New Releases for the Week of October 11, 2019

GEMINI MAN

(Paramount) Will Smith, Clive Owen, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Benedict Wong, Ralph Brown, Douglas Hodge, Linda Emond. Directed by Ang Lee

An elite assassin finds himself targeted by a younger man who seems in all ways to be his equal. It turns out, there’s a very good reason for that.

See the trailer, clips, interviews, video featurettes and B-roll video here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Science Fiction
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG-13 (for violence and action throughout, and brief strong language)

The Addams Family

(United Artists) Starring the voices of Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloe Grace Moretz, Bette Midler. Although better known as an iconic television series, the Addams’ originally started off as a series of cartoons by illustrator Charles Addams. Now they come full circle in this animated feature about the creepy and kooky family.

See the trailer, clips, interviews and video featurettes here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Animated Feature
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG (for macabre and suggestive humor, and some action)

Fronteras

(Vertical) Steven Sean Garland, Wade Everett, Cortez Chappell, Larry Coulter. A Hispanic border patrol agent must confront his own sense of morality when a task force arrives to contain a deadly narcotic that is beginning to sweep through the Southwest.

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

Jexi

(CBS) Adam DeVine, Alexandra Shipp, Michael Peña. Rose Byrne. A millennial addicted to his phone and with no appreciable life gets an upgrade which includes Jexi, a kind of cyber-life coach and cheerleader who helps him develop a better life. Unfortunately the A.I. begins to get jealous of her human’s new-found friends and wants to keep him all to itself.

See the trailer, clips and interviews here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Comedy
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: R (for strong/crude sexual content and language throughout, some drug use and graphic nudity)

Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool

(Abramorama) Miles Davis, Carl Lumbly, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock. Davis was one of the greatest innovators in the history of jazz. This is his story.

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

Polaroid

(Vertical) Kathryn Prescott, Mitch Pileggi, Grace Zabriskie, Tyler Young. A high school student discovers a vintage Polaroid camera and begins to take photos of her friends until she discovers the horrifying truth; that those whose pictures are taken by the camera meet grisly ends.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Horror
Now Playing: Touchstar Southchase
Rating: PG-13 (for violence/terror, thematic elements, brief strong language, some teen drinking and drug material)

The Sky is Pink

(Gravitas) Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar, Zaira Wasim, Ronit Saraf.  The relationship of an Indian couple is seen through the eyes of their teenage daughter who is battling a lethal disease.

See the trailer, clips and a video featurette here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Family Drama
Now Playing: AMC West Oaks
Rating: NR

ALSO OPENING IN ORLANDO/DAYTONA:

Adhya Rathiri
Cuck
Dilili in Paris
Family History
Indian Horse
Lucky Day
The Parts You Lose
Semper Fi

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

Adhya Rathiri
The Dead Center
Durj
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
First Love
High Strung Free Dance
Lucy in the Sky
Where’s My Roy Cohn?

ALSO OPENING IN TAMPA/ST. PETERSBURG/SARASOTA:

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
Family History
Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins

ALSO OPENING IN JACKSONVILLE/ST. AUGUSTINE:

Adhya Rathiri
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie

SCHEDULED FOR REVIEW:

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
Gemini Man

FILM FESTIVALS TAKING PLACE IN FLORIDA:

South Asian Film Festival, Maitland
Tampa Bay International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, Tampa

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Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

If it looks like a duck…

(2017) Science Fiction (Europa/STX) Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne, Clive Owen, Rihanna, Ethan Hawke, Herbie Hancock, Kris Wu, Sam Spruell, Alain Chabat, Rutger Hauer, Peter Hudson, Xavier Giannoli, Louis Leterrier, Eric Rochant, Benoit Jacquot, Olivier Megaton, Gerald Krawczyk, Pierre Cachia, David Saada, Hippolyte Burkhart-Uhlen, Elizabeth Debicki (voice), Sasha Luss. Directed by Luc Besson

 

Luc Besson is often called a visionary filmmaker, mainly for his watershed 90s sci-fi epic The Fifth Element. Besson was heavily influenced by the French comic book Valerian and Laureline which also seems to have been influenced by the iconic French magazine Heavy Metal. He hasn’t attempted a sci-fi tale on the same grand scale up until now however.

Two agents – Valerian (DeHaan) and Laureline (Delevingne) – are hard at work in the gigantic multi-species space station/city known as Alpha (which began life as the International Space Station – try to keep up). This intergalactic symbol of peaceful co-existence is being destroyed from the inside out and seems to be linked to the destruction of a paradise-like planet centuries earlier. Valerian and Laureline who have a nascent romance going (mostly in Valerian’s head) must navigate a variety of exotic alien races and cultures along with a conspiracy of far-reaching dimensions in order to save Alpha and quite possibly the universe.

Sounds like a simple enough movie but trust me this is only a bare scratching of the surface. The plot is somewhat convoluted and is confusing as all get out until late in the game. Because this is a two hour-plus movie lots of frustrated viewers will have ceased caring much by the time things become clear.

At least there will be some breathtaking visuals to keep them entertained through the confusion. Besson has always been a particularly visual director and he is in his (fifth) element here. The mainly computer-generated images are massive in scope and detail. Those who have seen the trailers for this thing and ended up plunking their hard-earned dollars at the box office were no doubt taken as I was by the gorgeous visuals.

But in all honesty there really is little beyond that to recommend the film. There is almost zero chemistry between Delevingne and DeHaan and both seem to be terribly unsuited for their roles. The comic book this is based on has Valerian as a raven-haired badass while Laureline is a buxom beauty with flowing, flaming red hair. Certainly I’m not against a filmmaker eschewing slavish devotion to source material visuals but the whole scope of the characters change from four color printed page to celluloid and that seems to be kind of a waste of good material.

This was one of the biggest disappointments of the past summer for me, and that’s saying something considering how many underwhelming blockbusters there were this year. I had high hopes that Besson would be able to shepherd this largely unknown in the U.S. source material into a big time franchise but alas it was not to be. Clunky dialogue and weak performances doomed this with critics and the lack of big names doomed it with American audiences. The movie so badly under-performed that it caused a major executive shake-up at the studio that made it. Considering that Valerian and Laureline have influenced a lot of the big budget sci-fi films of the past fifty years (including the original Star Wars) it’s a shame that it didn’t get a better movie to represent it.

REASONS TO GO: The special effects are amazing. There is a great deal of imagination displayed throughout.
REASONS TO STAY: There is little chemistry between DeHaan and Delevingne. The movie is a bit too convoluted and a little too long.
FAMILY VALUES: There is some mild profanity as well as plenty of sci-fi violence and even a bit of slightly suggestive material.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: With a budget of $210 million U.S. this is the most expensive film ever made in France – to date.
BEYOND THE THEATERS: Amazon, Fandango Now, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube
CRITICAL MASS: As of 12/11/17: Rotten Tomatoes: 49% positive reviews. Metacritic: 51/100.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: The Fifth Element
FINAL RATING: 5/10
NEXT: Love and Saucers