Previously released
★★★★ Air Director Ben Affleck’s massively entertaining origin story of the Air Jordan sneaker features a star-studded cast bringing their A-game. Essentially a comedy, it has heart to spare, a dazzling lead performance by Matt Damon, and Viola Davis’s usual theft of scenes. As Nike CEO Phil Knight, Affleck competes for comic greatness with his jacked-up wig. One of the year’s best. (112 min., R) (Odie Henderson)
★★★ ½ Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret Judy Blume’s beloved 1970 novel about religion, middle school, and menstruation gets a superb transfer to screen. It’s a warm, funny, and completely satisfying endeavor featuring an excellent performance by Abby Ryder Fortson as Margaret, a pre-teen who talks to God while awaiting the onset of adolescence. It’s just wonderful. (105 min., PG-13) (Odie Henderson)
★ ½ Beau Is Afraid Joaquin Phoenix stars in this very dark fantasmagoria written and directed by Ari Aster (“Hereditary,” “Midsommar”). Over the course of an exhausting three hours, Beau gets put through an emotional, physical, and familial wringer. Playing a “helpful” couple, Nathan Lane and especially Amy Ryan find their considerable talents squandered. Not Patti LuPone: As Beau’s mom, she tears the roof off the sucker. (179 min., R) (Mark Feeney)
★★ ½ Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez headline this latest game-to-movie adaptation. Nowhere near as bad as it sounds. Much of it is a lot of fun, though it fails to create a universe you’d want to revisit. You can actually see the special effects in a fantasy movie for a change. D&D fans will enjoy it. (134 min., PG-13) (Odie Henderson)
★★ ½ Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant An Afghan interpreter (Dar Salim) rescues an Army sergeant (Jake Gyllenhaal). Can the sergeant then rescue the interpreter? The action sequences are tense and effective. Ritchie’s a pro; and by his self-indulgent standards the filmmaking is practically chaste. Halfway in, the story becomes a male potboiler. To the movie’s credit, it confronts head on our abandonment of Afghans who worked for the United States. (123 min., R) (Mark Feeney)
★★★ ½ John Wick: Chapter 4 The final installment in the “John Wick” series finds Keanu Reeves battling scores of bad guys while seeking revenge against the group that originally hired him. Screen legend Donnie Yen plays a blind assassin and Ian McShane brings gravitas as Wick’s mentor. Wicked fun and extremely violent, the body count approaches infinity. (169 min., R) (Odie Henderson)
★★★ Polite Society Writer-director Nida Manzoor’s wild feature debut will have you asking yourself “What the hell did I just watch?” while simultaneously being glad you saw it. A tale of smashing the patriarchy through martial arts and a bit of science fiction, this satire has beautifully shot scenes of action, comedy, and terror. (103 min., PG-13) (Odie Henderson)
★ Renfield Dracula’s henchman Renfield seeks recovery from his codependent relationship in present-day New Orleans. His quest for self-worth is complicated by his running afoul of both drug lords and ardent cops. Eating bugs helps him kick butt and remove other people’s limbs while staying ahead of his pursuers. (93 min., R) (Glenn Kenny) Y½ The Super Mario Bros. Movie A checklist of fan expectations masquerading as a movie. Chris Pratt and Charlie Day play the titular siblings, who must battle an evil Jack Black to save the kingdom of Anya Taylor-Joy’s Princess Peach. For rabid Nintendo fans only, ones who simply want to be catered to rather than entertained. (92 min., PG) (Odie Henderson)