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Short Takes: Movie listings and reviews for June 1

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Josh Bell, Mike D'Angelo, Jeffrey M. Anderson

Special screenings

Chris Brown: Welcome to My Life

6/8, concert documentary, 7:30 p.m., $13-$15. Theaters: AL, BS, RR, SP, TS, TX. Info: fathomevents.com.

Cult Classic Happy Hour

6/7, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, 5:30 p.m., free. Millennium Fandom Bar, 900 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 702-405-0816.

Family Movie Night

Thu, sundown, free. 6/1, Zootopia. 6/8, The Angry Birds Movie. Downtown Container Park, 707 Fremont St., downtowncontainerpark.com.

In Our Hands: The Battle for Jerusalem

6/1, documentary feature produced by the Christian Broadcasting Network, 7 p.m., $10.50-$12.50. Theaters: SP, VS. Info: fathomevents.com.

Jonah: On Stage!

6/3, broadcast of Biblical musical stage production, 7 p.m., $10.50-$12.50. Theaters: COL, VS. Info: fathomevents.com.

Las Vegas Film Festival

6/6-6/11, feature films, shorts, workshops, parties, more, various times, $11 per screening, $75-$175 passes. Brenden Theaters at the Palms, lvff.com.

The Misunderstood Legend of the Las Vegas Moulin Rouge

6/3, documentary plus introduction by filmmaker Stan Armstrong, 1 p.m., free with museum admission. Mob Museum, 300 Stewart Ave., 702-229-2734.

Outdoor Picture Show

Sat, 7:30 p.m., free. 6/3, La La Land. The District at Green Valley Ranch, 2225 Village Walk Drive, Henderson, 702-564-8595.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

6/3, movie plus live cast and audience participation, 10 p.m., $10. Theaters: TC. Info: rhpsvegas.com.

Sci Fi Center

Mon, Cinemondays, 8 p.m., free. Sun, American Gods viewing party, 7 p.m., free. 6/3, Clash of the Titans (1981), 3 p.m., $1. 6/3, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), 5 p.m., $1. 5077 Arville St., 855-501-4335, thescificenter.com.

TCM Big Screen Classics

6/4, 6/7, The Godfather 45th-anniversary screening with 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. 6/6, 42nd Street. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, 702-507-3400.

New this week

3 Idiotas (Not reviewed)

Alfonso Dosal, Christian Vazquez, German Valdez. Directed by Carlos Bolado. 106 minutes. Rated PG-13. In Spanish with English subtitles. A trio of college friends get into a series of crazy adventures.

Theaters: CAN, ORL, PAL, ST, TX, VS

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie Three and a half stars

Voices of Kevin Hart, Thomas Middleditch, Ed Helms. Directed by David Soren. 84 minutes. Rated PG. This computer-animated movie, about two best friends (voiced by Hart and Middleditch) whose superhero creation comes to life, contains hand-drawn sequences and even a sock-puppet sequence. Rambunctious, but cheerfully clever—or at least cheerful—it contains fart jokes, but also a built-in critique and aesthetic appreciation of fart jokes. —JMA

Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, DI, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS

Churchill (Not reviewed)

Brian Cox, Miranda Richardson, John Slattery. Directed by Jonathan Teplitzky. 105 minutes. Rated PG. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Cox) strategizes in the days leading up to the invasion of Normandy in 1944.

Theaters: SP

DiDi’s Dreams (Not reviewed)

Dee Hsu, Lin Chi-Ling, Shijia Jin. Directed by Kevin Tsai. 91 minutes. Not rated. In Mandarin with English subtitles. Sisters who are rival actresses are forced to work together on a movie.

Theaters: SHO

God of War Two and a half stars

Vincent Zhao, Yasuaki Kurata, Wan Qian. Directed by Gordon Chan. 128 minutes. Not rated. In Mandarin with English subtitles. There’s some decent action in this Chinese historical military epic, with some gritty and intense martial-arts battles. But the story, set in the 16th century and following a determined Chinese general fending off Japanese invaders, is convoluted and overlong, populated by a large number of generic, interchangeable characters. —JB

Theaters: TS

Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent (Not reviewed)

Directed by Lydia Tenaglia. 102 minutes. Rated R. Documentary about pioneering celebrity chef Jeremiah Tower.

Theaters: TS

Wonder Woman Three and a half stars

Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen. Directed by Patty Jenkins. 133 minutes. Rated PG-13. Set during WWI, this solo adventure for the iconic DC superhero is a step forward for DC’s movie universe. Gadot plays Wonder Woman with an appealing sense of integrity and compassion. The movie never reinvents the superhero origin story, but it hits all the familiar beats with enthusiasm and style. —JB

Theaters: AL, CAN, CH, DI, DTS, ET, FH, GVL, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS

Now playing

Alien: Covenant Three and a half stars

Katherine Waterston, Michael Fassbender, Billy Crudup. Directed by Ridley Scott. 122 minutes. Rated R. Like its predecessor Prometheus and Scott’s 1979 classic Alien, Covenant finds the crew of a deep-space vessel investigating a mysterious planet and discovering horrific monsters lurking there. Fassbender is fantastic as two unsettling androids, and while the movie focuses more on scares than on Prometheus’ philosophical questions, those scares are pretty effective. —JB

Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, DI, DTS, FH, GVL, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS

Baywatch One and a half stars

Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron, Alexandra Daddario. Directed by Seth Gordon. 116 minutes. Rated R. The cheesy ’90s TV series about lifeguards gets adapted into a dreadful action-comedy. The lowbrow humor is lazy and repetitive, and the action scenes are flat-out terrible. The plot drags on for nearly two hours, and the characters aren’t even remotely as well-defined as their abs. —JB

Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, DI, DTS, ET, FH, GVL, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS

Beauty and the Beast Two and a half stars

Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans. Directed by Bill Condon. 129 minutes. Rated PG. This live-action/CGI remake of Disney’s classic animated musical drains much of the charm from the movie, rendering expressive cartoon designs as hyper-detailed, antiseptic computer effects, bloating a simple fairy tale into a plodding narrative complete with dead parents and placing some of Disney’s most memorable songs alongside mediocre new compositions. —JB

Theaters: AL, GVR, TS

Born in China (Not reviewed)

Directed by Chuan Lu. 76 minutes. Rated G. Nature documentary featuring animals in China, including pandas, monkeys and snow leopards.

Theaters: COL

The Boss Baby Two stars

Voices of Miles Bakshi, Alec Baldwin, Lisa Kudrow. Directed by Tom McGrath. 97 minutes. Rated PG. This is a baffling, bizarrely misconceived animated movie about a baby dressed in a business suit and spouting corporate speak in the voice of Alec Baldwin. Some visuals are well-designed, and Baldwin gets in a few funny lines, but the plot is so weirdly off the mark that everything else is just background noise. —JB

Theaters: AL, COL, ST, TX, VS

The Case for Christ (Not reviewed)

Mike Vogel, Erika Christensen, Faye Dunaway. Directed by Jon Gunn. 112 minutes. Rated PG. An atheist journalist attempts to disprove the existence of Christ after his wife becomes a born-again Christian.

Theaters: VS

Chuck Two and a half stars

Liev Schreiber, Elisabeth Moss, Jim Gaffigan. Directed by Philippe Falardeau. 98 minutes. Rated R. This biopic of boxer Chuck Wepner, the self-declared inspiration for Rocky Balboa, hits all the standard beats, as the working-class fighter rises to a championship bout before succumbing to drugs. Schreiber’s performance is strong, and the exploration of the intersection between sports and celebrity is promising, but the movie rarely goes beyond the conventional. —JB

Theaters: VS

Dear Other Self (Not reviewed)

Xian Lim, Joseph Marco, Jodi Sta. Maria. Directed by Veronica Velasco. 109 minutes. Not rated. In Filipino with English subtitles. A young woman torn between pursuing a career and traveling the world envisions both life paths.

Theaters: ORL

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul One and a half stars

Jason Drucker, Charlie White, Alicia Silverstone. Directed by David Bowers. 90 minutes. Rated PG. The fourth movie based on Jeff Kinney’s middle-grade books features an entirely new cast and a more vulgar, obnoxious tone, focused primarily on gross-out jokes. The plotting is still sitcom-level (this time, the Heffley family goes on a road trip), but the story barely fills out half the running time. —JB

Theaters: AL, CAN, CH, COL, ORL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SP, ST, TS, VS

Everything, Everything Two and a half stars

Amandla Stenberg, Nick Robinson, Anika Noni Rose. Directed by Stella Meghie. 96 minutes. Rated PG-13. Teenage Maddy (Stenberg) has an autoimmune disease that keeps her confined to her house, but she longs for more after meeting her hunky, sensitive neighbor Olly (Robinson). The central romance straddles the line between sweet and cloying, but the goodwill is shattered by a cheap third-act twist. —JB

Theaters: AL, CAN, CH, COL, FH, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SF, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS

The Fate of the Furious Two stars

Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Charlize Theron. Directed by F. Gary Gray. 136 minutes. Rated PG-13. The eighth movie in the endless, bizarrely popular action series about car-racing outlaws ups the stakes even further, with a world-ending plot by a villainous hacker (Theron) and a bunch of new characters. The story is convoluted and crowded and the action is completely antiseptic. —JB

Theaters: COL, DI, GVR, ORL, ST, TX

Get Out Three and a half stars

Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford. Directed by Jordan Peele. 103 minutes. Rated R. A black photographer (Kaluuya) encounters a sinister conspiracy when he visits the family of his white girlfriend (Williams). Peele is mostly successful at balancing comedy, horror and social commentary in his promising debut as a writer-director. The movie never lectures the audience, providing a grotesque exaggeration to highlight very real social problems. —JB

Theaters: TC

Gifted Two and a half stars

Chris Evans, Mckenna Grace, Octavia Spencer. Directed by Marc Webb. 101 minutes. Rated PG-13. Evans plays a sensitive, hunky, intelligent mechanic raising his niece Mary (Grace) after his sister’s suicide. He’s forced to fight his rich, snooty mother for custody when Mary is discovered to be a math genius. The story is earnest, predictable and cheesy, with likeable but bland performances. —JB

Theaters: GVR, SC, ST

Going in Style Two stars

Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Alan Arkin. Directed by Zach Braff. 96 minutes. Rated PG-13. This remake of the 1979 dramedy about three senior citizens plotting a bank robbery gets rid of the melancholy ruminations and replaces them with broad, obvious comedy. What once was a story about the loneliness and neglect of old age ends up a forced, wacky comedy about seniors behaving badly. —JB

Theaters: ST, TC, VS

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Three stars

Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista. Directed by James Gunn. 136 minutes. Rated PG-13. After teaming up to save the galaxy in the surprise-hit previous movie, Marvel’s intergalactic superheroes are split up and set on various courses until they come together for the action-packed finale. If you liked the first movie, well, here’s more of it, only not as refreshing or original. —JB

Theaters: AL, CAN, CH, COL, DI, DTS, ET, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SF, SP, SS, ST, SHO, TS, TX, VS

How to Be a Latin Lover (Not reviewed)

Eugenio Derbez, Salma Hayek, Rob Lowe. Directed by Ken Marino. 115 minutes. Rated PG-13. After getting dumped by his wife, a gold-digging lothario has to move in with his sister and her son.

Theaters: BS, FH, ORL, TX

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword Two stars

Charlie Hunnam, Jude Law, Djimon Hounsou. Directed by Guy Ritchie. 126 minutes. Rated PG-13. The latest retelling of the King Arthur legend awkwardly combines Lord of the Rings-style large-scale fantasy filmmaking with pseudo-historical grit and director Ritchie’s own hyperactive, motormouthed style perfected in his early crime movies. The movie is one long, drawn-out origin story to set up a franchise that no one asked for. —JB

Theaters: AL, BS, GVR, ORL, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, TS

Kong: Skull Island Three stars

Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson. Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts. 118 minutes. Rated PG-13. After gathering a motley crew for a trip to the previously uncharted Skull Island, the movie wastes little time in revealing its giant ape title character, delivering near-constant action on an island filled with brilliantly rendered monstrosities. Its social commentary, however, is mostly used just as superficially as its overqualified cast. —JB

Theaters: ST, TC

The Lego Batman Movie Three and a half stars

Voices of Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Zach Galifianakis. Directed by Chris McKay. 104 minutes. Rated PG. This animated spinoff of The Lego Movie, starring Arnett’s vain, arrogant version of Batman, retains much of its predecessor’s charm, packing in nonstop visual and verbal jokes while telling a simple, fun story with some solid lessons for the family audience. —JB

Theaters: TC

Logan Three stars

Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen. Directed by James Mangold. 137 minutes. Rated R. Jackman makes his allegedly final appearance as mutant superhero Wolverine in this grim, violent future-set drama. The relationship among the central trio of Wolverine, Professor X and a young mutant girl is strong, but the lengthy plot heads off on too many detours, and the serious tone gets a bit numbing over time. —JB

Theaters: TC

The Lost City of Z Two and a half stars

Charlie Hunnam, Sienna Miller, Robert Pattinson. Directed by James Gray. 141 minutes. Rated PG-13. Based on the life of early 20th-century British explorer Percy Fawcett, Lost City follows Fawcett (Hunnam) over a 20-year period, during which he becomes increasingly obsessed with discovering a lost Amazon civilization. Gray’s dull restraint is a poor substitute for all-out jungle madness, and Hunnam never really burrows into Fawcett’s obsession. —JB

Theaters: GVR

The Lovers Three and a half stars

Debra Winger, Tracy Letts, Aidan Gillen, Melora Walters. Directed by Azazel Jacobs. 94 minutes. Rated R. A middle-aged husband and wife, both having extramarital affairs, discover unexpected renewed passion for each other in Jacobs’ odd but endearing indie drama. Letts and Winger make the most of their rare leading roles, and the director trusts them to convey the story’s complex emotions, often wordlessly. —JB

Theaters: SC

Lowriders (Not reviewed)

Demian Bichir, Gabriel Chavarria, Theo Rossi. Directed by Ricardo de Montreuil. 99 minutes. Rated PG-13. A teenager in LA gets involved in low-rider car culture and ends up torn between his upstanding father and his criminal brother.

Theaters: BS, ORL, TX

Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer Two and a half stars

Richard Gere, Lior Ashkenazi, Michael Sheen. Directed by Joseph Cedar. 118 minutes. Rated R. Gere plays the title character, a sort of political and corporate gadfly whose actual profession and skills are never quite clear. A lot about Israeli writer-director Cedar’s movie is never quite clear, and the filmmaker’s oddball style only adds to the disjointed feel of the story. —JB

Theaters: SC

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Two stars

Johnny Depp, Brenton Thwaites, Kaya Scodelario. Directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg. 129 minutes. Rated PG-13. The fifth movie in the series initially based on a Disney theme-park ride features legendary pirate Jack Sparrow (Depp) on a quest for Poseidon’s trident. The plot is convoluted and interminable, and Depp stumbles and mumbles his way through another performance as Jack, who’s lost all of his irreverent charm. —JB

Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, DI, DTS, ET, FH, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, TS, TX

Power Rangers One star

Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler. Directed by Dean Israelite. 124 minutes. Rated PG-13. Power Rangers wants both to represent a dark, gritty take on the source material and to recapture the cheesy, campy tone of the ’90s TV show. The balance is way off, though, and the movie is far too silly to be taken seriously and yet takes itself far too seriously to be any fun. —JB

Theaters: TC

The Promise (Not reviewed)

Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon, Christian Bale. Directed by Terry George. 132 minutes. Rated PG-13. An Armenian medical student falls in love with an artist amid the World War I-era Armenian genocide.

Theaters: VS

Snatched Two stars

Amy Schumer, Goldie Hawn, Ike Barinholtz. Directed by Jonathan Levine. 91 minutes. Rated R. A mother and daughter are kidnapped while on vacation in South America, but their abduction is just a jumping-off point for a series of increasingly dangerous (and silly) misadventures. There are a handful of good laughs, but the jokes get less effective as the plot takes over in the second half. —JB

Theaters: CH, COL, FH, ORL, PAL, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, ST, TS, VS

The Zookeeper’s Wife Two and a half stars

Jessica Chastain, Johan Heldenbergh, Daniel Brühl. Directed by Niki Caro. 124 minutes. Rated PG-13. The true story of a couple in Poland who used their zoo to shelter Jews during World War II deserves recognition, but the movie about them isn’t nearly as bold or risk-taking, following a familiar, predictable narrative with mild suspense and bland inspirational moments. —JB

Theaters: SC

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

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