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: Dec. 8, 2023
Wide (United States)
The Boy and the Heron
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Limited (United States)
Concrete Utopia
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: …both a disaster movie and a Serlingesque exploration of human behavior in an apocalyptic situation.
Fast Charlie
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: Full of betrayals, low-life criminals, grizzly deaths and corpse-eating alligators, “Fast Charlie” remains irresistibly emotionally low-key and charismatically matter-of-fact.
Origin
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: The genius of the film’s concept, writing about a best-selling nonfiction study from the perspective of how it was written and what was happening to its writer at the time, belongs to Ava DuVernay.
Poor Things
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: a darkly hilarious, sexually provocative, visually Gilliamesque tale of a liberal, feminist awakening in the Victorian era.
Matt Oakes @ Silver Screen Riot
- Excerpt: With Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos continues to prove that he is Hollyweird’s maddest scientist and its most refreshingly singular voice. Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, and Mark Ruffalo offer a trifecta of the best performances of the year in this deeply funny, wickedly smart, and entirely brilliant reimagining of Frankenstein as a feminist declaration and character study. Yes, it’s alive, but it’s also pretty much perfect.
2023 Films In Theaters Now In Select Areas
Beau Is Afraid
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
BlackBerry
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Bottoms
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Dream Scenario
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Elemental
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Godzilla Minus One
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Holdovers
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Killer
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Leo
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Marvels
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
May December
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Napoleon
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Nyad
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Priscilla
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Royal Hotel
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Saltburn
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Thanksgiving
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Trolls Band Together
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Wish
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Bird Box: Barcelona
João Pinto @ Portal Cinema [Portuguese]
Cassandro
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: While not the deepest of films, this crowd pleaser hits all the right emotional beats to prop Sául up and establish the complex and often unfair world in which he ascends against all odds.
Cat Person
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: …writer Michelle Ashford’s adaptation of Kristen Roupenian’s sensational 2017 short story expands it in all the wrong directions, creating an irrecoverable imbalance and rendering Margot a complete lunatic
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: for the most part the film feels like it’s going through the motions and for the first time, CGI is readily evident in what were once entirely handmade creations.
The Conference
João Pinto @ Portal Cinema [Portuguese]
A Deadly Invitation
João Pinto @ Portal Cinema [Portuguese]
The Delinquents
Diego Salgado @ SoFilm [Spanish]
District of Second Chances
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: In “District of Second Chances,” outstanding director/producer Wynette Yao focuses on three men, including Pete, who committed murder in their youth and received life sentences. She follows them in prison, through their appeal and then once they are released.
A Disturbance in the Force
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Eileen
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Director William Oldroyd (“Lady Macbeth”) conjures the period and place atmosphere with authentic gray, chilly detail, but characterization and motivation have been stripped down in Luke Goebel’s (“Causeway”) adaptation of Ottessa Moshfegh’s novel
Kirsten Hawkes @ Parent Previews
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Moshfegh and Oldroyd [reach a point with the climax] where the curtain must be lifted to show the scars this world has etched upon the bodies of those we’d like to believe still maintain a semblance of innocence.
Everyone Will Burn
Nadine Whitney @ Loud and Clear Reviews
- Excerpt: Everyone Will Burn mixes soap opera with horror in the Spanish mindbender.
Family Switch
- Excerpt: “Family Switch” is a Dad Joke of a movie, genially corny but enjoying its corniness so much that it invites us to enjoy it, too.
Five Nights at Freddy’s
Rick Aragon @ Rick’s Texan Reviews
- Excerpt: A film that has more atmosphere than true horror, Five Nights at Freddy’s is surprisingly tame but entertaining.
Diego Salgado @ SoFilm [Spanish]
Four Daughters
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Only with [this experience and] knowledge, as well as the tools to make it work for them, can women Eya and Tayssir’s age attempt to finally break the cycle of exploitation and persecution into which they were born.
Frybread Face and Me
Kirsten Hawkes @ Parent Previews
John Woo’s Silent Night
Sarah Gopaul @ Digital Journal
- Excerpt: It’s an intriguing concept made to work flawlessly so viewers may not even be aware of it for most of the picture. However, there are sections that drag, noticeably slowing the film’s pace and testing the effectiveness of the approach.
Killer Book Club
João Pinto @ Portal Cinema [Portuguese]
Kokomo City
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The words these women share are crucial to not only putting their truth on record, but also educating against propaganda and comforting those too afraid to follow in their footsteps.
Locked In
João Pinto @ Portal Cinema [Portuguese]
Maestro
MaryAnn Johanson @ FlickFilosopher.com
- Excerpt: Oh, frabjous film! Bradley Cooper’s astonishing high-wire act feels classic and modern at the same time: immersive and impressionistic, breathtakingly bold. A kick in the pants to mainstream cinema.
Menu-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Don’t expect to see a meal prepared from start to finish as Wiseman isn’t trying to make a cooking show here, instead up to his usual agenda of documenting the workings of an establishment from soup to nuts and it’s mighty satisfying indeed.
Monica
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Both Clarkson and Lysette are great at saying so much with so little. Pallaoro lets each moment speak for itself so the inherent emotion of their performances never gets undercut by redundant dialogue.
No One Will Save You
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: A solid formal exercise with a mesmerizing central performance steeped in fear by Kaitlyn Dever. [But the script] ultimately has nowhere to go but a slapdash TWILIGHT ZONE-esque ending more wink-and-nod than profound.
Playing with Fire
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: The entire documentary is itself a work of art. Allan Miller, the director, writer, and executive producer has choreographed an informative, gloriously beautiful account of Sorrell’s incredible talent.
Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé
Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: An extravaganza of set design, videos, dancers, and choreography.
Reptile
João Pinto @ Portal Cinema [Portuguese]
Robot Dreams
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: This lovely, ultimately heartbreaking story about the power of connection and painful absurdities of fate is all the more amazing for being told with no dialogue or title cards… a wistful work of animated art.
Rustin
Kirsten Hawkes @ Parent Previews
The Shift
Kirsten Hawkes @ Parent Previews
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: Works better as a faith-based film than as a sci-fi adventure.
Silent Night
Eddie Pasa @ DC Filmdom
Allison Rose @ FlickDirect.com
- Excerpt: John Woo, known for his signature filmmaking style, subtly alters course in Silent Night, diverging from his usual techniques.
- Excerpt: Silent Night is John Woo stealing from himself in an audacious, messy, tightly choreographed actioner.
The Taste of Things
Chris Barsanti @ Slant Magazine
- Excerpt: The film is a celebration of people’s desire for everything that’s beautiful and fleeting in life.
Upon Entry
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: From my perspective, despite a few awards and acclamations, “Upon Entry” just didn’t provide a believable scenario.
Uproar
- Excerpt: Uproar is a story set in the past that continues to push Maori stories forward – a funny, kind, warm, and bittersweet story about acceptance and rebellion. Uproar is a triumph for Aotearoa New Zealand cinema.
Where the Devil Roams
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: The filmmaking collaborative known as The Adams Family…has become a real indie powerhouse in the art horror genre. This isn’t just one of the best horror films of the year, but a true American original.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
João Pinto @ Portal Cinema [Portuguese]
Wonka
- Excerpt: No matter how tasty your toothpaste, it still doesn’t belong in an Oreo. This is the case of Wonka, a disheartening and manic buffet of corporatized whimsy that shovels its gustatory dissonance down your throat.
- Excerpt: Buoyed by Chalamet’s wonderful performance, Wonka is similar to a bar of chocolate – while it is occasionally dark, its undeniable sweetness will give audiences a warm fuzzy feeling that is impossible to hate.
