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. 27, 2023
Limited (United States)
Kompromat
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: while “Kompromat” is a popcorn political thriller with some genuinely tense moments, it suffers from believability issues with its two main characters.
2023Films In Theaters Now In Select Areas
M3GAN
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Beautiful Beings
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: It’s a story about the power of friendship and the reality that its strength can be both solid enough to move mountains and too volatile to last.
House Party
Rick Aragon @ Rick’s Texan Reviews
Jethica
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: the best thing Ohs and his cast have accomplished is never undermining the seriousness of stalking while achieving a gently comedic tone before wrapping with a feel good ending you may not see coming.
Kids vs. Aliens
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
- Excerpt: There are kids, there are aliens, there are kids versus aliens!
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: KIDS VS. ALIENS provides a rollicking good time with tweens swearing up a storm as bodies fall left and right. And while I assumed it would embrace that sense of fun absurdity, I didn’t anticipate how impressive the stakes might prove.
Legions
Mamacruz
Bavner Donaldo @ Cinejour [Indonesian]
Millennium Mambo
- Excerpt: Director Hou Hsiao-hsien’s 2001 film Millennium Mambo is a dizzying, dreamlike depiction of the life and loves of one young woman in Taipei at the turn of the twenty-first century.
Missing
Thomasena Farrar @ musicmoviesthoughts.com
- Excerpt: Reid portrays June with equal parts ingenuity and desperation, ably carrying the weight of the film and holding the audience’s attention well beyond the twisty reveal.
Sarah Gopaul @ Digital Journal
- Excerpt: Reid keeps the audience engaged with the story as it twists and turns in unexpected directions.
Aaron Neuwirth @ We Live Entertainment
- Excerpt: The expanded scope of the story and some underwhelming performances do little to allow the viewer to buy in beyond some of the more visceral or heavy-handed emotional moments.
Mission Majnu
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
My Animal
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
- Excerpt: The film uses a lycanthropic framework and mythology to tell the story of jilted first love, finding oneself amid all the noise of growing up, and coming to terms with who and where we are. What could possibly be more human than that?
New Religion
Gregory J. Smalley @ 366 Weird Movies
- Excerpt: Kondo’s curious concoction will mesmerize and enthrall many art-horror fans. Others will find the deliberate pacing more of a chore—while still being intermittently mesmerized and enthralled.
Out of Exile
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
- Excerpt: There’s ambition in Out of Exile, and it has something on its mind, which is admirable. But ultimately the lo-fi, no-frills DTV-style crime thriller (it presents as an action movie, but even in the heist scenes, the action remains minimal) has big ideas hampered by threadbare execution, and there’s unfortunately not much to recommend.
Plane
Rick Aragon @ Rick’s Texan Reviews
Shotgun Wedding
Travis Burgess @ The Sacred Wall
- Excerpt: Jennifer Lopez leads a game ensemble in the predictable, but cute action-rom-com ‘Shotgun Wedding’
There’s Something Wrong with the Children
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
- Excerpt: Children are creepy. The woods are creepy. Children in the woods? Creepy.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The ending can feel repetitive and convenient at times, but it’s not because the filmmakers couldn’t decide how to finish things. It’s precisely because their messaging deals with subjects that cannot be finished. Its programming is ingrained in our DNA.
When You Finish Saving the World
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: There’s a difference between good characters that have weaknesses and those that are simply obnoxious.
2022 Films
Aftersun
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
All Quiet on the Western Front
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Avatar: The Way of Water
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Babylon
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Bones and All
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Elvis
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Fabelmans
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Funny Pages
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Holy Spider
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
A Man Called Otto
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Men
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Silent Twins
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Top Gun: Maverick
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Vortex
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Woman King
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Alice, Darling
As Good As Dead
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
- Excerpt: https://www.thelastthingisee.com/2022/12/as-good-as-dead-2022-movie-review.html
Close
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: a sensitive examination of the restrictions society places on masculinity, robbing men of intimacy it deems inappropriate. Eden Dambrine… simply gives one of the great child performances committed to film.
Bavner Donaldo @ Cinejour [Indonesian]
Corsage
Gregory Carlson @ southpawilmworks.net
Descendant
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: The result is a powerful account of a living history. That which happened doesn’t just end because time passes. The consequences and pain reverberate through generations.
High Heat
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
A Night of Knowing Nothing
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Kapadia’s work is formally strong with a captivatingly sensorial atmosphere, so it’s easy to see why it has found such staunch defenders. It’s not too difficult to fathom someone hating it too, though.
The Quiet Girl
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: It’s a subdued drama that allows us to sit with the characters as they sit with each other. This story doesn’t need gimmicks when a perfectly executed example of narrative mirroring is enough to express love via a hug.
The Son
Allen Almachar @ The MacGuffin
- Excerpt: There is no levity here – just pain, anguish and hopelessness. Whatever insights there are get lost in a sea of agony.
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: Because THE SON, much like Jackman’s Peter, is devoid of personality. It’s just scene after scene of “Afterschool Special” dialogue with zero room to let any of the actors breathe.
Stars at Noon
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: It’s two people in a complicated world that’s glossed over so their lust takes the spotlight. A tease of intrigue fizzling out every time we fool ourselves into believing a payoff may yet arrive.
The Territory
Jared Mobarak @ Hey, have you seen …?
- Excerpt: It’s a compelling narrative with gorgeous cinematography that humanizes the insane destruction of our world’s lungs.
Troll
Mark Leeper @ Mark Leeper’s Reviews
- Excerpt: TROLL is the latest movie featuring this creature from Nordic folklore.
Ultrasound
Mark Leeper @ Mark Leeper’s Reviews
- Excerpt: ULTRASOUND has a disorienting first scene, and continues to be disorienting.
A Wounded Fawn
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: Stevens certainly doesn’t hold anything back in A Wounded Fawn, which, for some, may be a detriment, however, when a serial killer film embraces a spirit of hatefulness towards the killer and uses mythology to do it, then why hold back at all?
