Buffalo Movies: BIFF offers a full week of films, including ‘Baristas vs Billionaires’

(Above: Channing Tatum in “Roofman” Photo Credit: Davi Russo/Davi Russo – © 2025 PARAMOUNT PICTURES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

By M. Faust

OPENING THIS WEEK: 

BIFF—The Buffalo International Film Festival—This year’s edition expands to a full week, at venues including the North Park Theater, Hallwalls, Buffalo Toronto Public Media and The Burchfield Penney Art Center. For a full schedule visit www.BuffaloFilm.org. 

THE BRIDE (CÔ DÂU MA) (NR) A young Vietnamese woman visiting the rural home of her rich Thai boyfriend is terrorized by a ghost bride holding dark secrets about her fiancé’s family. Starring Narupornkamol Chaisang, Rima Thanh Vy and Duangjai Hiransri. Directed by Lee Thongkham. Regal Walden Galleria

A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE (R) In what sounds like a throwback to the nuclear thrillers of the 1960s, the US government has 20 minutes to react as a missile of unknown origin heads to an American city. Starring Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Greta Lee, and Jason Clarke. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker). Dipson Amherst, Dipson Capitol

KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN (R) First it was a novel by Manuel Puig. In 1984 it became an Oscar winning movie, and in 1993 a Tony-winning musical. Now it’s a movie again. Starring Diego Luna, Tonatiuh, and Jennifer Lopez. Directed by Bill Condon (Chicago). AMC Market Arcade, Dipson Amherst, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

PLAINCLOTHES (NR) In Syracuse of the mid-1990s, a young cop working as bait to entrap gay men struggles with guilt due to his own closeted sexual leanings. Starring Tom Blyth, Russell Tovey, Maria Dizzia, and John Bedford Lloyd. Directed by Carmen Emmi. Regal Quaker, Regal Transit

ROOFMAN (R) Fact-based story of a burglar (Channing Tatum) who escaped prison and hid out in a toy store for six months. Co-starring Kirsten Dunst, LaKeith Stanfield, Juno Temple and Peter Dinklage. Directed by Derek Cianfrance (The Light Between Oceans). 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-Sat only)

SOOHE VE CHEERE WALEYA (NR) A romance between two people who have never met in person becomes a metaphor for the lingering effects of Partition in this Indian drama. Starring Nirvair Pannu, Tanu Grewal, and Bir Singh. Directed by Janjot Singh. Regal Elmwood

SOUL ON FIRE (PG) True story about a boy whose family and love of baseball pulled him through after he was horribly burned in an accident. Starring William H. Macy, John Corbett, Stephanie Szostak, and Joel Courtney. Directed by Sean McNamara (Soul Surfer). AMC Maple Ridge, Dipson Capitol, Dipson Flix, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit

SUNNY SANSKARI KI TULSI KUMARI (NR) In this Hindi romcom, two spurned lovers crash the wedding of their former fiancés. Starring Varun Dhawan, Janhvi Kapoor and Rohit Saraf. Directed by Shashank Khaitan. Regal Elmwood

TRON: ARES (PG-13) Sequel. Or reboot—so hard to keep these straight. Starring Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Jeff Bridges, Gillian Anderson, and Hasan Minhaj. Directed by Joachim Rønning (Maleficent: Mistress of Evil). AMC Maple Ridge, AMC Market Arcade, Aurora, Dipson Capitol, Dipson Flix, Hamburg Palace, Joylan, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria, Spotlight Theater of Warsaw, Transit Drive-In (Fri-Sat only)

NOW PLAYING: 

ANEMONE (R) Daniel Day-Lewis emerges from retirement (c’mon, we all knew it was only a matter of time) to star in this drama he wrote with his son Ronan (who directed) about a guilt-ridden man who withdrew from his family to live alone in the woods. Co-starring Sean Bean, Samantha Morton, and Samuel Bottomley. Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Walden Galleria

BONE LAKE (R) Horror thriller that begins when two couples are forced to share a vacation rental that they both booked. Starring Maddie Hasson, Marco Pigossi, Alex Roe, and Andra Nechita. Directed by Mercedes Bryce Morgan. Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria, Transit Drive-In (Fri-Sat only)

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-Sat only)

DEAD OF WINTER (R) Thriller starring Emma Thompson as a woman lost while driving in remote Minnesota who becomes involved in a kidnapping plot. With Judy Greer, Marc Menchaca and Laurel Marsden. Directed by Brian Kirk (21 Bridges). Regal Transit

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, Dipson Capitol, Dipson Flix, Dunkirk Multiplex, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

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. Regal Quaker, Regal Transit

ELEANOR THE GREAT (G) Scarlett Johansson makes her directorial debut with this drama starring June Squibb as an elderly woman who resorts to lying about her past in order to make friends. With Chiwetel Ejiofor, Erin Kellyman and Jessica Hecht. Regal Transit 

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). Transit Drive-In (Fri-Sat only)

GABBY’S DOLLHOUSE: THE MOVIE (G) Feature adaptation of a Netflix series that you’re unlikely ever to have heard of unless you have very young children. Starring Laila Lockhart Kraner, Carla Tassara and Kristen Wiig. Directed by Ryan Crego (Shrek Forever After). AMC Maple Ridge, Dipson Capitol, Dipson Flix, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria, Spotlight Theater of Warsaw

GOOD BOY (PG-13) A dog tries to save his owner from the ghostly forces haunting their new rural home in this SXSW hit. Starring Indy, Shane Jensen, Larry Fessenden, and Arielle Friedman. Directed by Ben Leonberg. Dipson Capitol, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria, Transit Drive-In (Fri-Sat only)

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, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

KANTARA: A LEGEND – CHAPTER 1 (NR) Prequel to Kantara: A Legend – Chapter 2. Starring Rishab Shetty, Jayaram and Rukmini Vasanth. Directed by Rishab Shetty. 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). Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Walden Galleria

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (R) Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s new film, loosely inspired by the Thomas Pynchon novel Vineland, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a onetime radical who tried to summon up his former fire when his daughter is kidnapped. Co-starring Sean Penn, Benecio del Toro and Regina Hall. AMC Maple Ridge, AMC Market Arcade, Dipson Amherst, Dipson Capitol, Dipson Flix, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria, Spotlight Theater of Warsaw

PERFECT BLUE (Japan, 1997, NR) Restored version of the anime thriller about a pop singer driven to madness by a stalker. Directed by Satoshi Kon. Regal Elmwood, 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. Spotlight Theater of Warsaw

THE SMASHING MACHINE (R) Dwayne Johnson as UFC fighter Mark Kerr. With Emily Blunt, Ryan Bader, and Bas Rutten. Directed by Benny Safdie, formerly of the brother duo that made Uncut Gems. AMC Maple Ridge, AMC Market Arcade, Dipson Capitol, Dipson Flix, Dunkirk Multiplex, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 2 (R) Horror sequel. With Madelaine Petsch, Gabriel Basso and Ema Horvath. Directed by Renny Harlin (The Adventures of Ford Fairlaine). AMC Market Arcade, Dunkirk Multiplex, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria, Transit Drive-In (Fri-Sat 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). Transit Drive In (Fri-Sat only)

ETC:

BEETLEJUICE (1988) and GHOSTBUSTERS (1984)—Double feature from the 80s, when scary went funny. The combined casts include Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Catherine O’Hara, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis and Rick Moranis. Directed by Tim Burton and Ivan Reitman. Transit Drive-In (Fri-Sat only)

HAUNTEDWEEN (1991)—Events at a haunted house staged as a frat fundraiser get a little too real in this low-budget slasher movie that is apparently a cult movie among students at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, where it was filmed. Starring Brien Blakely, Blake Pickett and Brad Hank. Directed by Doug Robertson. Sat 7:30 pm. Screening Room

MONK IN PIECES (1991)— Documentary about Meredith Monk, who for 60 years has been creating multi-disciplinary works combining music, theatre, and dance, a corpus so singular that in her 80s she wonders if it can survive without her. Directed by Billy Shebar and David C. Roberts. Tues 7 pm. Hallwalls

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984)—The movie that introduced Freddy Krueger. Starring Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Robert Englund, Amanda Wyss and Johnny Depp. Directed by Wes Craven (Scream). Sun, Mon 1:15 pm, Thurs 7 pm. Angola Theatre

SUSPIRIA (Italy, 1976)—If you’ve never seen a film by the Italian horror maestro Dario Argento, this is the one to start with. Jessica Harper is the new student at a ballet school in the one-time residence of an infamous witch. The plot is less interesting than Argento’s use of color and music (by the band Goblin). With Udo Kier, Alida Valli and Joan Bennett. Fri, Tues 7:30 pm. Screening Room

THEATER LOCATIONS AND WEBSITES

AMC Maple Ridge, 4276 Maple Road, Amherst www.amctheatres.com

AMC Market Arcade, 639 Main Street, Buffalo www.amctheatres.com

Angola Theatre, 72 N. Main St., Angola, NY

Aurora Theater, 673 Main Street, East Aurora https://theauroratheatre.com/

Dipson Amherst, 3500 Main Street, Buffalo. www.dipsontheatres.com

Dipson Capitol Theater, 720 Builders Way, Niagara Falls www.dipsontheatres.com

Dipson Flix, 4901 Transit Road, Depew www.dipsontheatres.com

Dipson McKinley, 3701 McKinley Parkway, Hamburg www.dipsontheatres.com CLOSED

Dunkirk Multiplex, 10520 Bennett Road, Dunkirk https://www.dunkirkmultiplex.com/

Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center Cinema, 431 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo https://www.hallwalls.org/

Hamburg Palace, 31 Buffalo Street, Hamburg www.hamburgpalace.com

Joylan, 11 W. Main Street, Springville https://joylantheater.com/

North Park, 1428 Hertel Avenue, Buffalo https://northparktheatre.org/

Regal Elmwood, 2001 Elmwood Avenue., Buffalo https://www.fandango.com/

Regal Quaker Crossing, 3450 Amelia Drive, Orchard Park https://www.fandango.com/

Regal Transit, 6707 Transit Road. Williamsville https://www.fandango.com/

Regal Walden Galleria, Galleria Mall, Cheektowaga https://www.fandango.com/

The Screening Room, Boulevard Mall Amherst www.screeningroom.net

Spotlight Theater of Warsaw, 23 S Main Street, Warsaw www.thespotlighttheaters.com/

Squeaky Wheel, Tri-Main Center, 2495 Main Street, Suite 310, Buffalo https://squeaky.org/

Transit Drive-In Theatre, 6655 S. Transit Road, Lockport https://www.transitdrivein.com