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: Nov. 29, 2024
Wide (United States)
Moana 2
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Limited (United States)
Maria
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: given the flights of fancy Knight has embellished her final days with, it is Jolie’s and Favino’s performances that will be remembered far longer than the film itself.
Queens
Sebastian Zavala @ Loud and Clear Reviews [Spanish]
- Excerpt: By sometimes focusing on the perspective of a teenager and her little sister, it manages to be both entertaining and thought-provoking; deceptively light, and dramatically affecting.
2024 Films In Theaters Now In Select Areas
Anora
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Gladiator II
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Heretic
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Megalopolis
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Problemista
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Red One
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Wicked, Part I
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The American Question
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: It’s a must-watch for those frustrated with the great divide and some of the reasons why people vote as they do.
Blitz
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Yes, there’s the hope for reunion, but also the formation of an identity by a boy forced to confront this world’s many evils all at once in a truncated period of time. That’s where it excels and Heffernan delivers a fantastic debut to ensure it.
Bone Lake
Dennis Schwartz @ dennisschwartzreviews
- Excerpt: It delivers the necessary salacious entertainment as a throwback to the trashy 80s thrillers without becoming trashy.
Borderland: The Line Within
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: …one of the most efficient ways to understand the maze of difficulties related to the border is to see documentaries like “Borderland” in order to gain a greater perspective on just how much basic human rights are respected and what our tax dollars are paying for at the border and the ICE Detention Centers in communities throughout America.
Bread and Roses
Cruise Boom
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: A PBS film, “Cruise Boom” investigates the many pros and cons besetting the Sitka residents. Whatever your point of view, directors Ellen Frankenstein and Atman Mehta have created a powerful film for you to ponder.
The Dead Don’t Hurt
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: This film is a tour de force in dramatization, headed up by charismatic Viggo Mortensen and inner strength phenome Vicky Krieps.
Director’s Cut
Facing the Wind
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: This is an important, well-made film with high-profile executive producers.
Flow
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: It’s a beautifully animated and choreographed film with suspenseful life or death moments and effective action. I don’t think Flow is quite as captivating a story as Away, but you cannot deny that Zilbalodis has evolved his craft in all other aspects.
The Honorable Shyne
Joy
- Excerpt: Sometimes we just need a nice, cozy movie featuring a heartwarming true story and actors with British accents. And if Bill Nighy is one of them, well, that’s just a bonus.
Last Party
Victoria Luxford @ Dirty Movies
Layla
Lost Nation
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: Prepared to be enlightened.
Mad About the Boy
- Excerpt: Coward’s public persona figures large in Barnaby Thompson’s documentary Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story, a choice which saves it from becoming a mere collection of celebratory clips and quotes (although that could also be fun).
Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger
Man and Witch
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: Talking animals, castles, hobbit-like scenery, wizards, witches and popular music are all in “Man and Witch: The Dance of a Thousand Steps,” a delightful fairytale for the 21st century.
My Favourite Cake
My Sweet Land
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: Yes, the story itself seems familiar to those paying attention to the many instances of violent displacement and ethnic cleansing occurring all over Asia, but familiarity doesn’t negate the importance of providing Artsakh a platform to be heard.
Night Is Not Eternal
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: Night Is Not Eternal proves a fascinating look at the troubles and struggles we all face in a flattening world ruled by opportunists of greed rather than stewards of protection.
Nightbitch
Nadine Whitney @ InSession Film
Nocturnes
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: Who would have thought that a movie on a scientist’s project studying hawk moths would be such a symphony for the senses?
Nowhere Special
Rick Aragon @ Rick’s Texan Reviews
- Excerpt: Deeply moving, quiet, and told in a straightforward way, Nowhere Special is a beautiful film.
The Old Oak
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: “The Old Oak” is a grand constructive film of remedy and redemption. It’s a masterpiece of subtle reflection.
The Piano Lesson
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: I really like Fisher here, but it’s Washington and Deadwyler who take command from frame one. We must only pray that their passion doesn’t end up feeding the instrument more blood.
The Secret Art of Human Flight
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: Directed by the wild H.P. Mendoza, “The Secret Art of Human Flight” transfers off the script into a fabulously rich internal journey. Coupled with cinematography expert Markus Mentzer’s genius and Mendoza’s music, Orenshein’s screenplay shines with an uncommon depth on grief and loss.
September 5
Stree 2
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
War Game
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: “War Game” is must-viewing for Americans as we approach a razor-sharp November election. We’ve already been warned by one challenger that if he doesn’t win there will be a “bloodbath.”
Witches
- Excerpt: The personal is political has been not just a slogan but a rallying cry for feminist activism since the 1960s. “Witches,” written and directed by documentarian Elizabeth Sankey, is deeply personal and passionately political.
Your Monster
- Excerpt: Caroline Lindy’s Your Monster is a Sweet Trilled High Note Curdling into a Scream of Feminine Rage
2023 Films
Join or Die
Josh Thayer @ The Forgetful Film Critic
- Excerpt: Writer and civic advocate Pete Davis, alongside his director and producer sister, Rebecca, have made in their documentary an extraordinarily convincing case for why it feels like American society is in the throes of complete disintegration.
2022 Films
Lynch/Oz
Rick Aragon @ Rick’s Texan Reviews
- Excerpt: Lynch/Oz explores the connection between the quintessential children’s fantasy and the filmography of one David Lynch. Could The Wizard of Oz be the inspiration for Mulholland Drive?
