One of the final films to star Anton Yelchin, the young actor who died in a fluke car accident last month, provides a poignant video-on-demand highlight this month. All titles are available on all cable and satellite systems.
"By the Sea" (available now). Brad Pitt and writer-director Angelina Jolie play a depressed American couple on vacation in France. If boredom were a sport, watching this movie would make you an Olympic gold medalist. Don't do it.
"The Divergent Series: Allegiant" (Tuesday). The wheels finally fall off an already wobbly franchise in this muddled, meandering entry. Shailene Woodley's Tris remains overshadowed by Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss Everdeen, which may be an unfair thing to say, but there it is. Also with Naomi Watts and Theo James.
"Everybody Wants Some!!" (Tuesday). Richard Linklater's follow-up to "Dazed and Confused" follows the antics of college baseball players in the year 1980. It's a lovely balance between nostalgia and cultural anthropology, with a fine cast of fresh faces. Women, sorely underrepresented, may find it less endearing.
"Green Room" (Tuesday). The late Anton Yelchin plays a punk rocker whose band is trapped in a sleazy nightclub after witnessing a murder. Brutal and bloody, with a suitably gnarly soundtrack. Patrick Stewart plays the club's neo-Nazi owner.
"Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" (July 19). The good news is that Ben Affleck is quite convincing as a human-scale Batman. The overall film, however, is plain bad: ponderous, self-serious and silly. With Henry Cavill as Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane and Jesse Eisenberg as an irritating Lex Luthor.
"Barbershop: The Next Cut" (premieres July 26). Ice Cube returns as the owner of a Chicago barbershop, this time negotiating a truce between violent gangs. Weak on story, but the charismatic actors _ including Cedric the Entertainer, Nicki Minaj and J.B. Smoove _ do a great job of turning racially-charged arguments into laugh-out-loud comedy.
"Criminal" (July 26). Didn't we just see Ryan Reynolds in a brain-transference thriller ("Self/Less")? Fortunately, he's a bit player in this one, whose real star is an entertaining Kevin Costner as a snarling sociopath implanted with a nice guy's consciousness. It's dopey, predictable and kind of fun. With Gary Oldman.
"Hardcore Henry" (July 26). A bionic superspy tries to figure out how he got that way. The gimmick is that the film is told in first-person POV, like a video game. Shelve your high standards and you'll enjoy this wackily violent pulp flick. With Sharlto Copley ("District 9").
"The Boss" (July 26). Melissa McCarthy plays a business mogul trying to stage a comeback after prison. Not the actress' strongest comedy, but at least a few moments are hilarious. Peter Dinklage steals the show as McCarthy's lover-turned-nemesis. With Kristen Bell.
