OPENING
Barroz (NR) Mohanlal stars in and directs this Malayalam-language fantasy film about a ghost who guards a centuries-old Portuguese treasure until it’s found by someone worthy. Also with Maya Rao West, Tuhin Manon, Ignacio Mateos, Gopalan Adat, Joshua Okesalako, Kallirroi Tziafeta, Cesar Lorente Raton, Guru Somasundaram, Pranav Mohanlal, Antony Perumbavoor, and Lydian Nadhaswaram. (Opens Friday)
The Count of Monte-Cristo (NR) This new French-language adaptation of Alexandre Dumas père’s novel stars Pierre Niney as the wrongly imprisoned man who escapes to take revenge on those who locked him up. Also with Bastien Bouillon, Anaïs Demoustier, Anamaria Vartolomei, Laurent Lafitte, Patrick Mille, Vassili Schneider, Julien de Saint Jean, Julie de Bona, and Pierfrancesco Favino. (Opens Friday at AMC Grapevine Mills)
The Damned (R) This Irish-made horror film is better than you’d expect for a release in the first week of January, if it’s still not exactly good. Odessa Young stars as the widowed owner of a remote fishing station in 1870s Iceland who instructs her starving fishermen not to rescue a group of foreign sailors who are shipwrecked off the coast. After their dead bodies start washing up on the shore, they come back to life and start coming after the fishermen for revenge. The Icelandic scenery is spectacular, the young Australian leading lady (working a British accent, like the rest of the cast) steadies the entire enterprise, and there are some effective scares when the dead men appear amid fishing gear and piles of clothes. Yet first-time director Thordur Palsson doesn’t make effective use of the claustrophobic setting, and the movie stumbles at the end when trying to provide a rational explanation for the story. Also with Joe Cole, Lewis Gribben, Mícheál Óg Lane, Turlough Convery, Francis Magee, Siobhan Finneran, and Rory McCann. (Opens Friday)
Flow (PG) In this dialogue-free animated film from Latvia, an apocalyptic event has destroyed all human life, and a cat finds that it has to work with a Labrador retriever, a lemur, a capybara, and a secretary bird to survive. Never mind that these animals live in different parts of the world, we’re assuming that global warming has brought them together as well as creating the flood conditions that threaten all of them. I’m less convinced by the part where the animals figure out how to steer a boat through the rising waters. Director Gints Zilbalodis comes up with some breathtaking vistas as the animals make their way through the wreckage of human civilization, including a Roman-style mountain city whose streets the animals paddle through. For all that, I think The WIld Robot covered the same ground more effectively. (Re-opens Friday at Cinemark Ridgmar)
Harbin (NR) A smash hit in South Korea, this historical thriller is about a group of Korean freedom fighters in 1901 who launch a plot to assassinate Japan’s prime minister in China. Starring Hyun Bin, Lee Dong-wook, Jeon Yeo-been, Jo Woo-jin, Park Jeong-min, Yoo Jae-myung, Ego Mikitas, and Lily Franky. (Opens Friday at AMC Grapevine Mills)
Porcelain War (R) Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev’s documentary follows Leontyev and two other Ukrainian artists as they serve in the military and also create art during the Russian invasion. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
NOW PLAYING
Baby John (NR) This Hindi-language remake of the Tamil film Theri is an action thriller about an honest cop (Varun Dhawan) and a crooked politician (Jackie Shroff) who seek revenge on each other. Also with Keerthy Suresh, Wamiqa Gabbi, Zara Zyanna, Rajpal Yadav, Sheeba Chaddha, Diljit Dosanjh, Thaman S, Sanya Malhotra, and Salman Khan.
Babygirl (R) Halina Reijn’s S&M romance has such a suffocating atmosphere that it isn’t believable for a second. Nicole Kidman portrays a high-powered tech CEO and a married mother of two who nevertheless begins an affair with a considerably younger intern (Harris Dickinson) and discovers the joys of submissiveness. This plays like the stage play being put on by the characters in Clouds of Sils Maria, and despite some admirable performances (especially from Kidman), Reijn makes the movie so hermetic that there isn’t any air in it. Honestly, Nightbitch is the better movie about a frustrated mother who doesn’t know how to ask for what she wants. Also with Antonio Banderas, Esther McGregor, Vaughan Reilly, Victor Slezak, Leslie Silva, and Sophie Wilde.
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.
A Complete Unknown (R) The Walk Hard version of Bob Dylan’s life stars Timothée Chalamet as the singer-songwriter during the years 1961-65. Chalamet does a worthy impression of the man whether he’s singing or acting like a jerk in pursuit of his art, and the movie has other terrific musical performances by Monica Barbaro (as Joan Baez), Edward Norton (as Pete Seeger), and Boyd Holbrook (as Johnny Cash). The movie’s depiction of Dylan’s electric performance at the Newport Folk Festival is well-captured as well, with the folk purists throwing garbage on the stage, but the movie can’t convince us in the 2020s that this is any more than a tempest in a teacup. Other movies have done better at puncturing folkie pretensions or the conventions of music biopics. You might as well buy a greatest-hits album or this movie’s soundtrack than buy a ticket. Also with Elle Fanning, Scoot McNairy, Eriko Hatsune, Dan Fogler, Joe Tippett, Andy Talen, P.J. Byrne, and Norbert Leo Butz.
The Fire Inside (PG-13) Rachel Morrison’s boxing film is half of a super-conventional sports movie, and then it gets interesting. Ryan Destiny portrays Claressa “T-Rex” Shields, the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal for boxing. The movie behaves like so many other inspirational dramas up until the point that Claressa wins gold in 2012, then follows her after that as the expected commercial endorsements fail to materialize and she still has trouble paying rent in Flint, Mich., and wonders what all that hard work was for. The performances are fine (especially by Brian Tyree Henry as Claressa’s coach), and Barry Jenkins’ script delves into issues like Claressa’s fight for equal pay for women and her trouble finding agents. The movie takes so long to get there, though. It might have been a great sports movie with some better sense of dramatic proportion. Also with Oluniké Adeliyi, De’Adre Aziza, Jazmin Headley, Teanna Weir, Lanette Ware, Sekhai Smith, Sarah Allen, and Idrissa Sanogo.
Gladiator II (R) Denzel Washington steals the show in Ridley Scott’s sequel to his 2000 Best Picture Oscar winner. Paul Mescal stars as the son of Russell Crowe’s Maximus who swears revenge on Rome after they invade his adopted homeland and kill his wife, and Denzel plays the wealthy owner of gladiators who seeks to use him to bring down the rotting empire. Portraying an ex-slave who plays senators, generals, and Rome’s co-emperor brothers (Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger) against one another, Washington seems to take a caffeine jolt from the fact that he’s not playing The Guy, and his gleeful cynicism punctures the high seriousness that has plagued Scott’s other recent films. The fight sequences, as outlandish as they are, give us a break from the political machinations, and the movie’s jaded attitude seems to fit the current mood. Also with Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, Tim McInnerny, Rory McCann, Lior Raz, Peter Mensah, Matt Lucas, Alexander Karim, Yuval Gonen, and Derek Jacobi.
Homestead (PG-13) Neal McDonough stars in this drama as a military veteran who joins a community of doomsday preppers. Also with Dawn Olivieri, Jesse Hutch, Susan Misner, Currie Graham, Bailey Chase, Kevin Lawson, and Olivia Sanabia.
Kraven the Hunter (R) Strangely uninvolving. Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays the Spider-Man-adjacent supervillain as the son of a Russian mob boss and big-game hunter (Russell Crowe). As a teenager, he’s torn up by a lion on an African safari only to have his life saved by some African potion that also gives him super-hearing, strength, and agility. He runs away from home and devotes himself to murdering bad people on his list. The film has a couple of interesting supervillains (Alessandro Nivola as a guy with bulletproof skin and Christopher Abbott as an assassin who hypnotizes people into killing themselves), and some interesting ideas float around in the script. Yet director J.C. Chandor (Margin Call, All Is Lost) can’t manage the tone properly, so the movie refuses to catch fire despite everything it has going for it. Also with Ariana DeBose, Levi Miller, Billy Barratt, Yuri Kolokolnikov, Murat Seven, and Fred Hechinger.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (PG-13) A chance for anime fans to meet Tolkien fans, and not much more. This prequel drawn by Japanese animators is about a heroine named Héra (voiced by Gaia Wise) who has to lead her people during a siege after an incel of a lord (voiced by Luke Pasqualino) who’s proposed as a husband launches a war against her kingdom. It’s strange how neatly this story (which is considerably fleshed out from Tolkien’s genealogies) fits into the template of anime fantasies. There are some neat little story elements, but director Kenji Kamiyama fails to bring much in the way of memorable visuals. The gender flip doesn’t do much, either, and the movie is middling at best compared to other anime films. It still points an intriguing way for future Tolkien movies to go, but it fails to go there itself. Additional voices by Brian Cox, Yazdan Qafouri, Benjamin Wainwright, Lorraine Ashbourne, Shaun Dooley, Laurence Ubong Williams, Michael Wildman, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, and Miranda Otto.
Max (NR) Sudeepa stars in this Kannada-language thriller as a police inspector who must protect his police station on one harrowing night. Also with Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Samyukta Hornad, Sunil, and Pramod Shetty.
Moana 2 (PG) The backwash hits the Disney animated sequel pretty hard. Auli’i Cravalho returns as the voice of our Polynesian heroine, who’s sent back out on the ocean to reunite her scattered people and meet back up with Maui (voiced by Dwayne Johnson). She’s given a crew this time, but her interactions with them aren’t as interesting as you’d hope for. More grievously, Lin-Manuel Miranda has jumped ship, and new songwriters Emily Bear and Abigail Barlow appear to have been given the assignment too soon. Maui remains the best thing about this sequel, with The Rock getting to wisecrack irreverently and sing the movie’s musical highlight, “Can I Get a Chee Hoo?” The sequel shows flashes of some great ideas like a sea monster that looks like a mountainous island, but those can’t keep this from feeling rote. Additional voices by Temuera Morrison, Rachel House, Rose Matafeo, Hualālai Chung, David Fane, Awhimai Fraser, Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda, Tofiga Fepulea’i, Alan Tudyk, Jemaine Clement, and Nicole Scherzinger.
Mufasa: The Lion King (PG-13) More interesting, though not necessarily better, than any of Disney’s recent live-action remakes. This prequel shows the young Mufasa (voiced by Aaron Pierre) being orphaned at an early age, taken in by a rival pride, then sent away as a bodyguard to the king’s son (voiced by Kelvin Harrison Jr.), who will betray him and become Scar. Much of the humor comes from the framing story, as Rafiki (voiced by John Kani) narrates the tale along with Timon and Pumbaa (voiced by Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen). We get to see Rafiki prove his mettle as a sage, and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s song for the villainous lion (voiced by Mads Mikkelsen) gratifyingly dings Mufasa’s circle-of-life philosophy. However, director Barry Jenkins seems miscast and uncomfortable with the big climax during an earthquake, and the romantic triangle that drives Mufasa and Scar apart doesn’t land. Still, this seems like a direction Disney should pursue, using these live-action films to continue the animated movies’ stories instead of remaking them. Additional voices by Tiffany Boone, Kagiso Lediga, Preston Nyman, Blue Ivy Carter, Thandiwe Newton, Lennie James, Braelyn Rankins, Theo Somolu, Donald Glover, and Beyoncé.
Nosferatu (R) Robert Eggers’ remake of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent classic is lustrously beautiful and faithful to a fault. Like the original, it takes place in a fictitious city on the Prussian seacoast in the early 19th century, where a real estate agent (Nicholas Hoult) is lured to Transylvania by a count (Bill Skarsgård) who wants to feast on the blood of the man’s wife (Lily-Rose Depp). The urban setting is new for Eggers’ horror films, and he and cinematographer Jarin Blaschke take full advantage of it for pictorial beauty, while composer Robin Carolan contributes a properly eerie score. Depp creates a scary scene when she starts to have full-body convulsions while somehow remaining lucid as she accuses her husband of prioritizing his career over her. Yet there’s too little of all of Eggers’ strengths as a horror filmmaker, and after more than 100 years of vampire lore, this movie doesn’t do enough that’s new. Also with Willem Dafoe, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Ineson, Emma Corrin, and Simon McBurney.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (PG) About what you’d expect, and not in a good way. When an evil superpowered hedgehog (voiced by Keanu Reeves) breaks out of his prison on Earth, Sonic and his friends (voiced by Ben Schwartz, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, and Idris Elba) have to do the unthinkable and team up with Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) to stop him. Unfortunately, the mad scientist betrays them when he’s reunited with his long-lost grandfather (also Carrey). The hedgehogs go to Tokyo and London as part of their fight, but the movie bogs down in so many platitudes about family that it could qualify as an installment in the Fast & Furious franchise. Even the movie’s left turn into a clone of The Shape of Water can’t save it. Also with James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Lee Majdoub, Adam Pally, Shemar Moore, Natasha Rothwell, Alyla Browne, Tom Butler, Jorma Taccone, and Krysten Ritter.
UI (NR) Upendra directs and stars in this Kannada-language science-fiction thriller about a future colony taken over by a dictator. Also with Sunny Leone, Reeshma Nanaiah, Sadhu Kokila, Jisshu Sengupta, and Murali Sharma.
Wicked (PG) Better than the Broadway hit in some spectacular ways. Cynthia Erivo portrays the future Wicked Witch of the West, who enrolls at a magical school and is forced to room with the future Good Witch of the North (Ariana Grande). This movie only covers the first half of the show and somehow comes off as maximalist rather than bloated. The vocal contributions come from many different places in the cast, with Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard of Oz and Jonathan Bailey showing some springy dance moves in “Dancing Through Life,” performed in front of a rotating bookcase. Grande nails the vibe of a princess with a bitchy “me first” streak, but even she can’t take the spotlight from Erivo. Her skillful handling of the reflective numbers keeps the movie from collapsing, and the climax of “Defying Gravity” blows out the lights in the Emerald City. She doesn’t just sing the showstopper, she is the showstopper. Also with Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Andy Nyman, Keala Settle, Kristin Chenoweth, and Idina Menzel.
NOW PLAYING IN DALLAS
Oh, Canada (NR) Richard Gere stars in Paul Schrader’s drama as a Vietnam War draft dodger who reveals the truth about his life in exile in Canada. Also with Uma Thurman, Jacob Elordi, Victoria Hill, Caroline Dhavernas, Kristine Froseth, Jake Weary, and Michael Imperioli.
