Next Week in Tickets: Films playing Boston 6 June 2025 - 12 June 2024

Does anyone else have the thing where they see the trailer for a new Wes Anderson movie a million times, just groaning at the twee-ness of it, only to go anyway because the cast is just so good, only to find that there is at least one really terrific performance that the trailer can't show beneath all the artifice and need to show all the actors, only to forget that experience the next time, or even when asked about that movie a few years later? Is it just me?

Anyway, that's part of my plan for the weekend.

• I refer, of course, to The Phoenician Scheme, with Benicio del Toro as a European shipping magnate, Mia Threapleton as his daughter, a nun he has chosen as his sole heir, and an absolutely stacked roster as various schemers, assassins, and maybe a few allies. It's at the Somerville, the Coolidge, Kendall Square, West Newton, CinemaSalem, Boston Common, Causeway Street, the Seaport, South Bay, and Assembly Row.
  
  Also opening big is Ballerina, a John Wick spinoff featuring Ana de Armas as one of the assassin dancers we saw in a previous film, using her skills for her own mission of revenge. It's at the Capitol, Fresh Pond, the Embassy, Boston Common (including Dolby Cinema), Causeway Street, Kendall Square, the Seaport, South Bay (including Dolby Cinema), Assembly Row (including Dolby Cinema), Arsenal Yards (including CWX), and Chestnut Hill.
  
  Dangerous Animals, featuring Jai Courtney as a serial killer who likes feeding women to sharks and Hassie Harrison as the surfer trapped on his boat, opens at Boston Common, Causeway Street, the Seaport, and South Bay.
  
  Dark comedy I Don't Understand You, about a gay couple accidentally racking up a body count in Italy during their last fling before their adopted baby is born, opens at Boston Common. Also opening at Boston Common is The Ritual, with Al Pacino and Dan Stevens as priests whose deeds are said to have inspired The Exorcist.
  
  Kevin Smith's Dogma gets a 25th anniversary re-release, with about 20 minutes of supplementary goodies, at West Newton, Boston Common, the Seaport, Assembly Row, and Arsenal Yards.
  
  Documentary Prime Minister, about covid-era New Zealand PM Jacinda Arden, has a preview with livestreamed Q&A at Assembly row on Sunday. BUFF closer Escape from the 21st Century plays Causeway Street, the Seaport, and Assembly Row on Monday. There are Wednesday early-access shows of the live-action How to Train Your Dragon at Jordan's Furniture (Imax), Causeway Street (RealD 3D), the Seaport (RealD 3D), South Bay (Imax Xenon & Dolby Cinema), Assembly Row (Imax Laser & Dolby Cinema), Arsenal Yards (CWX), and Chestnut Hill (RealD 3D).
• Opening at The Coolidge Corner Theatre and Boston Common ahead of next week's wide release is The Life of Chuck, with Tom Hiddleston as an ordinary man who may have greatness in him. Another terrific cast, with Mike Flanagan once again directing a Steven King adaptation. It looks to expand to Kendall Square, the Lexington Venue, the Seaport, Assembly Row next week.
  
  The midnights at the Coolidge this weekend are {REC] 3: Genesis on Friday (I think its original run here may have been midnights at the Coolidge) and Dawn of the Dead at 10pm Saturday, continuing late with a post-film conversation with Cinematic Void's Jim Branscome and actor Ken Foree. On Sunday, they start Bleak Week with actress Siobhan Fallon Hogan hosting a Lars von Trier double feature of Dancer in the Dark & Dogville, continuing with The Killing of a Sacred Deer Monday, a Ratcatcher & We Need to Talk About Kevin twin bill on Tuesday, Cries and Whispers and The White Ribbon as separate admissions Wednesday, and Kids on Thursday. There's also a Big Screen Classic show of Thelma & Louise with Northeastern's Abbie DeCamp hosting a seminar on Monday, and a 35mm Cinema Jukebox screening of SLC Punk! on Thursday.
• The Brattle Theatre brings pack IFFBoston centerpiece show Pavements for a weeklong run (except Monday). Alex Ross Perry's movie is apparently a music documentary until it isn't, centered on the band Pavement (as one might expect).
  
  They also have 35mm make-up matinee screenings of The Muppet Movie (remember the marathon weekend messiness?) on Friday and Sunday. Saturday's Prince's Birthday show is Purple Rain; Monday has both an early "open crafting" show of Rocky Horror where folks are encouraged to bring projects to work on while watching and singing along and Before Sunset later on.
• Tamil-language crime drama Thug Life opened at Apple Fresh Pond (which also plays it in Telugu) and Boston Common earlier in the week, and wasn't there a thing trying not use "thug" anymore a few years ago, because the Thuggee Cult was a thing white racists more or less made up about India? Ah, well. Also opening this week are Housefull 5, a Hindi-language comedy murder-mystery that takes a page from Clue by having multiple endings (A and B), and Malayalam-language divorce court drama Aabhyanthara Kuttavaali. Bengali-language mystery The Eken: Benaras e Bibhishika has an encore showing on Sunday afternoon.
  
  Pakistani romantic comedy Love Guru opens at Boston Common. Probably not a remake of the Mike Myers movie, though it's probably along the basic lines or a relationship expert falling in love himself and it would be kind of funny to see that sort of movie rehabilitated by folks like the ones it caricatured.
  
  Big Deal, a Korean movie about a global conglomerate aiming to acquire an iconic soju company on the verge of bankruptcy, opens at Causeway Street just a couple days after its home territory. Korean concert film Baekhyun: Lonsdaleite [Dot] plays Boston Common through Monday.
  
  Anime Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye which bridges the gap between the series's first and forthcoming second season (or maybe which is the first few episodes of the new season, like the previous film was), opens at the Embassy, Boston Common, the Seaport.
  
  Vietnamese thriller Detective Kien: The Headless Horror continues at South Bay.
• The Somerville Theatre plays Broken Social Scene doc It's All Gonna Break on Friday & Saturday evenings. "F— the Nazis" ends with The Blues Brothers on Tuesday, but plays on in our hearts.
  
  The Capitol Theatre starts a regular "Popcorn Comedy" stand-up series on Thursday with Orlando Baxter as the month's headliner
• The Seaport Alamo has You've Got Mail Saturday afternoon, holdover shows of Sister Midnight Saturday & Tuesday, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 on Tuesday, and Bride of Chucky on Wednesday.
• This Monday's Belmont World Film Pride/World Refugee Awareness Month film at the West Newton Theater is Souleymane's Story, with Dr. Tiffany Bailey as the accompanying speaker.
• Landmark Kendall Square has the unfortunately-relevant Milk for the weekly Pride Month show on Tuesday. They also have a special screening of Miley Cyrus visual album Something Beautiful on Thursday
• The Regent Theatre has a Midweek Music Movie on Thursday, with documentary Ron Delsener Presents profiling the longtime New York City music promoter.
• Joe's Free Films has the Do It Your Damn Self!! Youth Film Festival at the Harvard Art Museum Friday and MIT Open Space Saturday. Hero Camp! plays at Somerville's Arts at the Armory with a filmmaker Q&A on Thursday.
• The Museum of Science has a special showing of A Million Miles Away in the Mugur Omni Theater with José M. Hernández, whose life inspired the story, on hand Saturday.
• The Embassy has Ballerina and Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye through Sunday; Monday community movies seem to be up in the air at the moment.
• The Lexington Venue is open all week but Monday with Lilo & Stitch and The Phoenician Scheme there's a second free screening of local comedian Matt Farley in Evil Puddle on Saturday morning.
  
  Caught by the Tides moves to The West Newton Cinema after a week at the Brattle; they also open The Phoenician Scheme and the Dogma re-release, holding over Karate Kid: Legends, Lilo & Stitch, Mission: Impossible, and Friendship. The Goonies plays Sunday afternoon and Ty Burr hosts a Movie Club showing of Nashville on Thursday.
  
  Cinema Salem has Bring Her Back, Karate Kid Legends, Lilo & Stitch, and The Phoenician Scheme through Monday. Rebel Without a Cause and a Girlies with Anniversaries show of Miss Congeniality play Saturday; Mildred Pierce is the Wayback Wednesday feature with a Weirdo Wednesday show down the hall, and then another Girlies with Anniversaries presentation, The Virgin Suicides, on Thursday.

Feels like we're in for the area's 10th consecutive rainy weekend, which makes walking to the T no fun. Still, I'll likely check out Ballerina, The Phoenician Scheme, Dangerous Animals and Big Deal around what baseball gets played.