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New movies this weekend: 'Rosewater,' 'Dumb and Dumber'

Two opposite genres - drama and comedy - take over the box office this weekend.

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By
Caitlin Zanga
RALEIGH, N.C. — Two opposite genres - drama and comedy - take over the box office this weekend.
Dumb and Dumber To (Comedy, PG-13, Starring Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Kathleen Turner, Laurie Holden, Rob Riggle)

20 years after the dimwits set out on their first adventure, they head out in search of one of their long lost children in the hope of gaining a new kidney.

Rosewater (Drama, R, Starring Gael García Bernal, Kim Bodnia, Haluk Bilginer, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Golshifteh Farahani)

This film follows the Tehran-born Bahari, a 42-year-old broadcast journalist with Canadian citizenship living in London. In June 2009, Bahari returned to Iran to interview Mir-Hossein Moussavi, who was the prime challenger to controversial incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. As Moussavi's supporters rose up to protest Ahmadinejad's victory declaration hours before the polls closed on election day, Bahari endured great personal risk by submitting camera footage of the unfolding street riots to the BBC. Bahari was soon arrested by Revolutionary Guard police, led by a man identifying himself only as "Rosewater," who proceeded to torture and interrogate the journalist over the next 118 days.

Beyond the Lights (Drama, PG-13, Starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Nate Parker, Minnie Driver, Colson "MGK" Baker, Danny Glover)

This is the story of Noni, the music world's latest superstar. But not all is what it seems, and the pressures of fame have Noni on the edge - until she meets Kaz Nicol, a young cop and aspiring politician who's been assigned to her detail. Drawn to each other, Noni and Kaz fall fast and hard, despite the protests of those around them who urge them to put their career ambitions ahead of their romance. But it is ultimately Kaz's love that gives Noni the courage to find her own voice and break free to become the artist she was meant to be.

Citizenfour (Documentary, R)

This documentary is the never before seen, utterly riveting first-person look at how director Laura Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald first met with whistleblower Edward Snowden in Hong Kong where he gave them documents showing widespread abuses of power by the National Security Administration. It is an unprecedented fly-on-the-wall account of one of the most groundbreaking moments in recent history. In January 2013, Poitras was several years into making a film about surveillance in the post-9/11 era when she started receiving encrypted e-mails from someone identifying himself as "citizen four," who was ready to blow the whistle on the massive covert surveillance programs run by the NSA and other intelligence agencies. In June 2013, she and Greenwald flew to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with the man who turned out to be Snowden. She brought her camera with her. The film that resulted from this series of tense encounters is absolutely sui generis in the history of cinema: a 100% real-life thriller unfolding minute by minute before our eyes.

Whiplash (Drama, R, Starring Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, Melissa Benoist, Paul Reiser, Austin Stowell)

Andrew Neyman is an ambitious young jazz drummer, single-minded in his pursuit to rise to the top of his elite east coast music conservatory. Plagued by the failed writing career of his father, Andrew hungers day and night to become one of the greats. Terence Fletcher, an instructor equally known for his teaching talents as for his terrifying methods, leads the top jazz ensemble in the school. Fletcher discovers Andrew and transfers the aspiring drummer into his band, forever changing the young man's life. Andrew's passion to achieve perfection quickly spirals into obsession, as his ruthless teacher continues to push him to the brink of both his ability-and his sanity.

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