Despicable Me 4 and July special screenings 

• Illumination Studios
• Despicable Me 4

Despicable Me 4
I understand intuitively that what for me is a big problem with Despicable Me 4 might actually be the franchise distilled to its purest essence: It's the stuff of a bunch of 5-minute short films packed together with only the vaguest sense that they belong in the same movie. Most superficially, it's about Gru (Steve Carell) finding himself the target of a recently-escaped super-villain (Will Ferrell), necessitating him and the family—wife Lucy (Kristen Wiig), the three girls and their new baby—being given new identities in an upscale suburb. An animated version of My Blue Heaven certainly could work, and there's a little material involving Gru's discomfort in his new environs. But there are so many subplots thrown in here—little Agnes having a moral crisis over "lying" about having a new name; middle-schooler Margo (Miranda Cosgrove) dealing with a mean-girl classmate; aforementioned mean girl (Joey King) blackmailing Gru into a heist; a bunch of Minions being given super-powers—that there's no time to develop any of them beyond a scene or two. And that makes it fairly ridiculous that we're expected to find any kind of emotional connection to whether Gru and Baby Gru Junior can bond. The Minion shenanigans are always good for a few giggles, and it's clear that they've taken over top billing in the same way Scrat did for the Ice Age movies. It would just be nice if they didn't have to wait to pile up 20 concepts for shorts and pretend that's the same as an actual feature. Available July 3 in theaters. (PG)

JULY SPECIAL SCREENINGS
Sundance Film Festival Local Lens: While the long-term home of the Sundance Film Festival may now be something of a question mark, the Sundance Institute still treats Utah like home for the time being, including featuring festival films for free summer screenings. From July 17 – 21, multiple locations in Utah will host indoor and outdoor screenings of some of the most popular films from the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. The schedule includes Skywalkers: A Love Story (Red Butte Garden, July 17, 9 p.m.), Daughters (The Ray Theater, Park City, July 18, 7 p.m.), My Old Ass (Red Butte Garden, July 18, 9 p.m.), Your Monster (The Ray Theater, Park City, July 19, 7 p.m.), Sugarcane (Megaplex Valley Fair, July 20, 5:30 p.m.), Dìdi (Megaplex Valley Fair, July 20, 8:30 p.m.), Eno (City Park, Park City, July 20, 9 p.m.) and Layla (Broadway Centre Cinemas, July 20, 11 p.m.). Special audience choice offering 20 Feet from Stardom—the 2014 Academy Award Winner for Best Documentary—will be showing at the Gallivan Center July 21 at 9:15 p.m. All screenings are free, but RSVP is required via a Sundance account. Visit festival.sundance.org to sign up and for additional information.

Utah Film Center Summer Outdoor Film Series: The Utah Film Center hosts free outdoor screenings at the east side of Liberty Park (600 E. 900 South) for five Fridays beginning July 12. The lineup includes 2013 Academy Award-winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man (July 12), the dramatic fantasy Nine Days (July 19), the Oscar-nominated animated feature Robot Dreams (July 26), local filmmaker short film showcase (Aug. 2), and the musical-theater adaptation Everyone's Talking About Jamie (Aug. 9). Features begin at 8 p.m.; visit utahfilmcenter.org for RSVP and additional event information.

Dancing Joy @ Brewvies: The feature documentary Dancing Joy showcases an intriguing concept: What does it look like around the world when cultures choreograph their own unique dance traditions to the same piece of music, Beethoven's celebrated 9th Symphony "Ode to Joy." The resulting film includes 21 cultures—in India, Fiji, Botswana, Greece, Scotland and many more—captured in 19 cities, requiring 56,000 miles of air travel. Among the participating companies is Salt Lake City's own Tablado Dance flamenco dance group, and company representatives will join in a special screening of the film at Brewvies Cinema Pub (677 S. 200 West) on Monday, July 22 at 7p.m., along with the film's producers. Visit brewvies.com for additional information.

$5 Reel Deals at Megaplex Theatres: Classic films on the big screen at a great price continue into July at Megaplex Theatres locations. Two Oscar-winners are currently on the schedule for July—Gladiator on Friday, July 5 and Saving Private Ryan on July 12—with all tickets just $5. Showtimes and theaters were not yet available at press time; visit megaplextheatres.com for additional information.