OPENING
Hot Milk (R) Emma Mackey stars in this drama as an Englishwoman who travels with her controlling mother (Fiona Shaw) to Spain looking for a cure for her mysterious illness. Also with Patsy Ferran, Yann Gael, Vincent Perez, and Vicky Krieps. (Opens Friday)
Ice Road: Vengeance (NR) In this sequel to Ice Road Truckers, Liam Neeson reprises his role as a truck driver who encounters terrorists while traveling in Nepal. Also with Fan Bingbing, Bernard Curry, Mahesh Jadu, Grace O’Sullivan, Amelia Bishop, and Kaden Hartcher. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
In Vitro (NR) Will Howarth co-writes, co-directs, and stars in this science-fiction thriller as a cattle rancher whose wife (Talia Zucker) makes an alarming discovery about his breeding methods. Also with Ashley Zukerman. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
Kannappa (NR) Vishnu Manchu stars in this religious epic as a devotee of the god Shiva. Also with Mohan Babu, R. Sarathkumar, Madhoo, Mukesh Rishi, Brahmaji, Karunas, Mohanlal, Prabhas, Kajal Aggarwal, and Akshay Kumar. (Opens Friday)
Maa (NR) This Indian horror comedy stars Kajol as a mother who must transform into the goddess Kali to battle a demon. Also with Ronit Roy, Indraneil Sengupta, Kherin Sharma, Surjyasikha Das, Jitin Gulati, and Gopal Singh. (Opens Friday)
Maargan (NR) Vijay Antony stars in this Indian crime thriller as a Mumbai detective trying to solve a series of murders in Chennai. Also with Ajay Dhishan, P. Samuthirakani, Mahanadi Shankar, Vinod Sagar, and Brigida Saga. (Opens Friday at AMC Grapevine Mills)
M3GAN 2.0 (PG-13) Too much, way too much. Allison Williams returns in this sequel to the 2023 hit as the inventor who must resurrect her killer robot doll (Amie Donald, with voice by Jenna Davis) in order to stop a more powerful killer robot (Ivanna Sakhno) who’s gone rogue after being developed by the U.S. government. Writer-director Gerard Johnstone has so many ideas about AI rising up to kill us that his sequel comes out overstuffed, overambitious, and overextended, with satire of libertarian billionaires and clueless feds jostling side by side with M3GAN’s transition to hero and emotional support for the inventor’s niece (Violet McGraw). It all leads to vast expanses of clotted exposition and sentimental crap about family. The Ukrainian newcomer Sakhno makes a good doll-like enemy, but this is well below the original’s concentrated power. Also with Brian Jordan Alvarez, Jen van Epps, Aristotle Athari, Timm Sharp, and Jemaine Clement. (Opens Friday)
Off the Grid (R) Josh Duhamel stars in this thriller as an inventor who flees with his invention rather than have it turned into a weapon. Also with Peter Stormare, Greg Kinnear, María Elisa Camargo, Michael Papajohn, Ana Golja, and Ricky Russert. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
Sardaar Ji 3 (NR) Diljit Dosanjh returns for this third horror-comedy in the series as a ghost hunter who must battle a ghost in a British castle. Also with Neeru Bajwa, Jasmin Bajwa, Hania Aamir, Manav Vij, and Gulshan Grover. (Opens Friday)
The Sound (R) Brendan Devane’s horror film is about a group of mountain climbers hunted by an invisible force during a climb. Starring William Fichtner, Jocelyn Hudon, David Clennon, Christina Kirkman, Jolene Kay, Christian Howard, and Kyle Gass. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
NOW PLAYING
Ballerina (R) Ana de Armas does a star turn in this spinoff from the John Wick series as a trained assassin who goes rogue when she sees a chance to avenge herself on the people who killed her father when she was a child. In doing so, she incurs the wrath of the Director (Anjelica Huston), who sends John himself (Keanu Reeves) to stop her. The series still sucks at world-building, and director Len Wiseman tries to turn this into another installment of his Underworld series by filming lots of raves with strobe lights popping. The action sequences remain strong as ever, though, with one fight sequence having our ballerina trying to detonate grenades in close quarters without hurting herself and a flamethrower duel that’s an exercise in wretched excess. De Armas’ feminine grace injects some freshness into the series. Also with Gabriel Byrne, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Norman Reedus, Victoria Comte, David Castañeda, Waris Ahluwalia, Juliet Doherty, Ian McShane, and the late Lance Reddick.
Bride Hard (R) Grossly incompetent. Rebel Wilson stars in this action-comedy as a secret agent who has to leap into action when armed robbers hit the wedding of her estranged best friend (Anna Camp) who is marrying into an insanely wealthy family. The action sequences show that director Simon West has fallen a long way since he directed Con Air, but that would matter less if the comic set pieces weren’t so excruciating to watch. The leads are inept enough that Anna Chlumsky is able to steal some scenes as a player-hating bridesmaid, but she’s not able to turn this piece of lead into anything that’s worth stealing. Also with Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Gigi Zumbado, Sherry Cola, Justin Hartley, Sam Huntington, Mark Valley, Colleen Camp, and Stephen Dorff.
Bring Her Back (R) The latest horror film by Danny and Michael Philippou (Talk to Me) is a mess, but it has some wrenching moments. Billy Barratt portrays an orphaned 17-year-old in South Australia who follows his legally blind stepsister (Sora Wong) into the home of a foster mother (Sally Hawkins) who specializes in special-needs kids, only to discover sinister secrets in her home. As to what those are, the movie misdirects us ingeniously, with ominous signs pointing toward everyone, including the mute orphaned boy (Jonah Wren Phillips) whom she’s also caring for. Yet the story is full of loose ends, and the little girl’s visual impairment comes off like a plot convenience, since any child who could see what’s going on would run for the hills. Hawkins is still remarkable as a grieving mother who’s far gone, and the brothers retain their talent for horrifying visuals on a budget. Also with Mischa Heywood, Stephen Phillips, and Sally-Anne Upton.
Elio (PG) Deserves to be mentioned alongside Pixar’s other Latin-themed films Coco and Encanto, even if it’s the least of those. The Elio of the title is an orphaned 11-year-old boy (voiced by Yonas Kibreab) who’s obsessed with space aliens and spends hours drawing large signs that beg the little green men to come and get him. The movie’s good with the sort of alienation that drives people to give up on Earth and pin their hopes on more evolved alien beings, and Pixar’s trademark visual splendor is in full evidence when Elio is actually abducted by aliens who mistake him for Earth’s leader. It’s all cut with Pixar’s trademark sense of humor, too, but the film starts to lose its shape in its final third when Elio has to travel between Earth and space to avert an intergalactic war. The movie comes frustratingly close to greatness, but it’s better than the live-action remakes that Hollywood has in theaters now. Additional voices by Zoe Saldaña, Brad Garrett, Remy Edgerly, Jameela Jamil, Matthias Schweighöfer, Ana de la Reguera, Atsuko Okatsuka, Shirley Henderson, Brandon Moon, and Kate Mulgrew.
Final Destination: Bloodlines (R) I forgot how stupid these movies were. Kaitlyn Santa Juana stars as the granddaughter of a woman (played in flashbacks by Brec Bassinger) who saved hundreds of people’s lives in the 1960s, so the death curse takes all those decades to catch up with her progeny. The film is on a much larger scale than the previous films, especially depicting the disaster averted in the past. However, the Rube Goldberg contrived contraptions that kill the people are just as dumb as ever. The late Tony Todd gives one of his final performances as an old man who’s in line for the death curse, and his speech about the importance of enjoying life is the only thing here with any weight. Also with Teo Briones, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Alex Zahara, April Telek, Tinpo Lee, Max Lloyd-Jones, Rya Kihlstedt, Anna Lore, and Gabrielle Rose.
Hi-Five (NR) This Korean action-comedy is about five ordinary people who acquire superpowers after receiving organ transplants from a dead superhero. Starring Park Jin-young, Yoo Ah-in, Lee Jae-in, Ran Mi-ran, Kim Hee-won, Ahn Jae-hong, and Oh Jung-se.
How to Train Your Dragon (PG) Chalk up another live-action remake of an animated kids’ movie that I can’t see the point of. Mason Thames (The Black Phone) stars in this remake of the 2010 animated film as the Viking who discovers that his tribe have been slaughtering dragons for no good reason. Toothless the Dragon is now generated by CGI and never once convinces us that he’s a real animal, and none of the human actors (not even Gerard Butler, reprising his voice role from the original as the Viking chief) put forward a case that this needed to be fleshed out with human actors. The only good addition here is the joke about the origin of Hiccup’s Viking helmet. Also with Nico Parker, Julian Dennison, Gabriel Howell, Bronwyn James, Harry Trevaldwyn, Murray McArthur, Peter Serafinowicz, Ruth Codd, Naomi Wirthner, and Nick Frost. (Opens Friday)
Karate Kid: Legends (PG-13) The latest young talent to hit the series is Ben Wang as a teenage Beijing kung fu student who’s uprooted to New York City. The main plot should have been the one where he uses his skills to train the pizzeria owner down the block (Joshua Jackson) to come out of retirement as a prizefighter, but the film barely expends any effort transitioning to another plot where the boy has to learn from both Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) and Daniel-san (Ralph Macchio) to defend himself from karatekas in a city-wide martial-arts tournament. The movie’s attempt to find a unified field theory for martial arts may not work, but it’s still preferable to the xenophobia of the Ip Man series, and Wang (from TV’s American Born Chinese) has charisma to burn. He could carry his own installment of the series, if he was given a better story to work with. Also with Ming-Na Wen, Sadie Stanley, Wyatt Oleff, Aramis Knight, Ge Yankei, Marco Zhang, and William Zabka.
Kuberaa (NR) This Telugu-language thriller stars Dhanush as a homeless beggar who becomes rich by turning to crime. Also with Nagarjuna, Rashmika Mandanna, Jim Sarbh, Dalip Tahil, and Sayaji Shinde.
The Last Rodeo (PG) Neal McDonough stars in this Christian drama as a cowboy who comes out of retirement because of his family’s financial need. Also with Mykelti Williamson, Sarah Jones, Graham Harvey, Irene Bedard, and Christopher McDonald.
The Life of Chuck (R) Mike Flanagan has adapted Stephen King stories numerous times for TV with good results, but this take on one of King’s non-horror stories is pure glop. Told in reverse chronological order, this story concerns an accountant named Chuck at three stages of his life (Benjamin Pajak, Jacob Tremblay, and Tom Hiddleston) as he bears tragedies and seeks his purpose in the universe. The first third of the film takes place during a mysterious apocalypse that wipes out life, and it’s filmed so soothingly that it’ll put you to sleep. There is a fun interlude when Hiddleston shows off his dancing skills, but this movie’s attempt to uplift you only achieves the opposite. Also with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Carl Lumbly, Mia Sara, David Dastmalchian, Harvey Guillén, Q’orianka Kilcher, Matthew Lillard, Rahul Kohli, Violet McGraw, The Pocket Queen, Kate Siegel, and Mark Hamill. Narrated by Nick Offerman.
Lilo & Stitch (PG) Beyond the technical skill of integrating a CGI-generated Stitch (voiced by Chris Sanders) with live actors and scenery, this remake follows the animated original so closely that you wonder what the point is. Maia Kealoha portrays the little Hawaiian girl being raised by her older sister (Sydney Elizebeth Agudong) when the chaotically destructive space alien crash lands near her and she adopts the alien from the local animal rescue. Director Dean Fleischer Camp (Marcel the Shell With Shoes On) makes it all seamless, but the familiar story beats aren’t any more moving now than they were in the 2002 original. The additions of Zach Galifianakis and Billy Magnussen as the aliens trying to capture Stitch bring surprisingly little. Also with Tia Carrere, Courtney B. Vance, Amy Hill, Kaipo Dudoit, Jason Scott Lee, and Hannah Waddingham.
Materialists (R) Celine Song proves to be one of America’s most promising filmmakers with this film that appears to be a plush New York dating comedy but is actually much more hard-headed. Dakota Johnson portrays a professional matchmaker at a Manhattan agency who finds her own romantic life torn between a handsome private equity manager (Pedro Pascal) and her ex-boyfriend (Chris Evans) who’s a broke theater actor. This movie is as painfully conscious of money as any Jane Austen novel, and all of the leads give fine performances fueled by quiet desperation about their money or lack thereof. They’re set up for success by Song (Past Lives), who delivers some of the most exquisite movie dialogue you’ll ever hear as well as some funny jokes. When the heroine does choose love over money, it feels like a weighty decision informed by everything that has gone before. She refuses to treat this movie like a fun little throwaway, which is what makes this great. Also with Zoe Winters, Marin Ireland, Dasha Nekrasova, Emmy Wheeler, Louisa Jacobson, Eddie Cahill, Sawyer Spielberg, and John Magaro.
Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning (PG-13) This may not be Tom Cruise’s last outing as Ethan Hunt, but it does feel like a farewell to a franchise’s defining star. He has to reunite with his team members to capture the AI that is currently destroying the world. The result is unfortunately quite a disjointed movie in which Ethan appears to traverse the globe at the speed of light while awkward montages take in all the stars who have graced this series through the decades. The movie’s nostalgia kick does bring back Rolf Saxon as the CIA tech guy whom we haven’t seen since Ethan robbed his office in the original movie, and the stunts feature Cruise hanging off the wing of a biplane as well as a sequence in a sunken submarine that’s excellent suspense. It’s a better goodbye than Jason Bourne got. Also with Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Pom Klementieff, Esai Morales, Henry Czerny, Holt McCallany, Nick Offerman, Hannah Waddingham, Janet McTeer, Tramell Tillman, Mark Gatiss, Greg Tarzan Davis, Lucy Tulugarjuk, Katy O’Brian, Cary Elwes, and Angela Bassett.
The Phoenician Scheme (PG-13) Arid. Wes Anderson’s latest film stars Benicio del Toro as an incredibly unethical business mogul who dodges attempts on his life and bankruptcy while trying to pass on his business empire to an estranged daughter (Mia Threapleton) before she enters a convent. The apple-pie order of Anderson’s other films is here, but not the human emotion that distinguishes his best work. The filmmaker does try for relevance by having his business mogul use shady business tactics like Donald Trump’s, but that doesn’t add up to a coherent or a funny movie. Also with Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Bryan Cranston, Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed, Jeffrey Wright, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Mathieu Amalric, Richard Ayoade, Alex Jennings, Hope Davis, Rupert Friend, Steve Park, F. Murray Abraham, Willem Dafoe, and Bill Murray.
Sinners (R) Ryan Coogler’s foray into Jordan Peele territory is wild and wildly original, even when it doesn’t make sense. Michael B. Jordan plays identical twins who return from Chicago to their Mississippi hometown in the 1930s to open a blues joint with their cousin (Miles Caton) who happens to be an otherworldly musician. Jordan gives two bracing performances as brothers with different jobs and temperaments, the Mississippi town is more layered than we usually see in Hollywood movies, and there’s a great sequence with the blues musician delivering a song so powerful that it opens a rift in time and space as well as attracting vampires. Coogler winds up with a few too many ideas in his intellectual stew, but it frames Delta blues in a wholly unexpected way and emerges as a worthy vampire movie. What other movie can say that? Also with Hailee Steinfeld, Wunmi Mosaku, Li Jun Li, Jack O’Connell, Lola Kirke, Jayme Lawson, Saul Williams, Andrene Ward-Hammond, Peter Dreimanis, Omar Miller, Yao, Delroy Lindo, and Buddy Guy.
Sitaare Zameen Par (NR) A remake of the Spanish film Champions, this Indian sports film stars Aamir Khan as a basketball coach who must take over a team of autistic players as punishment for a DUI. Also with Genelia Deshmukh, Aroush Datta, Gopi Krishnan Varma, Vedant Sharmaa, Naman Misra, Rishi Shahani, Rishabh Jain, and Dolly Ahluwalia.
Thunderbolts* (PG-13) Several shades darker than your typical Marvel superhero movie, which is part of what distinguishes it from the pack. When the CIA director (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) tries to take complete control of the U.S. government, a group of mercenaries in her employ (Florence Pugh, Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen, David Harbour, Sebastian Stan) band together to stop her. The villain’s secret weapon is a mentally ill drug addict (Lewis Pullman) who can trap people in their worst nightmares. The film is wobbly on the subject of toxic masculinity and occasionally plays like a derivative of Everything Everywhere All at Once, but it sometimes achieves a power of its own. Pugh delivers a precisely pitched performance in the lead, and Louis-Dreyfus makes a terrific foil to her as someone who hides her lust for power behind her precious wisecracks. The Marvel series is morphing into something new, which is better than repeating itself. Also with Geraldine Viswanathan, Olga Kurylenko, Chris Bauer, Violet McGraw, and Wendell Pierce.
28 Years Later (R) The third installment of the series is a memorial to those who have died from the plague in real life, which turns out to be not quite enough to carry it. Alfie Williams portrays a 12-year-old boy growing up on an island off Britain’s coast where the people have remained uninfected, but when he hears about a doctor (Ralph Fiennes) who has survived on the big island, he takes his mother (Jodie Comer) to him to find out why she’s getting unexplained headaches and nosebleeds. The young Williams’ performance is good enough to make this work as a coming-of-age story. I just wish it worked better as a zombie movie, or as a setup for the next film in the series. This movie reunites director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland, and it may be time for a fresh set of eyes on this series. Also with Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Edvin Ryding, Stella Gonet, Chi Lewis-Parry, and Jack O’Connell.
Dallas Exclusives
Found Footage: The Making of the Patterson Project (NR) Max Tzannes’ found-footage comedy is about a group of filmmakers trying to make a found-footage horror film. Starring Chen Tang, Brennan Keel Cook, Dean Cameron, Erika Vetter, Suzanne Ford, Del Alan Murphy, Rachel Alig, and J.R. Gomez.
Inside (NR) This Australian prison drama stars Vincent Miller as a young convict who’s mentored by two different inmates. Also with Guy Pearce, Toby Wallace, Colleen MacIntosh, Nikki Shiels, Sean Millis, Chloe Hayden, and Cosmo Jarvis.
Pavements (R) Alex Ross Perry’s docudrama uses a number of metafictional techniques to tell the story of the 1990s alt-rock band Pavement. Starring Stephen Malkmus, Joe Keery, Nat Wolff, Fred Hechinger, Griffin Newman, Logan Miller, Zoe Lister-Jones, Michael Esper, Tim Heidecker, and Jason Schwartzman.
