Sorry for the lack of work below, but it was a necessary casualty of my covering the Fantasia International Film Festival again. Since it started yesterday (7/20), the selection of reviews I could publish was limited at best due to embargoes. Add the fact that The Film Stage is running a handful and you’re left with just two blurbs/links until next week.
The next few newsletters will have plenty to dive into, though, as I’ve already finished three other films with a bunch more to go this weekend. So, expect thoughts on BOOGER; LOVELY, DARK, AND DEEP; THE FIRST SLAM DUNK; and more depending on when publicists get back to me with screeners.
I’m also planning to finally catch DEAD RECKONING in the coming days and then OPPENHEIMER the week after. Not sure I’ll be able to squeeze BARBIE in too, but I’ll definitely try.
It’s back half of the year time and the deluge has officially begun. Whether or not it continues (Will studios release big ticket awards contenders without celebrities to publicize them due to the AMPTP’s refusal to come back to the table and compensate creatives fairly?) remains to be seen.
What I Watched:
Fantasia International Film Festival
BLACKOUT
(world premiere)
“Give Fessenden credit for really jam-packing this low-budget affair with as much political and social commentary as possible—even if a lot of it might come across as somewhat half-baked and reductive. The experience is worth those hiccups.”
– Full thoughts at The Film Stage.
SKIN DEEP
(North American premiere)
“So, no matter the actor on-screen (each is brilliant here with a mix of comedic relief and pathos depending on who they "are" at a given moment), Schaad really ensures that we're seeing beyond the surface. We're experiencing the characters.”
– Full thoughts from Venice 2022 at The Film Stage.
Cinematic F-Bombs:
This week saw CHAMPIONS (2023), GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 (2017), M3GAN (2023), THE SON (2022), and SUPER 8 (2011) added to the archive. It’s always good to put some new release titles in, but rediscovering that GOTG 2 had a “foreign language” f-bomb is the highlight for me. All that talk about GOTG 3 having the MCU’s “first f-bomb” and no one mentioned Groot actually predated it? Rocket says it plainly in his translation: “He didn’t use frickin’.” cinematicfbombs.com
New Releases This Week:
(Review links where applicable)
Opening Buffalo-area theaters 7/21/23 -
BARBIE at Dipson Amherst, McKinley, Flix & Capitol; AMC Maple Ridge & Market Arcade; Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria & Quaker
COBWEB at Dipson Capitol
OPPENHEIMER at North Park; Dipson Amherst, McKinley, Flix & Capitol; AMC Maple Ridge & Market Arcade; Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria & Quaker
Streaming from 7/21/23 -
STEPHEN CURRY: UNDERRATED – AppleTV+ on 7/20
THEY CLONED TYRONE – Netflix on 7/20
THE GOLDEN BOY – Max on 7/24
UNKNOWN: COSMIC TIME MACHINE – Netflix on 7/24
AFTER THE BITE – Max on 7/26
MISSING: THE LUCIE BLACKMAN CASE – Netflix on 7/26
HAPPINESS FOR BEGINNERS – Netflix on 7/27
PARADISE – Netflix on 7/27
THE LADY OF SILENCE: THE MATAVIEJITAS MURDERS – Netflix on 7/27
THE MURDERER – Netflix on 7/27
TODAY WE’LL TALK ABOUT THAT DAY – Netflix on 7/27
TWISTED METAL – Peacock on 7/27
Now on VOD/Digital HD -
BROOKLYN ‘45 (7/18)
“Nothing that happens on-screen is solely to provide the audience a resolution. It's about pushing his characters against the wall to see whether they bend or break.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.
THE COW WHO SANG A SONG INTO THE FUTURE (7/18)
DE HUMANI CORPORIS FABRICA (7/18)
“That's not to say the journey isn't worthwhile, though. I loved the candid dialogue. My mind [simply wandered too often] whenever we weren't lost inside someone's flesh.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.
DEADSTREAM (7/18)
EVERY BODY (7/18)
THE FLASH (7/18)
IMACULAT (7/18)
PRISONER’S DAUGHTER (7/18)
“[Bacci] swings the sledgehammer down hard, shattering whatever nuance was present (admittedly not much) to let Hardwicke supply an almost comical denouement in its visual depiction of everything that the start seemed desperate to avoid.” – Full thoughts at The Film Stage.
RUBY GILLMAN, TEENAGE KRAKEN (7/18)
TORI AND LOKITA (7/18)
“All I felt was a constant sense of dread—knowing how things were destined to play out and biding my time in the hopes it wouldn't suddenly turn graphic too. At least [the Dardennes] refuse to showcase the abuse they put these characters through on-screen.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.
FEAR THE NIGHT (7/21)
THE ISLAND (7/21)
MAD HEIDI (7/21)