What to see this week

5 films to see on the week of Mar. 4-11, 2016

American Poltergeist

A group of friends move into a vacation home in Massachusetts, unaware that the house is haunted by a deadly poltergeist. Directed by Mike Rutkowski, it stars Simona Fusco, Donna Spangler and Nikole Howell

MTRCB Rating: PG

London Has Fallen

In this sequel to Olympus Has Fallen, only three men can stop a plot to kill the the world’s leaders who have gathered in London for the funeral of the British Prime Minister who has passed away under mysterious circumstances. The film stars Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart,  Melissa Leo and Angela Bassett, under the direction of Babak Najafi.

MTRCB Rating: R-13

The Program

Sixty-five percent of the reviewers on film aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes like this true story behind one of cycling’s most successful, and most controversial figures, Lance Armstrong. Directed by Stephen Frears, it stars Ben Foster, Chris O’Dowd, and Guillaume Canet. “Foster does great work with rich ingredients, making the most of every eerie smirk and glance,” writes Time Out’s Dave Calhoun. “Rare is the prestige biopic that feels altogether too short, but after 102 soundly paced minutes, The Program retires with half a hill left to climb,” says Variety’s Guy Lodge.

MTRCB Rating: R-13

Backtrack

After a psychologist discovers that his patients are all ghosts, he delves into his past to end the haunting. Written and directed by Michael Petroni, it stars Adrien Brody, Bruce Spence, and Sam Neill. The Hollywood Reporter’s Frank Scheck writes: “[While Brody] delivers a typically intense turn in this Australian thriller, the film doesn’t manage to shed its overwhelming air of familiarity and obvious debt to such genre predecessors as The Sixth Sense, among countless others.”

MTRCB Rating: R-13

Queen Of The Desert

The true story of Gertrude Bell, an Englishwoman who would become an instrumental figure in the Middle East in the early 20^th century. Writen and directed by Werner Herzog, it stars Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Damian Lewis, and Robert Pattinson. The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney calls the film “A passionless trudge that lacks both sweep and psychological complexity.”

MTRCB Rating: PG