Variety.com

Angelina Jolie is Maleficent in Disney’s

BOX OFFICE | Disney’s “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” demonstrated that even the most powerful studio in Hollywood is susceptible to missteps.

By Rebecca Rubin

By Nate Nickolai

By Gene Maddaus

By Gene Maddaus

Top Stories

Get the Magazine

The most trusted provider of news and information to the entertainment industry.

Subscribe Today

Reese Witherspoon Kerry Washington Ryan Reynolds

'Watchmen' Director on Creating Hero Moments

By Danielle Turchiano

Have A Tip? Let Us Know! Submit a Tip

- ‘Black and Blue’
  
  While the thriller has something urgent to say on corrupt power structures, its insights are trapped in a shallow action package.
- ‘Western Stars’
  
  Bruce Springsteen’s rapturous concert film, which he co-directed, finds the star content enough to look his demons in the eye.
- ‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’
  
  With Maleficent no longer the villain of her own tale, the sequel reduces her to a stylish pawn in a tacky “Game of Thrones” ripoff.
- ‘Zombieland: Double Tap’
  
  Ruben Fleischer’s zom-com sequel sustains the original’s tone, while adding a handful of new characters to its family of survivors.
- ‘Watchmen’
  
  Damon Lindelof’s adaptation tackles the ways individuals are wrecked by history, though it lacks the necessary focus.
- ‘Catherine the Great’
  
  The new HBO and Sky collaboration is a bit too narrow in its approach to a historical giant.
- ‘Daybreak’
  
  “Daybreak’s” action and social commentary fall short, but its flashbacks offer a refreshing take on the teenage experience.
- ‘Mrs. Fletcher’
  
  HBO’s “Mrs. Fletcher” is a pleasing character study with points to make about the ways the sexual revolution has failed men and women.
- ‘Little Shop of Horrors’
  
  The musical by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken gets a starry, but small-scale Off Broadway revival starring Jonathan Groff and Christan Borle.
- ‘The Great Society’
  
  Brian Cox (“Succession”) takes over from Bryan Cranston in Robert Schenkkan’s follow-up play to his Tony-winning “All the Way.”
- ‘Almost Famous’
  
  “Almost Famous” fans get their backstage pass renewed via a stage musical adaptation in San Diego that feels familiar and refreshing.
- ‘The Height of the Storm’
  
  Jonathan Pryce and Eileen Atkins play an elderly husband and wife, one of whom might be dead.
- The Beatles’ ‘Abbey Road: Anniversary Edition’
  
  This box set tackles a classic with less need of a spit-polish and not as many raw demos in the vault. Still necessary? Completely.
- Album Review: Post Malone’s ‘Hollywood’s Bleeding’
  
  The follow-up to his 2018’s album mostly goes to softer places, but he still wants to nurture his bad-boy side, too.
- Album Review: Sheryl Crow’s ‘Threads’
  
  Sheryl Crow is vowing this is her final full-length album. If so, it’s a heck of a retirement banquet.
- Album Review: Taylor Swift’s ‘Lover’
  
  It’s not even a contradiction to say that “Lover” is Swift’s most mature album and her most fun one, all at once.