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: Jun. 9, 2023
Wide (United States)
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Limited (United States)
Americonned
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: a call to arms documentary promoting unions to return a balance of power to the American worker.
The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: The film features extraordinary visuals in its midsection, Vicaria watching EMTS working on yet another shooting victim with electrical paddles, the young boy’s eyes meeting hers, sparking to life and draining repeatedly…
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: A well-acted, thoughtful picture that uses horror to address an important societal issue.
Blue Jean
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Like Audrey Diwan’s abortion drama, “Happening,” two years ago, British writer/director Georgia Oakley’s feature debut couldn’t be timelier in creating empathy for a class of people doubly targeted in today’s United States.
Devilreaux
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: With its cheap aesthetic, atrocious acting, insipid screenplay, and flat direction, Devilreaux is an embarrassment to all involved.
Persian Lessons
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Zofin’s screenplay feels over-embellished in a Hollywood kind of way, but he’s crafted an extremely satisfying double-barreled ending and Biscayart and especially Lars Eidinger…build such a compelling relationship that it works emotionally.
2023 Films In Theaters Now In Select Areas
Air
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
BlackBerry
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Boogeyman
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Fast X
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Missing
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
80 for Brady
- Excerpt: Four old friends to Super Bowl go. Their adventure makes quite a show!
The American Gladiators Documentary
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The result is a narrative that takes a lot more turns than you may expect. After Part 1 delivers what you assumed, Part 2 becomes more of a fact-finding [tongue-in-cheek] detective case in search of answers on a growing list of questions and hearsay.
Brooklyn 45
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: This is a stunning, thought-provoking chiller.
Chile 1976
Paulo Portugal @ Insider [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: É na opção de um ponto de vista de classe exterior à convulsão política que Chile 1976, em estreia nas salas de cinema portuguesas esta quinta-feira, reclama a sua individualidade e, até, urgência.
Esme, My Love
- Excerpt: Esme, My Love is long on atmosphere and ambiguity, its shifting moods bolstered by the cinematography of Fletcher Wolfe and the music of Stephanie Griffin and Charlotte Littlehales.
Evil Dead Rise
Matt Oakes @ Silver Screen Riot
- Excerpt: Evil Dead Rise; revitalizes the legendary franchise once more, drenching the screen in blood, laughs, and unabashed horror homage. While it may not hit the same visceral heights of its 2013 sibling, the gory fun and relentless tension more than make up for it. The series may have risen from the grave again, but with films like this, we hope it keeps on rising.
Falcon Lake
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: You could say the real ghost is love itself. That invigorating sense of inclusion and fullness that can so easily and unexpectedly disappear, haunting those who’ve lost it.
Flamin’ Hot
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: a serviceable fairy tale as corny as a Frito, a television movie featuring a couple of lovely supporting performances that is the cinematic equivalent of the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos which drive it.
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: Rather than being smart and incisive, it packages a true story in a traditional, predictable formula.
The Hole in the Fence
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: No matter how vicious you might assume the metaphor for [white supremacy within] contemporary Mexican society Joaquin del Paso’s THE HOLE IN THE FENCE will get, he and co-writer Lucy Pawlak can always take things further.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Serena Seghedoni @ Loud and Clear Reviews
- Excerpt: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is not without flaws, but it’s also a journey worth taking: if you’re a fan of the franchise, you won’t be disappointed.
Killers of the Flower Moon
Serena Seghedoni @ Loud and Clear Reviews
- Excerpt: a potent, stunning epic, elevated by a superb screenplay and flawless performances
Master Gardener
Aren Bergstrom @ 3 Brothers Film
Padre Pio
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: It’s as though Ferrara has shoved two disparate films together wherein only those who are already keenly aware of the history of both can easily comprehend the overlap.
Passages
Serena Seghedoni @ Loud and Clear Reviews
- Excerpt: Like a theatre play, Ira Sachs’ Passages draws you in with irresistible character dynamics, played to perfection by Franz Rogowski and Ben Whishaw.
Past Lives
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Writer/director Celine Song, a playwright making her feature debut, tells a simple but emotionally rich story based on her own experience of a connection interrupted but never broken, a sentimental tale in the true sense of the word.
Matt Oakes @ Silver Screen Riot
Petite Fleur
Paulo Portugal @ Insider [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: O cinema do argentino Santiago Mitre tem andado nos olhos do mundo. É, aliás, o que se pode chamar um ‘valor seguro’ na consistente estrutura de cinema do seu país. Ainda que esta incursão em modo de co-produção, mais para consumo francófono, se satisfaça plenamente com um pincelada ligeira com tonalidades de alguma violência estética.
Reality
- Excerpt: Sydney Sweeney shines in this no-frills docu-thriller about whistleblower Reality Winner.
The Roundup: No Way Out
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: As consistently entertaining and engrossing as the previous chapter, it’s easy to see why the filmmakers are making a go at producing these sequels so quickly. Strike while the iron is hot.
Sanctuary
Matt Oakes @ Silver Screen Riot
- Excerpt: anctuary’, a kinky dark romantic comedy, transcends its overtly sexually-charged trappings to become a provocative exploration of power, control, and trust. With an unforgettable performance from Margaret Qualley, it’s a wildly unpredictable ride that’ll leaves an indelible mark on the more risqué viewer’s psyche.
Strange Way of Life
Serena Seghedoni @ Loud and Clear Reviews
- Excerpt: Almodóvar subverts the genre while also paying homage to it, and the result is the definition of a modern western: a film that reminds us of Sergio Leone’s classics but, at the same time, feels like it could be set in our day and age.
Super Natural
Paulo Portugal @ Insider [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Jorge Jácome deslumbra-nos com um cinema sensorial, que é (e não é, ao mesmo tempo) deste mundo. São os reflexos de vida existente entre o natural e o virtual.
The Zone of Interest
Serena Seghedoni @ Loud and Clear Reviews
- Excerpt: a bleak, bold watch, and a holocaust drama unlike anything you’ve seen before.
2022 Films
All Man: The International Male Story
Bavner Donaldo @ Cinejour [Indonesian]
