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: Feb. 1, 2019
Wide (United States)
Limited (United States)
Piercing
Karl Delossantos @ Smash Cut Reviews
- Excerpt: Piercing is a twisted watch that will completely satisfy genre fans and polarize mainstream audiences — but that’s why it works.
Piercing
Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
- Excerpt: It proves impossible to know where things might go next thanks to the physical manifestation of internal turmoil and the hallucinatory blur between life and psychosis.
2019 Films In Theaters Now In Select Areas
Glass
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Upside
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Beats
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
Behind the Bullet
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: If there’s any concrete message in Behind the Bullet, it’s that our emotions are valid in the conversation surrounding gun violence.
Braid
Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
- Excerpt: Time becomes malleable [as Pierone] removes the pathways from one scene to another so we can find ourselves in the same bottomless rabbit hole as her characters.
Cat Sticks
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: Cat Sticks is a bold, confident debut. Sen’s low-key photography lends gravitas to the existence of these addicts usually treated as blights on society’s face.
Desolation Center
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
Dons of Disco
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
The Drone
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
The Final Wish
- Excerpt: ‘The Final Wish’ is strangely contemplative in its attempt to shine an eerie light on the mysteries of death and estrangement. Woodward’s gory gem is more of the psychological horror variety as it adequately taps into the realm of a messy mindset gone haywire.
A Great Lamp
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: While the film won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, Qureshi’s debut feature expresses a desire in the director to explore human suffering and modern friendships on a small scale while treating it with grandiosity, care, and seriousness.
King of Thieves
Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
- Excerpt: [Despite being] a pretty straightforward genre film, the sheer joy of seeing these actors comment on their careers through these characters [should provide] a good time.
Lost Holiday
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
Memphis ’69
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
Outlaws
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
- Excerpt: A24’s Greek tragedy by way of violent biker saga is fine, but you’ve seen it before.
The Professional: A Stevie Blatz Story
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
Ski Bum: The Warren Miller Story
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
The Standoff at Sparrow Creek
- Excerpt: The Standoff at Sparrow Creek is formally and aesthetically fascinating, even when its script feels a little incomplete.
Then Came You
Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
- Excerpt: The final result isn’t without flaws, but it’s so much more than appearances presume.
The Vast of Night
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
Velvet Buzzsaw
Charlie Juhl @ Citizen Charlie
- Excerpt: Any creative medium which takes itself too seriously is ripe for satire, but considering the money involved, the contemporary art world is riper than most. It’s about time the artwork gets a say in the matter – and it is not happy.
2018 Films
Alpha
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Burning
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Cold War
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Death Wish
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Destroyer
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The Favourite
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Game Night
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Mandy
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Mary Poppins Returns
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Mary Queen of Scots
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The Mule
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The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
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Paddington 2
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Stan & Ollie
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Terminal
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Tomb Raider
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24 Frames
- Excerpt: The Criterion edition of 24 Frames is a fittingly superb tribute to a great artist.
Arizona
- Excerpt: Arizona is a skillfully crafted exercise with a superior cast, and it’s good enough to keep you watching, while delivering plenty of gallows humor and a few shockers you didn’t see coming. It’s a small film that gets bigger the more closely you look at it.
Border
- Excerpt: Sweden’s official entry to the 91st Academy Awards, Ali Abbasi’s #Border (Gräns) is a mysterious, genre-bending film that will make you empathize while also serving its share of thrills.
Elephants
Betty Jo Tucker @ ReelTalk Movie Reviews
- Excerpt: Alexander Hanno’s impressive ELEPHANTS explores love’s dark side while enticing viewers with fascinating but flawed main characters, witty dialogue, suspenseful situations, catchy music and excellent production values.
The Emperor of Paris
Dragan Antulov @ Draxblog VI [Croatian]
Galveston
- Excerpt: Ben Foster is always terrific, and in Galveston he anchors and elevates what is otherwise a meandering tale of lost souls and hopeless lives.
Transit
Paulo Portugal @ Insider [Portuguese]
2017 Films
Bushwick
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
In the Fade
- Excerpt: Writer/director Akin makes no secret of his allegiance to the immigrant community, but his choice of a classically blonde, blue-eyed Aryan as the film’s protagonist is deliberate and purposeful, emphasizing the universality of family devotion and the equally universal agony when violence rips families apart. The political climate may change in future years, but In the Fade will remain a vital and electrifying account of one woman’s harrowing battle with unimaginable loss.
The Secret of Marrowbone
- Excerpt: Marrowbone has been designed for repeat viewings, because it plays differently once you know the full story. Little more can be said without spoilers, but I found Sánchez’ haunted tale more engaging, and ultimately more moving, than the usual genre film, precisely because it does take its time to explore the characters and lay out a consistent and coherent narrative.
