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Reviews of movies showing in theaters or streaming online
‘BELFAST’: Halfway through “Belfast,” Sir Kenneth Branagh’s deeply personal cinematic memoir of growing up in Northern Ireland during The Troubles, Branagh’s child avatar, Buddy (newcomer Jude Hill) receives some words of reassurance from his grandfather, Pop (Ciarán Hinds). He tells him, “You’re Buddy, from Belfast 15, and you’ll always be Buddy from Belfast 15. That’s the truth. It’ll keep you safe, and it’ll keep you happy.” With “Belfast,” Branagh, the lauded actor and director known for his Shakespearean adaptations, reconnects with Buddy from Belfast 15, remembering who that boy was, what he wanted, whom he loved and what his hopes and dreams were. It’s an emotional and intimate film, a childhood remembrance steeped in nostalgia and heartbreak; a love letter to a hometown written from the soul. 1:38. 3 stars. — Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service
‘CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG’:
Back in 1963, the character of Clifford (the big red dog) came into the world when a children’s book editor suggested cartoonist and illustrator Norman Bridwell come up with a story to go along with one of his drawings. Taking inspiration from his wife and daughter, the adventures of Clifford and his faithful companion Emily Elizabeth have endured through a long-running series of children’s books and a spinoff animated PBS series, and now, the long-gestating live-action version finally gallops into town. This is a film that’s so guileless and well-intentioned that beating up on it would feel like, well, kicking a puppy. 1:37. 2 ½ stars. — Katie Walsh
‘DUNE’: On screen, Frank Herbert’s Baron Harkonnen-sized
1965 novel “Dune” best suits a director operating in a pre-“Star Wars” mode of storytelling. The patient, densely embroidered narrative invests heavily in themes of environmental, ecological and colonialist exploitation. Earnest sentiments such as “When you take a life, you take your own” go against the grain of most successful Hollywood-financed science-fiction forays. Even in a post-“Star Wars” smash such as “Avatar,” still the biggest hit in the universe, the point — setting aside the anguish over genocidal imperialist conquerors — is how many enemies a noble warrior can kill under pressure, in a hurry, so that we feel good and (per “Star Wars”) wouldn’t mind putting quarters in the same game again right away. “Dune” defies all that. So does its latest screen adaptation, a lot of which I love. 2:35. 3 stars. Streaming on HBO Max. — Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
‘ETERNALS’: “Eternals” introduces a slew of Marvel Cinematic Universe firsts. First same-sex kiss. First tender love scene between two hetero superheroes — discreet, brief but enough to remind you how much of the comic book genre is about looking good, alone, instead of quality time in pairs. Unfortunately, another first: “Eternals” is co-writer and director Chloe Zhao’s first dull movie. After “Songs My Brother Taught Me” (2015), the sublime neo-Western “The Rider” (2017) and her Oscar-winning “Nomadland” (2020), nearly as good as “The Rider,” this movie is more risk-prone than the majority of Marvel titles. Yet it frustrates, even beyond a screenplay full of self-competing interests. And as far as MCU fatigue goes — well, at this point,
it goes pretty far. On the other hand: There’s a series waiting to be built around Lauren Ridloff ’s superspeedy cyclone-generator Makkari. 2:37. 2 stars.
— Michael Phillips
‘GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE’: “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” is indeed haunted.
But it’s not just the likes of Muncher and the StayPuft Marshmallow Man that need to be zapped into proton packs. This film is haunted by the specter of the legacy of the 1984 “Ghostbusters,” which isn’t just lurking around the edges but literally baked into its DNA. “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” brings a new family into the ghostbusting dynasty, which includes a single mom, Callie (Carrie Coon), and her two kids: brainy tween Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) and gawky teen Trevor (Finn Wolfhard of “Stranger Things” and “It”). Callie is a bit of a loser, bad with money and down on her luck. When her estranged father dies and she inherits his property, she hauls her kids off to rural Oklahoma to investigate the value of his ramshackle old dirt farm. As one might surmise, said ramshackle old dirt farm is
bursting with mysterious artifacts and ghost-hunting gear. With Phoebe’s round glasses, mop of dark curly hair and skill with numbers, anyone with even the most casual passing interest in “Ghostbusters” can see where this family story is going. 2:04. 1 ½ stars. — Katie Walsh
‘KING RICHARD’: “King Richard” redirects the tennis phenomenon of Venus and Serena Williams away from the sisters and toward their father, Richard. He is played by Will Smith in a performance guaranteed an Oscar nomination — deserved, by the way — because the entire film is built to support that outcome. What we have here is a moderately good sports biopic with a very fine performance at center court. Secondarily, in terms of screen time, debut screenwriter Zach Baylin’s enthusiastic account also manages some of what Richard’s thenwife, Oracene (Aunjanue Ellis), did to parent, coach, cajole and shape these two particular daughters, in a family of five high-achieving girls, into ferocious competitors. The results will please a wide audience searching for inspirational true-life stories ending with a reaffirmation of family, faith and hard, hard work. That said: Even the verifiably true material in “King Richard” has a way of coming off like a Hollywood movie in the most “Hollywood movie” sense of those words. 2:18. 2 ½ stars. — Michael Phillips
‘THE POWER OF THE DOG’: The gorgeous Otago region of New Zealand makes for one hell of a 1925 Montana in “The Power of the Dog,” the first feature written and directed by Jane Campion since “Bright Star” 12 years ago. This adaptation of the 1967 Thomas Savage novel is worth seeing, and arguing with, for several reasons. It’s a chamber Western, focused on four main characters, and those warring personalities are played by the exactly right quartet of Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons (Dunst and Plemons are married off-camera) and Kodi Smit-McPhee. The environment these forlorn souls call home works like a spacious dream of the Old West, shortly after it has given way to 20th century notions of progress. For Campion, the personifications of Western heroism and toughness are practically indistinguishable from their own nightmarish distortions. “The Power of the Dog” lays out this theme pretty bluntly, in a story that can feel a mite thin. It’s also well worth your time because it imagines the time, place and people it’s about so intriguingly. Campion, cinematographer Ari Wegner, the entire design team knew what they wanted. And got it. 2:06. 3 stars. — Michael Phillips
‘TICK TICK … BOOM!’:
Artists suffer, and fail, and work miracles, sometimes in the same frazzled measure of their lives. The late Jonathan Larson, who died at 35 in the final week of rehearsals for his off-Broadway (then Broadway, then everywhere) musical smash “Rent,” measured out his own tragically abbreviated life in ways that made him typical of a struggling musical theater composer/lyricist, as well as uniquely himself. He was not an easy-breathing collaborator by any accounts, but he was a seriously inspired one. He took inspiration from the greats and then, after his sudden death, went on to inspire so many more coming up behind him. “Tick, Tick … Boom!” is the story of that life. It premiered first as a “rock monologue” by Larson himself in 1990.
The piece expanded for ensemble performance after Larson’s passing, and now, Lin-Manuel Miranda makes his feature directorial debut with a screen adaptation starring Andrew Garfield as Larson. 1:55. 3 ½ stars. — Michael Phillips
RATINGS: The movies listed are rated according to the following key: 4 stars, excellent; 3 stars, good; 2 stars, fair; 1 star, poor.