New Releases for the Week of February 11, 2022

DEATH ON THE NILE

(20th Century) Kenneth Branagh, Gal Gadot, Annette Bening, Armie Hammer, Letitia Wright, Russell Brand, Sophie Okonedo, Jennifer Saunders. Directed by Kenneth Branagh

Master detective Hercule Poirot is on vacation, taking a leisurely river cruise along the Nile in Egypt when murder strikes. With a rogue’s gallery of suspects on the boat, Poirot will have to navigate a raging torrent of passion, lies and secrets in order to solve the case.<

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Mystery
Now Playing: Wide
Rating: PG-13 (for violence, some bloody images, and sexual material)

Badhaai Do

(ZEE) Rajkummar Rao, Bhumi Pednekar, Harshavandhar Kulkarni, Akshat Ghildial. A police officer and a school teacher enter into a marriage of convenience in order to escape the demands their respective families are putting on them to get married. However, the unexpected then happens – the two confirmed non-romantics fall in love.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Dramedy
Now Playing: AMC Altamonte Mall, Cinemark Universal Citywalk
Rating: NR

Blacklight

(United Artists) Liam Neeson, Emmy Raver Lampman, Taylor John Smith, Aidan Quinn. A government fixer discovers a horrifying program that is targeting ordinary citizens. Now, in order to save his daughter and granddaughter, he’ll enlist the aid of an intrepid reporter to take down a corrupt government official – his own boss.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Action
Now Playing: Wide
Rating: PG-13 (for strong violence, action and language)

Breaking Bread

(Cohen Media Group) Dr. Nof Atamna-Ismaeel, Shlomo Meir, Ali Khattib, Osama Dalal. Arab and Jewish chefs in Haifa collaborate to help celebrate their individual cuisines and cultures, and try to promote mutual understanding.

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

Here Before

(Saban) Andrea Riseborough, Jonjo O’Neill, Niamh Dornan, Eileen O’Higgins. A grieving mother begins to suspect that the little girl who has moved in with her family next door may be the reincarnation of her departed daughter.

=See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Now Playing: Studio Movie Grille Sunset Walk
Rating: (for language)

Marry Me

(Universal) Jennifer Lopez, Owen Wilson, Maluma, John Bradley. As a power pop music couple undergoes their major online event wedding, Kat discovers Bastian has been cheating on her with her assistant. Impulsively, she decides to marry the divorced math teacher she spots in the crowd instead. However, the unexpected happens – the two people from completely different worlds fall in love.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Now Playing: Wide (also on Peacock)
Rating: PG-13 (for some language and suggestive material)

Rookie Season

(Adventure Entertainment) Adrian Bonvento. In their inaugural IMSA season, the Rebel Rock Racing team suffers setbacks and triumphs as we are placed in the driver’s seat of this young team’s dreams.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Sports Documentary
Now Playing: CMX Daytona Beach
Rating: NR

Supercool

(Vertical) Jake Short, Miles J. Harvey, Damon Wayans Jr., Iliza Shlesinger. A high school nerd, depressed that the girl of his dreams won’t even consider going out with him because he’s not cool enough, wakes up one morning with the face and body of a teen idol. With a shot at acquiring his crush, with the help of a helpful neighbor and a convenient Porsche he learns how to be cool and discovers that coolness comes with its own set of pitfalls.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Action Comedy
Now Playing: Studio Movie Grille Sunset Walk
Rating: NR

The Worst Person in the World

(Neon) Renate Reinsve, Anders Danielsen Lie, Maria Grazia Di Meo, Herbert Nordrum. Four years in the life of Julie, a young woman who like many young women, has made some disastrous decisions in her love life and longs to find the right career path for her. As she struggles with the cards life has dealt her, she begins to get a firmer picture of who she really is and who she was meant to be.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Comedy
Now Playing: Enzian
Rating: R (for sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and some language)

COMING TO VIRTUAL CINEMA/VOD:

All the Moons (Thursday)
Bigbug (Friday)
Catch the Fair One (Friday)
Flee the Light (Tuesday)
Help (Tuesday)
Homestay (Friday)
I Want You Back (Friday)
The In-Between (Friday)
Indemnity (Friday)
Kimi (Thursday)
Line Sisters (Saturday)
The Sky is Everywhere (Friday)
Somewhere With No Bridges (Tuesday)
Tall Girl 2 (Friday)
Until We Meet Again (Tuesday)

SCHEDULED FOR REVIEW:

Bigbug
Blacklight
Catch the Fair One
Here Before
The In-Between
Kimi
Marry Me

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New Releases for the Week of November 12, 2021

BELFAST

(Focus) Jude Hill, Caitriona Balfe, Jamie Dornan, Judi Dench, Ciarán Hinds, Lewis McAskie, Josie Walker, Freya Yates. Directed by Kenneth Branagh

A nine-year-old Irish boy must suddenly chart his path to adulthood through terrain that is no longer familiar as life in Belfast begins to change in the late 1960s. What keeps him tethered is the ongoing magic of the movie theater. Taken from Branagh’s own childhood experiences.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Drama
Now Playing: AMC Altamonte Mall, AMC Disney Springs, Regal Winter Park Village
Rating: PG-13 (for some violence and strong language)

C.S. Lewis Onstage: The Most Reluctant Convert

(Trafalgar) Max McLean, Nicholas Ralph, Eddie Ray Martin, Richard Harrington. The journey of author and creator of The Chronicles of Narnia C.S. Lewis from a hardcore atheist to one of the most renowned Christian writers of his generation.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Biographical Drama
Now Playing: AMC Altamonte Mall, CMX Daytona, Regal Waterford Lakes, Regal Winter Park Village
Rating: NR

Clifford the Big Red Dog

(Paramount) Darby Camp, David Alan Grier, John Cleese, Kenan Thompson. A middle schooler meets a magical animal rescuer who gifts her with a little red puppy. She wakes up the next morning to a giant red dog walking around her New York City apartment. With her mom away on business and her impulsive Uncle in charge, it’s time for an adventure that’s bigger than the Big Apple.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Family
Now Playing: Wide (Opened on November 10th)
Rating: PG (for impolite humor, thematic elements and mild action)

Multiverse

(Saban) Paloma Kwiatkowski, Munro Chambers, Marlee Matlin, Robert Naylor. Four scientists on the verge of a major breakthrough in quantum physics are struck by tragedy. The survivors are startled, several months later, when their dead colleague suddenly turns back up alive. Something remarkable has happened…and it may not be as beneficial as they at first believe.

See the trailer
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Science Fiction
Now Playing: Studio Movie Grille Sunset Walk
Rating: R (for language throughout and some violence)

Raja Vikramarka

(Sree Chitra) Kartikeya Gummakonda, Tanya Ravichandran, Sudhakar Komakula, Sai Kumar. A green recruit for India’s version of the CIA is given his first case through a set of ironic circumstances, finding that the pressure is changing his life in every way imaginable.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Action
Now Playing: Regal Pointe Orlando
Rating: NR

Soulmate(s)

(Vertical) Stephanie Lynn, Alexandra Case, Mark Famiglietti, Di Quon. A pair of BFFs in Vermont are confronted by a large corporation threatening their small-town way of life. To make matters worse, one of them is falling hard for one of the corporate flunkies. The other, fearing not only for her town but for her friendship, will do anything to prevent the corporation’s plans – and her friend’s budding romance.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Now Playing: Studio Movie Grille Sunset Walk
Rating: NR

COMING TO VIRTUAL CINEMA/VOD:

A Choice of Weapons (Monday)
The Accursed
Apex
Back to Sölöz
Home Sweet Home Alone
Kelvin Garnett: Anything is Possible
Mayor Pete
Night Raiders
Prayers for the Stolen (Wednesday)
Set!
They Say Nothing Stays the Same

SCHEDULED FOR REVIEW:

Belfast
Mayor Pete
Prayers for the Stolen
Set!

New Releases for the Week of September 4, 2020

TENET

(Warner Brothers) John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Clémence Poesy, Michael Caine, Kenneth Branagh. Directed by Christopher Nolan

One of the most anticipated movies of the year finally makes it to theaters despite the pandemic. The nameless hero finds himself navigating the murky underworld of international espionage, armed with a single word – tenet – and faced with saving the world and perhaps, time itself.

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

Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin

(Music Box) Werner Herzog, Bruce Chatwin, Alberto del Castillo, Glenn Morrison. Veteran filmmaker Herzog details his decades-long friendship with Chatwin, the late travel writer, informing us of their shared interests, Chatwin’s lust for new experiences, and his inspirational journeys.

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

Sputnik

(IFC Midnight) Oksana Akinshina, Fedor Bondrachuk, Pyotr Fyodorov, Anton Vasilev. In the final throes of the Cold War in the 1980s, a mission to outer space ends with one cosmonaut dead and the other with amnesia. A psychotherapist is brought to the research facility where the survivor is being held to see if she can jog his memory – and discovers a terrifying secret. This played the recent Florida Film Festival and the Cinema365 review can be found by clicking the link below under “Scheduled For Review.”

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Sci-Fi Horror
Now Playing: Enzian Theater
Rating: NR

SCHEDULED FOR REVIEW:

Sputnik
Tenet

New Releases for the Week of June 7, 2019

DARK PHOENIX

(20^th Century Fox/Marvel) James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Sophie Turner, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, Kodi Smit-McPhee. Directed by Simon Kinberg

During a rescue mission to space, Jean Grey of the X-Men is hit by an unknown cosmic force which causes her powers to grow out of control and her personality to become unstable. The X-Men are forced to defend themselves against their friend and as an alien race seeks to weaponize her powers, the prospect that they might have to kill one of their own.

See the trailer, video featurettes, clips and interviews here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Superhero
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG-13 (for intense scenes of sci-fi violence and action including some gunplay, disturbing images and brief strong language)

All is True

(Sony Classics) Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Kathryn Wilder. After playing this year’s Florida Film Festival, this British production is making its theatrical run. William Shakespeare has retired and seeks to make peace with his inner demons while reconnecting with a family that may be beyond reconciling with.

See the trailer, clips and an interview here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Biographical Drama
Now Playing: Regal Oviedo Marketplace
Rating: PG-13 (for thematic elements, suggestive material and language)

Bharat

(Viva) Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Tabu, Disha Patani. As the day of India’s independence dawns, a man makes a promise to his father that he will keep his family together no matter what. Over the next 60 years, he keeps that promise despite the challenges thrown at him by each passing decade.

See the trailer and clips here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Drama
Now Playing: AMC West Oaks, Cinemark Universal Citywalk, Touchstar Southchase
Rating: NR

Loopers: The Caddie’s Long Walk

(Gravitas) Bill Murray, Lee Trevino, Nick Faldo, Ben Crenshaw. While golf was invented in Scotland in the 15^th century, it has only really boomed in popularity over the last century or so with golfers becoming huge celebrities. However, who gives a thought to the men who carry the clubs of those superstars? This is their story.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Documentary
Now Playing: Old Mill Playhouse, Regal Pointe Orlando
Rating: PG (for some suggestive/rude humor, mild thematic elements, and smoking images)

The Secret Life of Pets 2

(Universal/Illumination) Starring the voices of Patton Oswalt, Kevin Hart, Harrison Ford, Tiffany Haddish. Max and his friends in his apartment building continue their adventures from the first film as they head back out to explore the big city.

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

The Tomorrow Man

(Bleecker Street) John Lithgow, Blythe Danner, Derek Cecil, Katie Aselton. A grumpy old man prepares for a disaster that may never happen. He meets a woman who can’t let go of the things she has. Together they fall in love but can they figure out a way not to get lost in each other’s stuff? This was another film that played this year’s Florida Film Festival.

See the trailer and clips here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Dramedy
Now Playing: Regal Winter Park Village, Rialto Spanish Springs Square
Rating: PG-13 (for brief strong language and some suggestive material)

ALSO OPENING IN ORLANDO/DAYTONA:

Changeland
Mouthpiece
Virus

ALSO OPENING IN MIAMI/FT. LAUDERDALE:

All About My Mother
Meeting Gorbachev
My Best Summer
The Silence of Others
The Souvenir
Wrong No. 2

ALSO OPENING IN TAMPA/ST. PETERSBURG:

Abduction
The Brink
The Souvenir

ALSO OPENING IN JACKSONVILLE/ST. AUGUSTINE:

None

SCHEDULED FOR REVIEW:

All is True
Dark Phoenix
The Secret Life of Pets 2
The Tomorrow Man

All is True

Will Shakespeare and his wife Anne share a tender moment.

(2018) Biographical Drama (Sony Classics) Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Kathryn Wilder, Jack Colgrave Hirst, Eleanor de Rohan, Gerard Horan, Lydia Wilson, Jimmy Yuill, Michael Rouse, Harry Lister Smith, Hadley Fraser, Sam Ellis, Kate Tydman, Phil Dunster, Doug Colling, Freya Durkan, Flora Easton, Matt Jessup, Sabi Perez, Lolita Chakrabarti. Directed by Kenneth Branagh

William Shakespeare is possibly the most famous writer who ever lived but even given that remarkably little is known about his personal life. What is known for sure is that in 1613, following a performance of Henry VIII in which a prop cannon misfired, setting fire to the Globe Theater and burning it to the ground, William Shakespeare left London for good and returned home to Stratford-Upon-Avon, never to write again. It is also known this was 17 years after his only son Hamnet (Ellis) died tragically at the age of eleven.

=Kenneth Branagh is widely known to be one of the greatest Shakespearean actors of the modern era, having brought the Bard to the screen in such films as Much Ado About Nothing, Henry V, Love’s Labour’s Lost, As You Like It and Hamlet. For someone who so clearly loves the work of Shakespeare, it musts be tantalizing to say the least to speculate about his life. Why did he stop writing in 1613? What was his life like in Stratford after his retirement?

Branagh plays the Bard which must have been both daunting and deliciously illicit (sort of like doing an impression of a favorite teacher) pottering about the garden of his Stratford home where he means to create a memorial garden for his son. The return home has brought him no peace; he continues to mourn for a son he never really knew (Shakespeare spent most of his time in London and rarely visited home) 17 years after the fact. His sharp-tongued wife Anne (Dench), many years his senior (actually merely eight years in reality) has relegated him to the second-best bed in the house, refusing to sleep with a husband who is more a stranger than a spouse. His older daughter Susannah (Wilson) is married to a rigid Puritan physician (Fraser).

His younger daughter Judith (Wilder), Hamnet’s twin, shows nothing but contempt for her father and wishes fervently he had stayed in London. Raised by her mother, she seems as strong-willed and as iron-tongued as Anne. Shakespeare is haunted by the ghost of Hamnet and by his own failings as a father and a husband while coping with the fame that refuses to leave him alone.

The story is largely fiction although the salient facts are there; Shakespeare’s retirement in 1613, the death of his son, the loss of the Globe Theater in a catastrophic fire. The rest is invention by Branagh and writer Ben Elton. Serious Shakespearean scholars will probably raise an eyebrow or two at the creative licenses taken here but for most of us, it’s all good.

In many ways Branagh was born to play Shakespeare and he captures the wit and humanity that the writer displayed in his work. Surely this is the Shakespeare we all imagined he’d be: distracted, unable to cope with the tragedies in his life, largely lost without the outlet of writing. Branagh also makes his Will Shakespeare a product of his times; a bit misogynistic – unable to grasp the concept that the true inheritor of his talents might have been Judith, the distaff twin of Hamnet upon whom he place all his hopes of having a successor – and prone to being a bit self-absorbed. Branagh humanizes the Bard and makes him relatable.

Dench, as always, rises to the occasion, making Anne Hathaway Shakespeare a reflection of herself and the kind of wife you’d figure Shakespeare would have. She holds her own with Branagh – or rather, he with her – and the two are electric whenever appearing as a couple onscreen. Some of the most entertaining scenes in the movie are the two sparring with one another.

Cinematographer Zac Nicholson makes this a very pretty film to watch, from the recreations of Elizabethan England to the lovely bucolic English countryside which continues today to be a charming film locale. Nicholson relies on backlighting to create spectacular images of Shakespeare in Country. It’s a beautiful looking film which is never a bad thing.

There is a melancholic atmosphere here which is at times laid on a bit too thickly; Shakespeare is certainly in mourning for his son but for also the Globe and in many ways, for himself. The humor isn’t especially over-the-top and has a gentle touch (for the most part) although at times the acid tongue of Anne Hathaway gibes rise to some really potent zingers. While the dialogue can get a bit overindulgent at times (and there are an awful lot of Shakespearean references that are going to go over the average audience member’s head) there is nonetheless a charm here that made this one of my favorite films at the recent Florida Film Festival. I’m looking forward to seeing it again at it’s upcoming Enzian run.

REASONS TO SEE: Branagh and Dench deliver wonderful performances. The cinematography is stunning. The humor is nice and gentle. The story is oddly affecting.
REASONS TO AVOID: The dialogue is a bit dense in places.
FAMILY VALUES: The thematic elements are adult, some sexual references and a bit of profanity.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Screenwriter Ben Elton was also one of the main writers on the Blackadder series, which frequently spoofed Shakespeare’s plays.
CRITICAL MASS: As of 5/12/19: Rotten Tomatoes: 73% positive reviews: Metacritic: 59/100.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Shakespeare in Love
FINAL RATING: 9/10
NEXT: Ode to Joy

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

Hercule Poirot is on the job!

(2017) Mystery (20^th Century Fox) Kenneth Branagh, Michelle Pfeiffer, Johnny Depp, Daisy Ridley, Josh Gad, Penélope Cruz, Derek Jacobi, Leslie Odom Jr., Sergei Polunin, Lucy Boynton, Marwan Kenzan, Judi Dench, Olivia Colman, Willem Dafoe, Phil Dunster, Miranda Raison, Rami Nasr, Hayat Kamille, Michael Rouse, Hadley Fraser, Kathryn Wilder. Directed by Kenneth Branagh

 

Train travel has a certain romance to it. Strangers trapped in a metal tube, rumbling across the countryside. Anything can happen; anything at all.

Many might be familiar with the classic Agatha Christie novel, one of the most famous mysteries ever written. Some might be familiar with the even more classic 1974 movie based on it which starred such legends as Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, John Gielgud, Sean Connery, Anthony Perkins and Richard Widmark. This new remake stars Kenneth Branagh (who also directed) as the famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (played by Albert Finney in the original) who is returning to England following a grueling series of cases leading to a successful resolution in Istanbul – not Constantinople.

Taking the Orient Express back home, he is approached by Ratchett (Depp) who is looking for protection after receiving some threatening letters. Poirot, exhausted, turns down the case. The next morning, Ratchett turns up dead. The train is stuck after an avalanche buries the tracks. As crews arrive to dig the tracks out so the train might continue, Poirot must solve the case quickly but there are a number of suspects – everyone in the Calais coach had opportunity and some even had motive. Soon it becomes apparent that the murder has links to a famous unsolved crime of years past.

The Sidney Lumet-directed 1974 version to which this will inevitably be compared was a light-hearted romp with a Poirot who was quirky but undoubtedly a genius. This Poirot is more tortured than quirky, a man who realizes his own obsession with perfection will leave him perpetually disappointed in life and of course he is. This is a different Poirot than any we’ve ever seen onscreen, whether David Suchet of the excellent BBC series or Peter Ustinov of several all-star Christie cinematic adaptations which followed the success of Murder on the Orient Express. The tone here is certainly darker than we’re used to seeing from a Christie adaptation.

Michelle Pfeiffer turns in an extraordinary performance as the predatory divorcee Mrs. Hubbard, portrayed by Bacall back in 1974. While Bacall was loud-mouthed and brassy, Pfeiffer is intense and smart. Once again the characters are very different although there are some recognizable similarities. Pfeiffer twenty years ago was one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood which she remains; that beauty often overshadowed her acting talent which is considerable. Although not in the league of Meryl Streep (who is in a league of her own), she is one of the four or five best American actresses working in film today.

Most of the rest of the cast do at least adequate jobs. Depp is as restrained as he’s been in a decade, playing Ratchett as a thug more so than Widmark did in the same role. Dame Judi Dench is, well, Judi Dench. She brings dignity and a regal air to the role of Princess Dragomiroff. Penélope Cruz has a thanklessly un-glamorous role that she makes her own.

I should mention the cinematography. The 1974 film primarily took place aboard the train. Certainly the Orient Express is the star and cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos takes great pains to present her from every angle conceivable. Occasionally he goes a bit overboard – an overhead shot in one of the train’s cars gives us an uncomfortably long view of the tops of the actors heads – but he also manages to make the snowy Yugoslavian countryside look positively idyllic.

Let me be plain; this film is not as good as the 1974 version and I don’t think Branagh had any illusions that it ever could be. However, it is different than that 1974 version and one that is just as valid. You may not love this film in the same way that you loved the original but there is a good chance you’ll at least respect it. You may even want to see it more than once.

REASONS TO GO: Fans of the 1974 version will find the approach here very different. Branagh and Pfeiffer are outstanding. The cinematography is gorgeous.
REASONS TO STAY: The tone here is much darker than the 1974 version. This isn’t nearly as good as the original which it will inevitably be compared to. You don’t get as good a sense of the era it is supposed to be set in.
FAMILY VALUES: There is some violence as well as violent thematic elements.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: The song played over the closing credits was sung by Michelle Pfeiffer and the lyrics written by Branagh.
CRITICAL MASS: As of 1/20/18: Rotten Tomatoes: 57% positive reviews. Metacritic: 52/100
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Death on the Nile
FINAL RATING: 6/10
NEXT: Wonder

Dunkirk (2017)

Waiting to evacuate, a British soldier nervously scans the sky for Nazi planes in Dunkirk.

(2017) War (Warner Brothers) Fionn Whitehead, Barry Keoghan, Mark Rylance, Cillian Murphy, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy, Tom Glynn-Carney, James D’Arcy, Harry Styles, Will Attenborough, Aneurin Barnard, Jack Lowden, Billy Howle, Matthew Marsh, Richard Sanderson, Bobby Lockwood, Mikey Collins, Dean Ridge, Adam Long, Bradley Hall, Miranda Nolan. Directed by Christopher Nolan

 

Dunkirk remains one of the seminal moments in the Second World War. Churchill’s stirring speech “We shall never surrender!” was written about the event. For those whose history is rusty, when the Nazis overran France some 400,000 soldiers were stranded on the beaches of Dunkirk. With Hitler’s troops drawing the noose tight, the English were staring at the obliteration of most of their army and essentially the complete loss of Western Europe.

Nolan aims to capture the desperation and chaos of those few days using three time-dilated stories each centered around a single element; a week following soldiers waiting to die or be rescued on the jetty and on the beach, a day aboard one of the civilian rescue vessels desperately trying to ferry as many soldiers back to safety as possible, this one captained by the noble Mr. Dawson (Rylance) and an hour in the air with a pair of daring RAF pilots (Hardy, Lowden) trying to take out the Luftwaffe planes trying to bomb and strafe the beaches and the British naval vessels trying to evacuate the troops.

Like Memento, Nolan uses time differently than most linear storytelling techniques in order to….well, I’m not quite sure. It is confusing at times to follow the goings on when you are jumping ahead and back in time depending on whether you’re in a boat, plane or beach. It also leads to a curious difficulty in telling the different characters apart for the most part; the soldiers and sailors are all fresh faced and largely unknown with a few exceptions and those exceptions tend to stand out, particularly Rylance and to a lesser extent, Branagh as a stolid Naval commander and Murphy as a shell-shocked soldier pulled out of the ocean by Rylance.

The technical achievement here is impressive, maybe even mind-blowing. I’m not just talking about the special effects but on all the elements of the film, from the lighting (often utilizing a washed out pastel color palate that gives a visual accounting of the hopelessness of the waiting soldiers) to the way the shots are lined up to the sound design to the way there’s virtually no let-up in the tension from the opening shot to the closing credits.

Some of the few remaining Dunkirk survivors who viewed the film at its London premiere observed that the sound wasn’t quite as loud during the real bombing and strafing which apparently Nolan found amusing and when you think about it, has a ring of the “Turn down that music ya whippersnappers” to it. Not that I’m an expert but this may be the most authentic war movie since the D-day scene in Saving Private Ryan raised the bar on war movies in general.

There was talk this was going to be an Oscar contender way back in July when this was released and to that end Warner Brothers is planning a re-release to remind Academy voters not to forget about this film among all the year-end prestige releases. And, for those wondering, that is also why it hasn’t been released to home video just yet. If you haven’t seen it in a theater, by all means make a point to do so when the re-release occurs. You won’t be sorry.

REASONS TO GO: This may be the most realistic depiction of war since Saving Private Ryan. The tension generated here is absolutely relentless. Rylance has become one of the most reliable actors working today.
REASONS TO STAY: Those sensitive to loud noises may have issues with this.
FAMILY VALUES: There is some very intense war violence as well as occasional profanity.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: This is the first movie directed by Nolan to portray real events.
CRITICAL MASS: As of 11/26/17: Rotten Tomatoes: 92% positive reviews. Metacritic: 94/100.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: The Longest Day
FINAL RATING: 8.5/10
NEXT: Diana: Our Mother, Her Life and Her Legacy

New Releases for the Week of November 10, 2017

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS

(20^th Century Fox) Kenneth Branagh, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Judi Dench, Josh Gad, Daisy Ridley, Willem Dafoe, Penelope Cruz, Derek Jacobi. Directed by Kenneth Branagh

On board a luxury train traveling from Istanbul to Calais a passenger is mysteriously murdered. The cabin door has been locked from the inside. Who done it? Fortunately, the world’s greatest detective – Hercule Poirot – is on board the train and if anyone can make sense of the bewildering maze of clues, it’s the Belgian with the grand moustache. Based on the book authored by Agatha Christie, this is one of the greatest mystery novels ever written.

See the trailer, interviews, clip and B-roll video here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Mystery
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG-13 (for violence and thematic elements)

Daddy’s Home 2

(Paramount) Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Mel Gibson, John Lithgow. Christmas time is here and there’s nothing like the holidays to bring a family together. For Brad and Dusty, the two co-dads are happily contemplating a blended Christmas with all their family under one roof. Then, both of their dads decide to visit for the Yuletide and all of a sudden things are getting way more complicated.

See the trailer here.
For more on the movie this is the website
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Comedy
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG-13 (for suggestive material and some language)

The Killing of a Sacred Deer

(A24) Nicole Kidman, Alicia Silverstone, Colin Farrell, Barry Keoghan. A brilliant cardiovascular surgeon takes a young man under his wing when his father, a patient of his, passes away. When the boy’s behavior turns sinister, the surgeon notices that his family is getting seriously ill. He will be forced to make an unthinkable sacrifice in this new film from the director of The Lobster.

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

Wonderstruck

(Amazon/Roadside Attractions) Oakes Fegley, Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, Millicent Simmonds. Two young children – one a boy in the Midwest in the 1970s, another a deaf girl in New York City of the 1920s – search for answers about who they are, unaware of the connection that binds them together. Brian Selznick, who wrote the novel this is based upon, also wrote the screenplay. Look for the review tomorrow.

See the trailer, clips and a video feature here.
For more on the movie this is the website
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Family Drama
Now Playing: Regal Winter Park Village, Rialto Spanish Springs
Rating: PG (for thematic elements and smoking)

ALSO OPENING IN ORLANDO/DAYTONA:

Hello Again
Pottersville
Qarib Qarib Singlle
Walking Out

ALSO OPENING IN MIAMI:

BPM
C/O Surya
Hello Again
My Friend Dahmer
Paradise
Pottersville
Qarib Qarib Singlle
The Square
Tom of Finland

ALSO OPENING IN TAMPA:

Amanda and Jack Go Glamping
Hello Again
Qarib Qarib Singlle

ALSO OPENING IN JACKSONVILLE:

C/O Surya
Hello Again
Jane
Loving Vincent
No Greater Love

SCHEDULED FOR REVIEW:

Daddy’s Home 2
Jane
The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Loving Vincent
Murder on the Orient Express
Walking Out
Wonderstruck

New Releases for the Week of July 21, 2017

DUNKIRK

(Warner Brothers) Fionn Whitehead, Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh, James D’Arcy, Cillian Murphy, Harry Styles, Barry Keoghan. Directed by Christopher Nolan

The war was going badly. British forces in Europe had been driven by the Nazi war machine back to the English Channel. The Germans prepared to deal a death blow to the British military and consolidate their power in Europe. With their backs to the sea and enemy forces closing in, hundreds of thousands of British troops prayed for a miracle within sight of home in a place called Dunkirk.

See the trailer, a featurette and premiere footage here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard, IMAX
Genre: War
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG-13 (for intense war experience and some language)

The Bad Batch

(Neon) Suki Waterhouse, Jason Momoa, Keanu Reeves, Jim Carrey. A young woman is unceremoniously dumped into a Texas wasteland infested with cannibals. It won’t be a matter of good or evil – it will be a matter of survival. The latest from director Ana Lily Amirpour is very different than her breakout hit A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night.

See the trailer and clips here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Sci-Fi Horror
Now Playing: Enzian Theater
Rating: R (for violence, language, some drug content and brief nudity)

Girls Trip

(Universal) Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, Tiffany Haddish. Four lifelong friends who are starting to feel their youth slipping away decide to take a girls-only road trip to New Orleans for the Essence Festival. The ladies are determined to cut loose in an epic weekend of partying, dancing, drinking, brawling and debauchery. Either they’ll find their groove or go to jail; maybe both.

See the trailer, clips, interviews and B-roll video here.
For more on the movie this is the website
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Comedy
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: R (for crude and sexual content throughout, pervasive language, brief graphic nudity,  and drug material)

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

(EuropaCorp/STX) Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne, Clive Owen, Ethan Hawke. Visionary director Luc Besson (The Fifth Element) adapts the acclaimed French graphic novel into a live-action visual masterpiece. Valerian and Laureline are a team of agents charged with maintaining order in a sprawling Galactic federation. They are summoned to Alpha, a vast city where the various species of the universe co-exist, sharing knowledge and culture. Someone is threatening Alpha with annihilation which could plunge the Galaxy into a crippling civil war and it is up to Valerian and Laureline to save it.

See the trailer, interviews, featurettes, clips and B-roll video 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 sci-fi violence and action, suggestive material and brief language)

OPENING IN ORLANDO/DAYTONA:

Bloody Crayons
Fidaa
The Journey
Munna Michael

ALSO OPENING IN MIAMI:

Endless Poetry
Family Life
Fidaa
First Kill
Good Fortune: The Story of John Paul DeJoria
Letters from Baghdad
Marie Curie
Meow
The Midwife
Munna Michael

ALSO OPENING IN TAMPA:

Fidaa
The Gracefield Incident
Maudie
Ninnu Kori
Scales: Mermaids are Real

ALSO OPENING IN JACKSONVILLE:

Fidaa
Past Life

New Releases for the Week of January 17, 2014

JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT

(Paramount) Chris Pine, Kevin Costner, Keira Knightley, Kenneth Branagh, David Paymer, Colm Feore, Peter Andersson, Nonso Anozie, Gemma Chan. Directed by Kenneth Branagh

A young CIA analyst uncovers a terrorist plot on US soil to throw the American financial market into chaos. His mentor lures him deeper into the shadow world of international espionage, putting a strain on his marriage as he faces off with a Russian master spy.

See the trailer, clips and a featurette here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Release formats: Standard, IMAX (opens Thursday)

Genre: Spy Thriller

Rating: PG-13 (for sequences of violence and intense action, and for brief strong language)

Back in the Day

(Screen Media) Morena Baccarin, Michael Rosenbaum, Nick Swardson, Harland Williams. Making a surprise visit to his high school reunion, a still-single ladies man from back in the day manages to convince his now-married friends to go out on one final fling, leading to some issues with their wives and friends.

See the trailer here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Release formats: Standard

Genre: Comedy

Rating: R (for language throughout, sexual content and some graphic nudity)

Devil’s Due

(20th Century Fox) Allison Miller, Zach Gilford, Sam Anderson, Catherine Kresge. A newlywed couple discovers that they are pregnant a bit earlier than anticipated. Still, it is welcome news but as time passes and the due date becomes closer, the wife’s personality begins to change and strange unexplainable things begin to occur around them. Soon the husband must face the unthinkable if he is to save his wife – and himself.

See the trailer and clips here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Release formats: Standard (opens Thursday)

Genre: Horror

Rating: R (for language and some bloody images)

Life of a King

(Millennium) Cuba Gooding Jr., LisaGay Hamilton, Dennis Haysbert, Rachel Thomas. While doing an 18-year prison stint for bank robbery, a young con learns the game of chess. Hoping to help his neighborhood turn things around and to prevent others from going down the same tragic path he did, he founds a chess club which despite the skepticism of others both inside the neighborhood and out, does exactly what he hopes it will do.

See the trailer here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Release formats: Standard

Genre: Biographical Drama

Rating: PG-13 (for thematic elements, some drug content and brief violent images – all involving teens)

The Nut Job

(Open Road) Starring the voices of Will Arnett, Brendan Fraser, Liam Neeson, Katherine Heigl . After accidentally destroying the park’s winter stores, a brash and independent squirrel discovers squirrel nirvana – a nearby nut store. But to get at the goodies he’s going to have to make a brilliant plan and that’s not something he or his friends are particularly good at.

See the trailer here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Release formats: Standard, 3D

Genre: Animated Feature

Rating: PG (for mild action and rude humor)

Ride Along

(Universal) Kevin Hart, Ice Cube, John Leguizamo, Tika Sumpter. Ben, a security officer at an Atlanta high school, longs for two things in life; to become a police officer and to marry his girl. When he is accepted to the police academy, he’s well on his way to achieving the first but the second is a little more problematic. Standing in the way is his girlfriend’s cop brother who doesn’t like Ben at all. Ben must prove himself worthy and what better way to do that than to take him on a ride-along into the worst part of the city?

See the trailer and clips here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Release formats: Standard (opens Thursday)

Genre: Crime Comedy

Rating: PG-13 (for sequences of strong violence, sexual content and brief strong language)