felicity Jones as a mother with a terrible disease; newcomer Lewis MacDougall as her son Conor, a bullied, nightmare-burdened 12-year-old; and veteran Liam Neeson as the 40-foot-tall tree monster. The monster presents Conor with an agenda. He will tell the boy three stories, after which the tables will be turned: “You will tell me a fourth, and it will be the truth — your truth.” The stories are wonderfully conveyed, as is the beast itself. Bayona used full-scale versions of the monster’s head and shoulders, arms, hands and feet. (PG-13, 1:48)

“Moana” ***

Those fretting over the depiction of Polynesian cultures in “Moana” shouldn’t trouble themselves. The movie itself is not realistic. It’s fantasy, magical, with a cave of magic canoes and an anthropomorphic ocean. Kamehameha Schools student Auli‘i Cravalho does a wonderful job as the voice of Moana, bringing depth and heart to the character. Moana feels the ocean is calling to her, but her father, Chief Tui (Temuera Morrison), forbids her to set sail. Suddenly, her island has no fish, and coconuts become infected with a blight, so Moana jumps on a canoe and sets sail. Her quest includes finding the powerful Maui (Dwayne Johnson), returning a green stone heart to a creation goddess, learning wayfinding and stopping the blight. Maui, meanwhile, needs to get his magic fis**ook back, but what he really wants is for mortals to admire him for his wondrous feats. (PG, 1:53)

“Moonlight” ****

The extraordinary film “Moonlight” uses restraint, quiet honesty, fluid imagery and an observant, uncompromised way of imagining one outsider’s world so that it becomes our own. “Moonlight” traces the life of an African-American male — played in three segments, each by a different actor — growing up in Miami. Alex Hibbert portrays the boy, known as Little, who faces the dilemma of trusting a drug dealer (Mahershala Ali) who befriends him, acting as a father figure while serving crack to his mother (Naomie Harris, who is riveting), a loving, hostile paradox of a wreck. In segment two, Little, now called Chiron (superb young actor Ashton Sanders), has a clandestine sexual encounter with childhood friend Kevin, but is betrayed when Kevin joins in on a beating with some bullies. In the third act, Chiron is called Black (Trevante Rhodes); he gets a call out of the blue from Kevin. Their extended, nearly real-time conversation is reason enough to champion the film. (R, 1:50)

“Passengers” **

In Morten Tyldum’s “Passengers,” stars Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt have been handed a faulty flight log. Pratt plays Jim Preston, one of a few thousand people in suspended animation on a starship on autopilot for a distant colonized planet. A big asteroid dings the ship, opening Preston’s pod 30 years into a 120-year trip, like a bear awakened from hibernation too soon. He goes through various stages reconciling himself to his fate, but eventually his gaze turns toward one of the sleeping passengers, Aurora Lane, played by Lawrence. His decision to wake her is a cosmic mix of creepy, amoral and understandable. A courtship follows, but Tyldum fails to reconcile the central twist of Jon Spaihts’ screenplay with the lighter tone he’s seeking. (PG-13, 1:42)

“Railroad Tigers” **

Aside from voice work for the “Kung Fu Panda” franchise, Jackie Chan has targeted the Asian market lately, focusing less on the comic athleticism that propelled him to international stardom. Railroad Tigers” is a return to form of sorts in that it’s a lighthearted, would-be comic war film with some inspired Chan stuntwork. It’s 1941 and the setting is China, where Chan is Ma Yuan, a railroad worker and leader of some ragtag rebels fighting the advancing Japanese army. They plan to hijack a train and get enough explosives to blow up a key bridge. Director Ding Sheng takes forever to get things going, and the cast is so big that, aside from Chan, there’s no way to get to know any of them (though Chan fans will like that one of the rebels is played by Jackie’s son, Jaycee, and that the filming reportedly helped repair a fractured relationship.) Much of the CGI looks phony, but there are a few magical Chan moments, such as when he’s fighting bad guys on the top of a speeding train. (Unrated, 2:04) In Mandarin and Japanese with English subtitles

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” ***1/2

The Force is strong with this spinoff, which provides a solid prequel to the original, taking us to a galaxy of new planets shrouded by ice or cloud-capped fog, drenched in rain or adorned by towering palm trees, all property of the evil Empire. At the center is rebel Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) and her allies, whose goal is to capture the blueprints for the Imperial Death Star, designed by her father (Mads Mikkelsen), or perhaps to assassinate him for aiding the totalitarians. As in every “Star Wars” film, the focus is the little guy fighting the big guy. This time the combat leaves palpable scars coated in filth; you experience them and wince. Of course, authoritarians are still entirely evil. Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn is the gold standard of personified malice as the main villain, Krennic. (PG-13 2:13)

“Sing” ***

What “Sing” might lack in originality of concept — “American Idol” with animated animals — it more than makes up for in execution. The story revolves around Buster Moon (a koala voiced by Matthew McConaughey), a theater owner who’s run into tough times. Buster scrapes together $1,000 for a singing contest, but a typo on the fliers raises it to $100,000. Hordes show up to audition, giving voice to characters like Rosita (Reese Witherspoon), an overworked mama pig; Johnny (Taron Egerton), a gorilla trying to break free of his father’s criminal gang; Ash (Scarlett Johansson), a talented teen porcupine with a jerky boyfriend; and Mike (Seth MacFarlane), a spendthrift rat with a Sinatra-esque croon. A series of inappropriate animal/pop song mash-ups, like a snail singing “Ride Like the Wind,” makes the film sing. (PG, 1:48)

“Why Him?” zero stars

Bryan Cranston, so good at being comically annoyed, plays Midwestern businessman Ned, who takes his family to Palo Alto, Calif., to visit their daughter. She springs the news that she expects them to stay with her at the home of her boyfriend (James Franco), who turns out to be a very successful developer of apps worth millions. His big faults are that he curses a lot and has lots of tattoos. (R, 1:51)

“Underworld: Blood Wars”

Not reviewed

The latest Kate Beckinsale film pits her deadly character, the vampire Selene, fighting to end a war between two clans of supernatural beings, including the vampire group that betrayed her. (R, 1:31)

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

“Disney Junior at the Movies with Mickey”

10 a.m. Saturday, Dole Cannery. $10.50-$13

Celebration of Mickey Mouse’s birthday and a preview of new animated series “Mickey and the Roadster Racers,” successor to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse program, which takes favorite Disney characters on various madcap car-racing adventures. Geared toward 2- to 7-year-olds, the show premieres this month on the Disney Junior channel with stories about friendship, teamwork and sportsmanship.

“Singin’ in the Rain” 65th Anniversary

2 and 7 p.m. Sunday and Wednesday, Dole Cannery, $13; and noon and 7 p.m. Sunday and Wednesday, Regal Kapolei Commons $12.50

Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds (who died last month) and Donald O’Connor ham it up in this musical comedy that spoofs the advent of “talkies” — movies with sound. Kelly’s dance in the downpour and O’Connor’s hilarious “Make ’Em Laugh” are classics.

“Sherlock” Season 4 Finale

7 p.m. Monday and Wednesday, Dole Cannery, $13-$16

Holmes and Watson deal with the surprising revelation that Holmes has a sister, Euros, who apparently is associated with his archenemy Moriarity and has been dogging him for a long time.

“One Piece Film: Gold”

11 a.m. Saturday, Consolidated Kapolei, $11:50; 11 a.m. Saturday, Ward Stadium, $12.25; and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dole Cannery 16. $13

Anime film about an emperor who tries to take over the world’s greatest entertainment center, threatening the world in general.

“Ghiblies Episode 2” and “Ocean Waves”

7 p.m. Tuesday, Consolidated Kahala, $12

“Ocean Waves,” the last project from famed anime producer Studio Ghibli to be released in the United States, is a story of adolescence about two schoolmates whose relationship is tested when a beautiful but moody student transfers to their school. Also making its U.S. debut is “Ghiblies Episode 2,” a short inspired by the funny day-to-day happenings of the Studio Ghibli staff. (In Japanese with English subtitles)

“Spaceballs”

7 and 10 p.m. Wednesday, Ward Stadium, $10

Mel Brooks’ spoof of “Star Wars” in which the evil Dark Helmet plans to kidnap Princess Vespa, who gets protection from mercenary Lone Starr and his sidekick Barf.

“Sailor Moon R: The Promise of the Rose”

8 p.m. Thursday, Ward Stadium and Consolidated Kapolei, $15

In this 1993 movie starring the popular Japanese manga figures, Sailor Soldiers face off against a revenge-seeking stranger who plans to drain the world of its life energy with a flower-based weapon hidden on an asteroid hurtling toward Earth.

“Lost in London Live”

7 p.m. Thursday, Dole Cannery, $19

Live screening of actor and Maui resident Woody Harrelson reliving “one of the worst nights of my life,” during which he got arrested in London. Owen Wilson and Willie Nelson co-star in the screening, which is to be broadcast from 14 locations around London and streamed around the world. If the project fails, Harrelson said, he’ll jump into the Thames, “and that should pretty much end my career.”

DORIS DUKE THEATRE

Honolulu Museum of Art

10th Annual Bollywood Film Festival

Runs through Jan. 22. All films in Hindi with English subtitles. $8-$10. 532-6097, honolulumuseum.org

“Ae Dil Hai Mushkil”

1 p.m. Friday and Saturday

In this story of unrequited love, a sweet, quirky son of an industrialist who nurtures a hidden passion forsinging; a charming but neglected youngest daughter in a family of aristocrats; and a beautiful divorcee whopours her pain into poetry have lives that intertwine and connect. (2016, India, 2:37)

“Baar Baar Dekho”

7 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Math genius Jai has a promising career and the perfect girlfriend in Diya. But when marriage enters into themix, Jai’s life is thrown into chaos, and he starts time-traveling into the future. As he sees his future life withDiya start to disintegrate, Jai formulates a plan to travel backward in time, to fix the mistakes he was about tomake. (2016, India, 2:21)

“Te3n”

1 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, 7 p.m. Wednesday

In this remake of the 2013 Korean thriller “Montage,” a grandfather gets help from a cop-turned-priest in hisquest to seek justice for his granddaughter, who was kidnapped eight years earlier. (2016, India, 2:16)

“Wazir”

7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, 1 p.m. Wednesday

A wheelchair-bound chess grandmaster and an anti-terrorism squad officer, brought together by grief and astrange twist of fate, end up helping each other win “the biggest games of their lives.” (2016, India, 1:44)

MOVIE MUSEUM

3566 Harding Ave. (735-8771); $5, $4 members

“A Man Called Ove” (“En man som heter Ove”)

11:15 a.m. and 3 and 6:45 p.m. Friday

This funny, award-winning moving adaptation of Frederick Backman’s Swedish best-seller concerns Ove, acrabby widower who wants to commit suicide to join his beloved wife but is saved by his obsession withorderliness. In Swedish with English subtitles. Rated PG-13. (2015, Sweden, 1:56)

“A Stranger of Mine” (“Unmei janai hito”)

1:15, 5 and 8:45 p.m. Friday; 1:30 and 7:15 p.m. Sunday

Comedy about a private detective who gets into trouble with the yakuza as he tries to set up his unlucky-in-love childhood friend with a lonely nurse. For ages 12 and older. In Japanese with English subtitles. (2005,Japan, 1:38)

“Denial”

11:30 a.m. and 3:15, 7 and 9 p.m. Saturday

Courtroom drama surrounding the real legal battle of American historian Deborah Lipstadt, who was sued forlibel by English Nazi sympathizer David Irving and forced to prove in an English court of law that the Holocaustoccurred. Rated PG-13. (2016, U.K./U.S., 1:49)

“What No One Knows” (“Det som ingen ved”)

1:30 and 5:15 p.m. Saturday

Children’s entertainer Thomas’ life is threatened when his sister Charlotte tries to tell him secrets about theirlate father, an intelligence officer. When Charlotte drowns under suspicious circumstances, Thomas desperatelysearches for the truth. In Danish and Swedish with English subtitles. (2008, Denmark/Sweden, 1:39)

“Deepwater Horizon”

11:30 a.m. and 3:15, 5:15 and 9 p.m. Sunday

Thriller about the worst oil spill in U.S. history as the Deepwater Horizon oil rig suffered a massive structuralfailure on April 20, 2010. With Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell and John Malkovich. Rated PG-13. (2016, HongKong/U.S., 1:47)

“Umrika”

11:30 a.m. and 3:15 and 7 p.m. Monday

In the mid-1980s in India, young Udai leaves his tiny village to work in “Umrika” (also known as America) andsends letters back home that leave everyone wanting more. When the letters cease, Udai’s younger brother setsoff on a journey to find him. For ages 12 and older. In Hindi with English subtitles. (2015, India, 1:38)

“Unindian”

1:15, 5 and 8:45 p.m. Monday

Meera is a divorced single mother who finds herself “too Aussie” or “too Indian” to simply fall for tall, blondEnglish teacher Will; meanwhile, her parents are intent on setting her up with Samir, an arrogant cardiologist.For ages 12 and older. (2015, Australia, 1:44)

“The Candidate” (“Kandidaten”)

12:15, 4:30 and 8:45 p.m. Thursday

A defense attorney investigates his attorney father’s “accidental” death and becomes the target of a group ofblackmailers. For ages 15 and older. In Danish with English subtitles. (2008, Denmark, 1:35)

“Kabukicho Love Hotel” (“Sayonara Kabukicho”)

2 and 6:15 p.m. Thursday

This comedy-drama is filled with stories of staff and guests of a Tokyo love hotel over the course of one day.For ages 15 and older. In Japanese with English subtitles. (2014, Japan, 2:15)