OPENING
The Boy and the Heron (PG-13) Reputed to be the last anime film by Hayao Miyazaki, this is about a boy (voiced by Soma Santoki in the Japanese-language version and Luca Padovan in the English-dubbed one) who discovers a fantastical world through a talking gray heron (voiced by Masaki Suda and Robert Pattinson). Additional voices by Aimyon, Karen Fukuhara, Yoshino Kimura, Gemma Chan, Shōhei Hino, Mark Hamill, Ko Shibasaki, Florence Pugh, Kaoru Kobayashi, Willem Dafoe, Jun Kunimura, Dave Bautista, Takuya Kimura, and Christian Bale. (Opens Friday)
The Cello (R) Samer Ismail stars in this horror film as a classical cellist who discovers a curse attached to his new instrument. Also with Tobin Bell, Elham Ali, Suad Abdullah, Mila al-Zahrani, Pavel Gajdos, Chloé Henry and Jeremy Irons. (Opens Friday)
A Creature Was Stirring (R) This Christmas horror film stars Chrissy Metz as a nurse whose care of her bedridden patient is interrupted by uninvited guests during a blizzard. Also with Annalise Basso, Scout Taylor-Compton, Connor Paolo, and George Schichtle. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
The Disappearance of Shere Hite (R) This documentary by Nicole Newnham (Crip Camp) chronicles the life of the famous sex researcher. (Opens Friday at AMC Grapevine Mills)
Extraordinary Man (NR) This Indian action-thriller stars Nithiin, Sreeleela, Rajasekhar, Sudev Nair, Rao Ramesh, Brahmaji, and Hyper Aadi. (Opens Friday at Cinemark Tinseltown)
Fast Charlie (NR) Pierce Brosnan stars in this thriller as a hit man who needs his latest victim’s ex-wife (Morena Baccaron) to help identify the dead man. Also with Gbenga Akinnagbe, Christopher Matthew Cook, David Chattam, Toby Huss, Sharon Gless, and the late James Caan. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
Hi Nanna (NR) This Indian romance stars Nani, Mrunal Thakur, Jayaram, Priyadarshi Pulikonda, Angad Bedi, and Shruti Haasan. (Opens Friday)
In Broad Daylight (NR) Based on true events, this Hong Kong thriller stars Jennifer Yu as a journalist who goes undercover to investigate abuse at a home for the elderly. Also with David Chiang, Bo Pui-Yue, Charm Man Chan, Chou Henick, Chu Pak Hon, Bowie Lam, and Mimi Chi-Yan Kung. (Opens Friday at AMC Grapevine Mills)
Joram (NR) This Indian thriller is about a man (Manoj Bajpayee) trying to survive while on the run from the law. Also with Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Smita Tambe, Megha Mathur, Tannishtha Chatterjee, and Rajshri Deshpande. (Opens Friday)
Lord of Misrule (NR) This British horror movie is about a minister’s young daughter (Evie Templeton) who goes missing shortly after arriving in an English village. Also with Tuppence Middleton, Ralph Ineson, Matt Stokoe, Anton Valensi, Rosalind March, Alexa Goodall, David Langham, and Robert Goodman. (Opens Friday at Premiere Cinemas Burleson)
The Oath (PG-13) Darin Scott directs and stars in this Biblical thriller as a 5th-century warrior who rescues Bathsheba (Nora Dale) from a tyrant. Also with Billy Zane, Eugene Brave Rock, Wase Chief, and Karina Lombard. (Opens Friday)
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. (Re-opens Friday)
Our Son (R) This drama stars Luke Evans and Billy Porter as a gay couple fighting over custody of their 8-year-old son. Also with Andrew Rannells, Robin Weigert, Kate Burton, Isaac Powell, Cassandra Freeman, and Phylicia Rashad. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
The Perfect Christmas (NR) Anthony Hackett writes, directs, and co-stars in this holiday film about a family whose Christmas Day hijinks jeopardize their holiday. Also with Cameron Arnett, Gigi Orsillo, Stephanie Parker, Robert Amaya, Jayden T. Kelson, Beverly Holloway, and MerryRose Howley. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
Raging Grace (NR) This drama stars Jaeden Paige Boadilla as a Filipina caretaker who discovers an unsavory secret about her patient. Also with Max Eigenmann, Leanne Best, David Hayman, and Caleb Johnston-Miller. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
Simon (NR) Christian McGaffney stars in this drama as a Venezuelan refugee who must decide whether to stay in America or return to his homeland to fight the dictatorship. Also with Jana Nawartschi, Luis Silva, Roberto Jaramillo, Prakriti Maduro, Franklin Vírgüez, and Sallie Glaner. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
12:12: The Day (NR) This South Korean thriller is a fictionalized account of the chaos that enveloped the country after the 1979 assassination of President Park Chung-hee. Starring Hwang Jung-min, Jung Woo-sung, Park Hae-joon, Kim Sung-kyun, Kim Eui-sung, Jung Dong-hwan, Jung Man-sik, Jung Hae-in, and Lee Joon-hyuk. (Opens Friday at AMC Grapevine Mills)
NOW PLAYING
Animal (NR) Ranbir Kapoor stars in this Indian action thriller as a rebellious son who vows violent revenge after his corporate mogul father (Anil Kapoor) is murdered. Also with Bobby Deol, Rashmika Mandanna, Tripti Dimri, Babloo Prithiveeraj, Shakti Kapoor, Maganthi Srinath, Indira Krishnan, and Mathew Varghese.
Five Nights at Freddy’s (PG-13) The animatronic robot monsters are perfectly pitched between cute and creepy in this horror film. Everything else is crap, though. In this adaptation of the video game series, Josh Hutcherson portrays a financially desperate man who takes a job as a security guard at an abandoned pizza place and arcade to avoid losing custody of his 11-year-old sister (Piper Rubio). The film is neither funny enough to work as a comedy nor scary enough to work as a horror film, and director Emma Tammi doesn’t have the instincts to balance the two elements. The acting isn’t up to par, either. Also with Elizabeth Lail, Christian Stokes, David Lind, Kat Conner Sterling, Matthew Lillard, and Mary Stuart Masterson.
Godzilla Minus One (PG-13) The Japanese giant lizard receives another origin story as he appears in the aftermath of World War II. Starring Minami Hamabe, Sakura Ando, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, and Michael Arias. (Opens Friday)
The Holdovers (R) Paul Giamatti seems to do his best acting for Alexander Payne, and this may be the performance of his career. He portrays a schoolteacher in 1970 who’s stuck babysitting the handful of students at his ritzy all-male New England prep school who have nowhere to go over Christmas break. Screenwriter David Hemingson does an excellent job of capturing the protagonist’s erudite voice as he insults his students’ intelligence and can’t get through a conversation without referencing the Peloponnesian War. When only one student (Dominic Sessa) is left on campus, the movie becomes a piercing but also quite funny portrait of the loneliness of the teacher, the student, and the cafeteria worker (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) who has lost her son in Vietnam. Randolph and the newcomer Sessa are both excellent, but Giamatti is fantastic as the man learning to appreciate things beyond the job he hates but has clung to tenaciously. Also with Carrie Preston, Brady Heppner, Ian Dolley, Michael Provost, Naheem Garcia, Gillian Vigman, Stephen Thorne, Andrew Garman, and Tate Donovan.
Holiday Twist (PG) This Christmas film stars Neal McDonough, Caylee Cowan, Kelly Stables, Emily Tosta, James Maslow, Sadie Stratton, Brian Thomas Smith, and Sean Astin. (Opens Friday)
How the Gringo Stole Christmas (PG-13) Marian Treviño stars in this comedy as a young woman who surprises her Latino family by showing up to Christmas with a white boyfriend (Jack Kilmer). Also with George Lopez, Emily Tosta, Alma Martinez, Luke Speakman, and Romy Peniche. (Opens Friday at América Cinemas Fort Worth)
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (PG-13) In some ways better than the original set of films, this prequel stars Rachel Zegler as the heroine from District 12 and Tom Blyth as the future dictator of Panem who’s randomly assigned to mentor her. The film looks better than its predecessors, as holdover director Francis Lawrence seems more comfortable with the 1930s fascist-style decor. Amid a distinguished cast, Zegler proves worthy of her star turn, playing to the cameras, cracking jokes, evading attempts on her life, and singing bluegrass. The thing is lacking on the conceptual end, the conclusion is too drawn out, and the material with the ethically compromised hero’s family doesn’t amount to much more than an Easter egg. It’s still the most sustained piece of filmmaking in the series. Also with Viola Davis, Jason Schwartzman, Hunter Schafer, Fionnula Flanagan, Josh Andrés Rivera, Athena Strates, Ashley Liao, Mackenzie Lansing, Nick Benson, Isobel Jesper Jones, Dakota Shapiro, George Somner, Burn Gorman, and Peter Dinklage.
Journey to Bethlehem (PG) The fractured fairy-tales approach to the Bible is refreshing from this Christian musical. Funny comic material would have been better. Fiona Palomo and Milo Manheim are both about as exciting as overcooked pasta portraying Mary and Joseph, as they flee Judaea to have their baby. The songs (by Peer Astrom, Nikki Anders, and director/co-writer Adam Anders) are not only bad but also overproduced, and even Antonio Banderas can’t inject life as King Herod, though it is amusing that his armor breastplate is painted to make it look like he has washboard abs. Also with Geno Segers, Omid Djalili, Rizwan Manji, Moriah, Stephanie Gil, Alicia Borrachero, Antonio Gil, Joel Smallbone, and Lecrae.
Killers of the Flower Moon (R) Martin Scorsese treats the Osage murders of the 1920s like one of his gangster films, and this might be better than Goodfellas or The Irishman. Based on David Grann’s history, this film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a World War I serviceman who returns home to Oklahoma and marries a full-blooded Osage (Lily Gladstone) to gain the money that comes with the rights to the oil on her land. Soon the Osage start dying under mysterious circumstances. Scorsese is canny enough to draw the parallels between the murders and the Tulsa race massacre from the same time, and he presents us with Okie cowboys acting like Mafia hoods to get away with their crimes. DiCaprio is great as a bad man whose accretion of bad deeds finally breaks him, and Gladstone is magnetic as the woman who barely survives when her tribespeople don’t. The film’s 206 minutes fly by and contain more than enough material for a second viewing. Also with Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, Tantoo Cardinal, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, Jason Isbell, Pete Yorn, Scott Shepherd, William Belleau, Yancey Red Corn, Gary Basaraba, Sturgill Simpson, Tommy Schultz, Tatanka Means, Barry Corbin, John Lithgow, and Brendan Fraser.
The Marvels (PG-13) The shortest of the Marvel films, which is mostly a good thing. A cosmic event causes Carol Danvers, Monica Rambeau, and Kamala Khan (Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani) to switch places whenever they use their superpowers, just in time for a Kree supervillain (Zawe Ashton) to come after Carol with a personal grudge. Director/co-writer Nia DaCosta (the Candyman sequel) exhibits her sense of visual precision without losing a sense of fun, as in a dance number on a planet where Carol is a princess. The most enjoyable thing is the sheer delight that the three lead actresses take in one another’s company, with Vellani raising great laughs as a fangirl working with her heroes and Parris showing an unsuspected comic touch. I’m all for a Marvel movie that gets off the screen before wearing out its welcome. Also with Samuel L. Jackson, Park Seo-joon, Gary Lewis, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Saagar Shaikh, Tessa Thompson, Lashana Lynch, Hailee Steinfeld, and Kelsey Grammer.
Napoleon (R) Big, loud, dull, and mostly empty. Ridley Scott’s historical epic stars Joaquin Phoenix as the French gunnery sergeant who winds up conquering most of Europe in the early 1800s. The movie speeds through the highlights of his military career without bothering to take much deeper lessons from either the individual episodes of the larger arc of his life. Scott manages two good combat sequences during the battles of Toulon and Austerlitz, and Rupert Everett is cast well against type as the Duke of Wellington. Yet one of the key figures of 19th century history emerges as a charmless lump. The story’s emotional weight is supposed to rest on his romance with Joséphine (Vanessa Kirby), and the relationship is as passionless as the sex they have attempting to produce an heir. The story of an outsider who brought Europe’s monarchies to their knees has something to tell us, but this movie doesn’t find it. Also with Tahar Rahim, Paul Rhys, Mark Bonnar, Ben Miles, Riana Duce, Edouard Philipponat, Miles Jupp, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Ludivine Sagnier, and Catherine Walker.
Priscilla (R) As a companion piece to Elvis, this biography is unsatisfying in a whole other way. Cailee Spaeny portrays Priscilla Beaulieu Presley from age 14 into her 30s as she meets Elvis (Jacob Elordi) and sticks with him through his abuse, infidelity, and relentless focus on his career. The lead actress’ youthful looks bring home the queasiness of Elvis’ dating of a preteen girl who’s 10 years younger than himself, and her alertness keeps the movie from becoming a stuffy historical pageant. Sofia Coppola gets her point across about the emptiness of a woman’s life when everyone regards her as an attachment to her husband, but the movie could have made the same point over a much shorter length. The ideas are here, but better dramatic shape would have given them more power. Also with Ari Cohen, Dagmara Domińczyk, Tim Post, Lynne Griffin, Dan Beirne, Dan Abramovici, Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll, and Matthew Shaw.
Radical (PG-13) Eugenio Derbez’ understated performance carries this otherwise formulaic Mexican inspirational teacher drama. He portrays Sergio Juarez, the real-life schoolteacher who went to a dirt-poor neighborhood in Matamoros in 2011 and resolved to use unorthodox methods to turn his underprivileged students into prize-winning scholars competing with the best young minds in the country. Derbez is canny enough to suggest the once-conventional teacher who has had a bruising experience with Mexico’s educational system. Writer-director Christopher Zalla doesn’t inject too much gloss into this portrait of a place where kids are lost all the time to the drug trade and the lure of America. Also with Daniel Haddad, Jennifer Trejo, Mia Fernanda Solis, Danilo Guardiola, Gilberto Barraza, Victor Estrada, and Manuel Márquez.
Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé (NR) The pop music star directs this film of her own concert tour from this past summer. Also with Blue Ivy Carter. (Opens Friday)
Saltburn (R) Emerald Fennell’s follow-up to her Promising Young Woman is somehow even meaner. Barry Keoghan plays an impoverished Oxford student in the mid-2000s who’s invited to spend summer vacation at the estate of a rich classmate (Jacob Elordi). Fennell’s depiction of the rich dude’s family has an Evelyn Waugh-like curdled elegance, and our creepy, sexually fluid protagonist lurks memorably in the background, carrying himself like an incel even though he has almost all of the sex in the movie. This would be more interesting if it hinted that the antihero’s devious quest actually cost him something, but Fennell remains an uncompromising and skilled hand behind the camera. If The Talented Mr. Ripley and Parasite had a baby and Brideshead Revisited and Call Me by Your Name had a baby, and then those babies had a baby, it would be this film. Also with Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe, Richie Cotterell, Paul Rhys, Reece Shearsmith, and Carey Mulligan.
Sam Bahadur (NR) Vicky Kaushal stars in this biography of India’s first field marshal, Sam Manekshaw. Also with Sanya Malhotra, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Neeraj Kabi, Edward Sonnenblick, Govind Namdev, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Naiyo Ishida, Bobby Arora, Paul O’Neill, Ravi Sharma, Rohan Varma, and Prajesh Kashyap. (Opens Friday)
The Shift (PG-13) What starts out as an intriguing Christian science-fiction film turns into yet another lugubrious post-apocalyptic film. Kristoffer Polaha stars as a man who’s shifted into a parallel universe by a guy calling himself The Benefactor (Neal McDonough) and has to find a way to get back to the universe where his wife is (Elizabeth Tabish). The special effects look cool and work to make this look different from other Christian films, but the movie sinks amid its evangelical paranoia and some rank overacting by the main principals. Also with Emily Rose, Jason Marsden, Rose Reid, Jordan Alexandra, and Sean Astin.
Silent Night (R) John Woo’s latest action thriller is nearly dialogue-free, which isn’t enough of a gimmick to make this worth seeing. Joel Kinnaman plays a man whose young son is caught in the crossfire during a gang shootout, and when he tries to avenge the boy, the gang leader shoots him in the throat and robs him of the power of speech. Some of the action sequences have that old Woo flair like the car chase at the beginning, but the movie degenerates into weepy melodrama only made slightly less tolerable by the lack of dialogue. Also with Catalina Sandino Moreno, Harold Torres, Yoko Hamamura, Vinny O’Brien, and Kid Cudi.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (PG-13) You’ll likely be watching this in a packed theater with little girls running around and singing along with Taylor, but this movie is strong enough to hold up even if you see it on your smartphone by yourself six months from now. Sam Wrench’s concert documentary takes in Swift’s last performance from the first leg of her current concert tour, where she plays selections from all her previous albums. If you didn’t have the coin to pay your way in to her stadium show, this film showcases her deep understanding of stagecraft, her indefatigable energy, and her unforced chemistry with her fans. Maybe the moss-covered piano she plays on “Champagne Problems” is a bit much, but the show is full of wow moments like the mystical backdrop for “Willow” and the giant snake coiling around the stage to introduce the Reputation part of the program. Swift’s sturdy sense of songcraft underscores all of this. What more could you wish from a concert movie?
Thanksgiving (R) Eli Roth initially made a fake trailer for this holiday-themed slasher flick as a joke in the Grindhouse double feature. Now he’s made the film for real, and while the joke doesn’t have enough to sustain an entire movie, it is good for a few laughs. A year after a Black Friday riot results in several deaths at a big-box retailer in Plymouth, Mass., a masked killer dressed as a Pilgrim starts killing the people they deem responsible. Both the sheriff (Patrick Dempsey) and the store owner’s teenage daughter (Nell Verlaque) try to crack the case. The Masshole energy is strong here, as the victims are all horrible New Englanders with thick accents. Roth’s wit shines through on occasion, and this does fill the empty void of Thanksgiving-related horror films. Also with Rick Hoffman, Addison Rae, Milo Manheim, Karen Cliche, Jenna Warren, Tomaso Sanelli, Tim Dillon, Amanda Barker, Joe Delfin, and Gina Gershon.
Tiger 3 (NR) Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif reprise their roles in this sequel to 2017’s Tiger Zinda Hai, as their heroic secret agents are framed as traitors to India. Also with Emraan Hashmi, Revathi, Simran, Riddhi Dogra, Vishal Jethwa, Ranvir Shorey, Denzil Smith, Hrithik Roshan, and Shah Rukh Khan.
Trolls Band Together (PG) At this point, reuniting with *NSYNC is the best career move possible for Justin Timberlake. In this most watchable of the Trolls movies, his Branch is discovered to have four long-lost brothers (voiced by Eric André, Troye Sivan, Daveed Diggs, and Kid Cudi) with whom he used to be in a boy band. His attempt to save one of them leads Poppy (voiced by Anna Kendrick) to discover her own separated-at-birth sister (voiced by Camila Cabello), and Tiny Diamond (voiced by Kenan Thompson) asks, “Am I the only one without a long-lost sibling?” The movie doesn’t belabor any of its points too heavily and gives us an enjoyable batch of cover songs plus the first original *NSYNC song (“Better Place”) in more than 20 years. Nostalgia has given us worse than this. Additional voices by Amy Schumer, Andrew Rannells, Zooey Deschanel, Patti Harrison, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kunal Nayyar, Zosia Mamet, RuPaul, Ron Funches, Jungkook, Anderson .Paak, Lance Bass, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, and Chris Kirkpatrick.
Wish (PG) Disney marks its centennial with this oh-so-forgettable animated musical about a girl (voiced by Ariana DeBose) in an enchanted kingdom who discovers that the benevolent king (voiced by Chris Pine) is convincing the citizens to give up their dearest wishes in exchange for the kingdom’s continued security and prosperity. The script lacks any wit or creative story developments, the songs by Benjamin Rice and Julia Michaels are too plain by half, and even the voice cast seems to be phoning it in. The montage of great characters from Disney’s past only serves to make this movie look worse. Additional voices by Alan Tudyk, Angelique Cabral, Natasha Rothwell, Jennifer Kumiyama, Ramy Youssef, Niko Vargas, Evan Peters, Harvey Guillén, and Victor Garber.
DALLAS EXCLUSIVES
Fallen Leaves (NR) The latest film by Aki Kaurismäki (Le Havre) is this romance about two lonely Finns (Alma Pöysti and Jussi Vatanen) whose attempt to meet is complicated by many obstacles. Also with Martti Suosalo, Alina Tomnikov, Janne Hyytiäinen, Sakari Kuosmanen, Nuppu Koivu, and Maria Heiskanen.
How I Learned to Fly (NR) Marcus Scribner and Lonnie Chavis star as two brothers who must survive on their own after their parents suddenly leave. Also with Method Man, Michele Selene Ang, Crystal Bush, Jennifer Lee Laks, and Cedric the Entertainer.
Maestro (R) Bradley Cooper directs, co-writes, and stars in this biography of composer, conductor, pianist, and educator Leonard Bernstein. Also with Carey Mulligan, Matt Bomer, Vincenzo Amato, Michael Urie, Greg Hildreth, Brian Klugman, Mallory Portnoy, Nick Blaemire, and Sarah Silverman.
