Another Day in America follows various employees of a corporation through the course of a day. Tracy (Alexis Knapp), the draconian head of Human Resources, has no problem with firing a worker for a sexist text from over a decade ago. Scott (Oliver Trevena) isn't happy that his ex-girlfriend and co-worker, Erin (Daphne Blunt), has slept with a client, Chris (Fred Bertino). Joe (Joey Oglesby) thinks that he might have gotten Shirley (Kayla Harrity) pregnant after getting drunk with her during a one-night stand. Those are just a few of the many subplots within the film. The screenplay by writer/director Emilio Mauro brims with dialogue that's pithy, honest and razor-sharp. There's almost as much profanity as there can be found in In the Loop. There are many characters, so many that, at times, it feels overstuffed with them. Give some time for all of the characters' stories to intersect and for the film's timely and provocative themes to rise to the surface.

      Another Day in America has a lot on its mind and isn't afraid to say it frankly and bluntly. Bravo to Natasha Henstridge for having the courage to take on a role that includes very frank sexual dialogue. There's no nudity, but emotional nakedness is often much more intimate than physically nakedness, and feels even more revealing when witnessing it. To be fair, subtlety isn't among the film's strengths, but that's forgivable because it says things that need to be said more often about gun violence, sex, gender roles, and social media. At 1 hour and 52 minutes, Another Day in America opens at The Kent Theater in Brooklyn via TriCoast Worldwide.

 

      After her friend, Didi (Haipeng Xu), dies, Amy (Wu Ke-xi) seeks comfort with Didi's lover Cheung (Lee Kang-sheng) who's also grieving the loss of Didi in Blue Sun Palace. Writer/director Constance Tsang has made a meditative and melancholic, but often lethargic, monotonous and underwhelming slice-of-life that moves at a sluggish pace. It's okay to trust the audience's patience as long as it fits the location and story. However, the story in this case takes place in the hustle and bustle of Queens, New York, the very slow pace makes no sense. After Didi's death, there's virtually no narrative momentum. Too many scenes overstay their welcome. Is it too much to ask for some comic relief? As François Truffaut once wisely observed, a great film has a perfect balance between Truth and Spectacle. Blue Sun Palace has very little Spectacle and a lot of Truth, but fails to find the Spectacle within the truth like other "slice of life" films manage to accomplish, i.e. Santosh, Found Memories and any Eric Rohmer film. It's well-shot with exquisite cinematography and lighting. However, its filmmaking style doesn't compensate for the lack of substance. Despite being about grief, love, emotional pain and friendship, the film has very little to say about those universal topics, so it ultimately leaves the audience cold and empty. At 1 hour and 56 minutes, Blue Sun Palace opens at The Metrograph via Dekanalog.

Number of times I checked my watch: 5




 

      Cheech & Chong's Last Movie is a mildly engaging and amusing, but overlong and shallow documentary about the legendary comedic duo Cheech & Chong. Director David L. Bushell combines archival footage, film clips, archival interviews, contemporary interviews and a staged road trip to a fictional place called "The Joint." You'll learn about Cheech & Chong's childhood, how they came up with the name "Cheech & Chong", and their struggles as they rose to fame. They admit that they signed their first movie contract for their film Up in Smoke without a lawyer and were screwed out of getting paid fairly after it made over $100 million at the box office. So they were still poor despite their first film being a huge hit. That changed with their next film because they learned a valuable lesson from their mistake the first time around. Unsurprisingly, they didn't always get along and had creative differences which eventually led to their breakup. Cheech & Chong's Last Movie doesn't offer anything revealing, new or profound about Cheech & Chong, but there are some interesting anecdotes and it's still amusing to watch them banter, especially if you're a big fan of theirs. That said, there are pacing issues with some parts moving too slow and dragging, so tighter editing would've helped to make the film flow smoother. At 2 hours and 3 minutes, Cheech & Chong's Last Movie opens in select theaters nationwide via Keep Smokin'.

Number of times I checked my watch: 2

      Drop Dead City is an illuminating, well-edited and fascinating documentary about NYC's financial crisis of 1975. Co-directors Peter Yost and Michael Rohatyn do a great job of explaining to the audience how the crisis happened, why it happened, who was involved and the lessons that can be learned from it. Basically, NYC's debts were about $15 billion, and the banks could no longer bail the city out of debt. You read that right. Drop Dead City combines talking head interviews, both contemporary and archival, along with archival photos and footage to make for captivating experience that otherwise would have been too dry. To be fair, it sheds light on the events that took place back then in a linear fashion, so in terms of its structure, it's pretty conventional. It also doesn't focus on individual stories enough to be heartfelt now does it delve deeply to explore how the crisis affected ordinary New Yorkers. This documentary covers a lot of ground in under two hours and moves along at a fast pace which, at times, feels overwhelming and exhausting. Drop Dead City is not quite as powerful as Inside Job, but it's nonetheless an eye-opening and occasionally terrifying glimpse of a dark period in NYC's history that's rarely mentioned or discussed. At 1 hour and 48 minutes, Drop Dead City opens at IFC Center via Fear City. It would be an interesting double feature with the documentary Follow the Money about the controversial Modern Monetary Theory which claims that the government's deficit is actually a surplus for the people, and that the Treasury can print bills to cover the deficit as long as it staves off inflation.

Number of times I checked my watch: 2




 

      In the engrossing, heartfelt and gripping documentary Jimmy in Saigon, director Peter McDowell travels to Saigon to learn more about his younger brother, Jimmy, who allegedly died at the age of 24 of a drug overdose in Vietnam after serving in the war 48 years ago. Who is the teenage boy who he's photographed with on a beach? Were they lovers or just friends? How could Jimmy actually die of a drug overdose if he wasn't into drugs before serving in the Vietnam War? Could he have felt some guilt perhaps for being in love with an 18-year-old at the age of 24? Or some guilt about being gay or bi? Those are among the questions on Peter's mind. He knows that he won't get answers to all of them, but it can't hurt to try to. He manages to track down the sister of Duñg, Jimmy's friend or lover, and he even finds a doctor who had treated Jimmy. What follows is a documentary that feels cinematic because it unfolds like a narrative with mystery, suspense, heartfelt moments and a few twists.

    It's a roller coaster ride of emotions for the audience. Concurrently, it's a cathartic emotional journey for Peter who desperately wants to uncover the truth about his brother. Peter should be commended for his emotional maturity, courage, candidness, persistence, empathy, curiosity, and, above all, his introspection. He grasps the wisdom behind Pablo Neruda's poem, "They can cut all of the flowers, but they can't stop the spring from coming." He understands the importance of looking at the past head-on even if it's painful because that's a crucial step to allow the garden of one's soul, so-to-speak, to flourish. At 1 hour and 30 minutes, Jimmy in Saigon opens at Cinema Village via Dark Star Pictures.

Number of times I checked my watch: 1




 

      A crew of documentary filmmakers, Edna (Chloë Sevigny), Jeff (Alex Wolff), Justin (Joe Apollonio) and Elena (Amalia Ulman), travel to the wrong Latin American country to profile a musician in Magic Farm. Instead, they end up in a small town in Argentina where they befriend their hotel's receptionist (Guillermo Jacubowicz), a friendly local woman, Popa (Valeria Lois), and her daughter, Manchi (Camila del Campo). The screenplay by writer/director Amalia Ulman is an unfocused, tonally uneven and underbaked absurdist comedy that's only sporadically funny. Its awkward humor gets tiresome pretty quickly, and most of the characters are either underdeveloped, annoying caricatures or both. Simon Rex briefly shows up as the documentary's producer, but he's not given much to do. The most interesting part of the film comes too late when Jeff and Manchi finally kiss after they've been flirting for so long. He's not quite ready to hook up with her, but she's hurt that he politely rejects her because of someone else whom he's considering to be his girlfriend. She admits that she doesn't understand his feelings and feels led-on even though he's being honest with her, so she thinks he's a jerk. She's not exactly emotionally mature nor innocent either, though, because he doesn't owe her sex and she has no right to coerce him into it or to lump him with other guys from her past. A lot goes unspoken between Justin and the unnamed receptionist whom he flirts with. It seems like the receptionist wants to flirt back, but doesn't know how to. Why not give the receptionist a name and flesh out his character more? He's among the most interesting characters in the film.

      Magic Farm is too busy trying hard to be offbeat and quirky that it doesn't stop to breathe more life into its characters and include more emotional depth. Some scenes, especially the ones at the hotel reception area, are poorly lit. Moreover, the stylish cinematography feels nauseating and distracting at times while diminishing the sense of realism. At 1 hour and 33 minutes, Magic Farm opens at Angelika Film Center via MUBI.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3




 

      Simon (Jack Quaid), a paranoid schizophrenic young man, believes that he witnessed someone kidnapping a woman, so when the police refuse to help him, he seeks the help of his neighbor,  Ed (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), a retired campus security guard in Neighborhood Watch. Director Duncan Skiles and screenwriter Sean Farley have made a tonally uneven, bland and forgettable crime thriller with an undercooked plot that becomes increasingly preposterous. It doesn't work as a crime thriller because it lacks suspense, intrigue and thrills. The dialogue ranges from stilted to bland. As a character study of a young man who's traumatized by an abusive father, it also falls flat. What's left is the modicum of chemistry between Simon and Ed as they embark on their own investigation of the potential abduction. There's nothing exceptional about the cinematography, the writing, the performances or anything else that would make the film stand out. Malin Akerman is wasted in a supporting role as Simon's sister, DeeDee. Jack Quaid's other B-movies this year, namely, Companion and Novocaine, are much more bold and entertaining. At 1 hour and 33 minutes, Neighborhood Watch opens in select theaters nationwide and on VOD via RLJE Films.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3




 

      In A Normal Family, Jae-wan (Sul Kyung-gu), a lawyer, defends a man who killed another man with his car and seriously injured his daughter. She's one of the patients that Jae-wan's brother, Jae-gyu (Jang Dong-gun), a pediatrician, happens to be treating at the hospital. The brothers' wives, Yeon-kyung (Kim Hee-ae) and Ji-Su (Claudia Kim), don't get along with each other and, worst of all, both of their children might be guilty of a crime that's captured on video. Writer/director Hur Jin-ho and his co-writers, Park Eun-kyo and Park Jun-seok, have made a spellbinding, taut and provocative crime thriller. Based on the novel The Dinner by Norman Koch, the screenplay doesn't waste any time as it begins with the road rage incident. That's merely the beginning of a tragic chain of events that won't be spoiled here, but it will change the way you'll look at the "normal family" and also make you wonder what you would do in their shoes. The parents face moral dilemmas as they have to figure out what to do while keeping their appearance as a "normal family". Just when you think that Jae-gyu is a better parent and person that his brother, he exhibits behavior that strongly suggests that he's far from a saint. Kudos to the filmmakers for seeing and treating the characters as human beings. Although the film does have twists and turns, it's not just about those twists; it's a portrait of a dysfunctional family that's about complex human beings while showing the dark side of humanity without any sugar-coating. At 1 hour and 56 minutes, A Normal Family opens at Angelika Film Center via Room 8 Films. It would be an interesting double feature with Parasite and American Beauty.

Number of times I checked my watch: 1

      In On Swift Horses, Muriel (Daisy Edgar-Jones) moves with her husband, Lee (Will Poulter), from Kansas to San Diego. Julius (Jacob Elordi), Jacob's wilder younger brother, stops by to visit after returning from the Korean war. He travels to Las Vegas where he gets a job at a casino and falls in love with his co-worker, Henry (Diego Calva). Meanwhile, Muriel flirts with her neighbor, Sandra (Sasha Calle). Oh, and Julius and Henry concoct a risky scheme to con the casino that they work at. Based on the novel by Shannon Pufahl, the screenplay by Bryce Kass, is overstuffed, meandering and clunky. There's enough going on within the plot for at least four different movies. Part romance, part suspense thriller and part drama, On Swift Horses fails to smoothly balance its three genres, to juggle all of its subplots and to find its footing. The relationship between Muriel and Sandra falls flat, and there's very little chemistry between Julius and Henry.

      Why leave the audience at such a cold distance from the characters? Why not show more of their introspective moments? It doesn't help that there are too many characters and not enough of a window into any of their heart, mind or soul, so the talents of Jacob Elord, Will Poulter, and Daisy Edgar Jones are wasted. Their charisma alone doesn't manage to keep the film afloat, although it does keep it at least somewhat engaging. There's barely any narrative momentum more often than not, very few scenes ring true, and the pacing feels uneven. The film's major strength is the exquisite cinematography, but this isn't one of those cases where the visual style compensates for the sore lack of substance, unfortunately. At 1 hour and 57 minutes, On Swift Horses, directed by Daniel Minahan, opens in select theaters nationwide via Sony Pictures Classics.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3




 

      After Melanie (Maia Mitchell) mysteriously disappears, her friends, Nina (Odessa A'zion), Clover (Ella Rubin), Megan (Ji-young Yoo), and Abel (Belmont Cameli), embark on a road trip to the valley where she went missing in Until Dawn. Hill (Peter Stormare), a gas station attendant, convinces them to search for her at Glore Valley where he claims that many other people have gone missing. Soon enough, they're trapped in a time loop inside an dilapidated manor and can only escape if they manage to survive until dawn. Director David F. Sandberg and his co-writers, Gary Dauberman and Blair Butler, have made a lean, gory and wickedly funny horror thriller based on the PlayStation video game. The plot doesn't offer any clever twists or surprises. It checks off many of the clichés found in most horror films. A creepy building located in the middle of nowhere? Check! Someone creepy briefly introduced at the beginning of the film turns out to be an important character? Check! The terrifying event occurs at night? Check! A character shows to provide exposition and backstory? Check! There's nothing inherently wrong with clichés or following a formula as long as the clichés are used well and the formulas are followed well.

      Until Dawn isn't elevated horror, but it's great that the filmmakers provide Nina, Clover,  Megan, and Abel with unique personalities that humanizes them. It also doesn't shy away from over-the-top graphic violence that's often darkly comedic, especially during a sequence the water they drink causes them to explode. Like in the Saw movies, the suspense comes from the anticipation of what kind of death traps Nina and her friends will endure next and whether or not they'll figure out a way to survive. There are some easter eggs that reference Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead which would pair well with Until Dawn in a double feature. It would also be a great double feature with Summer of Hell and 6:45.  At 1 hour and 43 minutes, it opens nationwide via Screen Gems.

Number of times I checked my watch: 1


 

      Lee (Kang Ha-neul), a wrongfully incarcerated man, agrees to become a snitch, a.k.a a "yadang", for a prosecutor, Koo (Yoo Hae-jin), in exchange for receiving a reduced sentence in Yadang: The Snitch. Soon enough, Lee infiltrates a drug cartel. Director Hwang Byeong-guk and screenwriter Kim Hyo-seok have made a rousing, exhilarating and action-packed crime thriller. It's more physically gritty than emotionally gritty, but that's okay because what it lacks in emotional depth, it makes up for in thrills, suspense and entertainment thanks. Maintaining suspense is no easy task, so it's a testament to the skills of the filmmakers that the film accomplishes that feat as a narcotics investigator becomes suspicious of Lee. The pace moves briskly, the cinematography provides some visual style and Kang Ha-neul exudes charisma in the lead role. Yadang: The Snitch is a rush of pure adrenaline. At 2 hours and 2 minutes, it opens in select theaters nationwide via Well Go USA.

Number of times I checked my watch: 2