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: Dec. 31, 2021
Wide (United States)
None
2021 Films In Theaters Now In Select Areas
Ailey
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Being the Ricardos
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Belfast
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Don’t Look Up
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Drive My Car
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Dune
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Hand of God
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
I’m Your Man
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
King Richard
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The King’s Man
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Lamb
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Land
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Last Duel
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Licorice Pizza
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Lost Daughter
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Matrix Resurrections
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Nightmare Alley
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Pig
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Red Rocket
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Respect
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Sing 2
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Spencer
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Spider-Man: No Way Home
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Together
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West Side Story
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14 Peaks
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: The storytelling that made Chin and Vasarhelyi famous in “Free Solo,” is missing in “14 Peaks.” While the photography Nimsdai and his partners take is stunning, and Nims’ life is remarkable, there is no suspense or tension to lead the film emotionally.
Adrienne
Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
- Excerpt: [Ostroy] therefore takes it upon himself to remind the world of who [Shelly] was both as an actor/filmmaker and a wife/mother.
Azor
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: A suspenseful drama about the woes of the wealthy during times of political uncertainties in Argentina.
Beans
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: An indigenous girl’s coming of age as a warrior protecting tribal lands.
C’mon C’mon
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: [Mills’] films are about opening doors. And C’mon C’mon is smart enough to do exactly that without overstepping its reach or forgetting that the characters are king.
Convergence: Courage in Crisis
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ SpiritualityandPractice.com
- Excerpt: Stories of heroes in the Covid-19 pandemic.
Cyrano
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: The [songs] grind the proceedings to a halt rather than augment the ample drama, action, and comedy. It’s a shame too because this isn’t a bad film.
East of the Mountains
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: A deeply rich and tender-hearted drama about an elder’s experience of compassion.
Falling for Figaro
Mark Leeper @ Mark Leeper’s Reviews
- Excerpt: Millie Cantwell loves opera and wants to compete in the “Singer of Renown” contest, but naturally there are obstacles. The film has a nice selection of operatic arias, with the ones “sung” by the two leads actually voiced by Stacey Alleaume and Nathan Lay.
Finch
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: An unusual road movie full of life lessons for an engineer, a dog, and a robot.
The First 54 Years: An Abbreviated Manuel for Military Occupation
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: A sobering documentary about the effects on all sides of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people during its military occupation.
Flee
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ SpiritualityandPractice.com
- Excerpt: bold animated film about a refugee and the search for home.
French Exit
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: An impeccable comedy of manners full of quirky performances.
Gensan Punch
Panagiotis Kotzathanasis @ Asian Movie Pulse
- Excerpt: Brillante Mendoza seems on occasion, that he was not completely sure on the path he wanted his film to follow, and the fact is that the flashbacks of Nao’s past and even more so, a romantic notion that is also included, could have been completely omitted. Apart from that, however, “Gensan Punch” emerges as a rather captivating movie that presents the world of amateur boxing realistically, through the portrait of a captivating man.
The God Committee
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: A provocative drama about the ethical questions involved in choosing an organ transplant recipient.
A Hero
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Farhadi is known for crafting tales which appear black and white on the surface but reveal grayer and grayer layers the more we learn about his characters. Such is the case with his latest, easily his best film since his breakout hit “A Separation.”
A Journal for Jordan
- Excerpt: It is the story of an improbable romance between two very different people and the imperishable bond that they both wanted their son to understand.
Labyrinth of Cinema
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: …in his final film writer/director Nobuhiko Obayashi (“Hausu”) once again makes his strong anti-war sentiments very clear while being riotously entertaining – if you can keep up with it…a worthy capper to the career of a true cinematic maverick.
Little Fish
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: A love story set during a pandemic that reminds us of the importance of memories.
The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: A scientific quest for a whale unable to communicate with other whales that is also a metaphor for loneliness in our times.
Looking for a Lady with Fangs and a Moustache
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: Lessons in paying attention for a young Tibetan convinced he’s dying unless he can find the sacred feminine in the world around him.
Man in the Field: The Life and Art of Jim Denevan
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: “Man in the Field” is a spellbinding film for your mind.
New Year
Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
- Excerpt: There are some interesting ideas bandied about and you get the sense that the Suttons [and their actors] are creating from experience.
The Nowhere Inn
Mark Leeper @ Mark Leeper’s Reviews
- Excerpt: The main character, singer Annie Clark/St. Vincent (played by Annie Clark) asks a friend (Carrie Brownstein, played by Carrie Brownstein) to write and direct a documentary about her for her fans. But while the stage persona of St. Vincent is dynamic and exciting, the reality of Annie Clark is boring.
Paper & Glue
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ SpiritualityandPractice.com
- Excerpt: Inspiring stories behind JR’s monumental, creative, socially conscious immersive art.
Parallel Mothers
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: [Almodóvar] grounds things in authentic emotion by letting these women respond to impossible revelations with rage & confusion before [allowing] them to process & reconsider.
Prayers for the Stolen
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: Empathy building film about young girls in a Mexican village whose strong friendship helps them survive dangers from without.
Reel Asian Shorts
- Excerpt: Six shorts that are long in content
The Scary of Sixty-First
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: The Scary of Sixty-First will find an audience firmly affixed to its wavelength who will champion its boldly irreverent style as a cult classic. [I’m sadly not it.]
Son of Monarchs
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ SpiritualityandPractice.com
- Excerpt: Richly thematic and symbolic story of the parallel migrations of a Mexican scientist and the butterflies from his home region.
Test Pattern
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: [Healthcare is] a willfully malicious system meant to dissuade, demoralize, and dehumanize women. And Ford pushes [things] even further [with society’s role too].
They Say Nothing Stays the Same
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: A character study about a Japanese elder who models kindness, hospitality, and reverence.
The Tragedy of Macbeth
Karl Delossantos @ Smash Cut Reviews
- Excerpt: The way it moves, the way it looks, and the way it feels is otherworldly. Like you’re dropped into the Twilight Zone in the 17th Century.
The Tragedy of Macbeth
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: It’s as though [Coen] planned everything out for Broadway to ensure the actors remained grounded before expanding his visual scope to cinematic heights.
The Tragedy of Macbeth
Aaron Neuwirth @ We Live Entertainment
- Excerpt: Finding ways to creatively bring out the most from such a stark setup is clearly the challenge that’s been accepted and then turned on its head.
The Village Detective – A Song Cycle
Mark Leeper @ Mark Leeper’s Reviews
- Excerpt: THE VILLAGE DETECTIVE–A SONG CYCLE is a documentary about several reels of a 1969 film (THE VILLAGE DETECTIVE [“Derevenskiy detektiv”]) from the Soviet Union that were pulled up in 2016 in an Icelandic fishing trawler’s net.
Vivo
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: For soundtrack “Vivo” gets a hands-down 5/5. 100%! Kids and adults were entertained.
The Worst Person in the World
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: A film that dedicates itself to subverting the clichés one would expect from an archetypal –and romantic– story of a woman who’s lost in the world.
The Worst Person in the World
Sebastian Zavala @ Cinencuentro.com [Spanish]
- Excerpt: A film that dedicates itself to subverting the clichés one would expect from an archetypal –and romantic– story of a woman who’s lost in the world.
Worth
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: A substantial film about the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund that addresses whether it is possible to put a price tag on a life.
Writing with Fire
Bev Questad @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: The award-winning filmmakers, Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas, are social justice advocates and their films are used a “tools of advocacy in a wide array of educational and cultural spaces across the world.” “Writing with Fire” is an important and superbly crafted documentary.
2020 Films
Cajun Navy
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: Inspiring documentary about a movement of volunteers helping their neighbors during hurricanes and floods.
The Deported
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: Stories of four immigrants and their families facing the heartbreak of deportation.
A Girl from Mogadishu
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: Inspiring story of a true activist and exemplar of bearing witness.
Iyengar: The Man, Yoga, and the Student’s Journey
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: A fascinating glimpse into the master yoga teacher’s philosophy and teaching style.
2019 Films
Cajun Navy
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: Inspiring documentary about a movement of volunteers helping their neighbors during hurricanes and floods.
The Deported
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: Stories of four immigrants and their families facing the heartbreak of deportation.
A Girl from Mogadishu
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: Inspiring story of a true activist and exemplar of bearing witness.
Iyengar: The Man, Yoga, and the Student’s Journey
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: A fascinating glimpse into the master yoga teacher’s philosophy and teaching style.
