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. 23, 2020
Wide (United States)
None
Limited (United States)
Synchronic
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
- Excerpt: Ambitious and weird and unlike anything you’re likely to encounter anytime soon.
- Excerpt: Synchronic is one of the best films of the year, another corker of a sci-fi thriller from writing/directing duo Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson.
Gregory J. Smalley @ 366 Weird Movies
- Excerpt: The characters are likable, their situations dramatic and relatable, and they’re all set up for a speculative blast that will blow the hinges off. The problem is that when the sci-fi twist arrives, it’s basic and contrived, and not weird enough to compensate for its unbelievability.
2020 Films In Theaters Now In Select Areas
The Call of the Wild
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Devil All the Time
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Gentlemen
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Glorias
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Honest Thief
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Invisible Man
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Onward
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Possessor
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Sonic the Hedgehog
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Trial of the Chicago 7
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
American Dharma
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Morris’s conversation with Bannon reveals a lot and is, in fact, a more illuminating look at the man than last year’s “The Brink.”
The Antenna
Gregory J. Smalley @ 366 Weird Movies
- Excerpt: Debuting director Behram shows obvious skill in building fear. It’s a talent that might be better harnessed in service of a more propulsive script in the future.
Bad Hair
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: Similar to Anna being disregarded because of appearances, the film’s intellectual drive is consumed by its superficial, mainstream genre façade. [But] it’s not a total loss.
Belly of the Beast
- Excerpt: Cohn uses the story of Kelli Dillon as the entry point to the horrifying practice of involuntary sterilization of female prisoners in California, with a look back at the history of the eugenics movement in the United States.
Black Bear
Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
- Excerpt: They are bringing to life the bleakest and harshest corners of their craft through situations in which they have most definitely been on both the giving and receiving end.
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: …while Mikael Pence is never reached, plenty of CPAC attendees barely glance at Cohen beneath his full KKK regalia and Rudy Giuliani, who thought he’d escaped being made a mockery of, is now being investigated for his (really disgusting) behavior…
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
MaryAnn Johanson @ FlickFilosopher.com
- Excerpt: A work of breathtaking audacity. This is as perilous as comedy gets, and it’s very, very funny, often shockingly so. Sacha Baron Cohen’s scathing cultural strikes land like extinction-level asteroids.
The Boys in the Band
Luiz Santiago @ Plano Crítico [Portuguese]
Brahms: The Boy II
Amir Siregar @ Amir at the Movies [Indonesian]
- Excerpt: As lifeless and blank as Brahms’ expression.
Clouds
- Excerpt: For Zach, the question is vital and it is urgent. For the rest of us, this movie is a reminder that we should not have to wait to fly above the clouds to keep our lives wild and precious.
The Devil Has a Name
Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
- Excerpt: Olmos is therefore the “cool” teacher presenting serious subject matter in a colorful way. And to that end he succeeds.
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.
Evil Eye
Herman Dhaliwal @ Cinema Sanctum
- Excerpt: Evil Eye is a disappointment. A few solid elements suffer under the weight of a dull narrative that is full of missed opportunities.
Fantasy Island
Amir Siregar @ Amir at the Movies [Indonesian]
- Excerpt: ‘Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island’ is every moviegoer’s worst nightmare.
The Forty-Year-Old Version
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: [Blank] puts the ups and downs from the past couple years into this fictionalized version of herself who faced so many of the same questions and struggles she did.
Guns Akimbo
Amir Siregar @ Amir at the Movies [Indonesian]
- Excerpt: Guns Akimbo’ may be too mild to be memorable but it is a mostly satisfying time-waster thanks to some action scenes that are lively enough and a game ensemble cast.
Jumbo
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: Jumbo is more akin to a children’s film [than Cronenberg] with its protagonist discovering something impossibly amazing only to be dismissed outright by adults.
Khuda Haafiz
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
Kill It and Leave This Town
Luiz Santiago @ Plano Crítico [Portuguese]
Love and Monsters
Herman Dhaliwal @ Cinema Sanctum
- Excerpt: There’s a lot of fun to be had with this, from its humor to its engaging action sequences to the very charming and vulnerable lead performance from Dylan O’Brien.
Love and Monsters
MaryAnn Johanson @ FlickFilosopher.com
- Excerpt: This pleasantly silly-sad apocalypse, melancholy with a dash of optimism, smashes clichés and finds fresh angles on the familiar. Dylan O’Brien has a self-deprecating charm; there’s a great dog, too.
Love and Monsters
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: Love and Monsters is the perfect movie if you can’t decide whether you want a romantic-comedy or a horror flick.
Love and Monsters
Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
- Excerpt: Love and Monsters proves itself a pretty well rounded adventure for both its target audience and those older looking for a bit of escape that’s still firmly rooted in reality.
Martin Eden
- Excerpt: For all that’s good in Martin Eden, it can also be a tough watch, particularly if you come to the picture expecting a heroic biopic in the traditional Hollywood style.
Minari
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: Minari [is packed] with layered metaphors, multiple focal points, and a dense environment full of examples every character can lean on to learn the error of their way.
The Mothman Legacy
Betty Jo Tucker @ ReelTalk Movie Reviews
- Excerpt: Much of this horror documentary is exceptionally artistic and well done.
The Paramedic
Luiz Santiago @ Plano Crítico [Portuguese]
Radium Girls
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Quinn is riveting as the older, more well read sister Jo, a doomed romantic heroine of high order. It is horrific to watch her deteriorate before our eyes, the filmmakers utilizing just enough gore to emphasize radium’s devastating consequences.
Rebecca
Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
- Excerpt: Wheatley’s Rebecca is still a very good film when judged on its own. Certain decisions may render the whole more one-note in some aspects, but never less effective.
Run
Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
- Excerpt: They’ve set a complex and nuanced trap with multiple layers ensuring every new discovery comes with another puzzle to solve. Every answer doubles as deflection.
Save Yourselves!
Dennis Schwartz @ Dennis Schwartz Reviews
- Excerpt: Quirky comedy.
Shithouse
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Excerpt: This is the kind of movie you just want to hug.
The Sounding
Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
- Excerpt: The end result is a powerful metaphor for our world’s prevalence to marginalize.
Time
Totally Under Control
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: Rather than move the voter gauge, this documentary is primed to move the historical conversation that will continue to be written over the next decade or more.
The True Adventures of Wolfboy
Jared Mobarak @ The Film Stage
- Excerpt: Krejcí’s film possesses the necessary weight and purpose that allows its palatable genre trappings to deliver its morals to an audience that may otherwise avoid them.
Undine
Jared Mobarak @ JaredMobarak.com
- Excerpt: Petzold uses the plausibility that make-believe, reality, and grief can each be layered atop one another to keep what’s going on shrouded in uncertainty.
Uppercase Print
Luiz Santiago @ Plano Crítico [Portuguese]
Waiting for the Barbarians
Amir Siregar @ Amir at the Movies [Indonesian]
- Excerpt: Ciro Guerra’s adaptation of the J. M. Coetzee novel ends up confused, dull, and woefully shallow because it’s too busy being symbolic to deliver a followable narrative.
The Way I See It
Dennis Schwartz @ Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
- Excerpt: A picture is worth a thousand words.
The Wolf House
Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: This stop-motion animated movie isn’t heavy on plot, but as a visual nightmare it’s spectacular.
2019 Films
Pets United
Luiz Santiago @ Plano Crítico [Portuguese]
Psychomagic: A Healing Art
Luiz Santiago @ Plano Crítico [Portuguese]
