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 30, 2025
Wide (United States)
Bring Her Back
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Karate Kid: Legends
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Limited (United States)
The Phoenician Scheme
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: The plot is more framework for gags than the weightier considerations of his last film, most notable for the inspired addition of Anderson newbie Michael Cera and Benedict Cumberbatch’s crazed channeling of the mad monk Rasputin…
2025 Films in Theaters Now in Select Areas
Black Bag
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Final Destination: Bloodlines
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Friendship
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Lilo & Stitch
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Sinners
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Thunderbolts*
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Ugly Stepsister
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds
- Excerpt: The air maneuvers are dazzling. But it is the hearts, integrity, and courage of the Thunderbirds that are unforgettable.
Bad Shabbos
- Excerpt: The tone of the film may be heightened, exaggerated for comic purposes, but unlike too many other portrayals this film never makes the characters into caricatures and the details are precise and affectionate. It’s very dark, but it is also very funny.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Credit the filmmakers too for never holding piety above the absurdity of the premise. The goal is to show how much this family loves each other, but that shouldn’t erase the fact they can still also be bad people.
Chaos: The Manson Murders
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Dogma
- Excerpt: What a marvellous coincidence that this 25th anniversary of director-writer Kevin Smith’s masterpiece should coincide with a new—American!—pope being installed in the Vatican.
En Fanfare
Samuel Castro @ El Colombiano [Spanish]
- Excerpt: “Donde hay música no puede haber cosa mala”, dijo Sancho Panza en el Quijote, aunque seguramente Cervantes habría borrado ese diálogo si viajando a través de las puertas de “El Ministerio del Tiempo” (la estupenda serie española creada por Pablo y Javier Olivares) hubiera visto “Coda” en algún cine de Madrid.
The Fan
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: “The Fan” succeeds not only as a tribute to Nora Aunor but also as a resonant family story and a thoughtful exploration of what fandom means—how it connects people, spans generations, and holds a mirror to personal identity.
Fear Street: Prom Queen
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: It’s not enough to simply do what has been done before. If that’s the case, what’s the point of watching something we’ve basically already seen?
Fountain of Youth
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Fountain of Youth is full of these details that seem interesting if there was a season of television to expand upon them, but prove completely useless in a ninety-minute movie bloated beyond two-hours.
- Excerpt: You wanna know what an Indiana Jones movie done by someone other than Steven Spielberg feels like? (Aside from Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which I feel was unfairly maligned.)
G20
Samuel Castro @ El Colombiano [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Es en el cine de género más que en el cine de autor donde se leen las señas de identidad de una cultura, de una época o de un país.
I Know Catherine, the Log Lady
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Jane Austen Wrecked My Life
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The comedy is lively and infectious, especially whenever Rutherford and Anson are together playing coy so as not to let their defenses down. And the supporting cast is wonderful.
- Excerpt: Jane Austen Wrecked My Life may fall into the romantic comedy genre, but there’s something else afoot here in this examination of what the heart wants and what our bodies give and get.
The Life of Chuck
David Gonzalez @ The Cinematic Reel
- Excerpt: The Life of Chuck is euphoric. Flanagan fuses Stephen King’s nostalgic tenderness with a Frank Capra-esque celebration of human connection, creating a heartfelt embrace of life’s most precious moments.
Little Buddha
- Excerpt: At the centre of it all is Prince Siddhartha (Keanu Reeves making an early name for himself, deftly sporting eyeliner and readily displaying a royal chest that attracts admirers of all stripes).
Memories of a Burning Body
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Midnight Phoenix
- Excerpt: Why is life such a drag?
My Favorite Cake
Samuel Castro @ El Colombiano [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Tendría que haber más películas protagonizadas por viejos. Sería lógico, siendo la vejez un destino para el que todos compramos tiquete. Pero su ausencia permanente de la ficción audiovisual es parte de un acto de negación que el cine siempre ha patrocinado, porque finalmente cuando recordamos a las estrellas, pensamos en ellas en su momento de apogeo físico.
The New Boy
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: [A] dual threat of metaphor via fantastical realism and the cultural violence inherent to colonialism. [Thornton’s embrace of Catholicism ensures] the film doesn’t become a hit piece as much as a level-headed, compassionate view of how [alike we all are].
- Excerpt: The perils of assimilation
Parthenope
Samuel Castro @ El Colombiano [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Tal vez por una formación religiosa y estética que a veces son la misma, tendemos a conferirle a aquello que es bello todas las cualidades morales e intelectuales que apreciamos.
The Sealed Soil
- Excerpt: Now newly restored in 4K by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, The Sealed Soil is a film of measured pace, meditative atmosphere, and female frustration that deserves the comparisons it has received to the Chantal Akerman classic Jeanne Dielman.
The Track
- Excerpt: What in the luge is this all about?
We Want the Funk
- Excerpt: “Let the groove take over”
When Fall Is Coming
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Luminous octogenarian Hélène Vincent compels as the sympathetic but potentially guilty Michelle, supported with equally riveting and ambiguous performances from Balasko and Lottin, only Sagnier parading her emotions unequivocally.
2024 Films
Better Man
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Bird
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Memoir of a Snail
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
September 5.
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Small Things Like These
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Bam Bam: The Sister Nancy Story
Gregory Carlson @ southpawfilmworks.net
Pig at the Crossing
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: There are many traits in “Pig at the Crossing”, which fans of arthouse movies with some knowledge of Buddhism will definitely appreciate. For others, however, this will definitely be a challenging watch.
Rent Free
- Excerpt: So many rooms blind to the view
About the Author
