OPENING
Aporia (R) Judy Greer stars in this science-fiction drama as a widow who’s given a chance to undo her husband’s death in an accident. Also with Edi Gathegi, Faithe Herman, Rachel Paulson, Veda Cienfuegos, and Payman Maadi. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
Bhola Shankar (NR) This Indian thriller stars Chiranjeevi as an ex-gangster who goes undercover as a cabdriver in Kolkata to take revenge on the murderers of his niece’s family. Also with Tamannaah Bhatia, Keerthy Suresh, Sushanth, Tarun Arora, and Brahmanandam. (Opens Friday)
Gadar 2 (NR) The sequel to the 2001 film Gadar: Ek Prem Katha stars Sunny Deol as a man who sneaks into Pakistan in 1971 to save his son. Also with Ameesha Patel, Utkarsh Sharma, Manish Wadhwa, Gaurav Chopra, and Simrat Kaur. (Opens Friday)
Inside Man (NR) This comic thriller stars Emile Hirsch as a disgraced cop who goes undercover to infiltrate a mob syndicate. Also with Lucy Hale, Ashley Greene, Jake Cannavale, Robert Davi, and James Russo. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
Jailer (NR) Rajinikanth stars in this Indian comic thriller as a prison guard who has to thwart an attempt by a mob boss’ gang to break him out of jail. Also with Mohanlal, Shivarajkumar, Ramya Krishnan, Nagendra Babu, Yogi Babu, and Jackie Shroff. (Opens Friday)
Jules (PG-13) A nice movie, probably too nice. Ben Kingsley stars in this science-fiction film as a widower in western Pennsylvania who sees a UFO crash in his backyard and comes to the aid of the mute, blue-skinned, 4-foot-tall alien (Jade Quon) inside. He tells everybody about the alien, and they all assume that his mind is going, which it’s actually starting to. The only people let in on the secret are a nosy neighbor (Jane Curtin) and a concerned artist (Harriet Sansom Harris). The performances by the veteran actors feel lived in, but the whole story proceeds with such a lack of incident and humor that the film struggles to register at all. You can glimpse the statement about old age and its regrets that the movie wanted to be. A sharper script might have gotten it there. Also with Zoe Winters, Anna George, Cody Kostro, and Aubie Merrylees. (Opens Friday)
The Last Voyage of the Demeter (R) This horror film stars Corey Hawkins as a 19th-century doctor who takes a job as a crew member on a ship only to discover that it’s carrying Dracula from Transylvania to London. Also with Liam Cunningham, Aisling Franciosi, Chris Walley, Jon Jon Briones, Stefan Kapicic, Woody Norman, Javier Botet, and David Dastmalchian. (Opens Friday)
Mad Fate (NR) This Hong Kong thriller stars Lok Man Yueng as a fortune teller who’s swept up in a murder plot. Also with Charm Man Chan, Ting Yip Ng, Ka-Tung Lam, and Wing-Sze Ng. (Opens Friday at AMC Grapevine Mills)
Medusa Deluxe (R) Thomas Hardiman’s comic thriller takes place at an ultra-competitive hairdressing competition. Starring Luke Pasqualino, Lilit Lesser, Clare Perkins, Debris Stevenson, Kayla Meikle, Heider Ali, Kae Alexander, and Harriet Webb. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
OMG 2 (NR) The sequel to the 2012 comedy stars Akshay Kumar as a messenger of Lord Shiva who sues everybody in his small town over his son’s expulsion from school. Also with Pankaj Tripathi, Yami Gautam, Pavan Malhotra, Govind Namdev, and Arun Govil. (Opens Friday)
One and Only (NR) This Chinese dance movie stars Huang Bo as the leader of a street-dance crew who welcomes a newcomer (Wang Yibo) into his group. Also with Bo Liao, Casper Chu, Song Zuer, Liu Mintao, Xiao Shenyang, and Wang Feifei. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
Passages (NC-17) The latest drama by Ira Sachs (Love Is Strange) stars Franz Rogowsky and Ben Whishaw as a gay couple whose relationship is rattled when one of them begins an affair with a woman (Adèle Exarchopoulos). Also with Erwan Kepoa Falé. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
The Pod Generation (PG-13) Emilia Clarke stars in this science-fiction film as a woman who uses a new technology allowing her to have a baby in an artificial detached womb. Also with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Vinette Robinson, Aslin Farrell, Benedict Landsbert-Noon, and Jean-Marc Barr. (Opens Friday)
Ustaad (NR) Sri Simha Koduri stars in this Indian film as an aimless young man who decides to become a commercial airline pilot. Also with Kavya Kalyanram, Venkatesh Maha, Ravindra Vijay, and Gautham Vasudev Menon. (Opens Friday at AMC Grapevine Mills)
NOW PLAYING
Barbie (PG-13) This philosophical statement about being a woman in present-day society is likely the strangest Hollywood blockbuster you’ll see all year, and much more than the crass corporate product it could have been. A perfectly pitched Margot Robbie plays a Barbie doll who has to travel from Barbie Land to our reality to discover why she’s having random thoughts about death. When Ken (Ryan Gosling) follows her into our reality, he likes the sight of men running everything and tries to turn Barbie Land into another patriarchy. All this takes place against a backdrop that’s wholly committed to Barbie-ness, with streets lined with life-size Barbie Dream Houses and more pink than you’ve ever seen in your life. If the storytelling loses a bit in its last third, the loose ends fit a story about the messiness of being a woman (or a man). This girly film is also thoughtful, complex, and funny, and will ensure that you never look at a Barbie doll the same way again. Also with America Ferrera, Arianna Greenblatt, Emma Mackey, Issa Rae, Beanie Feldstein, Simu Liu, Michael Cera, Will Ferrell, Kate McKinnon, Alexandra Shipp, Hari Nef, Sharon Rooney, Ritu Arya, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Ncuti Gatwa, Nicola Coughlan, Emerald Fennell, Scott Evans, Scott Evans, Sharon Rooney, Ana Cruz Kayne, Rhea Perlman, and John Cena. Narrated by Helen Mirren.
Dreamin’ Wild (PG) Casey Affleck and Walton Goggins star in this biography of Donnie and Joe Emerson, whose rock album they recorded as teens was suddenly rediscovered decades later. Also with Zooey Deschanel, Chris Messina, Noah Jupe, Jack Dylan Grazer, and Beau Bridges.
Elemental (PG) The latest Pixar movie looks and sounds like other Pixar movies, but is missing that ineffable spark that we recognize. The story is set in a city populated by air, earth, water, and fire elementals, and revolves around a forbidden romance between a water particle (voiced by Mamadou Athie) and a fire particle (voiced by Leah Lewis). The fire elementals are treated as second-class citizens by the others, and the whole conceit was done much more cleverly in Zootopia. The largely unknown voice cast doesn’t provide much distinctiveness, and the entire affair washes over you without leaving much of a mark. The feature is accompanied by Carl’s Date, a short sequel to Up that is unworthy of the movie that spawned it. Additional voices by Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ronnie Del Carmen, Shila Ommi, Mason Wertheimer, and Catherine O’Hara.
Haunted Mansion (PG-13) Another corporate conglomerate turns over a beloved property to a smart and inventive independent filmmaker, and if this isn’t as good as Barbie, at least it’s better than the 2003 movie from the Disney ride. Rosario Dawson plays a single mother who buys a New Orleans mansion, finds out that it’s haunted, and hires a tour guide (LaKeith Stanfield), a priest (Owen Wilson), a medium (Tiffany Haddish), and a history professor (Danny DeVito) to exorcise her house. The Big Easy setting offers up some promise, and the cast and director Justin Simien are well suited to the comedy elements in this movie. The horror elements, on the other hand, don’t work at all, and the ending is a complete botch job. The tone of this thing is all over the place, and the enticing talent here deserves better than this mess. Also with Jamie Lee Curtis, Jared Leto, Chase W. Dillon, J.R. Adduci, Charity Jordan, Hasan Minhaj, Dan Levy, and an uncredited Winona Ryder.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (PG-13) The CGI magic that makes Harrison Ford look like he’s in his late 30s in this film’s extended prologue is as good as it gets, unfortunately. After that, this last installment in the series fails to recapture the magic, with Indy and his British goddaughter (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) trying to prevent some unreconstructed Nazis from obtaining a time-travel device in 1969. James Mangold takes over the director’s chair from Steven Spielberg, and it’s nowhere near the job he did on Logan, another last ride for a movie hero that was far more moving. The picture is full of empty fanservice, saddles Indy with another cute-kid sidekick, and sands away everything that makes Waller-Bridge interesting or funny. The climactic time-travel sequence feels like it was much crazier on the page than it is on the screen, too. Also with Karen Allen, Toby Jones, Mads Mikkelsen, Boyd Holbrook, Thomas Kretschmann, Ethann Isidore, Nasser Memarzia, Shaunette Reneé Wilson, John Rhys-Davies, and Antonio Banderas.
Insidious: The Red Door (PG-13) Death comes too late for the horror series. Picking up from the movie 10 years ago, it begins with Patrick Wilson’s paranormal researcher and his son undergoing hypnosis to forget the events they just experienced. Funny, I managed to forget those things entirely without any hypnosis. In the present day, the now-teenage boy (Ty Simpkins) goes off to college and starts experiencing visions of his repressed memories. The movie plays like a drama about a kid experiencing growing pains on his own, and the horror elements don’t fit in with that story at all. Wilson also makes his directing debut here, and it’s not a promising one. The final installment of the series fails to bring any sort of closure. Also with Lin Shaye, Sinclair Daniel, Andrew Astor, Steve Coulter, Leigh Whannell, Peter Dager, Joseph Bishara, Hiam Abbass, and Rose Byrne.
The Little Mermaid (PG) Halle Bailey is one of the highlights of this live-action Disney musical remake, so all the racist Ron DeSantis fanboys can suck it. She may not have the phrasing of Jodi Benson from the original 1989 movie, but her voice sports some otherworldly colors that make her credible as a creature of mythology. She’s joined by Melissa McCarthy, turning Ursula into a glorious high-camp villain, and Daveed Diggs, who provides the voice of Sebastian and manages some sly and ingratiating performances of the most familiar songs. If only director Rob Marshall (Chicago, but then again, Mary Poppins Returns) had matched their innovation. The numbers too often lack flair, and the changes to the story don’t amount to a reinvention. The new songs (by original composer Alan Menken and new lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda) don’t make much of an impression, either. See this for the performances. Also with Javier Bardem, Jonah Hauer-King, Noma Dumezweni, Art Malik, Jessica Alexander, and Jodi Benson. Additional voices by Jacob Tremblay and Awkwafina.
Meg 2: The Trench (PG-13) Everything’s bigger and badder in this sequel, and yet it all feels stubbornly unexciting. Jason Statham reprises his role as an environmental activist who goes back up against a pod of colossal sharks after a deep-sea mining operation goes wrong. Statham is saddled with a cute kid (Shuya Sophia Cai) and a part that doesn’t allow him to be funny. Director Ben Wheatley takes over this sequel and fails to bring any of the twisted humor or visual pyrotechnics that distinguished his previous films (Sightseers, Free Fire). This is adapted from Steve Alten’s novel The Trench, so this may well be the worst and most profitable literary adaptation of the year. Also with Wu Jing, Cliff Curtis, Skyler Samuels, Page Kennedy, Kiran Sonia Sawar, Felix Mayr, Melissanthi Mahut, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, and Sienna Guillory.
Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One (PG-13) A thrilling burst of relevance hits this series just as it’s winding down. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team try to track down a sentient AI that can corrupt any online data, meaning that neither they nor the people chasing them can trust anything they see or hear on the internet. Hayley Atwell joins the series as a high-class pickpocket who unwittingly works her way into the spy plot, and she’s a great pickup for the franchise, as she gets to play a devious character who’s living high off her ill-gotten gains. The action set pieces remain strong, with an extended chase through the airport in Abu Dhabi and a car chase in Rome that strikes a new and welcome note of farce. The series’ escapism has just enough real-world issues here to become newly bracing. Also with Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Henry Czerny, Shea Whigham, Pom Klementieff, Greg Tarzan Davis, Mark Gatiss, Indira Varma, Rob Delaney, and Cary Elwes.
Oppenheimer (R) This three-hour biographical epic aims to evoke a single mood of guilt-wracked despair, and darned if Christopher Nolan doesn’t almost pull it off. Around the story of how J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) takes charge of the Manhattan project and builds the atomic bomb that ends the war, there are two interlocking framing stories about him trying to renew his security clearance while his former boss Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.) tries to be confirmed as the U.S. Commerce Secretary. Nolan gives us precious little time to catch our breath from the start as he toggles between timelines while the supporting characters around Oppenheimer largely get lost. Still, the framing stories snap together in a marvelous way, and the successful atomic bomb test is a splendid set piece. Inside this movie is a better, smaller film that’s trying to get out. Also with Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Matt Damon, Alden Ehrenreich, Josh Hartnett, Jason Clarke, Tony Goldwyn, Benny Safdie, James D’Arcy, Harry Groener, Tom Conti, David Krumholtz, Matthias Schweighöfer, Alex Wolff, Michael Angarano, David Dastmalchian, Dane DeHaan, Josh Peck, Jack Quaid, Gustaf Skarsgård, James Remar, Olivia Thirlby, Matthew Modine, Kenneth Branagh, Casey Affleck, and Gary Oldman.
Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (NR) This Indian romantic comedy takes on some subjects that most other Bollywood movies won’t. Ranveer Singh plays a flashy Punjabi snack-conglomerate heir who falls for an intellectual Bengali TV journalist (Alia Bhatt). Their cultural differences provide some comedy that runs out of steam before the intermission, at which time things pick up again when the two lovers defy social convention and go to live with each other’s families to see if they are compatible. There’s still too many supporting characters and subplots to tie up, but the movie manages to have our two protagonists question mores about marriage and their own prejudices in an even-handed way. Much of the humor, too, comes from the characters’ shaky handle of English — one person mistakes the word “orgasm” for “organize.” Also with Dharmendra, Jaya Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Tota Roy Chowdhury, Aamir Bashir, Churni Ganguly, Namit Das, Janhvi Kapoor, and Varun Dhawan.
Shortcomings (R) Adapted from Adrian Tomine’s graphic novel, this comedy stars Justin H. Min as an insufferable Berkeley film snob who goes into a tailspin after his Japanese-American girlfriend (Ally Maki) announces that she wants to take a break and moves to New York. Tomine’s dialogue is clotted and overly academic (even taking into account that some of the characters are professors), but Randall Park makes an assured debut as a director. (He also has a small role as a Korean restaurateur.) The acting sparkles, especially from Sherry Cola as the protagonist’s lesbian best friend, and the movie does take pains to point out its main character’s many, many personality flaws. Also with Tavi Gevinson, Sonoya Mizuno, Jacob Batalon, Debby Ryan, Scott Seiss, Nikhaar Kishnani, Timothy Simons, Ronny Chieng, and Stephanie Hsu.
Sound of Freedom (PG-13) This thriller probably works best for those people who see pedophiles lurking around every corner. For the rest of us, it’s somehow overheated and too slow at the same time. Jim Caviezel plays a heroic Homeland Security agent who quits his job and sets up a full-time operation in Colombia to bust a child sex trafficking operation. He’s flat as usual in the role, and the movie is stolen away by Bill Camp as an American who pretends to be a pedophile so he can buy children from the traffickers and then set them free. He’s the only person who feels like he’s inhabiting a character instead of acting as a mouthpiece for some seriously paranoid filmmakers. Also with Mira Sorvino, Scott Haze, José Zúñiga, Eduardo Verástegui, Gary Basaraba, Manny Perez, and Kurt Fuller.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (PG-13) A treat for the eyes. The sequel to Into the Spider-Verse has three new directors, and has lost none of the innovation that made the first film such a delight. When Gwen Stacy (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld) pays an unsanctioned visit to Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore), it sets off a series of dominoes that threaten to unravel the multiverse and/or kill Miles’ dad (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry). This second film ends on a cliffhanger that sets up a third movie, so the story is incomplete. Never mind that, though. The movie gleefully drags Miles through universe after universe each with its different drawing style, and the animation allows for crazier hijinks than the live-action Spider-Man films can have. The inventiveness might be wearying if not for the movie stopping every so often for storylines that forebode tragedy. There’s also an argument between two characters about Jeff Koons’ art. I can’t wait to see what the third chapter brings. Additional voices by Oscar Isaac, Jake Johnson, Jason Schwartzman, Issa Rae, Luna Lauren Velez, Karan Soni, Shea Whigham, Greta Lee, Andy Samberg, Jharrel Jerome, Jack Quaid, Jorma Taccone, Jack Quaid, Rachel Dratch, Ziggy Marley, Donald Glover, Kathryn Hahn, Amandla Stenberg, J.K. Simmons, Mahershala Ali, and Daniel Kaluuya.
Talk to Me (R) Like Haunted Mansion, this Australian film is about a Black protagonist who’s coping with grief and vulnerable to spirits from the next world, but this is the much better film. Sophie Wilde plays a teen who goes to a suburban house party in Adelaide and takes up a dare to communicate with the next world by using a ceramic sculpture of a hand. The movie doesn’t engage race as a subject, but first-time filmmakers (and former YouTube pranksters) Danny and Michael Philippou show great talent for conjuring Hollywood-level special effects on a shoestring budget. The newcomer Wilde is superb both as a confused teen trying to deal with the family secrets hidden from her and the girl who’s possessed by something very bad. This feels like the scary campfire tale you need for the summer. Also with Alexandra Jensen, Joe Bird, Zoe Terakes, Otis Dhanji, Marcus Johnson, Ari McCarthy, Chris Alosio, and Miranda Otto.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (PG) This animated reboot of the cartoon series scores its laughs, recasts its origin story, and then gets off the screen. Bless it for that. A mad scientist (voiced by Giancarlo Esposito) loses his magic ooze down the city drain, which creates Splinter (voiced by Jackie Chan), our mutant heroes (voiced by Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu, and Brady Noon), and the gang of criminal half-humans whom they’re trying to foil. The turtles are voiced by actual kid actors, some of whose voices haven’t changed yet, and they’re very funny, particularly in the frequent spots when all of them are talking at once. Co-writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg make sure that a good share of the humor appeals to the adults in the audience as well. This isn’t as deep as the other Hollywood blockbusters, but it’s enjoyable. Additional voices by Ayo Edebiri, Ice Cube, Post Malone, Hannibal Buress, Rose Byrne, Maya Rudolph, Seth Rogen, John Cena, and Paul Rudd.
Theater Camp (R) A worthy successor to Waiting for Guffman, this mockumentary comedy takes place at an upstate New York musical theater summer camp for kids, where two teachers (Molly Gordon and Ben Platt) and the owner’s son (Jimmy Tatro) try to hold the business together after the owner falls into a coma. Expanded from a 2020 short film and co-directed by Gordon and Nick Lieberman, this film could use a normal character to react to the excesses of all the theatrical divas populating this film. Still, the movie captures the foibles of theater kids and the people who deal with them, the funny lines come from all quarters, and the film has a glorious climax when the overworked tech guy (Noah Galvin) takes the stage himself. This is for everyone whose kids are practicing their jazz hands, or used to be one of those kids. Also with Ayo Edebiri, Owen Thiele, Nathan Lee Graham, Patti Harrison, Donovan Colan, Bailee Bonick, Kyndra Sanchez, Vivienne Sachs, Alan Kim, Alexander Bello, Luke Islam, Jack Sobolewski, David Rasche, and Amy Sedaris.
DALLAS EXCLUSIVES
Afire (NR) This German drama by Christian Petzold (Phoenix) is about a group of friends whose summer vacation is threatened by a forest fire. Starring Thomas Schubert, Paula Beer, Enno Trebs, Langston Uibel, and Matthias Brandt.
The Channel (NR) This action-thriller is about a group of Marines-turned-bank robbers who flee law enforcement after a job gone wrong. Starring Clayne Crawford, Max Martini, Paul Rae, Michael Thomas, Ava Justin, Todd Jenkins, Juliene Joyner, and Scott Phillips.
Fear the Night (NR) This thriller by Neil LaBute stars Maggie Q as an Iraq war veteran dealing with a home invasion. Also with Kat Foster, James Carpinello, Gia Crovatin, Kirstin Leigh, Highdee Kuan, and Travis Hammer.
The Flood (R) Brandon Slagle’s horror-thriller is about a mass prison break during a hurricane in Louisiana that’s interrupted by a flock of starving alligators. Starring Casper Van Dien, Nicky Whelan, Louis Mandylor, Randy Wayne, Ryan Francis, Devanny Pinn, and Kim DeLonghi.
Sympathy for the Devil (NR) Joel Kinnaman stars in this supernatural thriller as a rideshare driver whose mysterious passenger (Nicolas Cage) takes him hostage. Also with Nancy Good, Burns Burns, Kaiwi Lyman, Rich Hopkins, and Oliver McCallum.
