New Releases for the Week of November 26, 2021

ENCANTO

(Disney/Pixar) Starring the voices of Stephanie Beatriz, Maria Cecilia Botero, Diane Guerrero, Angie Cepeda, John Leguizamo, Wilmer Valderrama. Directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard

The Madrigal family have been blessed to live in an enchanted house called Encanto in the mountains of Columbia. The house bestows upon each of them a special power – all except Mirabel. But the magic of Encanto is in danger and the only one who can save it might just be Mirabel.

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Genre: Animated Feature
Now Playing: Wide
Rating: PG (for thematic elements and mild peril)

A Holiday Chance

(Faith Media) Nafessa Williams, Sharon Leal, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Tobias Truvillion. Two estranged rival sisters must come together to help save the family business when their father suffers some tragic events during the holidays.

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Genre: Holiday
Now Playing: Regal Pointe Orlando
Rating: PG-13 (for some strong language and a suggestive reference)

Antim: The Final Truth

(Zee) Salman Khan, Aayush Sharma, Mahima Makwana, Mahesh Manjrekar. A penniless village boy sacrifices family and nearly everything else to rise to the top of organized crime, pursued closely by a relentless police officer.

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Genre: Crime
Now Playing: AMC Altamonte Springs, Regal Pavilion Port Orange
Rating: NR

Anubhavinchu Raja

(Annapurna) Ajay, Raj Tarun, Krishna Murali Posani, Sudharshan. A young man who inherits wealth at an early age becomes the village laughingstock when his lavish lifestyle catches up to him. Determined to prove himself worthy, his quest to gain respect goes awry.

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Genre: Comedy
Now Playing: Cinemark Orlando
Rating: NR

For the Love of Money

(Freestyle) Keri Hilson, Rotimi, Jason Mitchell, Keith Sweat. When shadowy figures threaten a woman’s daughter, she is pulled into the life she had escaped and had hoped never to return to.

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Genre: Drama
Now Playing: AMC Disney Springs, Regal Oviedo Marketplace, Regal Pointe Orlando
Rating: R (for language, some sexual content/nudity and violence)

House of Gucci

(United Artists) Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons. Oscar-winning director Ridley Scott may have another awards contender on his hands as the family behind an Italian fashion empire is unraveled by the naked ambition of an outsider who married into the family.

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Genre: True Crime Drama
Now Playing: Wide
Rating: R (for language, some sexual content, and brief nudity and violence)

Julia

(Sony Classics) Julia Child, Ina Garten, Jacques Pepin, Marcus Samuelsson. This is the story of the woman who essentially created the modern cooking show, transformed the way Americans see food and cooking, and even made a difference in the role of women in society.

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Genre: Documentary
Now Playing: Cinematique Daytona, Enzian
Rating: PG-13 (for brief strong language/sexual references, and some thematic elements)

Maanaadu

(V House) S.J. Suryah, T.R. Silambarasan, Kalyani Priyadarshan, Bharathiraja. The bodyguard of the chief minister of the state and a police officer are caught in a time loop on the day of an important conference.

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Genre: Adventure
Now Playing: Cinemark Orlando, Regal Pointe Orlando
Rating: NR

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City

(Screen Gems) Kaya Scodelario, Hannah John-Kamen, Robbie Amell, Donal Logue. The exodus of pharmaceutical giant Umbrella has turned a boom town into a ghost town, but the problems for Raccoon City are far worse below the surface, where the evil of the Umbrella Corporation is being born.

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Genre: Horror
Now Playing: Wide
Rating: R (for strong violence and gore, and language throughout)

The Unforgivable

(Netflix) Sandra Bullock, Jon Bernthal, Vincent D’Onofrio, Viola Davis. A woman convicted for a violent crime serves out her sentence after which she returns home, where she is decidedly not welcome. Her only hope for redemption is in finding her estranged younger sister, whom she was forced to leave behind.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Drama
Now Playing: Cinemark Universal Citywalk
Rating: R (for language and violence)

COMING TO VIRTUAL CINEMA/VOD:

14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible (Monday)
Adrienne (Wednesday)
Angéle
Badland Doves (Wednesday)
Burning (Monday)
Dig Deeper: The Disappearance of Birgit Meier
DMX: Don’t Try to Understand Me (Thursday)
Dog Years
Good Thief (Tuesday)
Green Snake
Lady Buds
More the Merrier (Monday)
Nash Bridges (Saturday)
The Power of the Dog (Wednesday)
South Park: Post-COVID (Thursday)
Spoiled Brats
The Summit of the Gods (Tuesday)

SCHEDULED FOR REVIEW:

Encanto
House of Gucci
Lady Buds
The Power of the Dog
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
The Unforgivable

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New Releases for the Week of October 15, 2021

HALLOWEEN KILLS

(Blumhouse) Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Anthony Michael Hall, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Thomas Mann, Kyle Richards, Nancy Stephens. Directed by David Gordon Green

Once again, the unstoppable Michael Myers has escaped from certain death. With his sister Laurie Strode hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, it will be up to her daughter and granddaughter to bring Haddonfield together to rise up and defeat the monster once and for all.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Horror
Now Playing: Wide (also on Peacock)
Rating: R (for strong bloody violence throughout, grisly images, language and some drug use)

The Grand Duke of Corsica

(Vertical) Timothy Spall, Peter Stormare, Matt Hookings, Alicia Agneson. In 1221, a young man begins his path to becoming a saint. A thousand years later, a dying billionaire engages an architect to buiild his mausoleum. Their lives will all be affected permanently by a pandemic.

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Genre: Dramedy
Now Playing: Studio Movie Grille Sunset Walk
Rating: NR

Hard Luck Love Song

(Roadside Attractions) Michael Dorman, Sophia Bush, Dermot Mulroney, Eric Roberts. A down on his luck singer/songwriter is brought face-to-face with all the bad choices he has made throughout his life when he unexpectedly encounters an old flame.

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Genre: Drama
Now Playing: Regal Winter Park Village
Rating: R (for language throughout, drug use, some violence and sexual references)

The Last Duel

(20th Century) Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer, Ben Affleck. The story of the last sanctioned duel in France, set during the Hundred Years War, as told by Oscar-winning director Ridley Scott. The wife of a distinguished knight is raped by his one-time friend and now bitter rival, a charge he denies. However, the woman stands up and accuses her attacker, seeking justice which will take the form of a trial by combat – to the death.

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Genre: Action
Now Playing: Wide
Rating: R (for strong violence including sexual assault, sexual content, some graphic nudity, and language)

Maha Samudram

(AK Entertainment) Jagapathi Babu, Anu Emmanuel, Adita Rao Hydari, Katiyar King. Two childhood best friends have a falling out when they end up on opposite sides of the law.

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Genre: Action
Now Playing: Cinemark Orlando
Rating: NR

Most Eligible Bachelor

(GA2) Akhil Akkineni, Pooja Hegde, Aamani, Pragathi. A couple in love get married, only to discover that their ideas of what married life should be are quite different.

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Genre: Romantic Comedy
Now Playing: Cinemark Orlando
Rating: NR

The Rescue

(Greenwich) Rick Stanton, John Volanthen, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jim Warni. The world was transfixed in 2018 when a youth soccer team and their coach was trapped in a flooded cave in northern Thailand. This documentary focuses on the heroism of the cave divers who set out to rescue the boys against all odds.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Documentary
Now Playing: Regal Oviedo Marketplace, Regal The Loop, Regal Waterford Lakes, Regal Winter Park Village
Rating: PG (for thematic material involving peril and some language)

COMING TO VIRTUAL CINEMA/VOD:

Bergman Island
Crutch (Monday)
Injustice (Tuesday)
The Medium (Thursday)
Needle in a Timestack
Night Teeth (Wednesday)
Passion Play: Russell Westbrook
Slumber Party Massacre (Saturday)
The Soul of a Farmer (Tuesday)
The Velvet Underground
Women is Losers (Monday)

SCHEDULED FOR REVIEW:

Crutch
Halloween Kills
The Last Duel

New Releases for the Week of August 27, 2021

CANDYMAN

(Universal) Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Colman Domingo, Kyle Kaminski, Vanessa Williams. Directed by Nia DaCosta

Although the Cabrini-Green housing project has been torn down and gentrified into upscale condos, the horror of the Candyman remains. A young artist, hearing the background story of the urban legend, begins to paint macabre details of the crime that created the Candyman, unwittingly opening up a new portal to terror.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Horror
Now Playing: Wide
Rating: R (for bloody horror violence, and language including some sexual references)

A Rescue of Little Eggs

(Pantelion) Starring the voices of Mauricio Barrientos, Bruno Bichir, Carlos Espejel, Maite Perroni. A cocky rooster and his fowl partner undertake a dangerous trip to the Congo to recover their stolen eggs from a gang of Russian thugs.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Animated Feature
Now Playing: AMC Altamonte Mall, AMC Disney Springs, Regal The Loop, Regal Waterford Lakes
Rating: PG (for rude material and action)

Annette

(Amazon) Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, Simon Helberg, Devyn McDowell. A stand-up comic falls in love with a world-famous opera singer and together they have a child of unique grace and an exceptional destiny. This is the latest from visionary director Leos Carax.

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Genre: Musical
Now Playing: Cinematique Daytona (also on Amazon Prime)
Rating: R (for sexual content including some nudity and for language)

Curiosa

(Film Movement) Noémie Merlant, Niels Schneider, Benjamin Lavernhe, Camélia Jordana. The true story of a love triangle (okay, a love square if you must) featuring French author Pierre Louÿs, his best friend, his best friend’s wife, and a passionate Algerian woman.

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Genre: Biographical Drama
Now Playing: Enzian On-Demand
Rating: NR

Death Rider in the House of Vampires

(Atlas) Devon Sawa, Julian Sands, Glenn Danzig, Danny Trejo. A lone mysterious rider crosses the desert to find the Vampire Sanctuary. Once there he takes on all manner of bloodsuckers as ex-Misfit rock star Glenn Danzig reaches for new heights.

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Genre: Horror Western
Now Playing: Amstar Lake Mary, Fashion Square Premiere, Regal Pavilion Port Orange, Studio Movie Grill Sunset Walk
Rating: NR

The Final Set

(Film Movement) Alex Lutz, Ana Girardot, Kristin Scott Thomas, Jürgen Briand. A tennis player in the twilight of his career looks back at unfulfilled potential that marked it. Although his wife and mother advise against it, he decides to take one last crack at the French Open championship and against all odds makes his way through the tournament – until he is matched with a young prodigy who reminds him of his younger self.

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Genre: Sports Drama
Now Playing: Enzian On-Demand
Rating: NR

Flag Day

(United Artists) Dylan Penn, Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Norbert Leo Butz. A young woman has a complicated relationship with her father; on the one hand, he made her life feel like a grand adventure; on the other hand, he was a notorious counterfeiter constantly on the run from the law or in jail. This drama, based on a true story, is directed by Sean Penn and stars his real-life daughter.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Biographical Drama
Now Playing: Regal Winter Park Village
Rating: R (for language, some drug use and violent content)

Ichata Vahanamulu Nilupa Radu

(A1) Vennela Kishore, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Sushanth, Sambaa Siva. An architect with a loving mother and a beautiful girlfriend finds his life going haywire one day when he parks his bike in a “No Parking” zone.

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Genre: Dramedy
Now Playing: AMC Classic New Smyrna, Cinemark Orlando
Rating: NR

Lydia Lunch: The War is Never Over

(Kino Lorber) Lydia Lunch, Henry Rollins, Thurston Moore, Danita Sparks. The career of Lunch, a legendary No Wave musician and underground performance artist, is chronicled by her friend and collaborator Beth B. This is the latest installment of the Enzian’s new Meet the Filmmakers series.

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Genre: Music Documentary
Now Playing: Enzian (Monday only)
Rating: NR

Mama Weed

(Music Box) Isabelle Huppert, Hippolyte Girardot, Farida Ouchani, Liliane Rovere. A translator on the Paris narcotics unit who is deeply in debt trying to pay for the long-term care facility in which her mother resides comes into a stash of narcotics and uses her insider knowledge to become Mama Weed, salesman extraordinaire of the wacky weed.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Crime Comedy
Now Playing: Cinematique Daytona
Rating: NR

No Man of God

(RLJE) Elijah Wood, Luke Kirby, Robert Patrick, Aleksa Palladino. As Ted Bundy awaits execution for his numerous crimes, FBI profiler Bill Hagmaier interviews the serial killer with the hopes of using the information he gleans to identify other criminals in the future. The dialogue is taken from the actual transcripts of the interviews Hagmaier conducted.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Crime Biography
Now Playing: Enzian
Rating: NR

Sridevi Soda Center

(Zee) Anandhi, Sudheer Babu Posani, Pavel Navageethan, Rohini. Based on an actual incident, the film depicts a love story taking place amidst the caste system and politics of rural India.

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Genre: Musical Comedy
Now Playing: AMC Classic New Smyrna, Cinemark Orlando
Rating: NR

Together

(Bleecker Street) James McAvoy, Sharon Horgan, Samuel Logan. A couple whose relationship is deteriorating are suddenly stuck together by the pandemic lockdown. This is the latest film from Oscar nominee Stephen Daldry.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Dramedy
Now Playing: AMC Disney Springs, CMX Plaza Café Orlando, CMX Merritt Square
Rating: R (for language throughout)

COMING TO VIRTUAL CINEMA/VOD:

A Wake (Tuesday)
Afterlife of the Party (Wednesday)
Blob Blob Fish (Tuesday)
He’s All That
Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms (Tuesday)
Vacation Friends

SCHEDULED FOR REVIEW:

Annette
Candyman
No Man of God
Together

New Releases for the Week of August 5, 2021

THE SUICIDE SQUAD

(Warner Brothers) Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, Idris Elba, Jai Courtney, Joel Kinnaman, John Cena, Sylvester Stallone, Storm Reid, Peter Capaldi. Directed by James Gunn

A group of convicted supervillains are given a release from prison – closely supervised by Colonel Rick Flagg and the ruthless Amanda Waller – to take on a seemingly impossible mission: to stop a would be world conqueror who happens to be a giant starfish. Heads will roll and blood will spill in this Gunn-directed extraganza that may just be the DCEU movie we’ve been waiting for.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Superhero
Now Playing: Wide (also on HBO Max)
Rating: R (for drug use, brief graphic nudity, language throughout, some sexual references, and strong violence and gore)

6:45

(Storyboard) Michael Reed, Augie Duke, Thomas G. Waites, Armen Garo. A couple on a vacation on an idyllic and quiet island to try and rescue their rocky relationship find themselves battling for their lives in an endless time loop of murder and horror from which there is no escape.

See the trailer here
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Genre: Horror
Now Playing: Regal Waterford Lakes, Regal Winter Park Village
Rating: R (for strong violence and gore, language throughout, sexual content and nudity)

All the Streets are Silent

(Greenwich) Rosario Dawson, Fab 5 Freddie, Moby, Darryl McDaniels. In New York in the late Eighties, two disparate subcultures – hip hop and skateboarding – converged. This is the story of how it happened and the lasting cultural impact of that convergence.

See the trailer here
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Genre: Music Documentary
Now Playing: Enzian On-Demand
Rating: NR

Annette

(Amazon) Marion Cotillard, Adam Driver, Ron Mael, Russell Mael. A stand-up comedian and his opera singer wife have a 2-year-old daughter with an unusual gift. From the offbeat mind of French director Leos Carax.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Musical
Now Playing: Cinemark Orlando
Rating: R (for sexual content including some nudity, and for language)

Blackpink: The Movie

(Trafalgar) Jennie Kim, Jisoo Kim, Lalisa Manoban, Rosé. This concert film/documentary celebrates the fifth anniversary of the global sensation Blackpink. And they said they’d never last…

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Music Documentary
Now Playing: AMC Disney Springs, Cinemark Universal Citywalk
Rating: NR

John and the Hole

(IFC) Charlie Shotwell, Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Ehle, Taissa Farmiga. A disquieting tale of a 13-year-old boy with issues who holds his family hostage in a hole in the ground.

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Genre: Thriller
Now Playing: CMX Orlando Plaza
Rating: R (for language)

Mandibles

(Magnet) Grégoire Ludig, David Marsais, Adéle Exarchopoulos, India Hair. A pair of none-too-bright friends are given a task of delivering a briefcase. They steal a car, only to find a giant fly in the trunk. This gives them the idea to train the fly to rob banks. This played the most recent Florida Film Festival and is making it out into a theatrical release.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Fantasy
Now Playing: Enzian
Rating: NR

Nine Days

(Sony Classics) Winston Duke, Zazie Beetz, Benedict Wong, Bill Skarsgård. Five souls vying to be born on Earth are interviewed by a man to determine if they are worthy.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Fantasy
Now Playing: AMC Disney Springs, Regal Winter Park Village
Rating: R (for language)

Notorious Nick

(Lionsgate) Cody Christian, Elizabeth Röhm, Kevin Pollak, Barry Livingston. A MMA fighter born with a partial left arm nevertheless dreams of becoming the light heavyweight champion and works towards that goal.

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Genre: Action
Now Playing: Picture Show at Altamonte
Rating: PG-13 (for sports violence/action, and language)

Playing God

(Vertical) Hannah Kasulka, Luke Benward, Michael McKean, Alan Tudyk. A brother-sister con artist team try to convince a grieving billionaire that he is getting a face-to-face interview with God, with their mentor playing the role of the almighty.
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See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Comedy
Now Playing: Studio Movie Grill Sunset Walk
Rating: NR

COMING TO VIRTUAL CINEMA/VOD:

The Bergeron Brothers: Wedding Videographers (Tuesday)
Bleed With Me (Tuesday)
Dark Stories (Tuesday)
Eye Without a Face (Tuesday)
The Florist (Tuesday)
Materna (Tuesday)
Never Gonna Snow Again
Night Drive
Sabaya
Sheep Without a Shepherd
The Swarm
Val
Vivo
Whirlybird

SCHEDULED FOR REVIEW:

Annette
Mandibles
Never Gonna Snow Again
Nine Days
Suicide Squad
Val
Vivo
Whirlybird

BlacKKKlansman

A different kind of hoodie.

(2018) True Life Drama (Focus) John David Washington Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Alec Baldwin, Frederick Weller, Topher Grace, Corey Hawkins, Ryan Eggold, Nicholas Turturro, Harry Belafonte, Gina Belafonte, Paul Walter Hauser, Jasper Pääkkönen, Ashlie Atkinson, Ato Blankson-Wood, Robert John Burke, Arthur Nascarella, Ken Garito, Damaris Lewis. Directed by Spike Lee

 

Spike Lee is the kind of director who tends to be ahead of his time; he has the uncanny ability to read the writing on the wall, particularly when it comes to race relations in America. His treatise on American racism in 2018 is cleverly couched in a based-on-actual-events dramedy set in the early 70s (although the actual events occurred in 1978).

Spike Lee is also the kind of director who doesn’t really care much about subtlety. Consequently, his films tend to make their points with all the subtlety of a jackhammer. Here, Ron Stallworth (Washington), the first black cop in the history of Colorado Springs, has been chafing at a desk job. He longs to get out into the field and make a difference. He is assigned to go undercover at a black student rally at nearby Colorado College. There, he falls for the fiery, passionate president of the chapter, Patrice (Harrier).

His assignment goes well so he joins the Intelligence Division of the CSPD. He decides to call the Ku Klux Klan and see if he can get a membership card – which to his bemusement, he does. But after repeated phone conversations with KKK head David Duke (Grace), he is given the opportunity to infiltrate the local KKK chapter. Knowing that his physical presence is impossible, he gets a surrogate; Jewish cop Flip Zimmerman (Driver).

Lee doesn’t miss an opportunity to draw parallels between the 1970s and now, as in having the KKK members shouting in unison “America First!” or a racist cop opining that a racist President will get into office by masking his racism in policies about immigration and taxation. And if you still don’t get the connection, Lee appended a coda showing the tragic events of Charlottesville that took place almost a year to the day of the film’s release but after the film was completed.

This is one of Lee’s best films ever. While I’m not so sure that making white extremists out to be ignorant buffoons is a wise choice – that’s how we ended up with our current President – there is plenty of humor to balance out the seriousness of the message. Lee also does an excellent job of capturing the era, from the outstanding score and soundtrack to the wonderfully awful fashions and massive Afros.

Lee also benefits from outstanding performances from Washington and Driver, as well as to a lesser extent Topher Grace as the clueless David Duke. The message is certainly one that bears repeating – that in nearly half a century we still haven’t made much headway. I don’t know that the people who need to get that message will necessarily be flocking to see BlacKKKlansman but even if the movie ends up preaching to the converted it is still well worth the effort to check it out.

REASONS TO SEE: Captures the era to near-perfection, thanks largely to a terrific score. Great performances by Washington and Driver.
REASONS TO AVOID: Heavy handed and lacks finesse.
FAMILY VALUES: There is plenty of profanity including racial epithets, a fair amount of violence (including sexual violence) and some sexual references.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: The film received six Oscar nominations including Best Picture and winning one for Best Adapted Screenplay.
BEYOND THE THEATERS: Amazon, AppleTV, Fandango Now, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube
CRITICAL MASS: As of 12/29/19: Rotten Tomatoes: 96% positive reviews: Metacritic: 83/100.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Mississippi Burning
FINAL RATING: 7/10
NEXT: Uncut Gems

New Releases for the Week of December 20, 2019

STAR WARS: RISE OF THE SKYWALKER

(Disney) Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Domhnall Gleeson, Richard E. Grant. Directed by J.J. Abrams

Forty years and ten movies on, and it all comes to this; the final chapter in the saga of the Skywalker family, from Anakin to Luke and now the last generation, the story that has spanned four decades comes to a conclusion. Is it going to be as emotionally satisfying as the MCU finale earlier this year? Probably not.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Science Fiction
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG-13 (for sci-fi violence and action)

A Hidden Life

(Fox Searchlight) August Diehl, Valerie Pachner, Maria Simon, Tobias Moretti. The true story of Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter who refused to fight for the Nazis during the Second World War at great personal cost to himself and his family. This is the latest from recently prolific director Terrence Malick.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Biographical Drama
Now Playing: Regal Winter Park Village, Rialto Spanish Springs Square
Rating: PG-13 (for traumatic material including violent images)

Bombshell

(Lionsgate) Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie, John Lithgow. A group of women at Fox News take on Roger Ailes to try and change the toxic masculine atmosphere he created, leading to a profound shakeup at the official network of the Republican party.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: True Life Drama
Now Playing: AMC Altamonte Mall, AMC Disney Springs, AMC Lake Square, AMC West Oaks, Cinemark Orlando, Cinepolis Hamlin, Cinepolis Polk County, Cobb Daytona Luxury, Epic Theaters of Clermont, Regal Oviedo Marketplace, Regal Pavilion Port Orange, Regal The Loop, Regal Waterford Lakes, Regal Winter Park Village, Rialto Spanish Springs Square
Rating: R (for sexual material and language throughout)

Cats

(Universal) James Corden, Judi Dench, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson. At long last comes the screen version of the hit Broadway musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, depicting a group of cats meeting to determine which one of them will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and return to a new and better life. The film has gotten a great deal of blowback due to the trailer which some found the CGI make-up effects disconcerting.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Musical
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG (for some rude and suggestive material)
 

Dabangg 3

(Yash Raj) Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Mahie Gill, Girish Taurani. India’s beloved badass cop Inspector Chulbul Pandey is back to take on a new case.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Action
Now Playing: Cinemark Universal Citywalk, Touchstar Southchase
Rating: NR

ALSO OPENING IN ORLANDO/DAYTONA:

Hero</em
Prati Roju Pandage
Ruler
Thambi

ALSO OPENING IN MIAMI/FT. LAUDERDALE/KEY WEST:

Hero
Only Cloud Knows
Prati Roju Pandage
Ruler
Thambi

ALSO OPENING IN TAMPA/ST. PETERSBURG/SARASOTA:

Ruler

ALSO OPENING IN JACKSONVILLE/ST. AUGUSTINE:

Prati Roju Pandage

SCHEDULED FOR REVIEW:

A Hidden Life
Bombshell
Cats
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

FILM FESTIVALS TAKING PLACE IN FLORIDA:

Mistletoe Movie Madness, Dania Beach, FL

The Report

Going through millions of pages in government reports could turn anybody into Kylo Ren.

(2019) True Life Drama (Amazon) Adam Driver, Annette Bening, Jon Hamm, Ted Levine, Maura Tierney, Michael C. Hall, Corey Stoll, Linda Powell, John Rothman, Victor Slezak, Guy Boyd, Alexander Chaplin, Joanne Tucker, Ian Blackman, Tim Blake Nelson, Fajer Kaisi, Scott Shepherd, Jennifer Morrison, Matthew Rhys, Kate Beahan, April Rogalski. Directed by Scott Z. Burns

 

As Americans, we have always held ourselves to certain standards. We are strong, true and follow the law. We do the right thing. There came a time though, that our self-image took a pounding.

Young Daniel Jones (Driver) is ambitious, ready to keep America safe after 9/11. He was anxious to make a difference the best way he could – behind the scenes as a Congressional aide. When Senator Diane Feinstein (Bening) asks him to look into recordings of interrogations that the CIA had reportedly destroyed, he uncovered something terrible; evidence that the CIA was torturing prisoners for information.

Calling the effort “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques,” or EIT, the program was put in place by a pair of contractors with backgrounds in psychology and the military. Nobody seemed to be bothered by the fact that the two men had never conducted an interrogation before, or that evidence was strong that torture almost never yielded any actionable intelligence. The program went on and keeping it covered up seemed to be the main focus.

Jones and a small team of researchers worked in a basement office in a CIA satellite office for five years, working crazy hours going through more than six million pages of documents. Despite reluctance by the CIA and certain segments of Congress, Jones pressed and pressed until he uncovered the shocking truth.

The story is an important one, one that is especially relevant these days. Not every important story makes a good movie, however; much of what happened involved researchers sitting in front of a computer screen in a jail cell-like atmosphere. The dramatic tension here is not very strong. It doesn’t help that Burns doesn’t really develop Jones much as a character; we never see much of his personality except for that he’s driven and almost obsessive. He’s passionate about what he’s looking for and sometimes gets frustrated when others don’t share his outrage.

Bening and Driver are both outstanding actors and they don’t disappoint here. Driver is definitely in a much more different kind of role than we’re used to from him and it’s a good fit. I’m impressed by his versatility as an actor and he really stretches himself here. Bening is an actress who doesn’t always get the due she deserves; she probably won’t get a ton of accolades for her performance here but she really brings Feinstein’s personality to the forefront; that’s not surprising considering the two are friends in real life. Good casting is important in any cinematic endeavor.

I can see where those who are politically conservative might not like this much; the Conservatives don’t come up covered in glory here. Still, it’s an important story about how easy it is for the way to be lost, and how wanting to preserve our security can sometimes lead to compromising our soul. It’s a chilling tale and one that needs to be committed to memory.

REASONS TO SEE: A compelling story chilling in its implications. Strong performances by Driver and Bening.
REASONS TO AVOID: Overall the movie is a bit more underwhelming than the story deserves.
FAMILY VALUES: There are disturbing depictions of torture, violence, plenty of profanity and graphic nudity.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: The real Daniel J. Jones attended the film’s world premiere at Sundance and received a standing ovation from the audience.
BEYOND THE THEATERS: Amazon
CRITICAL MASS: As of 12/6/19: Rotten Tomatoes: 83% positive reviews: Metacritic: 66/100
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Zero Dark Thirty
FINAL RATING: 7/10
NEXT: The Last Color

New Releases for the Week of June 14, 2019

MEN IN BLACK INTERNATIONAL

(Columbia) Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Rebecca Ferguson, Rafe Spall, Kumail Nanjiani. Directed by F. Gary Gray

The Men in Black have long protected the Earth from extraterrestrial villains but now they face their biggest threat yet; one of their own, a mole in their own organization. Agents H and M will be challenged more than any other agent before them in this new installment in the franchise, the first without either Will Smith or Tommy Lee Jones.

See the trailer, video featurettes and clips here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Science Fiction
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG-13 (for sci-fi action, some language and suggestive material)

5B

(RYOT) Hank Plante, Cliff Morrison, Mary Magee, Lorraine Day. The first dedicated AIDS ward in the country was built at San Francisco General Hospital in 1983. This is the story of those who built it; the nurses and caregivers and the often heartbreaking stories of loss, courage and triumph.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Documentary
Now Playing: Regal Oviedo Marketplace, Regal Pointe Orlando, Regal Winter Park Village, Rialto Spanish Springs Square
Rating: PG-13 (for thematic content including unsettling images, and some strong language)

American Woman

(Roadside Attractions/Vertical) Sienna Miller, Christina Hendricks, Aaron Paul, Amy Madigan. When a woman’s adult daughter disappears, she is left as caregiver for her infant granddaughter while trying to solve the mystery of her daughter’s disappearance, a journey that takes far longer than she anticipated.

See the trailer and clips here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Drama
Now Playing: Regal Winter Park Village
Rating: R (for language, sexual content and drug use)

The Dead Don’t Die

(Focus) Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Carol Kane. A sleepy small town is beset by the living dead who are looking for a free meal in the latest by quirkmeister Jim Jarmusch.

See the trailer, a video featurette and a clip here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Horror Comedy
Now Playing: AMC Altamonte Mall, AMC Disney Springs, Barnstorm Theater, Cinemark Artegon Marketplace, Regal Winter Park Village
Rating: R (for zombie violence/gore, and for language)

Late Night

(Amazon) Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, Hugh Dancy, John Lithgow. A veteran late night talk show host, in danger of becoming irrelevant, hires a woman of color to join her stable of writers. The two women, who couldn’t be more different, find themselves sharing more in common than they would have thought.

See the trailer, video featurettes and an interview here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Comedy
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: R (for language throughout and some sexual references)

Shaft

(Warner Brothers/New Line) Samuel L. Jackson, Jesse T. Usher, Richard Roundtree, Regina Hall. The son of the baddest private eye in New York City has a completely different methodology than his father. When a close friend of the son turns up dead, he will need a crash course in street tough from his dad, who was absent throughout his childhood but John Shaft has an agenda and no mutha is going to keep him from achieving it, family or not.

See the trailer and video featurettes here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Action Comedy
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: R (for pervasive language, violence, sexual content, some drug material and brief nudity)

ALSO OPENING IN ORLANDO/DAYTONA:

Blackbear
Changeland
Hampstead
Plus One
Rainbow’s Sunset</em
The Souvenir
Vault

ALSO OPENING IN MIAMI/FT. LAUDERDALE:

Game Over
Los Viejos – The Oldies
Nureyev
Plus One
Premier Padmini
Remember Amnesia
The Souvenir

ALSO OPENING IN TAMPA/ST. PETERSBURG:

Daughter of the Wolf
Game Over
Heavy Water
The Souvenir
Vault

ALSO OPENING IN JACKSONVILLE/ST. AUGUSTINE:

None

SCHEDULED FOR REVIEW:

The Dead Don’t Die
Late Night
Men in Black International
Shaft

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote

An iconic figure, his faithful manservant and Terry Gilliam’s 25-year-odyssey.

(2018) Adventure (Screen Media) Adam Driver, Jonathan Pryce, Joana Ribeiro, Stellan Skarsgård, Olga Kurylenko, Jordi Mollá, Óscar Jaenada, Jason Watkins, Paloma Bloyd, Hovik Keuchkerian, Matilde Fluixa, Joe Manjón, Antonio Gil, Rodrigo Poison, Sergi López, Rossy de Palma, Bruno Schiappa, Hipolito Boro, Jorge Calvo, Will Keen, Viveka Rytzner. Directed by Terry Gilliam

 

Few films have as checkered a past as The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Visionary director and ex-Monty Python animator Terry Gilliam has been trying to get this film made since 1989. Unable to secure financing until 1998, he began filming only to have the production shut down after only a week following health problems for star Jean Rochefort’s health issues, a devastating flood which swept away nearly all the production’s equipment and assorted financial issues. Since then Gilliam has been continuing to get production restarted, adding some fairly big name actors to the cast but ultimately was unable to secure financing until 2017 when cameras finally rolled once again. Incredibly, production was eventually completed.

Now we see the finished product and was it worth 25 years of Gilliam’s life? Well, I suppose you’d have to ask him that. The story involved a jaded Hollywood commercial director named Toby (Driver) who as a student filmmaker commandeered a Spanish village and made a black and white film called The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, transforming Javier (Pryce), an ordinary cobbler into believing he was actually Don Quixote, and Angelica (Ribeiro), a 15-year-old waitress into thinking she could be a star. The villagers, needless to say, don’t remember Toby fondly.

When Toby returns to the village of Los Suenos (“The Dreams”) years later while filming an insurance company commercial involving the Man of La Mancha, he is brought face to face with the results of his student film. The now-mad Javier mistakes Toby for Sancho Panza and off they go into the Spanish countryside where Toby nearly burns the village down, is arrested by the local constabulary, watches Don Quixote tilt at windmills and ends up at a lavish party thrown by a Russian Oligarch (Mollá) who now “owns” Angelica and assisted by Toby’s boss (Skarsgård) and his oversexed wife Jacqui (Kurylenko). Can Toby find a way back to reality through the cobbler’s madness or will he eventually get sucked in, Javier’s vision preferable to the real world?

This is not an easy movie to analyze; there are a ton of things going on and many layers to unravel. Toby could be considered a young Terry Gilliam, a bright and inventive creative mind worn down by dealing with the machine of commercial filmmaking. Quixote is the ideal he is striving to achieve. Or he can be construed as purity while Toby is the corrupted but not irretrievable. Quixote longs to re-create the Age of Chivalry; a return to an idealized past maybe? While Toby is the strictures of the present. I could go on and on…and already have.

There is a lot to think about here which is never a bad thing in a movie. My beef with The Man Who Killed Don Quixote is that it needed more Terry Gilliam; this feels stripped down and less imaginative than his other efforts. I think this would have benefited from a much larger budget to give Gilliam’s imagination full flower and perhaps that is why it has taken so long to make this; unless it’s a superhero film or a science fiction epic, Hollywood is loathe to give those mega-budgets out to just anyone, particularly to people like Gilliam whose movies don’t always make money.

Pryce is delightful as Quixote; his madness is at least sweet and essentially harmless unless he perceives you to be non-chivalrous. In that case things could get testy. Driver is a versatile actor who can do just about any kind of character; Toby is essentially a self-absorbed twerp who at any given moment thinks he’s the smartest person in the room. Beyond the student film, we don’t get a whole lot of background on Toby and the movie might have benefited from connecting the dots between student filmmaker to jaded commercial filmmaker. The mostly European cast does solid work throughout the film. There aren’t a lot of dazzling special effects shots here and the film could have used them.

Maybe I expected more from the film since it took so long to make it to the screen, and because Gilliam is such a visually arresting filmmaker. I get the sense that this isn’t the film he wanted to make but it was the film he could afford to make. Perhaps that’s true of most filmmakers.

REASONS TO SEE: Like any Terry Gilliam movie, this is chock full of imagination. Skewers the film industry with a rapier wit.
REASONS TO AVOID: The movie could have used a little more whimsy.
FAMILY VALUES: There are some profanity, sexuality, violence and disturbing images.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Since 1989, Gilliam has made numerous attempts to get this film off the ground, most notably in 2000 when it became “the most cursed film in history” as documented by Lost in La Mancha. Over the years Gilliam has cast a number of actors as Quixote besides Pryce; Michael Palin, John Hurt, Jean Rochefort and Robert Duvall, two of whom have since passed away.
CRITICAL MASS: As of 4/10/19: Rotten Tomatoes: 63% positive reviews: Metacritic: 56/100.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
FINAL RATING: 7.5/10
NEXT: Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy

New Releases for the Week of August 10, 2018

THE MEG

(Warner Brothers) Jason Statham, Bingbing Li, Rainn Wilson, Cliff Curtis, Winston Chao, Sophia Cai, Ruby Rose, Page Kennedy, Robert Taylor, Olafur Darri Olafsson. Directed by Jon Turteltaub

An oceanographer is terrorized by what he claims is a 70-foot shark. Ridiculed and disbelieved, when it turns out that the creature indeed exists and is a prehistoric Megalodon that has somehow survived in the depths of the ocean, he must put aside his fears in order to rescue a trapped submarine.

See the trailer and video featurettes here
For more on the movie this is the website
Release Formats: Standard, 3D, D-BOX, D-BOX 3D, Dolby, IMAX, RPX, RPX 3D, XD, XD 3D
Genre: Action
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG -13(for action/peril, bloody images and some language)

A Prayer Before Dawn

(A24) Joe Cole, Pornchanok Mabklang, Panya Yimmumphai, Vithaya Pansringarm. A young British boxer is incarcerated in two of Thailand’s most brutal prisons. He is allowed to enter a Muay Thai tournament to fight for his freedom, but every fight could be his last  as no holds whatsoever are barred. Based on a true story, the film has been available for DirecTV subscribers for about a month now and is just now seeing a limited theatrical release.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: True Life Drama
Now Playing: AMC Universal Cineplex
Rating: R (for strong violence including a brutal rape sequence, drug use and language throughout, some sexual content and nudity)

American Animals

(The Orchard) Evan Peters, Ann Dowd, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner. A group of young men plan an audacious heist to steal priceless books from a University library. No less audacious is the way director Bart Layton tells the story with the actual participants offering peanut gallery comments. This was the opening night film at this year’s Florida Film Festival.

See the trailer, interviews and video featurettes here
For more on the movie this is the website
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: True Crime
Now Playing: Enzian Theater
Rating: R (for language throughout, some drug use and brief crude/sexual material)

BlacKKKlansman

(Focus) John David Washington, Adam Driver, Topher Grace, Alec Baldwin. Spike Lee’s latest is based on the true story of an African-American cop who manages to get an in with the KKK over the phone. He is forced to recruit a white cop to play him for face-to-face meetings.

See the trailer, interviews and a video featurette here.
For more on the movie this is the website
Release Formats: Standard, Dolby
Genre: True Crime
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: R (for language throughout, including racial epithets, and for disturbing/violent material and some sexual references)

Dog Days

(LD Entertainment) Nina Dobrev, Vanessa Hudgens, Finn Wolfhard, Eva Longoria. The lives of several L.A. dog owners (and would-be dog owners) intersect through the efforts of their dogs in this ensemble piece that looks  at how our four legged best friends enhance our lives.

See the trailer, clips, interviews and B-roll video here
For more on the movie this is the website
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Dramedy
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG (for rude and suggestive content, and for language)

Slender Man

(Screen Gems) Joey King, Julia Goldani Telles, Jaz Sinclair, Javier Botet. A group of friends in a small town in Massachusetts discover the Internet creepypasta figure the Slender Man and set out to disprove his existence. When one of them mysteriously disappears however, their own skepticism begins to crumble.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website</a>
Release Formats: Standard, D-BOX
Genre: Horror
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG-13 (for disturbing images, sequences of terror, thematic elements and language including crude sexual references)

Vishwaroopam 2

(Reliance) Kamal Haasan, Rahul Bose, Shekhar Kapur, Pooja Kumar. After foiling an Al Qaeda plot in New York in the first movie, anti-terrorism expert Wisam chases his quarry as they plan an even more infernal plot to undermine the world’s most stable democracies – including India.

See the trailer here.
For more on the movie this is the website
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Action
Now Playing: Cinemark Artegon Marketplace
Rating: NR

ALSO OPENING IN ORLANDO/DAYTONA:

Along Came the Devil
Hope Springs Eternal
On Chesil Beach
Our House
Srinivasa Kalyanam

ALSO OPENING IN MIAMI/FT. LAUDERDALE:

Ashke
Cuban Food Stories
Goodachari
McQueen
Puzzle
Satan’s Slaves
Sergio and Sergei
Srinivasa Kalyanam
Summer of ‘84
What Keeps You Alive

ALSO OPENING IN TAMPA/ST. PETERSBURG:

Far From the Tree
Srinivasa Kalyanam

ALSO OPENING IN JACKSONVILLE/ST. AUGUSTINE:

Bag of Marbles
Eating Animals
Srinivasa Kalyanam

SCHEDULED FOR REVIEW:

American Animals
Blackkklansman
Eating Animals
Far From the Tree
The Meg
Our House
Slenderman
Summer of ‘84