Special screenings
Chonda Pierce: Enough
5/9, performance documentary starring Christian comedian Chonda Pierce, 7 p.m., $10.50-$14. Theaters: BS, VS. Info: fathomevents.com.
Cinema in the Circle
5/5, Back to the Future, 6 p.m., free. Huntridge Circle Park, 1251 S. Maryland Parkway. Info: thehuntridgefoundation.org.
Family Movie Night
Thu, sundown, free. 5/4, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. 5/11, Ghostbusters (2016). Downtown Container Park, 707 Fremont St., downtowncontainerpark.com.
National Theatre Live
5/11, broadcast of Obsession stage production from London, 7 p.m., $20-$24. Theaters: COL, SF, SP, ST, VS. Info: fathomevents.com.
Outdoor Picture Show
Sat, 7:30 p.m., free. 5/6, The Secret Life of Pets. The District at Green Valley Ranch, 2225 Village Walk Drive, Henderson, 702-564-8595.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
5/6, augmented by live cast and audience participation, 10 p.m., $10. Theaters: TC. Info: rhpsvegas.com.
Saturday Night Fever 40th Anniversary
5/7, 5/10, director’s cut screening with bonus features, 2 & 7 p.m., $7.50-$12.50. Theaters: CAN, COL, ORL, SF, SP, ST, VS. Info: fathomevents.com.
Sci Fi Center
Mon, Cinemondays, 8 p.m., free. Sun, American Gods viewing party, 7 p.m., free. 5077 Arville St., 855-501-4335, thescificenter.com.
Tuesday Afternoon at the Bijou
Tue, 1 p.m., free. 5/9, High Society (1956). Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, 702-507-3400.
New this week
Steve Coogan, Richard Gere, Laura Linney. Directed by Oren Moverman. 120 minutes. Rated R. Two wealthy couples meet for a fancy dinner where dark secrets come to light in this overwrought, often laughably self-serious drama built around a terrible lead performance from Steve Coogan. Whatever intensity and intelligence may be in the source novel don’t make it to the screen. —JB
Theaters: GVR, SC, TS
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista. Directed by James Gunn. 136 minutes. Rated PG-13. After teaming up to save the galaxy in the surprise-hit previous movie, Marvel’s intergalactic superheroes are split up and set on various courses until they come together for the action-packed finale. If you liked the first movie, well, here’s more of it, only not as refreshing or original. —JB
Theaters: AL, CAN, CH, COL, DI, DTS, ET, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SF, SP, SS, ST, SHO, TS, TX, VS
This Is Not What I Expected
Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhou Dongyu, Ming Xi. Directed by Derek Hui. 105 minutes. Not rated. In Mandarin with English subtitles. This cutesy Chinese romantic comedy about a clumsy, hyperactive chef and a stern, aloof CEO is full of gorgeous shots of food preparation and consumption, along with occasional charming interpersonal moments. But it’s mostly predictable and tiresome, with the main couple (who have appealing chemistry) taking far too long to realize their obvious attraction. —JB
Theaters: TS
Now playing
Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (Not reviewed)
Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty. Directed by S.S. Rajamouli. 170 minutes. Not rated. In Telugu with English subtitles. The son of a legendary warrior follows in his father’s footsteps.
Theaters: SP, ST
Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans. Directed by Bill Condon. 129 minutes. Rated PG. This live-action/CGI remake of Disney’s classic animated musical drains much of the charm from the movie, rendering expressive cartoon designs as hyper-detailed, antiseptic computer effects, bloating a simple fairy tale into a plodding narrative complete with dead parents and placing some of Disney’s most memorable songs alongside mediocre new compositions. —JB
Theaters: AL, BS, CH, DTS, FH, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, TS, TX
John Gallagher Jr., Tony Goldwyn, Adria Arjona. Directed by Greg McLean. 88 minutes. Rated R. Eighty employees trapped in an isolated Colombia office building are ordered to murder each other by an anonymous voice on the intercom, or be killed themselves. James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) wrote the script, but it basically amounts to an especially gory indoor Hunger Games. —MD
Theaters: TC
Born in China (Not reviewed)
Directed by Chuan Lu. 76 minutes. Rated G. Nature documentary featuring animals in China, including pandas, monkeys and snow leopards.
Theaters: AL, BS, COL, FH, RP, RR, SF, SC, SP, SS, TS
Voices of Miles Bakshi, Alec Baldwin, Lisa Kudrow. Directed by Tom McGrath. 97 minutes. Rated PG. This is a baffling, bizarrely misconceived animated movie about a baby dressed in a business suit and spouting corporate speak in the voice of Alec Baldwin. Some visuals are well-designed, and Baldwin gets in a few funny lines, but the plot is so weirdly off the mark that everything else is just background noise. —JB
Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, DI, FH, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Can’t Help Falling in Love (Not reviewed)
Kathryn Bernardo, Daniel Padilla, Matteo Guidicelli. Directed by Mae Cruz-Alviar. 118 minutes. Not rated. In Filipino with English subtitles. A woman about to get married discovers that she has accidentally already married another man.
Theaters: ORL, VS
The Case for Christ (Not reviewed)
Mike Vogel, Erika Christensen, Faye Dunaway. Directed by Jon Gunn. 112 minutes. Rated PG. An atheist journalist attempts to disprove the existence of Christ after his wife becomes a born-again Christian.
Theaters: COL, VS
CHiPs
Dax Shepard, Michael Peña, Vincent D’Onofrio. Directed by Dax Shepard. 100 minutes. Rated R. Writer/director/star Shepard turns the ’70s/’80s TV cop drama into a lowbrow comedy, with two bumbling California Highway Patrol officers on the trail of a ring of dirty cops. The central conspiracy makes no sense, the jokes are vulgar and repetitive, and the pacing is a total mess. —JB
Theaters: TC
Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, Karen Gillan. Directed by James Ponsoldt. 110 minutes. Rated PG-13. A wide-eyed young employee (Watson) gets in over her head at a sinister tech company in this often clumsy and alarmist thriller. Watson, with her shaky American accent, never quite gets a handle on the blank-slate protagonist, and Hanks is underused as the avuncular megalomaniac running the company. —JB
Theaters: AL, CAN, CH, ET, FH, GVL, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SF, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Anne Hathaway, Jason Sudeikis, Austin Stowell. Directed by Nacho Vigalondo. 110 minutes. Rated R. In the year’s nuttiest and most foolproof premise, an American named Gloria (Hathaway) discovers that her presence in a particular location at a particular time creates a giant monster in downtown Seoul—a monster whose actions she controls. The film is thematically incoherent, but so amusing that it scarcely matters. —MD
Theaters: ST, VS
Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Charlize Theron. Directed by F. Gary Gray. 136 minutes. Rated PG-13. The eighth movie in the endless, bizarrely popular action series about car-racing outlaws ups the stakes even further, with a world-ending plot by a villainous hacker (Theron) and a bunch of new characters. The story is convoluted and crowded and the action is completely antiseptic. —JB
Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, DI, DTS, ET, FH, GVL, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford. Directed by Jordan Peele. 103 minutes. Rated R. A black photographer (Kaluuya) encounters a sinister conspiracy when he visits the family of his white girlfriend (Williams). Peele is mostly successful at balancing comedy, horror and social commentary in his promising debut as a writer-director. The movie never lectures the audience, providing a grotesque exaggeration to highlight very real social problems. —JB
Theaters: CH, COL, ORL, RP, SC, SF, SHO, ST, VS
Scarlett Johansson, Pilou Asbæk, Takeshi Kitano. Directed by Rupert Sanders. 105 minutes. Rated PG-13. This live-action remake of the groundbreaking 1995 Japanese animated movie about a future cyborg cop is inherently derivative, but at least it copies from the best. Even if the plot doesn’t hold together, the visuals make up for it, with director Sanders putting together stunning images and creative action sequences. —JB
Theaters: BS
Chris Evans, Mckenna Grace, Octavia Spencer. Directed by Marc Webb. 101 minutes. Rated PG-13. Evans plays a sensitive, hunky, intelligent mechanic raising his niece Mary (Grace) after his sister’s suicide. He’s forced to fight his rich, snooty mother for custody when Mary is discovered to be a math genius. The story is earnest, predictable and cheesy, with likeable but bland performances. —JB
Theaters: BS, CH, DTS, GVR, ORL, PAL, SC, SF, SP, TX
Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Alan Arkin. Directed by Zach Braff. 96 minutes. Rated PG-13. This remake of the 1979 dramedy about three senior citizens plotting a bank robbery gets rid of the melancholy ruminations and replaces them with broad, obvious comedy. What once was a story about the loneliness and neglect of old age ends up a forced, wacky comedy about seniors behaving badly. —JB
Theaters: CH, FH, GVR, ORL, RP, RR, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, VS
Matt Damon, Tian Jing, Pedro Pascal. Directed by Zhang Yimou. 103 minutes. Rated PG-13. This American-Chinese co-production is carefully composed to provide an equally inoffensive balance for both markets, ending up with the worst of both worlds. Damon sports a terrible, constantly varying accent as an 11th-century European trader who comes to China and ends up in a fight against crappy CGI monsters. —JB
Theaters: TC
Taraji P. Henson, Kevin Costner, Octavia Spencer. Directed by Theodore Melfi. 127 minutes. Rated PG. The story of three real-life black women who overcame prejudice while working at NASA in the early days of the space program is told with cheesy, crowd-pleasing moments that often simplify and diminish the struggles that the real people endured. Eventually its account of actual triumph over adversity becomes chintzy and disingenuous. —JB
Theaters: TC
How to Be a Latin Lover (Not reviewed)
Eugenio Derbez, Salma Hayek, Rob Lowe. Directed by Ken Marino. 115 minutes. Rated PG-13. After getting dumped by his wife, a gold-digging lothario has to move in with his sister and her son.
Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, DI, FH, GVL, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SP, TS, TX
Keanu Reeves, Riccardo Scamarcio, Ruby Rose. Directed by Chad Stahelski. 122 minutes. Rated R. Reeves returns as the weary, unstoppable assassin who just wants to retire in peace, this time drawn back into action by an Italian mob boss. The story lacks the laser focus of the original, and the increased emphasis on franchise-building is a distraction, but Stahelski still knows how to stage stunning action sequences. —JB
Theaters: TC
Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson. Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts. 118 minutes. Rated PG-13. After gathering a motley crew for a trip to the previously uncharted Skull Island, the movie wastes little time in revealing its giant ape title character, delivering near-constant action on an island filled with brilliantly rendered monstrosities. Its social commentary, however, is mostly used just as superficially as its overqualified cast. —JB
Theaters: COL, FH, ORL, SHO, ST, TX, VS
Voices of Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Zach Galifianakis. Directed by Chris McKay. 104 minutes. Rated PG. This animated spinoff of The Lego Movie, starring Arnett’s vain, arrogant version of Batman, retains much of its predecessor’s charm, packing in nonstop visual and verbal jokes while telling a simple, fun story with some solid lessons for the family audience. —JB
Theaters: TC
Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds, Rebecca Ferguson. Directed by Daniel Espinosa. 103 minutes. Rated R. Life is nothing we haven’t seen before, just a bad alien from outer space out to get us. It’s cobbled together from bits of Alien and Gravity and even Friday the 13th. But the execution by director Espinosa feels fresh, focusing on smooth, succinct technical attributes, interesting casting and even characters who seem smart. —JMA
Theaters: ST, VS
Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen. Directed by James Mangold. 137 minutes. Rated R. Jackman makes his allegedly final appearance as mutant superhero Wolverine in this grim, violent future-set drama. The relationship among the central trio of Wolverine, Professor X and a young mutant girl is strong, but the lengthy plot heads off on too many detours, and the serious tone gets a bit numbing over time. —JB
Theaters: COL, SHO, SS, ST, TX, VS
Charlie Hunnam, Sienna Miller, Robert Pattinson. Directed by James Gray. 141 minutes. Rated PG-13. Based on the life of early 20th-century British explorer Percy Fawcett, Lost City follows Fawcett (Hunnam) over a 20-year period, during which he becomes increasingly obsessed with discovering a lost Amazon civilization. Gray’s dull restraint is a poor substitute for all-out jungle madness, and Hunnam never really burrows into Fawcett’s obsession. —JB
Theaters: AL, GVR, RR, SC, TS
Love Off the Cuff (Not reviewed)
Miriam Yeung, Shawn Yue, Paul Chun. Directed by Pang Ho-cheung. 120 minutes. Not rated. In Cantonese with English subtitles. Lovers Jimmy and Cherie deal with cohabitation in the third movie in the rom-com series that began with 2010’s Love in a Puff.
Theaters: TS
Phoenix Forgotten (Not reviewed)
Florence Hartigan, Chelsea Lopez, Justin Matthews. Directed by Justin Roberts. 85 minutes. Rated PG-13. A group of teenagers search for evidence of an alien landing in the Arizona desert.
Theaters: FH, ST, TX
Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler. Directed by Dean Israelite. 124 minutes. Rated PG-13. Power Rangers wants both to represent a dark, gritty take on the source material and to recapture the cheesy, campy tone of the ’90s TV show. The balance is way off, though, and the movie is far too silly to be taken seriously and yet takes itself far too seriously to be any fun. —JB
Theaters: CH, COL, SF, ST, VS
The Promise (Not reviewed)
Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon, Christian Bale. Directed by Terry George. 132 minutes. Rated PG-13. An Armenian medical student falls in love with an artist amid the World War I-era Armenian genocide.
Theaters: FH, ORL, RR, SHO, SP, TS, VS
The Shack
Sam Worthington, Octavia Spencer, Avraham Aviv Alush. Directed by Stuart Hazeldine. 132 minutes. Rated PG-13. Based on the mega-selling Christian novel, The Shack follows bereaved father Mack (Worthington) as he meets literal representations of the Holy Trinity in the remote cabin where his daughter was murdered. As much a self-help book as a sermon, the movie fails as drama, offering up superficial, simplistic lessons for the ill-defined protagonist. —JB
Theaters: SC
Jacob Latimore, Seychelle Gabriel, Dulé Hill. Directed by J.D. Dillard. 90 minutes. Rated R. What at first appears to be a novel movie about a street magician (Latimore) turns out to be the hackneyed tale of a low-level drug dealer trying to escape the business. Then Sleight takes another turn—one that transforms it into just the latest superhero origin story. —MD
Theaters: AL, DI, RR, SC, SP, TS, TX
Voices of Demi Lovato, Danny Pudi, Jack McBrayer. Directed by Kelly Asbury. 89 minutes. Rated PG. The little blue creatures return to their fully animated roots in this story about lone female Smurf Smurfette discovering a hidden village of Smurf ladies. Lots of slapstick humor and lessons about tolerance ensue, but there’s not nearly enough story for 90 minutes, and the animation is functional and uninspired. —JB
Theaters: BS, CH, COL, ORL, RP, SC, SS, TX
James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Betty Buckley. Directed by M. Night Shyamalan. 117 minutes. Rated PG-13. Shyamalan’s tense thriller keeps up the suspense for its entire running time, telling the story of three teen girls abducted by a man with 23 personalities. It’s another step on Shyamalan’s comeback, telling a sometimes familiar horror story with confidence and a surprising amount of depth. —JB
Theaters: TC
Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle. Directed by Danny Boyle. 117 minutes. Rated R. The surviving gang from 1996’s Trainspotting returns in this 20-years-later sequel, featuring the same cast, the same director and the same screenwriter. As a self-referential portrait of middle-aged regret, it works reasonably well; as a story, less so. —MD
Theaters: COL
Their Finest
Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin, Bill Nighy. Directed by Lone Scherfig. 117 minutes. Rated R. This British dramedy about the production of a pro-military film during World War II is mostly charming, thanks to Arterton’s appealing lead performance as a writer finding her footing. The story turns sentimental and manipulative in its final act, though, stumbling through several endings before closing on a quietly satisfying note. —JB
Theaters: DTS
Rosario Dawson, Katherine Heigl, Geoff Stults. Directed by Denise Di Novi. 100 minutes. Rated R. Unforgettable does nothing to deviate from the established formula of romantic-obsession thrillers, with Heigl as a sinister ex-wife out to sabotage her ex-husband’s new fiancée (Dawson). The movie just plods through its expected beats, and Heigl’s unhinged villainy is all it really has going for it. —JB
Theaters: AL, BS, FH, GVR, ORL, PAL, SC, SS
Voices of Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Mone Kamishiraishi, Ryô Narita. Directed by Makoto Shinkai. 106 minutes. Rated PG. In Japanese with English subtitles. Teenagers Mitsuha, a girl living in a small town, and Taki, a boy in the heart of Tokyo, find themselves inexplicably switching bodies at random in this globally successful and beautifully animated Japanese movie. The story touches on themes of destiny and longing, with a romance that is both epic and intimate. —JB
Theaters: VS
Jessica Chastain, Johan Heldenbergh, Daniel Brühl. Directed by Niki Caro. 124 minutes. Rated PG-13. The true story of a couple in Poland who used their zoo to shelter Jews during World War II deserves recognition, but the movie about them isn’t nearly as bold or risk-taking, following a familiar, predictable narrative with mild suspense and bland inspirational moments. —JB
Theaters: AL, GVR, SC
JMA Jeffrey M. Anderson; JB Josh Bell; MD Mike D’Angelo
Theaters
(AL) Regal Aliante
7300 Aliante Parkway, North Las Vegas, 844-462-7342 ext. 4011
(BS) Regal Boulder Station
4111 Boulder Highway, 844-462-7342 ext. 269
(CAN) Galaxy Cannery
2121 E. Craig Road, North Las Vegas, 702-639-9779
(CH) Cinedome Henderson
851 S. Boulder Highway, Henderson, 702-566-1570
(COL) Regal Colonnade
8880 S. Eastern Ave., 844-462-7342 ext. 270
(DI) Las Vegas Drive-In
4150 W. Carey Ave., North Las Vegas, 702-646-3565
(DTS) Regal Downtown Summerlin
2070 Park Center Drive, 844-462-7342 ext. 4063
(ET) Eclipse Theaters
814 S. Third St., 702-816-4300
(FH) Regal Fiesta Henderson
777 W. Lake Mead Parkway, Henderson, 844-462-7342 ext. 1772
(GVR) Regal Green Valley Ranch
2300 Paseo Verde Parkway, Henderson, 844-462-7342 ext. 267
(GVL) Galaxy Green Valley Luxury+
4500 E. Sunset Road, Henderson, 702-442-0244
(ORL) Century Orleans
4500 W. Tropicana Ave., 702-889-1220
(PAL) Brenden Theatres at the Palms
4321 W. Flamingo Road, 702-507-4849
(RP) AMC Rainbow Promenade
2321 N. Rainbow Blvd., 888-262-4386
(RR) Regal Red Rock
11011 W. Charleston Blvd., 844-462-7342 ext. 1756
(ST) Century Sam’s Town
5111 Boulder Highway, 702-547-1732
(SF) Century Santa Fe Station
4949 N. Rancho Drive, 702-655-8178
(SHO) United Artists Showcase
3769 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 844-462-7342 ext. 522
(SP) Century South Point
9777 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 702-260-4061
(SC) Century Suncoast
9090 Alta Drive, 702-869-1880
(SS) Regal Sunset Station
1301-A W. Sunset Road, Henderson, 844-462-7342 ext. 268
(TX) Regal Texas Station
2101 Texas Star Lane, North Las Vegas, 844-462-7342 ext. 271
(TS) AMC Town Square
6587 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 702-362-7283
(TC) Regency Tropicana Cinemas
3330 E. Tropicana Ave., 702-438-3456
(VS) Regal Village Square
9400 W. Sahara Ave., 844-462-7342 ext. 272