Movie theaters reopening across the country, just in time for Passover vacation - review

Just in time for what’s left of the Passover vacation, theaters around the country are now open. In addition to the Hot Cinema and Movieland chains, which have been operating for most of the last month, selected locations of the Cinema City and Planet chains are back, as well as the Tel Aviv Cinematheque. Before you go, check the theater websites or Seret.co.il to see which theaters are open.

Parents will be glad to know that many children’s movies are among those that have just opened. These include Hoppers, the latest Pixar-Disney movie. Several of its creators, including Pete Docter and Lee Unkrich, have been part of the greatest Pixar movies of all time, such as the Toy Story franchise.

Hoppers tells the story of how a nature-loving student uses technology to get her mind placed in the body of a robotic beaver, and learns to her delight that she can understand what all the animals are saying. But she also finds out that much of what she thought she knew about animal behavior is just plain wrong. As always with Pixar, the graphics, voice acting, and plot are always a cut above just about every other children’s movie.

Zootropolis 2 (a title that was changed from Zootopia 2 in some parts of the world due to copyright issues) is the sequel to the popular Zootopia animated animal comedy. Zootropolis 2 re-teams bunny cop Judy Hopps (Ginner Goodwin) and the con-artist fox, Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), to solve a new crime, in a snark-filled story designed to appeal to adults as well as children. For those who don’t feel like venturing out, the movie is also streaming on Disney+ and Apple TV+.

Other children’s movies include GOAT, the story of a goat who longs to be a professional ball player; The Spongebob Movie: The Search for Square Pants; and David, an animated musical about the biblical king, starting with his childhood.

The big movie for older audiences is Project Hail Mary, which has been topping box-office charts since its US release in late March. It stars Ryan Gosling, whom you may remember as the standout cast member Ken in Barbie, as a science teacher who joins a space mission, during which he awakens to discover he is the sole human survivor of the crew. He befriends an alien who has come along, and they join forces to stop a substance from destroying the sun. It’s a combination of a buddy comedy and a sci-film, with some parallels to The Martian with Matt Damon, and, like that film, it has a major star in the leading role.

If Scream is still your favorite scary movie, you can see Scream 7 now. The Scream franchise keeps going, and while many critics have suggested that it is losing steam, audiences love this hair-raising popcorn flick. The truth about the Scream movies, and why I suspect they are still around when so many other horror franchises are long over, is that they have always had great casts.

This one brings back Sidney, the original heroine, played by Neve Campbell. Campbell survived so many stalkers and would-be murderers because she was cool and tough, and she continues to try to be smart in this one, in which she returns to the small town that was the scene of so many murders in the earlier films. Her husband is played by the not-very scary Joel McHale of Community.

Also returning from earlier films are Courteney Cox, as the relentless TV reporter Gale Weathers, and Cox’s real-life ex-husband, David Arquette, as the dim but endearing small-town cop who has to solve killing after killing. Matthew Lillard is also back from the original movie. Scream 7 also features some younger actors, among them Isabel May as Sidney’s daughter, McKenna Grace, and Mason Gooding. If you’re in the mood for the earlier movies, you can find them on Apple TV+. The opening sequence of the first one with Drew Barrymore set a standard for chills that none of the other films have ever surpassed.

Best Actress Oscar winner for Hamnet, Jessie Buckley, stars in The Bride!, the second film by actress Maggie Gyllenhaal as director, which is a retelling of the Bride of Frankenstein story in 1930s Chicago. Christian Bale plays Frank, the son of the original monster and a creature in search of a mate, who asks Dr. Euphronious (Annette Bening), to create one for him. She digs up the grave of Ida, a recently deceased tough girl, played by Buckley, and creates the titular bride, and the two go on a murderous crime spree.

If you’re in the mood for something quieter and more emotional, you can try Moving, a Japanese classic by Shinji Somai from 1993 that was recently restored, which is also in theaters. It’s the story of an 11-year-old girl who begins acting out after her parents’ divorce, and trying to bring them back together, until new experiences teach her how to let go with grace. Tomoko Tabata, the lead in the movie, has gone on to become one of Japan’s most acclaimed actresses. The film won a prize at the Venice Film Festival for Best Film Restoration.

There is also a new Israeli movie playing, The Big League, a sports comedy by Yaniv Berman about a professional soccer coach who is sent to train a team of lovable losers in a small town. The coach is played by Israel Atias, who was recently seen in Red Alert and Zaguri Empire, and who also appeared in The New Black, aka Shababnikim. There is a whole genre of Israeli sports movies that appeal to young audiences, and this is the latest one.