OPENING
Companion (R) Drew Hancock’s thriller is about a recently deceased billionaire’s friends whose gathering is interrupted when one of the guests (Sophie Thatcher) turns out to be a companion robot. Also with Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Marc Menchaca, Harvey Guillén, Megan Suri, Jaboukie Young-White, and Rupert Friend. (Opens Friday)
Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force (NR) This Chinese fantasy film stars Yosh Yu as a god who must defend his homeland against an invasion of demons. Also with Bo Huang, Kris Phillips, Chen Muchi, Li Xuejian, Chen Kun, Feng Shaofeng, Swanson Han, and Willington Liu. (Opens Friday)
Detective Chinatown 1900 (NR) The latest film in the series stars Wang Baoqiang as a Chinese detective trying to solve the murder of a white woman in San Francisco. Also with Chow Yun-Fat, Liu Haoran, Anastasia Shestakova, Sean Kohnke, Tony Jaa, and John Cusack. (Opens Friday)
Deva (NR) Shahid Kapoor stars in this Indian action-thriller as a rogue cop who discovers corruption around a high-profile case. Also with Pooja Hegde, Pavail Gulati, Pravesh Rana, Girish Kulkarni, and Kubbra Sait. (Opens Friday)
Dog Man (PG) This animated film is about a police dog (voiced by Peter Hastings) whose head is sewn onto a policeman’s body. Additional voices by Pete Davidson, Lil Rel Howery, Poppy Liu, Billy Boyd, Maggie Wheeler, Laraine Newman, Cheri Oteri, and Stephen Root. (Opens Friday)
The Girl With the Needle (NR) Trine Dyrholm stars in this Danish historical thriller and Oscar nominee as the real-life adoption agency worker who murdered hundreds of babies in Copenhagen in the 1910s. Also with Vic Carmen Sonne, Besir Zeciri, Ava Knox Martin, Joachim Fjelstrup, Tessa Hoder, and Ari Alexander. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
I’m Still Here (PG-13) Nominated for Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best International Feature, this Brazilian drama stars Fernanda Torres as a mother whose family suffers random violence during the country’s dictatorship in 1971. Also with Selton Mello, Valentina Herszage, Maria Manoella, Bárbara Luz, Marjorie Estiano, Guilherme Silveira, Luiza Kosovski, and Fernanda Montenegro. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
Lake George (NR) This thriller stars Mike Markoff as an ex-convict who must raise $100,000 in one night to prevent a family member from being killed in prison. Also with Cindy Kimberly, Sophia Zimba, Caroline Jayna Kempczynski, Anna Vlads, Hamid Antonio Castro, and Katie Konn. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
Like Father, Like Son (NR) The latest film by Hirokazu Kore-eda stars Masaharu Fukuyama as a man who discovers that his young son was switched with another baby at birth. Also with Machiko Ono, Yōko Maki, Keita Ninomiya, Shōgen Hwang, Yuri Nakamura, Kazuya Takahashi, and Lily Franky. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
Love Me (R) Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun star in this romance about a buoy and a satellite whose programs take human forms and fall in love after the end of human civilization. (Opens Friday)
Luther: Never Too Much (NR) Dawn Porter’s documentary profiles legendary R&B singer Luther Vandross. (Opens Friday)
Piece by Piece (PG) One of the year’s best documentaries chronicles the life and career of Pharrell Williams (who voices himself). Instead of talking heads footage, the movie is rendered in animation that turns Pharrell and all the music stars he has worked with into Lego figures. This not only gives the film a different look, but also lends itself to bits of non-realistic fantasy, such as when Pharrell’s beats are represented by stacks of glowing 1×1 blocks that move along with the rhythm. Director Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom) brings an element of whimsy to this documentary that makes it moving when Pharrell looks back at all the lessons he has learned from his years in music. Additional voices by Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Gwen Stefani, Justin Timberlake, Busta Rhymes, Timbaland, N.O.R.E., Pusha T, Daft Punk, and Jay-Z. (Re-opens Friday)
Valiant One (R) This rather anonymous war movie stars Chase Stokes as an Army soldier who goes out on a routine mission to repair a radar transmitter in the DMZ between North and South Korea when bad weather takes down his chopper and he has to lead his surviving fellow soldiers to safety. It’s interesting that the protagonist doesn’t really give a crap about his job, and the movie finds some interesting stuff in the little details, like when the soldiers have to ride a truck that’s so old that its engine burns wood. Unfortunately, the bits when the plot stops to take a breath only reveal the most cliched character touches. The film’s only 80 minutes long., so it doesn’t take up too much time. I just wish it used that time more efficiently. Also with Lana Condor, Desmin Borges, Daniel Jun, Jonathan Whitesell, Diana Tsoy, and Callan Mulvey. (Opens Friday)
NOW PLAYING
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.
Brave the Dark (PG-13) This Christian drama stars Nicholas Hamilton as a troubled drama student who’s bailed out of jail by his teacher (Jared Harris). Also with Will Price, Sasha Bhasin, Elise Hudson, and Jamie Harris.
The Brutalist (R) The longest of all this year’s Oscar contenders is Brady Corbet’s epic starring Adrien Brody as a Hungarian Jewish architect who immigrates to Philadelphia after World War II. The first half of this movie rather cruises on the strength of its acting, writing, and direction, with Corbet generating some great visuals like the overhead shot of a trainwreck. The film only crystallizes, imperfectly but well enough, in its second half, when the protagonist’s benefactor (Guy Pearce) does something really horrible in the streets of Italy that makes us question everything we’ve come to know about the character. Pearce gives the performance of his career, and the film goes from being about an uncompromising artist into something unique. The film’s 3 hour and 35 minute running time includes a 15-minute intermission, which you will need. Also with Felicity Jones, Raffey Cassidy, Joe Alwyn, Stacy Martin, Isaach de Bankolé, Emma Laird, Ariane Labed, and Alessandro Nivola.
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.
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. (Re-opens Friday)
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera (R) Like one of Michael Mann’s films, if everything about it sucked. Gerard Butler reprises his role as a cop who goes to Antwerp, ostensibly on vacation but really to hook up with the outlaw (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) who got away from him and a bunch of Serbs to rob the World Diamond Center of $800 million in stones. The heist itself and the aftermath of it take up the last half hour or so of the movie, but everything leading up to it is a slog as the would-be robbers case the joint and fabricate cover identities to get in. Writer-director Christian Gudegast mistakes heaviness and humorlessness for gravity. Also with Evin Ahmad, Salvatore Esposito, Orli Shuka, Nazmiye Oral, Cristian Solimeno, Mark Grosy, Dino Kelly, Fortunato Cerlino, and Stéphane Coulon.
Flight Risk (R) Mel Gibson goes from historical epics to this pulpy thriller, and aside from a couple of laughable special-effects shots, it’s not half bad. Michelle Dockery plays a U.S. marshal who’s transporting a mob witness (Topher Grace) from the Alaskan wilderness when their single-engine pilot (Mark Wahlberg) turns out to be a mob hit man who’s been sent to kill the witness. Wahlberg has a high time, with his head shaved to look like a balding man and an overegged Texas accent. The film never gets the sort of claustrophobic vibe that the best movies of this type get or the concision that comes from having only three actors appear and speak on the screen, but the film does a good enough job and then gets down on the ground. Voices by Paul Ben-Victor, Maaz Ali, Eilise Guilfoyle, and Leah Remini.
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.
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.
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.
Nickel Boys (PG-13) In this movie adapted from Colson Whitehead’s novel, director RaMell Ross keeps the camera either directly behind the protagonist (Ethan Herisse) or adopting his point of view. The technique works astonishingly well as it tells the story of a Black boy who is sent to a Florida reform school in the 1960s, where he and other Black kids are tortured while the white kids receive relatively cushy treatment. Decades later, the grown-up version of the hero (Daveed Diggs) hears news reports about mass graves at the school and comes forward with his experience. Ross’ approach yields some tremendous visuals, including a “How did they do that?” shot with the boy and his best friend (Brandon Wilson) looking up at a mirrored ceiling. The story of racial injustice echoing through the ages may be somewhat muted, but Ross proves to be quite a bright talent. Also with Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Sam Malone, Najah Bradley, Taraja Ramsess, Hamish Linklater, and Fred Hechinger.
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.
One of Them Days (R) Keke Palmer and SZA make a capable comedy team in this film that occasionally catches a groove. They portray two women in L.A. who are hard up when one’s boyfriend blows their rent money, so they have nine hours to come up with $1,500 or face eviction. Despite the clock that these characters are on, I really wish director Lawrence Lamont had generated a sense of the time crunch and increasing desperation as the hours go by. Still, the movie has a white woman (Maude Apatow) who moves into this Black apartment complex as part of the gentrification process, and when the women try to take out a payday loan, everything about the business is funny, from the 1,900 percent interest rate to the homeless man (Katt Williams) who begs customers not to take the loan. Also with Vanessa Bell Calloway, Patrick Cage, Joshua David Neal, Gabrielle Dennis, Janelle James, Amin Joseph, Aziza Scott, Dewayne Perkins, Rizi Timane, and Lil Rel Howery.
Presence (R) Steven Soderbergh adopts a first-person perspective on this fascinating if ultimately unsatisfying horror film about a teenage girl (Callina Liang) who moves into a new house and detects a spiritual presence that she initially believes to be her best friend who committed suicide. The movie is shot in single takes, some of them quite short, separated by black screens. The camera at times seems to be an objective observer but at other times takes the point of view of the ghost. I do wish the film had more on its mind than having the spirit save the heroine from a terrible fate, but the experiment proves to be worth doing. Also with Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, West Mulholland, Eddy Maday, and Julia Fox.
Sankranthiki Vasthunam (NR) This Indian cop thriller stars Venkatesh as a detective called out of retirement to solve the kidnapping of a wealthy tech mogul. Also with Meenakshi Chaudhary, Aishwarya Rajesh, Avasarala Srinivas, Upendra Limaye, Sai Kumar, and Naresh.
September 5 (R) This almost completely anonymous thriller is about an ABC Sports crew headed by Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard) who are in Munich covering the 1972 Summer Olympics when they receive word about Arab terrorists taking 11 Israeli athletes hostage. Director Tim Fehlbaum sticks with the control room and the camera crew, and it renders the drama so dry as to be indigestible. The movie is taken up with discussions of journalistic ethics, and the procedural elements of how the reporters get the story fail to engage a lay audience. The film is so grim and serious-minded that the issues behind the Olympic terror attack can’t gain any traction. Munich this isn’t. Also with John Magaro, Ben Chaplin, Leonie Benesch, Zinedine Soualem, Corey Johnson, Georgina Rich, Marcus Rutherford, Daniel Adeosun, and Benjamin Walker.
Sky Force (NR) Akshay Kumar stars in this Indian historical thriller dramatizing the country’s first military air strike during the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War. Also with Veer Pahariya, Sara Ali Khan, Nimrat Kaur, Sharad Kelkar, and Mohit Chauhan.
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.
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. (Re-opens Friday)
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.
Wolf Man (R) Leigh Whannell’s follow-up to his remake of Invisible Man unfortunately falls short of that movie’s expectations. This film largely junks the original movie’s story in favor of one with Christopher Abbott portraying a San Francisco writer who brings his wife and daughter (Julia Garner and Matilda Firth) to his father’s remote cabin in the Oregon wilderness to go through his things, when the family are attacked — and scratched, in the father’s case — and the father starts transforming into a wild beast. The adult leads give their parts everything they have, but Whannell regrettably mixes up his metaphors, and the movie fails to become anything more than just another creature feature. Also with Benedict Hardie and Sam Jaeger.
Dallas Exclusives
Boonie Bears: Time Twist (PG) This Chinese animated film is about a logger (voiced by Paul “Maxx” Rinehart) who must travel through time and space to save his friends. Additional voices by Chris Boike, Patrick Freeman, Joseph S. Lambert, and Olivia Seaton-Hill.
Sunray: Fallen Soldier (NR) Tip Cullen stars in this thriller as a military veteran seeking revenge on the criminal organization responsible for his daughter’s death. Also with Tom Leigh, Luke Solomon, Steven Blades, Nicholas Clarke, Will Bowden, and Daniel Davids.
Theatre of Thought (NR) Werner Herzog’s documentary examines the human brain.
Vermiglio (R) Maura Delpero’s historical thriller is about an Italian soldier (Giuseppe de Domenico) who deserts the army during World War II and arrives in a remote Alpine village. Also with Tomasso Ragno, Martina Scrinzi, Roberta Rovelli, Carlotta Gamba, Orietta Notari, and Santiago Fondevila.
