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: Jun. 19, 2020
Wide (United States)
None.
Limited (United States)
Babyteeth
Babyteeth
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: First time feature director Shannon Murphy turns an Australian stage play (adapted by its author Rita Kalnejais) into a dramedy about embracing life with strong subtexts about psychiatry versus art therapy and prescribed versus recreational drug abuse.
Babyteeth
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: It’s a messy existence that mirrors the unpredictability of life and yet the filmmakers never chastise their characters or moralize their actions.
Followed
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: …like “Paranormal Activity” crossed with Ty West’s “Innkeepers” with writer Todd Klick adding a psychological twist… This one’s claim of having been based on true events is also more valid than most.
2020 Films In Theaters Now In Select Areas
Becky
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Da 5 Bloods
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Shirley
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
2040
MaryAnn Johanson @ FlickFilosopher.com
- Excerpt: A dash of eco-optimism to counter global-warming doom and gloom. Gameau is an enormously engaging fact-based dreamer offering a much-needed mindset refresh and proactive actions we can engage in now.
7500
Andrea Chase @ KillerMovieReviews.com
- Excerpt: By removing any hint of sensationalism from the events, filmmaker Patrick Vollrath focuses on the moment-to-moment uncertainty of people ripped in an instant from the security of their familiar routines, and then forced to face both impossible choices as well as their own mortality.
7500
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: At best it reveals the film to be tone-deaf in its bid to humanize victims of a complex situation by placing them in the exact scenario westerners use to dehumanize them.
7500
365 Dni
Joao Pinto @ Portal Cinema [Portuguese]
Artemis Fowl
Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: Easily one of the worst movies of the year. Given the state of film in 2020, that’s really saying something.
Artemis Fowl
MaryAnn Johanson @ FlickFilosopher.com
- Excerpt: A disaster of a kids’ fantasy caper; feels like it’s making up the plot as it goes. A mishmash of manufactured wonder: characters barely sketched, action seemingly setting up future Disney World rides.
Artemis Fowl
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: Destined to bore children and adults alike.
Darkness Falls
Dreamland
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: It often feels devoid of both rhyme and reason. That’s what makes it so divisive—you either embrace the ride or revolt against it.
Driven
- Excerpt: This microbudget cross between Collateral, Clerks, and The First Power revels in simultaneously making peace with and having fun with its limitations.
Exit Plan
Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
- Excerpt: The whole shifts gears [to] become more about the hotel than the man we’ve invested in. You can’t just make the MacGuffin important at the eleventh hour and expect us to care.
Hammer
Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
- Excerpt: At only 82-minutes, Hammer contains very little that isn’t meticulously drawn by Sparkes as relevant to the whole—[most] occurring on the edge between rage and forgiveness.
Hammer
Infamous
Herman Dhaliwal @ Cinema Sanctum
- Excerpt: The film is made with style, and Bella Thorne is a compelling lead, but the story is far too hollow and formulaic.
Judy & Punch
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: Judy & Punch succeeds in large part because of how it mixes [farcical comedy and poignant social commentary] together to increase the potency of their respective impact.
The King of Staten Island
Herman Dhaliwal @ Cinema Sanctum
- Excerpt: It is Judd Apatow’s most affecting film in recent memory, and it cements Pete Davidson as a star.
The King of Staten Island
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: A comedy of real substance.
The King of Staten Island
Betty Jo Tucker @ ReelTalk Movie Reviews
- Excerpt: Although this comedy-drama starring one of our favorite SNL regulars failed to evoke much laughter from my husband and me, we both appreciate the humanity and hope the film offers.
The Lovebirds
Joao Pinto @ Portal Cinema [Portuguese]
Miss Juneteenth
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: …a gem that thrusts Beharie into a well deserved spotlight and announces Peoples as a filmmaker able to project the way circumstance and community have shaped her protagonist onto the screen and make us invested in her welfare.
Miss Juneteenth
Herman Dhaliwal @ Cinema Sanctum
- Excerpt: Channing Godfrey Peoples delivers a strong exploration of Black motherhood, anchored by a great lead performance from Nicole Beharie.
Miss Juneteenth
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: [Despite its] well-worn formula, [the film] still feels fresh thanks to a powerful central performance and authentically lived-in environment.
Mope
Herman Dhaliwal @ Cinema Sanctum
- Excerpt: As a film, it’s solid, but full of frustrations and missed opportunities, but as a debut, I think it shows promise for Heyne as a filmmaker, and our two leads put in good work.
Mr. Jones
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: Rather than merely seek to expose its titular character as a selfless hero, the film also looks to make visible the strings pulled by opportunists we thought we could trust.
Sometimes Always Never
MaryAnn Johanson @ FlickFilosopher.com
- Excerpt: Gentle kook and visual frolicking bury emotion in this tale of a man mired in grief. Little of its head-scratching whimsy makes a melancholy landing; most just floats away on wisps of insignificance.
The Surrogate
Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
- Excerpt: The result can be frustratingly militant in its desire to show all angles of its central conflict, but the questions it makes us ask ourselves are worth it.
The Surrogate
Dennis Schwartz @ Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
- Excerpt: Smart but talky indie drama of liberal New Yorkers concerned with a surrogate pregnancy and Down syndrome, as well as morality issues over abortion.
Tommaso
The Trip to Greece
James Jay Edwards @ The Big Smoke America
You Don’t Nomi
Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: An enjoyable and informative documentary about Paul Verhoeven’s “Showgirls”.
You Should Have Left
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: This is all pretty freaky stuff, but as Theo writes in his journal while his reflection in the window isn’t always doing the same, we begin to get a sense of déjà vu (just as we did when Stephen King began to repeat himself with “Secret Window,” also adapted by Koepp).
2019 Films
The Neighbour’s Window
Bavner Donaldo @ Cinejour [Indonesian]
2018 Films
CC
Joao Pinto @ Portal Cinema [Portuguese]
Judith Hotel
Bavner Donaldo @ Cinejour [Indonesian]
