In The Alto Knights,  Vito Genovese (Robert De Niro) and Frank Costello (Robert De Niro), mob bosses who've been friends since childhood, have a fall out which leads to Vita ordering a hit on Frank who claims to authorities that he didn't see who tried to kill him. Director Barry Levinson and screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi have made a clunky, lethargic and vapid crime thriller with uneven placing and choppy editing. Robert De Niro playing the dual roles of Vito and Frank makes the film seem like a parody of a gangster film because their scenes together are unintentionally funny. They've been close friends since childhood, which the flashbacks hit you over the head with to remind you over and over in case they forgot, but they look more like brothers because of their physical resemblance. Frank's wife, Bobbie (Debra Messing), and Vito's wife, Anna (Kathrine Narducci) are underwritten characters, although Kathrine Narducci shines in the film's best performance, especially during a courtroom scene. If only the screenplay would have fleshed out its characters more which would prevent the beats from falling flat more often than not.

      The underrated Michael Rispoli is wasted in a supporting role that doesn't give him enough material. Moreover, there's some awkward narration by Frank during his elderly years as he looks back on the disintegrating friendship between him and Vito. Despite the potential of its premise, The Alto Knights sorely lacks thrills, suspense and intrigue. If it were double featured with Goodfellas, The Untouchables or The Godfather, it would be the vastly inferior B-movie. At a running time of 2 hours and 3 minutes, The Alto Knights opens in theaters nationwide via Warner Bros. Pictures.

 

      As he's about to commit suicide, Song Yili (Peng Yuchang), a young depressed man, gets into a car crash and ends up in the hospital where he meets Xiaoju (Enyou Yang), a 9-year-old young girl who's searching for her father. He agrees to embark with her on a road trip to find him in Always Have, Always Will. Director Jie Liu and co-writers Tao Guo, Fuzhi Yang and Jiajia Zhang have made a wise, tender and life-affirming emotional journey. The film looks head-on at the dark topic of suicide, but it's not emotionally devestating or too unflinching. When the audience first meets Song Yili, he's hit rock bottom: his wife is leaving him, his mother died and he doesn't want to take over the restaurant that she left him. He's also sick, lonely and depressed. To watch him gradually change as he bonds with Xiaoju during their road trip feels uplifting and heartwarming. There's actually a twist that won't be revealed here, so it's great that the film has a surprise along the way. The non-linear structure of the narrative also helps to make it more interesting as you learn more and more about Song Yili's past.

      To be fair, the screenplay does get a little bogged down by underdeveloped subplots, like Song Yili's interactions with some of the people that he meets during the trip and how the news reports on the fact that Xiaoju has gone missing from the hospital. The third act is somewhat preachy and maudlin, but filled with aphorisms and a genuinely heartfelt performance by Peng Yuchang who captures Song Yili's emotional truth and vulnerability. The scene where he cries and shows introspection are among the most powerful moments. Always Have, Always Will also embraces the wisdom behind Pablo Neruda's poem, "They can cut all of the flowers, but they can't stop the spring from coming."  At a running time of 1 hour and 38 minutes, it opens at AMC Empire 25 and Regal Tangram via Niu Vision Media.

Number of times I checked my watch: 2




 

      In Any Day Now, Steve Baker (Taylor Gray), a security guard, works the nightshift at a museum. His life is a mess: he's owes money to a drug dealer, he can't afford to pay rent and he's in love with the girlfriend, Sara (Alexandra Templer), of his best friend, Danny (Armando Rivera), who's also his bandmate. When he meets Marty (Paul Guilfoyle), he agrees to help him steal art pieces from the museum. Based on a true story, the screenplay by writer/director Eric Aronson is by-the-numbers and conventional without taking any risks, but the film does at least feel mildly engaging and has a few twists and turns. If you're expecting an edge-of-your seat crime thriller, you'll be disappointed because it's only intermittently suspenseful. The dialogue is fine without any clunkiness or stiltedness, but nothing exceptional. The same can be said about the cinematography, editing and performances. Unfortunately, there are no characters who are well-written enough for the audience to connect with on an emotional level, especially Steve and Marty. It would've been great to get to know both of them more. Evn though the beats land during and after the heist scenes, they don't land as hard as they could have if there were more palpable suspense and larger window into the heart, mind and soul of Steve and Marty. Both of them remain at a cold distance from the audience from start to finish. At a running time of 1 hour and 21 minutes, Any Day Now opens at Cinema Village.

Number of times I checked my watch: 2




 

      In Any Day Now, Steve Baker (Taylor Gray), a security guard, works the nightshift at a museum. His life is a mess: he's owes money to a drug dealer, he can't afford to pay rent and he's in love with the girlfriend, Sara (Alexandra Templer), of his best friend, Danny (Armando Rivera), who's also his bandmate. When he meets Marty (Paul Guilfoyle), he agrees to help him steal art pieces from the museum. Based on a true story, the screenplay by writer/director Eric Aronson is by-the-numbers and conventional without taking any risks, but the film does at least feel mildly engaging and has a few twists and turns. If you're expecting an edge-of-your seat crime thriller, you'll be disappointed because it's only intermittently suspenseful. The dialogue is fine without any clunkiness or stiltedness, but nothing exceptional. The same can be said about the cinematography, editing and performances. Unfortunately, there are no characters who are well-written enough for the audience to connect with on an emotional level, especially Steve and Marty. It would've been great to get to know both of them more. Evn though the beats land during and after the heist scenes, they don't land as hard as they could have if there were more palpable suspense and larger window into the heart, mind and soul of Steve and Marty. Both of them remain at a cold distance from the audience from start to finish. At a running time of 1 hour and 21 minutes, Any Day Now opens at Cinema Village.

Number of times I checked my watch: 2




 

       Rya (Eiza González), an astronaut, wakes up on a space station with all of her crew mysteriously dead in Ash. She must decide whether or not to trust Brion (Aaron Paul) who has been sent to rescue her, but she struggles to remember what happened that led to her being injured and her crew members dying. Director Flying Lotus and screenwriter Jonni Remmler have made  a sci-fi thriller that's low on suspense, imagination and surprises. The first few minutes show snapshots of what happened to Rya's crew, so the audience is already a step ahead of her. Exposition isn't among the film's strengths because the audience either knows too much or too little. The flashbacks are choppily edited and the dialogue sounds too stilted, clunky and on-the-nose. Is it too much to ask for comic relief or some form of levity? None of the characters are fleshed out enough to be memorable or worth rooting for. Moreover, there aren't enough scenes with Rya and her crew members before they died that would've established what their relationships were like. Hypnotic visuals alone don't manage to compensate for the lack of substance. There's ultimately too much Spectacle and not enough Truth. At a running time of 1 hour and 35 minutes, Ash is an exhausting, uninspired and dull Spectacle that suffers from excessive style over substance. It makes last year's superior sci-fi thriller, Slingshot, look like a masterpiece. Ash opens in select theaters nationwide via RLJE Films and Shudder.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3

      At a running time of 1 hour and 33 minutes, Asian Persiasion, directed by Jhett Tolentino and written by Mike Ang, opens in select theaters and on VOD.

Number of times I checked my watch: 4




 

       Mia (Elizabeth Olsen) and her partner, Aaryan (Himesh Patel), must pass a series of tests which will determine whether or not they can be parents in  The Assessment.  Virginia (Alicia Vikander), their assessor, visits them to observe and evaluate them for one week. Set in a futuristic world where the government controls reproduction, the screenplay by writer/director Dave Thomas, Nell Garfath-Cox and John Donnelly is provocative, tender and refreshingly unpredictable as it blends sci-fi, suspense and drama. The suspense derives from the uncertainty of what conclusion Virginia will make about Mia and Aaryan and how they'll react if she doesn't pass them. Could it turn violent? That's also up in the air. Virginia refuses to explain how she's evaluating them and what her criteria is, so it's a mystery to both the couple and the audience. Even though there are 3 main characters, there's actually a fourth: you, the audience member who might be judging Mia and Aaryan for whether or not they'll make good parents. Just when you think the film will go in one direction, it goes in another that won't be spoiled here, but it's worth mentioning that the last thirty minutes are surprisingly moving, dark and un-Hollywood without going over-the-top.

      Kudos to the screenwriters and director Fleur Fortuné for seeing and treating Mia, Aaryan and Virginia as complex human beings. Virginia could've easily been turned into a villain in a more shallow screenplay, but here the audience gets to see the emotions lurking beneath her surface. The only characters who remain underwritten are the supporting ones like Evie (Minnie Driver) who briefly shows up. Elizabeth Olsen and Alicia Vikander both shine in their heartfelt performances that ground the film in humanism, a truly special effect. On a pure aesthetic level, the production design is impressive and adds some stylish visuals that provide some eye candy. Fortunately, this is the kind of film that also engages the audience's heart, mind and soul. At a running time of 1 hour and 54 minutes, >The Assessment, opens in select theaters nationwide via Magnolia Pictures.

Number of times I checked my watch: 1

      Aum: The End at the Center of the World is a mildly engaging, unfocused and shallow documentary about Aum Shinrikyo, a Japanese religious movement/cult responsible for the deadly sarin gas attack in Tokyo back in 1995. Co-directors Chiaki Yanagimoto and Ben Braun provide a reader's digest glimpse of how Aum initially formed with yoga courses until it became a religious movement and a cult. Former members describe the little amount of food that they ate and the charming personality of their leader, Shoko Asahara. A defense lawyer, Tsutsumi Sakamoto, worked on a class action lawsuit back in 1989 and ended up disappearing before his body was found in 1995. His wife and child were murdered, too. Aum: The End at the Center of the World could've unfolded like a thriller because, based on its content alone, it has thriller and even elements. Why subdue them? Unfortunately, it takes too long for the filmmakers to get to the darker elements of the cult. The segments mentioning the lawyer's murder and the sarin gas attack don't generate much suspense. How does Aum compare to other cults like The Peoples Temple cult? How could the Japanese government let such a cult exist? Are they not complicit? If this documentary were to have asked and answered more complex and tough questions, it would've been much more provocative, insightful and enraging. At a running time of 1 hour and 42 minutes, >Aum: The Cult at the End of the World opens at IFC Center via Greenwich Entertainment.

Number of times I checked my watch: 2




 

        Being Maria is a mildly engaging and well-acted, but somewhat shallow biopic on Maria Schneider (Anamaria Vartolome), an actress whose fame skyrocketed at the age of 19 when she starred in Last Tango in Paris with Marlon Brando (Matt Dillon). Based on the memoir My Cousin Maria Schneider by Vanessa Schneider, the screenplay by writer/director Jessica Palud and co-writer Laurette Polmanss barely scratches Maria's surface. It fails to design enough of a window into Maria's heart, mind and soul as it focuses too much her filming scenes from Last Tango in Paris including the infamous rape scene. There are glimpses of her dysfunctional family life, her romantic relationship with another woman and the humiliation that she endured after filming the rape scene, but they're not unflinching enough to provide much-needed depth to the film. Maria starts as a stranger to the audience and remains one by the time the end credits roll.  Anamaria Vartolome gives a decent performance that doesn't manage to rise above the vapid screenplay. At a running time of 1 hour and 42 minutes, Being Maria opens at Quad Cinema via Kino Lorber.  

Number of times I checked my watch: 3




 

        20-year-old Lily Trevino (Barbie Ferreira) befriends Bob Trevino (John Leguizamo), an older man who has the same name as her estranged father (French Stewart) in Bob Trevino Likes It. Writer/director Tracie Laymon has woven an honest, heartfelt and captivating story about the importance of friendship, compassion and self worth. Lily's selfish father cuts her out of his life after he brings her along for a date and she accidentally confuses his date for another woman that he's been seeing. She didn't do it intentionally, but he lashes out at her afterward in a way that's condescending. He's clearly a narcissist who's been abusing her emotionally and psychologically. Emotional scars are often worse than physical scars because they're invisible and last a long time if they're not detected and properly healed. Lily has a lot of healing to do and wants to be better which is why she sees a therapist even though she can barely afford one. In a scene that's both sad and funny, her therapist gets triggered when hear Lily's trauma and starts to cry. There's some truth to that scene even though it's startling because therapists are just as vulnerable as their patients. Soon enough, Lily meets the other Bob Trevino on Facebook and they gradually become friends. He becomes like a surrogate father to her. Their relationship isn't anything like Harold's relationship with Maude in Harold & Maude, but it's cut from the same cloth. They both inspire each other in ways that they least expected.

      Fortunately, Bob Trevino Likes It avoids schmaltz and preachiness. It's sweet without being saccharine, occasionally sad without being maudlin, unflinching without being emotionally devastating, and occasionally funny without being tonally uneven or clunky. To be fair, some of the dialogue sounds a bit too on-the-nose, but that's a systematic, forgivable flaw. The third act's uplift feels fully earned thanks to the sensitively-written screenplay that gives Lily and Bob a believable character arc. Moreover, Barbie Ferreira gives a breakthrough performance as Lily while John Leguizamo grounds the film in his tender performance. At a running time of 1 hour and 42 minutes, >Bob Trevino Likes It opens in select theaters nationwide via Roadside Attractions.

Number of times I checked my watch: 1

      At a running time of 1 hour and 32 minutes, >The Fishbowl, co-written and directed by Glorimar Marrero and Glorimar Marrero Sanchez, opens for one night only at MoMI on Friday, March 21st.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3




 

      Eddie (Bill Skarsgård), a carjacker, tries to steal a car and gets locked inside of it while its owner, William (Anthony Hopkins), controls it from an unknown location in Locked. The screenplay Michael Arlen Ross gets points for being a lean, intense and gritty thriller, but that's all it has to offer.  Eddie and William both come across as unlikable characters who you wouldn't want to be around for very long. That would've been forgivable if they had interesting backstories or personalities, but they don't. There's never a doubt that Eddie will, somehow, find a way to outsmart William, especially because he practically seems immortal after surviving so many injuries. Until then, you'll have to endure scene after scene of William controlling the car to torture him. The subplot involving Eddie's desperate attempt to make it on time to pick up his daughter, Sarah (Ashley Cartwright), from school feels contrived and cheesy. If the audience can't believe that Eddie is a good person, how are they supposed to believe that he's actually a good parent? Moreover, the action scenes are poorly shot with subpar visual effects. Bill Skarsgård gives a decent performance, although he's undermined by the bland screenplay. Anthony Hopkins channels Hannibal Lector in his performance as William, but it's a shame that he's not on screen for most of the film; only his voice can be heard until he inevitably shows up later on.  At a running time of 1 hour and 35 minutes, Locked, directed by David Yarovsky, is increasingly inane, unimaginative and preposterous while stretching its premise too thinly. It opens in theaters nationwide via The Avenue.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3




 

       Killian Maddox (Jonathan Majors), an aspiring bodybuilder, lives with his grandfather, William  (Harrison Page) and works at a supermarket where he flirts with a coworker, Jessie (Haley Bennett) in Magazine Dreams.  Meanwhile, he obsesses over becoming like his bodybuilding idol, Brad Vanderhorn (Michael O’Hearn). Writer/director Elijah Bynum has made an unflinching, intense and heartfelt character study of a deeply disturbed man. It also serves as a powerful protest against toxic masculinity. Killian suffers from mental and emotional issues along with issues with anger management which affect his new relationship with Jessie. He's like a ticking time bomb that can explode at any second. He's selfish, insecure, shallow, immature and a malignant narcissist who has delusions of grandeur---in this case, his fixation on achieving his dream of being on a magazine cover like Bran Vanderhorn. The systemic issue with the screenplay is that it doesn't offer Killian enough room for hope, healing and change. He has virtually no character arc. Perhaps if he were to sit down and talk with a therapist like the troubled protagonists do in Good Will Hunting and, especially, Antwone Fisher, he'd begin the process of healing. Pills don't seem to work for him. Nor do steroids. He clearly needs a good role model which he doesn't seem to have in his life. To watch Killian in Magazine Dreams is the equivalent of watching a car crash over and over. It's unpleasant, tragic and tedious, but, to be fair, that's a part of life albeit the dark side of human nature. Jonathan Majors elevates the film and the role of Killian with his raw, emotionally convincing performance. Moreover, the stylish cinematography adds some visual poetry. At a running time of 2 hour and 4 minutes, Magazine Dreams opens nationwide via Briarcliff Entertainment.  

Number of times I checked my watch: 2




 

        After the death of his boss, Jérémie (Félix Kysyl) returns to his hometown where he stays for a few days with Martine (Catherine Frot), his boss's lonely widow. Friction arises between Jérémie and her son, Vincent (Jean-Baptiste Durand), which leads to Jérémie killing him with a rock and burying his body deep in the woods in Misericordia. Friction arises between Jérémie and her son, Vincent (Jean-Baptiste Durand), which leads to Jérémie killing him with a rock and burying his body deep in the woods. All of that happens within the first 30 minutes of the screenplay by writer/director Alain Guiraudie, so, clearly, this isn't a nail-biting whodunit in the spirit of Hitchcock or Fincher per se, but it does have a little suspense as Jérémie maintains his innocence and makes up a story that's full of holes. He even changes his story multiple times. He befriends a local priest (Jacques Develay), who also happens to be lonely, and Walter (David Ayala), whom he comes onto him while drunk. Yes, Walter also happens to be lonely. The plot gets increasingly absurd and enters darkly funny territory with a very unconventional and surprising third act that, admittedly, requires some suspension of disbelief. As Hitchcock once observed, though, logic is dull and there's something more important than logic: imagination. If the perspective were to change to Martine's instead of Jérémie, Misericordia, Latin for "mercy", could've been a much more gripping crime thriller. The always-reliable Catherine Frot elevates the film with her charming and heartfelt performance while Jacques Develay steals the scenes as the priest. At 1 hour and 44 minutes, Misericordia is a wildly entertaining, unpredictable and Coenesque dark comedy. It opens at IFC Center and Elinor Bunin Monroe Film Center via Sideshow/Janus Films.  

Number of times I checked my watch: 2




 

       Pooja Thapa (Asha Magrati) arrives at a small village in Nepal to investigate the kidnapping of two young boys in Pooja, Sir. Writer/director Deepak Rauniyar and his co-writers, David Barker and Asha Magrati, opt for a slow-spaced and procedural approach to telling the crime story. There's a modicum of suspense, but it's ephemeral and understated. As a result, the film becomes monotonous and dry without designing enough of a window into Pooja's heart, mind and soul. She's stuck in a male-dominated industry and, interestingly, prefers to be called "sir." What's her life like beyond her work as investigator, though? The mystery behind the kidnapping isn't very captivating nor as gripping as it could've been. There's some political commentary, but nothing that generates much in terms of intrigue or anything provocative. So, Pooja, Sir doesn't quite work effectively as a character study nor as crime thriller. Santosh is a better example of a slow-burning, procedural crime thriller that's equally captivates the heart, mind and soul with its intelligent screenplay, moving performances and suspenseful plot. At a running time of 1 hour and 58 minutes, Pooja, Sir opens at Angelika Film Center.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3

      Snow White (Rachel Zegler) escapes from her stepmother, the Evil Queen (Gal Gadot), and befriends the Seven Dwarfs who team up with her and her romantic interest, Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), to defeat the tyrannical queen and to take over the kingdom in Snow White. This live-action remake, directed by Marc Webb and written by Erin Cressida Wilson, is sweet and delightful with great production design, but lacks the magic and charm of the beloved original. It takes a while to get used to the CGI dwarfs, but they're animated in a way that captures their personalities effectively through a combo of stop-motion and puppetry. The musical numbers are decent albeit nothing exceptional or memorable. Gal Gadot, unfortunately, gives a subpar performance that's similar to her cringe-inducing performance in Death on the Nile, so most of the scenes with her take away from the narrative momentum. Fortunately, Rachel Zegler and the rest of the ensemble cast are terrific, but it's actually one of the dwarfs, Bashful (voice of Tituss Burgess), who manages to steal the show in his brief scenes. At a running time of 1 hour and 49 minutes, Snow White opens in theaters nationwide via Walt Disney Pictures.

Number of times I checked my watch: 2