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: Jan. 22, 2021
Limited (United States)
No Man’s Land
Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
- Excerpt: Rather than focus on white Americans’ need to open eyes to [their] vitriol and hate, the script asks their victims to shoulder the responsibility of their own oppression.
PG: Psycho Goreman
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: a very clever concept, but although it’s amusing for a while, “Psycho Goreman” spins off in too many directions, plot overtaking its simpler pleasures.
Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
- Excerpt: By never [giving anyone] a path towards redemption, Kostanski keeps things entertaining with a detached sense of revelry that lets us enjoy the gore without remorse.
2021 Films In Theaters Now In Select Areas
The Marksman
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Acasa, My Home
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: Ciorniciuc provides all we need by simply documenting the Enaches as society’s vice perpetually tightens around them.
Acasa, My Home
Atlantis
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Filmed in an exaggerated widescreen in a series of single long takes, often static, Vasyanovych uses the horizon to contrast before and after, in one sequence three horizontal perspectives moving in opposite directions.
Atlantis
- Excerpt: Written, directed, shot, and edited by filmmaker Valentyn Vasyanovych, the film follows one veteran as he tries to overcome the horrors of the past despite being surrounded by reminders in the present. Yet despite some artistic merit and admirable intentions, Atlantis left me as cold as the barren Ukrainian plains depicted in the film.
Bloody Hell
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: O’Toole’s gleefully deranged dual performance (Rex’s conscience, a device which allows the actor dialogue when alone) and the stylish energy Grierson brings to the film are often reminiscent of Ryan Reynolds’ “Deadpool.”
The Dig
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: uses the events surrounding what has been called the ‘British Tutankhamun’ as a reflection on the evolving cycle of humankind by accentuating sex and death…in what might be considered a top notch ‘Masterpiece’ production.
The Marksman
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: : although this one’s formulaic, it’s well crafted all around, Neeson enjoying genuine moments with young Perez, cinematographer Mark Patten’s (“Morgan”) widescreen lensing a huge plus.
MLK/FBI
MaryAnn Johanson @ FlickFilosopher.com
- Excerpt: Beautiful in its style, enraging in its substance, this skewering of the FBI’s surveillance of the civil-rights icon is essential for understanding the near-term roots of white supremacy in America.
My Little Sister
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: a moving character piece about the fierce bond between siblings who relied upon each other growing up with theatrical parents while forging their own path in the family’s chosen art world.
Notturno
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: “Notturno” is a series of vignettes, some more engaging than others, some featuring stories Rosi returns to, others not… his imagery here often starkly powerful or lyrically beautiful.
The Reason I Jump
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: Hopefully audiences will see The Reason I Jump and acknowledge the ways in which they can help too. Understanding is the first step.
Some Kind of Heaven
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: With “Some Kind of Heaven,” Oppenheim’s created a spiritual successor to Errol Morris’s “Vernon, Florida with the style of Todd Hayne’s “Far from Heaven.” It’s a must see.
Spoor
- Excerpt: An ecological thriller that is not without flashes of humor courtesy of its wonderfully weird cast of characters, Spoor is guaranteed to make many audience members uncomfortable. In my case, it also left me hopeful.
Tribhanga
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
The White Tiger
Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
- Excerpt: The White Tiger is thus as much a changing of the guard as it is scathing commentary on life in India.
2020 Films
Another Round
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Bacurau
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Collective
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Dick Johnson Is Dead
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Father
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Forty-Year-Old-Version
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
La Llorona
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Minari
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
News of the World
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Nomadland
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
On the Rocks
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
One Night in Miami
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Painter and the Thief
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Rhythm Section
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Soul
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Wolfwalkers
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Wonder Woman 1984
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Artemis Fowl
Joao Pinto @ Portal Cinema [Portuguese]
City Hall
Josh Taylor @ The Forgetful Film Critic
- Excerpt: His name is only mentioned a handful of times, but City Hall is ultimately an uplifting anti-Trump film; it’s perhaps the only one we need.
Echo Boomers
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: The actors are having fun toeing that line and bringing us into the unbridled destruction as a vicarious outlet for which we won’t have to suffer the consequences.
Hunter Hunter
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: Hunter Hunter is a case of style over substance and your ability to appreciate that more than denigrate it will be the sole barometer of whether you leave satisfied.
Lucy in the Sky
Joao Pinto @ Portal Cinema [Portuguese]
Pieces of a Woman
Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: Vanessa Kirby’s performance is the best reason to see this.
Ten Minutes to Midnight
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: That [it] works on two levels—schlocky thrills and mining [its lead’s] psychology—is a positive even if that duality [tends to harm] the latter while augmenting the former.
