‘The Devil’s Advocate’ (May 31)
This mash-up of Grisham-esque legal thriller and “Rosemary’s Baby”-style occult horror from Taylor Hackford was met mostly with snickers upon its 1997 release, as critics complained it was too ornate, too over-the-top, too much. But in these timid times, it feels like a welcome balm, a reminder of a time when mainstream studio movies were willing to just go for it, good taste be damned (pardon the pun). Keanu Reeves, sporting a less-than-convincing Southern accent, plays a hotshot young lawyer recruited (rather aggressively) by a top New York law firm led by Al Pacino as “John Milton,” and yes, the rest of the reveals are about as subtle. Pacino chews on the scenery with the ravenous appetite of a starving man, but the performance of note here is that of Charlize Theron, then still an up-and-comer, with an unexpectedly subtle turn as the young lawyer’s increasingly disturbed wife.
‘The Disaster Artist’ (May 31)
Bad movies have attracted ironic (and unironic) cult followings for decades, but few have attracted the fascination given to “The Room,” the bizarre psychosexual drama from the enigmatic writer-director-star Tommy Wiseau that plays less like a low-budget film than like a dispatch from another planet, filled with creatures who talk and act almost like actual humans. Greg Sestero, the film’s co-star, turned that strange experience into a memoir, which was then adapted into this hilarious chronicle of cinematic incompetence. James Franco directs and stars as Wiseau, his work focusing on — and blurring the line between — badness and brilliance; Dave Franco is charismatic and sympathetic as Sestero, while an all-star supporting cast (including Alison Brie, Zac Efron, Ari Graynor, Seth Rogen and Jacki Weaver) brightens up the edges.
‘Downton Abbey’: Seasons 1-6 (May 31)
Sometimes Netflix is there for you in your time of need, and sometimes they yank away entertainment at exactly the moment it’s most necessary. Such is the case with the lapse of the full run of “Downton Abbey” barely two weeks after the release of “Downton Abbey: A New Era,” the latest feature film follow-up, to theaters. That means it’s time to begin that catch-up binge and to reacquaint yourself with the Crawley family and their various servants, interlopers and guests. The show’s origins lay in the creator Julian Fellowes’s Oscar-winning screenplay for Robert Altman’s “Gosford Park,” which found drama in the contrast between British aristocracy and those that serve them. He followed those contrasts and connections through six seasons with sharp wit and penetrating commentary.
‘Free Willy’ (May 31)
Everything was bigger in the ’90s, so while family entertainment of yore gave us countless stories of boys and their dogs, this 1993 hit from Simon Wincer told the story of a boy and his orca. Jason James Richter stars as an orphan boy headed down the wrong life path, whose probation period cleaning up graffiti at an amusement park leads him to strike up an unconventional friendship with the title character, a captive whale, whom he soon decides he should release into the wild. Lori Petty and Michael Madsen are likable as the stern (but swayable) grown-ups.
‘Hairspray’ (May 31)
The cult filmmaker John Waters made an unexpected (and unexpectedly successful) play for mainstream respectability with his 1988 film “Hairspray,” a PG-rated nostalgia comedy that was so family-friendly it was adapted into a Broadway musical comedy. And then it made its way back to the movies for the 2007 adaptation of the Broadway show, directed with theatrical flair by the choreographer-turned-director Adam Shankman. The musical numbers are inventively staged, the conventions of the form are slyly sabotaged, and the performances are top-notch — particularly John Travolta as the mother of the lead character, Tracy Turnblad (the terrific Nikki Blonsky), and Christopher Walken in fine, tender form as her father.
