NEW THIS WEEK IN THEATERS, HOME VIDEO AND/OR VOD:

ANNA BOLEYN--Retitled "Deception" for its 1921 U.S. release, this is one of the German silent films that first brought Ernst ("The Shop Around the Corner," "Ninotchka") Lubitsch to the attention of Hollywood. (Two years later, Lubitsch would be directing Mary Pickford in United Artists' "Rosita.") Lavishly and sumptuously produced on a then-astronomical $8-million marks budget, this historical costume drama with its painstakingly detailed sets/costumes and literally a cast of thousands is available for the first time on home video courtesy of Kino Classics' remarkably handsome new Blu-Ray. As the titular second wife of a corpulent, comically lecherous Henry VIII (Emil Jannings, twelve years before playing a lovesick swain opposite Marlene Dietrich in Josef von Sternberg's "The Blue Angel"), German superstar Henny Porten cuts a suitably sympathetic figure although she's probably a decade too old for the role. After divorcing Catherine of Aragon (Hedwig Pauly-Winterstein), Henry creates a permanent rift with the Catholic Church as well as his royal subjects. Snubbed by polite society as a common interloper, Anna--formerly employed as Catherine's lady-in-waiting--soon finds herself villainized by both the vindictive former Queen and a cunning Jane Seymour (Aude Egede Nissen) who has her sights set on Henry once she can permanently exile Anna from the palace. And because she fails to provide the King with his much-coveted male heir, Anna meets a fate worse than mere divorce:  she's beheaded. Like Lubitsch's earlier "Madame du Barry," "Anna Boleyn" has frequently been criticized for its historical inaccuracies. (1969's "Anne of the Thousand Days," starring Richard Burton and Genevieve Bujold, is is probably the most accurate account of the truncated royal marriage.) But despite a rather sluggish pace and somewhat indulgent two-hour-plus run time, this remains a must-see for any Lubitsch completist. No extras. (A MINUS.) https://youtu.be/lKHiXZUWLBI?si=q35Dfz4aqPArIWGh

THE BIKERIDERS--Based on Danny Lyon's 1968 coffee table photography book about a 1960's motorcycle club (The Chicago Outlaws), director Jeff ("Loving," "Take Shelter") Nichols' movie was originally slated for release last December after premiering on the fall festival circuit. But when Fox--who only seems interested in releasing "Avatar" and "Star Wars" sequels since their corporate buyout by Disney--sold distribution rights to Focus Features, it got pushed back to Summer '24. Now opening in a multiplex universe dominated almost exclusively by franchise tentpoles ("Inside Out 2," "Bad Boys:  Ride or Die," et al), it feels like a balm. The story of a fictitious biker gang, The Vandals, inspired by the real-life Outlaws, and spanning roughly a decade from the mid-1960's until the mid-'70s, Nichols' movie has a hand-tooled grit and authenticity that automatically sets it apart from most of today's formulaic, assembly line productions. The heart of the film is a love triangle (of sorts) between Vandals leader Johnny (Tom Hardy whose accent sounds like "The Bowery Boys Go British Method"), his James Dean-ish lieutenant Benny ("Elvis" Oscar nominee Austin Butler, suitably smoldering) and Benny's wife Kathy ("Killing Eve" breakout Jodie Comer). Although Nichols deliberately downplays any suggestion of homoeroticism, it's clear that Johnny and Benny are in thrall to each other. After Johnny is murdered by a rival biker, the Vandals increasingly get involved in some unsavory business--including drug-smuggling and even contract killings--that spell imminent doom for the future/legacy of the club as well as its individual members. Speaking of which, the supporting cast is aces. Playing sundry Vandals are such estimable actors as Nichols' longtime muse Michael Shannon (wild card Zipco), Boyd Holbrook (in-house mechanic Cal), Emory Cohen (goofball Cockroach) and Toby Wallace (a surly Milwaukee runaway dubbed "The Kid"). More interested in creating a hang-out "vibe" than telling a conventional narrative, it's curiously evocative of Terrence ("Badlands," "The Tree of Life") Malick's oeuvre. Considering the dearth of dialogue, it would have worked just as well if Nichols had told the story strictly through Kathy/Comer's voiceover narration a la Linda Manz's wraparound v/o in "Days of Heaven." The stunning visuals are courtesy of ace cinematographer Adam Stone (who shot all of Nichols' previous films), and the soundtrack's groovy needle drops feel indebted to "Mean Streets"-era Martin Scorsese. Clocking in at just under two hours, it's the sort of "Pure Cinema" event that could make you fall in love with movies all over again. (A.)  https://youtu.be/BrSaVt5pvPk?si=KLocNcbLo9VOlavo

THE EXORCISM--Russell Crowe plays Anthony Miller, a once celebrated actor whose career hit the skids thanks to substance abuse problems. Hired as a last-minute replacement for the lead in a remake of a famous exorcism movie (guess which one?), Anthony doesn't think twice about accepting the role even though his predecessor purportedly committed suicide on set. When Anthony starts evincing, uh, erratic behavior, the film's "spiritual consultant" (David Hyde Pierce, a long way from "Frasier") suspects that the demon Moloch may be possessing him. First-time director Joshua John Miller--whose dad, Jason, played Father Karras in William Friedkin's "The Exorcist"--may know a thing or two about Catholic priests battling evil, but he clearly has no idea how to make a movie. Miller can't seem to decide whether he's making a meta showbiz roman a clef or simply a generic horror flick. Accordingly, he fails on both counts. Crowe, who played another exorcising priest in last year's slightly more tolerable "The Pope's Exorcist," clearly needs to find a new agent. (D PLUS.) https://youtu.be/I1lNNd_klK4?si=ks5On9IJDFzNVK0O

GHOSTLIGHT--The director (Alex Thompson) and star/screenwriter (Kelly O'Sullivan) of 2020's wonderful "Saint Frances"--it ranked #5 on my 10-best list that year--reteam for a whimsical, deeply affecting movie about grief, forgiveness and the healing power of community theater. Keith Kupferer (superb) plays Dan Mueller, a gruff, middle-aged construction worker still mourning the death of his 17-year-old son the previous year in a suicide pact with his girlfriend. That death has left a sizable weight on his marriage to the stoical Sharon (Tara Mallen, Keith's real-life wife) and distanced himself from his rebellious 16-year-old daughter Daisy (Katharine Mallen Kupferer, his real-life daughter). When a coffeehttps://youtu.be/R1TycuGX4Mw?si=0wwywv6XMtV-cCC8https://youtu.be/R1TycuGX4Mw?si=0wwywv6XMtV-cCC8https://youtu.be/R1TycuGX4Mw?si=jBgCyCVajyS7pOi shop waitress ("Triangle of Sadness" scene-stealer Dolly de Leon) suggests that he audition for a local community theater production of "Romeo and Juliet," Dan reluctantly takes the bait. Soon he graduates from a walk-on role to playing Romeo! (Yes, this is a highly unconventional interpretation of the Bard.) Aspiring thespian Daisy gets a role in the show, too, and the opening night performance winds up being a cathartic experience for the entire Mueller family. By learning to empathize with a character who dies for love, Dan finally understands his son's actions and forgives him. My only disappointment with this warm, funny, achingly tender film is that O'Sullivan--who really deserves to become the next Greta Gerwig--isn't in it. (A.) https://youtu.be/R1TycuGX4Mw?si=jBgCyCVajyS7pOi-

THELMA--After getting fleeced of $10,000 by someone claiming to be her grandson, Thelma (94-year-old June Squibb) decides to get even. Partnering with her late husband's best friend (the late Richard Roundtree in his final screen role) on matching electric wheelchairs, Thelma "borrows" a gun from and they hightail it to the p.o. box where she sent the cash. The phone scammer, who turns out to be a failing antique shop owner (former Kubrickian droog Malcolm McDowell), winds up being relatively easy prey for the feisty Thelma. Writer/director Josh Margolin based his protagonist on his own 103-year-old grandmother--the real-life Thelma makes an appearance during a charming end credits sequence--and the movie is clearly a labor of love for all concerned. But what could have been merely a cutesy, condescending big-screen sitcom about old people saying--and doing--the darndest things is instead infused with palpable affection for all its characters and happily buoyed by the behavioral charms of its wonderful ensemble cast. Besides Squib, Roundtree and McDowell, there are nice supporting turns by Parker Posey and Clark Cregg as, respectively, Thelma's daughter and son-in-law. The film's stealth MVP, though, is "White Lotus" Season 1 standout Fred Hechinger as Thelma's doting grandson, Daniel. Hechinger takes a role that could have been played strictly for lazy Gen-Z jokes and somehow manages to make Daniel enormously appealing (you really believe this overgrown kid loves his grandma) and even deeply touching. It's a sweetheart of a movie that deserves to become one of the summer's key box office sleepers. (A MINUS.)  https://youtu.be/QjCa567tyA0?si=kmnZUvpN_f2xqx5V

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BAD BOYS:  RIDE OR DIE--Was there really a crying need for a fourth "Bad Boys" movie? Probably not, but at least Sony had the good sense to re-hire Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, co-directors of 2020's "Bad Boys For Life," the 29-year-old franchise's standout iteration. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence (naturally) reprise their roles as Miami cops Mike and Marcus, this time tasked with clearing their late boss (Joe Pantoliano's Captain Howard) of corruption charges. It's all pretty boilerplate, but El Arbi and Fallah once again manage to make the whole thing go down smoothly enough. And unlike most derriere-numbing studio tentpoles these days, the movie clocks in at a relatively breezy 110 minutes. Another wise choice the directors made was bringing back the threequel's scene-stealing bad guy, Jacob Scipio. (B.)

DOGFIGHT--Nancy Savoca made three wonderful movies with producer/co-writer husband Richard Guay between 1989-'93 then essentially disappeared. In the process, the American cinema lost one of its most singular and distinctive voices. The fact that Savoca is largely unknown today, despite this being an era which purportedly champions female directors, makes her relative obscurity both depressing and infuriating. Fortunately, Criterion is doing their part to help auto-correct that grievous injustice by releasing "Dogfight," Savoca's greatest film, on Blu Ray for the first time. (In a happy coincidence, Kino Lorber just released Savoca's two other masterworks, "True Love" and "Household Saints," on home video as well.) Savoca's only major studio production, "Dogfight" was badly marketed and barely released by Warner Brothers in the fall of 1991. I remember driving three hours round trip to see it when a single Pittsburgh theater finally opened it months after the New York premiere. Part of a sub-genre I like to refer to as the "Doomed Love Love Story"--other exemplars include Elia Kazan's "Splendor in the Grass," Alan J. Pakula's "The Sterile Cuckoo" and John Sayles' "Baby, It's You"--"Dogfight" tells the heart-wrenching story of an impactful San Francisco night shared by an 18-year-old marine (River Phoenix's Eddie Birdlace) ready to be shipped off to Vietnam and waitress/folk singer aspirant Rose (Lili Taylor) in November 1963. After impulsively inviting Rose to be his plus-one at a party (the titular "dogfight") in which the grunt with the ugliest date wins a cash prize, Eddie tries to make amends by taking her on a real date. During the course of their enchanted evening, the two find themselves connecting in ways neither could have ever anticipated. Phoenix, who was on the cusp of officially becoming "The Actor of His Generation" before his untimely death two years later, gives a performance of such aching, lacerating vulnerability that he literally takes your breath away. (Amazingly, Gus Van Sant's "My Own Private Idaho," with an equally remarkable Phoenix performance, opened the same month.) And the mercurial Taylor, in an exquisitely modulated turn, matches her co-star's brilliance every step of the way. Extras include Savoca/Guay's audio commentary recycled from a no-frills 2003 DVD release; "American Psycho"/"I Shot Andy Warhol" director Mary Harron's 32-minute interview with Savoca and Guay; a 2024 featurette in which Guay interviews the film's cinematographer, production designer, script superviser and editors; and an insightful essay, "Love and War," by critic Christina Newland. (A PLUS.)  

THE FALL GUY--After a work-related injury that nearly cost him his life, stunt man Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) reluctantly goes back to work as the stunt double for Tom Cruise-y superstar Tom Ryder's new action blockbuster, "Metal Storm." The fact that "Storm" is also the directing debut of the ex (Emily Blunt's Jody Moreno) Colt still pines for also factors into his decision to accept the gig. But when Tom (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) mysteriously disappears in the middle of the shoot (some shady mobsters are involved), Jody tasks Colt with helping locate her MIA lead actor. A glossy, big-screen spin-off of the long-running 1980's Lee Major tube series, director/former stunt man David ("Bullet Train," "Deadpool 2") Leitch's film has pacing problems, especially in the first half, and is maybe a half hour too long. But Gosling and Blunt evince beaucoup chemistry and their rom-com screwball banter helps you get over some rough patches. As Jody's conniving producer, Hannah ("Ted Lasso") Waddingham steals every scene she's in. (B.)

FURIOSA:  A MAD MAX SAGA--The first "Mad Max" movie without a Max, Australian visionary George Miller's follow-up to 2015's Oscar-winning "Fury Road" is an origin story for Imperator Furiosa, the one-armed rig driver introduced in that film and memorably incarnated by Charlize Theon. Spanning 15 formative years in the eventful life of Furiosa--played alternately by Ayla Browne and "Queen's Gambit" breakout Anya Taylor-Joy--and divided into five chapters, it's more interested in (occasionally labored) world-building than mind-blowing action setpieces. Evolving from a gender-bending orphan into a hellion of Max-ian proportions, Furiosa ultmately finds her loyalty split between dueling post-apocalyptic underworld leaders Dr. Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) and Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme). At two-and-a-half hours, it's the longest entry in the 45-year-old franchise, as well as the first to incorporate more VFX than practical effects. Not surprisingly, it feels more like a Marvel movie at times than any of Miller's previous (and better) MM actioners. (B.)

THE GARFIELD MOVIE--This cookie-cutter CGI 'toon based on Jim Davis' long-running comic strip seems to exist solely to give the already overexposed Chris Pratt another potential movie franchise. After reuniting with his wastrel alley cat dad Vic (Samuel L. Jackson), lasagna-loving Garfield (Pratt) and beagle BFF Odie (Harvey Gillen) are suckered into joining Vic in the heist of 1,000 gallons of milk from a dairy farm. Naturally things end badly--but not  as humorously as intended--for all involved. While Garfield survived two middling live-action/animation hybrids in the early aughts (Bill Murray provided sardonic vocal duties for the titular kitty), the latest incarnation just might close the chapter on any future big-screen outings. With Nicholas Hoult as Jon, Garfield's long-suffering human, and Snoop Dogg as "Snoop Cat" (that casting marks the quintessence of wit here), it's a movie only the youngest, least sophisticated viewers will embrace. (C MINUS.)

IF--Venturing beyond his hugely successful "Quiet Place" sci-fi-ers--a third entry is due this summer--director John Krasinski gives family fare a try with this only fitfully charming fantasy flick. After developing a superpower that allows her to see imaginary friends abandoned by their human pals after growing up, Tweener Bea (Cailey Fleming, best known as Judith from AMC's "The Walking Dead') makes it her mission to reunite everyone. While the movie's piece de resistance is the A-list cast tasked with providing the friends' voices (including Steve Carell, Matt Damon, Bradley Cooper, Emily Blunt, Sam Rockwell, Amy Schumer and George Clooney), all that star wattage ultimately overwhelms the movie's precious conceit. I was reminded of the sort of all-ages-friendly films churned out by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Productions back in the '80s. Unfortunately, it's closer to the deservedly forgotten "Harry and the Hendersons" and "Batteries Not Included" than classics like "Gremlins" or "Back to the Future." (C.)

INSIDE OUT 2--A "pretty much what you expected" sequel that picks up two years after the events of the Oscar-winning 2015 Pixar 'toon with Riley (Kensington Tallman) confronted with brand new emotions to contend with (Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment, Nostalgia and Ennui voiced by Maya Hawke, Ayo Edebiri, Paul Walter Hauser, June Squib and Adele Exarchopoulas respectively). All the old emotions that previously roiled now-tweener Riley are present and accounted for, too--Joy, Envy, Disgust, Fear, et al--along with her well-intentioned if rather feckless parents (Diane Lane and Kyle MacLachlan reprising their duties from the first film). The CGI animation is once again lovely and it's all very benign, but first-time director Kelsey Mann's film is also yawningly, depressingly predictable. As a minority voice who found the original a tad overrated (earlier Pixar movies like "Up, "Wall-E," "Finding Nemo" or any of the "Toy Story" iterations are all infinitely superior), I thought it was just O.K. Fans of the earlier film will almost surely disagree, though. (C PLUS.) 

KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES--The fourth entry in the rebooted franchise that launched with 2011's "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" ("Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" and "War of the Planet Apes" followed in 2014 and '17) picks up 300 years after the last movie. With apes now the dominant species--and humans regressing to near-primitive levels--the "Kingdom" is ruled by Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand) who repurposes ancient human weapons to enslave his fellow simians. Deeply alarmed by this perversion of the original Caesar's teachings, sensitive chimp Noa (Owen Teague) teams up with human Mae (Freya Allan) to take down Proximus' tyrannic regime. Directed by Wes Bell who cut his teeth on the "Maze Runner" trilogy, it's the first of the new breed of "Apes" films where you almost take for granted Weta FX's ground-breaking motion-capture CGI. Like 2022's "Avatar: The Way of Water," it's an indisputably dazzling technical achievement that ultimately feels a tad undernourished dramatically. (B.)

ORIGIN--The writing and research of Pulitzer Prize-winner Isabel Wilkerson's 3030 best-seller, "Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents," forms the narrative of director Ava ("Selma," "13TH") DuVernay's powerful, deeply moving new film. After the deaths of her husband (Jon Bernthal) and mother (Emily Yancy), Isabel ("King Richard" Oscar nominee Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) embarks on a quest to understand why racism is a default explanation (or excuse) for something even more insidious. Her conclusion is that it's really caste distinctions which have divided people throughout the history of mankind. Flashbacks to Nazi Germany, Depression-era Mississippi and present-day India where Dalits ("the untouchables") are shunned as "the other" fuels, and adds righteous fury to her literary investigation. While DuVernay maybe bites off more than she can chew for a two-hour-and-change theatrical feature--it would have worked even better as a limited series on HBO or Netflix--superb performances (besides Ellis-Taylor, Bernthal and Yancy, there are standout turns from Finn Wittrock, Audra McDonald and Niecy Nash) help make this one of the most provocative and emotionally wrenching films of the season. (A MINUS.)

QUERELLE--The remarkably prolific German New Wave wunderkind Rainer Werner Fassbinder died in June 1982 shortly after finishing "Querelle," and when it opened in theaters the following year reviews were generally dismissive. Even New York Times critic Vincent Canby who did more than anyone to "break" Fassbinder in America found the movie disappointing. Or maybe it was simply because the (largely) heterosexual bloc of American film critics at the time failed to appreciate Fassbinder's swan song for what it was:  the most luxuriously stylized evocation of Gay Sensibility ever seen in a major movie. Along with Fellini's "Satyricon," it was (and remains) pretty much the gayest film ever made:  a veritable Disneyland of queerness. Luxuriating in Fassbinder's deliberately artificial mise-en-scene is like taking a hit of amyl nitrate on the dance floor at Manhattan's fabled Crisco Disco in the pre-AIDS era. Although adapted from a novel by Jean Genet, the film seems even more beholden to the homoerotic artwork of Tom of Finland. As the titular sailor, Brad ("Midnight Express") Davis practically oozes sexuality, strutting his fine self into Feria, a Brest bar/brothel run by the imperious Madame Lysiane (Nouvelle Vague diva Jeanne Moreau). In short order, Querelle gets involved in an opium deal with Lysiane's husband (Gunther Kaufmann's Nono) that climaxes with the killing of his criminal cohort. Lusted after by everyone he crosses paths with, especially his superior officer, Lieutenant Seblon (Franco Nero), Querelle is a veritable walking and talking phallus. While the film ends tragically, it's also deeply, ironically funny. (Shades of Fassbinder creative muse Douglas Sirk's gloriously overheated 1950's Hollywood melodramas.) Would the New Queer Cinema that emerged a decade later have ever taken root without Fassbinder's posthumous masterpiece? Maybe, maybe not. Both Todd ("Poison") Haynes and Gregg ("The Living End") Araki have cited the film as a key influence on their early work. What can't be disputed is that Fassbinder--who died at age 37 after having directed over 40 films, 24 plays (most of which he wrote) and three television miniseries (including his magnum opus, 1980's "Berlin Alexanderplatz")--remains, along with Jean-Luc Godard, the most compelling, provocative and singular European filmmaking voice to emerge in the post-WW II era. Extras on the new Criterion Collection Blu-Ray include an interview with Museum of the Moving Image editorial director (and Queer Cinema scholar) Michael Koresky; Wolf German's 1982 documentary, "Rainer Werner Fassbinder: Last Works;" and a compelling, appreciative essay by critic Nathan Lee. (A.)         

THREE REVOLUTIONARY FILMS BY OUSMANE SEMBENE--Unlike most Third World films of the 1960-70's which were unrelievedly grim and barely disguised Marxist tracts (e.g.,"The Hour of the Furnaces" by Argentinean directors Octavio Gettino and Fernando Solanas), the works of Senegal's Ousmane Sembene were often warm, funny and satirical. Although Senegal--a former French colony which won its independence in 1960--has a population of just four million, it produced the most important movies of Black Africa, notably those of Sembene, the continent's best-known filmmaker. 
Three of Sembene's finest, most controversial and politically incendiary films ("Emitai," 1971; "Xala," 1975; and "Ceddo," 1977) have just been released in a Criterion Collection box set. For fans and initiates alike, it's a cause for celebration in helping boost the profile of World Cinema. Sembene, the unofficial "Godfather of African Cinema," has finally received his due.
Set during World War II, "Emitai" depicts the clash between native Senegalese and French troops over forcible conscription, heavy taxation and dwindling rice supplies. Although it won prizes in the former Soviet Union (Sembene studied filmmaking in Moscow and briefly worked at Gorki film studios in the early 1960's), the movie provoked considerable resentment in France where it was deemed "politically objectionable."
Spoken in French and Wolof, Senegal's native language, "Xala" (roughly translated as "the curse of impotence") uses the story of an aging businessman (Thierno Leye's El Hadji) unable to consummate his third polygamous marriage for an expose of the nation's ruling class whose members have eagerly embraced the culture of their white colonial predecessors/oppressors. Although it's easy to laugh at El Hadji's absurd Europeanization (always speaking French, drinking Evian water and driving a Mercedes), we ultimately grow to sympathize with his ultimate downfall at the hands of others who are even more corrupt.   
The East-West clash of cultures also figure prominently in "Ceddo" which depicts a Senegalese village sometime between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as a heady microcosm of African political and social history. Set against the backdrop of an outsider community with animist beliefs, the narrative kicks into gear after the king dictates that everyone must convert to Islam. As retaliation, the king's daughter (Tabara Ndiaye) is kidnapped, triggering a series of cataclysmic, history-altering events.
The Criterion set includes 4K digital restorations of all three titles; a dialogue between African Film Festival founder/executive director Mahen Bonetti and writer Amy Sall; Paulin Soumanou Vierya's 1981 documentary, "The Making of 'Ceddo;'" and a thoughtful essay by New York-based writer and film programmer Yasmina Price. (A.) 

TO DIE FOR--Released at the apotheosis of the American obsession with tabloid culture--and a year after O.J. Simpson became the most famous man in the world thanks to his Bronco freeway chase and Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers" topped the box office charts--Gus Van Sant's gleefully amoral 1995 black comedy immediately catapulted Nicole Kidman to the top ranks of working actors. As Suzanne Stone, a TV weather girl with oversized ambitions and zero conscience, Kidman is alternately laugh-out-loud funny and utterly terrifying. Married to a nice guy (Matt Dillon's Larry) whose presence in her life has become increasingly extraneous, Suzanne somehow manages to seduce a trio of teenage stoners into killing him. Naturally her perfectly calibrated machinations ultimately self-destruct--what do you expect from high school potheads?--and Van Sant takes inordinate delight in watching his anti-heroine stew in her own malice. Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck and Alison Folland play the luckless kids Suzanne ropes into her scheme and match Kidman every step of the way. (Trivia note: Phoenix and Affleck would both go on to win Best Actor Oscars for "Joker" and "Manchester by the Sea" respectively.) Co-written by Buck ("The Graduate") Henry and Joyce Manard whose novel the film was based on, "To Die For" spun the real-life Pamela Smart case in which a New Hampshire teacher coerced four students into murdering her husband into one of the defining American movies of the decade. The newly released Criterion Collection 4-K Blu-Ray lacks the usual plethora of Criterion extras (there's an audio commentary with Van Sant, cinematographer Eric Alan Edwards and editor Curtis Clayton, a handful of deleted scenes and an essay by Berlin-based critic Jessica Kiang), but the film itself is the real star. It'll make a great future double bill with Todd Haynes' "May/December." (A.)    

THE WATCHERS--Stranded in the middle of an Irish forest after her rental car breaks down, visiting American artist Mina (Dakota Fanning) finds shelter with a visibly spooked group led by the enigmatic Madeline (Olwen Fouere). Sequestered in a concrete bunker ("The Coop"), Mina, Madeline, Ciara (Georgina Campbell) and Daniel (Oliver Finnegan) are observed each night by fearsome creatures who treat them like human pets. Although based on A.M. Shine's best-selling novel, it also has a lot in common with the recent dystopian nail-biter, "Arcadian." Like the characters in that April sleeper, daytime hours for humans are relatively tranquil. But when the sun comes down, they're easy prey for otherworldly monsters. Can Mina help her new friends escape? Or are they trapped to remain in their limbo-land forever? The first film by Ishana Shyamalan (yes, she's "The Sixth Sense" director M. Night's daughter), this is a reasonably diverting debut effort with some decent performances and nice  atmospherics. But like some of Shyamalan pere's recent outings, Ishana doesn't quite nail the ending. (C PLUS.) 

---Milan Paurich