Week Ending 12/1/23
A long week, many films
Trying my best to keep up on things early this year. Eleven FYC titles in a week (albeit a long one with last week’s newsletter publishing on Wednesday for the holiday) is a good start. Fingers crossed I can keep that pace up moving forward. And that I finally start compiling my nominee shortlists—the thing I always tell myself to do as the year goes on, but always don’t do until the last minute.
As for the music front: I have the first disc of this year’s mix completed and two-thirds of the songs for the second disc ready to go. I might give it to the end of next week to cutoff new music listening and shore things up. Doesn’t look like that many new albums are coming out this month anyway.
What I Watched:
BEAU IS AFRAID
(on VOD/Digital HD)
Ambition can only get you so far when the product of that ambition is a circuitously insufferable journey through reductive neuroses and paranoia that make light of true psychological hardships to satirize a Freudian break with reality born from a gaslighting and manipulative matriarch who takes “don’t masturbate or you’ll go blind” to newly depraved heights.
I wish Ari Aster was able to make BEAU IS AFRAID his first movie as he planned because his knock on that first draft being more cartoonish than “emotional” (laughably, that’s what he says this version is) might have been exactly what this thing needed to succeed. Because it does hew closer to his early shorts in tone and absurdity than HEREDITARY and MIDSOMMAR. It just also feels like an overstuffed attempt to put all the short ideas he never made into one self-serious package that suffers greatly as a result.
It looks fantastic, though. And the middle hour’s craft is impeccable despite proving to be the same idea over and over and over again with shoehorned action (I hope Denis Ménochet got a nice paycheck) and infantile pseudo intellectual metaphor that hits us over the head with a brick to the point where my disinterest became my own fault because I stuck with it expecting something meaningful to somehow surface.
I also wanted to finally see Patti LuPone as more than an image or quick cut via flashbacks melting time together. It takes two hours and twenty minutes of Joaquin Phoenix’s unadulterated exasperation, but she does finally arrive to unsurprisingly be the best part of the whole even if her character is the catalyst for why it’s all been so gosh darn boring.
- 4/10
CASSANDRO
(streaming on Prime)
An entertaining and inspiring true-life story with a fantastic lead performance from Gael García Bernal, CASSANDRO distills the life of Sául Armendáriz down to a passion to be seen. By the other luchadors who dismiss him as a runt before denigrating him as an exotico. By a public quick to see him as a foil in the world of lucha libre rather than a hero. By the father who abandoned him at fifteen when he came out as gay.
Director Roger Ross Williams and co-writer David Teague‘s film isn’t flashy or necessarily narratively complex beyond that simple desire, but it doesn’t have to be for success. It’s a tribute meant to shine a light on a queer icon and the journey he took to find his identity (Bernal does well to show that Cassandro is less a performance and more a release for Sául to be his truest, most confident self) and empower countless fans to follow. Armendáriz refuses to hide en route to excelling in a toxically masculine world without a shred of shame.
While not the deepest of films, this crowd pleaser hits all the right emotional beats to prop Sául up and establish the complex and often unfair world in which he ascends against all odds. Raúl Castillo and Roberta Colindrez are more sounding boards than three-dimensional characters in their own right, but both are very good. And Perla De La Rosa as Sául’s mother and number one fan is excellent in the meatiest role outside of Bernal. This mother and son are thick as thieves, always living for each other and regretting nothing.
- 7/10
DUMB MONEY
(on VOD/Digital HD)
The retail traders known as “dumb money” were smart to band together while the hedge funds spending millions of dollars and making billions of dollars during the COVID shutdown were dumb to ignore the damage those regular people could truly do to their intentionally corrupt system.
If only r/wallstreetbets and Roaring Kitty could organize a general strike next and do the same thing country-wide by calling the one percent out for shorting American working-class wages for centuries to pay for their yachts and tax brackets that allow them to pay a smaller tax percentage than their victims … I mean employees.
Fun movie. Craig Gillespie films are always solid. Not as much pizzaz as THE BIG SHORT, but similar ensemble vibe. Great cast too. Love that you can still tell it’s Dane DeHaan despite him wearing a face mask for 95% of his screentime.
- 7/10
EILEEN
(now in limited release)
I should have known William Oldroyd’s EILEEN would eventually prove a pulpy thriller due to the old school Hitchcock era title card and score, but it’s easy to find yourself lulled into forgetting those touchstones once Ottessa Moshfegh (adapted from her novel) and husband Luke Goebel’s script gets going. Sure, Eileen’s (Thomasin McKenzie) father (Shea Whigham’s Jim) is a loose cannon with a gun the camera just loves and her place of work (a private prison for violent juveniles) is a powder-keg of misogyny and chaos, but that’s all an afterthought to romance.
Not that new prison psychiatrist Dr. Rebecca Saint John (Anne Hathaway) reciprocates Eileen’s obvious affection. She flirts and makes the younger woman’s crush blossom simply by listening and treating her like a human being unlike her coworkers and cruel father, but whether love exists is in the eye of the beholder. Oldroyd helps us lean that way by focusing on touch, but the laughter and playful nature always subverts Eileen’s impression to intentionally keep us on edge. That’s where the suspense lies. Half with questioning if Rebecca will facilitate Eileen’s fantasies and half with what Eileen might do if she doesn’t.
Add numerous daydreams and Eileen’s candid frustrations (“All children want to kill their father.”) and the atmosphere is forever pregnant with a destructive anticipation. Who will become the target and who will find themselves as collateral damage remains up in the air, but the more time Eileen spends with Rebecca means the tighter things are wound due to everyone wielding the former’s change in demeanor as a weapon against her. So, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the climax arrives as a result of Rebecca inviting Eileen over for Christmas Eve. Her motives, however, will.
EILEEN takes a turn so wild (and yet believable when looking back at all the things happening in the background of Eileen’s rose-tinted vantage point) that I let out a loud enough laugh to catch myself off-guard. It’s not that the film isn’t otherwise funny either. There’s some wonderfully subtle comedy in the ways this chauvinistic era is depicted and how Rebecca confidently fights back (and subsequently empowers Eileen to do the same). But the way Hathaway delivers the line that changes everything is so earnestly serious that you can’t help but think you have become the butt of the joke.
You aren’t, though. Not entirely. You’ve just been expertly distracted by the endearing desire of a young woman desperate for attention to have not fully grasped just how dark the story has always been (it’s easy to laugh at Whigham’s Jim despite the potential his condition mixed with a loaded gun presents). Moshfegh and Oldroyd have merely reached the point where the curtain must be lifted to show the scars this world has etched upon the bodies of those we’d like to believe still maintain a semblance of innocence. Suddenly all those little moments (a hand on a knee) can no longer be laughed away.
It’s a frenetic final act with Marin Ireland stealing the show from the equally brilliant McKenzie and Hathaway. Once the rug is pulled, the fantasy dies and becomes replaced by pragmatism. It’s now about escape—physically and mentally. Maybe Eileen won’t brutalize her father like the infamous Lee Polk (Sam Nivola), but her choice might still prove damning since leaving him with nothing but his own bile is as good as a death sentence. The main difference, though, is that his fate is an afterthought. The real person Eileen must kill is herself. She’s done “filling space.” It’s time to make some moves.
- 7/10
ELEMENTAL
(streaming on Disney+)
Baby’s first immigrant story and interracial relationship courtesy of … Disney/Pixar? I jest because, honestly, ELEMENTAL is cute and does work on that social level.
Love the idea of second-generation immigrants learning to understand that their parents sacrificed everything for them rather than themselves. So, you’re not obligated to sacrifice your own happiness for what you think theirs is. Their happiness is yours—no matter what you decide in life or love (for the most part considering bigotry and prejudice exists in all cultures, but you can’t expect one film to deal with all the world’s ills in one fell swoop).
Great voice cast. Like that it’s not just about race (“no fire allowed”), but also disability (Element City is not fire accessible). And while it’s a nice commentary on America’s overt racism, give Peter Sohn and the other filmmakers credit for calling out this country’s casual racism too (“You speak so well” and “Your food is too spicy”).
Hopefully this can prove a nice conversation starter for parents to teach their kids about empathy and equality. The fact conservatives dismissed it as “woke propaganda” proves it will since that’s exactly what makes them so afraid.
- 7/10
FOUR DAUGHTERS [Les filles d'Olfa]
(now in limited release; VOD on December 8)
I didn’t know who Rahma and Ghofrane Chikhaoui were before watching Kaouther Ben Hania’s powerful documentary FOUR DAUGHTERS, but I don’t think the experience of what occurs on-screen will change for those who do. The reason is simple: this isn’t their story. It’s not about who they become or what happens to them once they leave their home in Tunisia. It’s about what gets left behind. The memories, regrets, and love of their sisters (Eya and Tayssir) and mother (Olfa Hamrouni). And the pain that trio has had to (and will continue to) endure in that absence.
The result is a hybrid project wherein we learn the story of what happened from the women who remain while watching it unfold via reenactments performed by them alongside real actors (Ichrak Matar plays Ghofrane, Nour Karoui plays Rahma, Majd Mastoura plays all the men, and Hind Sabri plays Olfa when the material proves too much for the matriarch to play herself). We move from happy times pre-revolution to the somber reality of what unfolds. The laughter with Eya and Tayssir talking about their older sisters’ “goth phase” soon replaced by the fear of fire and brimstone that inevitably places them all beneath niqābs.
Don’t assume it’s solely a judgment on Rahma and Ghofrane, though. This isn’t about a family throwing each other under the bus or trying to set the record straight in a bid for absolution. It’s about facts. History. It’s about generational trauma, misogyny, and the weaponization of culture and religion. It’s also about complicity as much as it is forgiveness. Olfa has no qualms about looking bad for audiences or about admitting her mistakes and hypocrisy. This isn’t a situation with easy answers or one that could have been avoided with mere hindsight. So many things would have needed to change—most of which never could.
That’s not an indictment on Tunisia, the Arab world, or Muslims. It can’t be considering Eya and Tayssir are both still around when the opposite almost came true instead (the latter readily admits as much). It’s merely a forum with which to unpack what it means to be a woman within a hostile environment that specifically targets women. What does it mean to be “strong”? Or to be “free”? When does love turn into fear and ultimately render an advocate against oppression into that very same oppressor? We’re witnessing a much-needed catharsis wherein this family admits and confronts the horrors and abuse they’d been taught to laugh off.
It’s a harrowing story with nightmarish acts of violence calmly relayed as anecdotes you might tell during the holidays. They might smile now because they survived it, but it’s a self-aware front that’s quickly replaced with tears the moment Karoui and Matar come into frame to remind them of the collateral damage. And even if these women are deprogrammed insofar as understanding what happened and why doesn’t mean they’re healed or no longer prone to being indoctrinated again. Some truths are baked into our DNA. Olfa might be able to objectively agree that something is wrong, but it doesn’t mean her impulse won’t still commit that wrong when the moment arrives.
That’s why stories like this must be told. Yes, it’s about giving those involved an opportunity to repair themselves (think PROCESSION and performance as therapy), but it’s mainly an opportunity to educate future generations about what to expect and how to hope to avoid it. Only with that knowledge, as well as the tools to make it work for them, can women Eya and Tayssir’s age attempt to finally break the cycle of exploitation and persecution into which they were born.
- 9/10
THE HOLDOVERS
(in theaters)
You can never be too sure with TIFF People’s Choice contenders as far as whether the hype is real. Between audiences being drunk on festival air or the sometimes-vast chasm separating a “crowd-pleaser” from “critical acclaim,” you have to go in with a grain of salt (some would say this is even more true with Sundance). Even so, I still had high expectations for Alexander Payne’s THE HOLDOVERS. One because it re-teamed the director with SIDEWAYS breakthrough Paul Giamatti, but also because the tone seemed perfectly attuned to his THE DESCENDANTS vibe. It’s with pleasure that I reveal the film exceeded both the crazy hype and my own lofty hopes.
Set around Christmas 1970 at a private boarding school in New England, David Hemingson’s wonderful script focuses on the establishment’s holiday castaways as they are unwittingly thrust into each other’s care. First is the curmudgeon ancient civilizations teacher Paul Hunham (Giamatti), tasked with the responsibility of babysitting as punishment for failing a senator’s son despite the pleas of Barton’s headmaster (Andrew Garman’s Woodrup). Even if he’s never left the campus’s surroundings since starting to teach many decades ago, he’d still rather read quietly in his room than herd wild reprobates.
Next is Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), the school’s cafeteria chief who’s forgone spending the holidays with family after the death of her son in Vietnam. And last is young Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), a cocksure loner who picks fights in part because his self-loathing makes losing them as much of a desire as his ego covets winning. He was supposed to spend the holiday with his mother and stepfather only to be told last-second (and after already mocking fellow a classmate, Brady Hepner’s Teddy, for having to stay) that he’d been deleted from the itinerary. So, add self-pity to his list of emotional troubles and enjoy the inevitable fireworks.
In heartfelt fashion, however, this festive-adjacent film isn’t simply a comedy of teens running amok while Giamatti chases, ruler in-hand. That exists too, but only insofar as it allows us to recognize how similarly damaged Paul and Angus truly are. Add Mary’s grief and this trio is ripe for discovering just how lucky they all are when they’re not simply assuming others are luckier. She says it best when Hunham goes on a rant about “silver spoons,” quickly suppressing his indignation with a reminder that he was a Barton student once too. And he faced his own struggles, of which we’ll soon discover once the boys embrace their vulnerability.
It becomes a bit of a buddy film as a result. Hunham and Tully have giant chips on their shoulders, but also the capacity for humility when called out about them. Trust takes a little longer to acquire than understanding, but it does arrive at the perfect time to knock some sense into both. Sessa is great as the ignored teen trying to do right by the parent he cannot see while revolting against the parent who refuses to see him and Randolph is unforgettable as the barer of sage wisdom (desperate to get Hunham to embrace his humanity above duty) and broken mother who needs to take her own advice as far as not hiding away in solitude.
And Giamatti shines. An alcoholic with numerous ailments that have kept him celibate, alone, and content ever since his days of a virility (whose tales would “make your toes curl!”) ended long ago. He’s a prisoner to his ideals and the teachings of a long-since dead man who gave him an opportunity when no one else would, unable to evolve and see how the rising chaos of the world and lowering IQs of his students means he must adapt and ensure his message gets through even stronger to change things rather than simply give up with a sanctimoniously smug shrug. Angus has the potential of restoring his faith in education just as he might just restore the boy’s faith in himself.
- 10/10
KOKOMO CITY
(on VOD/Digital HD)
I’d be hard-pressed to think of a better cinematic opening to a 2023 release than D. Smith’s KOKOMO CITY. It’s not an action scene or some elaborate camera set-up. It’s simply Liyah Mitchell recounting a sex work story about what happened after she discovered one of her clients had a gun lying next to him on the bed. Between her storytelling prowess, Smith’s over-the-top reenactments, and the overall comedic timing, you cannot help getting caught up in the absurdity, suspense, and danger until Mitchell pauses, looks at us, and delivers her punchline.
It’s the perfect introduction to a candid documentary that maintains this tone throughout despite its dark realities. Laughter is the best medicine, after all. Without it there could only be tears. It’s why we laugh during horror films—our fear and uncertainty forcing our bodies to react in ways that seem incongruous to the subject matter despite being necessary for survival. And that’s exactly what these women are doing: surviving. Mitchell, Daniella Carter, Dominique Silver, and the late Koko Da Doll are trying to exist in a world that exploits their bodies in private while refusing to treat them like humans in public.
Smith lets them riff with anecdotes, wisdom, and lectures. Whatever they want to get off their chests and make known to lovers and haters alike. Mitchell is the entertainer. Koko and Silver provide their experiences from the two different ends of the sex work spectrum. And Carter simply provides the truth by dissecting the intersectionality of Black, trans, and poverty in a country indoctrinating its children to believe “normal” is the opposite of all three. The words these women share are crucial to not only putting their truth on record, but also educating against propaganda and comforting those too afraid to follow in their footsteps.
Add insight from Black men speaking on masculinity, culture, and attraction—including the continued adventures of Lø gradually unpacking his own intrinsic prejudices to accept his desires—and KOKOMO CITY takes the conversation in all angles to give this marginalized community a voice in a way that empowers, contextualizes, and calls out the hypocrisy that ultimately makes it so they must fear for their lives every day. Their courage to never back down and live the vibrant lives they deserve is the benchmark cis people should strive for since it’s their insecurities and hate that forces these women to become the inspirations they are.
- 8/10
MONICA
(streaming on AMC+)
You get the sense that Monica (Trace Lysette) feels as alone at the start of Andrea Pallaoro’s MONICA as she did when she left home upon being disowned by her mother for being transgender. Desperate to reconnect with her estranged boyfriend, a call from the sister-in-law she didn’t know she had (Emily Browning’s Laura) brings a distraction even if it carries the potential of being hurt further by the family that abandoned her. Eugenia (Patricia Clarkson) is dying and Laura felt Monica should know and decide for herself whether to try and say goodbye.
Pallaoro and Orlando Tirado’s script makes it very clear that this isn’t an easy choice to make. Between the fear of being rejected again and the, perhaps even greater, fear of reclaiming her family after so many years of being alone, it doesn’t get more vulnerable than this. How will re-introductions go? Will Eugenia and Monica’s brother Paul (Joshua Close) even recognize her? Will she explain who she is to the former if she doesn’t? There’s a potential to spiral being back home. Maybe this return will just make matters worse by opening old wounds.
Add Oscar-nominee Adriana Barraza as Eugenia’s in-home help (Adriana Barraza) and we get a complex, quiet drama of people doing their best to do right by their loved ones. Has the illness softened Eugenia? Perhaps hindsight and regret might force her to realize the time she lost? Can Monica forgive her for what she did? Can she come home and not simply be reminded of the pain it conjures rather than the joy that seems lifetimes ago? Both Clarkson and Lysette are great at saying so much with so little. Pallaoro lets each moment speak for itself, so the inherent emotion of their performances never gets undercut by redundant dialogue.
- 7/10
NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU
(streaming on Hulu)
Moral of the story: people with crippling guilt and self-loathing have the capacity to understand happiness through their inability to find it while those who cannot escape their hate to learn to forgive deserve to be lobotomized so as to better serve the lives of their flawed yet worthier human counterparts? Sure. Why not?
A solid formal exercise with a mesmerizing central performance steeped in fear by Kaitlyn Dever. Great direction from Brian Duffield, effectively building on his success with SPONTANEOUS. The script for NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU, however, feels less like a cohesive narrative with something to say than a platform for interesting visual ideas that ultimately have nowhere to go but a slapdash TWILIGHT ZONE-esque ending more wink-and-nod than profound.
Fantastic effects, though. The stop-motion movements of the aliens lend an otherworldly aesthetic that adds to their rather familiar bipedal creature construction and their integration into the surroundings is impeccable.
- 6/10
SALTBURN
(in theaters)
It’s about fifty minutes into Emerald Fennell’s SALTBURN that things start to really get cooking. That time was well-spent showcasing who Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) is and why Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi) is so alluring to him (although the narration by way of future oration is a bit distracting), but it’s mostly the gradual evolution from friends-by-necessity to thick-as-thieves for the two to move from strangers to BFFs and ultimately decide to spend the summer together at the latter’s royal estate. Felix is generous, demanding, selfish. Oliver is desperate, eager, and enamored.
And then things shift. Where Oliver’s down-on-his-luck product of drug-abusing parents seems to endear himself to the grotesquely rich Felix via polite compassion and brave sadness, his comfort level when firmly entrenched within the Catton clan (Richard E. Grant’s Sir James, Rosamund Pike’s Elspeth, Alison Oliver’s Venetia, and Archie Madekwe’s Farleigh) leads him to be much more assertive—albeit on the sly and in the shadows. Mr. “Yes, Sir” becomes an opportunistic controller of personalities and situations. He’s marked his prey, discovered their weaknesses, and begins to pounce.
Is the result anything we haven’t seen before? Not really. Sure, Fennell is pushing buttons with unexpected moments like oral sex with a tub drain, menstrual blood foreplay, and gravesite copulation, but the themes and message are as familiar as any “savvy commoner infiltrates the dim aristocracy” narrative. It’s fun, though. Keoghan plays his character with a dangerous energy that renders the inevitable fallout’s possibilities exciting while the Catton family either humorously becomes putty in his hands or just smart enough to fight back for momentary victories without understanding the full scope of the war.
And then the other shoe drops. Everything we knew was happening is seemingly made concrete and we anticipate whatever finale Fennell has concocted to stick the landing. Unfortunately, however, she seems to think we didn’t catch that tonal shift at all. So, she spends the last thirty minutes spoon-feeding us every revelation we inferred from the fact that the first two-thirds of the script is iron-clad in its ability to let us read between the lines. What was fun suddenly becomes goofy. What felt suspenseful and dark suddenly feels cartoonish. Propulsion ceases and mystery disappears. It’s like when a comedian is compelled to explain their joke even though it was good enough to make everyone laugh already.
It does look great, though. Love the 4:3 aspect ratio and what Linus Sandgren does with the frame. Grant and Pike are fantastic caricatures of out-of-touch wealth delighting in plebeian quaintness (About karaoke: “The words are on the screen! That’s the best part!”). Elordi is charismatic, Oliver intrigues, and Madekwe provides necessary conflict. Yet Keoghan is the centerpiece. He’s moving them around the board with varying levels of difficulty, positioning himself for the kill each time. His performance carries this diversionary tale of “eat the rich” politics right through a silly curtain lift that makes it seem Fennell thinks we’re as vapidly dumb as the Cattons covering their eyes when watching THE RING on TV.
- 6/10
THE STRANGLER [L'étrangleur]
(now in limited release)
How good is the new restoration? Well, it’s clear enough that you can see the “X” on the floor marking where writer/director Paul Vecchiali wanted Katja Cavagnac’s ballerina to drop her bag and coat so the camera could capture it before panning up to her in the mirror. There was one brief moment when the color shifted and the picture softened, but perhaps that was a product of my internet connection? Not sure. Maybe the studio couldn’t get a good original for that minute or so of time.
The film itself is intriguing. THE STRANGLER follows three characters: the killer (Jacques Perrin’s Émile), his pursuer (Julien Guiomar’s Simon), and a student who hopes to involve herself in the case (Eva Simonet’s Anna). There’s also ‘The Jackal’ (Paul Barge), but he never truly drives the narrative—just follows behind Émile in order to rob his victims and sully his reputation. Because Émile has no visible motive (although the public is gradually understanding the element of sadness and depression on behalf of his targets driving him), Simon and Anna can’t help losing themselves to fascination. To solve the crimes, yes. But also to enjoy the ride.
When Émile is discerning, his violence is presented almost as euthanasia. He stalks these women, but also listens to them. He provides them a “final wish” of sorts, giving them beauty or purpose before tightening the hand-knit wool scarf around their throats. None of them fight back. None of them scream. It’s as though they are resigned to the fact that death is unavoidable. That it’s desired. At one point Émile stops a woman from committing suicide just so he can strangle her instead. In some warped way, he’s saving them from eternal damnation.
Vecchiali doesn’t really delve into this aspect beyond aesthetic, though. It simply supplies Émile a compelling sense of empathy—especially considering Simon is a liar and ‘The Jackal’ an opportunistic creep. Émile is innocent by comparison. A man doing his job to help these women escape the world’s horrors (shown via a random montage of violence in the streets at a moment of psychological conflict that drives Émile to lose his way) so they may bask in the pleasures of a white-linen after-life full of picnics and laughter. This imagery is what sticks with you alongside Perrin’s memorably sympathetic portrayal of a serial killer.
Ultimately more style than substance, you cannot deny the appeal THE STRANGLER holds. That it’s a giallo predating the titles most associate with the term (one I’ve never fully grasped—or wanted to—considering the zealots I’ve come across are more likely to mock you for being wrong than educate you on why) is surely why Altered Innocence saw fit to finally give it a theatrical release in the United States, but there’s definitely more to its success than checking a box and fulfilling a fandom’s curiosity. Between the ransom note titles, Perrin’s acting, and the melancholic nature of the kills, genre fans won’t want to miss it.
- 7/10
Cinematic F-Bombs:
No new f-bombs added to the archive this week. All the queued-up entries have published and work has been too crazy to find the time to search through SRT files and find more contenders. It doesn’t help that IMDb changed their layout and made me lose my place in their list of PG-13 titles. I’m somewhere in the middle of 2009, working my way towards the present. If there are any favorites of yours that aren’t in the collection yet (and I have the means to clip them), please let me know. cinematicfbombs.com
New Releases This Week:
(Review links where applicable)
Opening Buffalo-area theaters 12/1/23 -
ANIMAL at Regal Elmwood, Transit & Galleria
ANNAPOORANI at Regal Elmwoof & Galleria
BRAZIL (1985) at North Park Theatre (late show)
DREAM SCENARIO at Dipson Capitol; Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria & Quaker
FALLEN LEAVES at North Park Theatre
“Aki Kaurismäki has created the year's driest romantic comedy with FALLEN LEAVES: a slow-building love affair [with] an acerbic wit that has the slyest of grins coming across as belly laughs.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.
GODZILLA MINUS ONE at Dipson Capitol; AMC Market Arcade; Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria & Quaker
PARKING at Regal Elmwood
RENAISSANCE: A FILM BY BEYONCÉ at Dipson Flix, McKinley & Capitol; AMC Maple Ridge & Market Arcade; Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria & Quaker
THE SHIFT at Dipson McKinley & Capitol; AMC Market Arcade; Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria & Quaker
SILENT NIGHT at Dipson Flix & Capitol; AMC Maple Ridge; Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria & Quaker
TEDDY'S CHRISTMAS at Regal Transit
Streaming from 12/1/23 -
CANDY CANE LANE – Prime on 12/1
IT’S A WONDERFUL KNIFE – Shudder on 12/1
“The film is trying so hard to be so many things that it ends up becoming something akin to the musicals we used to put on in middle school: those off-brand, cheaply licensed IP-knockoffs that proved as cute as they were forgettable.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.
THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER – Peacock on 12/1
MAY DECEMBER – Netflix on 12/1
“The result is a complex character study that demands we not lose sight of the layers involved. You don't have to vilify or champion anyone to do so either. Stop short and consider where happiness meets contentment and acceptance meets defeat” – Full thoughts at HHYS.
GREAT PHOTO, LOVELY LIFE: FACING A FAMILY’S SECRETS – Max on 12/5
WE LIVE HERE: THE MIDWEST – Hulu on 12/6
Now on VOD/Digital HD -
BEYOND UTOPIA (11/28)
FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S (11/28)
FREELANCE (11/28)
THE HOLDOVERS (11/28)
Thoughts are above.
NIGHT OF THE HUNTED (11/28)
RELAX, I’M FROM THE FUTURE (11/28)
WHAT HAPPENS LATER (11/28)
DON’T SUCK (12/1)
HOW THE GRINGO STOLE CHRISTMAS (12/1)
LOOP TRACK (12/1)
VENGEANCE: RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER (12/1)
WHITE RIVER (12/1)
From the press kit archive:
