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: Apr. 28, 2023
Wide (United States)
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Polite Society
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Sisu
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Limited (United States)
The Eight Mountains
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Directors Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch adapt Paolo Cognetti’s novel with spiritual profundity…illustrating the intensity of close male friendship and the potentially fraught nature of father and son relationships.
R.M.N.
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: With “R.M.N.,” which refers to the process of scanning the human brain, Mungiu examines all of human society’s ills within the confines of one Transylvanian village climaxing with one extraordinary 17 minute single take…
2023 Films In Theaters Now In Select Areas
Beau Is Afraid
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
How to Blow Up a Pipeline
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The Super Mario Bros. Movie
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Carmen
- Excerpt: The ravishing images in “Carmen” evoke a powerful sense of myth, poetry, timelessness, and dreams. Each shot is exquisitely framed, every detail contributing to the haunting mood.
Clock
Evil Dead Rise
David “DC” Bolling @ DC’s Take
- Excerpt: Evil Dead Rise is a thrilling, stand-alone entry that seamlessly fits into the well-known horror franchise in a bloody fashion. Lee Cronin delivers the goods through great suspense, claustrophobia, and unexpected connection for the characters, making me happy to be a fan still.
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Exceptionally crafted and cast, “Evil Dead Rise” pays genre homages as it puts characters we care about into unrelentingly horrifying scenarios. It may be the rare franchise sequel that is as good as the original.
Ghosted
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: It does what is required but doesn’t strive to go beyond that. When you have actors at the top of their stardom, don’t you want them to be in something that’s more than just ok?
David “DC” Bolling @ DC’s Take
- Excerpt: Ghosted had the potential to be a charming action rom-com, but it never delivered on that promise. Chris Evans and Ana de Armas sparked little chemistry when everything surrounding them was bland from an action and dialogue standpoint.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The plot becomes secondary to [Evans and de Armas’] dynamic. This is both a testament to them as performers and evidence that the plot leaves a lot to be desired.
Godland
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Inspired by old photographs and his own relationship with Denmark and its former colony of Iceland, writer/director Hlynur Pálmason fashions a strange and brooding tale pitting the fear of God against nature.
Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant
Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: The heart of this account isn’t the thrilling action but rather a compelling friendship between two men united by war.
Huesera: The Bone Woman
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: Huesera stages an existential battle between the weight of expectations that come along with heteronormativity versus the reality of queer people who are forced to conform to hetero norms and what happens when they break free of the spell later in life.
Joyland
- Excerpt: Saim Sadiq’s banned-at-home debut has a tender touch and plenty of empathy of go around.
Judy Blume Forever
- Excerpt: Judy Blume Forever is a film for fans of the author, who will love it to death, but it also has a lot to say about children’s literature, censorship, and being a woman in American society.
Little Richard: I Am Everything
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: As a collection of new interviews and archival footage, Cortes isn’t reinventing the wheel where structure or aesthetic are concerned. But she does a phenomenal job weaving everything together for optimal coherence and emotional impact.
Maybe I Do
- Excerpt: Sarandon, Keaton, Macy, Gere. What a fine cast you will find here!
Mrs Undercover
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Plan 75
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The result is a well-acted and structured journey towards oblivion that retains a glimmer of hope thanks to characters caught within. [Its] criticism and commentary are objectively drawn to both question the idea’s legitimacy and execution.
Quasi
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: So, while I enjoyed myself, I didn’t really laugh. It’s safe. Obvious. And that’s the last thing I never thought I’d say about Broken Lizard.
Sick of Myself
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: Signe’s psychotic narcissism and the body horror she experiences as a result are the satirical end result of an online economy of validation that rewards the most unhealthy behaviours and lifestyles with fame.
To Catch a Killer
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: There’s nothing here that we haven’t seen executed with more creativity and style in other productions. What we get is a cover performance that knows the lyrics but lacks the soul.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The juxtaposition [of the filmmakers’ ideas with police procedural plotting] isn’t perfect, but their ability to let their characters be flawed and complex does allow our normal preconceptions born from Hollywood copaganda to get pushed aside.
2022 Films
Bros
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Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
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It Turns Blue
Panos Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “It Turns Blue” is an excellent movie, both contextually intriguing and well shot, in another testament to the quality of the modern Iranian cinema.
Jerry and Marge Go Large
Mark Leeper @ Mark Leeper’s Reviews
- Excerpt: JERRY AND MARGE GO LARGE is that rare film that makes mathematics look like fun with a seemingly super-powered handling of multiplication.
The Phantom of the Open
Mark Leeper @ Mark Leeper’s Reviews
- Excerpt: THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN stars Mark Rylance (BRIDGE OF SPIES and WOLF HALL) as Maurice Flitcroft, a middle-aged working-class Briton who has never played golf, but who decides in 1975 (for reasons never explained) to enter the British Open.
Rosaline
Mark Leeper @ Mark Leeper’s Reviews
- Excerpt: ROSALINE is similar to CATHERINE CALLED BIRDY in that it is set several hundred years in the past, but uses modern language and modern sensibilities. But while CATHERINE CALLED BIRDY is a new story, ROSALINE is based on a throwaway bit from ROMEO AND JULIET–she was Romeo’s “true love” before he saw Juliet.
Satan’s Slaves 2: Communion
Panos Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “Satan’s Slaves: Communion” may be addressed to a younger audience than Anwar’s horrors of the past, but the artistry, the humor, the story, the smartly presented comments, and most of all, the atmosphere are once more on a top level, highlighting the fact that the Indonesian is a master of his art.
