Because of embargoes (those happy little restrictions on when critics can post reviews, good or bad), a lot of our critics aren’t able to share links with you until release day. Here are some last-minute reviews for this weekend’s upcoming films. We’ve kept in all the reviews posted yesterday as well so you can have more help in deciding what to see (if you haven’t already).
Our critics have been hard at work reviewing the latest films. Here is a look at what’s coming out this weekend (in select cities, check your local listings) and what else may be in theaters right now.
Opening: Jun. 13-15, 2014
Wide (United States)
22 Jump Street
[New Reviews Today] For member reviews of this film, follow this link
How to Train Your Dragon 2
[New Reviews Today] For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Limited (United States)
The Amazing Catfish
Kenji Fujishima @ Slant Magazine
Lullaby
[New Today] Kevin Carr @ 7M Pictures
- Excerpt: “Lullaby” gives a heartbreakingly realistic portrayal of the disease and not just what it does to the body, but to the family as well.
[New Today] Susan Granger @ www.susangranger.com
- Excerpt: Grim and grief-filled – with little that’s uplifting to redeem the prevailing mood of despair.
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
The Rover
[New Today] Chris Barsanti @ Film Racket
- Excerpt: The Rover is skillfully put together with a jarring score, crisp cinematography, and a clutch of resonant performances. But although the film has a confident Kathryn Bigelow snap, it has a hard time amounting to the sum of its parts.
David Bax @ Battleship Pretension
- Excerpt: Amidst the existentialist malaise, Michôd finds room for the gut-knotting suspense of his previous film, Animal Kingdom, as well as for Pattinson to sing along to Keri Hilson’s “Pretty Girl Rock” (the lyrics of which, “Don’t hate me ‘cause I’m beautiful,” may be a direct appeal to the anti-Twilight sect).
[New Today] Blake Howard @ Graffiti With Punctuation
Simon Miraudo @ Quickflix
The Signal
[New Reviews Today] For member reviews of this film, follow this link
2014 Films In Theaters Now In Select Areas
13 Sins
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Anna
- Excerpt: “Anna” plays with horror conventions but never really gets to the point of delivering real shocks.
Travis Hopson @ Punch Drunk Critics
- Excerpt: Great performances aside, there’s little about the film that carries much weight.
Authors Anonymous
Betty Jo Tucker @ ReelTalk Movie Reviews
Begin Again
Simon Miraudo @ Quickflix
Belle
[New Reviews Today] For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Borgman
Jeremy Kibler @ Diabolique Magazine
- Excerpt: It is something when a film makes two of 2014’s arguably best films—Under the Skin and Enemy—seem accessible by comparison, but this horror-tinged whatchamacallit truly is uncompromising, unsettling, cryptic, elegantly shot and, frankly, quite weird.
Burt’s Buzz
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ SpiritualityandPractice.com
- Excerpt: A documentary about a Maine recluse who at 76 years of age makes public appearances as the icon of the Burt’s Bees brand.
Cabin Fever: Patient Zero
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Child’s Pose
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Devil’s Knot
[New Reviews Today] For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Edge of Tomorrow
[New Reviews Today] For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Fault in Our Stars
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The German Doctor
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Grand Seduction
Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: So, why do we need a French Canadian English language remake of a 10 year old French Canadian film which itself was a cute but uninspired take on “Doc Hollywood” by way of “Local Hero?”
Gulaab Gang
[New Today] Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
The Hornet’s Nest
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
Ida
Susan Granger @ www.susangranger.com
- Excerpt: Exquisite and intellectually affecting in its brief, precise 80 minutes.
The Immigrant
[New Reviews Today] For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Life Itself
Simon Miraudo @ Quickflix
Locke
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Love Punch
Dragan Antulov @ Draxblog VI [Croatian]
Maleficent
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
A Million Ways to Die in the West
[New Reviews Today] For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Neighbors
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Night Moves
[New Reviews Today] For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Noah
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Oculus
[New Reviews Today] For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Palo Alto
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Obvious Child
[New Today] Mark Dujsik @ Mark Reviews Movies
- Excerpt: It’s that sense of normalcy that makes the film such a subversive success in terms of addressing a political debate that … it otherwise goes out of its way to avoid having.
The Raid 2: Berandal
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Sacrament
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Trust Me
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ SpiritualityandPractice.com
- Excerpt: A grim portrait of an agent for young actors who takes his best shot at success in the nasty and venal Hollywood film community.
Travis Hopson @ Punch Drunk Critics
The Two Faces of January
José Arce @ LaButaca.net [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Adaptación bastante sosa de la novela de Patricia Highsmith en la que la emoción brilla por su ausencia. Poca química general en una producción en la que lo más destacado es su catálogo textil y de complementos para lucir bajo el sol europeo.
The Unknown Known
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Willow Creek
Jeremy Kibler @ The Artful Critic
- Excerpt: Willow Creek may not reach “rave” status or leave you screaming, but whether or not the faux-footage subgenre is ready to be put out to pasture, this little exercise still keeps it going without reinvention or regression.
Words and Pictures
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
X-Men: Days of Future Past
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
2013 Films In Theaters Now In Select Areas
I Am Divine
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Invisible Woman
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
2014 Films (Coming Soon)
112 Weddings
[New Today] MaryAnn Johanson @ FlickFilosopher.com
- Excerpt: A startling and welcome breath of reality for an institution overladen by fantasy in our culture. Happily ever after is hard!
365 Days: A Year in Happy Valley
Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
Cannibal
Brent McKnight @ Beyond Hollywood
- Excerpt: More a slow burn thriller than an exploitation horror movie, ‘Cannibal’ may involve eating human flesh, but is about much more.
Farewell, Herr Schwarz
- Excerpt: Powerful documentary about family history and legacy.
The Golden Dream
Samuel Castro @ Ochoymedio.info [Spanish]
- Excerpt: El desgraciado viaje de un grupo de muchachos que tendrá que arriesgarse a perderlo todo para conseguir muy poco.
Grace of Monaco
MaryAnn Johanson @ FlickFilosopher.com
- Excerpt: It’s not exactly emotionally enthralling, but there’s still much that’s intriguing in this portrait of a woman who refused to let herself be pushed out of frame.
[New Today] Jason Pirodsky @ Expats.cz
- Excerpt: Dahan’s film is a howlingly overwrought melodrama that bears little resemblance to the actual characters and events it portrays. This thing hits so many false notes along the way that it eventually becomes a risible waste of time for everyone involved, particularly the audience.
Hide and Seek
Hunting Elephants
- Excerpt: This consistently delightful film should please audiences young and old.
Jimmy’s Hall
- Excerpt: Jimmy’s Hall is moving, especially towards the end, and it does make you angry – just as every Ken Loach film should – but, sadly, it just doesn’t seem moving or angry enough.
Korengal
- Excerpt: The main problem with the film is the same as in Restrepo. Both films claim to be apolitical and there is little to no engagement with anything unsavoury, which ultimately only succeeds in making the film feel equally culpable.
Love Is Strange
Simon Miraudo @ Quickflix
Miraculum
- Excerpt: Film boasts a strong ensemble including Xavier Dolan, Anne Dorval and Marilyn Castonguay
A Perfect Plan
[New Today] MaryAnn Johanson @ FlickFilosopher.com
- Excerpt: With rom-coms like this, who needs warcrimes? This is the most cruel, most contrived romantic comedy I have ever had the displeasure to endure.
Two Days, One Night
Simon Miraudo @ Quickflix
Violette
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ SpiritualityandPractice.com
- Excerpt: A triumphant biopicture about an immensely creative bisexual woman who has been called France’s greatest unknown writer.
