Because of embargoes (those happy little restrictions on when critics can post reviews, good or bad), a lot of our critics aren’t able to share links with you until release day. Here are some last-minute reviews for this weekend’s upcoming films. We’ve kept in all the reviews posted yesterday as well so you can have more help in deciding what to see (if you haven’t already).
Our critics have been hard at work reviewing the latest films. Here is a look at what’s coming out this weekend (in select cities, check your local listings) and what else may be in theaters right now.
Opening: Jan. 23-25, 2015
Wide (United States)
The Boy Next Door
[New Reviews Today] For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Mortdecai
[New Reviews Today] For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Limited (United States)
Americons
Oktay Kozak @ The Playlist
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: Americons is like The Wolf of Wall Street without the skill, depth, nuance, humor, or poignancy.
Black Sea
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: A parabolic film about a middle-aged man who decides to fight back after being reduced to being a nobody.
Cake
[New Reviews Today] For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Duke of Burgundy
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Writer/director Peter Strickland’s latest begins with a bit of an ick factor as his opening lesbian S&M scenario ends with a behind-closed-door ‘punishment’ that sounds dreadful, but trust in this auteur as “The Duke of Burgundy” blossoms into a louche hothouse Gothic that plays like Dario Argento’s “Celine and Julie Go Boating” or Peter Greenaway’s “Angels and Insects.”
Killers
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: …the film goes on too longer than it can sustain itself. Still Stamboel and Tjahjanto have a flair for visuals and a great ear for music.
Mommy
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
R100
Peter Nellhaus @ Coffee, Coffee and more Coffee
Song One
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: An emotionally rich drama about the healing powers of music.
2015 Films In Theaters Now In Select Areas
Appropriate Behavior
Sarah Gopaul @ Digital Journal
- Excerpt: ‘Appropriate Behavior’ is the novel story from up-and-comer Desiree Akhavan about a young Brooklynite attempting to balance being a good Iranian daughter and a politically correct bisexual.
Black or White
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Costner’s never been better than he is here. But although Binder’s hit on a complex, current issue and surefire conversation starter, he’s wrapped his film in cloying Hallmark sentiment with a cutesy score (Terence Blanchard, “Red Tails”) that undermines much of what he’s trying to achieve.
Blackhat
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Ex Machina
[New Today] MaryAnn Johanson @ FlickFilosopher.com
- Excerpt: There’s nothing fresh or even usefully true in its cartoonish dichotomy about men, but this pseudo-SF flick will expound upon it with pretentious tedium.
[New Today] Stefan Pape @ HeyUGuys
David Upton @ So So Gay
- Excerpt: While the visceral world of Alex Garland’s imagination is one of almost generic modernity, this simple canvas emboldens his realisation of a trio of characters whose subjectivity and agency is consistently in question.
Hard to Be a God
Human Capital
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Humbling
[New Today] Sarah Gopaul @ Digital Journal
- Excerpt: Al Pacino stars in Barry Levinson’s ‘The Humbling,’ a film about an aging stage actor who’s lost his mojo and is simultaneously losing touch with reality. A plot that sounds familiar, but not quite.
Susan Granger @ www.susangranger.com
- Excerpt: I’m sure Barry Levinson had no idea Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu was making the all-too-similar “Birdman.” While Michael Keaton’s performance will be remembered, Al Pacino’s probably will not.
[New Today] Kristin Dreyer Kramer @ NightsAndWeekends.com
Cole Smithey @ ColeSmithey.com
- Excerpt: Now that “Birdman” has collected awards and Oscar nominations, it’s sour grapes to suggest that an injustice has been done to “The Humbling.” Nonetheless, it [“The Humbling”] is a better movie.
Frank Swietek @ One Guys Opinion
- Excerpt: An uneven, hit-and-miss affair, but it represents a comeback for Pacino and, to some extent, for Levinson.
Kingsman: The Secret Service
Darren Mooney @ the m0vie blog
- Excerpt: A crownign achievement, perhaps?
Little Accidents
Loitering With Intent
Stacia Kissick Jones @ She Blogged By Night
Cole Smithey @ ColeSmithey.com
- Excerpt: Newbie filmmakers (director Adam Rapp and screenwriter-actors Michael Godere and Ivan Martin) flail toward making a cohesive movie about a couple of New York City actors on an upstate retreat to crank out a screenplay in 10 days.
Love, Rosie
Sarah Ward @ Concrete Playground
Maps to the Stars
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Match
[New Today] Mark Dujsik @ Mark Reviews Movies
- Excerpt: The middle section of Match is so strong—looking past the melodrama to the hurt, lonely people underneath it—that it’s unfortunate Belber hurries the resolution…
Paddington
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Predestination
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Serena
Sarah Ward @ Concrete Playground
The Wedding Ringer
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2014 Films In Theaters Now In Select Areas
20,000 Days on Earth
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Advanced Style
American Sniper
[New Reviews Today] For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Annabelle
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As Above / So Below
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At the Devil’s Door
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The Battery
M. Enois Duarte @ High-Def Digest.com
Big Hero 6
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Birdman
[New Reviews Today] For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Boxtrolls
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Boyhood
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Citizenfour
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Coherence
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Exodus: Gods and Kings
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Finding Vivian Maier
[New Reviews Today] For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Force Majeure
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Fury
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The Gambler
[New Reviews Today] For member reviews of this film, follow this link
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
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The Giver
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The Grand Budapest Hotel
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Hector and the Search for Happiness
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Hercules
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Horns
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Horrible Bosses 2
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Imitation Game
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In Bloom
Into the Woods
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Kill the Messenger
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Last Days In Vietnam
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The Lego Movie
[New Reviews Today] For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Leviathan
Tim Brayton @ Antagony & Ecstasy
Life After Beth
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Life Itself
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Living is Easy with Eyes Closed
Lucy
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Maze Runner
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Men, Women & Children
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A Most Violent Year
[New Reviews Today] For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Mr. Turner
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Obvious Child
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Planes: Fire & Rescue
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Pride
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Selma
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Siddharth
The Skeleton Twins
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St. Vincent
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Starred Up
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Still Alice
[New Reviews Today] For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Tammy
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
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The Theory of Everything
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Two Days, One Night
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Unbroken
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Whiplash
[New Reviews Today] For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Why Don’t You Play in Hell?
[New Today] Sarah Gopaul @ Digital Journal
- Excerpt: ‘Why Don’t You Play in Hell?’ is Sion Sono’s blood-soaked, comedic send-up to guerilla filmmaking and 35 mm film that concludes with a sword fight to glory.
Wild
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Zero Theorem
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2015 Films (Coming Soon)
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared
Baby
[New Today] Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Beyond Clueless
[New Today] Stefan Pape @ HeyUGuys
The Great Chicken Wing Hunt
- Excerpt: A meta film that mixes culture and cuisine.
Hill of Freedom
The Infinite Man
La Maison de la Radio
[New Today] Stefan Pape @ HeyUGuys
Melbourne
The Owners
Paper Planes
Sarah Ward @ Concrete Playground
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
Alan Mattli @ Facing the Bitter Truth [German]
- Excerpt: A funny, enchanting, disturbing vision from an extraordinary artist.
