May 1

• Peter Rabbit

  Peter Rabbit, the mischievous and adventurous hero who has captivated generations of readers, now takes on the starring role of his own cute, contemporary comedy with attitude. In the film, Peter’s feud with Mr. McGregor (Domhnall Gleeson) escalates to greater heights than ever before as they rival for the affections of the warm-hearted animal lover who lives next door (Rose Byrne). James Corden, with playful spirit and wild charm, voices the character of Peter. Vitals: Director: Will Gluck. Stars: Rose Byrne, Domhnall Gleeson, Daisy Ridley, Elizabeth Debicki, Margot Robbie, James Corden. 2018, CC, MPAA rating: PG, 95 min., Family, Box office gross: $113.277 million, Sony. Extras: “Shake Your Cotton-Tail Dance Along,” “Mischief In the Making.” Blu-ray adds “Flopsy Turvy” mini movie featuring Peter’s precocious sisters, Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-tail, narrated by Margot Robbie as Flopsy. When Flospy sets out to prove that anything her sisters can do, she can do better, she soon learns that when times get tough, sisters come together.

• 12 Strong

  Set in the harrowing days following 9/11, a U.S. Special Forces team, led by their new Captain, Mitch Nelson (Chris Hemsworth), is chosen to be the first U.S. troops sent into Afghanistan for an extremely dangerous mission. There, in the rugged mountains, they must convince Northern Alliance General Dostum (Navid Negahban) to join forces with them to fight their common adversary: the Taliban and their Al Qaeda allies. In addition to overcoming mutual distrust and a vast cultural divide, the Americans—accustomed to state-of-the-art warfare—must adopt the rudimentary tactics of the Afghani horse soldiers. But despite their uneasy bond, the new allies face overwhelming odds: outnumbered and outgunned by a ruthless enemy that does not take prisoners. Vitals: Director: Nicolai Fuglsig. Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon, Michael Pena, Said Taghmaoui, Elsa Pataky, William Fichtner, Rob Riggle. 2018, CC, MPAA rating: R, 130 min., Drama, Box office gross: $45.500 million, Warner. Extras: “12 Strong: The Making of an Impossible Mission,” “Monumental Effort: Building America’s Response Monument.”

• Winchester: The House That Ghosts Built

  Inspired by true events. On an isolated stretch of land 50 miles outside of San Francisco sits the most haunted house in the world. Built by Sarah Winchester, (Helen Mirren) heiress to the Winchester fortune, it is a house that knows no end. Constructed in an incessant twenty-four hour a day, seven day a week mania for decades, it stands seven stories tall and contains hundreds of rooms. To the outsider it looks like a monstrous monument to a disturbed woman’s madness. But Sarah is not building for herself, for her niece (Sarah Snook) or for the brilliant Doctor Eric Price (Jason Clarke) whom she has summoned to the house. She is building a prison, an asylum for hundreds of vengeful ghosts — of people killed by the Winchester rifle — and the most terrifying among them have a score to settle with the Winchesters. Vitals: Director: Peter Spierig, Michael Spierig. Stars: Helen Mirren, Jason Clarke, Sarah Snook. 2018, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 99 min., Horror-Mystery, Box office gross: $24.953 million, Lionsgate. Extras: “Driven by the Spirits: The Making of Winchester” featurette.

 

May 8

• Fifty Shades Freed

  Believing they have left behind shadowy figures from their past, newlyweds Christian (Jamie Dornan) and Ana (Dakota Johnson) fully embrace an inextricable connection and shared life of luxury. But just as she steps into her role as Mrs. Grey and he relaxes into an unfamiliar stability, new threats could jeopardize their happy ending before it even begins. Vitals: Director: James Foley. Stars: Jamie Dornan, Dakota Johnson, Eric Johnson, Rita Ora, Marcia Gay Harden. 2018, CC, MPAA rating: R, 105 min., Drama, Box office gross: $99.229 million, Universal. Extras: Deleted scene, “The Final Climax” behind-the-scenes featurettes: “The Wedding,” “Honeymoon: Travel,” “Mr. & Mrs. Grey,” “Ana Takes Charge,” “Ana & Mr. Hyde,” “Aspen in Whistler,” “Ana’s Revelation,” “Resolution,” “The Meaning of Freed.” Blu-ray adds “An Intimate Conversation with (author) EL James and Eric Johnson,” three music videos.

 

May 15

• Black Panther

  Marvel Studio comic hero follows T’Challa who, after the death of his father, the King of Wakanda, returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced African nation to succeed to the throne and take his rightful place as king. But when a powerful old enemy reappears, T’Challa’s mettle as king – and Black Panther – is tested when he is drawn into a formidable conflict that puts the fate of Wakanda and the entire world at risk. Faced with treachery and danger, the young king must rally his allies and release the full power of Black Panther to defeat his foes and secure the safety of his people and their way of life. Third biggest movie of all time domestically with over $665 million – the first film in eight years to spend five weeks at No. 1 – and rising to the global top 10 of all time with over $1.3 billion. Vitals: Director: Ryan Coogler. Stars: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis. 2018, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 134 min., Action-Adventure, Box office gross: $666.272 million, Disney. Blu-ray extras: Director’s intro; “From Page to Screen: A Roundtable Discussion” delves into the film’s making; “Crowning of a New King” explores the world of “Black Panther” in all its color and complexity; “The Warriors Within”: the Wakanda’s women and the actors who portray them; “The Hidden Kingdom Revealed”; “Wakanda Revealed: Exploring the Technology”; deleted scenes; gag reel”; exclusive sneak peek at “Ant-Man and The Wasp”; “Marvel Studios the First Ten Years: Connecting the Universe”; director’s commentary.

 

May 22

• The 15:17 to Paris

  The real-life story of three men whose brave act turned them into heroes during a high-speed railway ride. In the early evening of August 21, 2015, the world watched in stunned silence as the media reported a thwarted terrorist attack on Thalys train #9364 bound for Paris—an attempt prevented by three courageous young Americans traveling through Europe. The film follows the course of the friends’ lives, from the struggles of childhood through finding their footing in life, to the series of unlikely events leading up to the attack. Throughout the harrowing ordeal, their friendship never wavers, making it their greatest weapon and allowing them to save the lives of the more than 500 passengers on board. The heroic trio is comprised of Anthony Sadler, Oregon National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos and U.S. Air Force Airman First Class Spencer Stone, who play themselves in the film. Vitals: Director: Clint Eastwood. Stars Alek Skarlatos, Anthony Sadler, Spencer Stone, Jenna Fischer, Judy Greer, Jaleel White, Bryce Gheisar, Thomas Lennon, Tony Hale, P.J. Byrne, Sinqua Walls. 2018, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 94 min., Drama, Box office gross: $36.250 million, Warner Extras: “Portrait of Courage” behind-the-scenes featurette. Blu-ray adds “Making Every Second Count,” with Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler as they take us moment-by-moment through the real-life drama, just as they lived it.

• Red Sparrow

  Jennifer Lawrence is Dominika, a former ballerina forced to enter Sparrow School, a secret government program that thrusts her into a treacherous espionage game between Russia and the CIA. She emerges trained as a lethal agent, but is trapped in a world she desperately wants to escape. Her first mission, targeting a C.I.A. agent, threatens to unravel the security of both nations. Vitals: Director: Francis Lawrence. Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Jeremy Irons, Matthias Schoenaerts, Mary-Louise Parker, Charlotte Rampling, Joely Richards. 2018, CC, MPAA rating: R, 140 min., Thriller, Box office gross: $46.529 million, Fox. Extras: Commentary by director Francis Lawrence, deleted scenes. Blu-ray adds “A New Cold War: Origination and Adaptation,” “Agents Provocateurs: The Ensemble Cast,” “Tradecraft: Visual Authenticity,” “Heart of the Tempest: On Location,” “Welcome to Sparrow School: Ballet and Stunts,” “A Puzzle of Need: Post-Production.”

• Game Night

  Bateman and McAdams star as Max and Annie, whose weekly couples game night gets kicked up a notch when Max’s charismatic brother, Brooks (Chandler), arranges a murder mystery party, complete with fake thugs and faux federal agents. So when Brooks gets kidnapped, it’s all part of the game… right? But as the six uber-competitive gamers set out to solve the case and win, they begin to discover that neither this “game” — nor Brooks — are what they seem to be. Over the course of one chaotic night, the friends find themselves increasingly in over their heads as each twist leads to another unexpected turn. With no rules, no points, and no idea who all the players are, this could turn out to be the most fun they’ve ever had … or game over. Vitals: Director: Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley. Stars: Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Kylie Bunbury, Kyle Chandler, Jesse Plemons, Michael C. Hall, Chelsea Peretti, Billy Magnussen, Danny Huston. 2018, CC, MPAA rating: R, 100 min., Comedy, Box office gross: $68.593 million, Warner. Extras:

• Wonderstruck

  Based on Brian Selznick’s critically acclaimed novel. Ben and Rose are children from two different eras who secretly wish their lives were different. In 1977, Ben longs for the father he has never known, while in 1927, Rose dreams of a mysterious actress whose life she chronicles in a scrapbook. When Ben discovers a puzzling clue in his home and Rose reads an enticing headline in the newspaper, both children set out on quests to find what they are missing that unfold with mesmerizing symmetry. Vitals: Director: Todd Haynes. Stars: Michelle Williams, Julianne Moore, Oakes Fegley, Tom Noonan, Cory Michael Smith, Amy Hargreaves, James Urbaniak. 2017, CC, MPAA rating: PG, 116 min., Drama, Box office gross: $1.060 million, Amazon Studios.

 

May 29

• Annihilation

  A thought provoking, shape-shifting sci-fier in which a group of female scientists are sent on a mission into a geographic anomaly composed of a shimmering electromagnetic field on the Southern coast of the U.S. Their goal: find the source of “the Shimmer,” which has already taken the lives of several military teams and which appears to be growing and changing. There, they find shifting landscapes, mutant animals, and reality turned inside-out. Challenging and cerebral, the film is kinda Andrei Tarkovsky’s masterpiece “Stalker” meets “Under the Skin” meets “The Thing” meets “2001.” Directed by Alex Garland, who wrote and directed 2015’s “Ex Machina” and wrote the screenplays for “28 Days Later” (2002), “Sunshine” (2007) and “Never Let Me Go” (2010). Reportedly, a studio executive (David Ellison) demanded changes to the film that would make it less “intellectual” and “complicated,” and wanted to alter the ending. Fortunately, producer Scott Rudin — who had final cut privileges — sided with Garland. Vitals: Director: Alex Garland. Stars: Natalie Portman, Oscar Isaac, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Tuva Novotny. 2018, CC, MPAA rating: R, 115 min., Adventure, Box office gross: $32.696 million, Paramount. Blu-ray extras: Three-part featurette: Part 1 – Southern Reach: “Refractions”: See how director Alex Garland created the tone, textures and color palettes for the various film environments on set; “For Those That Follow”: the cast’s perspective on their roles and why they found the story so intriguing; Part 2 – Area X: “Shimmer”: how filmmakers transformed real set locations to create the world of Annihilation; “Vanished into Havoc” mind-blowing stunts and special effects; Part 3 – To The Lighthouse: “Unfathomable Mind”: why the visual effects are integral to achieving director Alex Garland’s overall vision for “Annihilation”; “The Last Phase”: cast and crew share their fondest memories from filming “Annihilation.”