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: Jan. 19, 2024
Wide (United States)
I.S.S.
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Limited (United States)
Founders Day
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Cowriter/coeditor (with brother Carson)/director Erik Bloomquist crosses the holiday slasher with “Scream” then wraps it in political satire in a gory horror comedy elevated not only by a well thought out premise but by its cast and crew.
2024 Films In Theaters Now In Select Areas
The Book of Clarence
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Mean Girls
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Apolonia, Apolonia
Nadine Whitney @ Loud and Clear Reviews
- Excerpt: Lea Glob’s documentary Apolonia, Apolonia, about artist Apolonia Sokol, is a soul stirring feminist odyssey which pays homage to the women who fight to be seen and heard.
The Beekeeper
Rick Aragon @ Rick’s Texan Reviews
- Excerpt: An action movie that tells its story quickly, hits its familiar beats and has a cast fully aware of itself, The Beekeeper is good entertainment.
Andrea Chase @ KlllerMovieReviews.com
- Excerpt: Jason Statham makes everything better. Even in a dog of a flick, he’s worth watching (talking to you MEG 2: THE TRENCH). But when he’s in a well-crafted action flick that’s as fun as it is unpredictable, well, that’s darn near nirvana.
Sarah Gopaul @ Digital Journal
- Excerpt: This feels like an ‘80s action movie, complete with high-intensity action sequences in which the hero is substantially outnumbered and outgunned, and corny dialogue that elicits laughter because it’s so predictable.
Matt Oakes @ Silver Screen Riot
- Excerpt: The Beekeeper’ is so patently stupid that it starts to feel like a spoof of a John Wick movie. The script is as dopey as they come, even if the whole cast and crew seem to know that this B-movie isn’t aspiring to be anything more than a dumber-than-rocks knock-’em’-up.
Driving Madeleine
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: a sentimental tale whose stars earn its sentiment.
Inshallah a Boy
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Amjad Al Rasheed’s debut feature INSHALLAH A BOY is very good. Unfortunately, however, it also falls prey to a desire to not take its issues to their true (possibly nightmarish) ends [while] playing both sides as if nothing is actually wrong.
Rene Sanchez @ Cine Sin Fronteras [Spanish]
The Kitchen
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: While “The Kitchen” doesn’t break new ground, it is a well directed political thriller grounded by its father son story. Tavares and Kaluuya are a team to keep an eye on.
Lift
- Excerpt: Lift quickly becomes a forgettable heist flick, contradicting its initial promise of intrigue, excitement, and a pretty engaging opening sequence.
Merchant Ivory
Nadine Whitney @ Loud and Clear Reviews
- Excerpt: Simon Soucy’s Merchant Ivory documentary gifts film lovers with an elegant and intimate look into one of the most important award winning partnerships in cinema.
One Life
- Excerpt: One Life is more interested in celebrating the efforts of a great man than in questioning why he had to fight so hard. While that might be disappointing from a dramatic perspective, it’s difficult not to be moved by the humility of Hopkins’ performance, or the film’s emphasis of how much one person can affect the world.
Role Play
Manuel São Bento @ Firstshowing
- Excerpt: As a few other issues emerge, these are somewhat compensated by the filmmaker’s commitment to providing a light-hearted, fun, entertaining movie that aims to offer families a good time without much seriousness.
Self Reliance
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: The biggest disappointment of [the film] is that it doesn’t go far enough – whether it’s in the thrills, nuttiness, or romance. We want it to push forward, to really take things to an extreme, but it doesn’t quite get there.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Johnson must carefully build this high concept kick-in-the-pants for Tommy with as much room to flip what we know to be true as room for absurd developments that must be false (but aren’t).
Nadine Whitney @ InSession Film
- Excerpt: Self Reliance might not entirely work while it’s running at speed and occasionally stopping to catch its breath at some of its lesser moments. But as a first feature it is gleefully silly and entirely sincere.
The Settlers
Rene Sanchez @ Cine Sin Fronteras [Spanish]
2023 Films
Barbie
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The Boy and the Heron
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The Boys in the Boat
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Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
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Eileen
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Fallen Leaves
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Ferrari
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A Haunting in Venice
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The Holdovers
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Maestro
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Origin
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Poor Things
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Priscilla
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Saltburn
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Society of the Snow
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32 Sounds
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: Well-organized, clearly narrated, and captivating, the visual images and the surround sound take you to an auditory world of amazement.
Bobi Wine: The People’s President
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: “Bobi Wine: The People’s President,” winner of the 2023 International Documentary Association Award for Best Feature Documentary, is grass-roots documentary filmmaking at its best.
The Delinquents
- Excerpt: “Where is freedom?”
Four Daughters
- Excerpt: Feeding rebellious youth
Freud’s Last Session
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Cowriter/director Matt Brown lets his stars do the heavy lifting in this imagined intellectual joust that relies more on a few well-placed zingers than depth of argument, its stage origins all too evident in this stodgy production.
Good Grief
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Dan Levy (TV’s ‘Schitt’s Creek’) makes his feature debut with this well intentioned exploration of grief that succeeds with its realistically messy onscreen friendships but could have used some humorous breaks from its overt sentimentality.
The Mission
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: “The Mission” is an extraordinary study from National Geographic about the psychology of the extreme adventurer. With interviews from writers and missionaries, it studies questions we also ask the great Mt. Everest climbers who have risked their lives. Why?
Pianoforte
- Excerpt: Mixing the stories the way Piatek does serves another purpose: it emphasizes how much these young and very talented musicians have in common, despite their different national origins and cultures.
The Settlers
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Credit Sam Spruell’s memorably monstrous performance, but also Haberle and co-writer Antonia Girardi for seemingly acknowledging that they cannot simply tread that well-worn path of tragedy.
The Teachers’ Lounge
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Çatak ratchets up the tension masterfully by plunging us into a sketchy situation where it is all too easy to side with the protagonist before nudging her off a very slippery slope.
