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by Sandra Olmsted

Here’s a recap of a few more films in theaters now, and a few of the coming attractions to look forward to seeing soon.

   Moana (Disney) Moana (voice of Auli‘i Cravalho) sails out on a daring mission to save her people and recapture the spirit of her ancestors, the greatest sailors in the world who voyaged across the vast Pacific and discovered the many islands of Oceania. That was three thousand years ago, and their voyages of discovery stopped for a millennium. Moana needs help to navigate the difficult water, battle enormous sea monsters, and overcome impossible odds, and the help she gets comes from the once-mighty demigod Maui (voice of Dwayne Johnson), who guides her quest to become a master wayfinder. Will Moana fulfill the ancient quest of her ancestors and discover the one thing she’s always sought: her own identity? Directed by the renowned filmmaking team of Ron Clements and John Musker, the film is ideal for youngsters and delightful for all fans of animation. Rated PG for peril, some scary images, and brief thematic elements, it runs 113 minutes.

Nocturnal Animals (Focus) Academy Award nominees Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal star in writer/director Tom Ford’s haunting thriller which is structured as a mix of reality and the fantasy. Susan Morrow (Amy Adams) and Tony Hastings a.k.a. Edward Sheffield (Jake Gyllenhaal), a divorced couple, explore dark truths about themselves and their relationship when Tony writes a violent novel, and Susan interprets it as a veiled threat and a symbolic revenge tale. While some people will be challenged by the structure of the film with its flashbacks and possible flash forwards to potential reality or maybe fantasy, others will hail it as extremely sophisticated filmmaking. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Based on the novel Tony and Susan by Austin Wright. Rated R for violence, menace, graphic nudity, and language; 117 minutes.

Manchester by the Sea (Roadside Attractions), a Sundance hit drama by writer/director Kenneth Lonergan, deals with the persistence of grief and the hope of redemption in wake of unspeakable tragedy. When news reaches Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) that his brother is dying, he returns to his hometown where he must face his past and care for his teenaged nephew Patrick (Lucas Hedges).

Once Lonergan reveals the mysterious past that is haunting Lee, this already slowly paced film crawls; however, the acting and emotion are powerful and intriguing. The film premiered locally at the St.Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) in November, and opens in theaters this week. Rated R for language throughout and some sexual content; 137 minutes.

There are also several films that are getting well-deserved Oscar buzz that will be opening in St. Louis in the coming weeks and should be on every movie fan’s must see list.

Photo: Michele Phillips & Casey Affleck

Dec. 9: Miss Sloane (EuropaCorp USA) reveals the high-stakes world of political power-brokers a.k.a. lobbyists, such as the sought-after and formidable Elizabeth Sloane (Jessica Chastain). Director John Madden uses the issue of gun background checks as the plot device.

Dec. 16: La La Land (Lionsgate) is a retro musical reminiscent of Hollywood’s Golden age. Directed by Damien Chazelle, this love story stars Emma Stone as an aspiring actress and Ryan Gosling a grafting jazz musician.

Dec. 21: Lion (The Weinstein Co.) stars Dev Patel as Saroo Brierley, a young man who was adopted by an Australian couple (Nicole Kidman; David Wenham) after getting lost on the massive Indian train system as a five-year old (Sunny Pawar). When his memory is triggered, he searches for his birth family. Based on A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley, this moving and beautiful film played at the SLIFF.

Dec. 23: Jackie (Fox Searchlight) focuses on Jacqueline Kennedy (Natalie Portman) in the days after her husband’s assassination as she copes with her loss while maintaining decorum. This is an acting coup for Portman. This film also played at STIFF.

Dec. 25: Fences (Paramount), an adaptation of August Wilson’s Pulitzer-Prize winning play, has Denzel Washington directing and starring alongside Viola Davis.

Jan 6: Hidden Figures (Fox) is a biopic about the African American NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), who calculated the trajectories for the Apollo 11 flight, and several of her fellow mathematicians, Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) during the 1960s. Kevin Costner and Kirsten Dunst also star. The Oscar race begins!

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