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: Aug. 11, 2023
Wide (United States)
Jules
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
2023 Films In Theaters Now In Select Areas
Barbie
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Haunted Mansion
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Oppenheimer
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Sympathy for the Devil
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Talk to Me
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
#Manhole
- Excerpt: #Manhole undoubtedly jumps the shark, yet still finds a way to remain entertaining.
Brother
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Virgo is weaving through ups and downs with a deft rhythm to ensure we never get too high or low. Johnson and Pierre provide the journey the authenticity necessary for its sprawling drama to feel lived. Blake is the heart, but these men supply its soul.
Cobweb
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: Cobweb is a contemporary Gothic tale of the ways in which human behaviour creates haunted houses and haunted bodies.
A Compassionate Spy
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: [Rather than an account of his spying] this is instead more a bio-pic of the man himself and the life born out of his treasonous act of defiance. And more than that, it’s a love letter to him as told by his widow Joan.
A Disturbance in the Force
- Excerpt: Jeremy Coon and Steve Kozak’s ‘Star Wars Holiday Special’ doc is a window into a very specific and interesting moment in time.
Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
- Excerpt: Coon and Kozak show that The Star Wars Holiday Special truly exists on an island alone as an unwitting cautionary tale never to be repeated again.
Emptiness
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: EMPTINESS is an experiential approximation of the isolation, confusion, and fear. It’s a ride through the unknown. A detached and disposable journey devoid of substance.
Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Klondike
Herman Dhaliwal @ Cinema Sanctum
Meg 2: The Trench
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: It tries way too hard to win us over – as though it were begging us to like it. It takes a familiar formula and botches it, resulting in one of the more forgettable movie going experiences in recent memory.
Men of Deeds
Bavner Donaldo @ Cinejour [Indonesian]
Once Upon a Time in Uganda
Gregory J. Smalley @ 366 Weird Movies
- Excerpt: …serves as a perfect appetizer for those considering pigging out on a Wakaliwood banquet, or as a treasure trove of context for those who already have a seat at the trough.
Passages
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: PASSAGES works so well and feels so refreshing because it flips the usual redemption formula. Instead of teaching Tomas the error of his insidiously domineering way, it opens the eyes of his victims (and ours).
The Passenger
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: Smith’s film is a horrific look at how the capitalist workforce trains people to be submissive, to be abused, and also how the family can often act as the breeding ground to prepare kids to grow into submissive adults.
Tokyo Pop
- Excerpt: Now being re-released by Kino Lorber in a new 35th anniversary 4K restoration by Indie Collect (funded in part by Burnett and Dolly Parton), Tokyo Pop is a song-filled ray of sunshine that is more than worthy of being rediscovered by modern audiences.
Trader
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: It is a shame he couldn’t procure more robust backing for this…as his slick, twisty script and Murray’s compelling lead performance are undermined by increasingly annoying visual tricks meant to distract from its single, dismal location.
Vincent Must Die
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: That’s where the fun and intrigue lie since this isn’t some high concept gore-fest of carnage like MAYHEM or THE SADNESS. Castang has crafted a quiet drama out of the scenario instead.
With Love and a Major Organ
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: It’s a gruesome yet beautiful concept that Albright and Lederer manifest through unforgettable visual metaphor [along this] humorously poignant journey towards understanding that our love can inflict pain onto others just as easily as it can onto ourselves.
