OPENING
Albany Road (PG-13) This drama stars Renée Elise Goldsberry as a woman forced to share a ride with her ex-fiancé’s mother (Lynn Whitfield). Also with J. Alphonse Nicholson and Gary Dourdan. (Opens Friday)
Bird (R) Andrea Arnold’s latest film stars Nykiya Bailey as a teenage girl in England who looks for attention outside her home. Also with Franz Rogowski, Jason Buda, Jasmine Jobson, Frankie Box, and Barry Keoghan. (Opens Friday at AMC Grapevine Mills)
Elton John: Never Too Late (PG-13) R.J. Cutler and David Furnish’s concert documentary looks back over the pop singer’s 50 years of concert tours. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
Ghost Cat Anzu (NR) This Japanese anime film is about a girl (voiced by Noa Goto) and her cat spirit guardian (voiced by Mirai Moriyama). Additional voices by Munetaka Aoki, Miwako Ichikawa, and Wataru Sawabe. (Opens Friday at AMC Grapevine Mills)
Hello Love Again (NR) This Filipino romantic film stars Alden Richards and Kathryn Bernardo as exes who reunite in Canada years after their breakup. Also with Joross Gamboa, Valerie Concepcion, Ruby Rodriguez, Jennica Garcia, Kakai Bautista, and Lovely Abella. (Opens Friday)
Kanguva (NR) This Tamil-language fantasy adventure film stars Suriya as both a tribal warrior 1,000 years ago and a homicide detective in the present day whose stories are linked. Also with Disha Patani, Bobby Deol, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley, Kovai Sarala, Karthi, and Anirudh Ravichander. (Opens Friday)
Matka (NR) Varun Tej stars in this Indian crime thriller as a gangster who rises through the ranks of organized crime between 1958 and 1982. Also with Meenakshi Chaudhary, Nora Fatehi, Saloni Aswani, Satyan Rajesh, and Ajay Ghosh. (Opens Friday)
The Outrun (R) Watching Saoirse Ronan battle alcoholism for two hours is a good use of time at this British drama. Based on Amy Liptrot’s memoir, the movie stars Ronan as a marine biology graduate student who exiles herself to a remote island in the Orkneys to observe the wildlife and dry out. Director/co-writer Nora Fingscheidt deliberately tells the story out of order to mimic the cyclical nature of addictions. For all the lyrical shots of the rocky, desolate seascapes of the Orkneys, the movie doesn’t quite reach the heights of the Edmund Burkean meditation on the sublime and beautiful that it aims to be. Still, it’s a pleasure listening to Ronan as she narrates with a scientist’s detachment or shares her story at various AA meetings, and seeing her move with the seascapes is a reminder of how great she is. Also with Paapa Essiedu, Saskia Reeves, Izuka Hoyle, Naomi Wirthner, Lauren Lyle, and Stephen Dillane. (Re-opens Friday at AMC Grapevine Mills)
Red One (PG-13) This Christmas movie starts off well, with a terrific premise. After Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons) is kidnapped by persons unknown two days before Christmas, his head of security (Dwayne Johnson) contacts the blackhat hacker (Chris Evans) who helped the bad guys locate Saint Nick. Their attempts to recover the hostage are filmed like a spy thriller, along with the workings of Santa’s workshop. Kristofer Hivju turns up as Krampus, too. It all goes well for a while, but Johnson is the wrong actor to portray someone who’s jaded underneath his businesslike exterior. Evans, turning up his native Boston accent considerably, fares better as a shady guy who makes wisecracks as he’s dragged across the globe, but the script dampens down the comedy by making him a crappy dad to a teenage boy (Wesley Kimmel). The sleigh ride runs out of power before the movie is halfway through. Also with Lucy Liu, Bonnie Hunt, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Kiernan Shipka, and Nick Kroll. (Opens Friday)
The Sabarmati Report (NR) This Indian film dramatizes the real-life Godhra train burning of 2002. Starring Vikrant Massey, Raashii Khanna, Riddhi Dogra, Sundip Ved, Nazneen Patni, and Barkha Singh. (Opens Friday)
The World According to Allee Willis (NR) Alexis Spraic’s documentary profiles the longtime songwriter. Also with Patti LaBelle, Cyndi Lauper, Lily Tomlin, Brenda Russell, Bruce Vilanch, Paul Feig, Julie Brown, Pamela Adlon, Mark Cuban, Michael Patrick King, Mark Mothersbaugh, and the late Paul Reubens. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
NOW PLAYING
Absolution (R) Liam Neeson stars in this thriller as a gangster trying to reconcile with his estranged children. Also with Ron Perlman, Frankie Shaw, Daniel Diemer, and Javier Molina.
Amaran (NR) This Tamil-language war film stars Sivakarthikeyan as a real-life army major who takes part in an operation in the Kashmir in 2014. Also with Sai Pallavi, Bhuvan Arora, Rahul Bose, Lallu, Shreekumar, and Shyam Mohan.
Anora (R) This wild sex comedy won the Golden Palm at Cannes, and is it ever a blast. Mikey Madison plays a Russian-speaking stripper in New York City who’s introduced to a Russian oligarch’s 21-year-old son (Mark Eydelshteyn), who becomes so infatuated with her that he proposes marriage to her so that he won’t have to return to Russia. Writer-director Sean Baker displays some old-school filmmaking chops to go with his oft-remarked-on non-judgmental view of the sex trade, and he executes a great comic set piece where the oligarch’s goons are reduced to helplessness by this tiny woman who’s throwing heavy glass ornaments. I don’t buy the idea that the stripper actually falls in love with her new husband, or that he might ever stand up to the parents who are paying for his partying. Yura Borisov puts in a nicely turned performance as a Russian thug who’s the only man who tries to treat Anora decently, and Madison looks like a new star. Also with Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, Vincent Radwinsky, Darya Ekamasova, and Aleksey Serebryakov.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (PG-13) Oddly comforting. Among many reprising their roles from Tim Burton’s 1988 film, Winona Ryder plays the grown-up Lydia Deetz who’s back in Connecticut to go through her deceased father’s things when her teenage daughter (Jenna Ortega) gets dragged into the afterlife, and Lydia has to enlist Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) to get her back. There are even more subplots that cause this movie to run all over the place, although tight plotting was never what we went to Burton’s movies for. None of the actors in this heavyweight cast seem to quite bring their best, either, but the macabre comedy bits hit at an agreeable pace, especially with the waiting room for dead people and a flashback that parodies Mario Bava’s 1960s horror movies. It’s enough to make this return trip to Burton’s old stomping grounds worth taking. Also with Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Arthur Conti, Santiago Cabrera, Amy Nuttall, Danny DeVito, and Willem Dafoe.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (PG) Judy Greer provides the only note of astringency or liveliness in this rote, muddy-looking adaptation of Barbara Robinson’s beloved novel. The treasured character actress stars a full-time mother who takes over directing her church’s Christmas pageant just in time for the neighborhood’s worst-behaved family of kids to assume the main roles. The book was written back in the 1970s, and the movie unfortunately feels trapped in period amber, as the unparented kids’ antics seem too tame by half. The movie’s religious message is muffled amid the family-friendly cutesiness. Also with Pete Holmes, Molly Belle Wright, Beatrice Schneider, Matthew Lamb, Mason D. Nelligan, Essek Moore, Ewan Wood, Kynlee Heiman, Lorelei Olivia Mote, Danielle Hoetmer, Daina Leitold, Stephanie Sy, and Lauren Graham.
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 (NR) The latest in the horror-comedy series stars Kartik Aaryan, Vidya Balan, Madhuri Dixit, Triptii Dimri, Rajpal Yadav, Sanjay Mishra, Ashwini Kalsekar, Rajesh Sharma, and Vijay Raaz.
Conclave (PG) They really should make more movies about electing a pope. Ralph Fiennes portrays a Catholic cardinal who’s tasked with running the election for a new pontiff after the previous one passes away. Director Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front) revels in the little details about this infrequent occasion, and the script pretty faithfully follows Robert Harris’ novel with its artfully placed bombshells. The supporting characters are nicely acted by the supporting cast, and Fiennes is in excellent form as a man full of private religious doubts while performing this administrative duty. The setting is so faithfully re-created that you’ll swear the filmmakers snuck the actors and cameras into the Vatican itself. This is the year’s best Christian film, and its best political thriller. Also with Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Lucian Msamati, Sergio Castellitto, Brían F. O’Byrne, Jacek Koman, Carlos Diehz, Merab Ninidze, and Isabella Rossellini.
Elevation (R) Set in a post-alien invasion where humans can only survive above 8,000 feet, this science-fiction thriller stars Anthony Mackie as a man who must take a job below the altitude to save his ill son. Also with Morena Baccarin, Maddie Hasson, Hunter Boyd Jr., and Shauna Earp.
Here (PG-13) Robert Zemeckis tries to make his own version of The Tree of Life, and that’s what this is, for better and worse. He keeps the camera largely in the same spot in Pennsylvania from the age of dinosaurs to the present day, as a house is built on that spot for generations of families, including a CGI de-aged Tom Hanks and Robin Wright from their teen years to old age. Telling the story like this is an interesting technical achievement, but the movie looks muddy and Zemeckis’ syrupy script means that this is well short of the meditation on the passage of time that it wants to be. The thing is more watchable than some of Zemeckis’ worse efforts, but he lets the storytelling gimmick overwhelm the story. Also with Paul Bettany, Kelly Reilly, Gwilym Lee, Ophelia Lovibond, Jemima Rooper, Lauren McQueen, Daniel Betts, Zsa Zsa Zemeckis, Joel Oulette, Dannie McCallum, Harry Marcus, Nicholas Pinnock, Nikki Amuka-Bird, and Michelle Dockery.
Heretic (R) Hugh Grant is the monster in this haunted-house movie, and he makes it into a barrel of monkeys. He portrays a man who lets two Mormon missionaries (Chloe East and Sophie Thatcher) into his home, only to then make it clear that he has no intention of ever letting them leave. The filmmaking team of Scott Beck and Bryan Woods is famous for writing movies that don’t have much dialogue (A Quiet Place, 65), and here they seem to be making up for lost words. The movie is so dense with philosophical dialogue, it’s as if George Bernard Shaw had written a horror flick. Still, some of the conversation is quite good, and the performances keep the film from bogging down. Grant’s turn as a Satanic figure who pokes holes in Mormonism and other established religions is a juicy and enjoyable one, and the movie is even-handed enough to save some of the good jokes for the other characters. Also with Elle Young and Topher Grace.
Hitpig (PG) Berkeley Breathed’s satiric, scatological sense of humor for older kids is denatured in this animated adaptation of his children’s book. Jason Sudeikis provides the voice of a pig who makes a living capturing escaped animals and returning them to their owners. When he’s hired to capture a circus elephant (voiced by Lilly Singh) with an abusive owner (voiced by Rainn Wilson), he’s forced into a crisis of conscience. It’s all done professionally, and Hannah Gadsby is well cast as the world’s least cuddly koala. Even so, the material just isn’t funny enough to keep this kids’ movie afloat. Additional voices by RuPaul, Charlie Adler, Anitta, Flavor Flav, and Andy Serkis.
Lucky Baskhar (NR) This Indian crime thriller set in the 1980s stars Dulquer Salmaan as a banker who must save himself from a criminal plot. Also with Meenakshi Chaudhary, Ramki, Hyper Aadi, Surya Sreenivas, and Sachin Khedekar.
Meanwhile on Earth (R) This French science-fiction film achieves a sort of disembodied pathos that’s rare at the multiplexes. Megan Northam stars as a woman whose astronaut brother has been lost in space and is presumed dead when a celestial being contacts her and tells her that she can bring her brother back by sacrificing five people. Writer-director Jérémy Clapin (I Lost My Body) turns this into an eerie meditation on our purpose on Earth and the value of human lives, as our nurse protagonist starts looking among the patients in her nursing home who are either terminally ill or suffering from dementia. The music by Dan Levy and the sparse but potent special effects help create an atmosphere that’s not quite of this world. Also with Catherine Salée, Sam Louwyck, Roman Williams, Sofia Lesaffre, Nicolas Avinée, and Arcadi Radeff. Voices by Dimitri Doré and Sébastien Pouderoux.
Memoir of a Snail (R) This Australian movie has to be animated, because a live-action version of this story would probably be unbearably sad. The protagonist (voiced by Charlotte Belsey as a girl and Sarah Snook as a woman) is growing up in Melbourne in the 1970s when a series of accidents causes her and her twin brother (voiced by Mason Litsos and Kodi Smit-McPhee) to be orphaned and then sent to live with different families at opposite ends of the country. The stop-motion animation is quite reminiscent of Nick Park’s Wallace & Gromit films, but the story is very much not for kids and decked it in myriad shades of beige to reflect the depressive mental state of the main character, who becomes obsessed with collecting snails. Just when the film threatens to become a litany of pointless suffering, a miraculous turn of events gives the heroine hope and makes the movie seem kissed by grace. Additional voices by Jacki Weaver, Dominique Pinon, Magda Szubanski, Tony Armstrong, Eric Bana, and Nick Cave.
Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom (R) Some of the action sequences are really good in this third film in the Japanese anime series. In a fictional universe with many Dungeons & Dragons-inspired monsters, a squire (voiced by Yoshino Aoyama) who wishes to become a paladin watches as her human lords team up with an undead lord of wrath (voiced by Satoshi Hino) in order to defeat an evil king (voiced by Masayuki Katō) with armies of monsters on his side. Some of the emotional beats here don’t hit, but the shifting alliances are enough to fill in the fight scenes as our heroine and her robot sidekick (voiced by Asami Seto) take on traps, enemies, and other obstacles while trying to keep their respective kingdoms together. Additional voices by Yumi Hara, Hitomi Nabatame, Saori Hayami, and Haruka Tomatsu.
Purna Bahadur ko Sarangi (NR) This Nepalese drama stars Bijay Baral as a struggling musician who’s left to raise his son by himself. Also with Maotse Gurung, Buddhi Tamang, Binod Neupane, Desh Bhakta Khanal, and Mukun Bhusal.
Saturday Night (R) Jason Reitman too often forgets the punchline in this backstage drama about the chaos leading up to the first episode of Saturday Night Live. Gabriel LaBelle portrays Lorne Michaels as he tries to wrangle an unruly cast and crew while convincing TV executives that his idea about a live comedy show is going to work. Unfortunately, Reitman and Gil Kenan’s script cuts off after the first sketch of the first episode, so we don’t get the glorious moments that made the program into such a hit. Instead, the movie darts from one subplot to another without giving us anything to hold on to. Some of the young cast do worthy impressions of the original Not Ready for Prime Time Players, but this movie is considerably less illuminating than the myriad oral and written histories about the comedy institution. Also with Rachel Sennott, Willem Dafoe, Cooper Hoffman, Cory Michael Smith, Matt Wood, Dylan O’Brien, Ella Hunt, Lamorne Morris, Emily Fairn, Kim Matula, Jon Batiste, Paul Rust, Nicolas Braun, Andrew Barth Feldman, Nicholas Podany, Tommy Dewey, Matthew Rhys, Tracy Letts, Finn Wolfhard, Kaia Gerber, and J.K. Simmons.
Singham Again (NR) The sequel to Singham Returns stars Ajay Devgn as a cop whose wife (Kareena Kapoor Khan) is kidnapped by a terrorist (Arjun Kapoor). Also with Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Tiger Shroff, Jackie Shroff, Dayanand Shetty, and Salman Khan.
Small Things Like These (PG-13) Too subtle by half. Cillian Murphy stars in this Irish drama as a coal deliveryman in the 1980s who discovers that his local convent is using unwed mothers for slave labor and taking their babies away for adoption. This latest film about the Magdalene laundries doesn’t have the unvarnished power of The Magdalene Sisters, nor does it have the slick storytelling of Philomena. Murphy does his best with the part of a laconic man who slowly realizes that the system he’s working in is wrong, but director Tim Mielants soft-pedals the brutality of the places that operated until the end of the 20th century. It’s all just an exercise in candle lighting and muted emotions. This is adapted from Claire Keegan’s novel. Also with Eileen Walsh, Clare Dunne, Peter Claffey, Ian O’Reilly, Patrick Ryan, and Emily Watson.
Smile 2 (R) Setting this in the world of pop music does all sorts of good things for the sequel to the 2022 horror hit. Naomi Scott portrays a Grammy-winning music star who witnesses her drug dealer (Lukas Gage) fall victim to the smile curse and then starts experiencing terrifying hallucinations herself. Scott is credible as a pop star, and the setup allows writer-director Parker Finn to film some dance numbers and make a heroine who’s more isolated because of her fame than the one in the original film. For all that, the movie falls apart in the last 20 minutes or so, as basic storytelling logic goes out the window and Finn seems uninterested in the issues that he raises with his setup. This is better than the original movie, but it could have been a great horror film. Also with Rosemarie DeWitt, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Dylan Gelula, Ray Nicholson, Peter Jacobson, Iván Carlo, Raúl Castillo, Kyle Gallner, and Drew Barrymore.
The Substance (R) The culmination of Demi Moore’s career. She stars as an aging Hollywood star who receives word of a black-market beauty product and uses it to transform into a younger, hotter self (Margaret Qualley). French writer-director Coralie Fargeat (Revenge) keeps both actresses naked for much of the time as a way of illustrating that while our protagonist has a physique that many 60-year-olds would envy, she can’t resist wanting to stay in the younger body. Qualley, who usually plays self-possessed types, comes memorably unhinged as she takes out her rage on her older alter ego, and Moore also seems to be tapping into a deep well of anger as she turns into a reclusive monster full of anger at herself and the culture that leaves her behind. It all plays like David Cronenberg meets The Picture of Dorian Gray from a female perspective, and that’s something we haven’t seen. Also with Dennis Quaid, Oscar Lesage, Hugo Diego Garcia, and Joseph Balderrama.
Terrifier 3 (NR) Not near as good as the last movie, I’m afraid. Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) returns for this Christmas-themed installment to wreak havoc once again on the traumatized heroine (Lauren LaVera). Unlike other horror movie series, this one works better the more the killer is onscreen. Unfortunately, this film spends too much time with the heroine who’s hallucinating about her murdered friends and randomly lashing out at the people around her. Art does kill a department store Santa Claus (Daniel Roebuck), but this movie sorely needed the wit of Terrifier 2. Also with Jason Patric, Elliott Fullam, Antonella Rose, Samantha Scaffidi, Jon Abrahams, and Chris Jericho.
Venom: The Last Dance (PG-13) As implied by the subtitle, this looks to be the last installment of the series with Tom Hardy, though a couple of spinoff possibilities present themselves. Now a fugitive from justice, his Eddie Brock tries out a typically half-baked plan to fly across the country to clear his name, only to get sidetracked. As long as he and Venom are on the screen, the film is reasonably entertaining, with Eddie running into an itinerant hippie family and pining for the life they lead, and also stopping in Las Vegas to mess with tourists and play the slots. The rest of the plot is a mess, unfortunately. First-time director Kelly Marcel loses the whole thread of the story in the climax at Area 51, and wastes a rather stacked supporting cast. It really is time for Hardy to get out of this series while he’s ahead. Also with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Alanna Ubach, Cristo Fernández, Hala Finley, Dash McCloud, Peggy Lu, Stephen Graham, and Andy Serkis.
We Live in Time (R) The acting is phenomenal in this overly complicated British weeper. Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh portray a couple over 10 years of their relationship as they meet, date, get married, have a kid, see her become a Michelin-starred chef, and die of ovarian cancer. The movie intentionally tells its story out of order for reasons that are unclear. It didn’t need to; the best parts of this movie are stand-alone set pieces, like a funny and harrowing scene where she gives birth in a gas-station bathroom, and when she represents Britain in the Bocuse d’Or competition. Still, you should see this film for the acting, as Garfield is excellent and Pugh delivers yet another great performance as someone who jeopardizes her health so her daughter can see her do something tremendous. The leads lift this above the dross of melodramas at the multiplex. Also with Lee Braithwaite, Grace Delaney, Aoife Hinds, Adam James, Niamh Cusack, and Douglas Hodge.
Weekend in Taipei (R) Luke Evans tries to become Jason Statham, and the results are a lot of meh. He portrays a DEA agent who flies to Taiwan for evidence that will take down a Korean drug kingpin (Sung Kang), only to be unexpectedly reunited with his ex-girlfriend (Gwei Lun-Mei) who’s now married to the kingpin. Evans has been funny in the past, but here he’s about the consistency of cold congee, and his character’s skills as a pastry chef don’t add anything to the proceedings. Director George Huang stages the fistfights and car chases without any sort of energy or creativity. Even the setting of the subtropical island nation doesn’t yield anything distinctive. Also with Wyatt Yang, Lu Yi-ching, and Pernell Walker.
The Wild Robot (PG) Not as good as the hype, but still good. Chris Sanders’ animated film is about a helper robot (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o) that activates on an island devoid of humans and learns to communicate with the animals. The film is adapted from Peter Brown’s illustrated novel, and the animators do well to translate Brown’s simple drawings into a world of riotous colors and a robot that can change shape depending on the situation. The plot here has the robot having to take care of a baby gosling (voiced by Kit Connor), and on a story level, it doesn’t compare with either WALL-E or Big Hero 6 as a movie about a robot becoming more human by interacting with our world. Additional voices by Pedro Pascal, Mark Hamill, Catherine O’Hara, Matt Berry, Ving Rhames, Stephanie Hsu, and Bill Nighy.
NOW PLAYING IN DALLAS
La Cocina (NR) Alonso Ruizpalacios’ dramedy is about the people working at a high-profile new restaurant in New York City. Starring Rooney Mara, Raúl Briones, Anna Díaz, Motell Foster, Laura Gómez, Eduardo Olmos, James Waterston, Lee Sellars, and Oded Fehr.
Home Education (NR) Lydia Page stars in this horror film as a teenage girl whose mother (Julia Ormond) brings her up in the ways of a religious cult. Also with Rocco Fasano and Alessandra Silipo.
Juror #2 (PG-13) Clint Eastwood’s latest thriller stars Nicholas Hoult as a man who serves on the jury of a high-profile murder trial. Also with Toni Collette, J.K. Simmons, Zoey Deutch, Chris Messina, Leslie Bibb, Francesca Eastwood, Gabriel Basso, Amy Aquino, and Kiefer Sutherland.
The Piano Lesson (PG-13) The third film from August Wilson’s Pittsburgh cycle, this movie is about a Black family in the 1930s deciding what to do with a hand-carved piano. Starring John David Washington, Ray Fisher, Danielle Deadwyler, Corey Hawkins, Michael Potts, Stephan James, Isaiah Gunn, Erykah Badu, and Samuel L. Jackson.
Stockholm Bloodbath (R) This film stars Sophie Cookson and Alba August as 16th-century Swedish sisters who travel to Stockholm to take revenge on the men who murdered their family. Also with Emily Beecham, Claes Bang, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, Matias Varela, Jakob Oftebro, Wilf Scolding, Kate Ashfield, and Ulrich Thomsen.
