OPENING
Blue Lock: Episode Nagi (PG-13) The big-screen version of the anime series follows Seishiro Nagi (voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki) before he enters the youth soccer academy. Additional voices by Yuma Uchida, Kazuyuki Okitsu, Kazuki Ura, Tasuku Kaito, Yuki Ono, and Kamen Casey. (Opens Friday)
Daddio (R) Dakota Johnson stars in this drama as a woman taking a cab ride from JFK International Airport into New York. Also with Sean Penn. (Opens Friday)
Fancy Dance (R) Lily Gladstone stars in this drama as a Seneca-Cayuga small-time criminal in Oklahoma who kidnaps her niece after a family tragedy. Also with Shea Whigham, Isabel Deroy-Olson, Michael Rowe, Blayne Allen, Patrice Fisher, Crystle Lightning, Ryan Begay, Audrey Wasilewski, and Arianne Martin. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
Handsome Guys (NR) This Korean comedy is about two men (Lee Sung-min and Lee Hee-jun) who discover a secret buried in their new country house. Also with Gong Seung-yeon, Park Ji-hwan, Lee Kyoo-hyung, and Woo Hyeon. (Opens Friday at AMC Grapevine Mills)
Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1 (R) Kevin Costner directs and stars in the first half of this epic Western saga about the settlement of the American West. Also with Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, Owen Crow Shoe, Tatanka Means, Ella Hunt, Tim Guinee, Abbey Lee, Michael Rooker, Will Patton, Hayes Costner, Isabelle Fuhrman, Michael Angarano, James Russo, Jeff Fahey, Giovanni Ribisi, and Danny Huston. (Opens Friday)
I Used to Be Funny (NR) Ally Pankiw’s drama stars Rachel Sennott as a standup comic dealing with PTSD. Also with Olga Petsa, Jason Jones, Sabrina Jalees, Caleb Hearon, Ennis Esmer, and Dani Kind. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
Jatt & Juliet 3 (NR) This third film in the romantic series has its Indian cop heroes (Diljit Dosanjh and Neeru Bajwa) traveling to Canada to investigate an international case. Also with Jasmin Bajwa, B.N. Sharma, Nasir Chinyoti, and Rana Ranbir. (Opens Friday at Cinemark North East Mall)
Kalki 2898 A.D. (NR) This Indian dystopian science-fiction film takes place in a postapocalyptic future where the only city left on Earth is ruled by a dictatorship. Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Prabhas, Kamal Haasan, Rajendra Prasad, and Disha Patani. (Opens Friday)
A Quiet Place: Day One (PG-13) Lupita Nyong’o stars in this prequel as a woman visiting New York City on the day of the alien invasion. Also with Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff, Thea Butler, Káit Feeney, and Djimon Hounsou. (Opens Friday)
A Sacrifice (NR) This thriller stars Eric Bana as an American psychology professor in Berlin called on to investigate a religious cult’s mass suicide. Also with Sadie Sink, Jonas Dassler, Stephan Kampwirth, and Sylvia Hoeks. (Opens Friday at AMC Grapevine Mills)
NOW PLAYING
Bad Boys: Ride or Die (R) What it’s supposed to be and no more. Marcus (Martin Lawrence) suffers a heart attack and comes out of it believing that he’s bulletproof, which does nothing for the comedy but comes in handy as he and Mike (Will Smith) are framed along with their late captain (Joe Pantoliano) for being moles for the drug cartels and have to go on the run. The character stuff ran dry a long time ago and the stuff about the cops’ families doesn’t feel real for a second, but directors Adil and Bilall (who also did the previous Bad Boys movie) do know how to film a shootout. That’s what’s carrying this series now. Also with Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Paola Núñez, Eric Dane, Ioan Gruffudd, Jacob Scipio, Tasha Smith, Melanie Liburd, Rhea Seehorn, John Salley, Dennis Mcdonald, DJ Khaled, and Tiffany Haddish.
The Bikeriders (R) Based on Danny Lyon’s photography book about a Chicago motorcycle gang in the 1960s and ’70s, this film is a constant battle between the strength of its acting and the weakness of its storytelling. Austin Butler stars as a young rider who’s torn between his increasingly worried wife (Jodie Comer) and the gang’s increasingly violent leader (Tom Hardy). We’ve seen this gangster story before, and writer-director Jeff Nichols (Mud) has a shaky grasp on pacing and plotting. Yet the story is carried by Comer, who narrates the devolution of the gang to Danny Lyon (Mike Faist) over the course of several years in a deep-dish Chicago accent. She’s the reason to see this motorcycle movie that passes through familiar territory. Also with Michael Shannon, Boyd Holbrook, Damon Herriman, Beau Knapp, Karl Glusman, Emory Cohen, Toby Wallace, Will Oldham, and Norman Reedus. (Opens Friday)
Chandu Champion (NR) This Indian sports biopic stars Kartik Aaryan as Murlikant Petkar, India’s first-ever gold medalist at the Paralympic Games. Also with Bhuvan Arora, Yashpal Sharma, Rajpal Yadav, Aniruddh Dave, and Adonis Kapsalis.
The Exorcism (R) Fifty years ago, Jason Miller starred in The Exorcist. Now, his son Joshua John Miller writes and directs a similarly titled movie about an actor starring in an exorcism movie, and it’s all so meta that it isn’t about anything. Russell Crowe plays a broken-down, reformed alcoholic and drug addict who portrays a Catholic priest in a horror movie and then starts behaving erratically. Oh, he’s also a sleepwalker, he was molested by a priest as a child, and he has the role because the previous lead actor was killed on the set. Soon, the real priest (David Hyde Pierce) who’s working on the film as a consultant has to perform an actual exorcism. The thing comes closest to working as a film about growing up with a famous addict for a parent, as the hero’s estranged gay daughter (Ryan Simpkins) works on the film as a PA. Still, this movie goes in too many directions to be effective at any of them. Also with Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, Adam Goldberg, Adrian Pasdar, and Samantha Mathis.
The Fall Guy (PG-13) This big-screen version of the 1980s TV show is catnip for anyone who thinks stunt performers should be able to win Oscars. Ryan Gosling plays a Hollywood stuntman who’s called in to investigate the disappearance of a movie star (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) from the set of a blockbuster that’s filming in Australia. Director David Leitch is a former stuntman himself, and while he’s had trouble handling humor in his past projects as a director, here the laughs sit easily on the story as the stuntman has to deal with his ex-girlfriend (Emily Blunt), who happens to be directing the movie. The climax features so many stunts that it turns out to be too much of a good thing. The movie is better when focusing on the little details that help stunt performers do their job, making this an endearing tribute to the profession. Also with Hannah Waddingham, Winston Duke, Stephanie Hsu, Teresa Palmer, Ben Knight, Adam Dunn, Kalkida China, Heather Thomas, Lee Majors, and an uncredited Jason Momoa.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (PG-13) The year’s best prequel stars Anya Taylor-Joy as a young version of Furiosa who’s abducted from the Green Place, disguises herself as a boy, gets traded by one biker gang leader (Chris Hemsworth) to Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme), saves the war rig, and learns to drive. George Miller remains at the wheel, but he doesn’t come up with anything as awe-inspiring as the sandstorm from Mad Max: Fury Road, nor does he come up with anything as bonkers as the Doof Warrior. The Australian filmmaker’s kinetic muscle remains in evidence, though, and Taylor-Joy absorbs the role as her own while Hemsworth manages to be funny and complicated in a rare villainous role. Also with Tom Burke, Alyla Browne, Charlee Fraser, John Howard, Angus Sampson, Nathan Jones, Josh Helman, George Shevtsov, and Elsa Pataky.
The Garfield Movie (PG) And still filmmakers haven’t deciphered how to make a good movie about the comic-strip cat. This animated version stars Chris Pratt as the fat orange kitty, whose long-lost father (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson) comes back into his life because he’s in debt to a cat mob boss (voiced by Hannah Waddingham) with a personal grudge. I would say Pratt is the wrong actor to voice such a sardonic character, but the generic adventure that follows doesn’t have much to do with Garfield at all, nor does it show much understanding of what made him popular in the first place. Some of the sequences in this Sony Animation film showcasing Garfield’s obsession with Italian food feel like outtakes from the studio’s Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs movies, but that’s not enough to lift this. Odie (voiced by Harvey Guillén) is the real hero here, which maybe cinches the idea that these filmmakers don’t know Garfield. Additional voices by Ving Rhames, Cecily Strong, Nicholas Hoult, Brett Goldstein, Bowen Yang, and Snoop Dogg.
Ghost: Rite Here Rite Now (NR) I really hope they reference the Jesus Jones song. Tobias Forge and Alex Ross Perry’s concert documentary chronicles the band’s recent performances and also continues their web series.
Ghostlight (R) The team of Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson (Saint Frances) does this drama about a construction worker (Keith Kupferer) who impulsively joins a community theater troupe’s Shakespeare production. Also with Katherine Mallen Kupferer, Tara Mallen, Hanna Dworkin, Dexter Zollicoffer, and Dolly de Leon.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (PG-13) At this point, why bother with the humans at all? Just have the massive beasts act out the drama, and we won’t miss the dialogue. King Kong and Godzilla are awakened by a new threat to life on Earth, which forces our scientists (Rebecca Hall and Brian Tyree Henry) to undertake a journey into uncharted reaches of the hollow Earth. Dan Stevens turns up as a veterinary dentist with an Australian accent, Hawaiian shirt, and blond highlights, and he’s the only one who’s remotely having fun. Everything else is swallowed up by the special effects. It’s all just exquisitely boring. Also with Kaylee Hottle, Fala Chen, Alex Ferns, Rachel House, and Greg Hatton.
IF (PG) John Krasinski the writer comes up with a great premise, and then John Krasinski the director immediately squanders it. John Krasinski the actor portrays a widowed father who’s having heart surgery in a New York hospital, so his 12-year-old daughter (Cailey Fleming) moves in with her grandma (Fiona Shaw) in the city. When she acquires the ability to see and talk to kids’ imaginary friends whose children have outgrown them, she has to team up with the grandmother’s shut-in neighbor (Ryan Reynolds) to rehome them with new kids. The pacing is slack, the movie takes forever to get Reynolds on the screen, the director yanks at our heartstrings in exhausting fashion, and worst of all, a stacked voice cast is wasted. Also with Alan Kim, Liza Colón-Zayas, and Bobby Moynihan. Voices by Steve Carell, Emily Blunt, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bradley Cooper, Blake Lively, Awkwafina, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Sam Rockwell, Jon Stewart, Bill Hader, Amy Schumer, Keegan-Michael Key, Matthew Rhys, Maya Rudolph, Richard Jenkins, Sebastian Maniscalco, and the late Louis Gossett Jr.
Inside Out 2 (PG) This sequel does not reach the heights of the original Pixar animated film, but it does have some rewarding points. Riley (voiced by Kensington Tallman) turns 13, and puberty brings on a host of new emotions led by Anxiety (voiced by Maya Hawke). When Riley gets invited to a hockey skills camp, Anxiety leads a coup against Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler) and the other four emotions, literally bottling them up so that Riley can impress the right people. Even with Hawke missing some of the comic potential in the role, Anxiety is still the best thing about the film, drafting an army of storyboard artists to draft every scenario that could derail Riley and inducing a panic attack in her that will feel horribly familiar to anxiety sufferers. The jokes don’t land as consistently as in the original, nor are the emotions in the story as piercing, but the mindscape remains a nice place to be. Additional voices by Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Liza Lapira, Tony Hale, Ayo Edebiri, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Paul Walter Hauser, Lilimar, Yvette Nicole Brown, Ron Funches, James Austin Johnson, Paula Pell, June Squibb, John Ratzenberger, Diane Lane, and Kyle MacLachlan.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (PG-13) The latest installment in the series is proficient and stubbornly unexciting. Decades after Caesar’s death, ape civilization has gone to hell, with a king (Kevin Durand) enslaving tribes of apes to glorify himself. The lone survivor of one captive tribe (Owen Teague) resolves to free his people with the help of a starving human (Freya Allan) who has her own agenda. Director Wes Ball (from the Maze Runner films) is more comfortable with these CGI simians than he is with human beings, and the action sequences are legible without ever raising the pulse. It’s all eminently watchable, and it exists at entirely too comfortable a remove. Also with Peter Macon, Eka Darville, Lydia Peckham, Sara Wiseman, Travis Jeffery, and William H. Macy.
Maharaja (NR) Anurag Kashyap stars in this Indian thriller as a barber who goes on a violent revenge spree after his home is burglarized. Also with Abhirami, Vijay Sethupathi, Mamta Mohandas, Bharathiraja, and Divya Bharathi.
A Road to a Village (NR) This Nepalese drama examines the gains and losses when the government builds a new road to a particular village. Starring Dayahang Rai, Pashupati Rai, Prem Subba, and Prasan Rai.
The Strangers: Chapter 1 (R) It’s the same movie! This is the same movie as the 2008 slasher flick! Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez play a couple who rent an Airbnb in the remote Oregon countryside and then are stalked by the trio of masked killers. This is intended as the first in a trilogy of horror films, but did they have to repeat the original so slavishly? And where does the series go from here? Neither the killers nor the protagonist victims are interesting enough to merit their own cinematic universe. Neither the acting nor Renny Harlin’s direction are enough to make this movie stand on its own. Also with Richard Brake, Rachel Shenton, Gabriel Basso, Ema Horvath, and Ella Bruccoleri.
Thelma (PG-13) Maybe it’s not so hard to make a thriller with a 93-year-old main character. June Squibb stars as a southern California retiree who decides to get revenge after a phone scammer bilks her out of $10,000. Writer-director Josh Margolin has a fun time playing with the tropes of Hollywood action-thrillers, as Thelma and her longtime friend (the late Richard Roundtree) improvise electronic listening devices, ignore explosions, and travel a great distance on his motorized scooter. The sharpness of the writing and the layered performances from Squibb and Roundtree (giving a lovely performance in his last feature film role) keep this thing from turning into mush, and the film’s sunny disposition is something distinctive on its own. Also with Parker Posey, Fred Hechinger, Clark Gregg, Chase Kim, Quinn Beswick, Bunny Levine, and Malcolm McDowell.
The Watchers (PG-13) Adapted from A.M. Shine’s novel, Ishana Night Shyamalan’s horror film stars Dakota Fanning as an American expat who becomes trapped in a mysterious room in the forests of western Ireland. Also with Georgina Campbell, Oliver Finnegan, John Lynch, and Olwen Fouéré.
DALLAS EXCLUSIVES
Agent Recon (NR) Derek Ting writes, directs, and stars in this action thriller as a young soldier sent to track a mysterious disturbance at a New Mexico base. Also with Marc Singer, Sylvia Kwan, Jason Scott Jenkins, Nikki Leigh, and the late Chuck Norris.
Black Ice: The Rhythm (NR) This drama stars Arthur Cartwright as a Black former hockey player-turned-convicted felon who takes up coaching a team full of Black youth players. Also with Bill D. Russell, Michael Ellison, Devante Jamar Adams, Jaclene Wilk, and Shawntez Prince.
Blackwater Lane (PG-13) Minka Kelly stars in this supernatural thriller as a driver who picks up a hitchhiker who may or may not be dead. Also with Dermot Mulroney, Natalie Simpson, Edward Baker-Duly, Pandora Clifford, and Maggie Grace.
Bread & Roses (NR) Sahra Mani’s documentary examines the lives of women in Kabul since the Taliban re-took control of the city.
Robot Dreams (NR) Nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Film, this dialogue-free Spanish movie is about a dog who buys a robot to serve as his friend in 1980s New York City.
What Remains (NR) This Swedish thriller stars Gustaf Skarsgård as a mental patient who confesses to a string of murders. Also with Andrea Riseborough, Éva Magyar, Antti Luusuaniemi, Miika Ahlroth, and Stellan Skarsgård.
