OPENING
Dastaar (NR) Tarsem Jassar stars as a Sikh man in 1980s Britain who becomes a community leader after a racist attack. Also with Geet Goraya, Oliver Briscombe, Emily Ash, Shahbaz Akhtar, Prete Bhutani, and Joseph Birmingham. (Opens Friday)
Horsegirls (PG-13) This drama is about an autistic young woman (Lillian Carrier) who sets out to prove her independence to the world. Also with Gretchen Mol, Iqbal Theba, Jerrod Haynes, Joel Austin, Kovana Shine, Brea Phan, and Kenzie James. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
A Mosquito in the Ear (NR) Based on an Italian graphic novel, this drama stars Jake Lacy and Nazanin Boniadi as a couple who decide to adopt a child. Also with Ruhi Pal, Micky Singh, Amina, Chatanya, Dhaniram, and Kavish. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
Oh! Sukumari (NR) This Indian romance stars Thiruveer as an aspiring politician who falls in love with a woman (Aishwarya Rajesh) without knowing about her family. Also with Srinivas Gavireddy, Jhansi, Muralidhar Goud, Aamani, and Kranthi Balivada. (Opens Friday)
Vadhala (NR) Hrithika Srinivas stars in this Indian supernatural thriller as a married woman who becomes obsessed with a spiritual guru (Jagapathi Babu) who resembles her deceased father. Also with Srinivas Avasarala, Laya, Singh Shreya, and Ravi Varma. (Opens Friday at AMC Grapevine Mills)
NOW PLAYING
Backrooms (R) Based on an online legend, this horror film is both effective and unlike anything the multiplexes have served up. Chiwetel Ejiofor portrays an angry, alcoholic, recently divorced furniture store owner who discovers a passageway in his store leading to an infinite labyrinth of yellow-walled and -carpeted rooms with something murderous roaming the halls. 21-year-old director Kane Parsons made a series of short films about the online myth for YouTube, and in his first theatrical feature, he shows some serious talent for creepy atmosphere. He’s helped by stellar work by production designer Danny Vermette, who gives us furniture sinking into the floor or being absorbed into the walls. Cheers to the filmmakers for having more than just a clever gimmick, as the rooms reflect the main character’s warped psyche and the madness within. It’s one thing to make a good horror flick, and another to make a new kind of horror. Also with Renate Reinsve, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell, Avan Jogia, and Mark Duplass.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 (PG-13) This sequel is quite enjoyable in the same way as the original, but it has one big irritating issue. Anne Hathaway reprises her role as Andy, a newly unemployed journalist who takes a job at Runway, which is now embroiled in a PR crisis. The sequel registers how fashion media has changed in the last 20 years, but gets distracted by a succession battle after the fashion magazine’s owner (Tibor Feldman) suddenly dies. It would have been better devoting more time to Andy trying to detoxify Runway’s workplace culture and bring Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) into line. The characters have been away long enough for us to be happy to see them, and the script is smart enough that you won’t hate yourself for reveling in its posh setting. Shame that it goes too easy on its characters. Also with Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci, Justin Theroux, Tracie Thoms, Patrick Brammall, Caleb Hearon, Simone Ashley, Helen J. Shen, Rachel Bloom, B.J. Novak, Lucy Liu, Kenneth Branagh, and Lady Gaga.
Dhamaal 4 (NR) The fourth film in the Indian comedy series stars Ajay Devgn, Riteish Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi, and Jaaved Jaaferi as four friends who conduct a hapless search for a buried treasure. Also with Ravi Kishan, Sanjay Mishra, Upendra Limaye, Anjali Anand, Guru Randhawa, Ketika Sharma, Neelkamal Singh, and Sanju Rathod.
Disclosure Day (PG-13) This distinctly minor entry into Steven Spielberg’s canon finds the director in the mode of mystic crystal revelations. This thriller is about a cybersecurity expert (Josh O’Connor) and a TV weather forecaster (Emily Blunt) who have never met before but must team up to go public with video proof of extraterrestrial life on Earth. I can’t help thinking this would have been better if it had been made in the 1990s with Agent Mulder and Agent Scully. The lore about little green men is overly familiar, and the movie is better when the filmmakers remember that it’s about our heroes being chased by an NGO. Still, every time Spielberg tries to get into our feelings, he steps into the muck. Project Hail Mary did everything this movie does without so much strain. Also with Colman Domingo, Eve Hewson, Wyatt Russell, Elizabeth Marvel, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Tommy Martinez, Hettienne Park, Jeremy Shamos, and Colin Firth.
Evil Dead Burn (R) Meh. The latest installment of the horror series has an interesting idea but bungles the execution. Souheila Yacoub portrays a French woman whose American husband (George Pullar) beats her before he’s killed by the deadites. After that, his family members who covered up for him during his life start turning into deadites, too, and hunting her down. Director/co-writer Sébastien Vaniček pulls off a nice one-take shot that follows his protagonist as she crawls on the floor while the in-laws fight off the latest zombie. However, his script is way too sloppy to achieve its metaphor. The 2013 reboot was good, but since then, the series has been faltering fast. Also with Hunter Doohan, Tandi Wright, Luciane Buchanan, Erroll Shand, Maude Davey, Victory Ndukwe, and Alyssa Sutherland.
Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass (R) David Wain’s latest comedy has laugh-out-loud moments mixed with dead spots, and your mileage may vary. Zoey Deutch stars as a Kansas hairdresser who makes a pact with her fiancé (Michael Cassidy) that they can both have sex with one celebrity of their choosing without considering it adultery. However, when he actually does it with his celebrity crush (Jennifer Aniston), she travels to Hollywood to even the score with her chosen famous person (Jon Hamm). The Sicilian mafia also gets involved, somehow. Over the course of one weekend in L.A., she picks up a cadre of friends, including John Slattery (who portrays himself), and there’s a funny bit when Weird Al Yankovic fires an AK-47 at her for trespassing, but the comedy never gathers momentum. It’s funny in a scattered way. Also with Ken Marino, Thomas Lennon, Joe Lo Truglio, Mather Zickel, Ben Wang, Michael Ian Black, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Sabrina Impacciatore, Kerri Kenney, Tobie Windham, Fred Melamed, Henry Winkler, Elizabeth Perkins, Elizabeth Banks, and Paul Rudd.
Idhayam Murali (NR) This Indian romance stars Atharvaa Murali as a man who takes years to sort out his romantic feelings. Also with Preity Mukhundan, Angeline, Fahadh Fasil, Jonita Gandhi, Anju Kurian, Kayadu Lohar, and Ramki.
The Invite (R) In the same league as Woody Allen’s best stuff. Olivia Wilde directs and co-stars in this comedy as a housewife whose marriage to a music teacher (Seth Rogen) is on the rocks when she invites their upstairs neighbors (Edward Norton and Penélope Cruz) to a dinner party, only to find out that the neighbors are swingers who want to invite them for group sex. The director delivers a virtuoso visual performance, moving her camera around the single setting crisply and efficiently, and she casts herself cannily as someone who’s desperate to please. Rogen might just be even better as a former musician who has checked out of his job as a music teacher, and screenwriters Rashida Jones and Will McCormack (who adapt this from a Spanish stage play) serve it all up with dialogue that’s good enough to eat. The whole thing is tense and funny and insightful about marriage like nothing else at the multiplex.
Jackass: Best and Last (R) Not really the best, though it does seem like it’s Johnny Knoxville’s time to hang up the penis shock collar. He and his crew perform new stunts, though unseen footage of old stunts that MTV refused to air are the most impressive here. The early 2000s see Johnny shoot himself point-blank in the chest while wearing a Kevlar vest and some porn magazines for protection, as well as Brad Pitt taking part in staging his own kidnapping in public. It might have been nicer if the gang had gone out with Jackass Forever, but at least the guys are leaving us with their genitals (somehow) intact. Also with Jason “Wee Man” Acuna, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, “Danger Ehren” McGhehey, Sean “Poopies” McInerney, Zach Holmes, Dave England, Preston Lacy, Zach Ray, Rachel Wolfson, and Paul Walter Hauser.
Lenin (NR) Akhil Akinenni stars in this Telugu-language thriller as an Indian man who travels to Russia after his village erupts in violence. Also with Bhagyarshi Borse, Sunil, Getup Srinu, Sivaji, Ramki, and Brahmaji.
Leviticus (R) This gay Australian horror film works unexpectedly well as a romance. Joe Bird and Stacy Clausen portray high-school boys in a particularly depressing industrial town who fall in love. The fundamentalist Christians around them conjure a murderous demon that shifts shape to impersonate either of them and is invisible to everyone else. First-time filmmaker Adrian Chiarella has some visual chops to go with his storytelling, as in the opening segment when thing stalks a lesbian (Tyallah Bullock) in the shower of a deserted public pool. The demon who drives wedges between gay couples and makes homosexuals hate themselves is a handy metaphor for gay conversion therapy and the guilt and internalized homophobia that it engenders. This movie’s greatness lies in its psychological insight and the main couple’s determination to be happy together. Also with Jeremy Blewitt, Ewen Leslie, Nicholas Hope, Shannon Berry, Julia Grace, Davida McKenzie, Hyu Motoki, and Mia Wasikowska.
Masters of the Universe (PG-13) Deeply confused and not good. In this live-action adaptation of the 1980s TV cartoon series, Nicholas Galitzine plays He-Man, the warrior guardian of an alien civilization who has been stuck in Oklahoma City for the last 20 years. The lead actor has a keen grasp on the ridiculous aspects of the character, but the same can’t be said for director Travis Knight, who seems unsure when to play the material straight and when to play it for camp humor. He also fails to conjure a single memorable visual from a fantasy world where futuristic vehicles and weapons exist alongside sorcerers and fantastical creatures. A high-level cast is left high and dry by this material. Also with Idris Elba, Jared Leto, Camila Mendes, Morena Baccarin, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Jon Xue Zhang, Sam C. Wilson, Charlotte Riley, James Purefoy, James Wilkinson, Kojo Attah, Alison Brie, and an uncredited Dolph Lundgren. Voices by Christopher Ragland, Tom Wilton, Gary Martin, and Kristen Wiig.
Michael (PG-13) There is no movie here. In a bid to appease the Jackson family and their lawyers, director Antoine Fuqua and screenwriter John Logan have thrown out every bit of plot, character development, and atmosphere that would make this Michael Jackson biopic into a semblance of a story. The film takes place in 1966-88, with Juliano Valdi playing little Michael and Jaafar Jackson as the adult. Everything from Janet Jackson to the pedophilia allegations is studiously ignored, and we don’t even get any insight into Michael Jackson’s creative process or psychology to compensate for it. Both Valdi and Jaafar Jackson imitate Michael’s fluid dance moves, which is no mean feat, but the man himself comes off as a cipher, so what hope do the supporting characters have? This is a good deal less than a nostalgia act, and Fuqua and Logan have nothing to do except play the hits. Also with Colman Domingo, Miles Teller, Nia Long, Larenz Tate, Kendrick Sampson, Laura Harrier, KeiLyn Durrel Jones, Jessica Sula, Deon Cole, and Mike Myers.
Minions & Monsters (PG) The series goes all cinephile, which turns out to be a pretty good thing. The Minions (voiced by Pierre Coffin) wash up in Hollywood in the 1920s and become silent-film stars before the advent of sound film ruins their careers as actors. The setup allows the filmmakers to engage in all manner of references to movies from that time period, as well as acknowledge that the Minions owe much of their comedy to the stylings of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd. Next to those, the halves of the plot involving most of the Minions looking for another supervillain and a small group of them trying to make their own movie are both rather pallid. It’s still cleverer than the Scary Movie reboot, and a perfect introduction to silent movies for your kid. Additional voices by Christoph Waltz, Allison Janney, Jesse Eisenberg, Trey Parker, Zoey Deutch, Phil LaMarr, Bobby Moynihan, Jeff Bridges, and George Lucas.
Moana (PG) As with too many other live-action Disney remakes, the studio rushed in with this without pondering why they were doing it. Catherine Laga’aia takes over the role of the Polynesian princess, and she has a fine voice. Even that, though, doesn’t register as an improvement on the animated 2016 original, which is too fresh in our minds to need a remake. If DIsney can’t be bothered with rethinking its remakes, why should you bother paying for a ticket, and why should I bother writing it up? Also with Dwayne Johnson, John Tui, Frankie Adams, Eric Scanlan, and Rena Owen. Voice by Jemaine Clement.
Obsession (R) A scary new entry in the long tradition of stories about the dangers of gaining your heart’s desire. Michael Johnston stars in this horror film as a weak man who can’t tell his crush (Inde Navarrette) that he’s in love with her, so he finds a novelty toy that grants people’s desires and wishes for her love. Navarrette is only 5’0” and manages to be utterly terrifying as a level-headed woman who suddenly morphs into an ultra-clingy demon who’s willing to murder anyone who gets between her and her man. Writer-director Curry Barker comes from a comedy background conjures a number of memorable visuals here, and if the momentum flags somewhat in the film’s second half, he still comes up with a fiendish climax that sends you out of the theater with an indelible chill. Also with Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, Justice, Anthony Casablanca, and Andy Richter.
Pressure (PG-13) Too late for Memorial Day comes this not terribly exciting British film about the D-Day invasion seen through the eyes of a Scottish meteorologist (Andrew Scott) who’s brought in to provide a weather forecast for the planned day of the operation only to announce that the conditions will be terrible and that the whole thing will be postponed. Based on David Haig’s stage play, this film squeezes very little juice out of the weatherman sticking to his forecast despite heavy pressure from Gen. Dwight Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser) and other top brass in the American and British militaries. Despite the top-level talent in the cast, this exercise comes off as more dutiful than anything else. Also with Kerry Condon, Chris Messina, Tamsin Topolski, Jojo Macari, Con O’Neill, and Damian Lewis.
Scary Movie (R) It’s been 13 years since the last film in this spoof series, and this installment cycles so quickly through parodies of Get Out, The Substance, and M3GAN that it doesn’t have time to adopt a point of view on them or crack funny jokes about them. Then again, how does that make it different from the other Scary Movies? Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Marlon Wayans, and Shawn Wayans all reprise their roles as they’re stalked by a new Ghostface who’s the same as the old Ghostface (Dave Sheridan). One of the film’s few good gags is that the original killer received a presidential pardon for his murders because he was a January 6 rioter. If the Wayans family let go of some creative control here, this series might breathe again. Also with Olivia Rose Keegan, Cameron Scott Roberts, Savannah Lee Nassif, Damon Wayans Jr., Kim Wayans, Jon Abrahams, Sydney Park, Deon Cole, Cheri Oteri, Lochlyn Munro, Heidi Gardner, Chris Elliott, Anthony Anderson, Carmen Electra, Kenan Thompson, Shaquille O’Neal, and Teyana Taylor.
Supergirl (PG-13) A rare movie where the woman is the screw-up from a privileged family who has to straighten out her life to be worthy of her family’s legacy. Milly Alcock portrays the superheroine as an aimless alcoholic who frequently gives her enemies a chance to defeat her because she’s fighting while drunk or hungover. The Australian actress gets a nice crack at the character’s anger, pain, and self-pity, which even gives emotional weight to Krypto the dog after the bad guys poison her pet. However, the fight sequences are not only unmemorable in themselves, they’re poorly integrated into the story. Director Craig Gillespie has a hard time managing the tone, too. The movie starts with a great idea, but doesn’t advance it far enough. Also with David Corenswet, Eve Ridley, Mathias Schoenaerts, Diarmaid Murtagh, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham, and Jason Momoa.
Toy Story 5 (PG) The latest installment in the series is all about Jessie the Cowgirl (voiced by Joan Cusack), which helps make it one of the best. With Bonnie (voiced by Scarlett Spears) getting a new tablet (voiced by Greta Lee) as a gift, the toys see a future of neglect, and their attempts to get rid of it end up calling Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) out of retirement and transporting both Jessie and Bullseye back to her old home, now occupied by a new girl and another set of toys. Conan O’Brien injects a ton of energy and poop jokes as an outdated device designed to potty-train toddlers, but the movie’s success hangs on Jessie discovering the impact she made on her previous owner and coming to terms with the fact that kids will always outgrow their toys. Additional voices by Tim Allen, Bonnie Hunt, Annie Potts, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Ernie Hudson, Matty Matheson, Mykal-Michelle Harris, Kristen Schaal, Tony Hale, Melissa Villaseñor, Alan Cumming, Keanu Reeves, and Bad Bunny.
Young Washington (PG-13) As wooden as George Washington’s teeth. William Franklyn-Miller portrays the future president of the USA as an ambitious young military officer whose desire to prove himself to his British commanders leads him to some humiliating defeats in the French and Indian War. It’s an interesting choice for the movie to focus on the setbacks that ultimately led to his fame, and some of the battle sequences are done with a modicum of skill by director on Erwin. Yet the drama between those sequences is leaden, and Franklyn-Miller brings little zest to the lead role. This doesn’t give much more entertainment value than a history textbook. Also with Andy Serkis, Mary-Louise Parker, Mia Rodgers, John Foss, Michael Benz, Jonno Davies, Joel David Smallbone, Montana Cypress, Kelsey Grammer, and Ben Kingsley.
Dallas Exclusives
The Battle of Oslo (NR) This Norwegian historical thriller stars Bjørn Sundquist as a military commander who must defend the city during the Nazi invasion of 1940. Also with Andrea Brentzen, Eldar Skar, Elias Holmen Sørensen, Fridtjov Såheim, Jon Øigarden, Håvard Bakke, Terje Strømdahl, Øystein Røger, and Jonas Hoff Oftebro.
Crossing (NR) This Chinese historical thriller is about two soldiers making a retreat during the Japanese occupation in 1934. Starring Liu Ye, Wang Lei, Yosh Yu, and Wang Zhifei.
The Town That Takes (NR) Britt Bankhead stars in this horror film as a military veteran who searches for his son after he disappears in a colonial ghost town. Also with Miles Mussenden, Grace Patterson, Mike Markoff, Nico Tirozzi, and Marie Wetherell.
