Special screenings
Date Skate
Mon, ice skating plus movie double feature, 6 & 9 p.m., $10-$20. 12/12, Scrooged, Trading Places. Boulevard Pool at the Cosmopolitan, 702-698-7000.
George Takei’s Allegiance
12/13, broadcast of Broadway musical, 7:30 p.m., $18-$20. Theaters: COL, ORL, SF, SP, ST, VS. Info: fathomevents.com.
The Metropolitan Opera HD Live
12/10, Saariaho’s L’Amour de Loin live, 9:55 a.m., $18-$24. Theaters: COL, ORL, SF, SP, ST, VS. Info: fathomevents.com.
The Rolling Stones Olé Olé Olé
12/12, concert documentary from the Rolling Stones’ 2016 Latin American tour, 8 p.m., $13-$15. Theaters: ORL, SF, SP, VS. Info: fathomevents.com.
Saturday Movie Matinee
12/10, Ghostbusters (2016), 2 p.m., free. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, 702-507-3400. 12/10, 1 p.m., free. Windmill Library, 7060 W. Windmill Lane, 702-507-6036.
Sci Fi Center
Mon, Cinemondays, 8 p.m., free. 12/10, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, The Rocky Horror Picture Show with live shadow cast, 8 p.m., $10. 12/13, 12/15, 12/20, The Radiant One premiere with cast and crew, 8 p.m., $7. 5077 Arville St., 855-501-4335, thescificenter.com.
Spirited Away: 15th Anniversary
12/8, Japanese animated feature (English dubbed) plus short film Ghiblies: Episode 2, 7 p.m., $10-$12.50. Theaters: COL, ORL, SF, SP, ST, VS. Info: fathomevents.com.
TCM Big Screen Classics
12/11, 12/14, From Here to Eternity plus introduction from Turner Classic Movies, 2 & 7 p.m., $7.50-$12.50. Theaters: CAN, COL, ORL, SF, SP, ST, VS. Info: fathomevents.com.
Tuesday Afternoon at the Bijou
Tue, 1 p.m., free. 12/13, The Man Who Came to Dinner. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, 702-507-3400.
New this week
Befikre (Not reviewed)
Vaani Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Elisa Bachir Bey. Directed by Aditya Chopra. 132 minutes. Not rated. In Hindi with English subtitles. Two Indian expatriates find love in Paris.
Theaters: ST, VS
The Bounce Back 
Shemar Moore, Nadine Velazquez, Michael Beach. Directed by Youssef Delara. 104 minutes. Rated PG-13. Moore and Velazquez play opposing relationship experts who predictably fall in love in this occasionally charming but mostly dull indie romantic comedy. The leads have minimal chemistry, the jokes are stale, the relationship dynamics are dated and the production values strain the obviously low budget. —JB
Theaters: PAL, RR, SF, SP, TS, TX, VS
Directed by Otto Bell. 87 minutes. Rated G. In Kazakh with English subtitles. This crowd-pleasing documentary about a 13-year-old Mongolian girl breaking into the all-male world of training eagles for hunting follows such an audience-friendly, cliché-filled narrative, and is delivered with such slick visuals, that it more resembles an empowering advertisement than a document of real life—even if it’s still entertaining to watch. –JB
Theaters: SC
Michael Shannon, Imogen Poots, Michael Nyqvist. Directed by Matthew Ross. 88 minutes. Not rated. Set in Las Vegas, this story of an intensely jealous chef (Shannon) and his insecure, damaged girlfriend (Poots) is intriguing and often unsettling, although the imbalance between the title characters is eventually a bit unsatisfying. Shannon is typically volatile and mesmerizing, but Poots can’t quite carry the relationship’s emotional weight. —JB
Theaters: PAL
Casey Affleck, Lucas Hedges, Kyle Chandler. Directed by Kenneth Lonergan. 137 minutes. Rated R. Lonergan’s superb third feature (following the equally terrific You Can Count on Me and Margaret) stars Affleck—now a Best Actor frontrunner—as a janitor with a tragic past who unexpectedly finds himself tasked with caring for his teenage nephew (Hedges). Funny and heartbreaking. —MD
Theaters: COL, DTS, SC, TS
Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Directed by John Madden. 132 minutes. Rated R. Chastain plays a ruthless but crusading lobbyist in this political drama that attempts, with varying success, to have it both ways. Chastain is fiercely compelling as the title character, but the movie is so focused on blowing the audience’s mind that it eventually loses credibility. —JB
Theaters: AL, COL, ET, FH, ORL, PAL, RR, SC, SF, SP, SS, ST, TX
Jake Gyllenhaal, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon. Directed by Tom Ford. 116 minutes. Rated R. Fashion designer Ford (A Single Man) adapts Austin Wright’s novel Tony and Susan for his second feature, which tells two pointedly related stories. One involves Adams as a rich but lonely art gallery owner; the other is her imagining of a violent novel written by her estranged ex-husband (Gyllenhaal). —MD
Theaters: AL, COL, DTS, ET, FH, ORL, PAL, SF, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Jason Bateman, T.J. Miller, Olivia Munn, Jennifer Aniston. Directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck. 105 minutes. Rated R. The employees of a Chicago tech company throw a huge holiday party to land a big client and save their jobs. Naturally, things get out of hand, in a predictable and tiresome fashion. Even the talented cast’s comedic skills aren’t enough to overcome the poorly structured plot and formulaic lessons. —JB
Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, DI, ET, FH, GVL, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
The Polar Express (Not reviewed)
Tom Hanks, Daryl Sabara, Leslie Zemeckis. Directed by Robert Zemeckis. 100 minutes. Rated G. Imax re-release of the 2004 animated Christmas movie.
Theaters: RR, SS, TS
The Super Parental Guardians (Not reviewed)
Vice Ganda, Coco Martin, Awra Briguela, Onyok Pineda. Directed by Joyce Bernal. 115 minutes. Not rated. In Filipino with English subtitles. Two very different people attempt to get along when left to take care of two children following the death of their parents.
Theaters: ORL, VS
Sword Master
Kenny Lin, Peter Ho, Yiyan Jiang. Directed by Derek Yee. 108 minutes. Not rated. In Mandarin with English subtitles. An elite swordsman attempts to leave his violent life behind in this cheesy, old-fashioned martial-arts saga, a remake of 1977’s Death Duel. With its garish CGI, melodramatic and convoluted plot and over-the-top performances, the movie is exhausting, and the mostly mediocre fight scenes aren’t lively enough to break through the kitsch. —JB
Theaters: TS
Now playing
Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, Jon Bernthal, J.K. Simmons. Directed by Gavin O’Connor. 128 minutes. Rated R. Affleck plays an autistic accountant and combat expert in this ludicrous thriller that grossly mischaracterizes autism. The sometimes solid action is surrounded by increasingly far-fetched and clumsily delivered exposition. The movie piles on silly plot twists and reveals in service of a story that’s not even particularly interesting. —JB
Theaters: GVR, ORL, RR, ST, VS
Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard, Jared Harris. Directed by Robert Zemeckis. 124 minutes. Rated R. Zemeckis’ gratifyingly old-school WWII drama stars Pitt and Cotillard as spies who accidentally fall in love while pretending to be married as part of an operation. If nothing else, the film’s elegance makes for a welcome respite from endless CGI pyrotechnics aimed at bored teenagers. —MD
Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, DTS, FH, GVL, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Almost Christmas (Not reviewed)
Kimberly Elise, Omar Epps, Danny Glover. Directed by David E. Talbert. 112 minutes. Rated PG-13. A dysfunctional family gets together for Thanksgiving following the death of the family matriarch.
Theaters: AL, BS, CH, PAL, RR, ST, TX, VS
Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker. Directed by Denis Villeneuve. 116 minutes. Rated PG-13. Hard sci-fi that’s easy to enjoy, Arrival stars Adams as a linguist who’s drafted by the U.S. military to help translate an alien language—by “talking” to the bizarre creatures face to face. Here, for the first time in ages, is proof that “thrilling” and “analytical” aren’t mutually exclusive. —MD
Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, FH, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Kathy Bates. Directed by Mark Waters. 92 minutes. Rated R. This belated sequel featuring alcoholic degenerate Willie Soke (Thornton) and his partner in crime Marcus (Cox) once again posing as Santa and his elf in order to pull off a heist captures very little of the wit or surprising likability of the original, instead going right for easy vulgarity and grossness. —JB
Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, DI, ET, FH, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Believe (Not reviewed)
Ryan O'Quinn, Shawnee Smith, Isaac Ryan Brown. Directed by Billy Dickson. 120 minutes. Rated PG. A small-town business owner works to preserve the local Christmas pageant.
Theaters: COL, ST, VS
Miles Teller, Aaron Eckhart, Ciaran Hinds. Directed by Ben Younger. 116 minutes. Rated R. This biopic about boxer Vinny Pazienza, focusing on his recovery from a serious car accident, is unremarkable, predictable and forgettable, slotting its real-life main character into a familiar formula. There are a handful of emotional moments, but mostly writer-director Younger sticks to the basics, and the straightforward boxing scenes are nothing special. —JB
Theaters: GVR, TX, VS
Boo! A Madea Halloween (Not reviewed)
Tyler Perry, Diamond White, Bella Thorne. Directed by Tyler Perry. 103 minutes. Rated PG-13. Simmons family matriarch Madea spends Halloween watching unruly teenagers and fending off supernatural threats.
Theaters: BS
Dear Zindagi (Not reviewed)
Alia Bhatt, Shah Rukh Khan, Ira Dubey. Directed by Gauri Shinde. 150 minutes. Not rated. In Hindi with English subtitles. A young woman on a career path has her life changed when she meets an unconventional man.
Theaters: VS
Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, Gina Rodriguez. Directed by Peter Berg. 107 minutes. Rated PG-13. Wahlberg demonstrates plausibly low-key heroism in this dramatization of the 2010 oil-rig explosion that killed 11 workers and dumped some 5 million barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico. Apart from a cartoonishly detestable BP rep played by John Malkovich, the nightmare feels distressingly accurate. —MD
Theaters: TC
Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, Rachel McAdams. Directed by Scott Derrickson. 115 minutes. Rated PG-13. Marvel’s latest superhero movie follows a familiar template in telling the origin story of mystical hero Doctor Strange (Cumberbatch). While the story isn’t groundbreaking, the characters are engaging, the dialogue is snappy, the performances are lively and the special effects are dazzling, making for some astonishing action set pieces. —JB
Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, DI, DTS, ET, FH, GVL, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, TS, TX
Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Stephen Lang. Directed by Fede Alvarez. 88 minutes. Rated R. Teens break into an isolated house, only to be confronted by the owner, a blind veteran who’s more dangerous than he appears. At first, Don’t Breathe is admirably gritty and visceral, but it’s ruined by increasingly gross and unbelievable twists. What started as an intense, gripping thriller becomes a ridiculous cartoon. —JB
Theaters: TC
Hailee Steinfeld, Woody Harrelson, Haley Lu Richardson. Directed by Kelly Fremon Craig. 104 minutes. Rated R. Steinfeld is fantastic as sullen, overdramatic teen Nadine in Craig’s funny, heartfelt coming-of-age story. Craig depicts Nadine’s freak-outs with sensitivity and wit, grounding even the goofiest plot developments in real emotion. The humor and the heartbreak are equally affecting, making for the most satisfying American teen movie in years. —JB
Theaters: AL, BS, CH, COL, RR, SC, SHO, TS
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 
Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler. Directed by David Yates. 133 minutes. Rated PG-13. This Harry Potter spinoff set in 1926 NYC is an entertaining ride, even if it doesn’t make a case for itself as essential. Wizard Newt Scamander’s quest to recapture his weird, cute and creatively designed beasts is light and fun, but the darker storylines, mostly setting up future installments, are less thrilling. —JB
Theaters: AL, CAN, CH, COL, DI, DTS, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Justin Theroux. Directed by Tate Taylor. 112 minutes. Rated R. For all its misdirections, at heart this thriller based on Paula Hawkins’ bestselling novel is a pretty conventional mystery with a fairly predictable outcome. But what it lacks in innovative thrills, it makes up for in engrossing, well-drawn characters, led by Blunt as an alcoholic divorcee fixated on a missing woman. —JB
Theaters: SC, TC
Andrew Garfield, Teresa Palmer, Vince Vaughn. Directed by Mel Gibson. 131 minutes. Rated R. The first half of this biopic about nonviolent WWII hero Desmond Doss (Garfield) is an ultra-corny small-town family drama and romance, while the second half has excessively violent and gory battlefield action. The movie lays on the sentiment and the blood and guts in equal measure, and both drown out the genuine heroism. —JB
Theaters: AL, FH, GVR, ORL, RR, SF, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Incarnate (Not reviewed)
Aaron Eckhart, Carice van Houten, David Mazouz. Directed by Brad Peyton. 91 minutes. Rated PG-13. An exorcist with psychic powers attempts to save a young boy from a demon.
Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, DI, FH, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SP, SS, TS, TX
Tom Hanks, Felicity Jones, Ben Foster. Directed by Ron Howard. 121 minutes. Rated PG-13. Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon (Hanks) returns to use his arcane knowledge to track down a deadly virus that could wipe out half the planet. Despite the absurdly raised stakes, though, Inferno never feels particularly urgent, and everyone involved seems to be just going through the motions. —JB
Theaters: COL
Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders, Danika Yarosh. Directed by Edward Zwick. 118 minutes. Rated PG-13. The sequel to 2012’s Jack Reacher finds the title character (Cruise) determined to clear the name of his longtime military contact (Smulders), who’s been arrested and accused of espionage. He’s also saddled with a spunky teenage sidekick (Yarosh), and the generic plot and mediocre action scenes don’t help. —JB
Theaters: GVR, TC, VS
Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga, Alano Miller. Directed by Jeff Nichols. 123 minutes. Rated PG-13. Nichols’ film dramatizes the events that led to the landmark 1967 Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia, which legalized interracial marriage in the U.S. While the film preaches to the converted, there seem to be fewer of the converted than many of us had hoped. —MD
Theaters: COL, SC, SP, TS
Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke. Directed by Antoine Fuqua. 132 minutes. Rated PG-13. Seven badasses (including Washington, Pratt and Hawke) band together to save a small town from a sadistic villain, each demonstrating his own specialized variant of combat-related magnificence. It’s such a durable scenario that not even a director as ham-handed as Fuqua (Southpaw, Shooter) can completely screw it up. —MD
Theaters: TC
Shia LaBeouf, Jai Courtney, Kate Mara. Directed by Dito Montiel. 92 minutes. Rated R. LaBeouf plays a Marine dealing with trauma both on and off the battlefield in this melodramatic and manipulative psychological thriller, which pays lip service to honoring veterans while exploiting their struggles for absurd plot twists and cheap thrills. —JB
Theaters: RR, ST
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Asa Butterfield, Ella Purnell, Eva Green. Directed by Tim Burton. 127 minutes. Rated PG-13. Based on a popular series of young-adult novels, Peculiar Children is a tedious mash-up of familiar teen-fantasy tropes, starting with the ordinary kid who learns that he’s part of a secret, magical world. Burton displays none of his trademark dark creativity, and even the special effects are lackluster. —JB
Theaters: TC
Voices of Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Rachel House. Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker. 113 minutes. Rated PG. Influenced by Polynesian mythology, Moana is a pleasant but not particularly distinctive addition to the Disney animated princess canon, with the title character (Cravalho) seeking out a buffoonish demigod (Johnson) in order to save her island home. The animation is lovely, but the songs and the plot are mediocre. —JB
Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, DI, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, TS, TX
Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes. Directed by Barry Jenkins. 110 minutes. Rated R. Divided into three segments, Moonlight follows the introverted, gay Chiron as a kid, a teenager and a young man, coming to terms with his identity growing up in one of Miami’s poorest African-American neighborhoods. It’s rooted in real details, and each segment (even the slow-moving final third) achieves its own grace. —JB
Theaters: COL, SC, TX
Elizabeth Reaser, Annalise Basso, Lulu Wilson. Directed by Mike Flanagan. 99 minutes. Rated PG-13. Director Flanagan (Oculus, Hush) scraps the previous, terrible Ouija (2014) and starts fresh with this sequel. It’s full of the usual white eyes and stretchy mouths, but its weird, deliberately off-putting compositions and morbidly funny twists turn it into an unexpectedly good chiller. —JMA
Theaters: BS
Alden Ehrenreich, Lily Collins, Warren Beatty. Directed by Warren Beatty. 126 minutes. Rated PG-13. Beatty’s long-in-the-works Howard Hughes drama is really about two fictional Hughes employees played by Ehrenreich and Collins, who engage in a forbidden romance. With its awkward mix of tones, lurching plot and shifting character focus, it’s a bit of a mess, quickly losing sight of its early charm. —JB
Theaters: COL, RR, SHO, VS
Voices of Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Jenny Slate. Directed by Chris Renaud. 90 minutes. Rated PG. The hyperactive animated story, with loyal dog Max (C.K.) and his dog frenemy Duke (Stonestreet) lost in New York City, isn’t nearly as sophisticated as something from Pixar or even DreamWorks Animation, but it’s good for a few laughs and is entirely kid-friendly, with plenty of cute characters and madcap set pieces. —JB
Theaters: TC
Shut In (Not reviewed)
Naomi Watts, Jacob Tremblay, Charlie Heaton. Directed by Farren Blackburn. 91 minutes. Rated PG-13. A widowed mother tries to protect her disabled child from a mysterious threat during a storm.
Theaters: TX
Voices of Andy Samberg, Katie Crown, Anton Starkman. Directed by Nicholas Stoller and Doug Sweetland. 89 minutes. Rated PG. Set in a world where storks magically create and deliver actual babies, Storks gets points for weirdness, but writer and co-director Stoller mostly glosses over it in favor of kid-friendly animal antics. There are some vague lessons about family and togetherness, but the plot is too incoherent to make any of them stick. —JB
Theaters: TC
Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, Joel Kinnaman. Directed by David Ayer. 130 minutes. Rated PG-13. This super-villain team-up features a slightly more streamlined narrative than previous DC movies. But it’s still overstuffed, an ensemble piece with nearly a dozen main characters, telling origin stories for half of them, bringing them together into a new team and facing them off against two different antagonists. —JB
Theaters: TC
Voices of Justin Timberlake, Anna Kendrick, Zooey Deschanel. Directed by Mike Mitchell. 92 minutes. Rated PG. This animated adventure based on the tiny, colorful, tall-haired dolls manages to avoid being crass, showcasing some cute characters and amusing situations in the process. It’s mostly forgettable and sloppily plotted, but for kids entertained by bright colors and catchy music, it will be a great time-passer. —JB
Theaters: AL, BS, CH, COL, DI, FH, ORL, RP, RR, SF, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
The Unmarried Wife (Not reviewed)
Dingdong Dantes, Angelica Panganiban, Paulo Avelino. Directed by Maryo J. De Los Reyes. 130 minutes. Not rated. In Filipino with English subtitles. A businesswoman discovers that her husband is having an affair.
Theaters: ORL
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
