This is going to be a huge weekend thanks to your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, but hey, there are plenty of other places to look for new movies as well. The write-ups here include a couple of raunchy comedies, an animated adventure, an action-thriller, and another shark flick. The following features reviews for I Want Your Sex, Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender, Motor City, The Dink, 72 Hours, and The Devil’s Mouth.
I Want Your Sex: 7 out of 10
The Setup: When fresh-faced Elliot (Cooper Hoffman) lands an exciting job for renowned artist, icon, and provocateur Erika Tracy (Olivia Wilde), his fantasies come true as Erika taps him to become her sexual muse. But Elliot soon finds himself out of his depth as Erika takes him on a journey more profound than he ever could have imagined, into a world of sex, obsession, power, betrayal, and murder.
Review: It’s been over ten years since indie director Gregg Araki made a feature. Given where we are in society these days, it feels like a fitting time for one of the founders of new queer cinema to release something new, fun, and provocative for audiences to dig into. Here’s the thing I didn’t really expect, however – the movie is fairly straightforward in what it is after. That’s not a bad thing, as the film is very funny and the performances are all quite strong. It just surprised me to see Araki take on a feature that was less daring and more like a throwback to the 90s, but with plenty of comedic flair.
Perhaps it’s a bit easy for me to say a film blending contemporary art with BDSM sex practice between a female boss and her male subordinate isn’t daring enough. Still, the film is so tilted toward familiar art satire and broad comedy that I can’t imagine anyone being up in arms over the content. It’s not exactly wholesome either, but this feels like a pretty mainstream effort for Araki in a way that could end up making him more accessible. Whatever the case, enjoy the film for its big bright colors, an off-the-wall Wilde performance, further proof that Hoffman is a solid performer, and all of the little spots occupied by actors such as Mason Gooding, Chase Sui Wonders, Charli XCX, and an especially dry Daveed Diggs.
Where To Watch: Opening in theaters on July 31, 2026.
Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender: 8 out of 10
The Setup: This new story in the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe sees Aang (Eric Nam) learn of an ancient power that could save his culture from extinction. With the help of his friends, he embarks on a global quest to find it before it falls into the wrong hands and threatens to upend the peace they sacrificed everything to achieve.
Review: While I haven’t revisited them in some time, I’m a big fan of both the animated TV shows Avatar: The Last Airbender and the sequel series The Legend of Korra. They combined strong storytelling and character arcs with an Asian-influenced art style and spectacular action that made for an engaging number of seasons of television fit for all ages. And that’s without getting into the strength the shows had in deeper themes and more mature elements, the further it went along.
Anyhow, Paramount and Nickelodeon now have what I can only hope is the first of a few original films set in the same universe, featuring grown-up versions of the classic Avatar characters. While it’s premiering as a streaming original, the fact that it was designed to be a theatrical feature certainly shows in the animation style and scale, as this thing looks pretty great while also telling a solid standalone story.
Even while aging up the characters, changing up some of the voice cast, and arriving at a visual place that may feel foreign to those only familiar with the original cartoon series, it’s very clear the spirit of the series remains alive here. Having all of the same creatives on board certainly helps, and director Lauren Montgomery and her team do plenty to keep intact both the emphasis on solid storytelling and the sense of humor that helps break up the major events. That said, when the action kicks into gear, it’s a real treat to see a modern display of how animation can tackle all of the bending powers, and provide even more ambitious takes on these fight sequences.
Again, I can only hope more of these features are on the way if this first film is any indication of what to keep expecting in the future. There’s a lot of fun to be had for action animation fans, along with veterans of the series.
Where To Watch: Now streaming on Paramount+.
Motor City: 6 out of 10
The Setup: In 1970s Detroit, a working-class romantic (Alan Ritchson) is framed by a ruthless gangster (Ben Foster) after falling for his girlfriend (Shailene Woodley). After years in prison, he returns with only one mission: revenge.
Review: I’m all for a 70s-set action revenge thriller featuring Ritchson capitalizing on his current status as an outspoken beefy guy with charisma to spare. I’m a bit less taken by the continued attempt to make this stylized idea of “no dialogue” in an action movie into a thing. Sure, having to hear reams of exposition is never anyone’s idea of a picnic. Still, there are more effective ways to approach minimalism beyond literally stripping out all of the dialogue from a movie. Sure, the rock soundtrack in its place is fun in spots, but this still ultimately feels like a stylistic exercise that hasn’t proven its worth for a full-length feature.
With all of that said, director Potsy Ponciroli certainly delivers on the fun of having Ritchson plow his way through bad guys in a variety of ways. Whether it’s car chases or a late-in-the-film elevator fight, there are enough elaborate set pieces to keep this thing violent and gritty in a mostly fun way. Solid supporting work from Shailene Woodley, Pablo Schreiber and Lionel Boyce was also quite welcome. Plus, and almost needless to say, Foster is always ready to rock & roll with these outrageous villain parts. While not a definitive action entry for Ritchson, it’s a nice enough slice of joy in between seasons of Reacher.
Where To Watch: Now playing in theaters.
The Dink: 7 out of 10
The Setup: Desperate to save a struggling country club and earn his father’s respect, a washed-up tennis pro (Jake Johnson) is compelled to break a sacred vow and do the unthinkable: play pickleball.
Review: The Dink is a great example of how strongly I feel about Johnson’s continued efforts to play different variations of a burnout, and still make them likable. In the realm of comedic sports comedies, there’s nothing you haven’t seen here before, from threats to a country club, to a disapproving father, to a backstory about a former prodigy – it’s got all of the staples in play. And yet, this movie is consistently funny, features actors way overqualified, making the overall results stronger, and knows when to call it.
Just the idea of Ed Harris diving into a Ben Stiller-produced pickleball comedy is good enough for a laugh. Still, his total commitment is just one of the keys to seeing successful laughs throughout this feature. Johnson is on his game here, sharing wildly great chemistry with both Mary Steenburgen and comedian Aaron Chen. To delve into all of the supporting players would be spoiling things at this point, but know there’s plenty to like about this film thanks to a commitment to the bit and genuinely good effort by director Josh Greenbaum to make a solid comedy.
Where To Watch: Now streaming on Apple TV.
72 Hours: 4 out of 10
The Setup: A forty-year-old executive (Kevin Hart) hopes to save his flailing career by joining a group of twenty-somethings (Marcello Hernández, Mason Gooding, Kam Patterson, Ben Marshall) on a wild three-day bachelor party, after he’s inadvertently added to their group text.
Review: What starts off initially as a “okay, that doesn’t make a lot of sense but I can roll with it” sorta comedy just eventually becomes exhausting for many of the reasons I usually cry foul on comedies that should know better by now. 72 Hours feels like a 15-years-too-late attempt to cash in on the fun of The Hangover, except for feeling like a barrage of different tones, a series of hit-and-miss jokes, and the as-usual nonsense decision to add a crime element to the story.
Director Tim Story is so wildly all over the place in terms of the mixed successes in his filmography, despite credit for being a black director responsible for getting the most franchises off the ground. Still, this film is nowhere near the surprise quality I saw a few years ago in The Blackening. Instead, it’s a very generic version of bachelor party antics, with a genuinely reliable Kevin Hart not having enough to work with beyond the joke that he’s older than the dudes he’s hanging out with. Similarly, not nearly enough is done to make any of the attempts to show the heart of those friendships worthwhile. Instead, it feels like a group of SNL actors and Mason Gooding just got together and attempted to riff, followed by a lengthy editing process to get it down to 100 minutes. Just a shame that it felt like it took 17 hours to watch.
Where To Watch: Now streaming on Netflix.
The Devil’s Mouth: 3 out of 10
The Setup: Five friends explore The Devil’s Mouth cave system in Thailand for one last adventure before life in the real world begins. But they soon discover that something is hunting them under the water…fast, silent, and deadly. In the suffocating darkness, trust erodes, panic spreads, and every wrong turn becomes a fight for survival.
Review: I guess there was a need for a watered-down shark movie… Look, I’m not inherently against PG-13 horror; I wonder what the point is with a streaming shark movie. It’s not really matter, as the film is a pretty poor attempt to do much of interest anyway. Playing as a form of The Descent but with sharks and a Gen Z cast, we watch a group of young adults make poor decisions in an even more poorly lit series of caves, as they are brutalized by a shark that won’t leave them alone. Placing Kathryn Newton and Lana Condor as the leads is fine, though neither provides much in the way of memorability. The same can be said for the usually pretty charismatic Nico Hiraga.
As a horror movie, the film doesn’t have much to rely on besides the surprise of either a shark attack or loose rocks. Director Jeff Wadlow (Imaginary, Fantasy Island) must have been invested to some degree, given the difficulty of filming movies like this. Still, there’s nothing here to really suggest a desire to provide a killer shark flick for the next generation. Instead, it’s a pile of cliches, cheap jumps, and uninteresting underwater filmmaking. This bites.
Where To Watch: Now streaming on Prime Video.
