Transformers: Age of Extinction

Five years after the Decepticons invaded Chicago, the Autobots have gone into hiding as fear grows among society. Though the Autobots were initially granted asylum, the government has been secretly and systematically hunting them down. Cade Yeager (Wahlberg), a single father and mechanic, stumbles across a deactivated Optimus Prime (Cullen), and soon he and his daughter’s boyfriend (Reynor) become wrapped up in a conflict between man and machine. Meanwhile, the future of mankind itself is threatened when a new and powerful enemy targets Earth.

Director: Michael Bay. Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Peter Cullen, Jack Reynor, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer, Nicola Peltz, Titus Welliver, Sophia Myles, Bingbing Li, T.J. Miller. 2014. 165 min. Action.

Chef

When his culinary creativity is staunched by his autocratic employer (Hoffman), talented chef Carl Casper (Favreau) leaves his job at a prominent Los Angeles restaurant to consider the next stage of his life. Returning to his hometown of Miami, Fla., Carl reunites with his ex-wife (Vergara), his son (Anthony) and his friend (Leguizamo), and together they open up a food truck. Hitting the road, the gang sets off across the country as Chef Carl plans to reassert himself as a culinary master and reclaim his success in L.A.

Director: Jon Favreau. Stars: Jon Favreau, Emjay Anthony, Scarlett Johansson, Sofia Vergara, John Leguizamo, Robert Downey Jr., Dustin Hoffman, Oliver Platt, Bobby Cannavale. 2014. 114 min. Comedy.

Hellion

Hollis Wilson (Paul) is a hard-drinking and emotionally absent single father who struggles to raise his two boys, especially his rebellious 13-year-old son Jacob (Wiggins). As Jacob’s obsession with heavy metal and motocross culture leads to dangerous behaviour, the authorities step in, placing his younger brother Wes (Garner) in the custody of his Aunt Pam (Lewis), forcing Jacob to rekindle his relationship with his estranged father in order to bring Wes home.

Director: Kat Candler. Stars: Aaron Paul, Juliette Lewis, Josh Wiggins, Deke Garner, Jonny Mars, Annalee Jefferies. 2014. 94 min. Drama.

Decoding Annie Parker

Based on incredible true events, the story follows Annie Parker (Morton), who lives a wonderful life with her parents and her older sister. After a series of tragedies wherein her father dies and both her mother and sister lose battles with breast cancer, Annie is struck by the incurable disease herself. Meanwhile, brilliant geneticist Mary-Claire King (Hunt) is on the hunt for new information on the origins of cancer. The two women soon find their paths intersecting, and they discover a bond that goes beyond science.

Director: Steven Bernstein. Stars: Samantha Morton, Helen Hunt, Aaron Paul, Maggie Grace, Rashida Jones, Alice Eve, Corey Stoll, Ben McKenzie, Kate Micucci. 2013. 91 min. Drama.