Pan Gets Panned

This week at the movies, we’ve got a high-flying orphan (Pan, starring Levi Miller and Hugh Jackman) and a high-wire daredevil (The Walk, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Charlotte Le Bon). What do the critics have to say?

The Walk (2015) 83%

The unbelievable story of Philippe Petit, the French acrobat who devised a mad scheme to tightrope-walk between the towers of the World Trade Center, was already chronicled in the Oscar-winning documentary Man On Wire. However, critics say The Walk is a gripping, tense, visually astonishing fictional recreation of that bizarre incident that demonstrates director Robert Zemeckis‘ knack for dazzling imagery — even if it sometimes meanders when the story is on the ground.

What’s Hot on TV

The Flash: Season 2 94%

With distinctive visuals and a terrific cast, The Flash remains one of the strongest comic book shows on television.

The Good Wife: Season 7 91%

Reinvigorated storylines and an even stronger cast keep The Good Wife fresh in its seventh season — and away from the doldrums that overcome many long-running dramas.

The Affair: Season 2 90%

The Affair shifts its emphasis in season two, moving psychological drama to the foreground and expanding the show’s central crime story to include two new points of view.

The Leftovers: Season 2 94%

The Leftovers continues to be unpredictable and provocative in season two with its new location, though the inexplicable circumstances will still frustrate many viewers.

Homeland: Season 5 88%

Homeland re-energizes itself in season five by setting up a twisty Berlin-set spy thriller that spotlights Carrie’s questionable ethics more than ever.

American Horror Story: Hotel 64%

Favoring garish style over effective storytelling, the fifth American Horror Story strands a talented cast at Ryan Murphy’s Hotel.

Also Opening This Week In Limited Release

• The Forbidden Room (2015) 96% , starring Charlotte Rampling and Mathieu Amalric in director Guy Maddin‘s unclassifiable assemblage/pastiche of cinematic esoterica, is at 96 percent.
• Steve Jobs (2015) 85% , starring Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet in Danny Boyle‘s biopic of the Apple founder, is at 90 percent.
• In My Father's House (2015) 92% , a documentary about rapper Rhymefest and his reunion with his estranged father, is at 88 percent.
• (T)ERROR (2015) 91% , a documentary about the inner workings and potential problems of a an FBI counterterrorism sting operation, is at 86 percent.
• The Greek import Xenia (2014) 86% , a coming-of-age road trip drama about two brothers seeking their estranged father and a shot to audition for a televised song contest, is at 82 percent.
• Brand: A Second Coming (2015) 73% , a documentary portrait of comedian Russell Brand, is at 79 percent.
• The Final Girls (2015) 76% , starring Taissa Farmiga and Malin Akerman in a horror comedy about a teenage girl who finds herself trapped in a 1980s slasher movie, is at 79 percent.
• Victoria (2015) 82% , a real-time drama about a woman whose wild night in Berlin starts at a nightclub and leads to participating in a bank robbery, is at 77 percent.
• Trash (2014) 66% , a thriller about a trio of Brazilian kids who run afoul of a corrupt politician after discovering a wallet in a garbage dump, is at 70 percent.
• Takashi Miike‘s Yakuza Apocalypse (2015) 62% , an action/fantasy about an aspiring mobster who’s also a vampire, is at 63 percent.
• Gravy (2015) 30% , starring Gabourey Sidibe and Sarah Silverman in a horror comedy about a trio of psychopaths who hold a restaurant’s staff hostage with the intention of feasting on their flesh, is at 43 percent.
• Knock Knock (2015) 37% , starring Keanu Reeves in a thriller about a man whose life is turned upside down after he tries to assist what he thinks are a pair of damsels in distress, is at 35 percent.
• Big Stone Gap (2014) 35% , starring Ashley Judd and Patrick Wilson in a romantic comedy about a woman who discovers a startling family secret, is at 22 percent.