Reel-View Ratings: The Bigger The Beard, The Better The Movie

LAST DAYS IN THE DESERT

Ewan McGregor plays Jesus (and Satan) in this Biblical imagining of the Son of God’s 40 days in the desert — here, a literal time span that sees the holy man battling his inner devil as he tries to save a broken family from themselves. The desert is beautiful, the premise is interesting, and the choice to have McGregor play both embodiments of good and evil is an especially deft, wonderful touch — but the movie never quite delves as deeply as it should into the spiritual nuances of the subject. It’s a lot of internal, unspoken struggle, which doesn’t translate well to film here. Still, as Jesus thinks and reflects inward, so, too, do you.

Plays at 1:30, 3:15, 5 and 8:45 p.m. Aug. 7 at the Movie Museum

POKEMON: THE FIRST MOVIE

What is there to say about this children’s classic? Well, honestly, it’s a cheesy but not unpleasant nostalgia trip back to the days when there were just 151 Pokemon running around. The distraught Mew “clone,” Mewtwo, resolves to take revenge on Trainers on behalf of his fellow oppressed brethren, and Ash Ketchum and his gang get caught up right in the middle (very literally, for Ash). You may still weep those sparkling tears like you did as a 10-year-old, but you probably won’t, if we’re being honest. But I just can’t hate on a film that was so fundamental to my childhood. Give it a rewatch — and reflect on how you’ve grown.

Plays at 6 p.m. Aug. 15 at Doris Duke Theatre

UNDER THE GUN

This is a documentary with an agenda: gun control — at least in the sense of computerized databases and assault rifle bans, the little proposals that crop up after every mass shooting only to get shot down again. And so, to that end, the film speaks to those who have lost loved ones to gun violence, those who have survived assaults (like Gabrielle Giffords), to random members of the National Rifle Association who also support some control. It’s a careful presentation that takes pains not to overtly alienate the pro-gun lobby (too much, at least) — but ultimately some of its steam is lost when it gets stuck preaching to the choir.

Plays at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 9 at Doris Duke Theatre