KC movie guide: ‘Dark Tower’ falls, ‘Detroit’ is powerfully excruciating

This week’s new movies:

“The Dark Tower”: Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey are locked in battle in this adaptation of Stephen King’s sci-fi Western. Rated PG-13. Time: 1:35.

☆ 1/2

“Detroit”: Kathryn Bigelow, who won an Oscar for “The Hurt Locker,” commemorates the 50th anniversary of this city’s riots with a drama about those events, starring John Boyega and Anthony Mackie. Rated R. Time: 2:22.

☆☆☆

“Kidnap”: When her son is kidnapped, a single mom (Halle Berry) doesn’t want to wait for the police. She jumps in her minivan and sets off in pursuit. Rated R. Time: 1:34.

☆

“An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power”: Ten years later, former veep Al Gore updates his fight for renewable energy in a new documentary. Rated PG. Time: 1:38.

☆☆☆

“Landline”: Jenny Slate reunites with her “Obvious Child” director, Gillian Robespierre, in this story about a dysfunctional family (including John Turturro and Edie Falco) coping with infidelity. At the Tivoli. Rated R. Time: 1:37.

☆☆☆

“Lady Macbeth”: In this Victorian saga based on a Russian novella, a young woman rebels against her horrific marriage. At the Glenwood Arts, Tivoli. Rated R. Time: 1:29.

☆☆☆ 1/2

“Person to Person”: A series of vignettes about troubled New Yorkers. At Screenland Tapcade. Not rated. Time: 1:24.

☆

Also showing:

Rated ☆☆☆ 1/2

“A Ghost Story”: A husband (Casey Affleck) who recently died returns as a white-sheeted ghost to try to reconnect with his grieving widow (Rooney Mara). Rated R. Time: 1:33. At Glenwood Arts, Studio 28. (7/28)

Rated ☆☆☆

“Baby Driver”: Ansel Elgort is a getaway driver who agrees to a difficult heist with Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx and Kevin Spacey. Rated R. Time: 1:53. (6/28)

“The Big Sick”: Kumail Nanjiani (“Silicon Valley”) tells the true story of how his girlfriend Emily (Zoe Kazan) — now his wife — went into a coma. Holly Hunter and Ray Romano play her parents. Rated R. Time: 1:59. (7/7)

“Cars 3”: Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) needs to modernize his technique, with the help of a slick businesscar voiced by Nathan Fillion. Rated G. Time: 1:49. (6/16)

“Dunkirk”: Writer/director Christopher Nolan takes us to the French coast of World War II, where Allied forces (including Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy and Harry Styles) are looking for escape. Rated PG-13. Time: 1:47. (7/21)

“The Exception”: During World War II, a German soldier (Jai Courtney) is sent to Holland to watch over the exiled Kaiser Wilhelm II (Christopher Plummer). Rated R. Time: 1:47. At Glenwood Arts. (6/23)

“Girls Trip”: Regina Hall, Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah and Tiffany Haddish road trip their way into trouble. Rated R. Time: 2:02. (7/21)

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana and the voices of Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper explore exactly who is Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord. Rated PG-13. Time: 2:16. At Studio 28. (5/5)

“The Little Hours”: The story springs from “The Decameron” of the 14th century, but it has a modern, raunchy sensibility with three nuns (Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, Kate Micucci) lusting after a manservant on the run (Dave Franco). At the Tivoli. Rated R. Time: 1:30. (7/21)

“Maudie”: A fact-based story of Maud Lewis (Sally Hawkins), a folk art painter who lived in rural Nova Scotia with her curmudgeon of a husband (Ethan Hawke). Rated PG-13. Time: 1:55. At the Glenwood Arts and Tivoli. (7/21)

“Spider-Man: Homecoming”: We met this incarnation of Peter Parker (Tom Holland) in the last Avengers flick. Now he gets his own movie — and villain, Vulture (Michael Keaton). Rated PG-13. Time: 2:13. (7/7)

Rated ☆☆  1/2

“47 Meters Down”: Mandy Moore and Claire Holt are sisters stranded in a shark cage on the ocean floor. Rated PG-13. Time: 1:29. At Ameristar, Lee’s Summit. (6/16)

“Atomic Blonde”: Charlize Theron is a lethal 1980s British secret agent dropped into Berlin to investigate a spy ring. Rated R. Time: 1:45. (7/28)

“Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets”: Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne are space cops in an eye-popping intergalactic city. Director Luc Besson (“The Fifth Element”) adapts the French graphic novel. Rated PG-13. Time: 2:17. (7/21)

“War for the Planet of the Apes”: In this third installment, Caesar (Andy Serkis) gets angry as he guides his apes in a battle against humans, led by a brutal Woody Harrelson. Rated PG-13. Time: 2:13. (7/14)

“Wonder Woman”: Gal Gadot stars in this origin story of the superhero’s Amazonian homeland and her valiant deeds in World War I. Directed by Patty Jenkins (who grew up in Lawrence). Rated PG-13. Time: 2:21. (6/2)

Rated ☆☆

“Despicable Me 3”: Gru (Steve Carell) reunites with his long-lost twin brother Dru (also voiced by Carell), who tries to lure him back to his dastardly ways. Rated PG. Time: 1:30. (6/30)

“The Emoji Movie”: An animated adventure about the doo-dads on your phone. Why we care: KC’s Rob Riggle voices an ice cream cone, and Patrick Stewart is Poop. Rated PG. Time: 1:26. (7/28)

“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales”: Johnny Depp is back as Captain Jack, once again seeking treasure: the trident of Poseidon. Javier Bardem is the bad guy out to get him. Rated PG-13. Time: 2:09. At Studio 28. (5/26)

Rated ☆  1/2

“Wish Upon”: A music box grants a teen seven wishes, with deadly consequences. Rated PG-13. Time: 1:29. (7/14)

Rated ☆

“The House”: To regain the college fund they lost, Amy Poehler and Will Ferrell launch a gambling ring in their basement. Rated R. Time: 1:28. At Ameristar, Studio 28. (6/30)

“Transformers: The Last Knight”: Didn’t we just have a King Arthur movie? Yes, but now this fifth installment has Anthony Hopkins joining Mark Wahlberg in trying to figure out what the Transformers were up to in Arthurian times. Rated PG-13. Time: 2:28. (6/21)

This story was originally published August 3, 2017 at 2:30 PM with the headline "KC movie guide: ‘Dark Tower’ falls, ‘Detroit’ is powerfully excruciating."