Style: Friday movie reviews

Yes, after 20 years, the aliens we repelled in Independence Day have regrouped. But since the makers of Independence Day: Resurgence declined to screen the movie in advance for the press we can’t tell you much about it. Except (spoiler alert) Will Smith isn’t in it. And there are probably explosions.

Among the movies we did see that are opening this week, the most interesting may well be Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon, in which a young (i.e., underage) model played by Elle Fanning gets exposed to the fresh hell that is Los Angeles. Our Piers Marchant considers the implications.

Also, our Dan Lybarger talks to documentarian Joshua Oppenheimer about his stunning 2014 film The Act of Killing, which is coming to AETN next week. And Arkansas’ Jacob Lofland has a crucial role in the fact-based Free State of Jones, in which Matthew McConaughey plays Mississippi farmer who led a rebellion against the Confederacy during the Civil War. On the more indie side, Cliff Curtis plays a Maori chess coach with mental illness who finds purpose by working with underprivileged children in New Zealand in the well-reviewed The Dark Horse. Plus, as usual, Karen Martin looks at the latest in home video.

All in this Friday’s Style section in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

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