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: Oct. 2, 2020
Limited (United States)
12 Hour Shift
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: Stacks macabre situations on top of each other to create a wild journey through a criminal enterprise.
The Antenna
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: The Antenna is an eerie dystopian horror that reflects Turkey’s descent over the past decade(+) into a state of mass surveillance.
The Boys in the Band
RIch Cline @ Shadows on the Wall
- Excerpt: Much of what is said is downright cruel, but this is a rare script that confronts enormous issues without flinching
Death of Me
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: Death of Me opens with a killer premise that grabs you by the throat. From there, it proceeds to gradually squander all the potential of that premise.
Possessor
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Brandon Cronenberg continues to delve into body tourism, this time through the eyes of professional assassin Tasya Vos, a woman who has perhaps put her own personality on ice one time too many.
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: One of the most harrowing and provocative horror films of the decade.
Save Yourselves!
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Mani and Reynolds wield witty dialogue (the line ‘The poof is in the cabin’ may be my favorite of 2020) with crack comedic timing, making “Save Yourselves!” a delightfully goofball entertainment.
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: A cheerful, pleasingly silly sci-fi rom-com.
2020 Films In Theaters Now In Select Areas
Amulet
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Becky
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Bill & Ted Face the Music
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Broken Hearts Gallery
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Infidel
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Kajillionaire
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Personal History of David Copperfield
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Tesla
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Artist’s Wife
Andrea Chase @ EatDrinkFilms.com
- Excerpt: By refusing to compromise about life’s messiness, it makes an art of chaos in elegantly composed vignettes filmed with a chilly beauty, and gives us an ending that is maddening, yet absolutely true.
Buoyancy
Ronald wilkinson @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: A ghost ship haunts a blank sea forcing its occupants to choose their fates.
Dinner in America
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: What begins as an unpleasant satire of American life turns into a sweet romance without ever sacrificing its punk aesthetic.
Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Driven to Abstraction
Ronald wilkinson @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: As beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it turns out that reality is too.
Enola Holmes
RIch Cline @ Shadows on the Wall
- Excerpt: Snappy and sometimes downright goofy, this comical adventure is fast and entertaining, loaded with messages about empowerment
Enola Holmes
Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: Actress Millie Bobby Brown is delightful and charming as title character.
Enola Holmes
Betty Jo Tucker @ ReelTalk Movie Reviews
- Excerpt: ENOLA HOLMES should be the beginning of a fun film franchise. Something good is afoot!
Eternal Beauty
RIch Cline @ Shadows on the Wall
- Excerpt: Films about depression and mental instability are tricky to pull off, but actor-turned-filmmaker Craig Roberts brings a superbly expressive visual style to this darkly comical story
The Glorias
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: What can one say about a Gloria Steinem biopic in which she tap dances in a Black barbershop as a child or meets a cutesy couple of Harley enthusiasts in a diner who gush in admiration of her feminism? Corny, say I.
The Glorias
RIch Cline @ Shadows on the Wall
- Excerpt: Refreshingly, the script refuses to pull punches, facing big issues head-on while keeping the story personal
Hard Kill
Dennis Schwartz @ Dennis Schwartz Reviews
- Excerpt: Though I’ve seen worse thrillers, this was bad enough.
Misbehavior
Peter Nellhaus @ Coffee, Coffee and more Coffee
- Excerpt: There is not that great a distance between the mischievous children in Philippa Lowthorpe’s previous film, Swallows and Amazons and the disruptive women of Misbehaviour. Lowthorpe shows a delight in the shenanigans of this loosely assembled group that made up the beginnings of the Women’s Liberation movement in Britain, notably putting a halt to the Miss World competition that was internationally broadcast in November 1970.
Miu Miu Women’s Tales
Marilyn Ferdinand @ Alliance of Women Film Journalists
- Excerpt: For roughly the past decade, Italian high-fashion brand Miu Miu, a subsidiary of Prada, has been commissioning and releasing short films from some of the world’s most renowned women directors. As long as the films include Miu Miu fashions and accessories, the directors have been free to express their own creative impulses and personalities. Within the series, film fans will recognize signature flourishes along with great invention.
My Prince Edward
Peter Nellhaus @ Coffee, Coffee and more Coffee
- Excerpt: The good news is that Norris Wong’s debut as a writer/director is as worthy of acclaim as has been indicated by earlier critical reviews as well as award recognition.
Nomadland
Karl Delossantos @ Smash Cut Reviews
- Excerpt: Chloé Zhao makes Nomadland‘s melancholic but hopeful story of nomads traversing the American West a stunningly complex character study of life on the margins of society.
Notturno
Ronald wilkinson @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: There is only so much one can say about man’s inhumanity to man and this film says it all.
Oliver Sacks: His Own Life
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: …we also get a sense of the man largely through his sense of humor. Sacks confides that his love of the periodic table is so great, its featured on everything from his bedspread to his socks. Then there’s that great anecdote about Jello…
On the Rocks
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: …a father daughter caper movie that plays like Kay Thompson’s Eloise crossed with “Manhattan Murder Mystery…” features the Bill Murrayist of Bill Murray roles
The Secrets We Keep
Dennis Schwartz @ Dennis Schwartz Reviews
- Excerpt: Implausible thriller.
Seniors: A Dogumentary
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: … a big-hearted pitch on the benefits of adopting older dogs… the subject matter – and the subjects themselves – are all undeniably tail wag worthy.
Skin Walker
Ronald wilkinson @ itsjustmovies.com
- Excerpt: Small children doing the wrong things morph into adults doing even worse.
The Swerve
Tommaso
Gregory J. Smalley @ 366 Weird Movies
- Excerpt: This unflattering portrayal, of course, is Ferrara’s way of working out his own issues and anxieties on film—a public confessional that is as brave as it is uncomfortable for the viewer.
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: This momentous cultural event from the end of the turbulent 60’s is apt to floor those unfamiliar with the case given the uncanny similarities with events today… The film features a dynamic, sprawling ensemble, one of the best of the year.
