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A couple of major Oscar contenders arrive in Utah theaters today — as does a certain English bear.
The best new movie of the week is "Foxcatcher," which got four Oscar nominations — for lead actor Steve Carell, supporting actor Mark Ruffalo, director Bennett Miller and the original screenplay. It's the true-crime tale of John du Pont (played by Carell), the billionaire heir to the du Pont fortune, who became obsessed with Olympic wrestling glory. Specifically, he became obsessed with grooming wrestler Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum), who signs on to get out from under the shadow of his wrestler brother Dave (played by Ruffalo). The movie sets a deeply unsettling atmosphere in this tug-of-war over Mark's loyalties, as brotherly love is pitted against a rich man who doesn't like to hear the word "no."
Another movie with a lot of Oscar nominations — six, to be exact — is "American Sniper." This is Clint Eastwood's flag-waving portrait of Chris Kyle, the Navy SEAL sharpshooter who is called the most lethal man in U.S. military history. Bradley Cooper plays Kyle, who is in his element in combat but struggles when he's home with his wife (Sienna Miller). Eastwood's view of the Iraq War is naggingly unambiguous, and Cooper plays Kyle too much like the sort of quiet brooders that were Eastwood's bread and butter.
For the kiddies, "Paddington" is an unexpectedly nice treat. The beloved British children's character, a bear from "darkest Peru" in a red hat and blue raincoat, finds a temporary family in London (headed by Sally Hawkins and "Downton Abbey's" Hugh Bonneville) while trying to avoid the clutches of a nasty taxidermist (Nicole Kidman). The movie mixes silly slapstick with gentle whimsy, and scores more laughs than you'd think.
Director Michael Mann applies his artistic touches to the cyber-thriller genre in "Blackhat," but it's still a plodding tale about people typing. Chris Hemsworth stars as an imprisoned hacker who's sprung by the FBI to aid the Chinese in tracking down a cyber-terrorist who struck a nuclear reactor.
Two more movies opening this weekend — the Kevin Hart comedy "The Wedding Ringer," and the true-life story "Spare Parts," about Hispanic teens entering a robotics tourney — were not screened for critics.