Starring: Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Miranda Otto, Justin Chatwin, Tim Robbins
B-Sides, Tom Cruise: Although it is true that War of the Worlds boasts award nominations and a huge box office take, almost two decades later it has been overshadowed by other blockbusters of both Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg. It stands as one of the more exciting sci-fi thrillers of the first decade of the 2000s.
Dockworker Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) struggles to build a positive relationship with his two children, Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and Robbie (Justin Chatwin). When his ex-wife, Mary Ann (Miranda Otto), drops them off at Ferrier’s house, it seems as though it will be just another tension-filled weekend. However, when electromagnetic pulses of lightning strike the area, the strange event turns out to be the beginning of an alien invasion, and Ferrier must now protect his children as they seek refuge.
Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., Samara Weaving, Lucy Boynton, Ronke Adekoluejo, Marton Csokas, Alex Fitzalan, Minnie Driver
Inspired by the incredible true story of composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. The illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, Bologne (Kelvin Harrison Jr. in a tour de force performance) rises to improbable heights in French society as a celebrated violinist-composer and fencer, complete with an ill-fated love affair and a falling out with Marie Antoinette (Lucy Boynton) and her court.
Starring: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Will Ferrell, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, America Ferrera
After being expelled from Barbieland for being a less than perfect-looking doll, Barbie sets off for the human world to find true happiness.
Starring: Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston
The itinerary of a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention, organized to bring together students and parents from across the country for fellowship and scholarly competition, is spectacularly disrupted by world-changing events.
Nitehawk Recommends: “Do Not Detonate,” the new book edited by Wes Anderson and Jake Perlin. Writings on the people and places, theater and film of mid-century America (and beyond), in a portfolio of essays and photographs informing Wes Anderson’s film Asteroid City.
Available in Brooklyn at Greenlight, Books Are Magic and Spoonbill & Sugartown or online.
Starring: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro, Moon Seung-ah
Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrest apart after Nora’s family emigrates from South Korea. Two decades later, they are reunited in New York for one fateful week as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life, in this heartrending modern romance.
Starring: Kôjirô Shimizu, Kenji Haga, Miki Fujitani, Masatane Tsukayama, Jôji Nakata
In this animated film, M. Bison (Jôji Nakata), leader of the international crime syndicate Shadowlaw, is recruiting the world’s greatest fighters. Bison targets Japanese fighting master Ryu (Kôjirô Shimizu), who possesses gravity-defying abilities. Unable to coerce Ryu, Bison captures and converts Ken Masters (Kenji Haga), an ex-classmate who shares Ryu’s fighting style. Meanwhile, Chun-Li (Miki Fujitani) of Interpol teams with an American soldier (Masatane Tsukayama) to crush Shadowlaw.
Starring: Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Jaime King, Frankie Faison, Lochlyn Munro, John Heard
Two FBI agent brothers, Marcus (Marlon Wayans) and Kevin Copeland (Shawn Wayans), accidentally foil a drug bust. As punishment, they are forced to escort a pair of socialites (Anne Dudek, Rochelle Aytes) to the Hamptons, where they’re going to be used as bait for a kidnapper. But when the girls realize the FBI’s plan, they refuse to go. Left without options, Marcus and Kevin decide to pose as the sisters, transforming themselves from African-American men into a pair of blonde, white women.
Starring: Robin Williams, Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan, Harvey Fierstein, Matthew Lawrence, Mara Wilson, Lisa Jakub
Troubled that he has little access to his children, divorced Daniel Hillard (Robin Williams) hatches an elaborate plan. With help from his creative brother Frank (Harvey Fierstein), he dresses as an older British woman and convinces his ex-wife, Miranda (Sally Field), to hire him as a nanny. “Mrs. Doubtfire” wins over the children and helps Daniel become a better parent — but when both Daniel and his nanny persona must meet different parties at the same restaurant, his secrets may be exposed.
Starring: Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Juliet Stevenson
Katherine Watson (Julia Roberts) is a recent UCLA graduate hired to teach art history at the prestigious all-female Wellesley College, in 1953. Determined to confront the outdated mores of society and the institution that embraces them, Katherine inspires her traditional students including Betty (Kirsten Dunst) and Joan (Julia Stiles) to challenge the lives they are expected to lead.
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Gregory Smith, Jay Mohr, Phil Hartman, Kevin Dunn, Denis Leary, Tommy Lee Jones, Frank Langella
When teenager Alan (Gregory Smith) buys a set of Commando Elite action figures, he’s unaware that they have been programmed with military technology. The toys, including leader Chip (Tommy Lee Jones), spring to life and start taking their directives seriously, beginning by “killing” their enemies, the toy Gorgonites. But Archer (Frank Langella) and the Gorgonites won’t go down without a fight. Alan gets caught in the middle of the war, as does his neighbor and crush, Christy (Kirsten Dunst).
