NEW THIS WEEK
Opening dates are subject to change.
(C) BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE Will Smith and Martin Lawrence return for the fourth installment in the buddy-cop action-comedy franchise. And this time, they’re working outside the law as fugitives on the run. The film never quite finds its tone, but then again, the franchise has always walked the strange line of goofy and hard. This installment, which feels flimsy and disposable, favors the goofy. R (for strong violence, language throughout and some sexual references). 110 mins. In wide release.
THE BIG BEND Two families meet up for a long-overdue reunion in the remote Texas desert. But when a crisis strikes, they must struggle to survive in a harsh environment. Starring Jason Butler Harner, Virginia Kull, Erica Ash and David Sullivan. Not rated. 103 mins. At the Angelika Dallas.
(A) FLIPSIDE Filmmaker Chris Wilcha seeks to revive a record store he worked at in his youth and delves into his many unfinished films in this documentary that offers an inspired look at how a life seemingly full of disappointments and failures can be a life well lived. The idea that maybe what seem like loose ends from our past are actually plotlines awaiting unexpected resolution is both pleasantly Dickensian and wonderfully uplifting, if you think about it. Not rated. 95 mins. At the Texas Theatre.
(B+) HANDLING THE UNDEAD The dead mysteriously awaken in Oslo, and, at least for a while, they’re not the threat you’d find in a typical zombie movie but are instead poignant to have around: semi-living, semi-breathing semblances of loved ones. But the possibility that they could become dangerous always looms. This is a living-dead nightmare with a brain and a heart and, most important, a soul. In Norwegian with subtitles. Not rated. 97 mins. At AMC NorthPark.
(C) LATE BLOOMERS A 20-something Brooklynite (Karen Gillan) breaks her hip while drunk and ends up in a physical therapy ward with patients more than twice her age. There, she meets a cranky elderly Polish woman (Margaret Sophie Stein) and reluctantly becomes her caregiver. All the pieces are there in this slight odd-couple friendship dramedy, but Late Bloomers ultimately fails to sell the film’s core relationship. Not rated. 89 mins. At the Angelika Dallas.
LIFE AFTER FIGHTING After two of his students disappear, a martial arts instructor (writer-director Bren Foster) takes on a group of international child traffickers in this action thriller. Not rated. 120 mins. At the Angelika Dallas.
LONGING A wealthy bachelor (Richard Gere) runs into his old girlfriend and learns that they had a child together two decades earlier and that his son recently died. He then sets out to learn about the young man’s life. Also starring Diane Kruger, Suzanne Clément, Marnie McPhail and Stuart Hughes. R (for some sexual content, partial nudity and language). 111 mins. At Studio Movie Grill Spring Valley, Galaxy Theatres Grandscape in The Colony and America Cinemas La Gran Plaza in Fort Worth.
SCHOOL OF MAGICAL ANIMALS 2 The students make plans to perform a musical for the school’s anniversary in this family film that features live-action actors with CGI-animated animals. In German, with subtitles. PG (for some rude material and language). 103 mins. In wide release.
TRIM SEASON In this horror thriller, young friends set out to make some quick money working on a remote marijuana farm. But when they learn that the estate owner is harboring dark secrets, they wind up in a race for their lives. Starring Bethlehem Million, Alexandra Essoe and Ally Ioannides. Not rated. 100 mins. At Galaxy Theatres Grandscape in The Colony.
THE WATCHERS A young artist (Dakota Fanning) finds herself stranded with three strangers in an Irish forest and stalked by mysterious creatures. Also starring Georgina Campbell and Olwen Fouéré. PG-13 (for violence, terror and some thematic elements). 102 mins. In wide release.
COMING NEXT WEEK
CORA BORA In this millennial dramedy, an aimless 30-something musician (Meg Stalter) returns to her hometown when she begins to suspect that her long-distance girlfriend (Jojo T. Gibbs) is in love with someone else.
FIREBRAND Alicia Vikander stars in this loosely historical portrait of Katherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of King Henry VIII (Jude Law).
FRESH KILLS This drama depicts mob life in 1980s Staten Island from the point of view of the criminals’ wives and daughters. Starring Emily Bader, Domenick Lombardozzi, Jennifer Esposito, Odessa A’zion and Annabella Sciorra.
INSIDE OUT 2 Riley, the girl from 2015 Pixar Animation Studios hit Inside Out, is now a teen, which means (gasp!) new emotions. Returning emotions Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith) and Anger (Lewis Black) are joined by newcomers Envy (Ayo Edibiri), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser) and Anxiety (Maya Hawke).
REVERSE THE CURSE A man (Logan Marshall-Green) moves in with his baseball-obsessed father (David Duchovny) after the elder man develops a fatal illness. To keep his dad’s spirits up, he and his friends fake a Red Sox winning streak.
RIDE Desperate to raise money for his daughter’s cancer treatment, a retired bull rider teams up with his estranged son in a robbery plot. When the heist goes awry, the duo must outwit local police. Starring C. Thomas Howell, Annabeth Gish and co-writer/director Jake Allyn.
TREASURE An American journalist (Lena Dunham) and her father (Stephen Fry) visit Poland in this 1990s-set road-trip dramedy.
TUESDAY In this fairy tale, a mother (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and her teen daughter (Lola Petticrew) encounter Death in the form of a talking bird.
CURRENT RELEASES
(B-) ABIGAIL In this over-the-top horror thriller, criminals kidnap a 12-year-old ballerina (Alisha Weir) in hopes of collecting a $50 million ransom. But the captors soon find that they’re locked in an isolated mansion not with an ordinary girl, but with a bloodthirsty vampire. Weir is riveting, but also quite funny. Also starring Melissa Barrera, Giancarlo Esposito, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton and Matthew Goode. R (for strong bloody violence and gore throughout, pervasive language and brief drug use). 109 mins.
(A) BABES A woman (Ilana Glazer) becomes pregnant after a one-night stand and turns to her married best friend (Michelle Buteau), a mother of two, for guidance in this comedy that bursts with a boisterous energy from its opening moments. Buteau and Glazer have natural chemistry, enhanced by their respective talents. R (for sexual material, language throughout and some drug use). 104 mins.
(C) BACK TO BLACK Marisa Abela delivers a fully committed performance as the late singer Amy Winehouse in this biographical drama about the pop star’s rise to fame. But the film is a shallow portrait, a recounting of gossipy facts and lore about Winehouse and her troubled relationship with husband Blake Fielder-Civil (an admittedly fantastic Jack O’Connell). R (for drug use, language throughout, sexual content and nudity). 122 mins.
(A) CHALLENGERS Zendaya stars as a former tennis prodigy turned coach who’s trying to break her tennis champion husband (Mike Faist) out of a slump as he takes on an old friend — and her former lover (Josh O’Connor) — on the court. Smart, seductive and bristling with sexual tension, Challengers is arguably director Luca Guadagnino’s most purely pleasurable film to date; it’s certainly his lightest and most playful. R (for language throughout, some sexual content and graphic nudity). 131 mins.
(B) THE DEAD DON’T HURT After being separated during the Civil War, a pioneer couple (writer-director Viggo Mortensen and Vicky Krieps) must make peace with the ways the time apart has changed them. Featuring excellent performances from its two leads, the film is a Western for people who don’t typically like Westerns. R (for violence, some sexuality and language). 129 mins.
(A-) EVIL DOES NOT EXIST A Tokyo company’s poorly planned project to build a luxury camping retreat near a small rural community creates conflict when it threatens the purity of the village’s water supply in this strange, unpredictable tone poem from director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi. An ending that pushes the film’s ambiguousness to confounding lengths will be a deal-breaker for some, but this haunting stealth thriller about violations of nature is a work of undeniable power. In Japanese, with subtitles. Not rated. 106 mins.
(B) EZRA Standup comedian Max (Bobby Cannavale) struggles to co-parent his autistic son, Ezra (William Fitzgerald), with his ex-wife (Rose Byrne). With a difficult decision looming, Max and Ezra embark on a life-changing cross-country road trip in this sensitive drama about the challenges of autism. The superb ensemble cast also includes Robert De Niro, Vera Farmiga, Rainn Wilson and Whoopi Goldberg. R (for language, some sexual references and drug use). 100 mins.
(B-) THE FALL GUY Stuntman Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) must track down a missing movie star and win back the love of his life (Emily Blunt) in this action-comedy film loosely based on the 1980s TV series. The moments with Gosling and Blunt are fun to watch, a testament to their pure star power. Too bad the filmmakers had to muck it up with an overwrought murder mystery. Also starring Winston Duke, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham and Stephanie Hsu. PG-13 (for action and violence, drug content and some strong language). 126 mins.
(B-) FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA The fifth installment in writer-director George Miller’s Mad Max franchise sees Anya Taylor-Joy portraying a younger version of the titular character, portrayed in 2015′s Mad Max: Fury Road by Charlize Theron. The film adds operatic heft and seriousness to what started in 1979 as a fun, rip-roaring explosion of post-apocalyptic action. But is that really what moviegoers wanted? They certainly wanted more of Furiosa, who is overshadowed in her own film by everybody else, including Chris Hemsworth as an over-the-top villain. R (for sequences of strong violence and grisly images). 148 mins.
(D-) THE GARFIELD MOVIE Chris Pratt voices everyone’s favorite lasagna-loving cat in this lazy and cynical animated romp that sacrifices the character’s subversive humor in favor of routine animated high jinks. None of the film’s meta references will be entertaining for the very young target audience, nor are they amusing for their adult chaperones. Also featuring the voices of Samuel L. Jackson, Hannah Waddingham, Ving Rhames, Nicholas Hoult and Cecily Strong. PG (for action/peril and mild thematic elements). 101 mins.
GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE The legendary creatures clash and take on a new threat in the latest entry in the Monsterverse franchise. Starring Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry and Dan Stevens. PG-13 (for creature violence and action). 115 mins.
HAIKYUU!! THE DUMPSTER BATTLE This Japanese anime film follows a boy who joins his high school volleyball club to be like his idol. But he soon finds that he must team up with his middle school rival to help the team win a highly anticipated matchup. In Japanese, with subtitles. PG-13 (for language). 85 mins.
(A) HIT MAN A professor (Glen Powell) moonlights as a fake hit man for the New Orleans Police Department, helping to catch people eager to pay to have their enemies eliminated. But he descends into morally dubious territory when he falls for a woman (Adria Arjona) seeking to enlist his services in this smart and sexy black comedy from Texas filmmaker Richard Linklater. R (for language throughout, sexual content and some violence). 115 mins.
(B+) I SAW THE TV GLOW An alienated teen (Justice Smith) finds comfort in his friendship with a cool older girl (Brigette Lundy-Paine) and the TV show they both love. But he’s left adrift when the girl disappears and the show is canceled. Smith is phenomenal, giving an astonishing physical and emotional performance as a person so afraid of himself and the world that he allows his life to pass him by. PG-13 (for violent content, some sexual material, thematic elements and teen smoking). 100 mins.
(C) IF After learning that she can see other people’s imaginary friends, a girl (Cailey Fleming) embarks on an adventure to reconnect the magical creatures with their humans in this family film that’s largely a bust. Because there’s little internal logic in IF, you may find yourself constantly asking why the characters are doing what they do, or how the whole imaginary-friend thing works within the context of the movie. Plus, the character-design choices are just plain odd: What child has a soap bubble or an sentient ice cube for as an imaginary friend? Also starring Cailey Fleming and Ryan Reynolds and featuring the voices of writer-director John Krasinski, Steve Carell, Emily Blunt and Matt Damon. PG (for thematic elements and mild language). 104 mins.
(B+) IN A VIOLENT NATURE A vengeful spirit emerges from its longtime resting place in this gory horror flick that puts a fresh spin on slasher conventions by focusing almost wholly on the point of view of an unstoppable killing machine. Starring Ry Barrett, Andrea Pavlovic, Reece Presley and Cameron Love. Not rated. 94 mins.
(A-) KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES Several generations after the reign of Caesar, a young ape goes on a harrowing journey that will affect the future of apes and humans alike in this action-adventure flick that manages to encompass everything we love about the Planet of the Apes franchise into one sprawling story. The sheer scope of the storytelling and the sophisticated world-building are awe-inspiring on the big screen. PG-13 (for intense sequences of sci-fi violence/action). 145 mins.
(B) KUNG FU PANDA 4 In this predictable but pleasant animated comedy sequel, Po (voiced by Jack Black) becomes the spiritual leader of the Valley of Peace and must train a new Dragon Warrior. The humor in this edition doesn’t seem as broad as usual, with the mostly low-key laughs coming from amusing visual gags. Also featuring the voices of Viola Davis, Awkwafina, Dustin Hoffman and Bryan Cranston. PG (for martial arts action/mild violence, scary images and some mild rude humor). 94 mins.
SIGHT Greg Kinnear and Terry Chen star in this drama based on the real-life story of Ming Wang, an impoverished prodigy who fled Communist China to become a pioneering eye surgeon in America. PG-13 (for violence and thematic material). 100 mins.
THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 1 After their car breaks down, a young couple (Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez) are forced to spend the night in a remote cabin, where they are terrorized by masked strangers. R (for horror violence, language and brief drug use). 91 mins.
(C-) SUMMER CAMP In this predictable comedy, three childhood best friends (Diane Keaton, Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard) gather for a summer camp reunion. Any time the script seems to be on the verge of delivering something insightful, it’s undercut by some prank or pratfall. And only Woodard delivers an actual performance, not that it’s allowed to fully shine. PG-13 (for sexual material, strong language and some underage smoking). 96 mins.
TAROT In this horror flick, a group of friends violates the sacred rule of Tarot readings, unleashing an evil force trapped within the cursed cards. Starring Avantika, Humberly González and Olwen Fouéré. PG-13 (for horror violence, terror, bloody images, some strong language and drug content). 92 mins.
TWISTED HEARTS In this romantic comedy, three couples head to a couples retreat to try to mend the cracks in their relationships. Starring Cocoa Brown, Emelina Adams, Adrian Lockett, Lauren Ashley White and Will Colburn. Not rated. 90 mins.
YOUNG WOMAN AND THE SEA Daisy Ridley stars in this biographical drama as Trudy Ederle, who in 1926 became the first woman to swim across the English Channel. PG (for thematic elements, some language and partial nudity). 100 mins.
Compiled from staff and wire reports
