The Big Screen

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" is easily the most anticipated movie of 2017. And it's expected to ring up about $200 million in ticket sales on opening weekend. We've seen the film, but don't worry: No spoilers here - just a conversation about why it all works so well.

"The Shape of Water" - the latest from visionary director Guillermo del Toro - features a monster who's good and humans who're the bad guys. This week, we talk about the history of sympathetic monsters - everyone from Frankenstein to the Creature from the Black Lagoon - with SMU film professor Rick Worland.

At the Dallas Museum of Art, two large galleries are filled not with paintings or sculpture, but with video screens. The exhibition is called "Truth: 24 Frames Per Second," and this week, we talk about the show with Anna Katherine Brodbeck, the Nancy and Tim Hanley Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art at the DMA.

After a day at home surrounded by family … you might be ready to get out of the house. Well, you're in luck. This week, we recommend a few movies to see this weekend, as well as a few to look forward to.

In the new film "Last Flag Flying," Steve Carell plays a Vietnam veteran whose son – a Marine – is killed in Iraq. On his way to retrieve his son's remains, he pays a visit to a couple of old military buddies in hopes that they might offer support on the trip. The film is the latest from Richard Linklater, who we talked with recently about patriotism and the timing of war movies.

The Lone Star Film Festival opens Thursday in Fort Worth. And this year's event includes several films with Fort Worth ties. This week, we look at the lineup with the festival's executive director, Chad Matthews.

In years past, Dallas VideoFest featured more than a hundred movies stretched out over a week. This year's slate, though, includes only a few dozen shown over this weekend. This week, we talk with VideoFest artistic director Bart Weiss about creating a leaner, more focused fest.

The first feature-length film of the sound era was 1927's "The Jazz Singer." And ever since, Hollywood has produced a steady stream of musicals. This week, we talk with SMU film professor Sean Griffin about the enduring popularity of musical films. His new book is called "Free and Easy?: A Defining History of the American Film Musical Genre" (Wiley-Blackwell).

Short films offer budding directors a chance to learn their craft and established filmmakers an opportunity to play. This week, we talk about this under-appreciated segment of movies with a creator of The Eyeslicer Roadshow, a short film program coming to the Texas Theatre.

DocuFest - the documentary wing of VideoFest - opens Thursday night in Dallas. To get you ready, we preview a pair of films that focus on the arts. "Dare to be Different" (Thursday at 9:15 p.m.) looks at an influential radio station that helped to popularize Depeche Mode, Blondie, Pet Shop Boys and other early '80s acts. And "Ex Libris: New York Public Library" (Saturday at 11 a.m.) is legendary documentarian Frederick Wiseman's look at one of the world's largest library systems.