Make room for a genie, horror and more
With summer winding down (on the calendar, anyway), the movies are cramming in a bunch of new-to-theaters releases that run the gamut from passion projects to festival favorites to horror.
Here’s what’s new in Milwaukeearea theaters starting Friday, as well as some of the new movies available on streaming and on demand this week.
‘Three Thousand Years of Longing’
Short version: A reserved woman of reason (Tilda Swinton) buys a tchotchke in an Istanbul street market and unwittingly releases a genie, or djinn (Idris Elba) — who, to get her to use her wishes, spins all sorts of tales from his past. This surreal-ish fantasy is the dream project of George Miller, he of the “Mad Max” movies.
Where you can see it: AMC Mayfair Mall; Landmark Downer Theatre; Marcus Theatres’ Hillside, Majestic, Menomonee Falls, North Shore, Ridge, Southgate, South Shore cinemas; Oriental Theatre.
‘Breaking’
Short version: After Veterans Affairs rejects his benefits claim, a Marine veteran takes hostages at a bank to make sure his case gets attention. John Boyega gives a passionate performance as the frustrated vet; the late Michael K. Williams, in one of his last roles, plays the sympathetic hostage negotiator. Nicole Beharie, Jeffrey Donovan and Connie Britton co-star in this based-on-atrue-story drama, which screened at this year’s Milwaukee Film Festival under the title “892.”
Where you can see it: AMC Mayfair Mall; Marcus Theatres’ Bistroplex Southridge, Majestic, Menomonee Falls, North Shore, Ridge, South Shore cinemas; Silverspot Cinema.
‘The Invitation’
Short version: After the last member of her family dies, a young woman takes a DNA test and discovers a batch of relatives she didn’t know she had. When they invite her to a big, fancy wedding in the English countryside, it turns out it’s part of a twisted, deadly (and possibly vampiric) family ritual in this dark horror thriller.
Where you can see it: AMC Mayfair Mall; Marcus Theatres’ Bistroplex Southridge, Hillside, Majestic, Menomonee Falls, Movie Tavern Brookfield Square, North Shore, Ridge, Saukville, Showtime, Southgate, South Shore cinemas; Silverspot Cinema.
‘My Name Is Sara’
Short version: In Nazi-occupied Ukraine during World War II, a Polish girl whose family has been slaughtered hides the fact that she’s Jewish to get work and refuge with a farming couple whose life turns out to be complicated in a different way in this based-on-atrue-story drama.
Where you can see it: Marcus Theatres’ North Shore Cinema.
‘Alienoid’
Short version: In an alternate Earth where alien prisoners are confined inside human brains, a guard who travels back to the 14th century in pursuit of an escapee unwittingly causes a rift in the time-space continuum, setting up a battle between 14th-century warriors and the alien guards. Really, that is the short version for this Korean sci-fi action fantasy.
Where you can see it: Marcus Theatres’ Majestic Cinema.
‘Relative’ at Avalon Theater
“Relative,” a new drama centered on a multigenerational reunion of a Chicago family at a time of change for every one of them, is getting a week’s worth of screenings at the Avalon Theater. Writer-director Michael Glover Smith and actor Elizabeth Stam will take part in a Q&A after the opening-night screening at 7 p.m. Aug. 26. In an email, Smith said the ensemble drama, which includes an early scene filmed in Madison, was “intended to be a love letter to Chicago specifically and the Midwest in