NEW IN THEATERS:
ALONE--The second film in recent months in which a kidnapped woman gets the upper hand on her male captor (the other was Teddy Grennan's kicky "Ravage"), cult director John ("Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning") Hyams' sensationally effective thriller is a well-upholstered "B" that would have played well in drive-ins if they were still open. Jules Wilcox plays a recently widowed Portland woman whose attempt to escape the big city ends in terror when a creepy stranger (Marc Menchaca) abducts her. Hyams proves there's still life in the hoary "I Spit On Your Grave" template, and that it doesn't have to be sexist or gratuitously nasty to get your pulse racing. (B PLUS.)
AVA--Jessica Chastain plays a steely hired assassin fending off an assassin (Colin Farrell) of her own in Tate ("The Help," "Get On Up") Taylor's generic action flick that feels like a Charlize Theron reject. Plenty of "A" list talent on display (the supporting cast includes everyone from John Malkovich to Geena Davis), but the end result feels like a failed franchise starter that never quite got off the ground. (C MINUS.)
THE BROKEN HEARTS GALLERY--An art gallery assistant (Geraldine Viswanathan from HBO's "Bad Education") makes an exhibit out of souvenirs from old boyfriends. It soon becomes a social media sensation with other women (and a few men) adding remnants from past relationships, too. Viswanathan and "Stranger Things" alum Dacre Montgomery as a potential new romantic interest are as adorable as puppies frolicking under a lawn sprinkler. While first-time director Natalie Krinsky's movie won't go down in rom-com history, it's a decent enough "Ladies Night" divertissement. (B MINUS.)
KAJILLIONAIRE--A family of con artists (Richard Jenkins, Debra Winger and a fantastic Even Rachel Wood) invite a newbie (Gina Rodriguez) to join their reindeer games in Miranda ("Me, You and Everyone We Know") July's deeply strange, weirdly touching and impeccably acted new film. As usual, July is more interested in the dynamics of family--in all of its messy, dysfunctional permutations--than she is in plot mechanics, so don't expect a juicy neo-noir like "The Grifters," Stephen Frears' masterful 1990 adaptation of the Jim Thompson novel. It is, however, the finest, most bracingly original "con" movie since David Mamet's 1987 masterpiece, "House of Cards." And July remains one of the most interesting and idiosyncratic directors working in American indie cinema. I just wish she was more prolific: this is only her third film in fifteen years. (A.)
THE NEW MUTANTS--Five adolescent mutants (including Maisie Williams from "Game of Thrones" and "The Witch" ingenue Anya Taylor-Joy) are held for observation in a psychiatric hospital by a doctor (Alice Braga) whose motives remain, uh, murky at best.The last official entry in the "X-Men" franchise has been collecting dust on the shelf for two years (it had eight different release dates in the interim), and it's easy to see why. Director Josh ("The Fault in Our Stars") Boone seems to think his mission was to make a touchy-feely YA movie which is neither particularly interesting or even original. After all, previous "X-Men" flicks like 2011's "First Class" have flirted with YA tropes without forgetting they were supposed to be comic book adventures, too. This non-starter is talky, sluggishly paced and strictly for "X"-pletists. (D PLUS.)
POSSESSOR--Brandon Cronenberg's sophomore film is a stunning leap from his 2012 debut (the merely icky "Anti-Viral"). At its best, it could even be mistaken for one of his superstar director dad David's finest works. Jennifer Jason-Leigh, who starred in Cronenberg Sr.'s 1999 freakout "Existenz," plays the head of a top-secret agency that inserts brain implants into agents who then inhabit the bodies of unwitting assassins. It's a millennial "Manchurian Candidate," perfect for this social media era. As Jason-Leigh's star pupil, Andrea Riseborough is creepily effective, and Christopher Abbott comes close to stealing the show as her latest, er, success story. Provocative, terrifying and sometimes profound, it's one of the year's most disturbing (and unforgettable) films. (A MINUS.)
SAVE YOURSELVES!--Brooklyn hipsters John Reynolds and Mani Bilyn travel upstate to a cabin in the woods for a week-long vacation. Unplugged from technology, they're oblivious to an incipient alien invasion. A goofy throwback to '80s creature features like "Gremlins," "Critters" and "The Evil Dead," co-directors Alex Huston Fischer and Elena Wilson's debut feature is a little too wink-wink, nudge-nudge meta for its own good, but immensely charming and frequently laugh-out-loud funny. Screen newcomers Renolds and Bilyn are good company, and dependable scene-stealers Amy Sedaris and Ben Sinclair provide stellar back-up support. (B MINUS.)
SHORTCUT--Italian-made horror cheapie about what happens when a school bus driver takes a--you guessed it--shortcut en route to driving five high school students home. The American cast is appealing, though, and the creature effects are refreshingly Old School lo-fi. (C PLUS.)
TENET-- Even after sitting through Christopher Nolan's highly anticipated new film twice, I'm still not sure I understand it. By "it," I mean the plot which is so convoluted and (deliberately?) confusing that it practically defies rational synopsis. What I can report is that it feels a lot like what the "Last Year at Marienbad"-era Alain Resnais could have made if he'd been contracted to direct a Bond movie in the last days of Camelot. There are copious action setpieces, all of which are skillfully handled if somewhat lacking in the "Look ma; no hands!" glee of the last few "Mission Impossible" installments. But Nolan does "surface" so well, it's easy to be seduced into the glistening, tactile worlds of his films, even when you're disoriented and narratively adrift for pretty much the whole time. Disorientation (remember "Inception"?) is clearly his preferred bag of tricks. "BlackKKlansman" John David Washington handles the leading man chores with panache (he's "The Protagonist"), and Robert Pattinson does yeoman work as his quipster sidekick. There's also strong work from Kenneth Branagh (dialing down his innate hamminess as the Russian Big Bad), Elizabeth Debicki, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and "Yesterday" breakout Himesh Patel. Michael Caine kills his one scene, but it's only one scene, alas. If you've been dying to leave the house and experience a movie on the big screen again, this is just what the cineplex doctor ordered. Just don't expect to be able to tell your friends what exactly you saw. (B PLUS.)
UNHINGED--While driving her son (Gabriel Bateman) to school, divorced mom Rachel (Caren Pistorius) becomes the object of Russell Crowe's wrath after a road rage incident that quickly escalates into a murderous cat-and-mouse game. Director Derrick Borte expertly knows how to tighten the screws, and the result is a nasty, inelegant but generally effective exploitation flick that would have been right at home at drive-ins and urban grindhouses in the halcyon '70s. (B MINUS.)
THE WAR WITH GRANDPA--A bratty kid (Oakes Fegley) goes to unusual lengths to reclaim his bedroom after grandpa (Robert DeNiro, sigh) moves in. Director Tim ("Alvin and
the Chipmunks," "Hop") was clearly aiming for the sort of all-ages-friendly comedy that John Hughes and Chris Columbus used to specialize in, but the dispiriting results are closer to a TGIF sitcom pilot that accidentally stumbled onto multiplex screens. In the pre-Covid era,
this would have been sent straight to DVD without its (theatrical) supper. (D PLUS.)
YELLOW ROSE--A neo-realist fairy tale about an undocumented Filipina teenager (promising newcomer Eva Noblezada) whose life unravels after her mom (Princess Punzalan) is deported. Austin's country music scene provides an appealing backdrop (and marketing hook: country star Dale Watson has a supporting role), but it's the beautifully observed characterizations and director Diane Paragas' vivid sense of place that makes this more than just a feel-good tweener entertainment. Back in the '90s, Harvey Weinstein could have positioned this into sleeper hit status and even a potential Oscar run. But in today's decimated theatrical marketplace, all bets are off. See it when/where you can. (B PLUS.)
NEW ON HOME VIDEO/STREAMIMNG CHANNELS:
ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER--Pedro Almodovar's floridly melodramatic ode to motherhood in all of its various permutations deservedly won the 1999 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, and the Criterion Collection's new digitally restored edition is 2020's first must-own Blu-Ray. After losing her teenage son, a nurse (Cecilia Roth) embarks upon a road trip to find the boy's long-lost father. In the process, she forms a de facto family with a pregnant, HIV-positive nun (Penelope Cruz), a celebrated stage actress (Marisa Paredes) and a transgender prostitute (Antonia San Juan). While the enfant terrible who made "Labyrinth of Passion" or "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" might have played that scenario largely for laughs, the mellower, more mature Almodovar of the late '90s used it as the set-up for a moving, compassionate reflection on the indomitablility of the fairer sex. As visually resplendent and playfully dotted with filmic references as it is, the movie never loses sight of its core humanity and is all the richer for that. Extras include a 2012 documentary about the making of the film; a 1999 TV program with Almodovar, his real-life mother, Cruz, Roth, Paredes and San Juan; a 2019 post-screening Q&A with Almodovar and guests; an essay by Emma Wilson, a Cambridge University professor of cinema and literature; Frederic Strauss' 1999 interview with Almodovar; and the obituary Almodovar wrote for his mother, originally published in the Spanish newspaper El Pais. (A.)
AMULET--While living off the grid in London, a refugee (Alec Secareanu) from a war-torn Eastern European country (Romania? Bosnia?) becomes the caretaker for the crumbling abode of a mysterious young woman (Carla Juri) and her invalid mother. Director Romola Garai's strikingly accomplished filmmaking debut is like a modern-day Gothic horror flick that's rich with mood and menace, as well as (extremely) icky things that go bump in the night. The influences (Roman Polanski, Davids Lynch and Cronenberg, even Roger Corman's campy 1960's Edgar Allan Poe adaptations) are as copious as they are fun to spot. Character actress extraordinaire Imelda Staunton contributes a delicious supporting turn as a most unconventional nun. (B PLUS.)
AN AMERICAN PICKLE--A time-travel, fish-out-of-water comedy about a Jewish immigrant (Seth Rogen) who falls into a vat of pickles in 1919, gets brined and reawakens 100 years later. Needless to say present-day Brooklyn is nearly unrecognizable to the Borscht Belt Rip Van Winkle, and his sole existing relative (a great-grandson, also played by Rogen) only compounds his disorientation. What's computer coding? Please explain the concept of an "unpaid internship." While there's barely enough plot to sustain a feature (even at 88 minutes it feels slightly over-extended), Rogen's innate likability makes the movie an amusing enough trifle. (B MINUS.)
ANTEBELLUM--Co-directors Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz's provocative new thriller does such a masterful job of building suspense that it's unfortunate the third act feels so anti-climactic and curiously rushed. Until then, their feature debut proves very much worthy of comparison to both Jordan Peele's "Get Out" and Steve McQueen's Oscar-winning "12 Years a Slave." Janelle ("Moonlight," "Hidden Figures") Monae plays dual roles as a slave in the pre-Civil War South and an academic/best-selling author in present-day Washington, D.C. It's when those disparate timelines merge that the movie begins treading water. Until then, you'll be dazzled by Pedro Luque's fantastic cinematography, the taut pacing and Monae's kickass performance. (B.)
ARTEMIS FOWL--The nicest thing I can say about Disney's overproduced and underwhelming bid for their very own "Harry Potter"-ish franchise is that at least it's shorter
than the "Fantastic Beasts" movies, clocking in at a circumspect 88 minutes before end credits. As the titular kiddie extraordinaire from Eoin Colfer's kid-lit series, newcomer Ferdia Shaw is less engaging than mildly annoying. Faring slightly better are Josh Gad and Lara McDonnell as, respectively, Artemis' dwarf and fairy helpmates. As Queen of the Fairies, poor Judi Dench is saddled with her most embarrassing screen role since playing a distaff Obi-Wan Kenobi to Vin Diesel in "The Chronicles of Riddick." (Colin Farrell is luckier: he's barely in the movie.) It was probably a wise movie for Disney to cancel its intended theatrical release and dump this onto their burgeoning streaming service. It's doubtful there would have been any big-screen sequels in the offing anyway. (C MINUS.)
THE ARTIST'S WIFE--Lena Olin plays the long-suffering wife of a famous painter (Bruce Dern) who's in the early stages of Alzheimer's. While director Tom Dolby's film hits many of the same notes of spousal resentment as 2018's Glenn Close starrer "The Wife," Olin's beautifully layered performance helps elevate the prosaic material. Also very fine are Dern, Juliet Rylance as Olin's bitter lesbian stepdaughter and Stefanie Powers whose "Full Monty" scene will shock her old "Hart to Hart" fans. (B MINUS.)
BILL AND TED FACE THE MUSIC--29 years after "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey," Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter reunite for a sequel that should please their old fans, but is unlikely to win them any new converts. When our stoned heroes learn that only they can save the world from eminent destruction--it has something to do with one of their songs--they embark
on a mission that feels very similar to previous B&T missions in 1989's "Excellent Adventure" and "Bogus Journey." Historical and musical figures (including everyone from Babe Ruth, Mozart, Jimi Hendrix and Louis Armstrong), Death (once again played by William Sadler) and their teenage daughters (they procreated?) play a role, but it's really all about Bill and Ted. Reeves and Winter remain amiable company: too bad their comeback vehicle is so superfluous and mechanical. Director Dean Parisot peaked with 1999's "Galaxy Quest" and remains stuck in the same '90s time warp as his goofball protagonists. (C.)
BLACKBIRD--After making the decision to end her life, a terminally ill Susan Sarandon invites her family to join her for one last weekend. Long buried secrets/resentments inevitably intrude on--and threaten to wreck--the occasion. Director Roger ("Notting Hill," "Le Weekend") Michell is such an innately classy filmmaker that he never allows the potentially sudsy material to descend into bathos. Helping his cause is a splendid cast (Sarandon, Sam Neill, Mia Wasakowski, Lindsay Duncan and Kate Winslet who, for some reason, looks unnervingly like Tina Fey here), all of them in fine form. (B.)
BOYS STATE--Husband-and-wife filmmaking team Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss' verite-style documentary premiered at Sundance this January where it sold for a bigger sum than any previous doc in the festival's history, and for good reason: it's sensationally effective and wildly compelling. A fly-on-the-wall account of the annual, week-long American Legion-sponsored event in which 1,000 teenage boys descend upon the Texas state capitol, split into Nationalist and Federalist parties then elect a "governor," "attorney general," etc., it's a heady microcosm of the national political zeitgeist. A few of the boys (e.g., Machiavellian Ben Feinstein who probably has a bright career ahead of him as a Republican dirty tricks op in the Karl Rove/Lee Atwater tradition) will likely scare the bejesus out of you. Others, like thoughtful, reflective, Barack-Obama-in-the-making Steven Garza, are so inspirational they'll single-handedly restore your faith in today's youth. (A.)
THE BURNT ORANGE HERESY---Giuseppe Capotondi's delicious neo-noir is based on Charles Willeford's 1971 novel, although the original Florida setting has been changed to Italy's Lake Como district. A broken-down art critic (Danish actor Claes Bang from 2017 Palme d'Or winner "The Square") is hired by a wealthy collector (Mick Jagger) to coerce a reclusive artist (Donald Sutherland) into selling one of his few extant paintings. Joining him is a femme fatale-ish American schoolteacher (Elizabeth Debicki) on an extended European sabbatical. Like the best noirs, it keeps you guessing right up until the final scene, and it's also ideally cast and acted to perfection. (B PLUS.)
A CALL TO SPY--Fact-based tale of a spy network set up by Winston Churchill during WW II to infiltrate Nazi-occupied France. What made the enterprise so groundbreaking was that many of the spies were women. As the American expatriate with a wooden leg who joined the campaign, Sarah Megan Thomas (who also wrote the screenplay) is solid, as are Rebecca Ferguson lookalike Stana Katic as the principal spy recruiter and Radhika Apte (a wireless operator who would become the first British Muslim war hero). Director Lydia Dean Pitcher's film is a tad on the stolid, "Tradition of Quality" side, but it's such a ripping good yarn--and so solidly mounted--that the end result is still good, old-fashioned fun. (B.)
CENTIGRADE--Pulse-less thriller about an American couple (Genesis Rodrieguz and Vincent Piazza) stranded in their SUV on a lonely Norwegian highway during a blizzard. Although "inspired" by a true story, nothing about the film rings true. For starters, I had a hard time believing that an author would fly half-way across the world on a book tour when she was eight months pregnant. Seriously? Previous movies (e.g., "Room" which won Brie Larson an Oscar, and 2010's "Buried" with Ryan Reynolds) have generated considerable suspense with claustrophobic single settings. But first-time director Brendan Walsh isn't so lucky. The fact that the husband and wife are both pretty annoying doesn't help matters. Who cares whether they survive or not? (C MINUS.)
CHRIST STOPPED AT EBOLI--The version of Francesco ("Salvatore Giuliano") Rosi's adaptation of political activist Carlo Levi's autobiographical novel that I saw in New York City forty years ago ran just a little over two hours. At the time, I wasn't even aware that a longer cut existed. (Certainly Janet Maslin's New York Times review made no mention of it.) While the abridged Rosi, then simply called "Eboli," seemed perfectly fine to me at the time, it didn't really leave much of a lasting impression. After seeing the Criterion Collection's newly released Blu-Ray edition which preserves the original four-part, 220-minute "Christ Stopped at Eboli," I'm beginning to think it could very well be Rosi's masterpiece. A political filmmaker whose work at times has verged on the wonkily doctrinaire (take 1976's "Illustrious Corpses;" please!), this is the only Rosi film I've seen that hints at the closet humanist lurking beneath the Marxist polemics. As the Levi surrogate, screen legend Gian Maria Volonte ("A Fistful of Dollars," "Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion") gives a career performance as a man exiled by Mussolini to a rural village in southern Italy because of his anti-Fascist views. The experience proves revelatory for Volonte's citified intellectual who, possibly for the first time, grows to understand and appreciate the psychology of both his troubled country and its citizenry. Costarring the great Irene Papas, Alain Cuny and Lea Massari, this isn't the type of movie you casually dip into like an episode of a streamer series. Because it needs to be met head-on, don't even begin watching unless you're prepared to devote four hours to the experience. This is definitely one film you'll want to finish in one sitting. For such a major work, the extras are a little on the skimpy side (at least by Criterion's usual Tiffany standards). The worthiest supplement is a 1978 documentary contextualizing the movie within the tradition of Italian political cinema with both Rosi and Volonte. The rest--excerpts from a 1974 doc featuring Rosi and Levi; an excerpt from Marco Spagnoli's 2014 doc "Unico" in which Rosi discusses his working relationship with Volonte; a new interview with translator/author Michael F. Moore; an essay by Columbia University professor Alexander Stille--are fine, too, but it's the film itself which makes the disc a must-own. (A.)
THE COMPLETE FILMS OF AGNES VARDA--"Complete" is right! This 15 (count 'em) disc Criterion Collection box set commemorating the 39-film oeuvre of French New Wave godmother Varda is the first truly indispensable Blu-Ray release of the new decade. If you think that "godmother" sobriquet sounds like hyperbole, consider: when 26-year-old Varda made her first feature (1955's "La Pointe Courte" starring a baby-faced Phillipe Noiret), Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut were still writing movie reviews for Cahiers du Cinema. Besides a sumptuously illustrated 200-page book containing notes on Varda's films and essays on her life by, among others, Amy Taubin and Ginette Vincendeau, seemingly every frame of celluloid and/or video Varda shot in the course of her lifetime is included here. From undisputed classics like "Cleo From 5 to 7 (1962), "One Sings, the Other Doesn't" (1977) and "Vagabond" (1985); to the relatively obscure (among them 1969's "Lion's Love...and Lies" starring Andy Warhol superstar Viva and "Hair" authors Gerome Ragni and James Rado which plays like a West Coast Warhol movie, and 1995's star-studded "One Hundred and One Nights" whose stunningly eclectic cast includes everyone from Marcello Mastroianni to Robert DeNiro, Catherine Deneuve and Harrison Ford); her culty 1988 collaborations with Jane Birkin ("Kung Fu Master" and "Jane B. par Agnes V."); Varda's loving celebrations of the life and career of her late husband, Jacques Demy (1991's "Jacquot de Nantes" and 1995's "The World of Jacques Demy"); as well as her lavishly praised 21st century docu-diaries (including 2017's "Faces Places," 2000's "The Gleaners and I" and her final film, last year's suitably elegaic "Varda by Agnes"); they're all here. As are any number of shorts like 1970's "Black Panthers," shot during the same late 1960's L.A. sojourn that produced "Lion's Love" and Demy's "The Model Shop." Besides the copious discoveries the set provided, it was lovely revisiting a digitally restored copy of my personal favorite Varda, 1965's "Le Bonheur," whose intoxicatingly romantic spirit always felt a bit like one of Demy's movies (minus the song score, natch). Predictably, Criterion's extras (e.g., rare footage from unfinished Varda features, "La melangite" and "Christmas Carole;" over seven hours of archival programs featuring Varda, many directed by her as well; and a 72-minute 2006 television version of a Varda installation from the previous year) are nearly as bountiful as the films themselves. You could spend a month of weekends just getting through them all. (A PLUS.)
THE CREMATOR--By the time Juraj Herz's movie premiered in 1969, many of his fellow Czech New Wave compatriots (Milos Forman, Ivan Passer and Jan Kadar among them) had already departed for sunnier and considerably less censorious climes. Herz's
unapologetically bleak, yet funny parable about a Prague crematorium manager (Rudolf Hrusinsky) during WW II who allows himself to be coerced into assisting the Nazis in their Final Solution is marked by the sort of playfully surrealistic touches one associates with Czech New Wave helmers, as well as the formally inventive visual tropes of vintage (Luis) Bunuel. You could even say that Herz's film anticipates the unbridled, go-for-broke experimentation of fabulist extraordinaire Terry ("Brazil") Gilliam. While hardly a movie for all tastes--some will find it supremely off-putting while others embrace it as an arsenic-laced souffle--it's easy to see why "The Cremator" developed a passionate cult following over the
ensuing decades. The Criterion Collection's new Blu-Ray edition restores the film's brilliantly crepuscular black and white cinematography in all its haunted and haunting glory. Among the disc's extras are "The Junk Shop," Herz's auspicious 1965 debut short; a 2011 documentary in which Herz revisits shooting locations and discusses the movie's production; an interview with programmer Arena Kovarova in which she expounds at length on Herz's distinctive visual style; a 2017 documentary about composer Zdenek Liska featuring Herz and fellow filmmakers Jan Svankmajer and the Quay Brothers; a 1993 interview with Hrusinsky; and an essay by Eastern European cinema authority Jonathan Owen. (A.)
CRITICAL THINKING--John Leguizamo directed and stars in this true-life story of an inner city high school teacher who managed to get five of his hard luck students (five Latinx, one African-American and one white) into the 1998 National Chess Championship. If you've seen "Stand and Deliver," "Dangerous Minds" or any previous "teachers-who-made-a-difference" inspirational sagas, you'll know what to expect and there are precious few surprises. But the performances are so good (besides the excellent Leguizamo, there's stellar support from Jorge Lendebora Jr., Jeffrey Batista, Corwin Tuggles and Will Hochman as members of the chess squad), that you'll happily go along for the predictably uplifting ride. (B.)
DA 5 BLOODS--A group of African-American Vietnam vets (Delroy Lindo, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis and Isaiah Whitlock Jr.) return in country to retrieve the corpse of their former squad leader, as well as dig up the fortune in gold they buried decades earlier. Complicating this dual mission is the unexpected arrival of the estranged son of one of the group (Jonathan Majors from "The Last Black Man in San Fransisco"), and a French con man (Jean Reno) trying to steal their loot. Like everything Netflix touches--both original movies and individual episodes of their innumerable series--the latest Spike Lee joint, his first since the Oscar-nominated "BlacKkKlansman," suffers from the inevitable Netflix-ian bloat. (It didn't have to run 156 minutes.) But it's still the best and most essential movie I've seen so far this year, bursting with passion, righteous anger and stunning craftsmanship. In a stellar ensemble cast--including "Black Panther" Chadwick Boseman who plays their fallen comrade in the flashbacks--Lindo reigns supreme in a career-best performance that deserves to be remembered at awards time. (A.)
DESERT ONE--Two-time Oscar-winning documentarian Barbara I"Harlan County, U.S.A.," "American Dream") Kopple's latest non-fiction work explores the 1979-'80 Iranian hostage crisis that effectively destroyed Jimmy Carter's presidency. Focusing on a failed military rescue attempt that occurred in spring 1980, the film manages to generate a surprising amount of suspense despite its preordained outcome. While not one of Kopple's greatest films--at times it feels more like a PBS or CNN documentary than something that was originally intended for theatrical release before Covid-19 intervened--it's still worth seeing for the light it shines on a lesser-known chapter in modern American political history. (B.)
THE DEVIL ALL THE TIME--Donald Ray Pollock's 2011 best-seller has been skillfully adapted by culty indie director Antonio ("After School," "Christine") Campos with the aid of a superb cast (including Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Riley Keough, Jason Clarke and Sebastian Stan). With a timeframe stretching from 1957 to 1966, the movie covers so much ground that it's sometimes hard to follow if you're unfamiliar with the source material. But the performances help keep you grounded in the emotional fabric of Pollock's haunting and haunted tale of sin, retribution and redemption in the Appalachians. (B PLUS.)
DIRT MUSIC--Two damaged souls (Kelly MacDonald and Garrett Hedlund) find love--or maybe just codependency--in Gregor ("Buffalo Soldiers") Jordan's gorgeously lensed, but inert romantic drama that feels like an Australian Nicholas Sparks movie. Because Hedlund and MacDonald are each given just one note to play ("mopey" for him, "embittered" for her), neither has much of a chance at building a coherent character. MacDonald's cuckolded fisherman boyfriend (a very good David Wenham) inadvertently throws the film's balance off because he's vastly more interesting and psychologically complex than either of the leads. (C MINUS.)
DRIVEWAYS--A perfectly scaled film with the breadth and depth of a meticulously calibrated short story. Hong ("Downsizing") Chau plays a single mother who brings along her precocious 8-year-old (Lucas Jane, letter perfect) to empty out her late sister's home before putting it up for sale. In the process, the boy makes friends with a reclusive septuagenarian next door (the late Brian Dennehy in one of his last screen appearances). That reductive plot synopsis probably makes director Andrew ("Spa Night") Aho's movie sound sentimental and even banal, but it's a tiny gem that deserves to find a large and appreciative audience on whatever streaming platform you can find it. (B PLUS.)
ETERNAL BEAUTY--Actor-turned-director Craig Roberts' first film is a cringe-inducing misfire that squanders the talents of "Shape of Water" Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins, David Thewlis and Penelope Wilton of "Downton Abbey" fame. Hawkins badly overplays the role of Jane, a barely-functioning schizophrenic whose medical condition isn't helped by her wildly dysfunctional family (Wilton is Jane's less than motherly mum). As a failed musician with psychological problems of his own (and the highly unlikely romantic partner for our ditzy heroine), Thewlis is as grating and unsympathetic as everyone else here. The one bright spot is Billie Piper as Jane's brassy, foul-mouthed kid sister. She's annoying, too, but at least her character is meant to be an irritant. (C MINUS.)
EUROVISION SONG CONTEST: THE STORY OF FIRE SAGA--Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams play Icelandic singing duo Fire Saga who, after all of their competition dies in a freak accident, become their country's official entry in the annual Eurovision song competition. Director David ("The Wedding Crashers") Dobkin's musical comedy is disarmingly goofy, unexpectedly droll and tons of fun if you're in a silly mood. It's also blessed with some terrifically witty song pastiches. As good and Ferrell and (especially) McAdams are, the movie is nearly stolen by Pierce Brosnan (as Ferrell's gruff fisherman-dad) and Dan Stevens as the preening Russian dandy who's Fire Saga's chief Eurovision competition. For fans of previous Ferrell laffers like "Blades of Glory," "Talladega Nights" and the two "Anchorman"s, this could be the movie of the season (B PLUS.)
FIRST COW--In the 1820's Oregon Territory, a cooking savant (John Magaro) and his Chinese immigrant buddy (Orion Lee) team up to start a baking business whose secret ingredient is pilfered milk from the town's only cow. Their problems begin once the beast's owner (Toby Jones as a transplanted British land baron) gets wind of their illicit late night milking. Like all of director Kelly Reichardt's films ("Wendy and Lucy," "Certain Women"), this moves at its own measured pace, and there's not a whole lot of conventional "action." But the wonderful performances, marvelously tactile "McCabe and Mrs. Miller"-ish production design and Christopher Blauvelt's gorgeous cinematography insure that it's consistently absorbing and even (a Reichardt first?) robustly entertaining. (A.)
THE GLORIAS--Visionary director Julie ("Frida," "Across the Universe") Taymor's Gloria Steinem biopic is as entertaining as it is fascinating--and a much-needed corrective to FX/Hulu's lopsided "Mrs. America" miniseries from earlier this year. Played at various stages of her life by Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Lulu Wilson and Oscar winners Alicia Vikdander and Julianne Moore (all of whom are wonderful), feminist icon Steinem leaps off the screen in vivid, compelling fashion. Thanks to Taymor's unerring visual dynamism, it's a feast for the eyes as well. As both character study and sweeping historical drama, this 2020 Sundance Film Festival hit stands proudly as one of the year's finest and most essential movies.
(A MINUS.)
GREYHOUND--As the Navy commander charged with steering 37 Allied ships across the North Atlantic in February 1942, Tom Hanks (who also co-produced and wrote the screenplay) is pretty much the whole show here. While it's essentially a reprise of past Hanks performances from "based on a true story" films like "Sully" and "Captain Phillips," that sense of familiarity is actually quite comforting. No wonder the two-time Oscar winner is routinely described as a modern-day Jimmy Stewart. The movie itself is so squeaky clean that it could have been made in 1940's Hollywood (albeit with 21st century CGI, natch). Much of the dialogue is naval jargon, so unless you're well-versed in military-ese (I'm not), it's sometimes difficult to follow on a moment to moment basis. But thanks to a fleet 92-minute run time, it never overstays its welcome either. (B MINUS.)
GUEST OF HONOUR--Canuck auteur Atom ("The Sweet Hereafter," "Exotica") Egoyan's strongest work in years is another dysfunctional family drama about a Toronto health inspector (master thespian David Thewliss) and his estranged schoolteacher daughter (striking newcomer Laysla DeOliveira) who served jail time after being falsely accused of sexual impropriety with two of her teenage male students. Dark secrets emerge, and Egoyan artfully parcels them out in fits and starts: the effect is less shocking than purposefully mournful. The veil of pensive melancholy that blankets the entire film is as haunting as it is hard to shake. Its spell lingers long after the closing credits. (B PLUS.)
HAMILTON--Like "A Chorus Line," "West Side Story" and "Oklahoma!" which preceded it, Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical juggernaut impressed theatergoers like the once-in-a-generation miracle it was. The "Hamilton" streaming on Disney Plus is neither fish nor fowl, though: it's merely a freeze-dried video record of two actual stage performances from 2016 that were (seamlessly) spliced together. As such, it doesn't look appreciably different than any number of similar stage musicals "recorded for posterity" that you can find on PBS' "Great Performances" series. Fortunately, the material--both book and score--and performances by the original Broadway cast are so fantastic that it would be a shame to look this particular gift horse in the mouth. Especially since we may never see an actual film adaptation of Miranda's Broadway masterpiece. Or be able to see it live onstage again.
(A MINUS.)
HELMUT NEWTON: THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL--Entertaining, if mostly superficial documentary about the late, frequently scandalous fashion photographer. The most interesting parts of the film make a case for Newton's aesthetic having been formed by German expressionism while growing up Jewish in Weimar Germany. The least persuasive? Attempting to convince us that Newton's work--mostly featuring nude or scantily dressed women in provocative poses--was a feminist statement. Newton himself comes off in archival interviews as an engaging raconteur, as does his longtime wife/muse, June. Lots of fun celebrity talking heads--Charlotte Rampling, Isabella Rossellini, Anna Wintour, Grace Jones, Marianne Faithful, et al--who dish and gush about Newton's genius. (B MINUS.)
THE HIGH NOTE--Dakota Johnson (immensely appealing) plays the long-suffering personal assistant of an imperious music superstar ("Blackish" star Tracee Ellis Ross) in director Nisha ("Late Night") Ganatra's entertaining L.A. fairy tale. Johnson's dreams of becoming a record producer catch fire after she meets an aspiring young singer (brilliant chameleon Kelvin Harrison Jr. from "Waves" and "Luce"), much to the chagrin of her boss and the diva-from-hell's equally irascible manager (Ice Cube). Because this is a feel-good, wish-fulfillment sort of movie with precious few rough edges, a happy ending is essentially preordained. But getting there is immensely pleasurable, with some terrific new music--beautifully performed by Harrison Jr. and Ellis Ross--along the way. I know that it's still early-ish in a most unusual movie year (to say the least), but Ellis Ross deserves to be an Oscar front-runner for Best Supporting Actress. She's fantastic. (A MINUS.)
H IS FOR HAPPINESS--The story of Candice (Daisy Axon), a precocious 12-year-old whose family never fully recovered from the death of a baby sister years earlier. Except for a needy, nerdy new classmate (scene-stealer Wesley Patten), her only support system is an uncle (Joel Jackson) who dad effectively kicked out of the family after their business partnership went south. Director John Sheedy's Australian kidflick tries too hard to be endearing, and its mixture of candy-colored fantasy scenes and a painfully realistic depiction of bipolar disorder can be a tad jarring at times. But affecting performances (Emma Booth is quietly touching as Candice's mom) and some laugh-out-loud moments in the final stretch make this a serviceable all-ages-friendly streamer. (C PLUS.)
HOUSE OF HUMMINGBIRD--Beautifully observed coming of age film set in 1994 South Korea which marks an auspicious debut for writer/director Bora Kim and star Ji-Hu Park. At its frequent best, I was reminded of the late Taiwanese auteur Edward Yang's leisurely paced, quotidian family dramas ("A Brighter Summer Day," "Yi-Yi"). High praise indeed. As Kim's 14-year-old protagonist who's struggling to find her way in a pre-smartphone and K-Pop world, Park is remarkable. Her wonderfully naturalistic performance solidly anchors the film, and helps maintain viewer interest throughout a somewhat overly generous 139-minute running time. (B PLUS.)
HOW TO BUILD A GIRL--Coky Giedroyc's hugely entertaining adaptation of Caitlin Moran's autobiographical novel about a Midlands teenager (Beanie Feldstein from "Booksmart") who became an alt-weekly rock critic in the mid-1990's is sort of a British distaff version of "Almost Famous." Paddy Considine and Sarah Solemani provide invaluable support as the girl's working-class parents, as does Alfie Allen as the nascent rock star she crushes on. But it's Feldstein's show all the way and she's flat-out terrific: even finessing a working-class English accent. (A MINUS.)
HUBIE HALLOWEEN--Another lazy, indifferently slapped together Adam Sandler Netflix vehicle that rounds up all of the usual suspects (Steve Buscemi, Rob Schneider, Kevin James, Maya Rudolph, Julie Bowen), then leaves them stranded without a paddle or even much of a script. As a bid to become a new holiday staple, at least it's marginally better than Madea's Halloween flick from a few seasons back. (C MINUS.)
I'M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS--Oscar-winning screenwriter Charlie ("Being John Malkovich") Kaufman's first live-action directorial outing since 2008's brilliant "Synechdoche, New York" is another WTF?!? triumph. Jesse Plemons and Jesse Buckley take a road trip to visit his parents' (Toni Collette and David Thewliss) farm. In the process, their still-new relationship begins to unravel in disturbing and even frightening ways. While a tad overextended at 140 minutes (a common Netflix problem), it's so brilliantly crafted, compelling and superbly acted that I could have easily sat through an additional hour. (A.)
IRRESISTIBLE--It's not surprising that a movie about American politics written and directed by Jon Stewart would be smart, pointed and, yes, very funny. But Stewart's second film as writer-director--his first was the under-seen 2014 drama "Rosewater"--is also beautifully acted, confidently helmed and snappily paced. In his best screen role in years, Steve Carell plays a political strategist convinced that the future of the Democratic party is a retired Marine colonel (Chris Cooper) he coerces into running for mayor of a sleepy Wisconsin burg. Rose Byrne plays the equally jaundiced GOP operative trying to poach Carell's "irresistible" candidate away from him. Costarring Mackenzie Davis and Topher Grace, the laughs are bountiful and immensely gratifying in our scorched earth Trumpian era. If Preston Sturges were still alive and making populist-leaning political satires like "The Great McGinty" and "Hail the Conquering Hero," the result might look an awful lot like this. (B.)
I USED TO GO HERE--A first time novelist (Gillian Jacobs) is invited by a former professor (Jemaine Clement) to do a reading at her alma mater. Things don't quite go according to plan: her old prof turns out to be a philandering jerk; she has an ill-advised fling with a cute student (Josh Wiggins); and nobody likes her book. Director Kris Rey does a nice job of balancing behavioral comedy with genuine pathos, and Jacobs--who's in practically every scene--is flat-out wonderful. (B MINUS.)
JAY SEBRING: CUTTING TO THE TRUTH--Curious documentary by Anthony DiMaria, nephew of the late L.A. hairdresser who's best known for being--along with Sharon Tate and multiple others--a victim of the Manson Family. Great archival footage does a nice job of recreating 1960's Los Angeles, and DiMaria's personal POV helps shine a new light on Sebring the man. But at heart this is just a glorified, albeit well-intentioned home movie.
(C PLUS.)
THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND--Judd ("Knocked Up") Apatow's first release since Amy Schumer's "Trainwreck" five years ago performs a similar hat trick with Pete Davidson: it uses elements of Davidson's autobiography as the grist for a feel-good, echt-New York comedy. As a perennially stoned 24-year-old slacker still living in his mom's Staten Island house, Davidson's role doesn't seem that far removed from the addled doofus we know from SNL. And the salient personal details--both Davidson and his big-screen alter ego lost a fireman father as children--add the kind of emotional texture/layering to the story that make it as unexpectedly touching as it is bust-a-gut funny. A terrific supporting cast--Marisa Tomei, Bill Burr, Steve Buscemi, Pamela Adlon, et al--provide stellar back-up, each delineating
multi-dimensional, lived-in characters of their own. And working for the first time with frequent Paul Thomas Anderson cinematographer Robert Elswit, Apatow has made a striking-looking film that also feels more cinematic than much of his previous work. Ironically, it's also the first Apatow movie to debut on streaming channels rather than in theaters. (A.)
THE LADY EVE--Few directors in the history of American movies had as remarkable a winning streak as nonpareil writer-director Preston Sturges did in Hollywood's Golden Age. Beginning with "The Great McGinty" in 1940 and concluding with 1944's "Hail the Conquering Hero," Sturges made seven--count 'em--screwball classics that were as popular with audiences as they were with critics. "The Lady Eve," which came near the start of Sturges' amazing run (it was released in 1941), is perhaps my favorite of all his films. Barbara Stanwyck (never better) plays a conniving card shark who sets her sights on Henry Fonda's geeky snake researcher/brewery heir during an ocean cruise. The fact that the movie--thanks to Stanwyck and Fonda's densely layered performances--is as uproarious as
it is touching proves Sturges' unmatched ability to turn emotions on a dime. The extras on the newly released Criterion Collection Blu-Ray/DVD are worthy of Sturges' genius. There's a 2001 audio commentary featuring film historian Marian Keane; an introduction, also from 2001, with the great Peter Bogdanovich; a new discussion with Bogdanovich, Sturges' biographer/son Tom Sturges, filmmakers James L. Brooks and Ron Shelton and critics Kenneth Turan, Susan King and Leonard Maltin; a video essay by critic David Cairns; a 1942 Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of the movie with Stanwyck and Ray Milland; an audio recording of a song ("Up the Amazon") from an unproduced stage musical based on the film; a 1946 Life Magazine Sturges profile; and an essay by critic Geoffrey O'Brien. (A PLUS.)
THE LIE--Joey King from Netflix's inexplicably popular "Kissing Booth" movies plays a possibly sociopathic teen who kills her best frenemy--then gets her parents (Peter Sarsgaard and Mireille Enos) to cover for her. This reunion of sorts for Enos and her "Killing" director Veena Sud starts with an implausible premise and just grows increasingly detached from reality. But compelling performances by King, Sarsgaard and Enos will likely keep you watching for a pacy 90 minutes. While the "twist" ending is a doozy, it's as WTF-worthy as everything else here. (C PLUS.)
THE LOVEBIRDS--While a bit of a letdown after director Michael Showalter's two previous films ("The Big Sick" and "Hello, My Name is Doris"), this fitfully amusing Nola-set rom-com starring Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae is still a pleasant enough divertissement thanks to its appealing leads. Even when the plot devolves into "Action Comedy" boilerplate, a pacy 87-minute run time insures that it never overstays its welcome. Originally slated for an April release by Paramount Pictures, it's now streaming exclusively on Netflix. (B MINUS.)
MADE IN ITALY--A reclusive British artist (Liam Neeson in a welcome break from vigilante dad flicks) and his estranged son (Micheal Richardson) meet in Italy to sell the crumbling villa left to them by their late wife/mother. Rapprochement isn't easy, but the sunny climate and rustic charms of the Italian countryside prove to be potent icebreakers. Nice support from Valeria Bilello as the comely local restauranteur Richardson strikes romantic sparks with and Lindsay Duncan who comes close to stealing the movie as an acerbic realtor.
(B MINUS.)
MATTHIAS AND MAXIME--Former enfant terrible Xavier ("Mommy," "The Death and Life of John F. Donovan") Dolan's latest film--it premiered at Cannes in 2019--is the story of childhood pals Matthias and Maxime (played by Dolan and Gabriel D'Almeida Freitas) whose relationship is put to the test when they're forced to kiss for a student film. The unsettling effect it has on them (triggering suppressed emotions and previously unexamined sexual feelings) threatens to shatter the group dynamic among their circle of Montreal friends. As Dolan's recovering addict mother, the great Anne Dorval steals every scene she's in, practically burning a hole through the screen. (B PLUS.)
MILITARY WIVES--"Full Monty" director Peter Cattaneo returns from career limbo with another feel-good flick about a group of army wives who form a choir on a British military base during the Afghanistan War. Kristin Scott Thomas (uptight) and Sharon Horgan (fun-loving) star as the polar opposites vying for control of the chorus members' hearts and minds. Allegedly "inspired" by a true story, it actually feels more influenced by other middlebrow dramedies of its ilk, Cattaneo's own "Monty" included. (B MINUS.)
MULAN--The weakest Disney 'toon to be given the live action treatment is, ironically, one of the best. Cross-dressing warrior Mulan (promising newcomer Yifei Liu) almost single-handedly saves her kingdom from imminent doom--albeit with the help of enough CGI to keep ILM in business until the 22nd century. Niki ("Whale Rider") Caro's $200-million mega-production features an all-star Asian cast that includes such stalwarts as Gong Li (who gives the film's best performance), Jet Li, Donnie Yen and Jason Scott Lee, and everyone is terrific. Of all the movies re-routed to streamers in the Covid era, this probably suffers the most from being viewed on a small screen. Caro has made a film so visually dazzling and with such an epic sweep/feel that only IMAX could have done it justice. But it's so entertaining and well-made that it deserves to be seen in any format. (B PLUS.)
MY SPY--"Guardians of the Galaxy" mainstay Dave Bautista plays a hard-nosed CIA op unconvincingly partnered with a pesky 9-year-old girl (Chloe Coleman) in director Peter Segal's oft-delayed big-screen comedy which is finally premiering...on Amazon Prime. Bautista does an OK job in the sort of role Arnold Schwarzenegger and Vin Diesel used to play while trying to soften their big-screen image, but the whole thing feels very rote and mechanical. Segal, who helmed some of Adam Sandler's better comedies (including "50 First Dates" and "Anger Management"), is pretty much phoning it in here. (C MINUS.)
THE NEST--Sean Durkin's first film since his 2011 Sundance breakthrough,"Martha Marcy May Marlene," stars Jude Law and the phenomenal Carrie ("The Leftovers," FX's "Fargo") Coon as a married couple who uproot their family and move to mid-1980's England with predictably dire consequences. While Law's character loves referring to himself as a commodities broker wunderkind, he's really just a cash-poor fabulist heading for a major fall. The title makes it sound like a cheesy, direct-to-video horror flick, but this is actually sophisticated arthouse fare vaguely reminiscent of Joseph Losey's hallowed collaborations with Harold Pinter ("Accident," "The Servant," etc.). High praise indeed. (A MINUS.)
NEVER TOO LATE--A group of Vietnam veterans living in an Australian retirement home plot an escape so that one of them (James Cromwell as the odd American out) can reunite with the love he lost 50 years ago. Because the object of his affection (Jacki Weaver) is being treated for early signs of dementia, he wants to make sure she still remembers him before it's too late. Director Mark Lamprell mostly plays this set-up for easy, "Grumpy Old Men"-style laughs rather than pathos, but it's the occasional touching moments you'll remember. (C.)
THE OLD GUARD--Based on Greg Rucka's graphic novel series, this kick-ass action flick puts a refreshingly inclusive and bracingly grown-up spin on today's adolescent comic book movies. Charlize Theron plays the leader of a squad of immortals (Matthias Schoenaerts, Marwan Kenzari and Luca Marinelli comprise her team) who've been fighting the good fight for centuries. Because they can't be killed, life is an endless loop ("Live, Die, Repeat"
indeed). When a female marine (KiKi Layne from Barry Jenkins' "If Beale Street Could Talk") is inducted into their ranks, the "Old Guard" is given an upgrade. Since the designated villain is a Big Pharma CEO (an aptly hissable Harry Melling), it also feels amusingly ripped from today's headlines. None of director Gina Prince-Bythewood's previous movies (including "Love + Basketball" and "Beyond the Lights") indicated that she had action tentpole chops, but darn if she doesn't. Sequel please. (B PLUS.)
OTTOLENGHI AND THE CAKES OF VERSAILLES--International pastry chefs from the Ukraine, Singapore, France, Tunisia and Great Britain are recruited by Israeli-born chef Yutam Ottolenghi to create Versailles-inspired confections for a snazzy 2018 Metropolitan Museum of Art gala. The results are breathtaking and so lushly photographed that every frame belongs on a museum wall. Directed by Laura Gabbert whose previous foodie doc was the 2016 Jonathan Gold paean, 2016's "City of Gold." This is nearly as good.
(B PLUS.)
THE OUTPOST--Director Rod Lurie's immersive Afghan war drama is not only his personal best since 2000's "The Contender," but a combat flick that compares quite favorably with past benchmarks of the genre like "Black Hawk Down" and "Hamburger Hill." Set against the
backdrop of 2009's Batle of Kamdesh in which greatly outnumbered U.S. soldiers engaged in a 12-hour firefight against the Taliban, the action is pretty much non-stop and stunningly visceral. The impressive ensemble cast is largely comprised of newcomers--Scott Eastwood (in his first genuinely good screen performance), Caleb Landry Jones and Orlando Bloom are among the only quasi-familiar faces--and the film is all the stronger for that. (A MINUS.)
THE PAINTED BIRD--Czech filmmaker Vaclav Marhoul's b&w adaptation of Jerzy Kosinski's quasi-autobiographical 1965 novel is laudably ambitious, if somewhat daunting for casual moviegoers. For starters, it's nearly three hours long and almost unrelievedly grim. The fact that the protagonist who suffers the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune while eluding Nazis in Eastern Europe during WW II is a young boy (remarkable screen newcomer Petr Kotlarly in a near-wordless performance) only makes bearing witness to his travails that much more disturbing. When, two hours in, someone asks the child, "Where did you come from?," I half expected him to answer, "Hell." At its frequent best I was reminded of war-ravaged masterpieces like "Come and See," "The Tin Drum" and "Ashes and Diamonds." While I don't think Marhoul's film is quite in that exalted league, it's definitely something to see and experience. I doubt whether I'll ever forget it. (A MINUS.)
THE PAINTER AND THE THIEF--Intriguing documentary about the friendship that developed between Czech artist Barbara Kysilkova and the Norwegian thief (Karl-Bertil Nordland) who stole two of her paintings from an Oslo art gallery. Director Benjamin Ree was given extraordinary access to his subjects, and that unfettered intimacy makes for occasionally discomfiting viewing. The jaw-dropping ending proves the axiom that truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. (B.)
PALM SPRINGS--This smashing Millennial riff on "Groundhog Day" stars Andy Samberg and Cristin Miliati as wedding guests doomed to repeat the same day ad nauseam. A lot has changed since 1993 when Bill Murray repeatedly woke up to the strains of Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe" in Punxsutawney, PA, and director Max Barbakow and screenwriter Andy Siara prove adept ghost whisperers of a new generation of discontented, vaguely nihilistic thirty somethings who want to grow up, but aren't sure whether it's worth the trouble. (Which probably explains the 21st century cultural domination of comic book movies.) The abyss of contemporary American life has rarely been this scabrously funny or exquisitely moving. (A.)
PIERROT LE FOU--In his Village Voice review, critic Andrew Sarris said that this early period Jean-Luc Godard masterpiece was the first Godard film he had to wait on line to see. Although it premiered at the 1965 Venice Film Festival--and screened at the New York Film Festival the following year--"Pierrot le Fou" didn't receive a U.S. theatrical release until early 1969. At that point, even the director's most ardent fans were beginning to suspect that the days of conventionally entertaining Godard movies like "Breathless," "Band of Outsiders" and "A Woman is a Woman" were long gone. No wonder "le Fou," arguably the last Godard film that could be categorized as "fun," became a hot ticket among Manhattan cinephiles. On paper, it didn't sound appreciably different than Gallic bon-bons like "That Man from Rio" and "Up to His Ears" that Godard leading man Jean-Paul Belmondo had been making for Philippe De Broca during the same mid-'60s period. But as always with Godard, his signature "JLG" touches were in the details. Belmondo plays Ferdinand, a romantic iconoclast who ditches his rich wife to go on an extended (and increasingly surreal, with playful comic book touches sure to endear it to Marvel and D.C. fans) road trip with ex-girlfriend/gangster moll Marianne (Godard's then wife/muse, Anna Karina). The pair is ostensibly rebelling against capitalist/consumerist culture and bourgeois society, but it's really just topical window-dressing for a giddy homage to the sort of "lovers on the run" Hollywood noirs like "They Live by Night" and "Detour" that Godard would soon reject. Among the extras on the newly released Criterion Collection Blu-Ray are a 2007 Karina interview; 2007 video essay "A 'Pierrot' Primer" helmed by frequent Godard collaborator Jean-Pierre Gorin; Luc Lagier's 2007 documentary, "Godard, l'amour, la poesie," about Godard and Karina's marriage and professional relationship; excerpts from 1965 interviews with Godard, Belmondo and Karina; an essay by Godard biographer/New Yorker film critic Richard Brody; Sarris' original review of the film; and a 1965 interview with Godard. (A.)
THE PREY--The umpteenth variation on Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" involves an undercover Chinese cop who becomes the target of wealthy big game hunters in the jungles of Cambodia. Lean and plenty mean, Jimmy Henderson's grungy little thriller plays like a '70s grindhouse movie with English subtitles. (A dubbed version would have killed on 42nd Street back in the day.) Its distinct lack of pretension is a plus, but this is really just routine formula fare at best. (C PLUS.)
RADIOACTIVE--A compelling, if rather decorous biopic about two-time Nobel Prize-winning scientist Marie Curie by director Marjane Satrapi whose autobiographical 2007 animated one-off "Persepolis" remains her best film to date. Rosamund Pike and Sam Riley are very good as Marie and co-researcher hubby Pierre, but Satrapi's attempts to footnote their discoveries of radium and polonium with a warning on the moral consequences (the A-bomb!) feels rather pedantic and even mildly hokey. As a primer on the Curies' extraordinary lives and times (late 19th century to early 1930's Paris) it'll suffice until a better movie comes along. (B MINUS.)
RAVAGE--A nature photographer (Annabelle Dexter-Jones) becomes the target of backwoods yokels after witnessing them commit a murder in Virginia's scenic Wachatoomy Valley. First-time director Teddy Grennan's spectacularly brutal genre flick plays a bit like a new millennium "I Spit On Your Grave," but it's so well-paced and acted that I (almost) didn't mind. Sensational newcomer Dexter-Jones could give Sigourney Weaver's Ripley and Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor lessons in female badass-dom. (B.)
RED PENGUINS--A "truth is stranger than fiction" documentary about what happened when the Pittsburgh Penguins teamed up with the Red Army hockey team shortly after the fall of the Iron Curtain. The colorful rogue's gallery of characters--including self-described marketing genius Steve Warshaw, Disney Corp. major domo Michael Eisner, strippers on ice and sundry oligarchs--wouldn't be out of place in a Coen Brothers joint. Which is probably why Universal decided to pick this up in the first place. I wouldn't be surprised if they're already making plans to develop a movie based on Gabe Polsky's impishly amusing doc. (B.)
THE RENTAL--Two annoying yuppie couples rent a country home for a weekend getaway that turns out to be anything but a vacation. First-time director Dave Franco does a commendable job of ratcheting up the suspense and creating atmosphere. Unfortunately, the characters are so uniformly unappealing that it's difficult to care what happens to them once the killings begin. Alison Brie and Dan Stevens (with another wobbly "American" accent) are the most familiar faces in the cast, but the best performance is turned in by Toby Huss as a vaguely menacing rental agent. (C PLUS.)
RESISTANCE--Before becoming the world's most famous mime, Marcel Marceau was a member of the French Resistance who helped rescue thousands of Jewish orphans during World War 11. As remarkable as that story may sound on paper, the turgid pace and prosaic tone of director Jonathan Jakubowicz's Holocaust drama insure that his movie never truly catches fire. Not helping matters is the fact that Jesse ("The Social Network") Eisenberg's Marceau sounds as American as Mark Zuckerberg while the actors playing members of his family all speak thickly accented English. Despite committed performances from a first-rate cast--including "Son of Saul" breakout Geza Rohrig, Edgar Ramirez and Ed Harris whose scenes as General Patton bookend the film--Jakubowicz fared a lot better with his 2017 Roberto Duran biopic, "Hands of Stone." (C MINUS.)
SCOOB!--Reboot of the '70s Saturday morning staple is a marginal improvement over the dreadful live-action "Scooby Doo" movies from the early '00s, but still no great shakes. While the animation is infinitely superior to the cheesy-looking Hanna-Barbara cartoon, the humor isn't appreciably more sophisticated. And the decision to shoehorn D-list H-B characters like Dynamutt, Dick Dastardly and Captain Caveman into an already cluttered narrative was clearly a bad idea. At least the vocal cast (including Will Forte, Zac Efron, Amanda Seyfried and Mark Wahlberg) is fun. Housebound kiddies should find it a tolerable diversion. Grown-ups? Not so much. (C MINUS.)
THE SECRET GARDEN--Even though Agnieszka Holland's 1993 version was pretty much flawless, there's nothing intrinsically wrong with attempting another screen iteration of Frances Hodgson Burnett's kid-lit staple. Certainly Greta Gerwig proved with last year's "Little Woman" that even the hoariest literary chestnuts are worth revisiting when adapted by filmmakers willing to do something appreciably new/different with familiar source material. TV director Marc Munden hasn't done that, alas, with this perfectly serviceable, if largely uninspired reboot. Newly orphaned Mary (Dixie Egerickx) goes to live with her widowed uncle (Colin Firth) at his Mrs. Havisham-like country estate. Nice performances (Amir Wilson and Julie Walters steal the show as, respectively, Mary's woodsy pal Dickon and harrumphing housekeeper Mrs. Medlock) and lovely cinematography/production values help it go down easily enough. But it's unlikely to leave a lasting impression either. (C PLUS.)
SHE DIES TOMORROW-- Amy (Kate Lyn Sheil) has a premonition that she's going to die within 24 hours. Her alarming pronouncement spreads like wildfire, and soon everyone within her orbit (including best friend Jane Adams and brother Chris Messina) become convinced that they, too, are living on borrowed time. Sort of a feminist reimagining of David Robert Mitchell's high school freak-out "It Follows," Amy Seimetz's sensationally effective psychological horror flick also feels a bit like the first Covid movie. Beautifully acted, disorientingly trippy and profoundly unsettling, it's a film that's hard to shake. Weeks after seeing it, it's still creeping me out. (A MINUS.)
SHIRLEY--Don't go into Josephine Decker's gorgeously stylized new film expecting a conventional biopic about "The Lottery" writer Shirley Jackson (brilliantly played by Elisabeth Moss from "The Invisible Man"). Decker, whose 2018 no-budgeter "Madeline's Madeline" made a splash on the festival circuit, impishly upends viewer expectations at every turn. Set in the late 1950's at a small university town where Jackson's husband (Michael Stuhlbarg) works full-time as a professor and part-time as a serial philanderer, the movie has something of the bilious flavor of Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" as Jackson and hubby take occasionally sadistic delight in toying with the hearts and minds of a pair of newlyweds (Logan Lerman and a fantastic Odessa Young) freshly arrived on campus. If you dig immaculately performed period movies with academic/literary settings as much as I do, it's indecently pleasurable. (A MINUS.)
SIX MORAL TALES--2020's first truly essential Blu-Ray release is also the most purely pleasurable: a lovingly packaged Criterion Collection box set of French New Wave master Eric Rohmer's self-described "Six Moral Tales." The features ("La Collectionneuse," "My Night at Maud's," "Claire's Knee" and "Love in the Afternoon") and shorts ("The Bakery Girl of Monceau" and "Suzanne's Career") have all been given scintillating 2K digital restorations, and collectively serve as the perfect gateway for anyone still unfamiliar with Rohmer's sublime oeuvre. Like pretty much every Rohmer movie, his "Moral Tales" are essentially romantic comedies, albeit rom-coms with a Ph.D. Hyperarticulate and effervescently witty, the nonpareil badinage between men and women in Rohmer Land would serve as a highly influential template to future filmmakers worldwide. Richard Linklater's "Before" trilogy would have never existed without Rohmer, nor would pretty much the entire filmography of South Korea's Hong Sangsoo. Befitting Criterion's usual standards of excellence, the 3-disc package has enough extras to keep a cinephile busy for weeks. There are four additional Rohmer shorts ("Presentation, or Charlotte and Her Steak;" "Veronique and Her Dunce;" "Nadja in Paris;" "A Modern Coed") from 1951, 1958, 1964 and 1966 respectively, and one that he served as adviser on (1999's "The Curve"); a 1965 episode from the French television series "En profil dans le texte" directed by Rohmer; archival interviews with Rohmer, actors Jean-Claude Brialy, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Beatrice Romand, and Laurence de Monaghan, film critic Jean Douchet and producer Pierre Cottrel; a 2006 conversation between Rohmer and director Barbet Schroeder; a 2006 "video afterward" by director/playwright Neil LaBute; a booklet featuring essays by critics Molly Haskell, Geoff Andrews, Phillip Lopate, Kent Jones, Ginette Vincendeau and even a remarkably sanguine piece from notorious contrarian Armond White; excerpts from cinematographer Nestor Almendros' 1984 autobiography in which he discusses his working relationship with Rohmer on the set of "La Collectionneuse;" Rohmer's legendary 1948 Les temps modernes essay "For a Talking Cinema;" and an English translation of the book of Rohmer stories which served as basis for the films. (A PLUS.)
SPUTNIK--The few Russian films that make it to the U.S. are traditionally echt-arthouse fare like Kantemir Balagov's stunner "Beanpole" from earlier this year. So a slick genre item like this "Alien"/"Species"/"Predator" hybrid is something of a novelty. A female psychologist (Oksana Akinshina who made her screen debut in Lukas Moodysson's "Lilya 4-Ever" nearly two decades ago) is ordered to examine a Soviet-era cosmonaut (Pyotr Fyodorov) after a failed mission that left his shipmate dead. What the shrink doesn't know is that her patient has an icky space creature living inside him that only comes out at night. Cue the bloody carnage and conniving apparatchik who wants to use the monster as a new bio-weapon. What director Edgar Abdramenko's movie lacks in novelty it more than makes up for in gruesome panache. See it now before the inevitable Hollywood remake. (B.)
SUMMERLAND--During WW II, a young London evacuee (enormously appealing newcomer Lucas Bond) is sent to live with a persnickety author (Gemma Arterton) in the English countryside. Not surprisingly, the kid-phobic scribe soon warms to the lad and they become fast friends. During the course of his stay, she discovers a connection to the boy's mother that... well, since that would fall under the category of "spoiler," I won't say anything more. First-time director Jessica Swale's charming feel-good movie won me over despite a certain overarching predictability: you pretty much know where it's headed within the first 15 minutes. Fine support from Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tom Courtenay and the wonderful Penelope Wilton who plays an elderly version of Arterton's writer in the 1975 bookending scenes.
(B MINUS.)
TESLA--Miniaturist extraordinaire Michael ("Nadja," "Marjorie Prime") Almereyda's stripped-down quasi-biopic about inventor Nikola Tesla and his experiments transmitting electrical power and light in 19th century America is typically eccentric and predictably fascinating. Tesla (Ethan Hawke, who played the title role in Almeredya's superb 2000 modern-dress "Hamlet"), Thomas Edison (a droll Kyle MacLachlan) and George Westinghouse (Jim Gaffigan) are the major players, but the film is quietly stolen by the wonderful Eve Hewsen as J.P. Morgan's daughter who narrates the internecine maneuvering between these titans of electricity. This would make a fantastic double bill with last fall's equally first-rate "The Current War." (A MINUS.)
TOMMASO--Director Abel Ferrara is a recovering addict who lives in Rome with his Italian wife and young daughter. Because Ferrara's latest provocation is about an American filmmaker (Willem Dafoe) with past substance abuse issues living in Rome--and whose onscreen wife and daughter are played by Ferrara's actual wife (Cristina Chiriac) and daughter (Anna Ferrara)--it's tempting for critics to read it as thinly veiled autobiography. That lazy, if sadly inevitable misreading of the movie probably amuses the "Bad Lieutenant" director immeasurably. But it also does the actual film a grave disservice because it's far more interesting and layered than any knee-jerk Freduian analysis. Dafoe (who also starred in Ferrara's first-rate "Pasolini" in 2014) is dependably strong as the lead character, a passionate artist who, like Marcello Mastroianni in Fellini's "8 1/2," suffers from director's block. Adding to Tommaso's angsty ennui is his considerably younger wife who's having an extra-marital affair. Credit Ferrara for not taking the expected melodramatic route with the material: his film has a leisurely rhythm and discursive bent that's far removed from the Ritalin-ish intensity of current Hollywood fare. For audiences willing to get onto its admittedly rarefied wavelength, it's both fascinating and even moving. If you prefer action to contemplation, the movie will probably seem like watching paint dry for two hours.
(A MINUS.)
TOWN BLOODY HALL--Or when Norman Mailer was metaphorically drawn and quartered by a panel of Women's Lib superstars (including Germaine Greer, Diana Trilling and Jill Johnston) on April 30, 1971 at New York City's Town Hall. Mailer, whose recently published book "The Prisoner of Sex" had made him persona non grata in feminist circles, was a sitting duck, and watching the polemical fireworks can retroactively give you a contact high. Husband and wife documentary filmmakers D.A. Pennebaker ("Don't Look Back," "Monterey Pop") and Chris Hegedus' more-talked-about-than-actually-seen record of this fiery conflagration remains one of the finest--and frequently funniest--examples of the cinema verite movement. It also remains as relevant as ever in the #MeToo/#TimesUp era. The newly issued Criterion Collection Blu-Ray includes a new interview with Hegedus (Pennebaker died in 2019); archival interviews with Greer and Mailer; a 1971 episode of the Dick Cavett Show with Mailer promoting the book that instigated the Town Hall event; Hegedus and Greer's audio commentary; a 2004 anniversary commemoration with Pennebaker, Hegedus, Greer, Johnston, et al; and an insightful essay by 4Columns film editor Melissa Anderson. (A.)
THE TRIP TO GREECE--The fourth entry in director Michael Winterbottom's culinary travelogue series with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon is every bit as delightful as the previous installments. Using the path Ulysses took in "The Odyssey" as their de facto travel itinerary, Coogan and Bryden yuck it up over six days of stream-of-consciousness riffing, celebrity impersonations and foodie porn. If you enjoyed Winterbottom & Company's past getaways--to Great Britain, Italy and Spain respectively--their Greek sojourn will warm the cockles of your heart as much as it did mine. Long may they run. (A MINUS.)
TRUE HISTORY OF THE KELLY GANG--Justin Kurzel, whose previous films have ranged from the near-sublime (a 2015 reworking of Shakespeare's "Macbeth" starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard) to the quasi-ridiculous (his largely incoherent 2016 video game adaptation, "Assassin's Creed," also starring Fassbender), does his best work to date with this dauntingly ambitious, stunningly realized and remarkably tactile account of fabled 19th century Australian bandit Ned Kelly. While Kelly has been the subject of numerous biopics over the years--everyone from Mick Jagger (1970) to Heath Ledger (2003) has played Kelly--Kurzel's version and "1917" breakout star George MacKay's mercurial Kelly trumps them all. There are smashing supporting turns from Russell Crowe, Charlie Hunnam, Nicholas Hoult and, most memorably of all, Essie Davis as Kelly's supremely pragmatic mother. Thanks to cinematographer Ari Wegner, it's also a visual feast, one best appreciated on the biggest, widest screen possible. Since that's not a possibility right now, just see it wherever you can. (A.)
THE TRUTH--Acclaimed Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda follows up 2018 Palme d'Or winner "Shoplifters" with his first French-language film, and it's a minor masterpiece. Gallic thespian royalty Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche (both sublime) play mother and daughter whose journey to rapprochement is marked by roadblocks-a-plenty. Deneuve is a screen legend in the twilight of her career who recently published an autobiography which took generous liberties with "The Truth." Her daughter's long-simmering resentments come to the surface when she pays an impromptu visit with her young daughter and American husband (Ethan Hawke in a good sport performance). Because the Deneueve character is currently shooting a vaguely sci-fi-ish mother/daughter movie which echoes 2015's wonderful "The Age of Adeline," the parallels between fiction and non fiction become, er, discomfiting for all concerned. (A.)
The 24TH--The Houston Riot of 1917 in which 156 soldiers from the all-black 24th U.S. infantry regiment fought back against serial brutality and abuse at the hands of a virulently racist police force is an extraordinary, albeit little-known story. (Nine civilians, four cops and two soldiers were killed in the melee.) Kevin Wilmott's sobering new film about yet another appalling chapter in American race relations is superbly acted (Mykelti Williamson and Aja Naomi King are standouts in the exemplary cast), tautly paced and inexorably moving. Wilmott, who cowrote Spike Lee's "BlackKklansman," "Chi-Raq" and "Da Five Bloods," proves to be a talented filmmaker in his own right. Although a period movie set more than 100 years ago, it still manages to feel bracingly, depressingly contemporary. (B PLUS.)
AN UNMARRIED WOMAN--"'Balls' said the queen, 'if I had them I'd be king.'" I've never forgotten that line from Paul Mazursky's "An Unmarried Woman," even though it had been more than 40 (!?!) years since I'd last seen it. Spoken by the late, great Jill Clayburgh after her husband (Robert Altman rep player Michael Murphy) walks out on her after 15 years of marriage for a--hmmm--younger woman, it felt emblematic of the whole "Hear me roar" Women's Lib movement of the 1970's. It was also hysterically funny. I still remember how Manhattan's Beekman Theater practically vibrated with the knowing laughter of Bloomingdales Belt "Ladies Who Lunch" at the first matinee performance in March 1978. Thanks to the Criterion Collection's new Blu-Ray release, I got to re-experience one of the singular zeitgeist films of the New Hollywood era, as well as one of my personal favorites. (Sadly, it's been tough finding the movie in the DVD era.) The extras are less bountiful than the Criterion norm, but still choice. There's a 2005 audio commentary with Mazursky and Clayburgh; new interviews with Murphy, Lisa Lucas (who played Clayburgh and Murphy's tween daughter) and "The Big Goodbye" author Sam Watson; an audio recording of a 1980 Mazursky speech at the American Film Institute; and an essay by Vulture critic Angelica Jade Bastien that frames the movie within the context of both '70s feminism and Hollywood's New Wave. (A.)
THE VAST OF NIGHT--In a sleepy little New Mexico town during the 1950's, a late night DJ (Jake Horowitz) and a high school girl (Sierra McCormick) working part time as a switchboard operator investigate a weird radio frequency. Could it have something to do
with--gulp!--aliens from outer space? During the course of the appealing duo's nocturnal hunt for answers, first-time director Andrew Patterson does such a skillful job of ratcheting up the suspense you won't even notice (or miss) the complete absence of CGI. An affectionate pastiche of old-fashioned drive-in fare that should prove irresistible to genre fans. (B.)
THE WRETCHED-- Despite its rather unprepossessing title, this is actually a pretty decent little horror flick. John-Paul Howard (immensely appealing) plays a rebellious teenager who goes to live with his divorced father at a lakeside resort town during summer vacation. Things go from Dullsville to super-strange PDQ when the kid discovers that dad's next door neighbors are possessed by a "tree-skin hag" who lives in some nearby woods. Only a friendly co-worker (the equally likable Piper Curda) believes him; everyone else (including dad's new girlfriend) thinks he's losing his marbles. Directors Brett and Drew T. Pierce clearly know they're not reinventing the wheel here, but their unpretentious, lo-fi approach to things that go bump in the night creates the kind of pleasantly spooky frisson that's been conspicuously absent from most 21st century scary movies. (B MINUS.)
YES, GOD, YES--Neatly observed coming-of-age movie about a timid Catholic high schooler (Natalia Dyer from "Stranger Things") who discovers onanism, her nascent lesbianism and hypocrisy--both adult and adolescent division-- during a weekend religious retreat. What
makes first-time director Karen Maine's film work as well as it does is its circumspect modesty: at 78 minutes, it barely qualifies as a feature. But the fat-free run time insures there isn't a wasted or extraneous moment, and what's here is mostly choice. (Imagine how bloated the Netflix version would be when even tweener flotsam like "The Kissing Booth 2" runs 130 punishing minutes.) Executive produced by Champion native Chris Columbus who's proven to be quite the booster of independent American cinema in recent years ("The Lighthouse," "Menashe," "Patti Cake$," etc.). (B.)
YOU CANNOT KILL DAVID ARQUETTE--After "winning" the WCW World Heavyweight Championship twenty years ago as a promotional gimmick for his 2000 comedy "Ready to Rumble," actor David Arquette experienced such intense blowback from wrestling fans that the contretemps effectively stalled his thesping career. David Darg and Price James' documentary about Arquette's attempt to legitimize his wrestling crown by actually, y'know, training as a pro wrestler--and hopefully reigniting his Hollywood career in the process--is an odd duck. Half the time I thought it was a put-on like "I'm Not Here," Casey Affleck's film about his brother-in-law, Joaquin Phoenix. By the time it ended, I realized that it's merely vanity filmmaking at its egregious. (C MINUS.)
---Milan Paurich