‘Wonder Woman’ and more under the tree at theaters
Now, it’s beginning to look a little more like Christmas at the movies.
Five new movies — a mix of crowd-pleasing blockbusters and award-magnet prestige pictures — hit Milwaukee-area theaters Friday.
But it’s also 2020, so it comes with an asterisk: One of the new movies, “Wonder Woman 1984,” hits theaters the same day it debuts on HBO Max, the streaming service owned by its distributor, Warner Bros.
Here are this week’s new movies in theaters, and where you can find them.
Reminder: Eight Milwaukee-area theaters remain closed: the Oriental Theatre, the Times and Rosebud cinemas, Fox-Bay Cinema Grill and Marcus Theatres’ Hillside, Saukville, Showtime and Southgate cinemas. The Milwaukee-area theaters that reopened have instituted safety protocols including reduced seating capacity.
‘Wonder Woman 1984’
Short version: In 1984, a power-hungry businessman gets a hold of an ancient talisman that grants your greatest wish, and Diana Prince (a.k.a. Wonder Woman) has to stop him from getting his. Gal Gadot is back, of course, with Pedro Pascal as the media-savvy tycoon, Kristen Wiig as a friend turned foe and Chris Pine, who after dying as Steve Trevor in the first “Wonder Woman” movie comes back in the sequel. The same day it opens in theaters, “Wonder Woman 1984” debuts on HBO Max, Warner Bros.’ streaming service.
Critics’ reaction: The reviews have been mostly positive, although most critics note it falls short of the original. “Those are some big swings, and not every single one lands, but the ones that do are both joyous and genuinely worth pondering,” IndieWire’s Kate Erbland wrote in her review, giving the movie a B. And yet it’s also brimming with the same wonder and joy as the first film, the rare movie — of any stripe — that doesn’t just want to believe in the goodness of people but is willing to make them truly work for it.”
Where you can see it: AMC Mayfair Mall; Avalon Theater; Silverspot Cinema; Marcus Theatres’ Bistroplex Southridge, Majestic, Menomonee Falls, Movie Tavern Brookfield Square, North Shore, Ridge, South Shore cinemas.
‘News of the World’
Short version: In the years after the Civil War, a man (Tom Hanks) whose job is to travel the West reading the news of the day for small-town audiences decides to deliver a 10-year-old girl (Helena Zengel) to her family after she’s been freed from her Native American captors.
Critics’ reaction: Paul Greengrass’ sort-of Western is getting solid reviews. “Paul Greengrass’s sparse, raw-boned drama … also feels like something else beneath the pearl-handled pistols and prairie dust: not so much a war movie as a postwar one, its whole psychology colored by the collective trauma of a young country still torn and battle-sore,” Entertainment Weekly’s Leah Greenblatt wrote in her B-plus review.
Where you can see it: AMC Mayfair Mall; Avalon Theater; Landmark Downer Theatre; Silverspot Cinema; Marcus Theatres’ Bistroplex Southridge, Majestic, Menomonee Falls, Movie Tavern Brookfield Square, North Shore, Ridge, South Shore cinemas.
‘Promising Young Woman’
Short version: When a campus sexual assault is written off and forgotten by the victim’s friends and the university, a medical student (Carey Mulligan) drops out and focuses her life on getting revenge on those who let the rapist go free — and on any man who thinks a woman being drunk is consenting to sex.
Critics’ reaction: One of the most acclaimed movies from this year’s Sundance Film Festival, “Promising Young Woman” is getting raves, especially for Mulligan’s full-throttle performance and writer-director Emerald Fennell’s flair for smart surprises. “Although ‘Promising Young Woman’ starts as a straightforward revenge tale, Fennell treats it more like a thought experiment than a thriller, exploring Cassandra’s vigilante campaign from different angles,” A.V. Club’s Katie Rife wrote.
Where you can see it: AMC Mayfair Mall; Marcus Theatres’ Majestic, Menomonee Falls, North Shore, Ridge, South Shore cinemas.
‘The Dissident’
Short version: Documentary filmmaker Bryan Fogel, whose Oscar-winning “Icarus” uncovered the extent of doping in the Russian Olympic program, takes a deep dive into the cover-up behind the murder of
journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared after entering the Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey.
Critics’ reaction: The early reviews put “The Dissident” on track to bring Fogel back for more awardsseason hardware. “When it comes to edge-of-yourseat intrigue, this is a movie with just about everything,” Variety’s Owen Gleiberman wrote in his review from Sundance, where the movie had its premiere.
Where you can see it: Marcus Theatres’ Majestic, Menomonee Falls, Ridge, South Shore cinemas.
‘Pinocchio’
Short version: The story about the toymaker (Roberto Benigni) who wishes his wooden doll become a “real boy” gets his wish, sort of, in this Italian live-action telling of the tale. (Not to be confused with Disney’s planned live-action redo of its version of the story, which is expected to hit Disney Plus next year, or with the 2002 “Pinocchio” with Benigni himself in the title role).
Critics’ reaction: The early reviews, mostly from Europe, are pretty positive. “Perhaps the film’s most striking accomplishment is how it manages to wed a realistic social setting populated by the poor, hungry rural population of 19th-century Italy with the dreamy fantasy of the book,” Deborah Young wrote in her review for The Hollywood Reporter.
Where you can see it: AMC Mayfair Mall; Marcus Theatres’ Majestic, Menomonee Falls, Ridge, South Shore cinemas.
Opening Wednesday: ‘Herself’
Short version: A woman with two young daughters escapes her abusive partner but is in fear of losing her kids when she has trouble finding a permanent home — so she sets out to build one herself. Clare Dunne plays the single mother; Harriet Walter is her employer, who offers a helping hand. The acclaimed movie, directed by Phyllida Lloyd (“The Iron Lady,” “Mamma Mia!”), is getting a limited theatrical release before it streams on Amazon Prime starting Jan. 8.
Critics’ reaction: Dunne is getting raves; the movie is, too. “‘Herself’ takes on an unapologetically noncynical approach, believing in community, camaraderie and the fundamental goodness of people as an antidote to the fears Dunne’s Sandra and her two daughters endure on a daily basis,” Tomris Laffly wrote in her review from the 2020 Sundance Film Festival,
where the movie made its debut.
Where you can see it: Landmark Downer Theatre, starting Dec. 30.
Off-the-grid options
Rivoli Theatre: The Cedarburg community theater is showing “The Croods: A New Age” at 3:30 and 7 p.m. Dec. 26-29, and 7 p.m. Dec. 30-31. Tickets are $4. Info: rivoliofcedarburg.com.
Christmas movies on the big screen
Avalon Theatre: The Bay View theater is showing “It’s a Wonderful Life” at 6 p.m. Dec. 25. For showtimes and more info, go to avalonmke.com.