THIS WEEK: 7 Days in Entebbe Filmmaker José Padilha (he of the 2014 RoboCop remake) offers his take on the daring 1976 hijacking and ensuing rescue raid that shocked the world. In an ironic twist, filming was interrupted by an actual hijacking at the Malta International Airport. (Note to self: Write a film in which a Salma Hayek lookalike takes me shopping for Funko Pops.) (PG-13)
Flower Three male scriptwriters assembled this portrait of a 17-year-old girl (Zoey Deutch) who blackmails older men after giving them fellatio. "Crass and disgustingly amoral," says The Wrap's Dan Callahan (also a dude). That's what I love about cinema: the diversity of viewpoints! (R)
Loveless Moscow parents in the middle of a divorce have to work together when their child goes missing on his way home from school. Funded by international backers after director Andrey Zvyagintsev ran afoul of the Russian government over his previous film, Leviathan, Loveless ended up a nominee for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2018 Oscars. But I like movies that don't lose awards, OK? (R)
Love, Simon A teenage closet case (Nick Robinson) tries to figure out which classmate he's falling for online while fending off a blackmailer who's threatening to out him in front of everybody. Jesus, who bankrolled all this week's releases, Stormy Daniels? (PG-13)
Tomb Raider Star Alicia Vikander has complained that there aren't enough female characters joining her in this reboot of the video game-derived adventure series. But there are other problems she could be worrying about – like have the trailers for any film ever made an Oscar winner look like such a terrible actor? If you didn't know better, you'd think she was merely the latest Klinton Spilsbury, or Matt Salinger, or whoever else is a correct answer to the question "You know who else played that character once?" Something tells me Vikander's heart may not be in this. And if it isn't, maybe we'll all be bitching two years from now that the new Lara Croft flick doesn't have any women in it. (PG-13)
Also playing: Before We Vanish Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa has declared himself a fan of Don Siegel – which would explain the comparisons drawn to Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Before We Vanish, in which extraterrestrials take possession of a handful of human forms in order to learn what makes us tick. Predictions: The stateside remake will be 15 minutes long, and the answer will be "tacos." (NR)
Submission In a third-hand remake of The Blue Angel, Stanley Tucci plays a beleaguered college professor drawn into an illicit affair with a scheming student. As story concepts go, that's up there with "Death Wish remake" on the timeliness scale. Like, has it really been 26 years since I thought Juliette Lewis was just being mean to Woody Allen in Husbands and Wives? Damn, I'm so woke now. I think I finally might be ready to date a college girl. (NR)
