There are a lot of movies out right now in the ether that you can choose from, but sometimes, it’s just so hard to pick which ones are worth your time.
Luckily, we’ve watched a lot of movies lately. And we’ve picked out eight films that you can check out right now that are absolutely worth spending time with and two you might want to skip.
As the summer gets hotter and hotter, why not beat the heat with an afternoon at the movies?
Let’s check out 10 of these films, which range from the blockbuster smash Wicked to the latest Gladiator film.
Wicked
I guessWickedwas always bound for the Rob Marshall treatment, complete with a capable ensemble hidden behind garish CGI and belabored creative decisions that consistently get in their own way. Without Ariana Grande, I don’t know where this movie would be. It’s spread too thin with the two-part decision, and it suffers from just being way too dang long for such little momentum crammed into the last 30 minutes.
Grande gives the film moments of genuine inspiration, her singing going for that Disney Renaissance level of goosebump power and her acting so attune to Glinda’s airhead pomp and unbridled charisma. Cynthia Erivo is perfectly fine, but trying to channel what Idina Menzel brought to the role was always going to be impossible for anybody. Jonathan Bailey was a pleasant surprise, even if he doesn’t get much to do. Jeff Goldblum thrives, even if he’s not a natural singer. The cast does its job; it’s not their fault this doesn’t totally work.
Somehow, Chu is the weak link in a way that I couldn’t have predicted after he did such inspired work with In the Heights. The musical numbers get lost behind the garish production design and are staged like a Disney Channel Original Movie. It honestly reminded me of Guy Ritchie trying to doAladdin, and that’s regression from how well Chu did on his last musical adaptation. The film’s pacing is glacial where the actual musical bubbles with energy, and the biggest layup, “Defying Gravity,” occasionally falls flat except for when Erivo and Grande take over the shoddy staging and backdrop and Chu taps into those melodramatic choral notes from the source material. There’s a redeeming power to one of the last shots that really sells you on what works about the final sequence, but then it inexplicably keeps going and undermines itself with more CGI nonsense. That’s kind of a sad summation of the whole. Just when the film starts to find its footing, the ladder gets kicked out from under it by its own request. It’s curiosity self-defeating.
There were moments I was genuinely taken with what Chu was going for, and there were others where I just gave up on trying to engage because of how corporate and fizzled out the whole production plays. At times, it’s caked in bad visuals, replete with 2020Dolittle-style talking animal effects that made me chuckle (in a bad way) and slowed story-wise to reach the demand of being a clunky first half of a concise Broadway show. The strikingly bad visuals would have even undone a single film of this, but at least it would’ve felt brisk.
I’m sure this will do well at the Oscars, and any love for Grande in particular will be well deserved. She is excellent, and the role really is hers now. However, this could’ve been a slam dunk. As it is, it’s just … fine. It’s not bad, but it’s deeply frustrating to imagine what could’ve been with a more carefulapproach.
Gladiator II
The most influential blockbuster of the last 10 years continues to be Star Wars: The Force Awakens, as Gladiator II is the latest legacy sequel to basically recreate the first film with new characters and just enough twists and turns to justify the spectacle. And it’s a thrilling spectacle with lots of bravado and excellent actors chewing scenery and spilling all the platitudes you could ask for.
I had more or less the same response to this as I did Top Gun: Maverick, with that film holding a slight edge on sheer emotion and excitement and this one holding a slight edge on cinematic gravity. This movie, and all like it, have an hard ceiling since they’re specifically designed to offend the least amount of people possible by giving as many people what they want out of this as they possibly can. Thankfully, Ridley Scott is a weirdo, so you get those rabid baboons, a war rhino and sharks in the Coliseum. So it’s got its pleasant quirks.
Gladiator II exudes so much … Capital-M Movie … that you are forgiving of the shadow the original casts over it. The flaws are what they are, but you’re still enthralled by the muscle of the filmmaking and the power of the arena. Paul Mescal does as well as he can to fill Russell Crowe’s impossibly large shoes, and Denzel Washington is delightfully unhinged. In the end, this isn’t the first, but it’s still a heck of a time at themovies.
Heretic
On one read, you might find this movie to be incredibly grating, spewing out the most asinine philosophy and anti-religion fodder found in such "cherished" works as Bill Maher’sReligilousand 2000s internet message boards. On another, you could find this to be a very funny spoof of how absolutely annoying some of those people can be to the point where the scariest thing in the world isn’t them locking you in a heck dungeon with no sunlight. It's them moving on to another analogy for how your faith can’t be real because of Jar Jar Binks or whatever.
I fully embraced the latter, so I had a really fun time with this. Hugh Grant was born to play this troll. The third act runs out of road and the ending is kind of a shrug, but everything else is pretty captivating and far more humorous than I expected. Grant's performance makes it all worth your time.
Here
Robert Zemeckis wears all of his hearts on his sleeve, has an absolutely incurable obsession with CGI experimentation and is more prone to giving into his worst filmmaking vices as he gets older. That’s been established. However, the concept with Here is pretty strong, a bittersweet Carousel of Progress with generational trauma baked in. Zemeckis is so committed to that approach that this actually resonates. It’s at times a little too jumpy, literally and figuratively, to make its point, that we’re gifted an amazing here and now that we so often squander because we’re repeating the mistakes of the past, which is and isn’t our fault.
It’s Boomer Cinema to its core, but it’s also stirring in how relatable the small moments of triumph and failure are. Sure, you could look at it as cloying, but willfully buying into Zemeckis’ vision can be quite rewarding. Being played by sentimental movies is a choice, and I respect the urge to push it away. However, there’s still some magic in what Zemeckis is able to do behind the camera. Your mileage may vary, but if you can plant yourself in the moment, you’ll find some beauty inHere. It’s a spiritual sequel toForrest Gumpat its best and worst, a little wiser than that film but no less taken with well-trodden 20th-century introspection. This one just hasdinosaurs.
Emilia Pérez
I cannot fault Jacques Audiard for taking such an audacious swing, one that’s fully ready to make some pretty obvious mistakes in service of the vision. Does this completely work? Not at all. Was I pretty fascinated by it? Mostly, yeah! I respect the craft, the willingness to reach for such a grand story with such empathy, to go for broke on the musical moments that occasionally hit with such jarring execution.
I don’t think this one fully reaches its intellectual goals for commentary, but it’s still too risky and passionate to dismiss outright. The whole cast gives the material its all, and some of the music is pretty solid. Some of it plays like a spotty Bob Fosse/Stephen Sondheim tribute concert. This is inherently flawed, but I’m still fond of what it’s trying to do. Perhaps I’m just automatically generous to something I haven’t quite seen before? This isthat.
Flow
Flow is beyond impressive, a touching ode to helping your neighbor during times of trouble. There is something undeniably pure about this dialogue-free Homeward Bound spin between animals who have to quickly learn to trust each other as the world around them takes water. The character work in particular is pretty stunning, as these animals' animated body language says more than any voice actor ever could. Also, we must protect that golden retriever at all costs. What a great boy.
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
The scenes with Christopher Reeve and Robin Williams really take you to a place that’s hard to go in show business docs, one where the industry really has nothing to do with it. They’re two absolute pop culture icons, legacies cemented before they turned 40, just chopping it up as brothers in the best times and leaning on each other in the worst.
You don’t often see relationships in Hollywood like this documented so tenderly, and just a snippet of Williams’ genuinely devastating eulogy at Reeve’s funeral hits as hard as anything here. It’s an inspirational story born of tragedy, and what a praise-worthy family this was and continues to be. However, those scenes with Reeve and Williams stick with me the most, outside of the sheer bravery of Reeve’s children to walk us through their darkest moments with such grace. This follows the celebrity documentary format, yes, but it’s a wallop all thesame.
Hundreds of Beavers
This was absolute gold. The best of what independent cinema can produce, it’s wild somethingso zany and handcrafted can manage to have such integrity and ingenuity. You really can’t sell this one enough. It’s a firecracker. I cannot wait to see what these guys do next. Jay Ward and the Happy Tree Friends would be so, so proud. Meshing that vibe together is just beautiful.
¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor!
This was really delightful behind-the-scenes look at a truly insane restoration, fueled by memory, mad genius and money. Lots and lots of money. There isn’t a cynical bone in Trey Parker or Stone’s body for doing this. You cannot sink this much of your money into what seems like a doomed venture unless you really loveit.
The Instigators
This is like if The Departed was an airplane movie, and that’s fine with me. We don’t get a lot of these. Breezy and just captivating enough. I wish getting a cast together like this led to something more substantial, but beggars can’t be choosers. It's a solidflick.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: 10 movies you can watch right now, including Wicked and Gladiator II
