By Chip Chandler — Digital Content Producer
In Amarillo theaters this week: Big scares from a hot up-and-coming filmmaker and a familiar franchise, plus heartwarming canine bravery.
New in theaters
It Comes at Night
A family living an isolated life in the woods after some unknown, possibly apocalyptic event tries to make room for another group of survivors in this horror film by director Trey Edward Shults (whose Krisha was one of my favorite films of 2016). Reviews are quite positive. LA Weekly's April Wolfe calls it "a soul-crushingly dark examination of human nature amid an invisible and unnatural threat." The Hollywood Reporter's Sheri Linden writes that the film proves Shults "has a sure and fluent grasp of cinematic storytelling, his stripped-down narrative pulsing with dread and emotion." (R for violence, disturbing images, and language; click here for showtimes at United Artists Amarillo Star 14, 8275 W. Amarillo Blvd., and Cinemark Hollywood 16, 9100 Canyon Drive)
Megan Leavey
A young Marine (Kate Mara) develops an intense bond with a combat-trained German shepard in this new, based-on-fact drama that details her struggles to adopt the dog after they've both been discharged. Reviews are pretty positive. "Megan Leavey, despite its story of wartime heroism, isn’t a jingoistic, sentimental slice of pure patriotism. It’s far more an intimate drama about a personal journey, a story about true love and companionship — how showing up for others can help you to show up for yourself," writes Tribune News Service's Katie Walsh. (PG-13 for war violence, language, suggestive material, and thematic elements; click here for showtimes at Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16)
The Mummy
Tom Cruise stars as a mercenary with a penchant for swiping antiquities in this new action film, which Universal hopes will provide it a cinematic universe based on the monsters in its film stable (see also, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Frankenstein's monster and its bride, and others). Critics, though, are none too impressed by the attempt. "Monster movies frequently are (fun). This one ... is an unholy mess," writes the New York Times' A.O. Scott in a scathingly funny critique. A few others are more positive, like USA Today's Brian Truitt, who calls the movie "a tomb full of action-packed guilty pleasure that owns its horror, humor and rampant silliness equally." (PG-13 for violence, action and scary images, and for some suggestive content and partial nudity; click here for showtimes at Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16, and here at Tascosa Drive-In)
Special engagements
The Cliburn
The six finalists of the 2017 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition will perform with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and conductor Leonard Slatkin in a live event screening at 11:55 a.m. Saturday at the Amarillo Star 14. (NR)
Some Like It Hot
Turner Classic Movies' Big Screen Classics will present this perfect screwball comedy starring Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon as a pair of musicians who don drag to escape the mob, plus Marilyn Monroe as a knockout singer. It'll screen at 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday and Wednesday at both the Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16. (NR)
The K-LOVE Fan Awards
Top Christian artists, athletes, authors and entertainers will be celebrated in this awards show filmed May 28 at the Grand Ole Opry and screened at 7 p.m. Monday at the Amarillo Star 14. (NR)
RiffTrax Live: Summer Shorts Beach Party
The RiffTrax crew is joined by guests Trace Beaulieu and Frank Conniff (Mystery Science Theatre 3000) and comedian Paul F. Tompkins to poke fun at an assortment of crazy summer-themed short films. It'll screen at 7 p.m. June 15 and 7:30 p.m. June 20 at both the Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16. (NR)
Still in theaters
Alien: Covenant (H-16); Baywatch (AS-14, H-16 and TDI); Beauty and the Beast (WM-6); Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (AS-14, H-16); The Case for Christ (Premiere Cinemas Westgate Mall 6, 7701 W. Interstate 40); Everything, Everything (AS-14, H-16); The Fate of the Furious (WM-6); Going in Style (WM-6) Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 (AS-14, H-16); Kong: Skull Island (WM-6); Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (AS-14, H-16); Smurfs: The Lost Village (WM-6); 3 Idiotas (H-16); and Wonder Woman (AS-14, H-16). (Click on titles for my reviews and on theaters for showtimes.)
Chip Chandler is a digital content producer for Panhandle PBS. He can be contacted at Chip.Chandler@actx.edu, at @chipchandler1 on Twitter and on Facebook.
