New Releases for the Week of May 31, 2019

GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS

(Warner Brothers) Vera Farmiga, Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, Kyle Chandler, Millie Bobby Brown, Bradley Whitford, Ziyi Zhang, Charles Dance. Directed by Michael Dougherty

As mankind tries to figure out what to do with Godzilla, other titans begin to rise from the mists of legend and vie for world supremacy. It’s the Big G facing off against Rodan, Mothra and the nastiest of them all, King Ghidorah with the fate of humankind hanging in the balance.

See the trailer, video featurettes, a clip and an interview here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Horror
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG-13 (for scenes of monster action violence and destruction, and for some language)

Hail, Satan?

(Magnolia) Lucien Greaves, Jex Blackmore, Nicholas Crowe, Malcolm Jarry. This big Florida Film Festival favorite makes a limited run at the Enzian this week. It’s the story of the Satanic Temple and their quixotic efforts to keep Church and State separate and stave off the Christian right’s attempt to create a modern theocracy here in the United States.

See the trailer and a video featurette here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Documentary
Now Playing: Enzian Theater
Rating: R (for graphic nudity and some violence)

Ma

(BlumHouse/Universal) Octavia Spencer, Juliette Lewis, Diana Silvers, McKaley Miller. When a new teen in town asks a woman in a small Ohio town to buy her and her friends some beer, the door is opened to an unusual friendship. At first she provides a basement where the party never stops but as the friendship becomes obsession suddenly the party may be permanently over for the teens.

See the trailer, interviews, video featurettes, clips and B-roll video here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: R (for violent disturbing material, language throughout, sexual content, and for teen drug and alcohol use)

Rocketman

(Paramount) Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Gemma Jones, Bryce Dallas Howard. Hitmaker Elton John, one of the most iconic names in rock and roll, has his story told in this biofilm although in true Elton John fashion there is a whole lot of fantasy and imagination in the mix.

See the trailer, interviews, clips and video featurettes here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Musical Biography
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: R (for language throughout, some drug use and sexual content)

ALSO OPENING IN ORLANDO/DAYTONA:

Domino
Falaknuma Das
NGK

ALSO OPENING IN MIAMI/FT. LAUDERDALE:

Always Be My Maybe
Artifishal
Diamantino
Falaknuma Das
NGK

ALSO OPENING IN TAMPA/ST. PETERSBURG:

Falaknuma Das
NGK
Rich Boy, Rich Girl

ALSO OPENING IN JACKSONVILLE/ST. AUGUSTINE:

NGK

SCHEDULED FOR REVIEW:

Diamantino
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Hail, Satan?
Ma
Rocketman

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Hail, Satan?

Freedom of religion means ALL religions.

(2019) Documentary (Magnolia) Lucien Greaves, Jex Blackmore, Nicholas Crowe, Malcolm Jarry, Michael Wiener, Stu DeHaan, Jason Rapert, Anton LaVey, Megyn Kelly. Directed by Penny Lane

As a general rule, we as a species are pretty dense. You can talk until you’re blue in the face using unassailable logic and still the rest of us don’t get it. It’s not that we’re that dumb, it’s just that we don’t listen very well. Sometimes to get our attention, you have to shake things up somewhat.

In 2013, Malcolm Jarry, Lucien Greaves and a few other interested parties founded The Satanic Temple. Utilizing imagery and iconographies designed to shock people out of apathy, the group initially was formed to combat what the founders saw as increasing Evangelical Christian presence in government. They did it with humor and intelligence, linking Florida governor Rick Scott to legislation that would allow Bible passages to be used in public schools.

Although the spokesman for the Temple was initially an actor playing Greaves, it became evident to Greaves he would have to become the face of the group in order to be more effective. Before long, he was attracting a lot of like-minded people to the group, many of them self-identifying as outsiders and misfits, some of them from the heavy metal community and others from the goth community (such as Jex Blackmore from the latter).

The group came to major notoriety when they opposed monuments at state capitals in Oklahoma and Arkansas by suggesting that since Christian monuments were being erected, they should be allowed to erect an 8-foot tall bronze statue of Baphomet, a version of Satan, on the same ground. Christians of course didn’t take kindly to it but one had to admire their pluck and their logic.

The documentary gives us an intimate look at the Temple and those who are part of it, particularly the articulate and charismatic Greaves but also Blackmore, a fiery and passionate feminist who led the Detroit chapter of the Temple. Acclaimed documentary director Lane pulls no punches in a falling out between Blackmore and the Temple recently over remarks she made supporting violence against the current ruling party.

However, that’s more of a distraction. The ongoing legal fights the Temple have going and their stated goal of religious plurality (which is what the founding fathers envisioned originally) and their absolute opposition to attempts to turn our republic into a theocracy are very much the focus here. Lane allows Greaves, Jarry, Blackmore and others to make the Temple’s case in a calm and sober manner – but not without a sly wink and twinkling eyes. However, it should be noted that many of the Temple members interviewed here use assumed names and hide their identities in other ways so as not to cause their families any unnecessary discomfort. People look upon Satanists as evil and vile; while that perception in the case of the Temple isn’t correct, the stereotype persists.

Incidentally, despite the name the Temple does not literally worship Satan or evil. They see Satan as the ultimate rebel (the famous Byron quote “Better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven” is applicable here) against the status quo. While they borrow the iconography of devil worship as depicted by the “satanic panic” news hysteria of the late 80s and 90s (horned goat masks, robes, nudity and so on), they aren’t about sacrificing babies or animals or anything else. For my part, I wonder if their usage of such symbols isn’t providing free advertising for evangelicals.

One of the things that is telling about the differences between the Satanic Temple and Christianity is that while the basic laws of the Christian church tell you what you shalt not do, the Seven Tenets of the Satanic Temple tell you what you should do – treat others with respect and compassion, to use scientific understanding as a foundation for belief, to forgive the mistakes of others because humans are fallible, to not impinge on the freedom of others, to render inviolate the bodies of others, and to inspire nobility of thought and compassion despite the often contradictory nature of the written and spoken word. Fine concepts to live by if you ask me.

=The movie played the recent Florida Film Festival and is likely to show up again at the Enzian or perhaps some other local theater. Don’t mistake this for a film promoting hedonism, excess and corruption; in seeing a movie about a group who might appear shocking and anathema to you, you might just find your own point of view changing for the better.

REASONS TO SEE: Greaves is a charismatic spokesman. A serious subject is tackled with some humor.
REASONS TO AVOID: Some where their misfit badges a bit too stridently.
FAMILY VALUES: The is some profanity and graphic nudity.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Shortly after the documentary came out, The Satanic Temple was granted religious exemption status by the IRS.
CRITICAL MASS: As of 4/25/19: Rotten Tomatoes: 96% positive reviews: Metacritic: 76/100.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: J.R. “Bob” Dobbs and the Church of the Subgenius
FINAL RATING: 8.5/10
NEXT: Red Joan