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. 30, 2024
Wide (United States)
1992
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Slingshot
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Limited (United States)
Across the River and Into the Trees
- Excerpt: Infinite possibilities, narratively speaking
Merchant Ivory
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: a solid, if somewhat unbalanced, overview of one of the most important art house filmmaking teams in cinema history, perhaps most surprising in how financially scrappy the duo had to be.
The Wasp
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: if Malcolm and Morales inadvertently reveal too much in early goings, they still surprise with one hell of a devious ending, one which will have the audience reconsidering just who embodies that tarantula wasp.
2024 Films In Theaters Now In Select Areas
Alien: Romulus
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Between the Temples
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The Bikeriders
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Blink Twice
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MaXXXine
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My Penguin Friend
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Skincare
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Between the Temples
- Excerpt: In most movies, each detail and character propel the story forward and reinforce the point. But movies like this one amble along in a shaggy fashion, each detail and each excellent performance give us hints of the lives that happen outside the borders of the screen.
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews
- Excerpt: How Ben regains his faith, overcomes his suicidal tendencies, deals with the different women in his life, and becomes a mensch, makes for an amusing and poignant film.
Blink Twice
Rick Aragon @ Rick’s Texan Reviews
- Excerpt: Blink Twice is treading on too familiar territory (Promising Young Woman, Don’t Worry Darling, Get Out, a dash of Saltburn).
- Excerpt: Merciless and breathtaking
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: For her feature film debut, cowriter/director Zoë Kravitz had an idea on how to flip the script in the male/female power dynamic, but everything about her resulting film is inconsistent and underdeveloped, including her lead character.
Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: What begins as an intriguing mystery, captivating with its dreamlike atmosphere, sadly devolves into a tedious slasher film.
- Excerpt: The location shoot in Mexico lends itself to both the opulent lifestyle and the secluded creepiness feel of a horror movie.
By the Stream
- Excerpt: Although not straying particularly from his trademark style, I feel that there is a bit more substance in “By the Stream” than usual, in terms of story and context, which perhaps could signify a turn towards more narrative-driven productions in the future. Whoever appreciates HHS style, though, will definitely appreciate this one too.
Chronicles of a Wandering Saint
Gregory J. Smalley @ 366 Weird Movies
- Excerpt: A first-time writer/director, Tomás Gómez Bustillo arrives on the scene with confidence and competence. Modestly budgeted, he keeps Chronicles‘ action within its limitations.
Close Your Eyes
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: shares many of the themes of his first two such as father-daughter relationships, memory and Erice’s love for cinema itself, something he declares with a magician’s misdirection in the opening moments of this one.
- Excerpt: Movies and mortality are linked throughout the engrossing three-hour drama.
The Crow
Andrea Chase @ KillerMovieReviews.com
- Excerpt: It’s a frustrating meander through the mythic that leads through the obvious on the way to nowhere.
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: It doesn’t quite live up to its source of inspiration, but at the same time, it’s not horrible, just… unnecessary. Forgettable, yes, but it’s not going to ruin the legacy of Lee’s original film.
The Deliverance
- Excerpt: With every over-the-top line of dialogue and tone-deaf gamble, The Deliverance inches closer to becoming a parody of itself.
Exhuma
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: It works more for how different it is than for any sense of horror it provokes. If you’re looking for a cliched horror movie, you won’t find it; it’s more interested in telling its story well, using novel metaphors and imagery.
The Killer
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: No, this isn’t going to end up being an action classic like its predecessor, but it does offer a lot for those willing to give it a chance.
The Light for the Rest of the Walk
- Excerpt: “The Light for the Rest of the Walk” could have been an interesting, realistic family drama, but the effort to include the issue of drugs was definitely not a successful one, with the whole presentation being cliched and occasionally even naive. Nareshkumar Hegde Dodmari seems to have talent, particularly in a style the moves towards the docudrama, but needs to make some decisions regarding his narrative, improve his writing and work more on the sound if he is to move forward.
Mountains
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: …issues of gentrification, the disconnect between immigrants and their American born children, the American Dream, racism and the importance of culture within ethnic communities all embedded within an intimate family drama.
The Other Laurens
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Plot [eventually] steals the wheel away from any and all character development [until] the film’s idiosyncrasies become the real intrigue. It’s much funnier than you might expect from the subject matter and a lot darker as a result too.
Place of Bones
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Most of the appeal lies with Graham and Nemec. They’re an effective pair that gives the otherwise straightforward plot intrigue even if the whole progresses pretty much exactly as it must.
Sing Sing
Aren Bergstrom @ 3 Brothers Film
Strange Darling
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Using an atypical structure and mixing well-developed social commentary with scenes of blood and violence, and of course, top-notch acting, this film ends up feeling like an anomaly.
The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat
- Excerpt: Life has a tendency to be melodramatic, and a story like “The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can Eat” told in an unabashedly heartfelt fashion with a screenplay by (under a pseudonym) Gina Prince-Bythewood and director Tina Mabry, putting the melodrama in the context of enduring, unconditional friendship over the decades.
Trap
Aren Bergstrom @ 3 Brothers Film
Unfrosted
Aren Bergstrom @ 3 Brothers Film
2023 Films
Another Day of Hope
- Excerpt: Despite some issues with the narrative here and there, which could be attributed to the director’s inexperience, “Another of Day of Hope” emerges as an excellent movie, both meaningful and entertaining, and a rather brave and brutally realistic critique of the current Chinese system.
Caligula: The Ultimate Cut
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Even if it cannot completely redeem the original film, it at least serves as evidence of how important editing is to any project, and how any story can live, die or change thanks to the post-production process.
Carefree Days
- Excerpt: With its occasionally no-punches-pulled realism, particularly during the last part, the frequent beauty and the competent acting, “Carefree Days” is definitely a worthy effort. At the same time though, there are too many movies like this found throughout festivals nowadays, which makes the particular one a somewhat forgettable experience.
Shadows in Mind
- Excerpt: Don’t play detective
