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: Nov. 12, 2021
Limited (United States)
Belfast
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: while the film, beautifully shot in black and white (by cinematographer Haris Zambarloukoshaving), has some charming moments, Branagh’s failure to establish his point of view as belonging solely to Buddy renders too many aspects of his film inauthentic.
Julia
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: …a thorough biographical documentary that makes its case for Julia Child’s incredible influence on American cooking by reminding us what we were eating before she hit the airwaves.
2021 Films In Theaters Now In Select Areas
Dune
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Eternals
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Rescue
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
All is Forgiven
- Excerpt: Winner of the Louis Delluc Prize for Best First Film in 2007 (shared with Céline Sciamma’s Water Lilies), All is Forgiven chronicles the breakdown of a family and a daughter’s attempt to understand the real reasons why many years later. With its bold use of time jumps and refreshing lack of excessive sentimentality, the film is an early showcase of the unique storytelling sensibility that Hansen-Løve continues to display with increasing sophistication in her work.
Ascension
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: This largely dialogue-free film uses a series of visual patterns comprised of people and things edited to its percussive score, unspooling like Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times” through the lens of “Koyaanisqatsi” with a touch of Jacques Tati.
Becoming Cousteau
Mark Leeper @ Mark Leeper’s Reviews
- Excerpt: This is a biography of Jacques-Yves Cousteau. These days nearly every documentary about nature will contain a downbeat note that the world we see is being destroyed by the selfishness of people, and this film is no different.
The Beta Test
Finch
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Thankfully, director Miguel Sapochnik (“Repo Men”) has Tom Hanks and a sweet rescue named Seamus and his decision to just embrace his material’s corniness works in its favor. This movie is made for anyone who’s ever noted that DOG is GOD spelled backwards.
Finch
Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: The story restlessly tugs at your heartstrings. When the robot isn’t acting cute, there’s also a puppy to melt your heart.
The Gateway
Sebastian Zavala @ Ventana Indiscreta
- Excerpt: A B-style thriller, with a long-suffering and uncommunicative protagonist, and a relatively simple but relevant plot.
The Harder They Fall
Betty Jo Tucker @ ReelTalk Movie Reviews
- Excerpt: A rootin’ tootin’ shootin’ Western with real characters portrayed by a great cast of Black actors. Plus, the film boasts a terrific soundtrack.
Hell Hath No Fury
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
- Excerpt: Stolen gold. Nazi conspiracies. Tangled webs of greed, betrayal, and vengeance. Jesse V. Johnson’s Hell Hath No Fury hath damn near everything a historical action thriller needs.
New York Ninja
- Excerpt: With no script, soundtrack, or production notes of any kind to work from, Vinegar Syndrome edited reels of 35mm film, recorded dialogue with a cast of cult faves from the 1980s, and enlisted the band Voyag3r to compose and record a stunning, synth-heavy score. The resulting New York Ninja, with directing credit belonging to both Liu and Kurtis Spieler, is a campy, action-packed delight that deserves its chance to finally be seen by the audiences that will appreciate it most.
The Nowhere Inn
- Excerpt: From Clark’s initial encounter with a limo driver who doesn’t recognize her, to a bass player who decides he’ll be Australian on camera, to a hilarious bit part by Dakota Johnson as the tabloid-friendly love interest, ‘The Nowhere Inn’ undercuts charges of pretentiousness by putting funny first.
Only the Animals
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Here, adapting Colin Niel’s novel, [Moll] takes on the more modern issue of the ripple effect of a falsehood perpetrated over the Internet, but his Chinese puzzle box of a plot is overly impressed with its own cleverness…
Playing with Sharks–The Valerie Taylor Story
Mark Leeper @ Mark Leeper’s review
- Excerpt: This National Geographic film tells the story of Valerie Taylor, who has worked to educate the world about sharks, and to promote conservation efforts for them.
The Power of the Dog
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: a masterpiece of psychologically intricate subtext unfolding within the majesty of the American West.
The Rescue
Mark Leeper @ Mark Leeper’s Reviews
- Excerpt: THE RESCUE is a documentary about the rescue of a Thai boys’ soccer team trapped in Tham Luang Cave in June 2018, when an early monsoon rainfall blocked many of the entrances and would soon flood the cave. Unfortunately, while the rescue was a momentous rescue, the film ended up just average, with perhaps too many scenes of people outside the cave that did not convey new information.
This Is My Desire
The Velvet Underground
Josh Taylor @ The Forgetful Film Critic
- Excerpt: Because of its daring style, The Velvet Underground is destined to become a classic of the music documentary genre.
