Reviews for November 6th, 2026
Judith Heumann (Ruth Madeley), a disability rights activist, leads a 28-day sit-in at a San Francisco federal building to demand Joseph A. Califano Jr. (Mark Ruffalo), United States Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, to sign the Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, in Being Heumann. Dylan O'Brien plays Evan White, a reporter. Writer/director Sian Heder and co-writer Rebekah Taussig is a crowd-pleasing and empowering, but sugar-coated, overlong and by-the-numbers biopic set in 1977 and based on the Judy Heumann's memoir, Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist. This is the kind of movie where you can feel the wheels of the screenplay turning. The dialogue often sounds on-the-nose and occasionally stilted. There's also very little backstory about Heumann and her life outside of her activism, so this isn't really a thorough biopic of her. The screenplay occasionally includes some humor, including dirty jokes, as a form of levity, but the tone generally feels light anyway, so it's not like levity is much-needed. Fortunately, Heder and Taussig show Heumann's likable and unlikable qualities, e.g. her rudeness and stubbornness, which concurrently makes her more complex and, well, human.
The pacing during the second act feels uneven while the narrative momentum slows down, so it's around the hour mark that the film begins to feel somewhat repetitive. With tighter editing, Being Heumann could've been much more engaging. That said, the third act feels uplifting, Ruth Madeley, who resembles Toula from My Big Fat Greek Wedding here, gives a heartfelt performance that grounds the film in authenticity. At a running time of 2 hours and 7 minutes, Being Heumann opens in select theaters nationwide via Apple TV. It would be a great double feature with other uplifting true stories like On the Basis of Sex and Made in Dagenham.
Number of times I checked my watch: 3
Birds of War is a mildly engaging, but shallow, poorly edited and underwhelming documentary about the blossoming romance between Janay Boulos, a Lebanese journalist, and Abd Alkader Habak, a Syrian activist and cameraman through the course of 13 years. Co-directors Janay Boulos and Abd Alkader Habak combine their own archival footage with voice-over narration. Unfortunately, this doc falls short of its potential given its subject matter and doesn't become provocative, moving or even cinematic enough to rise above an average, forgettable documentary that could easily be watched on the small screen instead. It has nothing profound, revealing or new to say about love, war or journalism, and it also bites off more than it could chew.
A truly documentary should find the right balance between entertaining the audience and provoking them emotionally as well as intellectually. Birds of War ultimately fails to accomplish that necessary feat. At a running time of 1 hour and 25 minutes, which feels more like 2 hours, Birds of War opens at IFC Center via 8 Above Films,
Number of times I checked my watch: 3
The Cat in the Hat (voice of Bill Hader), an employee of Institute for the Institution of Imagination and Inspiration, embarks on a mission to cheer up Gabby (voice of Xochitl Gomez) and her brother, Sebastian (voice of Tiago Martinez) who are unhappy after moving to an apartment in a big city with their single mother, Carmen (voice of America Ferrera), in The Cat in the Hat, based on the beloved children's book by Dr. Seuss. Co-writers/directors Erica Rivinoja and Alessandro Carloni have made a harmless, amusing and fast-paced, but bland, forgettable and silly animated film that's low on thrills, excitement, laughs and genuinely heartfelt moments. The by-the-numbers plot, which involves a machine called a Go-Backer which, you guessed it, can go back in time, is a pretty unimaginative MacGuffin. There are no surprises here or anything to entertain adults. It also doesn't help that the Cat comes across as annoying more often than not---like nails on a chalkboard.
That said, little kids might laugh at some of the sight gags, but, beyond that, there's nothing that stands out including the animation which looks fine without being extraordinary or compensating for the lack of substance. The story, the characters as well as the dialogue all fall flat with nothing memorable, imaginative or worth taking the whole family to experience on the big or small screen. At a running time of 1 hour and 47 minutes, The Cat in the Hat, which feels more like 3 hours, opens nationwide via Warner Bros. Pictures.
Number of times I checked my watch: 4
In Club Kid, Peter (Jordan Firstman) works as a gay party promoter in NYC. One day, his 10-year-old son, Arlo (Reggie Absolom), whom he didn't know that he had, arrives on his doorstep, and decides to take care of him. Cara Delevingne plays Sophie, Peter's former business partner who's also a party animal. Colleen Camp plays Evelyn, his neighbor who agrees to let his deadbeat friend, Nicky (Eldar Isgandarov), stay at her apartment. Diego Calva plays Oscar, Arlo's social worker who's also Peter's love interest. Writer/director Jordan Firstman has made a captivating, funny and genuinely heartfelt father-son story. Peter comes across as a hot mess who's trying his best to be a good father and to quit his partying lifestyle, a task that's easier said than done while living in the fast lane and even going to the extent of selling drugs. He's likable, though, despite his flaws. The scenes with him and Arlo bonding together are often sweet and tender without being cloying, and also quite hilarious, e.g. when Peter tries to find a shirt for Arlo to wear that doesn't have dirty humor on it. To be fair, his romance with Arlo's social worker, Oscar, feels somewhat contrived and makes the plot feel somewhat overstuffed, but that's a minor issue in an otherwise heartwarming, honest and engaging dramedy that sees and treats its characters as human beings, warts-and-all, without asking the audience to judge them.
Jordan Firstman gives a natural and moving performance while handling the complexity of his role effectively. The stand-out, though, is the child actor Reggie Absolom who gives a breakthrough performance as Arlo. He's a very talented young actor, so hopefully Club Kid will put him on the map like About a Boy did for Nicholas Hoult. The cinematography, editing and use of music are all solid without becoming distracting or excessive. Please keep in mind that there's a lengthy club scene with stroboscopic lights that might make some audience members feel nauseous. At a running time of 2 hours and 2 minutes, Club Kid opens in select theaters via A24. It's one of the best directorial debuts of the year.
Number of times I checked my watch: 1
Jeremiah Clem (Joel David Smallbone) joins the British Army while his younger brother brother, Benjamin (Lucas Leach) joins the American Patriots during the American Revolutionary War in Drummer Boy. He pines for Lady Elizabeth Balfour (Beth Easdown) and writes her letters. Her father, Lord Balfour (Charles Esten), has a slave, Emmaline (India Brown) who secretly replies to Jeremiah's letters while pretending to be Lady Elizabeth. Co-directors Ben and Joel David Smallbone and screenwriter Richard Ramsey have made a mildly engaging, but overlong, clunky, dull and shallow musical love story that awkwardly combines romance, war, drama and musical numbers. With a more sensitive screenplay, Drummer Boy could've been a sweeping, heartfelt and exhilarating experience instead of one that often falls flat with stilted dialogue, mediocre performances and not nearly enough chemistry between Jeremiah and his love, Lady Elizabeth.
Moreover, Drummer Boy lacks emotional grit, physical grit, exceptional cinematography or production design, and comic relief, so there's nothing to hook the audience on an emotional level or even a purely aesthetic level. The screenplay's systemic issue, though, is that it fails to design enough of a window into the heart, mind and soul of Jeremish, Benjamin, Lady Elizabth or Emmaline all of whom are interesting, but underdeveloped characters.
Drummer Boy is ultimately less than the sum of its parts while leaving the audience at a cold distance from all of the characters. At a length running time of 2 hours and 9 minutes, Drummer Boy opens nationwide via Angel Studios.
Number of times I checked my watch: 3
Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), a pilot, must protect the lives of his wife, Noriko (Minami Hamabe), and daughter, Akiko (Sae Nagatani), when Godzilla regenerates and a new monster, King Ghidorah, arrives to terrorize Japan. Dr. Kenji Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka), the director of the Special Disaster Response Bureau, Makoto Aoyama (Masami Nagasawa), a meteorologist, and Kanji Murakami (Min Tanaka), a professor, join his mission in Godzilla Minus Zero. Writer/director Takashi Yamazaki has made a creature feature that's by-the-numbers, shallow, overproduced, clunky and tedious. It's less moving, less exhilarating, less captivating and less intelligent than its predecessor, Godzilla Minus One. The dialogue sounds too on-the-nose without any wit or comic relief, and the characters are poorly introduced. The screenplay seems like it's merely going through the motions on autopilot without stopping to flesh out the characters and their relationships.
Moreover, the performances range from poor to mediocre at best, and there are also issues with uneven pacing and too many scenes that overstay their welcome. The action scenes have great CGI effects and provide an adrenaline rush initially, but they come with diminishing returns. So, while Godzilla Minus One is an powerful and engrossing A-movie, Godzilla Minus Zero is a forgettable, inferior B-movie that fails to pack an emotional punch. At a running time of 2 hours and 15 minutes, it opens nationwide via GKIDS.
Number of times I checked my watch: 3
In Hen a hen escapes an industrial farm and wanders around until it reaches a restaurant with people involved in human trafficking. Writer/director György Pálfi and co-writer Zsófia Ruttkay have made a bold experimental film that gets dull, tedious, silly and tonally uneven after a while. They essentially follow the hen from the moment it's born until it becomes an adult hen. The camera remains close to the ground to show the hen's perspective. No, the hen doesn't talk, but there are a few amusing moments that provide some comic relief. Little would you know that Pálfi actually cast eight different hens for the titular role instead of just one. That's the only fascinating aspect of the film. Unlike the director's brilliant, poetic and mesmerizing Hukkle, Hen lacks poetry, depth and great cinematography. Perhaps it would've worked better as a short, but as a feature length film, it overstays its welcome by roughly 30 minutes. At a running time of 1 hour and 36 minutes, Hen opens at Quad Cinema via Dekanalog.
Number of times I checked my watch: 3
Olivia (Kalki Koechlin) visits her late grandmother's ancestral home in the French Pyrenees to write a novel about how she fled the Nazis, but at the village there longer than she expected because of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns in Her Song. Zach Grenier plays her husband, Dave, and Eléa Clair plays Madeline, a woman from the village whom she befriends. Writer/director John M. Keller has made a provocative, cerebral and tender drama with shades of Eric Rohmer. The film gets more complex as Olivia finds similarities between the pandemic and WWII when Nazis began to invade France. Those connections do feel like somewhat of a stretch, though, but it's interesting to hear a new and bold perspective. Her Song does move slowly at times and requires some patience to fully absorb it, to be fair, so patient audiences will be rewarded the most and given a lot of food for thought.
Kudos to writer/director John M. Keller for trusting the audience's intelligence, imagination and emotions as well while leaving some room left for interpretation. Kalki Koechlin gives a charming and natural performance as does Eléa Clair. Ultimately, it's refreshing to watch an intelligent drama for adults that doesn't veer into horror or go bonkers. At a running time of 1 hour and 45 minutes, Her Song opens at Cinema Village via Six and Midnight Films, and would make a great double feature with A Talent for Murder and Pedro Almodovar's Bitter Christmas.
Number of times I checked my watch: 2
Sylvester Stallone (Anthony Ippolito), an aspiring actor, writes the screenplay for Rocky in just three days and refuses to allow any studio to produce it unless he stars as Rocky Balboa in I Play Rocky. AnnaSophia Robb plays Sasha, Stallone's wife, Matt Dillon plays his father, Frank, Tracy Letts plays Sandy Maddox, a United Artists executive, and Jay Duplass plays John G. Avildsen, Rocky's director. Director Peter Farrelly and screenwriter Peter Gamble have made a witty, funny and breezy biopic that's sugar-coated, but crowd-pleasing and enormously entertaining. The plot doesn't break any conventions when it comes to how it tells Stallone's rag to riches story nor does it have any nuances or subtleties. He meets Sasha, his co-worker, while working as an usher at an NYC movie theater. Before you know it, they're dating, moving in together and getting married. At one point, he even has to sell his beloved dog to a random stranger just to make ends meet.
To be fair, the screenplay doesn't design enough of a window into Stallone's heart, mind and soul. Where does Stallone get his confidence, courage and intelligence from? It's hard to tell because his father doesn't seem like a great role model or parent which is quite evident during a dinner scene with him, his father and Sasha. I Play Rocky seems more concerned about keeping the tone light and just focusing on Stallone's determination to get Rocky produced with him as the star and, eventually, to finish filming Rocky on time. Everyone already knows the outcome, so don't expect any surprises or suspense here, but the ways that Avildsen and Stallone came up with ideas extemporaneously, e.g. how to shoot the iconic ending of Rocky with a limited budget, are quite interesting.
Anthony Ippolito gives a breakthrough performance while bringing plenty of charisma to his role. It helps that he looks and sounds like a young Sylvester Stallone, so it's a note-perfect performance that provides the film's much-needed emotional depth. The entire ensemble cast is terrific, though, even those in the supporting roles like the always-reliable Tracy Letts. The pace moves at just the right speed without being too slow or too fast. The production design, use of music, and cinematography are also solid. If you're in the mood for a captivating and uplifting trip down memory lane, I Play Rocky will leave you satisfied. It will make you stand up and cheer. At a running time of 2 hours and 7 minutes, I Play Rocky opens nationwide via Amazon MGM Studios.
Number of times I checked my watch: 1
In Jimmy, after winning an Oscar for Best Actor in The Philadelphia Story, Jimmy Stewart (KJ Apa) enlists in the U.S. Army and serves as a combat pilot during World War II. Jason Alexander plays Jason Alexander, Max Casella plays Frank Capra, Sarah Drew plays Hedda Hopper, Christopher McDonald plays Lionel Barrymore, Rob Riggle plays U.S. Army Colonel Terrill, and Neal McDonough portrays Jimmy's father, Lionel. Director Aaron Burns and screenwriter Justin Strawhand have made a heartfelt, wholesome and family-friendly, but pedestrian and sugar-coated biopic about an American legend. The screenplay mostly focuses on Stewart's time spent in the U.S. Army Air Corps, so this isn't a thorough biopic that charts his childhood and rise to fame. Like most of Stewart's movies, the best word to describe Jimmy is wholesome because the war scenes aren't too intense or emotionally devastating, and the same can be said about Jimmy's struggles to adjust to life back at home with PTSD after serving in WWII. . It's sweet and tender without being cloying. That said, it does get somewhat preachy and heavy-handed at times. Unflinching moments and nuances aren't among the film's strengths, but those are forgivable flaws because that makes the film more palatable and enjoyable to audiences young and old.
KJ Alpa shines in a career-best performance as he sinks his teeth into the heart, mind and soul of Jimmy Stewart. He sounds exactly like him which is a testament to Alpa's hard work with his dialect coach, Eliza Simpson. The rest of the performances are fine, but unremarkable. Alpa's moving performance soars well above the shallow screenplay while helping to anchor Jimmy in authenticity. At a running time of 2 hours, Jimmy opens nationwide via Fathom Entertainment.
Number of times I checked my watch: 2
In The Liberation, Rita (Carrie Coon), an assistant bank manager who lives with her husband, Reuben (Tracy Letts), and two daughters, Jo (Odessa Young) and Ella (Bella Ramsey), joins a mysterious all-women's commune led by Ricki (Lily James) while dealing with the trauma as a Holocaust survivor. Writer/director Guy Nattiv and co-writer Noa Berman-Herzberg have made a spellbinding, engrossing and provocative psychological thriller that also serves as a character study of a woman who tries to find spiritual fulfillment while putting her own life and the relationship with her family in jeopardy. Her daughters desperately try to rescue her from the cult-like commune. The screenplay, based on the experiences of Nattiv's grandmother and set in 1982, does an effective job of designing a window into Rita's heart, mind and soul before she joins the commune and after she joins it.
There's a particularly powerful scene with her husband trying to confront her about his feelings regarding her joining the commune. What happens to her and whether or not her children succeed at rescuing her won't be spoiled here. That said, The Liberation veers toward dark territory and psychological horror---not quite to the extent of Midsommar, but it comes close while leaving most of the horror elements within the imagination of the audience. Nattiv and Berman-Herzberg should be commended for balancing the heavy subject matter with a sprinkle of comic relief without leading to tonal unevenness or clunkiness. They find just the right balance between Truth and Spectacle while also finding the Spectacle within the film's harsh truths.
The excquisite cinematography, graininess and use of color adds warmth and visual poetry to the film, and will also make you feel like you're watching an actual film print. It's also worth mentioning the stylish opening credits sequence, particularly the interesting title card drop. Moreover, Carrie Coon, one of the best actresses of our time, gives an emotionally generous, tour de force performance that anchors the film in genuine poignancy while opening the window into Rita's heart, mind and soul for the audience to peer through.
In a post-screening Q&A, Nattiv hit the nail on the head when he compared her to Gena Rowlands. Her performance feels just as raw and unflinching as Rowland's performance in A Woman Under the Influence which would probably be an interesting double feature with The Liberation. It would also pair well with The Nest, a psychological thriller/drama that deserves more attention, especially for Carrie Coon's equally strong performance. At a running time of 2 hours and 4 minutes, The Liberation opens for a one-week Oscar-qualifying run at Regal Union Square before reopening in select theaters on January 8th, 2027 and then nationwide on January 15th, 2027 via Bleecker Street.
Number of times I checked my watch: 1
Liam (Joey Bader) and Mel (Kaylee McGregor), two victims of an attack that left them uncommunicative and suffering from memory loss, seek refuge at an English countryside cottage where Chester (Oliver Woolf) nurses them back to health and becomes their caretaker in Littermates. He gives them currency called "nifties" if they're well-haved. Writer/director Scott Tinkham and co-director Michael Woloson have made an wickedly funny and suspenseful psychological thriller set in a dystopian world with a war going on in the distance. What are Chester's true motives? Can Liam and Mel trust him? What's his backstory? They keep exposition to a bare minimum with very little world-building which leads to a little confusion at times.
Audiences looking for a film with easy, spoon-fed answers will be disappointed. Littermates avoids over-explaining while it remains focused on the increasingly bizarre experiences with Liam, Mel and Chester. It seems like the film will veer at any second toward horror, so the filmmakers play around with the audience's expectations and imagination---after all, it does take place in an isolated place in the middle of nowhere which is a common cliché found in many horror films. What happens exactly after Liam and Mel arrive at the cottage won't be spoiled here, though, but it's worth mentioning that Littermates avoids clunkiness and tonal unevenness. If you like lean, unpredictable and unconventional genre-bending thrillers with dark and offbeat humor, Littermates will be right up your alley. At a running time of 1 hour and 27 minutes, it opens at Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn and other Alamo theaters nationwide via Alamo Exclusives.
Number of times I checked my watch: 2
Minnie (Katherine Mallen Kupferer), a high school student living with her single mother, Barbara (Tara Mallen), struggles to cope with the death of her best friend, Callie (Chloe Coleman), and forms an unlikely bond with Callie's grieving mother, Helen (Sophie Okonedo), in Mouse. She also develops a romance with Kat (Iman Vellani), a girl who works at a video store. Writer/director Kelly O'Sullivan and co-director Alex Thompson have made a warm, tender, bittersweet, honest and funny coming-of-age movie. It doesn't break new ground or have any big surprises, but it feels engrossing and true-to-life without being cloying, clunky or contrived. Barbara isn't an awful mother though because she's trying her best, but she's emotionally neglectful. When she overhears Minnie's phone conversation with Kat and learns that they're planning to become romantically involved with each other, it leads to a scene that's funny when Minnie confronts her about whether or not she was eavesdropping. Kudos to the filmmakers for seeing and treating every character as a complex and flawed human being which makes them more relatable. Minnie isn't completely likable because she misbehaves, but she's just emotionally immature and not mean-spirited. The true heart and soul of the film, though, can be found in the friendship between Minnie and Helen who becomes like a surrogate mother at times. The way she treats Minnie respectfully while setting boundaries with her shows her compassion and empathy---interestingly Helen is the much more emotionally mature and sane version of the villain in Wildwood who's also grieving her child.
Katherine Mallen Kupferer gives a convincingly moving performance as does Sophie Okonedo and Tara Mallen in their supporting roles. Kupferer has a particularly powerful scene where Minnie confronts her mother in her car about how she truly feels about her parenting. To be fair, the film does drag a little toward the end of the second act, but the natural performance helps to keep it from becoming lethargic. It's also worth mentioning that the third act earns its uplift and emotional catharsis. At a running time of 2 hours, Mouse---not to be confused with the psychological crime thriller of the same title from two months ago---opens in select theaters before expanding nationwide on November 13th, 2026 via Independent Film Company.
Number of times I checked my watch: 2
Nuisance Bear is a mesmerizing, provocative, fair and balanced documentary about the coexistence of polar bears and humans in Churchill, Manitoba, a.k.a. the "Polar Bear Capital of the World." Mike Tunalaaq Gibbons, an Innuit, serves as the narrator. Co-directors Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman show how the polar bears react to climate change as they migrate throughout the town along the Hudson Bay. Melting icebergs have forced them to spend more time on land to feed which makes them more aggressive---they're even labeled as a "nuisance." An Inuit man gives a very moving interview about how a polar bear had killed his son, how he has coped with his grief, and how he doesn't hold a grudge against the animal. Tourists on a bus arrive to observe the polar bears and, in an intense scene, wildlife officers shoot a polar bear with a tranquilizer gun.
The breathtaking cinematography captures the majestic beauty of nature and also some of its ugly side---the opening shot speaks louder than words as the camera pans over a trail of blood across the ice. The filmmakers don't villainize anyone nor do they take sides. Ultimately, Nuisance Bear shows the audience many inconvenient truths, but without bombarding them with talking heads, statistics or preachiness. They merely present the different perspectives on polar bears and let the audience decide what they think the right thing to do would be that would benefit both humans and polar bears simultaneously. There has to be a practical solution for them to live symbiotically, and global warming is just making it worse for every animal on the planet--including humans who, after all, are animals, too. At a running time of 1 hour and 29 minutes, Nuisance Bear opens at Laemmle Glendale in Los Angeles before expanding to NYC on December 4th 2026 via Mubi.
Number of times I checked my watch: 1
So-young (Kim Hyun-joo), still grieving the disappearance of her son, Sun-woo (Yu Ji-wan), agrees to have an AI version of him living with her, but Sun-woo suddenly returns nine years afterward in Paradise Lost. Writer/director Yeon Sang-ho and co-writer Ryu Yong-jae has made an initially intriguing and occasionally suspenseful, but convoluted, overwrought and shallow blend of sci-fi, drama, mystery, psychological thriller and horror. It feels like there are 4 different films in here all at once each of which could've been fleshed out in a separate film. The plot has twists and turns that won't be spoiled here, though, and doesn't go in the direction that you'd expect it to go. That unpredictability would've been among its strengths if those twists didn't leave too many questions unanswered and themes underexplored. What happened to Sun-woo during the past nine years? How does he feel about So-young having an AI version of his younger self which she refuses to get rid of even when the real Sun-woo moves in with her? The film could've focused on their relationship more because there's enough conflict, tension and potential for emotional depth within it, but, instead, it veers in another direction that makes it feel overstuffed.
The performances are fine albeit nothing exceptional, and the same can be said about the cinematography, editing and set design. No one manages to rise above the shallow, pedestrial screenplay or to breathe life into their roles. With a more focused, sensitive and profound screenplay, Paradise Lost could've been as powerful and haunting as Bong Joon Ho's psychological thriller Mother. At a running time of 1 hour and 41 minutes, Paradise Lost opens in select theaters nationwide via Well Go USA. It would be an interesting double feature with Sheep in the Box and Klara and the Sun both of which are tonally different, but are all overstuffed, undercooked and ultimately less than the sum of their parts.
Number of times I checked my watch: 2
Prince Rama (Ranbir Kapoor) goes into exile and marries Princess Sita (Sai Pallavi) before the tyrannical ruler Ravana (Yash) kidnaps her in Ramayana: Rise of a Legend. Writer/director Nitesh Tiwari and co-writer Shridhar Raghavan have made a visually dazzling action adventure with great set and costume design, but it's bloated, clunky, exhausting, emotionally hollow and poorly acted. Based on the classic poem Ramayana by Valmiki, the screenplay takes too long setting up the main conflict of the film with lengthy expositional scenes without breathing any life into the characters or their relationships. So, it's hard to care about Rama's relationship with Sita or to feel his sadness when Ravana kidnaps her. There are some musical numbers that look stunning, but they're essentially long, stylish music videos. None of the songs are memorable, and the action sequences get tiresome and dull. Ramayana: Rise of a Legend does feel initially exhilarating, but it begins to wane around the hour mark as the plot merely goes through the motions.
The English dubbing uses AI to have the lips match the voice, but it feels awkward more often than not. Moreover, most of the performances are poor, especially those of Yash and Ranbir. The ending feels anti-climactic with a cliffhanger that announces this film as "Part 1" just when the plot begins to build momentum as Rama embarks on his quest to rescue Sita. If you want a more bold, imaginative and engrossing interpretation of Ramayana, see the superior Sits Sings the Blues. At a running time of 2 hours and 47 minutes, Ramayana: Rise of a Legend opens nationwide via Sony Pictures Entertainment. In a double feature with Sita Sings the Blues, it would be the inferior, overproduced B-movie.
Number of times I checked my watch: 5
Seized is a mildly engaging, but toothless and shallow documentary that's also narrow in scope. Director Sharon Liese focuses on the 2023 police raid of Marion County Record's offices and the home of its editor Eric Meyer in Marion, Kansas. He lived with his 98-year-old mother, Joan, who died shortly after the raid. Liese uses those events to turn the film into what feels like a crime thriller, although the motive for the raid becomes clear right away: the newspaper kicked the hornet's nest when they had evidence that a local restaurant owner, Kari Newel, was driving with a suspended driver's license. Her boyfriend was Marion's former police chief, Police Chief Gideon Cody, so she used him as a tool to seek revenge against the newspaper. The Marion County Record has been known for printing anything negative regardless of what feathers they ruffled, so what did Eric Mayer expect in a country with a dysfunctional democracy? He can't be that naïve, can he?
Seized is a decent reader's digest version of the raid and its aftermath, but doesn't manage to examine it within a larger context and to provide more insights about how it was an invasion of the press as well as what it says about American democracy. With more scope and depth, it could've been more provocative, illuminating and enraging. If you're already familiar with that new event, which made it into the mainstream news, you won't find anything new, surprising or revealing here. There's nothing about the film in terms of its cinematography or editing that would make it a must-see on the big screen. At a running time of 1 hour and 30 minutes, Seized opens at DCTV's Firehouse Cinema via HBO Documentary Films.
Number of times I checked my watch: 3
Soul Patrol is a poignant, illuminating and well-edited documentary about Vietnam War's first Black special ops team, 51st Infantry. Director J.M. Harper blends archival footage and photographs with dramatic reenactments and contemporary interviews with some of the surviving members of the 51st Infantry including Ed Emanuel who wrote the memoir Soul Patrol. In terms of its structure, this is a pretty conventional doc, but, in terms of its content and emotional depth, it's quite engrossing and insightful without becoming dull. That's mostly thanks to the candid interviews with the soldiers who discuss their emotional struggles, the psychological impact of their experience in the Vietnam War, and the significance of them being the first Black special ops team in the war.
To be fair, this could've been a much more unflinching and profound documentary with more focus on each members' lives, but it's effective as a moving introduction to a part of American history that deserves to be better known. At a running time of 1 hour and 40 minutes, Soul Patrol opens at IFC Center via Kino Lorber.
Number of times I checked my watch: 1
Cassandra (Laëtitia Hollard), a writer, gets more than she bargained for after she writes an article in the Talbot Falls' town paper about hidden monsters lurking within the small town in Trauma, or Monsters All. Cue the inevitable monsters: Sam (Larry Fessenden), a vampire, Adam (Alex Breaux), who's like Frankenstein's monster, and Charley (Alex Hurt), a werewolf. Writer/director Larry Fessenden, in his final film, has made an occasionally creepy and atmospheric B-movie that's overlong and low on imagination, thrills as well as palpable scares. The plot has no surprises, and the exposition feels lazy and clunky. The same can be said about the underdeveloped characters who are hard to care about.
If Trauma, or Monsters All were more bonkers and campy instead of trying to take itself so seriously and falling flat, it would've been more fun. Even the stylish use of editing and lighting doesn't help to add much to engage the audience. Moreover, Fessenden doesn't quite grasp the concept of "less is more" because some scenes go on for too long and unnecessarily pad the lengthy running time which could've been cut by 30 minutes or so with tighter editing. At 1 hour and 59 minutes, Trauma, or Monsters All opens at IFC Center via Dark Sky Films.
Number of times I checked my watch: 3
In Wild Horse Nine, two CIA agents, Chris (John Malkovich) and his partner, Lee (Sam Rockwell), get more than they bargained for when they go on a secret mission in Easter Island before the 1973 Chilean coup d'état. Steve Buscemi plays MJ, their VIA bureau chief, Tom Waits plays Jim, Chris's brother, and Parker Posey shows up as Marge, Lee's wife. Writer/director Martin McDonagh has made an acerbically funny, provocative, irreverent and bittersweet dark comedy with just the right amount of melancholy. It's on par with In Bruges, so it might as well have been called In Easter Island. If you love In Bruges, you'll also love Wild Horse Nine perhaps even more so. Just as expected, the characters are all unlikable and unpleasant to be around. However, they're not caricatures or one-note, and they even have a few somewhat redeeming qualities that make them every so slightly more likable. This is the kind of film that becomes increasingly deep, dark and complex as the plot progresses.
McDonagh has a great handle on exposition which never feels clunky even though the audience learns a lot about Chris and Lee as well as their personalities within the first 15 minutes, e.g. that Chris has terminal cancer. It would be best to watch Wild Horse Nine knowing as little about the plot beforehand so that its many surprises land when they do, especially during the third act. Expect plenty of witty and quotable lines including a conversation about cheese and democracy which will be remembered for many years to come. That aforementioned scene has to be seen to be believed because it's so absurd and hilarious.
Wild Horse Nine actually has a warm, beating heart beneath its surface despite its often mean-spirited humor. That's a testament to the heartfelt performances by Sam Rockwell and John Malkovich, who sinks his teeth into one of his most complex roles since Dangerous Liaisons. Mark my words: his role as Chris will become iconic. Steve Buscemi makes the most out of his supporting role. The cinematography, editing, pacing and use of music are all superb. Don't be surprised if Wild Horse Nine will be nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actor awards for both Sam Rockwell and John Malkovich. At a running time of 1 hour and 57 minutes, Wild Horse Nine opens nationwide via Searchlight Pictures.
Number of times I checked my watch: 0
|
