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 24, 2024
Wide (United States)
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Garfield Movie
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Sight
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Limited (United States)
Hit Man
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: It’s a lot of fun watching Powell morph from a meek academic content with his own company to a range of confident yet very different faux killers and he and the lovable, doe-eyed Arjona connect on multiple levels.
2024 Films In Theaters Now In Select Areas
Back to Black
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Boy Kills World
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Civil War
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Fall Guy
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
I Saw the TV Glow
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
IF
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Monkey Man
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Aisha
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Every choice in front of her is broached and the futility of fighting is constantly weighed against the necessity to survive. It seems circuitous because it is. What matters is whether its merry-go-round consumes Aisha’s spirit or makes her stronger.
All We Carry
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: How the Jewish congregation helped the little family, how the family survived despite the US policy of prohibiting work permits, and how the asylum process operates, are parts of this important documentary. But also please note the activists in the credits, including executive producer America Ferrera, who believe that change has got to come.
American Dreamer
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: “American Dreamer” took a few years to get distributed, but it is worth a look, especially to see the charismatic MacLaine in action.
Backspot
Christopher Reed @ Hammer to Nail
- Excerpt: The film is best in its scenes of interpersonal relationships and training.
The Ballad of Davy Crockett
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: This new rendition of the Crockett legend, “The Ballad of Davy Crockett,” also reveals a similar Crockett with a gravitation toward doing what’s right, though this time with a keener focus on a looming dark time in the nation.
The Blue Angels
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: …cameras mounted in cockpits mainly focus on those 12 to 18 inch gaps separating the planes’ wings, oddly giving the impression of being suspended in air rather than the 400 mph the planes are moving at.
Dancing with the Dead
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: “Dancing with the Dead” explains what is different about Bill and is interspersed with the poems he has translated. His translations are like a sacred prayer.
Emilia Perez
Anne Hoyt @ La Cronica [Spanish]
- Excerpt: El Cuerpo como Metáfora de un Pais
Ezra
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Cannavale puts it all on the line as Ezra’s dad, one of his best performances, his timing right on target as a stand-up comic, his anxiety screaming from his pores.
Gasoline Rainbow
- Excerpt: There is no exaggerated drama in Gasoline Rainbow; it’s a snapshot of what is. It’s what happens between the photos where we find solace in chaos.
Handling the Undead
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Hoard
Inside the Yellow Coccoon
Paulo Portugal @ www.Insider.pt [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Há filmes para os quais não estamos preparados. Poderá ser o caso desta primeira obra vietnamita, vencedora da câmara de ouro, o ano passado em Cannes, e que agora estreia nas salas.
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Two
- Excerpt: If you’re a fan of the Tomorrowverse or any of the DC animated movies then Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Two might be something you want to watch. This is the middle of the end after all.
Kinds of Kindness
Anne Hoyt @ Desistfilm [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Alegoría Cristiana?
Laapataa Ladies
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Mourning in Lod
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: This artful microcosm of history, portrayed in both “Mourning in Lod” and “Lyd” helps explain the struggle, the tragedy, and the truth of the 1948 creation of Israel, its Zionist exclusivity, and its resultant unsolvable impasse.
Nightwatch: Demons are Forever
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: [This one is about revenge and] therefore works best as a character study of burden and entitlement while the mystery (Who is the murderer?) becomes a secondary concern—a good thing since it’s not too difficult to figure out.
Oh, Canada
Anne Hoyt @ Desistfilm [Spanish]
Primeira Obra
Paulo Portugal @ [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Rui Simões está de parabéns. Não só pela estreia, nas salas de cinema, de Primeira Obra, mas também por esta ocorrer precisamente no dia dos 50 anos sobre o 25 de Abril (e um mês depois de celebrar 80 anos).
Queendom
Josh Thayer @ The Forgetful Film Critic
- Excerpt: Queendom is a fascinating and often heartbreaking look at an artist using her creativity to push boundaries, even at the expense of her own health and safety.
Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: All the flaws from the first part are here, more annoying than ever: a non-existent story, characters with zero charisma, a self-parodic excess of slow motion, and a style of cinematography that I would kindly describe as “ugly.”
Ricardo e a Pintura
Paulo Portugal @ [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Ricardo e a Pintura é um filme avassalador sobre o impulso criador. Não só da pintura, mas da arte em geral. Além de possuir uma forte analogia com o cinema. O filme que foi apresentado, em estreia mundial, no festival de Locarno, na Suíça, em 2023, fora de competição, chega esta semana às salas de cinema.
The Strangers: Chapter 1
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: This is a lean, efficient horror flick that doesn’t reinvent the wheel but does manufacture a sturdy one.
The Surfer
Dennis Schwartz @ Dennis Schwartz Reviews
- Excerpt: This is a role Cage can do in his sleep and I can watch in my sleep.
Tiger Stripes
Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In
Panos Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Once more, after “Limbo”, Soi Cheang manages to stay away from all the blights of political correctness and present a great action film that fans of the great HK actioners of the past will definitely enjoy.
Two Tickets To Greece
- Excerpt: An escapist story of friendship
Wildcat: A Prickly and Uncompromising Biopic, Just Like Flannery O’Connor Herself
Chris Barsanti @ Slant Magazine
- Excerpt: The O’Connor of Wildcat is a contentious outsider who seems ill at ease in her own skin.
You Can’t Run Forever
- Excerpt: There’s too much going on with too little power behind it – definitely not enough to make any of it stick.
2023 Films
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
12.12: The Day
Panos Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Perhaps a level lower than “Man Standing Next”, “12.12: The Day” still remains a captivating political thriller, benefitting the most by the story, the acting, and its production values.
Good Burger 2
- Excerpt: While it was nostalgic to see Kenan & Kel working together again, Good Burger 2 belongs in the grinder.
Infested
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: A visually attractive and consistently tense experience (it’s difficult not to scream at certain moments), that tells us a lot about its characters – and some aspects of Parisian society – through a ridiculous but interesting plot.
K-Family Affairs
Panos Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Nam A-rum skillfully intertwines family dynamics with political history, prompting reflection on generational activism. Amidst her parents’ divergent paths, the director grapples with societal turmoil, ultimately revealing the complexities of familial love and political conviction
The Most Feared Skin
Sebastian Zavala @ Ventana Indiscreta [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Joel Calero’s new and talked-about film tells us about the consequences of our actions, and the way they affect those around us. On the other hand, it is a film that has both successes and failures in its expressive proposal.
The Piper
Sebastian Zavala @ MeGustaElCine.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: If you’re horror fans, you will find nothing of interest in “The Piper”; in fact, you will laugh instead of scream in fear. And if you’re looking for an interesting story or good acting, you’ll find some of that — but not enough.
Sonata Wave
Panos Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Despite the fact that it becomes evident that Ma Xue was not sure where to take her narrative, which is surrealistic, arthouse and mainstream on different occasions throughout its duration, the end result of “Sonata Wave” is quite appealing to the eye and rather entertaining, and will definitely make its viewers smile, even though its basis is dramatic. On a personal note, and considering how different her two feature works are, I am quite curious to see where her filmmaking takes her next.
What Should We Have Done?
Panos Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Tomoaki Fujino’s deeply personal documentary, “What Should We Have Done?” serves as a poignant testament to the devastating impact of mental illness on families, and the profound consequences of denial and societal stigma. Through his unflinching lens, he lays bare the complex emotions, difficult decisions, and unresolved questions that haunt those left to navigate the turbulent waters of schizophrenia, through the presentation of his own family.
Yana-Wara
Sebastian Zavala @ Ventana Indiscreta [Spanish]
- Excerpt: It’s not afraid to tell its story explicitly, with topics like the systematic abuse that women suffer from men and the worldview of a town in southern Peru. It’s saying, “these things always happened and will continue to happen.”
