New Releases for the Week of August 16, 2019

THE ANGRY BIRDS MOVIE 2

(Columbia) Starring the voices of Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Leslie Jones, Bill Hader, Rachel Bloom, Awkwafina, Eugenio Derbez, Tiffany Haddish. Directed by Thurop von Orman and John Rice

The Angry Birds and their formal rivals, the Green Piggies, must set aside their differences and work together when a new threat imperils both of their island homes.

See the trailer, video featurettes and an interview here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Animated Feature
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG (for rude humor and action)

47 Meters Down: Uncaged

(Entertainment Studios) Sistine Rose Stallone, Corinne Fox, Brianne Tju, Sophie Nėlisse. A quartet of teenage girls are trapped in an underwater ruin of an ancient Mayan city. Their dwindling air supply is the least of their worries however; the city has become a hunting ground for Great White Sharks.

See the trailer and video featurettes here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Adventure
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG-13 (for creature-related violence and terror, some bloody images and brief rude gestures)

Blinded by the Light

(New Line) Viveik Kalra, Hayley Atwell, Rob Brydon, Nell Williams. A young immigrant to London in 1987 is torn between two worlds; the traditions and expectations of his strict Pakistani father and the exciting world of his adopted country in the midst of a music revolution. When he discovers the music of Bruce Springsteen, he finds a kindred soul who gives him hopes to find his own way through the darkness on the edge of town

See the trailer, clips and a video featurette here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Dramedy
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG-13 (for thematic content and language including some ethnic slurs)

David Crosby: Remember My Name

(Sony Classics) David Crosby, Cameron Crowe, Henry Diltz, Graham Nash. One of rock’s most influential voices from the Byrds to CSNY is battling age and poor health as he struggles to face the ups and downs of his past.

See the trailer and a clip here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Music Documentary
Now Playing: Regal Winter Park Village
Rating: R (for language, drug material and brief nudity)

Good Boys

(Universal) Jacob Tremblay, Will Forte, Lil Rel Howley, Keith L. Williams. A 12-year-old is invited to his first middle school party where there is sure to be kissing. Not knowing how to properly kiss a girl, he enlists his friends and his dad’s drone – which he is forbidden to touch – to see if he can figure out the right way to kiss a girl. Things go from bad to worse from there.

See the trailer and video featurettes here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Comedy
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: R (for strong crude sexual content, drug and alcohol material, and language throughout – all involving teens)

Honeyland

(NEON) Haditze Muratova, Nazife Muratova, Hussein Sam, Ljutvie Sam. The delicate natural balance of a remote village of the last female beekeeper in Europe is threatened by the arrival of itinerant beekeepers.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Documentary
Now Playing: Regal Winter Park Village
Rating: NR

Mission Mangal

(FIP) Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Taapsee Pannu, Sonakshi Sinha. The Indian Space Agency must overcome a spectacular history of failure and severe budgetary limitations to launch a cost-effective probe to the surface of Mars.

See the trailer and a video featurette here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: True Life Drama
Now Playing: AMC West Oaks, Cinemark Artegon Marketplace
Rating: NR

Where’d You Go Bernadette?

(Annapurna/MGM) Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup, Kristen Wiig, Judy Greer. A suburban supermom decides that she must reconnect with her own artistic impulses, taking her on a journey slash adventure that will jump start her life and lead her to an epic rediscovery of herself.

See the trailer, video featurettes and an interview here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Dramedy
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG-13 (for some strong language and drug material)

ALSO OPENING IN ORLANDO/DAYTONA:

Alien Invasion
Already Gone
Evaru
Jimi Hendrix: Electric Church
Light of My Life
Ode to Joy
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am

ALSO OPENING IN MIAMI/FT. LAUDERDALE:

After the Wedding</em
Already Gone
Awake
Batla House
Evaru
Good Time
Piranhas
Ranarangam
This Changes Everything

ALSO OPENING IN TAMPA/ST. PETERSBURG/SARASOTA:

Awake
Batla House
Comali
Evaru
Gwen
Mike Wallace is Here
Ranarangam
The Souvenir

ALSO OPENING IN JACKSONVILLE/ST. AUGUSTINE:

Batla House
Evaru
Ranarangam

SCHEDULED FOR REVIEW:

47 Meters Down: Uncaged
The Angry Birds Movie 2
Blinded By the Light
David Crosby: Remember My Name
Honeyland
Ode to Joy
Where’d You Go, Bernadette?

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Country: Portraits of an American Sound

Dolly Parton: Country cool, American icon.

(2015) Documentary (Arclight) Marty Stuart, Connie Smith, Lyle Lovett, Waylon Jennings, Roy Clark, Henry Diltz, Sandi Spika Burchetta, Charley Pride, Brenda Lee, Tanya Tucker, Keith Urban, LeAnn Rimes, Lorrie Morgan, Rosanne Cash, Ronnie Milsap, Garth Brooks, Kenny Rogers, Holly Williams, Jim Halsey, Raeann Rubenstein, Larry Gatlin, Dr. Diane Pecknold. Directed by Steven Kochones

 

Country music, whether or not you are a fan of it, has to be considered America’s soundtrack. Sure, rock and roll is just as American an invention but whereas rock became more of a world music, country has remained an essentially American sound. It is the music of rural America, the music of the working man (and woman) and one which has always held American values close to its beating heart.

Throughout its history, country music has been not only a music but a style and photographs have helped to not only capture that style but export it. There have been eras when country performers wore dazzling rhinestone-studded costumes onstage; other eras they have been dressed in their Sunday best and then there have been times when their attire of choice has been that of the cowboy – or the working farmer. There have even been times when country stars wore the latest fashions.

All of it has been captured by some of the great photographers of their era. Names like Henry Diltz, Les Leverett, Raeann Rubenstein, Leigh Weiner, Henry Horenstein and Michael Wilson have captured country’s biggest and shiniest stars in their lens. Through those lens, they didn’t just capture moments on stage, or posed publicity stills (although they did that too), but they captured the essence of who these artists were (and are). Through these pictures, we got to know the faces behind the voices and in a sense, got to know them as living, breathing people and not just talented musicians and singers.

Through the auspices of the Annenberg Space for Photography (a Los Angeles-based museum for the pictorial art and an offshoot of the Annenberg Foundation, a charitable institution that supports the arts) comes this documentary gathering some of not only the most iconic photographs in the history of country music but also a variety of images that help illustrate the rich history of country as well as its ongoing contribution to American culture.

Veteran documentarian Kochones (who founded Arclight, a distributor of terrific documentaries as well as some non-fiction films) has a wealth of material to draw from but that is very much a double edged sword; the hour and a half running time is not nearly enough. It isn’t often that I see a film in which I wish it was longer but that is the case here. The material could easily have filled a mini-series and maybe it should have. One of the biggest drawbacks to this particular film is that it feels rushed. While some of the stars and subjects get an adequate treatment, others feel almost glossed over. Perhaps a mini-series would have given the filmmakers time and space to give all of the subjects the attention they deserved.

Although there are a galaxy of country stars interviewed here it is the photographs that are justifiably the real center of attention. Some of them are amazing, like Johnny Clash flipping a very intense bird at the camera, a fresh-faced young Dolly Parton at the beginning of her career (and there’s a star I wish they had spent time interviewing) and the Carter Family looking stiff and formal like Civil War-era photographs taken sixty years later.

Lyle Lovett talks eloquently about country music being less about songs than about stories and so it is with the stars who sing those songs. They all are stories in their own right with their own personalities and their own experiences. They bring those to each and every song that they sing. The machinery of the business can sometimes in its zeal to manufacture an image forget that the stories that got these talents to their attention are what attract the fans the most; perhaps that’s a bit naïve on my part but I think that it’s true. Image is important in ANY musical genre of course – it’s a kind of shorthand that invites the listener in and allows them to be captured by the music – but it’s not the be-all and end-all. These images however not only define those stars but in many ways allow those stars to be themselves for all to see.

This is definitely going to appeal to all true fans of country music, although they might not be satisfied with the snippets of songs that are played, but even non-fans will find this very educational. I am more an admirer of country than a lover of it – like rap music, it doesn’t speak to me as much as rock and roll does – but even someone who isn’t a true believer such as myself can respect the relationship the stars have with their fans and at the hard work and talent displayed not only by the musicians but by the photographers who created the images that helped establish them as stars.

REASONS TO GO: The presentation is high quality. The images depicted here are an absolute treasure that will delight fans young and old of the genre.
REASONS TO STAY: The film feels a bit rushed; it might have been better served as a mini-series.
FAMILY VALUES: There is some mild profanity.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Since 1974 the Grand Ole Opry has been performed in the Grand Ole Opry House; previous to that it was held at the Ryman Auditorium; during the winter months the Opry returns to the Ryman for three months November through January.
BEYOND THE THEATERS: Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vimeo, Vudu, YouTube
CRITICAL MASS: As of 2/22/17: Rotten Tomatoes: No score yet. Metacritic: No score yet.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Billy Mize and  the Bakersfield Sound
FINAL RATING: 6.5/10
NEXT: Gold