Now Playing: MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE Nostalgic Action Comedy, POWER BALLAD Bonds Over Music

The summer movie season is shaping up to be different than in past years, with unexpected hits like Obsession hanging on in movie theaters, and new hits like Backrooms making big waves, both from YouTube creators.

In stark contrast, we have the Wayan Brothers returning to their parody creation, an 80s toy/cartoon show returning to life, and my personal pick of the week, Hong Kong animated movie Another World, delving into deep issues of spirituality.

We also have a Canadian comedy, a Pakistani zombie movie, another shark movie, a bouncy love story masquerading as a crime thriller, and an unexpectedly gentle movie about the wonders hiding under us all.

Get out and see a movie! I hope your local theater has a functioning air-conditioner.

Masters of the Universe
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters, via Amazon MGM Studios.

Our review by J Hurtado: "It's kind of insane that in the year of our lord, two thousand and twenty-six, there is a $200 million-dollar tentpole adaptation of a forty-four-year-old children's cartoon that is expressly aimed at those of us who grew up in the last wave of Gen X cynicism. And yet, what Travis Knight has created in the new Masters of the Universe somehow manages to be both reverent and irreverent at the same time in a way that manages to slyly awaken and sate the eternal child in all of us."

Official synopsis: "Over 40 years ago... He saved his universe. He inspired a generation. Now, He-Man returns."

Power Ballad
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters, via Lionsgate Movies.

Our review by Daniel Eagan: "As squishy as the dad rock it embraces, Power Ballad cements director John Carney's hold on dramedies of regret and second chances. ... Like he did in Begin Again and, to a lesser extent, Flora and Son, Carney dresses everything here in a feel-good glow. Danny's deceit and Mac's treachery are washed away with throwaway gags (like the band having to pull out reading glasses to watch a Tik Tok on Rick's phone). Conflicts are resolved magically. Somehow, Rudd still makes it as pleasant as a bag of Taytos."

Official synopsis: "When Rick (Paul Rudd), a past-his-prime wedding singer, meets fading boy-band star Danny (Nick Jonas) during a gig, the two bond over music and a late-night jam session. But when Danny turns one of Rick's songs into the hit that reignites his career, Rick sets out to reclaim the recognition he believes he deserves - even if it means risking everything he cares about. From writer-director John Carney (Sing Street, Once), Power Ballad is a feel-good story about music, self-respect, friendship, and the price of ambition."

Scary Movie
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters, via Paramount Pictures. Visit their official site for locations and showtimes.

Our review by Simon Ramshaw: "It's all very well and good taking potshots at sociopolitical things you're frustrated by, or hacky tropes you're tired of, but when your contemporaries are serving up full meals, who wants a low-calorie edible that leaves you with an icky tummy? The best we can hope for is that the Hollywood machine learns to forget it once again, ushering in a period of peace and quiet, uninterrupted by Shorty's incessant, screeching laughter."

Official synopsis: "Twenty-six years after outrunning a suspiciously familiar masked killer ("Ghostface"), the Core Four are back in the killer's crosshairs and no horror movie IP is safe. Marlon Wayans ("Shorty"), Shawn Wayans ("Ray"), Anna Faris ("Cindy"), and Regina Hall ("Brenda") reunite in Scary Movie alongside returning favorites and fresh faces to slash through reboots, remakes, requels, prequels, sequels, spin-offs, elevated horror, origin stories, anything with the word legacy in it, and every "final chapter" that absolutely isn't final. Nothing is sacred. No trope survives. Every line gets crossed. The Wayans are back to cancel the Cancel Culture."

Beyond the wide releases this week a batch of distinctively different movies are on offer in U.S. movie theaters. Here are the ones we've already seen, listed alphabetically.

Another World
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters, via GKids Films. Visit the official site for locations and showtimes in the U.S. and Canada.

Our review by yours truly: "I'm hard-pressed at the moment to think of another animated film that has been similarly ambitious. With rapidly-edited, stirring action and battle sequences, together with deliberately-paced meditative moments -- the film actually seems to pause several times, to allow its points to sink in for the viewer -- Another World coalesces into a remarkably thoughtful experience that leaves an indelible impression."

Official synopsis: "Gudo is a Soul Keeper, a spirit who guides human souls into their next life. When he befriends a young girl named Yuri, he discovers that her untimely death has left her cursed with unresolved rage and regret. As Yuri's soul teeters on the edge of annihilation, Gudo embarks on a dangerous journey to stop her from unleashing horrible destruction on both the human world and the spirit realm.

"Another World is a dark fairytale that explores forgiveness and reconciliation in the face of hatred and despair. The directorial debut from Tommy Ng Kai Chung brings together the finest young talent from Hong Kong to create a poignant fantasy that boasts awe-inspiring action and captivating visuals."

Carolina Caroline
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters, via Magnolia Pictures.

Our review by Olga Artemyeva: "Carolina Caroline starts really shining when it sheds the pretense of being a crime thriller and reveals itself as a surprisingly tender love story."

Official synopsis: "Acclaimed director Adam Carter Rehmeier's romantic crime thriller stars Samara Weaving (Ready Or Not, Borderline) as Caroline Daniels, whose desire to leave her small Texas town brings her into the orbit of a charismatic con man (Kyle Gallner), and together they weave a path of crime and passion across the American Southeast. Also starring Kyra Sedgwick, the film features a wide-ranging country music soundtrack, with tracks from artists such as Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton, Loretta Lynn, and over a dozen others."

Chum
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters, via Independent Film Company.

Our review by George and Josh Bate: "With visual effects, filmmaking, and acting largely devoid of personality, Chum is salvaged only by its fusion of the shark movie and serial killer thriller genres. But, as this mashup was executed far better by last year's Dangerous Animals, this new horror flick sinks, rather than swims."

Official synopsis: "A dream destination wedding in Malta explodes into chaos when a bloodthirsty shark attacks and a sinister fisherman with a hidden agenda turns the celebration into a deadly trap. Forced between open water and a relentless human predator, the wedding party must fight for survival as secrets surface and loyalties shatter. As the newlyweds are pushed to their limits, they're forced to confront the cracks in their relationship to determine who lives, who dies and who stays married."

Underland
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters, via Oscilloscope. Visit the official site for locations and showtimes.

Our own Dustin Chang saw the film at last year's Tribeca Festival. Per Dustin's review: "Underland might be short on the political urgency in nature preservation of [Robert] Macfarlane's book, but it is at once sensorial, philosophical experience to be had, preferably in a darkened theater."

The next two are for specifically for our readers in Canada and the UK, respectively, though it's hard to imagine two films that are more different.

Tracy & Martina: Going' Out West
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters in Canada. Visit MovieScout for locations and showtimes.

Our review by Kurt Halfyard: "The world is as big as your imagination will make it, and Tracy and Martina have 'thrived' in their world being as small as possible. The comically tiny stakes in Tracy & Martina Goin' Out West still seem huge for them, and therefore, us."

Official synopsis: "Two Cape Breton best friends head west to Alberta for the first time with the hopes of making a few bucks as they open for a local band, but things go south when their accommodations fall through and they run out of money before booking a flight back home."

Zombeid
The film is now playing, only in UK movie theaters.

Our review by Simon Ramshaw: "Nabeel Qureshi's full-blooded festive horror Zombeid more than delivers on its absurd pun of a title."

No English-language subtitles in the trailer below, though I don't think they are needed to get the point.

Finally, here are two more genre films that are opening; we haven't seen either of them yet, but both sound intriguing.

Jinsei
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters, via Greenwich Entertainment. Visit the official site for locations, showtimes, and more information.

Strikingly different, the film was "written, directed, edited and entirely hand-drawn by newcomer Ryuya Suzuki over eighteen months." It looks wild!

Official synopsis: "Our hero (voiced by rapper ACE COOL), called by a different name in each chapter of his life, becomes a J-pop idol, an outcast, a leader, and an oracle in this hundred-year chronicle spanning the past, present, and future. Through a chance encounter with a transfer student, he trains to become an idol, starting his search for self-identity and a journey toward greatness beyond superstardom. Written, directed, edited and entirely hand-drawn by newcomer Ryuya Suzuki over eighteen months, Jinsei (meaning 'life' in Japanese) is an anime tour-de-force that announces Suzuki to the world as a bold new talent in independent animation."

The Little Sister
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters, via Strand Releasing.

Actor and director Hafsia Herzi's new film looks to be a sharp-edged and on point queer story.

Official synopsis: "Fatima, 17, the youngest of three daughters, treads carefully as she searches for her own path, grappling with emerging desires, her attraction to women, her religious upbringing, and her loyalty to her caring French-Algerian family."

Now Playing celebrates the cinematic experience, in movie theaters and at home.