Film Focus: ‘Afterburn,’ ‘The History of Sound,’ ‘Xeno’ among openings
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Film Focus: ‘Afterburn,’ ‘The History of Sound,’ ‘Xeno’ among openings

The Editor0Tagged ,

Buffalo Movies: What’s showing in WNY

By M. Faust
(Image above: Samuel L. Jackson and Dave Bautista in ‘Afterburn’)

OPENING THIS WEEK: 

AFTERBURN (NR) Post-apocalyptic thriller. Starring Dave Bautista, Samuel L. Jackson and Olga Kurylenko. Directed by former stuntman J.J. Perry. Dipson Capitol, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

A BIG BOLD BEAUTIFUL JOURNEY (R) Fantasy starring Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie as strangers who meet at a wedding and are given a chance to relive their earlier lives. Somone really should have changed that title. With Jennifer Grant, Hamish Linklater and Kevin Kline. Directed by Kogonada (After Yang). AMC Maple Ridge, AMC Market Arcade, Dipson Amherst, Dipson Capitol, Dipson Flix, Dunkirk Multiplex, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

FACE OFF 8: EMBRACE OF LIGHT (NR) Vietnamese comedy-drama in the Jazz Singer mode, as a young man defies his family’s expectations to pursue his love of dancing. Starring Yuno Bigboi, Kim Phuong and Ho Dong Quan. Directed by Ly Hai. Regal Walden Galleria

HIM (R) To the best of my knowledge, the first football horror movie, starring Tyriq Withers as an injured young player who submits to a desperate new training regimen. With Marlon Wayans, Julia Fox, Tim Heidecker, and Jim Jeffries. Directed by Justin Tipping. AMC Maple Ridge, AMC Market Arcade, Dipson Capitol, Dipson Flix, Dunkirk Multiplex, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria, Spotlight Theater of Warsaw, Transit Drive-In (Fri-Sun only)

THE HISTORY OF SOUND (R) Film festival favorite set in New England in the early 20th century, with Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor as lovers who bond over a shared love of folk music. With Chris Cooper, and Raphael Sbarge. Directed by Oliver Hermanus (Living). Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE (PG) Reissue of Hayao Miyazaki’s fairy tale with traces of steampunk design about a young girl curse to inhabit the body of a 90-year-old woman. The English language version features the voices of Christian Bale, Jean Simmons, Lauren Bacall, Emily Mortimer and Billy Crystal. Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria, Spotlight Theater of Warsaw

MEGADOC (NR) Documentary about Francis Ford Coppola’s decades long effort to film Megalopolis, which he self-financed. Directed by Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas). Regal Quaker

LONDON CALLING (R) A down on his luck hitman is forced to babysit the son of his new crime boss. Starring Josh Duhamel, Jeremy Ray Taylor, and Aidan Gillen. Directed by Allan Ungar (Bandit). Regal Quaker

THE SENIOR (PG) Michael Chicklis as a 59-year-old man determined to finish the college football career that was sidelined decades earlier. With Mary Stuart Masterson and Brandon Flynn. Directed by Rod Lurie. AMC Maple Ridge, AMC Market Arcade, Dipson Capitol, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

WALTZING WITH BRANDO (NR) Comedy based on the true story of actor Marlon Brando’s efforts to make livable an uninhabited Tahitian island he has purchased. Starring Billy Zane, Jon Heder and Camille Razat. Directed by Bill Fishman. Regal Quaker

XENO (PG-13) The Henson Company co-produced this sci-fi drama about a teenage girl ad tries to protect an alien being whose ship crashed in the desert near her home. Starring Lulu Wilson, Paul Schneider and Wrenn Schmidt. Directed by Matthew Loren Oates Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

NOW PLAYING:

THE BAD GUYS 2 (PG) Animated sequel. With the voices of Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Awkwafina, Colin Jost, Natasha Lyonne, Richard Ayoade, and Alex Borstein. Directed by Pierre Perifel. Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria 

THE BALTIMORONS (R) A recovering alcoholic and the dentist who performed emergency surgery on him explore Baltimore at Christmas time. It sounds like it should be a John Waters movie but it was directed by Jay Duplass. With Michael Strassner, Liz Larsen and Olivia Luccardi. Regal Quaker

CODE 3 (R) Rainn Wilson as a burnt-out paramedic spending his last day training his replacement. I guess it’s a comedy? With Lil Rel Howery, Aimee Carrero and Rob Riggle. Directed by Christopher Leone. Regal Quaker

THE CONJURING: LAST RITES (R) Sequel. Starring Vera Farmiga Patrick Wilson and Elliot Cowan. Directed by Michael Chaves (The Nun II). AMC Maple Ridge, AMC Market Arcade, Dipson Capitol, Dipson Flix, Dunkirk Multiplex, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria, Transit Drive-In (Fri-Sun only)

DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA INFINITY CASTLE (R) Proof, if there was any doubt, that anime has gone mainstream. Directed by Haruo Sotozaki and Hikaru Kondô. AMC Maple Ridge, AMC Market Arcade, Dipson Amherst, Dipson Capitol, Dipson Flix, Dunkirk Multiplex, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria, Spotlight Theater of Warsaw

DOWNTON ABBEY: THE GRAND FINALE (PG) “Finale”? I’ll bet money that Julian Fellowes is already working on a reboot and/or a prequel series. For the time being, Paul Giamatti and Joely Richardson join the usual cast: Michelle Dockery, Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Brendan Coyle, Joanne Froggatt, Robert James-Collier, Dominic West, Penelope Wilton, et alia. Directed by Simon Curtis (Downton Abbey: A New Era). Read M. Faust’s review here. AMC Maple Ridge, AMC Market Arcade, Aurora, Dipson Amherst, Dipson Capitol, Dipson Flix, Dunkirk Multiplex, Joylan, North Park, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria, Spotlight Theater of Warsaw

THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS (PG-13) The beginning of Phase Six of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Which either means something to you or it doesn’t. Starring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss‑Bachrach and Julia Garner. Directed by Matt Shakman (WandaVision). Regal Quaker 

FREAKIER FRIDAY (PG) Sequel to the 2003 remake of the 1976 Disney comedy. Reportedly the cast all play age-appropriate roles. Starring Lindsay Lohan, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chad Michael Murray, and Mark Harmon. Directed by Nisha Ganatra (Late Night). Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

HAMILTON (2020) (PG-13) Theatrical premiere of the filmed recording of the original Broadway show that was first broadcast in 2020. In other words, not a film adaptation. Starring Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Daveed Diggs, Phillipa Soo, Anthony Ramos, Jasmine Cephas Jones and Okieriete Onaodowan. Directed by Thomas Kail. AMC Maple Ridge, Dipson Flix, Dunkirk Multiplex, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Walden Galleria

KISHKINDHAPURI (NR) Tourists are trapped inside a haunted radio station in this Telugu horror movie. With Sai Srinivas Bellamkonda, Anupama Parameswaran, and Makrand Deshpande. Directed by Koushik Pegallapati. Regal Elmwood

LILO & STITCH (PG) Another live-action remake of a Disney animated movie. Didn’t they learn anything from Snow White? Starring Sydney Elizabeth Agudong, Billy Magnussen, Tia Carrere, Courtney B. Vance, and Zach Galifianakis. Directed by Dean Fleischer Camp (Marcel the Shell with Shoes On). Transit Drive In (Fri-Sun only)

LITTLE HEARTS (NR) Telugu romance about two young people who meet during study groups to improve their college boards. Starring Mouli Tanuj Prasanth, Shivani Nagaram and Rajeev Kanakala. Directed by Sai Marthand. Regal Elmwood

THE LONG WALK (R) Adaptation of Stephen King’s first and grimmest novel, set in a dystopian future where young men chosen by lottery compete on a walk in which the last one alive wins. Starring Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Charlie Plummer and Judy Geer. Directed, appropriately enough, by Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games). AMC Maple Ridge, AMC Market Arcade, Dipson Capitol, Dipson Flix, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria, Transit Drive In (Fri-Sun only)

MIRAI (NR) Indian fantasy about the struggle for control of scriptures that can turn a human into a god. Starring Teja Sajja, Manoj Kumar Manchu and Ritika Nayak. Directed by Karthik Gattamneni and Anil Anand. Regal Elmwood

THE NAKED GUN (PG-13) Slapstick comedy series rebooted to give 73-year-old Liam Neeson a break from having to run around in action movies. With Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser and Danny Huston. Directed by former SNL writer Akiva Schaffer. Regal Transit

THE ROSES (R) Reimagining of the classic 1988 divorce comedy The War of the Roses. Starring Olivia Colman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kate McKinnon, Andy Samberg and Allison Janney. Directed by Jay Roach (Meet the Fockers). Regal Quaker

SPINAL TAP II: THE END CONTINUES (R) It only took 41 years! The original cast—Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Rob Reiner (who also directed), with Fran Drescher and Paul Shaffer—is joined by cameos from Elton John, Paul McCartney, Questlove, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, and Lars Ulrich. Read M. Faust’s review here. Dunkirk Multiplex, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

SUPERMAN (PG-13) Director James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) takes over the task of trying to turn the original superhero into a studio tentpole. Starring David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Bradley Cooper, Skyler Gisondo, and Wendell Pierce. Regal Walden Galleria

TOY STORY (1995, G) Thirtieth anniversary reissue of the movie that put Pixar on the map. With the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, John Ratzenberger, Wallace Shawn, R. Lee Ermey, Penn Jillette, Laurie Metcalf, Jim Varney, and Annie Potts. Directed by John Lasseter. Angola (no show Tues-Weds), Dipson Capitol, Dipson Flix, Dunkirk Multiplex, Hamburg Palace, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria, Transit Drive In (Fri-Sun only)

WEAPONS (R) A community slowly unravels after all the local third graders except one disappear overnight. Starring Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, and Alden Ehrenreich. Directed by Zach Cregger (Barbarian). AMC Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Walden Galleria, Transit Drive In

ETC:

AMAZING FANTASY FEST—The last days of this festival of the scary, supernatural and otherwise fantastical moves over to the Screening Room. For more information see here. Screening Room 

HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE (PG, 2001) and HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS (PG, 2003)—First two parts of the film adaptations of the popular books. With Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, John Cleese, Alan Rickman, Michael Gambon, Ian Hart, John Hurt, Fiona Shaw, Maggie Smith, John Cleese and Julie Walters. Directed by Chris Columbus (Home Alone). Fri-Sat 8:10 pm. Transit Drive-In

MAKE ME FAMOUS (NR)—Documentary tracing the career of Edward Brezinski, a painter from Manhattan’s Lower East Side scene of the early 1980s, who desperately wanted but never achieved the fame of contemporaries like Keith Haring, David Wojnarowicz, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Directed by Brian Vincent. Weds 7 pm. Hallwalls

Silent Classics double feature: BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (USSR, 1925) and MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA (USSR, 1929)—Sergei Eisenstein’s silent masterpiece recreates a mutiny aboard a Russian battleship and the riot that ensues when the ship lands. The Odessa steps sequences remains one of the most powerful scenes in cinema history. Dziga Vertov’s documentary about a day in the life of Moscow and its citizens may well be the single most influential film ever made, for its exhilarating range of stylistic techniques. Tues 7 pm. Screening Room

TRIUMPH OF THE HEART (NR)—Drama based on the true story of a priest at Auschwitz who volunteered to take the place of a family man who was one of a group of prisoners sentenced to be starved to death. Starring Rowan Polonski, Christopher Sherwood, and Sharon Oliphant. Directed by Anthony D’Ambrosio. Sat-Sun 11:30 am. North Park

THEATER LOCATIONS AND WEBSITES

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