OPENING
The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act (NR) This feature presentation is the last two episodes of the Australian animated series about characters trapped in a digital world by an evil ringmaster. Voices by LIzzie Freeman, Michael Kovach, Marissa Lenti, Amanda Hufford, Ashley Nichols, and Cassie Ewulu. (Opens Friday)
Another World (NR) This Chinese animated film is about a spirit guide (voiced by Suet-Ying Chung) in the next world who has trouble guiding one spirit to reincarnation. Additional voices by Louis Cheung, Hiu-Tung Choi, Kay Tse, Will Or, On-Ying Chan, and Hon-Man Ko. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
Carolina Caroline (PG-13) Samara Weaving acts the living crap out of this low-budget crime thriller that doesn’t do much to deserve her efforts. She portrays a Texas barfly who falls in love with a smooth-talking con artist (Kyle Gallner, cast effectively against type) and goes on a road trip to South Carolina with him, as they graduate from picking pockets to robbing banks. Director Adam Rehmeier does very little that’s new with the ancient form of a toxic couple on a cross-country crime spree. That almost doesn’t matter given the quality of the acting here, as Weaving makes an electric couple with Gallner and throws everything she has into her scenes whether Caroline is rehearsing her dialogue as a bank robber or reacting to her new boyfriend going too far with the crimes. This is playing one screening per day at a couple of Tarrant County theaters, but make an effort to catch it. Also with Jon Gries, Juan Silva, Robert Stevens Wayne, and Kyra Sedgwick. (Opens Friday)
Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai (NR) Varun Dhawan stars in this romance as a man who discovers buried family secrets in the U.K. after the breakup of his marriage. Also with Mrunal Thakur, Pooja Hegde, Maniesh Paul, Mouni Roy, Kubbra Salt, and Rajesh Kumar. (Opens Friday)
I Am Ryan (NR) This Australian comedy stars Hobart as a Ryan Reynolds lookalike who causes chaos when he visits Hollywood. Also with Sherif Mohammed Mattar, Briana Nicole, and Bryan Werlemann. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
The Last Whale Singer (PG) This German animated film is about a whale (voiced by Vincent Tong) who has to use his song to save the oceans. Additional voices by Jen Viens, Priyanka, Lisa Ortiz, Chimwemwe Miller, Bruce Dinsmore, and Jenna Wheeler-Hughes. (Opens Friday)
Masters of the Universe (PG-13) Based on the 1980s animated TV series, this fantasy film stars Nicholas Galitzine as a man with a secret identity as the guardian of the planet Eternia. 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, and Alison Brie. Voices by Christopher Ragland, Tom Wilton, Gary Martin, and Kristen Wiig. (Opens Friday)
Mollywood Times (NR) This Malayalam-language comedy stars Naslen as a young man who dreams of becoming a great filmmaker. Also with Sharaf U Dheen, Sangeeth Prathap, and Roshan Shanavas. (Opens Friday at AMC Grapevine Mills)
Peddi (NR) Ram Charan stars in this Telugu-language film as a man who assembles a cricket team from his village to defend their honor. Also with Jahnvi Kapoor, Divyendu Sharma, Shivarajkumar, Jagapathi Babu, Boman Irani, and Dayanand Reddy. (Opens Friday)
Rockstar (NR) Shakib Khan stars in this Bangladeshi film as a man with a tortured background who becomes a music superstar. Also with Sabila Nur, Tariq Anam Khan, Dilara Zaman, Rozy Siddiqui, and Tanzia Zaman Mithila. (Opens Friday at AMC Grapevine Mills)
Scary Movie (R) Anna Faris, Regina Hall, and others reprise their roles in this latest installment of the horror spoof series. Also with Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Damon Wayans Jr., Kim Wayans, Jon Abrahams, Cheri Oteri, Lochlyn Munro, Heidi Gardner, Chris Elliott, and Anthony Anderson. (Opens Friday)
Signal One (NR) This science-fiction thriller is about an inventor who creates a machine that can communicate with alien life forms. Starring Isabelle Fuhrman, Josh Hutcherson, David Thewlis, Raoul Bhaneja, Kiera Allen, and Dennis Quaid. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
Time and Water (PG) The latest documentary by Sara Dosa (Fire of Love) profiles Icelandic writer Andri Snær Magnason and his attempts to preserve family and natural history in a time capsule. (Opens Friday in Dallas)
NOW PLAYING
The Breadwinner (PG) Nate Bargatze’s skill as a stand-up comic is little in evidence in this unbearable and loud comedy about a Nashville car salesman who takes time off his job to raise his three daughters (Stella Grace Fitzgerald, Charlotte Ann Tucker, and Birdie Borria) after his wife (Mandy Moore) travels abroad to fund her startup company. The hijinks wouldn’t have passed muster in the 1980s when Hollywood first started making comedies like these, and the stacked cast fails to contribute anything of note. Also with Kumail Nanjiani, Zach Cherry, Martin Herlihy, Will Forte, Brett Cullen, Kate Berlant, and Colin Jost.
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.
I Love Boosters (R) If there’s a more insane movie this year, I’d like to see it. Boots Riley’s anti-capitalist satire stars Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, and Taylour Paige as three San Francisco social activists who protest a high-end fashion designer (Demi Moore) by stealing clothes from her stores and then sell the loot to make money. This seems straightforward enough, but then we get into a Chinese sweatshop worker (Poppy Liu) with a magic bag, a male model (LaKeith Stanfield) who turns out to be a soul-devouring demon, and a group of robots posing as people by wearing synthetic skin. The madness worked for Riley in his debut film Sorry to Bother You, but here it leads the story up all manner of blind alleys, even if some of those alleys turn out to be quite funny. The costumes and production design are très dystopian chic, but the material isn’t there. Also with Will Poulter, Eiza González, Rachel Walters, Robin Thede, Alan Z, Jermaine Fowler, Eric André, Adam Devine, Jason Ritter, Kara Young, Don Cheadle, and Viggo Mortensen.
In the Grey (R) An off-putting smugness sneaks into this Guy Ritchie action-thriller that might have otherwise been enjoyable. Jake Gyllenhaal, Henry Cavill, and Eiza González star as a group of covert operatives who are hired by a giant bank to recover $1 billion from a Spanish criminal overlord (Carlos Bardem) who is ensconced on a private island with dozens of well-armed mercenaries protecting him. Our protagonists spend the first half of the film laboriously laying out various contingency plans to get the money and then escape from the island, and then just about everything goes according to plan. What fun is that? While this is more watchable than Ritchie’s solemn exercises like Wrath of Man and The Covenant, the comedy doesn’t work. Even if the material had been better, it would have been torpedoed by the lazy performances on display here. Also with Kristofer Hivju, Jason Wong, Kojo Attah, Emmett J. Scanlan, Michael Vu, Mohammed al-Turki, Gonzalo Bouza, Darrell D’Silva, Fisher Stevens, and Rosamund Pike.
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.
Mortal Kombat II (R) Adapted from the 1990s video game, this sequel to the pandemic hit stars Karl Urban as Johnny Cage, a washed-up Hollywood martial-arts star who’s drafted to fight against demigods in a fighting tournament with the fate of the Earth at stake. This starts off somewhat well, with some inventive fight sequences and a very funny parody of 1990s action movies. Josh Lawson returns as a resurrected mercenary and contributes some snap despite playing every Australian stereotype at once. The script’s feeble attempts at humor are nevertheless a welcome break from the stilted dramatics, as the movie loses track of all the characters (including Johnny) for unconscionable stretches, and the climactic fights go on interminably. Also with Adeline Rudolph, Jessica McNamee, Tadanobu Asano, Mehcad Brooks, Tati Gabrielle, Martyn Ford, CJ Bloomfield, Lewis Tan, Max Huang, Damon Herriman, Chin Han, Joe Taslim, and Hiroyuki Sanada.
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.
Passenger (R) This wannabe urban legend doesn’t fly. Lou Llobet and Jacob Scipio portray a newly engaged couple who crisscross the country in their orange van, Nomadland style, until the day they witness a traffic fatality and the demon that caused it (Joseph Lopez) starts stalking them wherever they go. Director André Øvredal (Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark) does some innovative things like having our couple install cameras all around their vehicle so they can see what’s chasing them, as well as using a movie projector to search for the demon when it’s hiding in the woods. Still, the poor quality of the acting and the slapdash script wind up sinking this. Also with Melissa Leo, Miles Fowler, Alan Trong, and Tony Doupe.
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.
Project Hail Mary (PG-13) Based on Andy Weir’s novel, this science-fiction movie is entertaining enough for the price of admission and maybe even an upcharge to a premium format. Ryan Gosling portrays an astronaut who travels to a star light-years away to find a solution to why our sun is dying. He meets an alien being whose world is facing the same problem with its sun. Gosling spends a great deal of time talking to himself, partly because his character is trying to keep from going insane from the solitude and partly because he has trouble communicating with the alien, but if any actor can make this assignment look easy, it’s Gosling. The filmmaking team of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie) drills down into the trial-and-error that goes into the characters’ scientific work and manages to find both humor and beauty in the vastness of space. The movie earns its uplift because of the way the two life forms are willing to collaborate to save their civilizations. Also with Sandra Hüller, Ken Leung, Milana Vayntrub, Priya Kansara, Orion Lee, and Lionel Boyce. Voices by James Ortiz and an uncredited Meryl Streep.
The Sheep Detectives (PG) Adapted from Leonie Swann’s children’s book, this film has a fresh idea but botches the execution. When an English shepherd (Hugh Jackman) is found murdered, his flock of sheep sets out to solve the crime, since he used to read to them from his collection of detective novels. Nicholas Braun contributes a fine turn as a cop who’s dumber than any of the sheep, but the mystery plot is too balky for first-time director Kyle Balda, who has to balance it with the sheep leaving their meadow for the first time and interacting with other humans. This movie isn’t sure whether it’s supposed to be for the kids or for the Agatha Christie fans. Also with Emma Thompson, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Tosin Cole, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Conleth Hill, and Hong Chau. Voices by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O’Dowd, Regina Hall, Bella Ramsey, Brett Goldstein, Rhys Darby, and Patrick Stewart.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (PG) The Mario brothers (voiced by Chris Pratt and Charlie Day) rescue Yoshi (voiced by Donald Glover) while Bowser Jr. (voiced by Benny Safdie) kidnaps Princess Rosalina (voiced by Brie Larson) in this sequel. While there’s entirely too much going on, this is still better than the first movie. The new voice talent gives the thing some new energy and the filmmakers inject some visual wit that wasn’t there in the original, such as interludes made to look like sock puppet theater and Japanese anime, as well as a casino whose gaming floor extends to the walls and ceiling. Some Mario-fied Minions make an appearance as well. There’s certainly worse stuff made for the little ones out there. Additional voices by Jack Black, Anya Taylor-Joy, Keegan-Michael Key, Issa Rae, Luis Guzmán, and Glen Powell.
Tuner (R) A throwback thriller that showcases a great deal of up-and-coming talent. Leo Woodall portrays a professional piano tuner in the Tri-State area whose extremely sensitive hearing makes him great at his job but cripples his social life. When his mentor (Dustin Hoffman) falls seriously ill, he turns to using his hearing as a safecracker from some Israeli thieves to earn money. Oscar-winning documentary Daniel Roher (Navalny) makes his fiction debut and does wonders with the gradations of his hero’s hearing, as he goes around with earplugs and noise-canceling headphones because the world is too loud. The business with the pearl watch is unforgivably ham-handed, but the film has terrific pacing and performances by both Woodall and Havana Rose Liu as the composition student who falls for him. Also with Tovah Feldshuh, Lior Raz, Gil Cohen, Nissan Sakra, Rek Lee, C.S. Lee, Jean Reno, and Herbie Hancock.
Dallas Exclusives
The Last Viking (NR) This Danish comedy by Anders Thomas Jensen (Riders of Justice) stars Nikolaj Lie Kaas as an ex-convict who trusts his brother (Mads Mikkelsen) to keep secret the location of his buried loot, only to discover that his brother has gone insane and believes himself to be John Lennon. Also with Sofie Gråbøl, Søren Malling, Bodil Jørgensen, Lars Brygmann, Nicolas Bro, and Anette Støvelbæk.
Pitfall (NR) This slasher film stars Marshall Williams as a young hiker who falls into a pit and is seriously injured in the woods. Also with Richard Harmon, Alexandra Essoe, Jordan Claire Robbins, Matt Hamilton, Brenna Llewellyn, and Randy Couture.
