Special screenings
Art & Architecture in Cinema
7/14, St. Peter's and the Papal Basilicas of Rome, 7 p.m., $13-$15. Theaters: COL, SP, ST, VS. Info: fathomevents.com.
Cinema in the Circle
7/8, Labyrinth, sunset, free. Huntridge Circle Park, 1251 S. Maryland Parkway.
Cinemark Classic Series
Sun, 2 p.m.; Wed, 2 & 7 p.m., $7-$10. 7/10, 7/13, Singin’ in the Rain. Theaters: ORL, ST, SF, SP, SC
Dive-In Movies
Mon, 7:30 p.m., $5, free for hotel guests. 7/11, Zoolander. Boulevard Pool at the Cosmopolitan, 702-698-7000.
Family-Friendly Summer Matinee
Wed, 11 a.m., free. 7/13, Max. Summerlin Library, 1771 Inner Circle Drive, 702-507-3863.
Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company
7/7, performance of Romeo and Juliet recorded in London, 7:30 p.m., $13-$15. Theaters: SP, VS. Info: fathomevents.com.
Las Vegas Classic Film Theater
Classic, indie and arthouse films, times vary, $5 per screening. Baobab Stage, Town Square, 702-369-6649, baobabstage.com.
The Metropolitan Opera HD Live
7/13, Puccini's La Bohème encore, 7 p.m., $12.50. Theaters: VS. Info: fathomevents.com.
Movie Night
Thu, sundown, free. 7/7, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 7/14, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Downtown Container Park, 707 Fremont St., downtowncontainerpark.com.
The MST3K Reunion Show
7/12, broadcast featuring all cast members of Mystery Science Theater 3000, 7:30 p.m., $10.50-$12.50. Theaters: CAN, COL, SP, ST, VS. Info: fathomevents.com.
Saturday Movie Matinee
7/9, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, 2 p.m., free. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, 702-507-3400.
Sci Fi Center
Mon, Cinemondays, 8 p.m., free. 7/9, The Toxic Avenger, The Rocky Horror Picture Show with live shadow cast, 8 p.m., $10. 7/12, Manos: The Hands of Fate, 8 p.m., $5. 5077 Arville St., 855-501-4335, thescificenter.com.
Summer Movie Series
Fri, 6:45 p.m., free with museum admission. 7/8, Bugsy. Mob Museum, 300 Stewart Ave., 702-229-2734.
Summer Screen Series
Thu, dusk, free. 7/7, Minions. 7/14, Kung Fu Panda 3. Park Centre Drive, Downtown Summerlin, downtownsummerlin.com.
Tuesday Afternoon at the Bijou
Tue, 1 p.m., free. 7/12, Road to Zanzibar. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, 702-507-3400.
New this week
The Achy Breaky Hearts (Not reviewed)
Jodi Sta. Maria, Ian Veneracion, Richard Yap. Directed by Antoinette Jadaone. 115 minutes. Not rated. In Filipino with English subtitles. A single woman is torn between two men.
Theaters: ORL
Cold War 2
Aaron Kwok, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Chow Yun-Fat. Directed by Kim-Ching Luk. 111 minutes. Not rated. In Cantonese with English subtitles. This Hong Kong crime-thriller sequel features a few exciting action sequences bogged down by a confusing, repetitive plot involving intrigue among political appointees. Various government and law-enforcement officials glower at each other as they engage in a mostly uninteresting power struggle that only occasionally provides suspense and thrills. —JB
Theaters: TS
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates
Zac Efron, Adam DeVine, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza. Directed by Jake Szymanski. 98 minutes. Rated R. Rowdy brothers Mike (DeVine) and Dave (Efron) are told to bring dates to their sister’s wedding, and end up with a pair of degenerates (Kendrick, Plaza) pretending to be nice girls. What ensues is a mix of tiresome gross-out jokes and slapstick and some surprisingly sensitive character development. —JB
Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, DI, DTS, FH, GVL, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, 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: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, DI, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Sultan (Not reviewed)
Salman Khan, Anushka Sharma, Randeep Hooda. Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar. 170 minutes. Not rated. In Hindi with English subtitles. An Indian wrestler achieves international success.
Theaters: ST, VS
Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe (Not reviewed)
Directed by Andrew Wakefield. 91 minutes. Not rated. Documentary alleging a cover-up of the link between vaccines and autism.
Theaters: TC
Now playing
Voices of Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride. Directed by Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly. 97 minutes. Rated PG. The movie version of the mega-popular mobile game (about birds being flung at pigs via slingshot) attempts to create a story around a series of basic, repetitive actions. The explanations are both boring and largely nonsensical, and expanding the game into a cohesive, family-friendly movie proves too difficult a task. —JB
Theaters: TC
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: AL, CAN, CH, COL, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson. Directed by Joe Russo and Anthony Russo. 147 minutes. Rated PG-13. Civil War sets up a battle between factions of superheroes led by Captain America (Evans) and Iron Man (Downey), who disagree on whether the Avengers should submit to government oversight. The story’s deeper meaning takes a backseat to a cluttered narrative (overstuffed with Marvel characters) and some rousing, well-crafted action sequences. —JB
Theaters: GVR, 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: AL, CAN, CH, DI, DTS, FH, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Frances O’Connor. Directed by James Wan. 134 minutes. Rated R. Once again based loosely on one of the actual cases investigated by real-life ghost hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren (Wilson and Farmiga), this sequel features a handful of effectively scary moments spread out over 134 minutes of a fairly dull haunted-house story. —JB
Theaters: BS, DI, GVR, RR, TS
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: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, DI, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SHO, SP, SS, TS, TX
Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mahershala Ali. Directed by Gary Ross. 139 minutes. Rated R. This historical drama tells the fascinating story of a Confederate deserter who led an uprising in Mississippi, but it expands the narrative too far, jumping forward in time and diluting the power of its unique hook. McConaughey is strong as insurgent leader Newton Knight, but the character is a one-dimensional savior. —JB
Theaters: COL, DTS, PAL, SC, SP, VS
Chris Hemsworth, Jessica Chastain, Emily Blunt. Directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan. 114 minutes. Rated PG-13. The Snow White-free sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman adds a second evil queen (Blunt) and a warrior love interest (Chastain) for the huntsman (Hemsworth), but never comes up with an interesting story. Much of Winter’s War looks garish and plastic, with its style ripped off from other, more popular fantasy franchises. —JB
Theaters: TC
Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Maika Monroe. Directed by Roland Emmerich. 120 minutes. Rated PG-13. Twenty years after fighting off an alien invasion in 1996’s cheesy but rousing Independence Day, Earth is attacked again, and humanity must band together to save the planet. This sequel is just another noisy, cluttered, CGI-filled monstrosity, with a convoluted plot that’s ultimately just a prelude to another movie somewhere down the road. —JB
Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, DI, DTS, FH, GVL, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley. Directed by Jon Favreau. 105 minutes. Rated PG. The latest Disney live-action remake of an animated classic is a fairly faithful retelling of its source material, about a young boy raised in the jungle. The tone is an awkward mix of savage jungle naturalism and cuddly animal antics, and there’s a sort of prefab blandness to the amazing photo-realistic CGI. —JB
Theaters: SC
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: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, DI, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SHO, SP, SS, TS, TX
Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Olivia Colman. Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. 118 minutes. Rated R. The third film by Greek director Lanthimos (Dogtooth, Alps) stars Farrell as a newly single man in a dystopian world where people are given 45 days to find a new mate, and get turned into an animal of their choice if they fail. Endlessly creative, allegorically frustrating. —MD
Theaters: VS
Kate Beckinsale, Xavier Samuel, Chloë Sevigny. Directed by Whit Stillman. 92 minutes. Rated PG. Stillman’s adaptation of an early Jane Austen novella stars an excellent Beckinsale as Lady Susan Vernon, a beautiful and self-absorbed high-society widow whose favorite pastime is playing with others’ affections. Lady Susan is an entertaining sociopath, and Stillman’s screenplay is full of bone-dry humor and some hilarious one-liners. —JB
Theaters: SC
Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, Julianne Moore. Directed by Rebecca Miller. 98 minutes. Rated R. This dramedy about a love triangle among NYC academics never figures out a proper tone or narrative approach, mixing aggressively whimsical comedy with angsty relationship drama. The arch, literate tone aims to emulate Woody Allen or Noah Baumbach, but the jokes aren’t clever or incisive enough to get to that level. —JB
Theaters: GVR
Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin, Janet McTeer. Directed by Thea Sharrock. 110 minutes. Rated PG-13. Clarke tries way too hard as Louisa, a working-class young woman who falls in love with Will (Claflin), the wealthy quadriplegic and former playboy she’s hired to take care of. The romance takes far too long to get going, and Clarke’s overstated performance is more exhausting than endearing. —JB
Theaters: COL, RR, SC
George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Jack O’Connell. Directed by Jodie Foster. Rated R. 98 minutes. A disgruntled investor (O’Connell) takes a cable financial-advice personality (Clooney) and his crew hostage live on the air in this uneven thriller. The tense stand-off in the confined space is well-constructed, but the movie loses momentum in the third act, and the social commentary is entirely superficial. —JB
Theaters: TC
Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Zac Efron, Chloë Grace Moretz. Directed by Nicholas Stoller. 92 minutes. Rated R. After the barely passable 2014 original made an unholy amount of money, this sequel seems expelled from some collective digestive tract. Not one character is smart or even lifelike, and though it’s sometimes satisfying to see them pummeled in lifeless slapstick gags, there’s not one genuine laugh here. —JMA
Theaters: TC
Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice. Directed by Shane Black. 116 minutes. Rated R. Crowe and Gosling play a pair of disreputable private investigators in 1977 LA who find themselves caught in a conspiracy as they investigate a missing young woman. Black balances the serious, sometimes violent mystery with a barrage of one-liners and physical comedy, and The Nice Guys is consistently funny from beginning to end. —JB
Theaters: TC, VS
Mark Ruffalo, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Lizzy Caplan. Directed by Jon M. Chu. 115 minutes. Rated PG-13. This time around the outlaw stage magicians known as the Four Horsemen are basically just a group of thieves, hired to steal a piece of ultra-powerful tech. The plot is just as convoluted and belabored as the first time, without the added panache of the Four Horsemen’s stage productions. —JB
Theaters: PAL, SC, SP, ST, TS
Our Kind of Traitor (Not reviewed)
Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgård, Naomie Harris. Directed by Susanna White. 107 minutes. Rated R. A vacationing British couple find themselves caught in the middle of a showdown between the Russian mafia and British intelligence.
Theaters: COL, DTS, ST, 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: AL, BS, CAN, CH, DI, FH, GVL, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
The Shallows (Not reviewed)
Blake Lively, Óscar Jaenada, Brett Cullen. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. 87 minutes. Rated PG-13. A surfer is trapped just offshore by a shark.
Theaters: AL, CH, COL, DI, FH, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Lucy Boynton, Aidan Gillen. Directed by John Carney. 106 minutes. Rated PG-13. The latest music-related film by John Carney (Once, Begin Again) tells the semi-autobiographical tale of a group of Dublin kids who form a New Wave band circa 1985. It’s no The Commitments, but the energy is infectious, and rising star Jack Reynor does tremendous work as the protagonist’s supportive older brother. —MD
Theaters: SC
Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe, Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. 95 minutes. Rated R. This bizarre comedy features Dano as a depressed man stranded on a deserted island and Radcliffe as a possibly supernaturally powered corpse he discovers. The eventual transition from slapstick humor to wide-eyed wonder (and back again) is clumsy, and none of the movie’s emotional epiphanies feel earned. —JB
Theaters: CH, COL, SC, TS
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows
Megan Fox, Stephen Amell, Tyler Perry. Directed by Dave Green. 112 minutes. Rated PG-13. The sequel to the 2014 TMNT live-action reboot vastly overcorrects for the first movie’s seriousness and intensity by turning into a grating, childish and overlong version of the old TMNT cartoon series. The plotting is ridiculous, the dialogue is terrible, and the in-your-face style is completely mind-numbing. —JB
Theaters: ST
Travis Fimmel, Paul Patton, Ben Foster. Directed by Duncan Jones. 123 minutes. Rated PG-13. At once ponderous and extravagantly goofy, this adaptation of the Warcraft video-game franchise, depicting a battle royale between orcs and humans, is no cynical cash grab (it was co-written and directed by Duncan Jones, who previously made Moon and Source Code), but that only makes its failure all the more painful. —MD
Theaters: ST, VS
Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Oscar Isaac. Directed by Bryan Singer. 144 minutes. Rated PG-13. The latest adventure of the mutant superheroes reintroduces familiar characters in slightly new forms, and spends far too much time on set-up. World-ending villain Apocalypse (Isaac) is ridiculous and ineffective, and the overstuffed cast pushes too many new and/or reimagined characters to the margins. Even the big action climax is underwhelming. —JB
Theaters: GVR, ST, VS
Voices of Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba. Directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore. 108 minutes. Rated PG. Disney’s latest animated feature is a winning, gorgeously animated story about anthropomorphic animals living in relative harmony in a bustling metropolis. The team-up between a police officer rabbit and a small-time criminal fox provides a thoroughly engaging mystery with some satisfying twists and turns. —JB
Theaters: TC
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