Starring: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Hannah John-Kamen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus

A group of supervillains is recruited to go on missions for the government.

Starring: Brandon Wilson, Ethan Herisse, Luke Tennie, Fred Hechinger, Hamish Linklater, Daveed Diggs, Jimmie Fails

Elwood Curtis’ college dreams are shattered when he’s sentenced to Nickel Academy, a brutal reformatory in the Jim Crow South. Clinging to his optimistic worldview, Elwood strikes up a friendship with Turner, a fellow Black teen who dispenses fundamental tips for survival.

Starring: Fernanda Torres, Fernanda Montenegro, Selton Mello, Valentina Herszage

Eunice Paiva begins a lonely battle to learn the truth behind the disappearance of her husband, former PTB deputy Rubens Paiva, while trying to keep her family together.

Starring: Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Elizabeth Peña, Philip Baker Hall, Tom Wilkinson

When Hong Kong Inspector Lee is summoned to Los Angeles to investigate a kidnapping, the FBI doesn’t want any outside help and assigns cocky LAPD Detective James Carter to distract Lee from the case. Not content to watch the action from the sidelines, Lee and Carter form an unlikely partnership and investigate the case themselves.

Starring: Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, Joe Anderson, Dana Fuchs, Martin Luther, T.V. Carpio

The songs of the Beatles provide the sonic framework for this musical tale of romance, war and peace. When young British worker Jude (Jim Sturgess) sets sail for the United States in search of his father, he ends up meeting carefree college student Max (Joe Anderson) and his lovely sister, Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood), along with a cast of eccentric characters. As Jude and Lucy fall for each other, their relationship is threatened by the social upheaval that accompanies the Vietnam War.

Starring: Helen Slater, Christian Slater, Keith Gordon, Richard Bradford, Peter Coyote, Martha Gehman, Yeardley Smith, Dean Stockwell

A wild ride of teenage rebellion, rock anthems, and justice punctuated by a powerful haircut reveal.

When Billie Jean Davy (Helen Slater), a 16-year-old high schooler from a small Texas town, is wronged by a rich, spoiled bully named Hubie, she decides she’s had enough of being pushed around. With the help of her troublemaker brother (Christian Slater) and loyal friends, she transforms from a local girl-next-door into a full-blown folk hero. Sporting a white T-shirt, a headband, and an unapologetic attitude, Billie Jean’s quest for justice turns her into a media sensation. She becomes the face of teenage disillusionment, with the press dubbing her “The Legend.” Along the way, she faces off with authority, defies the system, and inspires a generation to stand up for what’s right – the embodiment of Pat Benatar’s song “Invincible.”

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Roth, Michael Clarke Duncan, Paul Giamatti

Director Tim Burton reinvents one of the most acclaimed and beloved works of science fiction, Pierre Boulle’s classic novel “Planet of the Apes.” Burton’s Planet of the Apes begins with the famed original’s premise — a pilot finds himself in a world turned upside down after landing on a strange planet.

Starring: Akio Ôtsuka, Atsuko Tanaka, Tamio Ôki, Kôichi Yamadera

In the year 2032, the line between humans and machines has been blurred almost beyond distinction. A string of murders perpetrated by a prototype android model has drawn the attention of Public Security Section 9, a unit specializing in counter cyber-terrorism. With none of the victims’ families pressing charges, suspicions arise regarding the nature of the androids and their production company. In the course of the investigation, the almost entirely cyber-bodied agent Batou, and his still human partner Togusa embark on a journey through a technological dystopia, taking on ferocious Yakuza thugs, devious hackers, government bureaucrats, and corporate criminals to uncover the shocking truth behind the crime.

Starring: Harrison Ford, Anthony Mackie, Rosa Salazar, Liv Tyler, Giancarlo Esposito

Sam finds himself in the middle of an international incident after meeting with President Thaddeus Ross. He must soon discover the reason behind a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red.

Starring: Prince, Cat, Sheila E., Dr. Fink, Wally Safford, Greg Brooks, Sheena Easton

It’s time to party with The Deuce like it’s… 2025!!  As in: Two-Thousand Zero Twenty-Five!! In that, we could all die any day – ’tis nigh high time to open your eyes and ears and with witless wonder bear witness to – a SIGN “☮️” THE TIMES!  Writer/director/star/Maestro Prince’s 1987-era musical manifesto Concert Film (capital “C”, capital “F”) cavalcade of choreographed, costumed, consummate consummation of stage-strutting splendor! Searing! Steamy! Sexy! Sleazy! A harbinger for the year to come!! New Year! New U! New Deuce!! Same OLD Deuce-Dummies… ready to roar!!

A watershed of jaw-dropping show-stopping that Slate mag proclaims to be “the single-greatest concert film of all time” – a sentiment much echoed elsewhere – only ever (if ever) edged from top-slot by Demme and The Talking Heads’ STOP MAKING SENSE… equally behemoth and yet altogether different beast… SIGN “☮️” THE TIMES is His Royal Badness at his (arguably) Bestness!! And despite what the naysayers may naysay – to whit: it being “fake” as a “concert film” as per the bulk being shot on Prince’s personal concert-hall sized Paris soundstage due to The Purple One having pshaw’d parts of the previously filmed live Rotterdam footage as not being up to his particulars – the pulse-pounding PERFORMANCE (more than deserving of its all-capitalization) is pure preening High Priest Of Pop perfection… pitched at a pinnacle of all-outness on every level… “makes Michael Jackson look like he’s nailed to the floor…”!!

While opening to critical raves if not so boffo box-office returns in more haughty halls the likes of Broadway’s Warner or the Village’s Art Greenwich, it was when it hit the eponymous Times Square Theater when the party really started as though 1987 was instead the year of 1999 – where everybody, everybody said “PARTY’!!

(ed. Despite the preponderance of references/allusions to the Prince song “1999” peppered throughout these program notes, the aforementioned number – despite its having been part of the live stage show – is for some bizarre reason NOT performed in the aforementioned film… as per Prince’s perhaps perfunctory design of said film being a kind of “promo” for the also for some bizarre reason “under-performing” double album of the same name… oops! outta time! ✌️+💜)