Film Focus: Week of March 28-April 3, 2025
11 mins read

Film Focus: Week of March 28-April 3, 2025

The Editor0

By M. Faust
(Image above: Jenna Ortega in ‘Death of a Unicorn’)

AUDREY’S CHILDREN (PG) Biodrama about British physician Dr. Audrey Evans, cancer researcher and co-founder of the Ronald McDonald House starring Natalie Dormer, Jimmi Simpson, and Clancy Brown. Directed by Ami Canaan Mann (Jackie & Ryan). Regal Quaker, Regal Transit

DAY OF RECKONING (R) Western drama starring Zach Roerig as a sheriff forced to hold the wife of an outlaw captive. With Billy Zane and Cara Jade Myers. Directed by Shaun Silva. Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

DEATH OF A UNICORN (R) From A24, a horror satire starring Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega as a father and daughter caught up in a pharmaceutical company’s efforts to monetize the curative qualities of the mythic horned horses. With Will Poulter, Téa Leoni, and Richard E. Grant. Directed by Alex Scharfman. AMC Maple Ridge, AMC Market Arcade, Dipson Capitol, Dipson Flix, Dipson McKinley, Dunkirk Multiplex, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

L2: EMPURAAN (NR) Indian crime drama, a sequel to Lucifer. Starring Mohanlal, Prithviraj Sukumaran, and Rick Yune. Directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran. Regal Elmwood, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

MAD SQUARE (NR) Wacky-guys-on-campus Telugu comedy. Starring Narne Nithiin, Subhalekha Sudhakar, and Muralidhar Goud. Directed by Kalyan Shankar. Regal Elmwood

THE PENGUIN LESSONS (PG-13) Steve Coogan as a teacher at a private boys’ school in Buenos Ares in 1976 whose waning interest in life is revitalized when he becomes the protector of an injured penguin. With Jonathan Pryce. Directed by Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty). Read M. Faust’s review here Dipson Amherst, North Park, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

PRINCESS MONONOKE (1997) (PG-13) 4K reissue of the Hayao Miyazaki classic. This American version features the voices of Billy Crudup, Billy Bob Thornton, Minnie Driver and Clare Danes. Regal Transit

ROBINHOOD (NR) In this Telugu crime comedy, a modern Robin Hood reluctantly becomes the bodyguard of a high-profile client. Starring Sreeleela, Dayanand Reddy, and David Warner (no, not the famous British actor of the same name.) Regal Elmwood

THE WOMAN IN THE YARD (PG-13) In this Blumhouse horror entry, a woman (Danielle Deadwyler) living with her children in an isolated farmhouse faces a mysterious and malign presence. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (Black Adam). AMC Maple Ridge, AMC Market Arcade, Dipson Capitol, Dipson Flix, Dipson McKinley, Dunkirk Multiplex, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

A WORKING MAN (R) This year’s Jason Statham thriller. With Jason Flemyng, Merab Ninidze, Maximilian Osinski, and Michael Pena. Directed by David Ayer (The Beekeeper). AMC Maple Ridge, AMC Market Arcade, Dipson Capitol, Dipson Flix, Dipson McKinley, Dunkirk Multiplex, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria, Spotlight Theater of Warsaw

NOW PLAYING:

THE ALTO KNIGHTS (R) Robert De Niro in a dual performance as gangsters Frank Costello and Vito Genovese in a film that looks an awful lot like something from Martin Scorsese, though it was actually directed by Barry Levinson (The Natural, Bugsy). With Debra Messing, Cosmo Jarvis, Katherine Narducci, Michael Rispoli, Anthony J. Gallo and Wallace Langham. AMC Maple Ridge, AMC Market Arcade, Dipson Amherst, Dipson Capitol, Dipson Flix, Dunkirk Multiplex, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria Read M. Faust’s review here

ASH (R) Sci-fi thriller starring Eiza González and Aaron Paul as astronauts on a distant planet unsure if they can rely on each other for survival. Directed by Flying Lotus (Kuso). Regal Quaker 

THE ASSESSMENT (R) Dystopian drama set in a future where a couple (Elizabeth Olsen, Himesh Patel) who want to have a child must seek official approval. With Alicia Vikander. Directed by Fleur Fortuné. Regal Quaker

BLACK BAG (R) Director Steven Soderbergh back with a thriller starring Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender as married (to each other) spies whose professional and personal lives inevitably clash. Co-starring Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, and Pierce Brosnan. AMC Maple Ridge, AMC Market Arcade, Dipson Amherst, Dipson Capitol, Dipson Flix, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria Read M. Faust’s review here

CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD (PG-13) Captain America versus a giant, bellowing, incoherent mass of limitless anger colored red. Are we actually getting a political allegory from, of all places, Disney/Marvel? Starring Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Giancarlo Esposito and Carl Lumbly. Directed by Julius Onah (The Cloverfield Paradox). AMC Maple Ridge, AMC Market Arcade, Dipson Capitol, Dunkirk Multiplex, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE (PG) Another attempt to revive the greatest cartoon characters of all time. With the voices of Eric Bauza, Candi Milo, and Peter MacNicol. Directed by Peter Browngardt. Dipson Capitol, Dipson Flix, Regal Quaker, Regal Walden Galleria, Spotlight Theater of Warsaw

DOG MAN (PG) In this animated adaptation of a series of graphic novels, an injured cop and his police dog are merged by a surgeon into one body. With the voices of Pete Davidson, Lil Rel Howery, Isla Fisher, Poppy Liu, Stephen Root, and Ricky Gervais. Directed by Peter Hastings (The Country Bears). Aurora, Dipson Capitol, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit

LAST BREATH (PG-13) True story about deep sea divers trying to rescue a trapped comrade with limited oxygen during a storm. Starring Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu, and Finn Cole. Directed by Alex Parkinson, who also directed the 2019 documentary about the real incident. Spotlight Theater of Warsaw

LOCKED (R) Bill Skarsgård as a petty thief who makes the mistake of breaking into an SUV that has been specially booby trapped by its sadistic owner (Anthony Hopkins). Directed by David Yarovesky (Brightburn). Dipson Capitol, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

MAGAZINE DREAMS (R) Jonathan Majors stars as a loner whose obsessive desire to become a famous fitness model takes on psychotic proportions. With Haley Bennett, Taylour Paige, and Michael O’Hearn. Directed by Elijah Bynum (Hot Summer Nights). AMC Market Arcade

MICKEY 17 (R) From director Bong Joon Ho (Parasite, Snowpiercer), a science fiction comedy starring Robert Pattinson as a space traveler sent on dangerous missions because he can be cloned if he is killed. With Steven Yeun, Michael Monroe, Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette. AMC Maple Ridge, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Walden Galleria

THE MONKEY (R) Horror comedy adapted from a Stephen King short story. Starring Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Christian Convery, Adam Scott, and Elijah Wood. Directed by Oz Perkins (Longlegs). Regal Walden Galleria

MUFASA THE LION KING (PG) Animated sequel, or prequel or whatever. With the voices of Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Tiffany Boone. Directed by Barry Jenkins (If Beale Street Could Talk). Regal Quaker

NOVOCAINE (R) Action comedy starring Jack Quaid as an assistant bank manager whose quest to rescue a kidnapped girl is aided by an unusual ability: he is unable to feel pain. With Amber Midthunder, Ray Nicholson and Matt Walsh. Directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen (Significant Other). AMC Maple Ridge, AMC Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Walden Galleria, Spotlight Theater of Warsaw Read M. Faust’s review here

PADDINGTON IN PERU (PG) The world’s politest bear and his adopted human family journey to Peru to help out his aunt. Starring Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Jessica Hynes, Antonio Banderas, Olivia Colman, Hayley Atwell, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, and the voices of Ben Whishaw and Imelda Staunton. Directed by Dougal Wilson. Regal Quaker

SNOW WHITE (PG) Another Disney live action remake of an animated feature. (Although in these days of CGI, “live action” doesn’t mean what it once did.) Starring Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot, and Andrew Burnap. Directed by Marc Webb (The Amazing Spider-Man 2). AMC Maple Ridge, AMC Market Arcade, Dipson Capitol, Dipson Flix, Dipson McKinley, Dunkirk Multiplex, Hamburg Palace, Joylan, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria, Spotlight Theater of Warsaw

ETC.

THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935)—James Whale’s sequel to his 1931 Frankenstein adds a heightened sense of visual style (the sets and photography are both memorable) and dark humor to the proceedings. Boris Karloff’s performance as the monster is probably his finest moment, though Ernest Thesiger steals the film as the epicurean Dr. Pretorious. The program will also include the first filmed version of Mary Shelley’s story, a short produced by the Edison Company in 1910. Local filmmaker/educator Gregory Lamberson will introduce the Friday screening. Fri 7 pm, Tues 7:30 pm. Screening Room

BUFFALO INTERNATIONAL JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL—The 40th edition of the long-lived festival. Visit the festival’s website for details and screening times. Dipson Amherst

IMAGINE DRAGONS: LIVE FROM THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL—Concert film. Sat 7 pm. North Park

THEATER LOCATIONS AND WEBSITES

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