Let’s venture back into movie theaters this week with new 2022 releases – like “The Lost City,” starring Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum and Daniel Radcliffe.

Widowed, reclusive author Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) has built a successful career writing pulpy romance/adventure novels, featuring a handsome Fabio-esque cover model known as Dash (Channing Tatum).

While on tour with Dash promoting her new archaeology-based book, Loretta, reluctantly clad in a fuchsia sequined jumpsuit, is abducted by ruthless Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe). This egomaniacal British billionaire believes Loretta can interpret an ancient parchment with hieroglyphics leading to the fabled Crown of Fire, hidden on a remote volcanic island in the Atlantic Ocean.

Eager to be Loretta’s hero in real-life, goofy, guileless Dash is determined to rescue her, even if that means traversing a treacherous jungle. He teams up briefly with raffish Jack Trainer (an uncredited Brad Pitt), the embodiment of a far more capable mercenary.  Their comedic banter is hilarious! 

Following not far behind is Loretta’s distraught publicist Beth (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) aided by an amiable, amorous pilot (Oscar Nunez).

The formulaic script by Oren Uziel, Dana Fox and co-directors Adam and Aaron Nee – from Seth Gordon’s story – is remarkably reminiscent of “Romancing the Stone” with Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” even the first “Mummy” movie with Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz.

Problem is: you never feel that Loretta and Dash are in real peril. Instead, they’re two movie stars romping through an adventurous rom-com.

So how did they get Brad Pitt to do a cameo? Apparently, Bullock and Pitt share the same hairdresser, Janine Thompson. Years ago, Brad asked her if Sandra would do a cameo in “Bullet Train” (2022) so this ishow he returned the favor.

Filmed in the Dominican Republic, this film is scheduled to debut on the Paramount Plus streaming service, about 45 days after its cinematic release.

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Lost City” is a high-stakes, escapist 7 – with revelatory post-credit scenes.

Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” is a brooding, noir-ish interpretation of the DC Comics superhero, focusing for almost three hours on a sorrowful, conflicted Dark Knight, haunted by serious psychological issues involving his late father.

It’s Halloween when the Caped Crusader (Robert Pattinson) arrives on a grisly crime scene.  Going back to his detective roots, he examines a taunting cypher left by the rampaging Riddler (Paul Dano) – a.k.a. Edward Nashton – who has a politically-motivated Master Plan, fiendishly focused around an election, to take over corruption-drenched Gotham City.

Underneath the frightening mask, the vengeful vigilante is Bruce Wayne who, as a 10 year-old, witnessed the brutal murder of his billionaire parents. But now, succumbing to his own darkness, he’s questioning who he is and what he does.

“They think I am hiding in the shadows,” he declares. “I am the shadows.”

This glowering, gloomy Gotham City character-study introduces embryonic versions of Catwoman and Penguin. Zoe Kravitz plays Catwoman as a slinky, thieving Selina Kyle (with a comic-book bisexual backstory) and Colin Farrell plays the prosthetics-enhanced Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin.

Plus there’s Andy Serkis as Bruce Wayne’s surrogate father/ butler Alfred, Jeffrey Wright as the incorruptible Lt. James Gordon, John Turturro as mob boss Carmine Falcone and Peter Sarsgaard as the local District Attorney.

Working with cinematographer Greig Fraser (“Dune”) and production designer James Chinlund, director/writer Matt Reeves (“War for the Planet of the Apes”) bathes the film in a bleak, inky blackness, enhanced by Michael Giacchino’s symphonic score. 

Collaborating with co-writer Peter Craig, Reeves also adroitly sets up a possible sequel. Plus there are franchise plans for an animated series, along with a live-action HBO Max show about the Penguin.

FYI: Previous inhabitants of the Batsuit: Adam West (1966), Michael Keaton (1992), Val Kilmer (1995), George Clooney (1997) and Christian Bale (2005). Previous Catsuit-wearers: Julie Newmar (1966), Eartha Kitt (1967), Michelle Pfeiffer (1992), Halle Berry (2004) and Anne Hathaway (2012). 

On the Granger Gauge, “The Batman” is a strange, squalid, sinister 7 – dark and deadly.

Now, onto Broadway:  What surprised me most about this revival of Neil Simon’s “Plaza Suite” is how Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick have become cagey, funny and voraciously smart masters of physical comedy.

The secret to physical comedy goes far beyond slapstick pratfalls. It’s how an actor uses her/his body to sell something humorous to the audience. Facial expression and body language are core facets of communication, often delving into the psychological idea of ‘schadenfreude’ or why we derive secret pleasure from the troubles, failures or humiliation of others.

Set in the late 1960s, Neil Simon’s “Plaza Suite” is an old-fashioned, three-act comedy, focusing on a trio of couples who occupy the same suite 719 at Manhattan’s fabled Plaza Hotel. 

A middle-aged couple who have grown apart celebrate their bittersweet 23^rd anniversary; celebrity culture is skewered as a star-struck suburban housewife reunites with her former high school sweetheart, now a sleazy Hollywood producer; and, best of all, frustrated parents-of-the-bride coping with a wedding catastrophe.

“Plaza Suite” opened on Broadway 52 years ago with Maureen Stapleton and George C. Scott in the title roles; it ran for more than 1,000 performances. Yes, it’s dated, certainly before #MeToo – but parts of it are gleefully hilarious – and the belly laughs are still there.

Making his Broadway debut as director, John Benjamin Hickey takes full advantage of John Lee Beatty’s opulent, faux-French, mid-century set and Jane Greenwood’s gauche, era-appropriate costumes.  In supporting roles, Molly Ranson, Danny Bolero, Eric Wiegand and Cesar J. Rosado fill out the cast.

Off-stage, Sarah Jessica Parker (TV’s “Sex and the City,” “And Just Like That”) and Matthew Broderick (“The Producers”) have been married since 1997.

“Plaza Suite” runs 2 hours, 40 minutes with a 15-minute intermission.