In theatres this weekend...
A couldn't-be-hotter comedian, a pint-sized superhero, and a familiar London detective go up against a set of villains and an already stacked box office – Minions, Jurassic World, and Inside Out are still raking in the ticket stubs.
Trainwreck
Amy Schumer – who's already broken out, pretty much – hits the screen with her break-out role in Trainwreck, a comedy the stand-up star wrote and funnelled through director Judd Apatow.
"One of the things I enjoy most is helping people figure out how to execute their vision," said Apatow, in an interview earlier this week. "That's actually the most enjoyable part of it is just, 'What do you want to do? How can I help you make it work?'"
Schumer – who stars alongside Bill Hader, LeBron James, and Brie Larson in the film – plays a women near her 30s, who may be finally ready to commit after a lifetime spent believing – and dating with the belief – that monogamy is unrealistic.
Ant-Man
Paul Rudd gets smaller to join a big family, as Ant-Man adds yet another blockbuster to Marvel's ever-expanding cinematic universe.
Rudd plays a thief – named Scott Lang – who becomes the superhero and is mentored by Ant-Man's original iteration, a since-retired man named Hank Pym (played by Michael Douglas).
The film also star Evangeline Lilly, Bobby Cannavale, and Corey Stoll.
"Ant-Man is a blast," writes Matthew DeKinder, of St. Louis Today. "It is funny, clever and its view of the world in miniature is often spectacular...
"The Captain America movies are political thrillers, Guardians of the Galaxy is a space opera and Ant-Man is, at its core, a heist movie."
Mr. Holmes
The final big release of this weekend is another new take on the well-known London detective, Sherlock, with Sir Ian McKellen taking over the role in Mr. Holmes.
But of course, and it's obvious since we know McKellen's age, the film finds a new niche for Baker Street. This one's not about transplanting Robert Downey Jr. back in time or super-imposing Conan Doyle's storylines on Benedict Cumberbatch's modern England.
Instead, McKellen plays a 93-year-old Sherlock, already retired, who's mind is vanishing by 1947. (The film is based off a 2005 novel, A Slight Trick of the Mind, by Bill Condon.)
"Mr. Holmes adds another version of the beloved character to the Sherlock canon," writes the Toronto Star's Linda Barnard. "Less a mystery solved than a character explored, fascinating in many small ways thanks to superb work from McKellen."