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
For more on the movie this is the website
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
For more on the movie this is the website
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.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
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.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
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.
>
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

Advertisement

New Releases for the Week of July 14, 2017

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES

(20^th Century Fox) Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn, Toby Kebbell, Judy Greer, Terry Notary, Gabriel Chavarria, Karin Konoval, Amiah Miller. Directed by Matt Reeves

There can be no peace between apes and humans as Caesar, the aging leader of the Apes, goes head to head with a Colonel who sees the war as no less than a war for human survival. With Caesar seeing this as an opportunity to avenge his people and the Colonel hell-bent on wiping out the Apes if the human race is to survive, this will be an epic all-out conflict for dominance.

See the trailer, clips, interviews, featurettes and a promo here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard, 3D
Genre: Science Fiction
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG-13 (for sequences of sci-fi action violence and action, thematic elements and some disturbing images)

Jagga Jasoos

(UTV) Katrina Kaif, Sanjay Dutt, Ranbir Kapoor, Sayani Gupta. A teen boy, aided by a girl he’s sweet on, decides to go out and find his missing father himself when the police prove inadequate. This was distributed in India by Disney.

See the trailer here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Family
Now Playing: AMC Universal Cineplex, AMC West Oaks
Rating: NR

The Little Hours

(Gunpowder & Sky) Alison Brie, Dave Franco, Kate Micucci, Aubrey Plaza. A servant in the middle ages, fleeing from his vindictive master, hides in a convent of emotionally unstable nuns. This is loosely based on Giovanni Boccaccio’s 14^th century novel The Decameron.

See the trailer and interviews here.
For more on the movie this is the website
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Comedy
Now Playing: Regal Winter Park Village
Rating: R (for graphic nudity, sexual content and language)

Maudie

(Sony Classics) Ethan Hawke, Sally Hawkins, Kari Matchett, Zachary Bennett. A woman with crippled hands wants to be independent of her overprotective family and yet yearns to create art of her own. She answers an ad for a housekeeper for a reclusive fishmonger and the two end up falling into an unlikely but passionate romantic relationship. This inspires her to create and as she becomes a renowned folk artist, it brings the two of them closer in ways they couldn’t have imagined.

See the trailer and clips here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Biographical Drama
Now Playing: Regal Winter Park Village
Rating: PG-13 (for some thematic content and brief sexuality)

Wish Upon

(Broad Green) Joey King, Ryan Philippe, Elizabeth Röhm, Sherilyn Fenn. A gift of a strange music box with a cryptic inscription to a bullied high school girl leads her to discover that the box can make any wish she imagines come true. Soon she has it all – wealthy, popularity, the boy she has a huge crush on. However there is a price to be paid for such gifts and she must soon find a way to rid herself of the box before everything she loves is taken away from her.

See the trailer, clips, interviews, a featurette and B-roll video here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Horror
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG-13 (for violent and disturbing images, thematic elements and language)

OPENING IN ORLANDO/DAYTONA

Falsettos
Shamantakamani

ALSO OPENING IN MIAMI:
Blind
The Confessions
Falsettos
Lost in Paris
Pop Aye
Shamantakamani

ALSO OPENING IN TAMPA:

Blind
Falsettos
The Journey
Swallows and Amazons
Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum

ALSO OPENING IN JACKSONVILLE:

All Men are the Same
Falsettos
The Magicians
Shamantakamani
Wakefield

New Releases for the Week of December 25, 2015

CONCUSSION

(Columbia) Will Smith, Alec Baldwin, Albert Brooks, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Morse, Arliss Howard, Mike O’Malley, Eddie Marsan, Luke Wilson. Directed by Peter Landesman

Dr. Bennett Omalu, a forensic Neuropathologist working in Pittsburgh, is presented with a strange situation; a favored son of the city, a former football star, dies suddenly penniless, his very personality rumored to have changed completely. As he investigates he discovers something shocking; repeated head traumas, such as those routinely suffered by football players, leads to some terrifying consequences. However in bringing his findings to the public, he finds himself in a fight with a corporation that owns a day of the week – the National Football League. However, Dr. Omalu refuses to back down and becomes maybe the greatest advocate that pro athletes have ever had.

See the trailer, clips, interviews and B-roll video here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: True Life Drama
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG-13 (for thematic material including some disturbing images, and language)

The Big Short

(Paramount) Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Marisa Tomei. As the economy came to the verge of collapse in 2008, a group of financial outsiders, seeing what the big banks had done to the economy knew that they would likely not get much more than a slap on the wrist. They decided on a bold scheme to get their share, taking on some of the biggest crooks in the history of mankind – and winning.

See the trailer, clips, interviews, a featurette and B-roll video here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: True Life Dramedy
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: R (for pervasive language and some sexuality/nudity)

Daddy’s Home

(Paramount) Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Linda Cardellini, Thomas Haden Church. A white bread radio executive has married a divorced woman with two kids, and is trying to be the best dad possible to them, although frankly they don’t want anything to do with him. Still, he tries and hopes for the best – until their biological father shows up, forcing him to compete with the guy for the attention of the kids. The ante gets upped again and again until the stakes become ridiculous.

See the trailer and clips here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Comedy
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG-13 (for thematic elements, crude and suggestive content, and for language)

The Danish Girl

(Focus) Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Amber Heard, Ben Whishaw. Danish painter Einar Wegener was married to a fellow painter and seemingly happy with his life. However, a request from his wife, seemingly simple and innocuous, leads him to a profound change and the realization that he is a woman trapped in a man’s body. Desperate to find a solution, he takes a risk that at the time was unthinkable – but may be his only hope for happiness and peace.

See the trailer, clips, featurettes and Q&A sessions here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Biographical Drama
Now Playing: AMC Altamonte Springs, Regal Winter Park Village
Rating: R (for some sexuality and full nudity)

The Hateful Eight

(Weinstein) Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bruce Dern. A bounty hunter, taking his quarry back to Red Rock, Wyoming to hang shortly after the end of the Civil War, finds himself snowed in with six other strangers in a Rocky Mountain stagecoach stop. Soon it becomes clear that not all of the men are being completely candid about who they are – and that not everyone holed up to wait out the storm is going to make it out alive. The movie will be playing in digital 70mm print approximation (few theaters across the country will have the real thing), and will be opening in wide release on January 8^th in standard 35mm digital.

See the trailer, clips, interviews, a promo, a featurette, B-roll video and a Q&A session here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Western
Now Playing: AMC Disney Springs, Regal Waterford Lakes
Rating: R (for strong bloody violence, a scene of violent sexual content, language and some graphic nudity)

Joy

(20^th Century Fox) Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Elizabeth Rohm. Coming from a working class background, nobody ever figured Joy would ever amount to much but nobody counted on her unshakable will. She goes on to found a business empire, navigating the cutthroat waters of modern business to become one of the most successful female entrepreneurs in the United States. This is the latest offering from director David O. Russell, who has become the nearest thing to a sure Oscar nominee as there’s been in the last few years.

See the trailer, clips, interviews and a featurette here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Biographical Drama
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG-13 (for brief strong language)

Point Break

(Warner Brothers) Edgar Ramirez, Luke Bracey, Ray Winstone, Teresa Palmer. A young maverick FBI Agent infiltrates a group of extreme athletes who are suspected of pulling off daring robberies utilizing skills involving some of the most dangerous activities known to humans. The deeper the agent gets, the more he gets swept into their world. Eager to prove their innocence he begins to lose sight of his job and the protection of innocent lives. Can he bring these guys to justice before people die for their thrill-seeking ways – or will he ultimately prove their innocence?

See the trailer, clips, interviews, featurettes and B-roll video here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard, 3D
Genre: Action
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: R (for violence, thematic material involving perilous activity, some sexuality, language and drug material)

Youth

(Fox Searchlight) Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Jane Fonda, Rachel Weisz. Two lifelong friends vacation at a resort in the Swiss Alps as they contemplate oncoming retirement. Befriended by a young actor struggling to make sense of his latest role, one – a musician – is urged by his daughter not to retire just yet while the other – a screenwriter – labors to finish what may well be his last screenplay aided by his muse, who may or may not be true inspiration.

See the trailer, clips and a featurette here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Drama
Now Playing: Enzian Theater
Rating: R (for graphic nudity, some sexuality, and language)

Transit (2012)

Diora Baird can run but she can’t hide.

(2012) Action (After Dark) Jim Caviezel, Diora Baird, James Frain, Elizabeth Röhm, Sterling Knight, Harold Perrineau, Jake Cherry, Ryan Donowho, Robbie Jones, Griff Furst, Douglas M. Griffin, Monica Acosta, Don Yesso, Rob Boltin, Beau Brasso, Ashley Braud (voice), John T. Wilson Jr., J.D. Evermore. Directed by Antonio Negret

In the 80s, when Arnold, Sly, Seagal, Van Damme and Snipes ruled the roost in Hollywood, action movies had kind of a unrealistic quality to them; indestructible heroes went up against whole platoons of villains who shot enough ammo to supply the Russian army for a decade without once hitting the hero anywhere vital. In the 90s, things got more gritty and a bit more realistic. Since then, action movies have more or less fallen out of favor at least to the extent of their popularity back in those days as the action stars grew longer in the tooth. We still see action movies today like the various Expendables films but by and large they are different with far more CGI in the mix.

This is more like a throwback to the 90s. Family man Nate Seedwell (Caviezel) is driving his family to a camping trip in Louisiana. Nate is fresh off an 18 month stay in Club Penitentiary for real estate fraud. He’s lost the trust his wife Robyn (Röhm) and the respect of his teenage sons Shane (Knight) and Kenny (Cherry) who would rather be anywhere else.

That wish is only going to grow more intensified. It turns out that a quartet of sullen criminals – Marek (Frain), Losada (Perrineau), Arielle (Baird) and Evers (Donowho) have just robbed an armored car of $4 million, executing the guards in the process. The police are after them and it’s only a matter of time before they catch up. In order to safely make it past police checkpoints, they stash their loot in a tent bag on top of a Land Rover in a truck stop parking lot. You’ll never guess who the Land Rover belongs to.

Once the bad guys get past the police checkpoint (the Seedwells sail through with no problems) they put on the afterburners to catch up with the unsuspecting family, and catch up they do. What follows is a series of action sequences punctuated by people doing dumb things that nobody in their right mind with more than two brain cells rubbing together in their brain would do.

This is a movie of lost opportunities. They set the movie in the swamp lands of Louisiana’s Cajun country, but for the most part this could have been set anywhere as they don’t really utilize the setting to its best advantage. There’s also a part of the movie when Robyn finds the money and assumes that Nate stole it and that the robbers were ex-partners of his trying to retrieve the money that Nate took. They really don’t do anything with this either, other than having Robyn drive off leaving Nate stranded at the side of the road literally holding the bag. That seems to be the end of her disbelief though, as the boys plead with her to go back and get their dad, pleas which fall on deaf ears.

And that leads me to my next problem with this movie. There are so many logical holes here and so many instances of people acting in ways no sane people act. Nobody whose family has been attacked multiple times would drive off and leave their spouse to face the music alone, no matter how mad they got. The instinct to survive and protect one’s children is too strong and when in a situation like that, you’re going to need all hands on deck, or in this case, on dock.

The saving grace for this movie other than the game performances by Caviezel and Röhm is the action sequences. Negret, who worked with After Dark previously on one of their horror films, has a good sense of pacing for action sequences and delivers some terrific fight sequences and some strong car chases. He realizes that he doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel here; he just has to keep the action moving. Far more experienced directors have not done so well in that department, so kudos to him for that point.

It’s a shame this wasn’t better written because the idea is sound and I like that they’re doing an action picture of the style that is much out of favor these days. The movie received only an excuse-me theatrical release before heading to home video and cable, where you can occasionally catch it from time to time. I don’t know that I can recommend this – too many script problems spoil this broth – but I wouldn’t mind seeing what Negret goes on to do in the business.

WHY RENT THIS: Delivers the goods in the action department.
WHY RENT SOMETHING ELSE: Huge lapses in logic. A few too many cliches.
FAMILY MATTERS: There’s plenty of foul language and violence, scenes of terror and brief teen drug use.
TRIVIAL PURSUITS: Caviezel and Frain both previously appeared together in the 2002 version of The Count of Monte Cristo. Röhm and Perrineau both worked on the TV show Lost.
NOTABLE HOME VIDEO FEATURES: None listed.
BOX OFFICE PERFORMANCE: Not available.
SITES TO SEE: Netflix (DVD Rental and Streaming), Amazon, iTunes, Vudu
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Stash House
FINAL RATING: 4/10
NEXT: Sneakerheadz

American Hustle

The 70s – the sexy decade.

(2013) Drama (Columbia) Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner, Louis C.K., Jack Huston, Michael Pena, Shea Whigham, Alessandro Nivola, Elizabeth Rohm, Robert De Niro, Paul Herman, Said Taghmaoui, Adrian Martinez, Anthony Zerbe, Colleen Camp, Steve Gagliastro, Christy Scott Cashman, Becki Dennis. Directed by David O. Russell

Ah, the 70s. The Disco decade; home to the bellbottoms generation in which fashion and hair were so hideous that even the 80s looks more reasonable. The era in which the music scene was so stodgy that punk had to be invented to kick start rock and roll from a moribund existence (although to be honest I’ve always thought the accusation a bit unfair). In movies it was the time of the anti-hero when Travis Bickle, Dirty Harry and Billy Jack roamed the silver screen. Rodney Dangerfield might have said that the 70s don’t get no respect.

It was also the time of ABSCAM, an FBI sting operation that netted corrupt politicians amid accusations of entrapment. The latest from Oscar-nominated director David O. Russell is loosely based on that affair. Here, manic FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Cooper) has small time con man and dry cleaner Irving Rosenfeld (Bale) by the shorties. Irv has been selling fake loans to desperate businessmen and pocketing the fees. He is aided by his sexy girlfriend Sydney Prosser (Adams) who affects an English accent although she’s from Albuquerque.

DiMaso has Atlantic City mayor Carmine Polito (Renner) in his crosshairs and thinks that Irv and Sydney can sweet talk the mayor into accepting money from an Arab sheikh to help rebuild Atlantic City and erect the casinos that he knows can turn the city around. While the FBI doesn’t have any sheikhs sitting around headquarters with nothing to do, Irv knows where to get one and it looks like he might just get out of this thing okay.

But things quickly start spiraling out of control. Irv’s wife – yes he has a wife too – Rosalyn (Lawrence) gets wind of what’s going on and knows enough to really throw a monkey wrench in the works. Carmine also brings in a mobster (De Niro) from Miami who is no fool and doesn’t play nice if he thinks that things are snarky and brother, nothing is more snarky than what’s going down in this hustle. To make matters worse, Carmine turns out to be a pretty decent guy who only wants to help the people of Atlantic City; he’s just willing to take an inadvisable shortcut to do it and Irv starts to get second thoughts about nailing him.

The story is more parable than plot having to do with control and power and how it corrupts, but that’s really not what the movie’s about. What the movie is really about is the characters and Russell may well be the best ensemble director in Hollywood right now. He has collected an impressive group of actors, some of the best working today.

Nobody throws themselves into  a role as physically as Bale. He gained some 50 pounds for this role and affected a slouch (which led to him being treated for two herniated discs) as well as a hideous combover which all became affectations of the character which helped sum up Irv in just a glance. Irv is wary about the world and doesn’t trust anyone and with good cause. He’s smart, smart enough to know that while he’s smarter than most people he’s not as smart as everyone and that the best strategy for any good con is to have a way out. Bale makes this character who might easily have become just another lowlife loser in lesser hands into a sympathetic almost-a-hero.

In fact, all of the characters wind up gaining a certain amount of sympathy from the audience which is quite a feat, even the somewhat loathsome DiMaso. Cooper understands that Richie is desperate to become somebody and lives in fear that he will be forever a non-entity. That fear drives him, makes him take unrealistic chances and to leap when he should look. It also creates a rage within him, a rage that he takes out on his hapless boss (C.K.).

Lawrence has become one of the most capable actresses in Hollywood over the last few years and while her role here is clearly a supporting one, she has one scene that is absolutely breathtaking. Just listen for the strains of Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die” and you’ll understand. Rosalyn is a Jersey princess who comes off as plenty dumb but is a lot smarter in the end than anyone might think. She also rocks the lame dress you see in the poster.

Me though I thought the performance of the film belonged to Amy Adams. Dressed in sultry low-cut dresses she’s always threatening to fall out of, this is a strong brassy character but inside she is a frightened little girl holding off the cruelty of life with an English accent. When that vulnerability shows through as it does on a few occasions, Adams just rips it up. I don’t know that she’ll get an Oscar nomination for this one but she not only richly deserves one, I think she might just have put together a performance that beats out Sandra Bullock’s in Gravity. It’s neck and neck in my book for best actress of the year.

With all that going for it, you’d think I’d have loved the movie but curiously I didn’t love it. I liked it a lot, respected it a great deal but I just didn’t fall in love with the movie. It didn’t connect with me somehow; maybe it’s the length which seems to drag on a bit. Maybe it’s just that I wasn’t in the right frame of mind for it – there are elements of black comedy here as well as a scam movie. I admire that Russell stayed true not only to the setting but the way movies were made in that era. From a strictly craft point of view this is excellent filmmaking.

So take my lack of enthusiasm for what it’s worth. Sometimes you see a movie you admire but you just don’t connect with it for whatever reason. It happens. I get the sense my wife loved the movie more than I did but I don’t think she was all that enthusiastic in her love either. In any case from my point of view this is a movie that inspires respect and admiration more than devotion. Take from that what you will.

REASONS TO GO: High level performances all around.

REASONS TO STAY: Too long. For whatever reason I couldn’t connect with it.

FAMILY VALUES:  There is a ton of swearing, some brief violence and some sex.

TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Filming in Boston was delayed because of the Boston Marathon bombing; afterwards Adams, Cooper, Bale and Renner all visited victims of the attack in area hospitals.

CRITICAL MASS: As of 1/8/14: Rotten Tomatoes: 93% positive reviews. Metacritic: 90/100.

COMPARISON SHOPPING: The Iceman

FINAL RATING: 7/10

NEXT: Apocalypto