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arts entertainmentMovies

Movies in North Texas theaters on June 9 and coming soon

Seventh film in ‘Transformers’ franchise hits the big screen with a thud.

NEW THIS WEEK

Opening dates are subject to change.

(B) DALÍLAND Ben Kingsley stars as Salvador Dalí, one of the most renowned artists of the 20th century, in this spendidly offbeat biopic. Set in New York and Spain in the 1970s, the story is told through the eyes of James (Christopher Briney), a young assistant keen to make his name in the art world. The film revels in the aging artist’s artifice even as it mercilessly peels away his layers. Also starring Barbara Sukowa and Ezra Miller. Not rated. 104 mins. At the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

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LONG STORY SHORT: WILLIE NELSON 90 This concert film captures a star-studded performance in late April at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl to mark the Texas country singer’s 90th birthday. Not rated. 180 mins. In wide release.

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MENDING THE LINE A Marine (Sinqua Walls) wounded in Afghanistan returns to a VA hospital in Montana where he meets a Vietnam vet (Brian Cox) who teaches him fly fishing as a means of dealing with his physical and emotional trauma. R (for language and some violent images). 122 mins. In wide release.

MOON GARDEN When a 5-year-old girl slips into a coma after an accident, she is thrust into a darkly surreal industrial dream world. Haunted by a nightmarish specter that feeds off her tears, she must follow her mother’s voice to find her way back to consciousness. Not rated. 93 mins. At the Texas Theatre.

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97 MINUTES A hijacked passenger jet has only 97 minutes of fuel left, and federal officials order it to be shot down to prevent a crash in a populated area. That leaves the fate of the passengers in the hands of an undercover agent (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) on the plane. Also starring Alec Baldwin and MyAnna Buring. Not rated. 93 mins. At the Angelika Plano.

(A) OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN A childless woman (Virginie Efira) forms a deep bond with the young daughter (Callie Ferreira-Goncalves) of her boyfriend (Roschdy Zem) in this excellent comedy-drama from writer-director Rebecca Zlotowski. It’s a lovely film that captures the pain, joy and longing of motherhood, whether you claim the title or not. In French with subtitles. Not rated (contains nudity, sexuality, brief profanity and smoking). 104 mins. At the Angelika Dallas.

(D+) TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS The Transformers film franchise, spawned in 2007, was one of the first straight-faced blockbuster franchises based on a toy (and a 1980s cartoon series). It is now, astonishingly, seven films deep with the release of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which is both a prequel to the first Transformers and a sequel to 2018′s Bumblebee. Set in 1994, Rise of the Beasts is based on the Transformers: Beast Wars media franchise of comic books and anime, which introduced the Maximal characters, alien robots that look like giant animals, not shape-shifting cars. Got all that? It’s OK if you don’t, because the screenplay will repeat the pertinent information ad nauseam. This dull and disposable film is a beast that needs to be put down. PG-13 (for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and language). 127 mins. In wide release.

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COMING NEXT WEEK

THE BLACKENING In this horror comedy, several Black friends gather for a Juneteenth weekend getaway and find themselves trapped in a remote cabin with a killer. Starring Antoinette Robertson, Dewayne Perkins, Grace Byers and Jermaine Fowler.

ELEMENTAL Residents embodying fire, water, land and air live together in Element City in this animated romantic comedy from Disney’s Pixar. Featuring the voices of Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie and Mason Wertheimer.

THE FLASH The speedster (Ezra Miller) uses his powers to travel to the past and inadvertently alters the future, creating a world without superheroes. When the villainous General Zod (Michael Shannon) shows up, the Flash must coax a very different Batman out of retirement. Also starring Michael Keaton, Ben Affleck, Sasha Calle and Ron Livingston.

MUNCH Four actors (Alfred Ekker Strande, Mattis Herman Nyquist, Ola G. Furuseth and Anne Krigsvoll) — two men and two women — play famed painter Edvard Munch at different points throughout his life in this unconventional biopic.

CURRENT RELEASES

ABOUT MY FATHER Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco and Robert De Niro star in this film loosely based on Maniscalco’s relationship with his dad. Sebastian (Maniscalco) is encouraged by his fiancée (Leslie Bibb) to bring his immigrant hairdresser father, Salvo (De Niro), to a weekend get-together with her rich, eccentric family. The gathering turns into a culture clash, leading Sebastian and Salvo to discover the true meaning of family. PG-13 (for suggestive material, language and partial nudity). 89 mins.

(A) ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET The film adaptation of Judy Blume’s beloved 1970 young adult novel is as lovely, heartfelt and deeply radical as the original text. Director Kelly Fremon Craig delivers a wonderfully lived-in family dramedy about religion, sexuality and the importance of girls’ stories. Abby Ryder Fortson, playing 11-year-old Margaret, vividly brings tweenage anxiety to life as she navigates new friends, feelings and the beginning of adolescence after her family moves from New York City to the suburbs. Also starring Kathy Bates, Rachel McAdams and Benny Safdie. PG-13 (for thematic material involving sexual education and some suggestive material). 105 mins.

(B+) BLACKBERRY Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton star in this comedy-drama about the two men behind the rise and fall of the world’s first smartphone. Co-written, co-starring and directed by Matt Johnson, BlackBerry is far better than so, so many of the recent screen chronicles of product launches. It doesn’t sermonize or push the comedy or falsify the dramatic dynamics of wildly contrasting personalities. It’s a small but quite beautiful achievement, not unlike the phone itself. R (for language throughout). 119 mins.

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(B-) THE BOOGEYMAN Sophie Thatcher and Vivien Lyra Blair star as sisters traumatized by the recent death of their mother in director Rob Savage’s adaptation of Stephen King’s 1973 short story. Good but not great, the film vividly reminds viewers what it’s like to be afraid of the dark — but for better or worse, the effect doesn’t linger once the lights come back on. PG-13 (for terror, violent content, teen drug use and some strong language). 98 mins.

EVIL DEAD RISE In the fifth Evil Dead film, Beth (Lily Sullivan) pays an overdue visit to her older sister Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland), who is raising three kids in a cramped LA apartment. Their reunion is cut short by the discovery of a mysterious book deep in the bowels of Ellie’s building, giving rise to flesh-possessing demons and thrusting Beth into a primal battle for survival. R (for strong bloody horror violence and gore, and some language). 97 mins.

(C+) FAST X In the latest installment in the Fast and Furious action franchise, Dom (Vin Diesel) and his family are targeted by the vengeful son (Jason Momoa) of drug kingpin Hernan Reyes. Despite a change in directors (Louis Leterrier stepped in for Justin Lin), fans can rest assured that the Coronas are cold, booties are shaking and sleeves remain optional. Momoa turns in a wildly flamboyant performance as the new villain, and Leterrier is obviously having fun with the racing scenes as the camera swoops around windshields and wanders into windows to link various close-ups of the drivers. But the freewheeling treatment of the lore and characters may leave fans with more questions than answers. PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence and action, language and some suggestive material). 141 mins.

(B-) GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) leads his band of space misfits on a high-stakes mission in the latest superhero adventure from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In his Marvel swan song, director James Gunn delivers an incredibly weird, gleefully goopy genre picture with a surprisingly emotional core focusing on the origin story of Rocket Raccoon, the CGI rodent voiced by Bradley Cooper. Though it’s bogged down by incomprehensible action and MCU fan service, the final installment in the Guardians trilogy thrives in its wild and wacky moments. Also starring Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan and Pom Klementieff. PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence and action, strong language, suggestive/drug references and thematic elements). 150 mins.

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(B) IT AIN’T OVER There’s lots to like and learn in this documentary about Yogi Berra, which takes us beyond the caricatures and Yogi-isms and into the heart of a sports legend. It celebrates his unparalleled accomplishments on the baseball diamond, which were often overshadowed by his off-the-field persona. PG (for smoking, some drug references, language and brief war images). 98 mins.

(A-) JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4 Bigger, badder, bolder, longer and featuring a seemingly impossible number of spectacular set pieces, John Wick: Chapter 4 outdoes its formidable predecessors in nearly every respect. With an impressively executed car chase/gunbattle through the streets of Paris, this installment uses its many locations in Paris and Berlin to fantastic effect. Keanu Reeves stars as the former hit man who thought he was out, only to be pulled back in. R (for pervasive strong violence and some language). 169 mins.

(B) KANDAHAR A CIA operative (Gerard Butler) and his translator (Navid Negahban) try to escape from an Afghanistan crawling with Taliban, ISIS-K and other operatives after exposing a covert mission. The sprawling and complicated tale of contemporary spy fiction is a step above the Butler B-movie pleasures to which we’ve grown accustomed, but director Ric Roman Waugh and screenwriter Mitchell LaFortune got caught between a realism rock and a Hollywood hard place, succumbing to familiar tropes. R (for violence and language). 120 mins.

(C) THE LITTLE MERMAID Halle Bailey stars as Ariel in the beloved tale about a mermaid who longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea and falls in love with a human prince (Jonah Hauer-King). Although Bailey is a lovely presence and possesses a superb voice, this remake doesn’t really sing. Like several other Disney live-action retreads, it prioritizes nostalgia and familiarity over compelling visual storytelling. Also starring Melissa McCarthy as the evil sea witch Ursula and Javier Bardem as King Triton, with songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda. PG (for action/peril and some scary images). 135 mins.

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THE MACHINE The action comedy stars Bert Kreischer, aka the Machine, a stand-up comedian who rose to fame with a signature bit in which he recounts his true experience with Russian mobsters while on a booze-soaked college trip. In the movie, which imagines how the events could have had rippling repercussions, it’s 23 years later, and Kreischer (playing a version of himself) and his estranged father (Mark Hamill) are kidnapped back to Russia by the mob. R (for strong violence, pervasive language, drug use and some sexual references). 112 mins.

MONICA In this intimate portrait, a trans woman (Trace Lysette) returns home to care for the dying mother who rejected her. The film explores universal themes of abandonment, aging, acceptance and redemption. R (for sexual content, nudity and language). 114 mins.

NEFARIOUS On the day of his scheduled execution, a convicted serial killer (Sean Patrick Flanery) gets a psychiatric evaluation during which he claims he is a demon. He further claims that before their time is over, the psychiatrist (Jordan Belfi) will commit three murders of his own. R (for some disturbing violent content). 98 mins.

THE ROUNDUP: NO WAY OUT Ma Dong-seok plays a supercop who takes on a Japanese drug ring in this sequel to 2022′s Korean action thriller The Roundup. In Korean with subtitles. Not rated. 105 mins.

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(C-) SANCTUARY A battle of wills ensues when a wealthy client (Christopher Abbott) tries to end his relationship with a dominatrix (Margaret Qualley). Although the performances are strong and committed — especially Qualley’s — the movie is little more than a conversation between two people who are constantly, maybe even constitutionally, full of it. R (for sexual content and language). 96 mins.

(A-) SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE Following the continuing multiverse adventures of Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore), this sequel to 2018′s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse contains every element that made the first one, which won an Oscar for best animated feature film, so compelling: the characters, the eye-popping production design, the perfectly calibrated music. It goes a step further and evolves the aesthetic and story into a darker, edgier place as the writers hammer home the pertinent themes — growing up and finding yourself is hard, and so is parenting, especially letting go when your kids need to find their own way. PG (for sequences of animated action violence, some language and thematic elements). 140 mins.

(C) THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE With help from Princess Peach (voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy), Mario (Chris Pratt) gets ready to square off against the all-powerful Bowser (Jack Black) to stop his plans for conquering the world in this computer- animated fantasy based on Nintendo’s Mario video game franchise. Written by Matthew Fogel and directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, the film is mildly amusing, noisy and relentlessly paced. While the animation is eye-popping, the barely there story makes for a movie that’s not terribly interesting. PG (for action and mild violence). 92 mins.

(A-) YOU HURT MY FEELINGS In this comedy-drama, Julia Louis-Dreyfus stars as Beth, a popular writer whose longstanding marriage is upended when she overhears her husband (Tobias Menzies) giving his honest reaction to her latest book. Writer-director Nicole Holofcener is one of the great chroniclers of the microdramas and minor injustices that make up the tapestry of our relationships and of life itself, and she hits another home run with this unpacking of the little white lies we tell each other to avoid unnecessary conflict. R (for language). 93 mins.

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Compiled from staff and wire reports

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