This Week’s Movies: Jackie Allied Moana In “Moana,” the daughter of a chief goes on a journey to save her island from destruction. In his review A.O. Scott writes: Moana is an inspiring heroine, a smart, brave and decent young woman whose individual aspirations align perfectly with a larger, world-saving mission, in other words: a Disney princess. In the Disney kingdom, the in-house influence of Pixar has reinvigorated the animation and the rejuvenation of American musical theater has provided a fresh pool of songwriting talent. The movie’s plot is similarly syncretic, a mélange of updated folklore, contemporary eco-spiritualism and tried-and-true Disney-Pixar formula. In “Allied,” Brad Pitt is a Canadian spy trying to figure out if his wife, played by Marion Cotillard, is a double agent.  In his review A.O. Scott writes: Robert Zemeckis’s deft and diverting World War II romantic thriller, offers the comforts of elegant escapism. Its moral complexities and political ambiguities are intriguing rather than troubling, its ethical and emotional agonies a diversion from rather than a reflection of our own. The film is, among other things, a marvel of structure, a perfectly bifurcated story that manages a drastic shift in tone with exquisite aplomb. It’s not so much a work of art as a triumph of craft, and therefore a reminder of the deep pleasures of old-fashioned technique and long experience. In “Jackie,” Natalie Portman plays Jacqueline Kennedy  in the days immediately following her husband’s assassination.  In her review Manohla Dargis writes: Intensely affecting and insistently protean, the film “Jackie” is a reminder that for a time she was bigger than any star, bigger than Marilyn or Liz. She was the Widow an embodiment of grief, symbol of strength, tower of dignity and, crucially, architect of brilliant political theater. Pablo Larraín , takes his title subject seriously but without deadening self-importance. It also has moments of lightless and strangeness, as well as kinks and sour notes, which strengthen the sense that these are people, not figures in a dutiful, paint-by-numbers biopic.