Special screenings
Digimon Adventure Tri
9/15, animated movie, 7 p.m., $13-$15. Theaters: COL, SF, SP, ST, VS. Info: fathomevents.com.
Miss Saigon 25th Anniversary
9/22, broadcast of performance from London, 7 p.m., $15. Theaters: VS. Info: fathomevents.com.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail Quote-Along
9/16-9/17, movie plus audience participation, 9:30 p.m., $5. Theaters: TS
Sci Fi Center
Mon, Cinemondays, 8 p.m., free. 9/17, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), 5:30 p.m., $1. 5077 Arville St., 855-501-4335, thescificenter.com.
Summerlin Film Discussion Group
9/16, The Boss followed by discussion, 2 p.m., free. Summerlin Library, 1771 Inner Circle Drive, 702-507-3860.
TCM Big Screen Classics
9/18, 9/21, Dr. Strangelove plus introduction from Turner Classic Movies, 2 & 7 p.m., $5-$14. Theaters: CAN, COL, ORL, SF, SP, ST, VS. Info: fathomevents.com.
To Joey, With Love
9/20, documentary about country duo Joey + Rory, 7 p.m., $10.50-$12.50. Theaters: SF, SP, VS. Info: fathomevents.com.
Tuesday Afternoon at the Bijou
Tue, 1 p.m., free. 9/20, High Noon. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, 702-507-3400.
New this week
James Allen McCune, Callie Hernandez, Corbin Reid. Directed by Adam Wingard. 89 minutes. Rated R. Seventeen years after The Blair Witch Project galvanized and frustrated audiences, along comes a sequel that’s really more of a remake, supplying the traditional frights and jolts that the original deliberately withheld. It’ll appeal to those who hated the 1999 film, but annoy those who prefer horror that’s left to the imagination. —MD
Theaters: AL, BS, CH, DI, FH, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, TS, TX
Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, Patrick Dempsey. Directed by Sharon Maguire. 122 minutes. Rated R. The third Bridget Jones movie finds the rom-com icon (Zellweger) unsure of who’s fathered her unborn child: American tech mogul Jack (Dempsey) or onetime love Mark (Firth). Baby takes Bridget in a few new directions, but it’s still mostly redundant, dragging the predictable story over two full hours. —JB
Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Rachel Weisz, Michael Shannon, Azita Ghanizada. Directed by Joshua Marston. 90 minutes. Rated R. Weisz plays a mysterious woman who shows up suddenly at a party for her ex-boyfriend (Shannon), and as the movie reveals more about her, she becomes less enticing. Still, Weisz is fantastic as a woman who slips effortlessly into different personas, even if her story ends up more mundane than it first appears. —JB
Theaters: TC
Hillsong: Let Hope Rise (Not reviewed)
Directed by Michael John Warren. 103 minutes. Rated PG. Concert documentary featuring Christian music artists Hillsong United.
Theaters: BS, SF, SP, SS, TS
Mr. Church (Not reviewed)
Eddie Murphy, Britt Robertson, Xavier Samuel. Directed by Bruce Beresford. 104 minutes. Rated PG-13. A young woman forms a lifelong friendship with her family’s cook.
Theaters: PAL
The People vs. Fritz Bauer (Not reviewed)
Burghart Klaussner, Ronald Zehrfeld, Lilith Stangenberg. Directed by Lars Kraume. 105 minutes. Rated R. In German with English subtitles. The true story of the German lawyer who brought former Nazi Adolf Eichmann to justice.
Theaters: VS
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Rhys Ifans. Directed by Oliver Stone. 134 minutes. Rated R. Edward Snowden (Gordon-Levitt) took enormous risks to expose U.S. government domestic spying programs, but Stone plays it pretty safe with his biopic. Mostly lacking in Stone’s flashy filmmaking style, Snowden is a straightforward retelling of its title character’s time as a government analyst and contractor, and his subsequent disillusionment and whistle-blowing. —JB
Theaters: AL, CAN, CH, COL, DTS, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Wild Oats (Not reviewed)
Shirley MacLaine, Jessica Lange, Demi Moore. Directed by Andy Tennant. 86 minutes. Rated PG-13. Two women go on the run after cashing a fraudulent insurance check.
Theaters: TS
Now playing
Anthropoid 
Jamie Dornan, Cillian Murphy, Charlotte Le Bon. Directed by Sean Ellis. 120 minutes. Rated R. This noble but somewhat rote WWII drama tells the true story of the Czech resistance’s efforts to assassinate a high-ranking Nazi official. While the real events are worthy of attention, the movie struggles to create compelling characters, and its drama is poorly paced, with long lulls around two suspenseful set pieces. —JB
Theaters: SC
Baar Baar Dekho (Not reviewed)
Sidharth Malhotra, Katrina Kaif, Sayani Gupta. Directed by Nitya Mehra. 147 minutes. Not rated. In Hindi with English subtitles. A romance unfolds over the course of several decades.
Theaters: VS
Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn. Directed by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. 101 minutes. Rated R. This disappointingly tame comedy is really just about one mom (Kunis), who finds herself questioning her priorities after she catches her husband cheating on her. The plot is aimless and disjointed, and the humor is mild and clichéd. —JB
Theaters: AL, COL, FH, RR, SC, SS, ST
Jack Huston, Toby Kebbell, Nazanin Boniadi. Directed by Timur Bekmambetov. 124 minutes. Rated PG-13. This remake amps up the violence and focuses on the revenge story, as Roman centurion Messala (Kebbell) betrays his adopted Jewish brother Judah (Huston). Both the running time and the overt religious message have been cut way back, leaving a truncated, plodding drama with minimal excitement and nothing worthwhile to say. —JB
Theaters: ST, TX
Ruby Barnhill, Mark Rylance, Jemaine Clement. Directed by Steven Spielberg. 117 minutes. Rated PG. Oscar-winner Rylance enchants as the title character (BFG stands for Big Friendly Giant), but Spielberg’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s beloved children’s book predictably downplays its cruelty—no kiddies get eaten onscreen here—in favor of aggressive, cumulatively exhausting whimsy and pluckiness. —MD
Theaters: TC
Camp Sawi (Not reviewed)
Andi Eigenmann, Bela Padilla, Yassi Pressman. Directed by Irene Emma Villamor. Not rated. In Filipino with English subtitles. Five women sign up for a boot camp to deal with their broken hearts.
Theaters: VS
Viggo Mortensen, George McKay, Samantha Isler. Directed by Matt Ross. 118 minutes. Rated R. Mortensen’s Ben rejects modern society and raises his six kids in the wilderness in this uneven drama, which doesn’t know when to let its story of an unconventional family end. It both celebrates and criticizes Ben’s choices, but eventually loses control of both its narrative and its unique perspective. —JB
Theaters: VS
Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Amy Ryan. Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber. 114 minutes. Rated PG-13. Hart is in familiar territory as a put-upon accountant very reluctantly recruited by his former high school classmate (Johnson) to join a CIA mission. Johnson ends up as the comedic highlight of the film, and the character work is stronger than the inconsistent jokes and especially the lackluster action sequences. —JB
Theaters: TC
The Disappointments Room (Not reviewed)
Kate Beckinsale, Lucas Till, Mel Raido. Directed by D.J. Caruso. 100 minutes. Rated R. A woman discovers horrors inside a secret room in her family’s new home.
Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, FH, GVL, GVR, PAL, RR, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
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: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, DI, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, TS, TX
Mike Birbiglia, Gillian Jacobs, Keegan-Michael Key. Directed by Mike Birbiglia. 92 minutes. Rated R. Birbiglia’s dramedy about soul-searching and angst among the members of an NYC improv comedy troupe is more interested in complex emotions than in making jokes. The movie draws its audience in with the promise of laughs, and then reaches into deeper and more rewarding emotional territory from there. —JB
Theaters: VS
Voices of Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Hayden Rolence. Directed by Andrew Stanton. 103 minutes. Rated PG. Forgetful fish Dory decides to track down her long-lost parents in this animated sequel to Pixar’s Finding Nemo. While Dory is thoroughly charming and enjoyable, with funny supporting characters and often gorgeous animation, it’s also a bit formulaic and repetitive, especially during the drawn-out third act. —JB
Theaters: TX
Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant, Simon Helberg. Directed by Stephen Frears. 110 minutes. Rated PG-13. Streep plays the title character, a 1940s New York City heiress who was able to mount lavish private concerts despite her complete inability to sing. Jenkins’ life makes for a great Wikipedia entry, but Frears’ movie makes her into the butt of a single repetitive joke, and then tries to pivot for sympathy. —JB
Theaters: COL, SC
Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones. Directed by Paul Feig. 116 minutes. Rated PG-13. This remake of the 1984 movie about a group of misfits fighting a supernatural infestation in New York City features strong comedy with an impressively talented cast, but eventually ends up overwhelmed by the demands of its large-scale action storyline. —JB
Theaters: BS, SC
Edgar Ramirez, Robert De Niro, Ana de Armas. Directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz. 105 minutes. Rated R. Ramirez (Carlos) does decent work as legendary boxer Roberto Duran, but it’s mostly De Niro—now playing the trainer, more than 35 years after embodying Jake LaMotta—who provides this generic boxing biopic with what meager energy it possesses. —MD
Theaters: ORL, SC
Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Jeff Bridges. Directed by David Mackenzie. 102 minutes. Rated R. A craggy Texas Ranger (Bridges) tracks two small-time bank-robber brothers (Pine, Foster) across Texas in this consistently entertaining movie, which mines new humor, depth and eloquence from a very old genre. The script is full of flavorful dialogue, and the plotting is air-tight, methodically revealing more details about the brothers’ plan. —JB
Theaters: AL, DTS, GVR, SF, SP, ST, TS, TX, VS
Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party (Not reviewed)
Directed by Dinesh D’Souza. 107 minutes. Rated PG-13. Conservative political documentary exploring the policies of Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party.
Theaters: VS
Voices of Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo. Directed by Mike Thurmeier. 94 minutes. Rated PG. The fifth installment in the animated series is easily the worst, a lazy, unfocused, cluttered mess, with no reason for existing other than perpetuating the absurdly successful franchise. What was once the simple story of three prehistoric mammal friends has ballooned into a never-ending family saga featuring more than a dozen characters. —JB
Theaters: ST, TC
Bryan Cranston, John Leguizamo, Diane Kruger. Directed by Brad Furman. 127 minutes. Rated R. The story of a U.S. Customs agent (Cranston) going undercover as a money launderer in order to bring down associates of notorious drug kingpin Pablo Escobar in the mid-1980s may be inspired by true events, but it’s still a generic crime drama, with bland, expository dialogue and stock underworld figures. —JB
Theaters: TC
Matt Damon, Alicia Vikander, Tommy Lee Jones. Directed by Paul Greengrass. 123 minutes. Rated PG-13. Damon and Greengrass return to their signature super-spy character after nine years away, but they haven’t quite brought the same creative inspiration with them. Greengrass delivers several excellent action sequences, but the script fails to come up with a compelling reason to bring Bourne out of his well-earned retirement. —JB
Theaters: AL, DTS, GVR, ORL, RR, SC, SHO, SP, ST, TX, VS
Voices of Art Parkinson, Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey. Directed by Travis Knight. 101 minutes. Rated PG. Directed by Laika CEO Knight, the stop-motion animation studio’s latest wonder draws from Japanese folklore in its tale of the title character and his quest through a mystical realm. It’s a simple story, but the filmmakers give it nuance and resonance in the small character moments and the rich visual detail. —JB
Theaters: CAN, CH, COL, PAL, RP, RR, SF, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Alexander Skarsgård, Margot Robbie, Christoph Waltz. Directed by David Yates. 109 minutes. Rated PG-13. The latest movie featuring Edgar Rice Burroughs’ English nobleman raised by African apes pits Tarzan (Skarsgård) and his wife Jane (Robbie) against a power-hungry Belgian government official (Waltz) who plans to exploit the natives of the Congo. Legend is mostly dull, with mediocre special effects, forgettable action and a slow-moving plot. —JB
Theaters: TC
Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Rachel Weisz. Directed by Derek Cianfrance. 132 minutes. Rated PG-13. Set just after World War I, this adaptation of M.L. Stedman’s novel stars Fassbender and Vikander as a married couple living on a small island who choose to keep a baby that washes ashore, being unable to have one of their own. Weisz plays the child’s actual mother; an overly grim custody battle ensues. —MD
Theaters: AL, COL, FH, SC, TS
Teresa Palmer, Maria Bello, Gabriel Bateman. Directed by David F. Sandberg. 81 minutes. Rated PG-13. Director Sandberg has a tough time expanding his dialogue-free, ultra-short horror film (about a malevolent entity that only appears when lights are turned off) into a feature. Still, Sandberg proves that he’s decent at creating scares, and audiences just looking for a handful of jump moments may find Lights Out satisfactory. —JB
Theaters: ST, TC, TX
Mechanic: Resurrection 
Jason Statham, Jessica Alba, Sam Hazeldine. Directed by Dennis Gansel. 99 minutes. Rated R. No one asked for a sequel to 2011’s The Mechanic, and this generic action movie does nothing to justify its existence. Statham delivers his typical punching and kicking as an assassin lured back into the game, but the plot is moronic and convoluted, the effects are cheap-looking, and the characters are less than one-dimensional. —JB
Theaters: AL, CH, COL, FH, PAL, RP, RR, SF, SP, SS, ST, TX, VS
Kate Mara, Anya Taylor-Joy, Rose Leslie. Directed by Luke Scott. 91 minutes. Rated R. A genetically engineered young woman turns on her creators in this derivative sci-fi thriller with a surprisingly strong cast. Morgan is generic and forgettable, with minimal suspense and a plot that never deviates from the predictable, but it features enough craftsmanship to distract from the most glaring flaws. —JB
Theaters: COL, ST
Nine Lives (Not reviewed)
Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Garner, Robbie Amell. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. 87 minutes. Rated PG. A workaholic business executive must reconnect with his family while trapped in the body of their pet cat.
Theaters: CH, SC
No Manches Frida (Not reviewed)
Omar Chaparro, Martha Higareda, Monica Dionne. Directed by Nacho G. Velilla. 100 minutes. Rated PG-13. In Spanish with English subtitles. An ex-con poses as a substitute teacher in order to access his hidden loot.
Theaters: BS, DI, PAL, SC, SF, TS, TX
Oakes Fegley, Bryce Dallas Howard, Karl Urban. Directed by David Lowery. 102 minutes. Rated PG. This Disney remake is pleasant and entirely forgettable, with a bland hero (young orphan Pete, played by Oakes Fegley) and his bland CGI dragon sidekick (named Elliot) befriending some bland adults in a bland small town and overcoming a villain who’s barely even villainous. —JB
Theaters: AL, CH, COL, DI, FH, RP, RR, SF, SS, ST, TS, VS
Frank Grillo, Elizabeth Mitchell, Mykelti Williamson. Directed by James DeMonaco. 105 minutes. Rated R. The third movie in the Purge series centers on an anti-Purge presidential candidate (Mitchell) who is targeted for elimination during the Purge itself. While the movie more effectively explores the world of the Purge, it still mostly features characters running through dark alleys or hiding out in dingy rooms. —JB
Theaters: TC
Saturday's Warrior (Not reviewed)
Kenny Holland, Anna Daines, Monica Moore Smith. Directed by Michael Buster. 119 minutes. Rated PG. In the 1970s, a group of Mormon siblings struggle to realize their destinies.
Theaters: ST
Voices of Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Michael Cera. Directed by Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon. 89 minutes. Rated R. With its rudimentary computer animation, talking foodstuffs and relentless, heavy-handed messages about religion, Sausage Party is the atheist equivalent of a VeggieTales movie. Rogen voices a hot dog who tries to enlighten his fellow groceries about human eating habits. While there are occasional amusing puns, the nonstop gross-out humor gets tiresome quickly. —JB
Theaters: AL, CAN, GVR, ORL, PAL, RR, ST, TS, TX, 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: CH, COL, ST, TX, VS
Parker Sawyers, Tika Sumpter. Directed by Richard Tanne. 84 minutes. Rated PG-13. Writer-director Tanne imagines the daylong first date between Barack Obama (Sawyers) and his future wife Michelle (Sumpter) in this awkward mix of low-key romantic drama and historical foreshadowing, with dialogue that sometimes sounds like the characters reciting their own Wikipedia entries. —JB
Theaters: VS
Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban. Directed by Justin Lin. 120 minutes. Rated PG-13. The third movie in the rebooted sci-fi series has a comparatively smaller-scale plot than its predecessors, returning Trek a bit closer to its episodic TV origins—in only the best way. It works well as a rousing adventure story that celebrates the power of capable, dedicated people working together. —JB
Theaters: AL, GVR, RR, ST
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: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, DI, FH, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, TS, TX
Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Laura Linney. Directed by Clint Eastwood. 96 minutes. Rated PG-13. When pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger (Hanks) landed a passenger jet on the Hudson River following dual engine failure, saving everyone on board, the incident lasted just 208 seconds. Stretching that into 96 minutes proves difficult for this true-life drama, which adds in narrative filler to build a few heart-stopping minutes into feature length. —JB
Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, DI, DTS, FH, GVL, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, TS, TX
Jonah Hill, Miles Teller, Ana de Armas. Directed by Todd Phillips. 114 minutes. Rated R. War Dogs tells the true story of unlikely arms dealers Efraim Diveroli (Hill) and David Packouz (Teller), who leveraged low-level military contracts into a massive deal that found them in over their heads. Director and co-writer Phillips deploys just enough comedy to entice the audience while treating the story with appropriate seriousness. —JB
Theaters: AL, CAN, COL, DI, DTS, FH, SP, ST, VS
When the Bough Breaks (Not reviewed)
Morris Chestnut, Regina Hall, Jaz Sinclair. Directed by Jon Cassar. 107 minutes. Rated PG-13. A couple hires a surrogate mother who turns out to be dangerous and obsessive.
Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, DI, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, TS, TX
The Wild Life (Not reviewed)
Voices of Yuri Lowenthal, David Howard, Laila Berzins. Directed by Vincent Kesteloot. 90 minutes. Rated PG. The animals living on a remote island are surprised by the arrival of castaway Robinson Crusoe.
Theaters: AL, CH, COL, DI, FH, PAL, RP, RR, SF, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
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
(PAL) Brenden Theatres at the Palms
4321 W. Flamingo Road, 702-507-4849
(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
(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
(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
