DALLAS — Not sure which new releases to watch this weekend? Here are some new options:
ABIGAIL
This is at least the fourth horror film to come out in the last few weeks, and I wasn't expecting much. "Abigail" starts out as a kidnapping story. A motley crew snatches a 12-year-old ballerina and takes her to a ghostly-looking mansion where they are to keep her for 24 hours while a ransom is collected. What starts out as the kidnapping of a tween ballerina goes into far different territory with the kidnappers fighting for their lives. Turns out Little Miss Pirouette is a vampire! She's played by Alisha Weir from "Matilda: The Musical," and carries quite the load. Leading the ensemble cast of kidnappers-turned-captives is Melissa Berrera. That makes sense when you learn it's from Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, the directors of the last two "Scream" movies, which she starred in. Among the others along for the horror ride: Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, and the late Angus Cloud (“Euphoria”) in his final performance.
This one turns from frightening to ridiculous and an absolute blood bath. But it was surprisingly entertaining!
(Universal Pictures. Rated R. Running Time 1 hr. 49 mins. In theaters only)
THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE
Guy Ritchie is really turning them out lately. He goes historic here but doesn't veer far from his comfort zone of a bunch of guys shooting and slashing it up. This is based on a true story of intelligence agents hired to break up the Nazi blockade of U-Boats during World War II by destroying the big boat that supplies them. Break the blockade, and American troops can cross the Atlantic and help their allies. Prime Minister Winston Churchill is behind the top secret "Operation Postmaster." Leading yet another rag-tag group: Henry Cavill sporting some of the best period facial hair you'll see. He also enlists the likes of Alan Ritchson ("Jack Reacher") and Henry Golding ("Crazy Rich Asians") and a beautiful female spy played by Gal Gadot look alike, Eliza Gonzalez. Oh, and by the way, advising back in Britain, Ian Fleming of "James Bond" fame. He would go onto other things.
This has a decent amount of intrigue, but it's basically slick fun.
(Lionsgate. Rated R. Running Time 2 hrs. In theaters only)
SASQUATCH SUNSET
Have you always wondered about the life of a sasquatch? You know, Bigfoot and all. Well, here's your chance. There's now a full-length feature that goes through the seasons of a year with a Sasquatch family. The film stars Jessie Eisenberg and Riley Keough. But you won't see anything but their eyes, and you won't hear them at all. There's no dialogue to the film. Just grunts, groans, and communing with nature. And yes, there's even Sasquatch sex. So, you can cross that off your list of must-sees!
"Sasquatch Sunset" is from director brothers David and Nathan Zellner. One of them even doubles as a Sasquatch. They wisely keep the film to a reasonable length, and I was dying to see how they were gonna end it. I gotta say, it was clever.
(Bleecker Street. Rated R. Running Time 1 hr. 29 mins. In Theaters Only)
DEEP SKY
Wow! This new IMAX movie is short on time but leaves a lingering impression. It's a documentary about the launching of NASA's James Webb Telescope and the amazing images it's able to share. Oscar nominee Nathaniel Kahn directs, and Oscar-nominated actress Michelle Williams narrates. We experience the passion of those who designed it, then the images of dusty space clouds, cosmic cliffs, phantom galaxies... you name it. They also compare the images to those from the Hubble Telescope, so you can see the vast steps forward they’ve made.
The Webb cost $10 billion and took two decades to build. Quite the expensive and time-consuming experiment if it didn't work out. But the images are simply spellbinding!
(IMAX. Not Rated. Running Time 40 mins. In theaters only)
