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: May 17, 2019
Wide (United States)
A Dog’s Journey
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
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The Sun Is Also a Star
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Limited (United States)
Aniara
Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
- Excerpt: Kågerman and Lilja bring Martinson’s poem to cinemas with a stark beauty both in its sci-fi production design and emotionally wrought performances.
De De Pyaar De
The Souvenir
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: In her first leading role, Swinton Byrne, her only prior experience playing her mother’s daughter in “I Am Love,” is a revelation, her passion outweighing any lack of confidence, her naïveté endearing, her need to believe in her lover heartbreakingly relatable.
Trial by Fire
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Although it’s been goosed with dramatic license which proves unnecessary overkill by “Precious” screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher, director Edward Zwick’s adaptation is the most powerful anti-death penalty film since 1995’s “Dead Man Walking.”
Trial by Fire
James Jay Edwards @ FilmFracture
2019 Films In Theaters Now In Select Areas
Avengers: Endgame
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Family
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High Flying Bird
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The Hustle
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Little
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Long Shot
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Pokémon Detective Pikachu
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The Public
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Tolkien
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Velvet Buzzsaw
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All Is True
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Elton’s cast the demoralized literary icon into a swirl of scandal, bitterness and’ regret and Branagh’s characterization has allowed him to climb back out again, making peace with a family sidelined by genius.
Asako I & II
Allyson Johnson @ TheYoungFolks
The Biggest Little Farm
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: Mixes educational and personal qualities in a manner that’s hard to resist.
Booksmart
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Booksmart may have anticipated this year’s college admissions scandal…but it derives its humor from the class killjoys’ laser focus on letting their freak flags fly in the last possible moments of their senior year.
Brightburn
Amir Siregar @ Amir at the Movies [Indonesian]
- Excerpt: Brightburn’ has a great premise but not enough thrills to wade through.
Clara
Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: A close encounter with the ineffable mysteries of both human relationships and the universe.
Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Fugue
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: Muskala [provides] them all a second chance. Whether it’s one that finds them together or apart shouldn’t matter as long as they work towards the happiness that eluded them.
General Magic
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: This is a fascinating story that hooks you, whether you’re tech-obsessed or tech-illiterate.
Hail Satan?
James Jay Edwards @ FilmFracture
Her Smell
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: For all the fun it is to watch Moss play this loathsomely uncontrollable character, seeing her out from under that armor with the pain of everything she’s done etched upon her brow is what you’ll remember most.
Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé
MaryAnn Johanson @ FlickFilosopher.com
- Excerpt: If you don’t get why Beyoncé is worshipped as a goddess, this glorious pop spectacle — part concert film, part myth-in-the-making — will fix that. Enormously entertaining, and absolutely landmark.
Maria
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
- Excerpt: Watches like an especially brutal ‘90s era throwback. Complete with techno-heavy nu-metal-scored fight scenes and clubs full of decade-appropriate dance-floor lighting.
My Son
Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: A throttling study of the toxic dynamics of anger.
Non-Fiction
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Ruminating on everything from the digital evisceration of print media (and print media’s return) to the global rise of the far right, Assayas and his cast keep us entertained as their characters struggle to present their idealized selves in a post-truth world.
Photograph
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: There is a sadness to these two characters that permeates the film and its gentle romance.
Polaroid
Joao Pinto @ Portal Cinema [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Some clichés, but a cool end result
Poms
- Excerpt: a delivery system for some vague message about empowerment and sisterhood, as resilient as its cute golden agers, despite some unsettling “jokes” about blackmail, rape, elder abuse, and, kind of, murder.
Poms
- Excerpt: [A] silly-minded chuckler that needs to be rejected from the try-out squad. Of all the cheerleading routines that Keaton and her calisthenics cougars could have done in Poms is the split…as in splitting from this fruitless, rheumatoid romp.
Red Joan
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: This isn’t about trading secrets as much as accountability and how we’re so willing to punish the symptom rather than the disease itself.
Student of the Year 2
The Third Wife
Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
- Excerpt: A society where men are worth more than women suffers the consequences of that injustice. Mayfair reveals this truth in its tense brutality despite never relinquishing her handle on the aesthetic beauty housing those horrors.
UglyDolls
- Excerpt: UglyDolls is less a movie than an infomercial for the plush Hasbro toys designed to be “ugly” in a commercially cute, lovable way.
Uyare
What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Deep Space Nine
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: Despite blatantly targeting the fans that helped crowdsource it, the much loftier goal of contextualizing DS9 within the annals of sci-fi and television history is also met.
The White Crow
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: You don’t need to know [Nureyev] or care about his art. This story is about [his defection]. [This is] a good thing since Rudi is a very difficult character to like.
Who Let the Dogs Out
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
- Excerpt: It’s a question that has plagued humanity since the dawn of time, or at least, you know, since the dawn of the summer of 2000. And as demonstrated by the new documentary from Brent Hodge answering that question isn’t quite as easy as one might initially expect.
Wine Country
Betty Jo Tucker @ ReelTalk Movie Reviews
- Excerpt: If you think watching a group of middle-aged women rolling down a hill is funny, WINE COUNTRY is for you.
2018 Films
Green Book
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Mary Poppins Returns
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Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
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The Spy Who Dumped Me
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A Star Is Born
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Tomb Raider
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Venom
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Vice
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Widows
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Winchester
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A Wrinkle in Time
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Marilyn
- Excerpt: What is your breaking point?
Still Human
Don Shanahan @ Every Movie Has a Lesson
- Excerpt: The sincerity is earned by Still Human’s meaningful journey and the dedicated performances of the leads.
