Here are some reviews of films coming out at the theater this week as well as others that may be in theaters or newly on home video.
Opening: Jan. 17, 2025
Wide (United States)
Wolf Man
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Limited (United States)
Grand Theft Hamlet
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Along with “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin,” “Grand Theft Hamlet” introduces non-gaming audiences into a virtual world far richer than most might imagine, while also entertaining with the sheer madness of its concept.
- Excerpt: A making-of film fueled, like the Let’s Plays and livestreams it’s in conversation with, by the chaos of a plan gone wrong, Grand Theft Hamlet is equal parts charming and cheesy—both due to its experimental setting.
Wish You Were Here
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Stiles’ production is fine…and she has elicited some natural performances from her ensemble, but taste is a more difficult thing to measure and with “Wish You Were Here,” she errs on the side of fantastical excess.
Sebastian Zavala @ Loud and Clear Reviews [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Stiles’ direction is assured, the performances are believable and charming, and the story is presented in such a way that it ends up being emotional without feeling too manipulative.
2025 Films In Theaters Now In Select Areas
Ad Vitam
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: One could say that this is the type of flick to watch while doing laundry or while on a plane ride. But by those standards, you could probably still do better.
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: Although the sequel doesn’t quite live up to its predecessor, Gudegast once again shows his proficiency and thoughtfulness for the genre.
Every Little Thing
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The highlight for many will be the extensive slow motion footage of hummingbirds in their element. It often looks fake because of how impossible the steady-cam nature of their bodies are while their wings flap away.
Hunting Daze
- Excerpt: Annick Blanc’s examination of humanity condensed into a seven-character microcosm speaks uncomfortable truths about who we are as a society.
Paddington in Peru
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: here’s no way of knowing if under Paul King’s direction the final result would have been any less problematic, but at least we can be sure that it would have been less bland, more imaginative, and certainly less generic.
Souleymane’s Story
Paulo Portugal (esquereda) @ esquerda.net [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Estreia esta sexta-feira A História de Souleymane, um registo potente sobre imigração, dando visibilidade aos dramas de todos aqueles que vivem no fio da navalha: algures entre a clandestinidade, a exploração e a precariedade. O protagonista, premiado em Cannes, só esta semana conseguiu a autorização de permanência em França após três recusas.
Paulo Portugal (insider) @ insider.pt [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Estreia esta sexta-feira A História de Souleymane, um registo potente sobre imigração, dando visibilidade aos dramas de todos aqueles que vivem no fio da navalha: algures entre a clandestinidade, a exploração e a precariedade. O protagonista, premiado em Cannes, só esta semana conseguiu a autorização de permanência em França após três recusas.
2024 Films
Babygirl
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Better Man
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Brutalist
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
A Complete Unknown
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Dahomey
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Green Border
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Nickel Boys
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Wicked
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Wild Robot
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Bird
- Excerpt: A film that seems to be making less of a point about the milieu it portrays than about the creative potential that is left in the genre it ostensibly identifies as.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Bird becomes a catalyst for maturity. A prism with which to look back at moments she once saw colored as tragic disappointment that now seem like examples of optimism for the future.
Here
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: I can’t help but admit that “Here” touched me; I managed to connect with the material and with everything it tells us about life, death, family, romantic relationships, and most importantly, the rapid passage of time.
I’m Still Here
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: And it all hinges on Torres being able to pull off the internal emotional struggle to keep moving forward no matter what she discovers. Eunice is a woman who cannot afford to break.
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews
- Excerpt: Moving historical drama.
The Room Next Door
- Excerpt: Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore create a wonderful, tangible air of togetherness which becomes the oxygen upon which The Room Next Door feeds and thrives.
Christopher Reed @ Film Festival Today
- Excerpt: The premise never rises above the level of contrivance, and try as we meet, we cannot invest in the outcomes. The real tragedy, therefore, is in the conception, rather than in Martha’s fate.
Unstoppable
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: The first half is a bit rough—riddled with clichés [and] ham-fisted dialogue. The emotion is what gets us through [before the third act provides a more singular purpose] and we have Lopez to thank for it.
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Christopher Reed @ Film Festival Today
- Excerpt: One of the hallmarks of these films is the ingenuity of the Rube Goldberg devices on display, coupled with the consistently family-friendly mayhem. Even as the stakes rise and we worry about the outcome, the violence is always of a sort where the worst somehow never comes to pass.
