Joseph Bau (Emile Hirsch), an artist living in Tel Aviv, agrees to testify against the Nazi guard of the  Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp that he had been a prisoner of during the Holocaust in Bau: Artist at War. At the concentration camp, he met and fell in love with another prisoner, Rebecca (Inbar Lavi), and also forged documents to help save many Jewish prisoners. Director Sean McNamara and his co-writers, Deborah Smerecnik, Ronald Bass and Sonia Kifferstein, have made a captivating, heartfelt and inspirational biopic. The plot jumps back and forth between Bau's time living in Tel Aviv in 1971 and his experiences during the Holocaust between 1942 and 1945. Thanks to the solid editing and the stylish cinematography, the flashbacks work effectively without diminishing the film's narrative momentum.

      It's partially a love story, partially Holocaust film, and also the story of a compassionate and brave hero who deserves to be as well known as Oskar Schindler. The filmmakers don't show the horrors of the Holocaust unflinchingly, so they leave it to the audience's imagination, a very powerful tool. There are also some brief uses of animation that invigorates the film. Emile Hirsch gives one of the best performances of his career as he brings tenderness and warmth to the role of Joseph Bau while finding his emotional truth. Bau: Artist at War can also be seen as a powerful protest against war, hate and intolerance which makes it concurrently vital and timely. At 2 hours and 10 minutes, Bau: Artist at War opens at AMC Empire 25 via ShowBiz Direct.

 

      Barb (Emma Thompson) drives to spread the ashes of her late husband on a lake in Minnesota when she sees a man (Marc Menchaca) kidnapping a young woman, Leah (Laurel Marsden) in Dead of Winter. She hatches a plan to rescue Leah from her captors who include the man's wife (Judy Greer). Director Brian Kirk and his co-writers, Nicholas Jacobson-Larson and Dalton Leeb, have made an undercooked, unimaginative and contrived thriller. It begins with some intrigue before taking a nosedive once Barb sees Leah chained in the basement of a remote cabin. There are cheesy, poorly integrated and repetitive flashbacks to Barb's memories with her husband during their younger years that diminish the film's narrative momentum. The villains are unwritten and so is the victim. Dead of Winter has all the ingredients that could've made it a gripping thriller including the wintry setting, but the filmmakers fail to generate any palpable suspense while throwing logic and plausibility out of the window. Moreover, it's also a waste of Emma Thompson and Judy Greer's talents, both of whom deserve much better material. At 1 hour and 38 minutes, Dead of Winter opens nationwide via Vertical.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3




 

      94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein (June Squibb) befriends Nina (Erin Kellyman), a college student, and tells her that she's a Holocaust survivor in Eleanor the Great. Director Scarlett Johansson and screenwriter Tory Kamen have made a powerful, moving and provocative drama. A twist in the third act is handled in a gentle way that doesn't turn anyone into a villain, although it does make the plot slightly contrived, but that's a forgivable flaw. The always-reliable June Squibb gives an Oscar-worthy performance and helps to elevate the film tremendously while grounding it in genuine warmth. Johansson and the screenwriter humanize Eleanor even more by giving her a snarky personality. She's essentially cut from the same cloth as Maude from Harold & Maude. Ruth Gordon would've probably had a great time in this role. Also, kudos to Johansson for the nod to Ghost World's director Terry Zwigoff by brief showing a Japanese theatrical poster of his documentary, Crumb. At 1 hour and 38 minutes, Eleanor the Great opens nationwide via Sony Pictures Classics.

Number of times I checked my watch: 2

      Teresa (Madison Lanesey) goes to a tropical getaway in Panama with her husband, Drew (Travis Quentin Young), for their late honeymoon in I Really Love My Husband. There, they meet Paz (Arta Gee) who identifies as non-binary. They decide to spice up their sex life in hope of saving their crumbling marriage by convincing her to engage in a ménage à trois with them. Writer/director G.G. Hawkins has made an honest and bittersweet portrait of a dysfunctional marriage. It's also a cautionary tale against a couple trying to fix a stale marriage by adding a third person into their sex lives. Paz can't possibly fix any systemic relationship problems between Teresa and Drew. Instead of working their problems out like emotionally mature people, they try to find an easy solution by seducing Paz. Their ménage à trois remains doomed to fail from the start. There's some nudity, but no graphic sex; that's left to the audience's imagination. What's more powerful and intimate are the naked emotions, rather. The best scenes are the ones when Drew and Teresa finally air out their grievances and share their true feelings with each other in the third act. It's a scene that the audience anticipates, but once it arrives, it's cathartic because they've been bottling all of their emotions for so long. Bravo to Hawkins for her refreshingly un-Hollywood ending that's more believable and unflinching than Babygirl's sugar-coated ending. At 1 hour and 32 minutes, I Really Love My Husband opens at LOOK Dine-In Cinema W57th. It would be an interesting double feature with Get Out Your Handkerchiefs.

Number of times I checked my watch: 1

      Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio), a revolutionary, lives with his 16-year-old daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti), who goes missing after his former nemesis, Col. Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), resurfaces and searches for both him and Willa in One Battle After Another. Writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson has made a spellbinding, taut, engrossing and timely crime thriller. The plot begins with some exposition as it introduces the audience to Bob and his fellow revolutionaries including Willa's mother, Perfidia (Teyana Taylor), whom Lockjaw rapes, before she eventually goes into witness protections. So, the audience is already one step ahead of Willa because they know that her mother isn't dead. How will they meet? What will happen when they meet? That won't be spoiled here. Fortunately, Anderson knows how to incorporate the right amount of suspense, drama and comic without forgetting to treat the characters as complex human beings. Case in point: Bob suffers from drug and alcohol addiction, anger issues, paranoia and depression. He's an absolute mess and far from likable, but not nearly as detestable as Lockjaw. Bravo to Anderson for finding the right balance between Truth and Spectacle. Yes, this is a blockbuster with a brain and a beating heart beneath the surface.

      DiCaprio and Sean Penn give performances that will hopefully be recognized during Oscar time. Everything from the cinematography to the editing, use of music are superb while providing the film with some style that makes it more cinematic, so you don't feel the weight of the lengthy running time because it's consistently entertaining without a dull moment. Behold a new American classic. At 2 hours and 50 minutes, One Battle After Another opens nationwide via Warner Bros. Pictures. It would be a great double feature with Sovereign.

Number of times I checked my watch: 1

      Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror is an illuminating and well-edited documentary about how The Rocky Horror Picture Show was made and how it ended up a cult classic. Director Linus O'Brien interviews his father, Richard, who wrote the music stage show and co-wrote the film version, along with some of its cast members like Tim Curry and Susan Surandon. In terms of its structure and content, this documentary isn't extraordinary or very revealing. Learning how each actor and actress was cast and how the production came together with a very limited budget, though, is fascinating. Even if you haven't seen the iconic midnight movie, you won't be surprised knowing that it gained a lot of fans who watched it week after week at the theater with many sold out shows. Archival footage and photographs establish that fact very clearly as does the fact that it's still playing at midnight across the country---and has even fans all around the world. It's the ultimate crowd experience with great music, quotable lines and campy performances that probably wouldn't be as effective on the small screen. Fun facts: it still has yet to open for a full week in NYC, and, according to a fellow critic who attended its press screening back in the 70s, you could hear a pin drop during the entire screening. At 1 hour and 30 minutes, Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror opens at Village East by Angelika.

Number of times I checked my watch: 2

      Lim Dong-hwan (Park Jeong-min) learns that the disappearance of his mother for decades has something to do with his father, Lim Yeong-gyu (Kwon Hae-hyo) in The Ugly. Writer/director Yeon Sang-ho has made a consistently unpleasant, monotonous and shallow crime thriller with stilted dialogue and clunky exposition. The titular "ugly" refers to Lim Dong-hwan's mother whose husband and coworkers made fun of for being ugly. She's just a plot device, though, rather than a complex, fleshed-out character. If the film were told from her perspective, it would've been more interesting and emotionally engrossing. Her husband comes across as an abusive jerk. How did his son not realize the way his dad treated his mom? The Ugly becomes increasingly dark and disturbing, but with not nearly enough depth and will make you want to take a long, cold shower afterward. At 1 hour and 42 minutes, The Ugly opens in select theaters nationwide.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3