(Lionsgate)Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley, Michael Peña, Charlie Plummer, Kelly Yu, Donald Sutherland, Carolina Bartczak. Directed by Roland Emmerich
When the moon is discovered to have fallen out of orbit and is on a collision course with Earth, the world prepares for annihilation. One former astronaut thinks she might have the solution, only nobody believes her. She and a motley crew of three embark on a dangerous, last-ditch effort to save the planet – only to discover that the moon isn’t what they think it is. The latest from disaster Meister Roland Emmerich.
See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Science Fiction
Now Playing: Wide Rating: PG-13 (for violence, disaster action, strong language, and some drug use)
Jackass Forever
(Paramount)Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Jason “Wee Man” Acuna, Chris Pontius. The original cast of idiots reunites for a celebration of friendship and getting nailed in the gonads.
See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Comedy
Now Playing: Wide Rating: R (for strong crude material and dangerous stunts, graphic nudity and language throughout)
Sundown
(Bleecker Street)Tim Roth, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jazua Lanios, Henry Godman. A wealthy family on vacation in Mexico find their vacation interrupted by a distant emergency. When the family’s tight-knit order is disrupted by a relative, the tensions percolating below the surface begin to show.
See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Drama
Now Playing: AMC Disney Springs Rating: R (for sexual content, violence, language and some graphic nudity)
Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America
(Sony Classics)Jeffrey Robinson. Criminal defense and civil rights lawyer Robinson draws a stark timeline of racism in America, going back from slavery to Black Lives Matter, through academic lectures, interviews, and personal revelations.
See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Documentary
Now Playing: AMC Altamonte Mall, AMC Avenue 16 Melbourne, AMC Disney Springs, Regal Waterford Lakes, Regal Winter Park Village Rating: PG-13 (for thematic content, disturbing images, violence and strong language – all involving racism)
The Wolf and the Lion
(Blue Fox)Molly Kunz, Graham Greene, Charlie Carrick, Derek Johns. A young woman who grew up in the Canadian wilderness returns home after a death in the family. In the woods, she discovers two abandoned cubs – a wolf and a lion. She rescues them and they form a familial bond, but after a forest ranger discovers the situation and removes the two animals from her home, the wolf and the lion escape to reunite themselves with each other and the woman who saved them.
See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Family
Now Playing: AMC Altamonte Mall, AMC Avenue 16 Melbourne, AMC Disney Springs, AMC West Oaks, Cinemark Orlando, CMX Merritt Square, Fashion Square Premiere, Regal Oviedo Marketplace, Regal The Loop, Regal Waterford Lakes Rating: PG (for thematic elements, language and some peril)
COMING TO VIRTUAL CINEMA/VOD:
Alone With You (Tuesday)
Book of Love (Friday)
The Fabulous Filipino Brothers (Tuesday)
Ghosts of the Ozarks (Thursday)
Just Swipe (Tuesday)
Last Looks (Friday)
Listen Out for Love (Sunday)
Single Black Female (Saturday)
Slapface (Thursday)
The Wrong High School Sweetheart (Friday)
SCHEDULED FOR REVIEW:
The Fabulous Filipino Brothers
Just Swipe
Moonfall
(Focus)George MacKay, Lily-Rose Depp, Paddy Considine, Eileen Walsh, Senan Jennings, Darragh Shannon, Lola Petticrew. Directed by Jared Bush and Nathalie Biancheri
A man who believes he is a wolf trapped in a human body is eventually committed to a clinic that specializes in those types of disorder. He undergoes increasingly aggressive forms of therapy until he meets a woman who believes she’s a wildcat. As the two fall in love, he must choose between true love and his true self.
See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Mystery
Now Playing: AMC Altamonte Mall, AMC Disney Springs, Regal Waterford Lakes Rating: R (for some abusive behavior, sexuality, nudity and language)
Akhanda
(Radha Krishna)Nandamuri Balakrishna, Pragya Jaiswal, Jagapathi Babu, Meka Srikanth. A fierce devotee of Lord Shiva must stand against the unrighteous.
See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Action
Now Playing: Cinemark Orlando, Regal Pavilion Port Orange, Regal Winter Park Village Rating: NR
Bergman Island
(IFC)Mia Wasikowska, Tim Roth, Vicki Krieps, Anders Danielsen Lie. Two American filmmakers who also are a romantic couple, decide to summer on Farö Island (the place where legendary director Ingmar Bergman lived and shot many of his most celebrated films) in order to find inspiration for their own endeavors, but the magic of the island begins to drive a wedge between the two.
See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Drama
Now Playing: Cinematique Daytona Rating: R (for some sexual content, nudity and language)
C’mon C’mon
(A24)Joaquin Phoenix, Gaby Hoffman, Woody Norman, Scoot McNairy. A radio journalist is thrown together unexpectedly with his young nephew during a cross-country road trip, creating a tenuous but transformational relationship between the two.
See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Drama
Now Playing: Cinemark Orlando, Enzian, Regal Waterford Lakes Rating: R (for language)
Castle Falls
(Shout!)Dolph Lundgren, Scott Adkins, Kevin Wayne, Jim E. Chandler. A derelict hospital is about to be demolished but braving the dynamite are three desperate men – two rival gang leaders and a hospital janitor, looking for a cache of stolen money hidden in the walls. They have exactly 90 minutes to find the loot and get out – or be blown up with the rest of the building.
See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Action
Now Playing: Studio Movie Grille Sunset Walk Rating: NR
Encounter
(Amazon)Riz Ahmed, Octavia Spencer, Janina Gavankar, Lucian-River Chauhan. A decorated Marine takes his two young sons on a journey to evade a mysterious threat. As the trip grows increasingly dangerous, the two boys will have to grow up much sooner than they might have otherwise.
See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Science Fiction
Now Playing: CMX Daytona Rating: R (for language and some violence)
The End of Us
(Saban)Ben Coleman, Ali Vingiano, Derrick Joseph DeBrasis, Gadiel Del Orbe. A couple on the verge of breaking up is forced to continue living together during the COVID lockdown. Petty squabbles between the two – one career-driven, the other a slacker – lead to self-evaluations that may change them and doom their relationship.
See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Dramedy
Now Playing: Studio Movie Grille Sunset Walk Rating: R (for language and sexual references)
Home
(Gravitas)Jake McLaughlin, Kathy Bates, Aisling Franciosi, Lil Rel Howery. A man returns to his small town after 20 years in prison to find that forgiveness is in short supply. He is, however, willing to accept the repercussions of his past deeds if it can lead to a better future.
See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Drama
Now Playing: CMX Grand Rating: NR
Last Shoot Out
(Lionsgate)Cam Gigandet, Bruce Dern, Brock Harris, Skylar White. When a frontier wife flees her husband after discovering he had her father killed, she is rescued by a gunman who protects her from the wrath of her husband’s wealthy – and well-armed – family.
See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Western
Now Playing: CMX Grand Rating: PG-13 (for violence and bloody images)
Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea
(Phars)Mohanial, Sunil Shetty, Arjun Sarja, Manju Warrier. An Indian hero fights the invading Portuguese.
See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Action
Now Playing: Amstar Lake Mary, Cinemark Orlando Rating: NR
Silent Night
(RJLE)Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Annabelle Wallis, Lucy Punch. A couple and their son entertain family and friends for an wonderful Christmas dinner in an idyllic country cottage in England. The only thing that keeps it from being perfect: the world is about to end.
See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Dramedy
Now Playing: Fashion Square Premiere Rating: R (for language and violence)
The Souvenir: Part II
(A24)Honor Swinton Byrne, Jaygann Ayeh, Tilda Swinton, Richard Ayoade. A young film student who has escaped from an abusive relationship with an older man, tries to untangle her feelings by throwing herself into her graduate project, but soon finds trouble separating reality from fiction.
See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Drama
Now Playing: Cinematique Daytona Rating: R (for some strong sexuality, and language)
Sword Art Online: Progressive – Aria of a Starless Night
(Aniplex USA) Starring the voices of Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Inori Minase, Bryce Papenbrook, Haruka Tomatsu. A newbie gamer enters the deadly world of Aincrad discovers that she must beat all 100 levels of the game in order to escape back to reality, but dying in the game also means dying in the real world.
See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Animé
Now Playing: AMC Altamonte Mall, AMC Avenue 16, AMC Disney Springs, Amstar Lake Mary, Cinemark Lakeland Square, Cinemark Orlando, CMX Daytona, Regal Eagle Ridge Mall, Regal Waterford Lakes, Regal Winter Park Village Rating: R (for language and violence)
True to the Game 3
(Faith Media)Erica Peeples, Columbus Short, Starletta DuPois, Omar Gooding. A woman is given 72 hours to return home to let her friends know her plans, before she starts a new life with the handsome, mysterious outlaw that she loves.
See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Romance
Now Playing: AMC Altamonte Mall, AMC Disney Springs, Cinemark Orlando, CMX Merritt Square, Fashion Square Premiere Rating: R (for violence and pervasive language)
Twas the Night
(Vertical)Nicole Pringle, David Steven Perez, Paul Van Scott, Lisa Panagopoulos. An engaged couple are hosting their future in-laws for the holidays, and they want everything to be just right. That’s even harder to do, when you’re trying to hide a body at the same time.
See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Holiday Comedy
Now Playing: Studio Movie Grille Sunset Walk Rating: NR
COMING TO VIRTUAL CINEMA/VOD:
A Clusterfunke Christmas (Saturday)
Benedetta
Cobalt Blue
Deadlock
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Fatal Distraction (Tuesday)
The Forever Prisoner (Monday)
The Great Balloon Bomb Invasion (Thursday)
Listening to Kenny G (Thursday)
Love and Fury
Missing and Alone
Mixtape
Red Stone
The Reenactment (Tuesday)
Single All the Way (Thursday)
The Slow Hustle (Tuesday)
This Game’s Called Murder
The Wishing Tree (Tuesday)
SCHEDULED FOR REVIEW:
Encounter
The Great Balloon Bomb Invasion
Mixtape
The Wishing Tree
Wolf
(Warner Brothers)Melissa Barrera, Stephanie Beatriz, Anthony Ramos, Ariana Greenblatt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Grace, Jimmy Smits. Directed by Jon M. Chu
Based on Miranda’s pre-Hamilton hit Broadway musical, a young bodega owner in Washington Heights saves every penny he can and dreams of a better life.
See the trailer here For more on the movie this is the website Genre: Musical Now Playing: Wide Rating: PG-13 (for suggestive references and some language)
A Perfect Enemy
(Brainstorm)Dominique Pinon, Tomasz Kot, Marta Nieto, Athena Strates. A successful architect meets a chatty young woman in the Paris airport, and ends up missing his flight. Installed in an airport lounge to wait for another, the fortuitous meeting suddenly turns sinister and possibly criminal.
See the trailer here For more on the movie this is the website Genre: Action Now Playing: Studio Movie Grill Sunset Walk Rating: NR
Censor
(Magnet)Niamh Algar, Michael Smiley, Nicholas Burns, Sophia La Porta. Set in the 1980s era of the British “video nasties,” a film censor views a horror film that is eerily suggestive of the disappearance of her own sister years before. This sends her down the rabbit hole where the lines between reality and fiction become blurred.
See the trailer here For more on the movie this is the website Genre: Horror Now Playing: Enzian Rating: NR
The House Next Door: Meet the Blacks 2
(Lionsgate)Mike Epps, Katt Williams, Bresha Webb, Danny Trejo. A best-selling author moves his family into his childhood home, where along with his oddball neighbors he must do battle with a neighborhood pimp who may or may not be a vampire.
See the trailer here For more on the movie this is the website Genre: Comedy Now Playing: Wide Rating: R (for brief nudity, sexual content and pervasive language)
The Misfits
(The Avenue)Pierce Brosnan, Jamie Chung, Tim Roth, Nick Cannon. A master criminal is recruited by a group of unconventional thieves to pull off a daring gold heist. However, he soon discovers that the heist may have unintended far-reaching consequences on his life and the lives of many others.
See the trailer here For more on the movie this is the website Genre: Action Now Playing: Cinemark Orlando Rating: R (for some language/sexual references and brief drug use)
The Perfect Candidate
(Music Box)Mila Al Zahrani, Dhay, Nora Al Awad, Khalid Abdulraheem. A young Saudi doctor unexpectedly decides to run for civic office. The fact that she’s the first woman to run for such an office puts the town and her family into an uproar. This played last year’s Florida Film Festival; a link to the review can be found under “Scheduled to be reviewed” below.
See the trailer here For more on the movie this is the website Genre: Drama Now Playing: Enzian Rating: NR
Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway
(Columbia)James Corden (voice), Elizabeth Debicki (voice), Margot Robbie (voice), Domhnall Gleeson. Bored with life in Thomas and Bea’s (now married) garden, Peter strikes out for the big city and meets up with some dodgy characters, causing chaos for his entire family.
See the trailer here For more on the movie this is the website Genre: Family Now Playing: Wide Rating: PG (for some rude humor and action)
Queen Bees
(Gravitas)Ellen Burstyn, James Caan, Ann-Margaret, Jane Curtin. After reluctantly moving into an assisted living facility, a senior meets up with a clique of mean-spirited women and an amorous suitor.
See the trailer here For more on the movie this is the website Genre: Dramedy Now Playing: Amstar Lake Mary Rating: PG-13 (for drug use, suggestive material and some language)
COMING TO VIRTUAL CINEMA/VOD:
Dream Horse Holler Lust For Gold (Tuesday) Night Walk (Tuesday) Occupation: Rainfall Queen of Spades (Tuesday) Rogue Hostage Songs for a Sloth (Tuesday) The Space Between (Tuesday) Take Me Somewhere Nice
(Universal) Robert Downey Jr., Michael Sheen, Antonio Banderas, Jim Broadbent, Jessie Buckley, Harry Collett, Emma Thompson (voice), Rami Malek (voice). Directed by Stephen Gaghan
The beloved series of children’s stories gets a modern retelling as the Victorian-era veterinarian and physician Dr. John Dolittle, who much prefers the company of animals to humans, races against time to save a gravely ill little girl, voyaging to a mysterious remote island in search of a cure. Did I mention he can talk to the animals?
See the trailer here For more on the movie this is the website Genre: Fantasy/Family Now Playing: Wide Release Rating: PG (for some action, rude humor and brief language)
Bad Boys for Life
(Columbia)Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens, Joe Pantoliano. Bad boy detectives Lowrey and Burnett go for one last ride on the mean streets of Miami to take on a well-heeled and ludicrously armed villain who is out to blow away the both of them. Wha’cha gonna do?
See the trailer here For more on the movie this is the website Genre: Action Now Playing: Wide Release Rating: R (for strong bloody violence, language throughout, sexual references, and brief drug use)
Color Out of Space
(RLJE)Nicolas Cage, Joely Richardson, Madeleine Arthur, Brendan Meyer. When a meteorite lands in a small New England town, it brings with it an extraterrestrial organism that infects the minds and bodies of the inhabitants. Based on a classic H.P. Lovecraft story.
See the trailer here For more on the movie this is the website Genre: Sci-Fi Horror Now Playing: Enzian Theater (Wednesday Only) Rating: NR
The Song of Names
(Sony Classics) Tim Roth, Clive Owen, Catherine McCormack, Jonah Hauer King. As Europe prepares to erupt into World War II, a prodigal violinist disappears without a trace on the eve of his debut concert performance. His adopted brother spends his life trying to track him down and discover why he fled so abruptly.
See the trailer here For more on the movie this is the website Genre: Drama Now Playing: Regal Winter Park Village Rating: PG-13 (for some strong language, brief sexual material, thematic elements and smoking)
Weathering with You
(GKIDS) Starring the voices of Kotaro Daigo, Nana Mori, Tsubasa Honda, Sakura Kiryu.A young runaway surviving (barely) on the streets of Tokyo meets a young girl who can seemingly control the weather.
See the trailer here For more on the movie this is the website Genre: Animated Feature Now Playing: Wide Release Rating: PG-13 (for suggestive material, some violence and language)
ALSO OPENING IN ORLANDO/DAYTONA:
Anjaam Pathira Entha Manchivaadavuraa Intrigo: Death of an Author Miracle in Cell No. 7 Pattas
ALSO OPENING IN MIAMI/FT. LAUDERDALE/KEY WEST:
Anjaam Pathira Big Brother Disturbing the Peace Entha ManchivaadavuraaNana Mori Host Intrigo: Death of an Author Invisible Life Miracle in Cell No. 7 My Hindu Friend Pattas
ALSO OPENING IN TAMPA/ST. PETERSBURG/SARASOTA:
Ashfall Entha Manchivaadavuraa Pattas
ALSO OPENING IN JACKSONVILLE/ST. AUGUSTINE:
63 Up Entha Manchivaadavuraa
SCHEDULED FOR REVIEW:
Bad Boys for Life Color Out of Space Dolittle Weathering For You
FILM FESTIVALS TAKING PLACE IN FLORIDA:
Miami Jewish Film Festival, Miami Beach, FL Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival, West Palm Beach, FL Saint Augustine Film Festival, St. Augustine, FL Sunshine City Film Festival, St. Petersburg, FL
(Lionsgate) Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Jada Pinkett Smith, Lance Reddick, Tim Blake Nelson, Piper Perabo, Danny Huston, Nick Nolte. Directed by Ric Roman Waugh
An assassination attempt on the President leaves his trusted Secret Service agent and confidante Mike Banning wrongly accused. He is forced to go on the run to clear his name, keep his family safe and root out the real threat to the country and stop it before it’s too late.
See the trailer, video featurettes and a clip here For more on the movie this is the website Genre: Action Now Playing: Wide Release Rating: R (for violence and language throughout)
After the Wedding
(Sony Classics)Michelle Williams, Julianne Moore, Billy Crudup, Abby Quinn. The administrator of an orphanage in India gets an unexpected and generous donation from a mysterious benefactor in New York. She must go to the Big Apple to accept the gift in person but there is much more going on there than meets the eye.
See the trailer and video featurettes here For more on the movie this is the website Genre: Drama Now Playing: Regal Winter Park Village Rating: PG-13 (for thematic material and some strong language)
Luce
(NEON)Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Tim Roth. Ten years after adopting their son from Eritrea, a pair of suburban white parents believe their son has a bright future ahead of him. An academic all-star, well-regarded in the community and an example for his peers, Luce turns in a term paper with a troubling point of view. His African-American teacher begins to fear the worst which puts her into direct conflict with his parents.
See the trailer, clips and video featurettes here For more on the movie this is the website Genre: Drama Now Playing: Regal Winter Park Village Rating: R (for language throughout, sexual content, nudity and some drug use)
The Nightingale
(IFC)Aisling Franciosi, Sam Claflin, Baykali Ganambarr, Damon Herriman. In early 19th century Australia during the penal colony days, a woman suffers repeated sexual assault at the hands of a British officer. When her husband intervenes, the officer murders both her husband and her infant. Destitute and bereft, she goes on a journey to exact revenge. This previously played at both the Miami Film Festival and Florida Film Festival; you can read the review by clicking on the link in the “Scheduled For Review” section below.
See the trailer, a video featurette and a clip here For more on the movie this is the website Genre: Historical Drama Now Playing: Enzian Theater Rating: R (for strong violent and disturbing content including rape, language throughout and brief sexuality))
Overcomer
(Affirm)Alex Kendrick, Priscilla C. Shirer, Shari Rigby, Cameron Arnett. When a small town is devastated by a plant closing throwing thousands out of work, the local high school basketball coach wonders what sort of future he has in the town. Pressed into service to coach the girl’s cross country team, he encounters an extraordinary athlete whose faith may very well move mountains.
See the trailer here For more on the movie this is the website Genre: Faith-Based Drama Now Playing: Wide Release Rating: PG (for some thematic elements)
The Peanut Butter Falcon
(Roadside Attractions)Shia LaBeouf, Dakota Johnson, John Hawkes, Bruce Dern. A young man with Down’s Syndrome and a yen to become a professional wrestler, confined to a nursing home because the State doesn’t have an opening at a proper facility for his care, runs away to find his wrestling hero who runs a wrestling school. He falls in with an ex-con on the run from some angry fishermen as the two search for a place where they can live life on their own terms.
See the trailer, a clip and video featurettes here For more on the movie this is the website Genre: Drama Now Playing: AMC Altamonte Mall, AMC Disney Springs, AMC Lake Square, Regal Oviedo Marketplace, Regal The Loop, Regal Waterford Lakes Regal Winter Park Village, Rialto Spanish Springs Square Rating: PG-13 (for thematic content, language throughout, some violence and smoking)
Ready or Not
(Fox Searchlight) Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, Andie MacDowell, Henry Czerny. A young woman marries into a wealthy family who have an eccentric tradition; a game must be played at midnight on the night of the wedding to welcome the new member of the family. When she selects a game of Hide and Seek, she discovers that the game is no laughing matter and she is in a fight for her very survival.
See the trailer and video featurettes here For more on the movie this is the website Genre: Horror Now Playing: Wide Release Rating: R (for violence, bloody images, language throughout, and some drug use)
ALSO OPENING IN ORLANDO/DAYTONA:
Mike Wallace is Here
ALSO OPENING IN MIAMI/FT. LAUDERDALE:
The Best Summer of My Life Comali Tel Aviv on Fire
ALSO OPENING IN TAMPA/ST. PETERSBURG/SARASOTA:
Jacob’s Ladder (2019) Tel Aviv on Fire Tone Deaf
ALSO OPENING IN JACKSONVILLE/ST. AUGUSTINE:
Comali Twice the Dream
SCHEDULED FOR REVIEW:
Angel Has Fallen The Nightingale The Peanut Butter Falcon Ready or Not
(Sony Animation) Starring the voices of Demi Lovato, Julia Roberts, Mandy Patinkin, Rainn Wilson, Jack McBrayer, Michelle Rodriguez, Ellie Kemper. Directed by Kelly Asbury
Has anyone ever wondered why there is only one girl Smurf? Neither have I but I’m sure someone has. Smurfette sets out with her friends through the Forbidden Forest to find a mysterious village before the evil sorcerer Gargamel does and when they do, we find out where all the girl Smurfs are. How Smurfy is that?
See the trailer, clips, interviews, featurettes, premiere footage and B-Roll video here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard, 3D
Genre: Animated Feature
Now Playing: Wide Release Rating: PG (for some mild action and rude humor)
1 Mile to You
(Gravitas) Melanie Lynskey, Tim Roth, Billy Crudup, Stefanie Scott. When a teenage boy’s friends die in a car accident, he is completely devastated. He takes up running to deal with the pain and also to remember his friends. His running however catches the attention of track coaches who recognize his raw potential. Can they bring him from dwelling on his past into creating a bright future?
See the trailer and a clip here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Sports Drama
Now Playing: AMC Loew’s Universal Cineplex Rating: NR
The Case for Christ
(Pure Flix) Mike Vogel, Erika Christensen, Faye Dunaway, Robert Forster.Based on the experiences of Lee Strobel, an award-winning journalist and atheist, he sets out to disprove the existence of Christ after his wife undergoes a faith renewal. What he discovers in his investigation is not what he expected at all.
See the trailer and clips here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Faith Drama
Now Playing: Wide Release Rating: PG (for thematic elements including medical descriptions of crucifixion, and incidental smoking)
Going in Style
(New Line) Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Alan Arkin, Ann-Margaret. Three retirees, lifelong friends all, are startled when their pension fund is wiped out by the greed of a bank. Desperate to make ends meet, they decide to not only solve their financial problems but exact a little justice as well when they determine to rob the very bank that stole their money. Poetic justice, yes, but much easier said than done when you consider that none of them has committed a crime in their lives.
See the trailer, a clip and a featurette here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Comedy
Now Playing: Wide Release Rating: PG-13 (for drug content, language and some suggestive material)
Mine
(Well Go USA) Armie Hammer, Tom Cullen, Annabelle Wallis, Clint Dyer. After their assignment ends in failure, a U.S. Marine sniper and his spotter are forced to cross the desert when the helicopter assigned to evacuate them from the enemy zone is grounded due to sand storms. Nearing the village where they will be driven back to their base, the two find themselves in a field of land mines where the sniper has stepped on a mine and cannot move without setting it off. Low on food and water with no way to go even a step further, he is forced to contemplate what got him there in the first place. Look for a review of this in Cinema365 tomorrow.
See the trailer here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: War
Now Playing: AMC Disney Springs Rating: NR
My Life as a Zucchini
(GKIDS) Starring the voices of Will Forte, Nick Offerman, Ellen Page, Amy Sedaris.Nominated for a Best Animated Feature Oscar in the most recent Academy awards, this charming French stop-motion film follows an imaginative young boy who is sent to an orphanage after his mother passes away suddenly. Lonely in a sometimes hostile environment, he searches for a family to call his own while learning to trust once again. The Enzian will be presenting the film both in its original French with subtitles as well as an English language version. Be sure and check which version is playing when you head out to the theater.
See the trailer and a clip here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Animated Feature
Now Playing: Enzian Theater Rating: PG-13 (for thematic elements and suggestive material)
Queen of the Desert
(IFC) Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Robert Pattinson, Damian Lewis. The true story of Gertrude Bell, a English woman in the early years of the 20th century who chafed at the role she was relegated to in Victorian England. She traveled to the Middle East and fell in love with the culture and the freedoms it afforded her. Her views on the Bedouin helped shape the course of the century and indeed the modern world itself.
See the trailer here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Biographical Drama
Now Playing: AMC Loew’s Universal Cineplex Rating: PG-13 (for brief nudity and some thematic elements)
Raw
(Focus World) Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf, Rabah Nait Oufella, Laurent Lucas. A vegetarian who is following in her family’s footsteps to become a veterinarian undergoes a ritual hazing involving eating meat. This awakens a taste for flesh inside her that becomes more and more irresistible until it threatens to consume her. This French film was the talk of the most recent Cannes Film Festival.
See the trailer and clips here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Horror
Now Playing: Enzian Theater Rating: R (for aberrant behavior, bloody and grisly images, strong sexuality, nudity, language and drug use/partying)
Your Name
(FUNimation) Starring the voices of Michael Sinterniklaas, Stephanie Sheh, Kyle Hebert, Cassandra Morris. This beautiful anime, the number one movie in Japan last year, concerns two young people who randomly switch bodies from time to time. They learn to communicate with each other and eventually, bond for each other. At last that realize that they need to meet face to face but making that happen proves to be a much thornier problem than either one could anticipate.
See the trailer here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Animated Feature
Now Playing: AMC Altamonte Mall, AMC Disney Springs, Cinemark Artegon Marketplace, Regal Waterford Lakes, Regal Winter Park Village Rating: PG (for thematic elements, suggestive content, brief language and smoking)
(Universal) Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Bell, Peter Dinklage, Ella Anderson, Taylor Labine, Kathy Bates, Kristen Schaal, Margo Martindale. Directed by Ben Falcone
The world’s richest woman has been brought down a peg or two. A financial scandal however, brings her empire crashing down around her and sends her to the slammer to pay her debt to society. Once she comes out, she has nothing and is forced to stay with her put-upon one-time assistant. Depressed, she hits upon a brilliant scheme to take her back to the top – a scheme that involves young girls selling cookies. But she stepped on a lot of people on her way to the top and not all of them are willing to see her rise again.
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 sexual content, language and brief drug use)
Demolition
(Fox Searchlight) Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Naomi Watts, Judah Lewis. An investment banker struggles against despair after losing his wife in a car accident. An increasingly confessional set of letters to a vending machine company catches the attention of a customer service representative who forms an unlikely bond with him. This inspires him to take a sledge hammer to his former life – literally – so that he can begin a new one.
See the trailer, interviews, a clip and B-roll video here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Drama
Now Playing: AMC Altamonte Mall, AMC Disney Springs, Amstar Lake Mary, Cinemark Artegon Marketplace, Regal Oviedo Mall, Regal Waterford Lakes, Regal Winter Park Village Rating: R (for language, some sexual references, drug use and disturbing behavior)
Hardcore Henry
(STX) Sharlto Copley, Danila Kozlovsky, Haley Bennett, Tim Roth. Henry’s having a bad day. He just woke up from being dead with no memory by a doctor who claims to be his wife, who is promptly kidnapped by a bloodthirsty warlord with plans for world domination. Although he can’t remember her, he figures he should get her back – she may be the key to remembering his past. The trouble is that there is an army of mercenaries and Henry doesn’t know whom to trust. This innovative Russian film was shot entirely from Henry’s perspective, making it not unlike a first person shooter game.
See the trailer, clips and B-roll video here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Action
Now Playing: Wide Release Rating: R (for non-stop brutal bloody violence and mayhem, language throughout, sexual content/nudity and drug use)
High Strung
(Paladin) Keenan Kampa, Nicholas Galitzine, Jane Seymour, Sonoya Mizuno. A British violinist who has a yen for playing hip-hop and an aspiring Ballet dancer from the Midwest attending one of the most prestigious arts schools in New York City meet and find that while their viewpoints clash, their hearts most certainly do not. As the two lovers face the possibilities of losing their dreams, they prepare to perform in a contest that will utilize both their skills and allow them to continue pursuing those ambitions should they win it – or separate them forever should they lose.
See the trailer here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Urban Musical
Now Playing: AMC Altamonte Mall, AMC Disney Springs, AMC Loew’s Universal CIneplex Rating: PG (for some thematic elements and mild language)
Midnight Special
(Warner Brothers) Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver. A father and his 8-year-old son have as close a bond as any father and son ever. But when the boy develops inexplicable powers, there are forces – not all of them looking out for the welfare of the boy – who want to exploit that power for themselves. The two go on the run, chased by mysterious forces with only the boy’s extraordinary powers and his father’s love and courage to protect them.
See the trailer, clips, interviews and B-roll video here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Science Fiction
Now Playing: AMC Disney Springs, Regal Waterford Lakes, Regal Winter Park Village Rating: PG-13 (for some violence and action)
(2015) Western (Weinstein) Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Walton Goggins, Bruce Dern, Demián Bichir, James Parks, Dana Gourrier, Lee Horsley, Gene Jones, Quentin Tarantino (voice), Channing Tatum, Keith Jefferson, Craig Stark, Belinda Owina, Zoë Bell. Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino is one of the greatest filmmakers of our generation. Quentin Tarantino is a no-talent hack. Quentin Tarantino is the arbiter of style and cool. Quentin Tarantino is a racist and misogynist asshole. Whatever you believe Quentin Tarantino is, chances are it isn’t somewhere in the middle. Most people tend to have extreme view of his work.
His eighth film has gotten polarizing responses from critics and fans alike, not just for the occasionally brutal violence (which to be fair should be pretty much expected in a Tarantino film) to the gratuitous use of the “N” word and the occasionally over-the-top violence against a particular female character. I’ll be honest with you; I wasn’t particularly offended by any of it, but I’m neither African-American nor a woman so my perspective might be different if I were. However, I think your sensitivity to such things should determine whether you go out and see this film, or even read on in this review.
That said, I’m going to keep the story description to a bare minimum because much of what works about the movie is that you don’t see what’s coming all the time. Essentially, in post-Civil War Wyoming, a stagecoach carrying bounty hunter John “The Hangman” Ruth (Russell) and his bounty, accused killer Daisy Domergue (Leigh) and their driver O.B. Jackson (Parks) are trying to outrun an approaching blizzard to safety in a mountaintop stage stop known as Minnie’s Haberdashery. However, along the way they pick up two additional passengers; fellow bounty hunter and former Northern colored regiment commander Maj. Marquis Warren (Jackson) and former irregular Chris Mannix (Goggins) who claims to be the new sheriff in Red Rock, the town that Ruth is taking Daisy to hang in.
Already at the Haberdashery are Bob (Bichir), a Mexican who is taking care of the horses; Oswaldo Mobray (Roth), an English dandy who is the local hangman; Joe Gage (Madsen) a taciturn cowboy writing a journal and General Sanford “Sandy” Smithers, a Confederate general (in uniform) who doesn’t seem much disposed to talk about anything to anybody, despite Mannix’ hero-worship.
In a sense, this is a typical Tarantino set-up; a lot of bad men put in a situation where they are enclosed and sort of trapped – a lot like his early film Reservoir Dogs although very different in execution. Bad men trapped in a confining space with each other is a formula for bad things happening, and they do in rather graphic fashion.
Russell, who was magnificent in Bone Tomahawkcontinues to personally revitalize the Western genre all by himself with another excellent performance here. John Ruth isn’t above giving a woman an elbow in the face to shut her up; he’s known for bringing his bounties in alive to be hung which isn’t what anyone would call merciful. He’s paranoid, testy and a bit of a loudmouth.
Jackson, a veteran of six of Tarantino’s eight films (including this one) is all Samuel L. Jackson here and all that it entails. He has a particularly nasty scene involving the relative of one of those in the Haberdashery that may or may not be true (everything all of the characters say should be taken with a grain of salt) that might be the most over-the-top thing he’s ever done cinematically and that’s saying something.
Goggins has been a supporting character actor for some time, and he steps up to the plate and delivers here. I’ve always liked him as an actor but he serves notice he’s ready for meatier roles and this one might just get him some. Dern, Madsen and Roth all give performances commensurate with their skills. Channing Tatum also shows up in a small but pivotal role.
Regular Tarantino DP Robert Richardson, already a multiple Oscar winner, outdoes himself here with the snow-covered Wyoming landscapes and the dark Haberdashery. Richardson may well be the greatest cinematographer working today but he rarely gets the respect he deserves other than from his peers. A lot of film buffs don’t know his name, but they should.
The legendary Ennio Morricone supplies the score, his first for a Western in 40 years (he is best known for his work for Sergio Leone and the Italian spaghetti western genre, among others) and it is a terrific score indeed. This is in every way a well crafted motion picture in every aspect.
Not everyone is going to love this. Some folks are going to focus on the racial slurs, the violence against Daisy and the sequence with Major Warren I referred to earlier and call this movie disgraceful, mean-spirited and racist, sexist, whatever else you can imagine. I will confess to being a huge fan of QT’s movies and so I might not be as objective here as perhaps I should, but I do think that this is one of the greatest cinematic achievements of his career and that’s saying something.
For the moment, the movie is available in a 70mm format at selected theaters around the country on a special roadshow edition. This is the first movie in 50 years to be filmed in 70mm Ultra Panavision, so it is highly recommended that if you can get to a theater presenting it this way that you take advantage of it. Otherwise it is just starting to hit regular 35mm theaters starting today. The roadshow will be available only until January 7, 2016 (unless extended) so don’t wait too long to go see it that way, the way it should be seen.
REASONS TO GO: Tremendous story. Well-acted and well-executed throughout. Gorgeous cinematography and soundtrack. The characters are well-developed for the most part. REASONS TO STAY: The violence and racism may be too much for the sensitive. FAMILY VALUES: A lot of graphic violence, some strong sexual content, graphic nudity and plenty of foul language. TRIVIAL PURSUIT: The movie was nearly never made when the script was leaked online during pre-production and Tarantino elected to shelve it and rewrite it as a novel; however after Jackson advocated that the film be made anyway, Tarantino eventually relented. CRITICAL MASS: As of 1/1/16: Rotten Tomatoes: 76% positive reviews. Metacritic: 69/100. COMPARISON SHOPPING:The Wild Bunch FINAL RATING: 9/10 NEXT:Concussion
(2014) True Life Drama (Paramount) David Oyelowo, Tom Wilkinson, Carmen Ejogo, Oprah Winfrey, Giovanni Ribisi, Andre Holland, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Colman Domingo, Omar J. Dorsey, Common, Tessa Thompson, Dylan Baker, Stephan James, Trai Byers, Henry G. Sanders, Keith Stanfield, Charity Jordan, Tim Roth, Stan Houston, Stephen Root, Nigel Thatch, Cuba Gooding Jr., Alessandro Nivola, Jeremy Strong, Lorraine Toussaint, Tara Ochs. Directed by Ava DuVernay
Selma is a watershed moment in American history and in particular the history of the civil rights movement. The brutality of Southern oppression on its African-American citizen was beamed to all our living rooms for all to see. Martin Luther King’s efforts to organize and call attention on the suppression of voting rights for African-Americans would lead to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that he had long championed and ended decades of African-Americans having no voice in the governing of their communities, states and country.
In 1965 the Civil Rights Act of 1964 has just come into law and while it is a magnificent piece of legislation preventing discrimination, in the South it may not have been signed into law at all. Those African-Americans attempting to register to vote, much as activist Annie Lee Cooper (Winfrey) was, were met with poll taxes, or impromptu quizzes that nobody could answer, white or black in a desperate attempt for white racist Southerners to hold onto power in Dixie.
Martin Luther King (Oyelowo), already a landmark civil rights activist or, as he is known by those who oppose him, agitator as J. Edgar Hoover (Baker) puts it, approaches President Lyndon Baines Johnson (Wilkinson) to enact legislation that will prevent the kinds of abuses taking place in voter registration in the South but LBJ is less inclined to do that; he has his War on Poverty to consider, which he feels will ultimately be more beneficial to the black community. He has just too much going on to put any energy into King’s demands at the moment, but being the consummate politician he assures the civil rights leader that he will get right on it…in a couple of years. Hoover, on the other hand, wants this whole civil rights thing nipped in the bud. His surveillance of Dr. King has revealed some strain in his marriage to his wife Coretta (Ejogo) and he wants to exploit that, but Johnson prevents it.
With the violence escalating in the South, King knows he can’t wait. He decides to go to Selma, a small town in Alabama whose sheriff Jim Clark (Houston) is particularly mean and stupid and likely to do something that will give King the ammunition he needs. Activists in the Selma area are only too happy to see a national figure like Dr. King arrive on the scene, although John Lewis (James) – a future congressman who is still serving today – and James Foreman (Byers) of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, are suspicious of his motives.
During an evening non-violent march, the protestors are attacked by police. Three of them – Cager Lee (Sanders), his daughter Viola Lee Jackson (Jordan) and his grandson Jimmy Lee Jackson (Stanfield) are chased into a diner. When the police arrive, they make a point of beating the crap out of the old man and his kin. When Jimmy Lee tries to protect them, he is shot in the abdomen and killed. This galvanizes the organizers, leading Rev. James Bevel (Common) to suggest a march from Selma to Montgomery.
This is exactly what Governor George Wallace (Roth) doesn’t want. His right hand man in the state troopers, Colonel Al Lingo (Root) is enlisted to take care of things. In the meantime, in order to prevent the march, the President allows Hoover to carry on with his plans, delivering a tape of Dr. King allegedly having sex with another woman. While the tape is clearly fabricated, she gets King to admit to having had affairs. In order to repair things with his family, King decides to skip the March which is set for March 7, 1965. On that day, Alabama troopers face about 600 marchers and attack them on national television, bloodying the peaceful protesters – some of them, like Amelia Boynton (Toussaint) into unconsciousness – and horrifying a nation.
King, horrified beyond measure, returns to Selma with his wife’s blessing. He knows that the march needs to take place or else it would all be for nothing. He calls on the nation, to people of conscience of all colors to come to Selma and march with him. Many do come, including Sammy Davis Jr., Harry Belafonte, Michigan activist Viola Liuzzo (Ochs) and Unitarian minister James Reeb (Strong). With a tense stand-off between the forces of racism and the forces of freedom, would the march take place and would change come to the South?
History tells us that the March did finally take place successfully and that the Voter Rights Act of 1965 that Johnson championed would become law (until it was dismantled by the Supreme Court two years ago). Like Titanic, most of us know how the story ends. In the hands of a gifted director, we would feel the tension of those participating because they, unlike us, did not know how the story would end.
DuVernay for the most part accomplishes this. She is aided in this to a very large extent by Oyelowo who delivers a remarkable performance as the late Dr. King. There is a tendency for us to deify certain people – Dr. King, Gandhi, President Lincoln and so forth – to the point that we forget that they are human beings, far from perfect and full of frailties. DuVernay impressively gets that point across that Dr. King, as great a man and courageous a man as he was, also did things that he wasn’t proud of, also made mistakes and also had a playful sense of humor. At times he needed encouragement, phoning Mahalia Jackson in the middle of the night to hear her sing a gospel song so that he might be reassured. At times he wasn’t as strong as his iron-willed wife Coretta was. Oyelowo captures these moments and makes the man relatable to all of us.
In fact most of the cast is impressive although Wilkinson is miscast as LBJ. The LBJ I remember was a force of nature and larger than life and Wilkinson makes him more of a backrooms conniver, which he also was but there was a charisma to him that Wilkinson doesn’t capture. Many who knew the late President have complained that the film does an injustice to his memory in its portrayal of him as obstructive and unsupportive which history tells us he was not, but this isn’t the LBJ story.
It’s not even Dr. King’s story, although he naturally dominates the screen time here. It is a story for all of us, about the tribulations of the Civil Rights activists and what they actually went through to get the rights we take for granted today. It also is a stark reminder of how far we have yet to go, with events in Ferguson, Missouri mentioned pointedly in the movie’s post-credits Oscar-nominated song and parallels to modern oppression of the African American community.
Near the end we see footage purportedly of the actual March with some of it archival, although we mostly see celebrity marchers like Davis and Belafonte. Due to the rights to Dr. King’s speeches being owned by DreamWorks for a Steven Spielberg movie about the Civil Rights era that has not yet come to fruition, we don’t get to hear the actual words of Dr. King’s speeches; instead, DuVernay had to rewrite them so that they were in the style of his oratory but not his actual words. Shame on DreamWorks for not allowing the film to use the words inspiring to so many.
This is one of the better movies of the Holiday Awards season and it justly received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Some are moaning about DuVernay not receiving a nomination for Best Director but truth be told those that did receive the nomination also deserved to be nominated; what separated the five films that got the nod and this one are essentially splitting hairs; to my mind, she had a tendency to be a bit ham-handed in some of the activism scenes with swelling strings to the point that you couldn’t hear the dialogue but were supposed to feel inspired. It is a bit manipulative and could have been handled better. She should have trusted the material to bring out those feelings without hitting us in the head with them.
Nitpicking aside, this should be mandatory viewing for all of us who think that the need for activism has ended. We should all understand what was endured by those who fought for the rights of African-Americans and continue to be endured. Freedom is not given, it must be fought for and so many continue to fight. The legacy of Selma is with us still and should inspire all of us to rise up and support those who still need to shine the light on practices that should outrage all Americans – but still doesn’t. We shall overcome indeed, but we haven’t yet.
REASONS TO GO: MLK is humanized here. Captures the scope of the march and the events surrounding it. About damn time there was a movie about Selma. REASONS TO STAY: Not sure about the LBJ portrayal. Could have used archival footage better. FAMILY VALUES: There’s some disturbing violence of defenseless people being beaten, some brief strong language, adult themes and some suggestive material. TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Free screenings of the film were made available to 275,000 high school and middle school students. CRITICAL MASS: As of 1/24/15: Rotten Tomatoes: 99% positive reviews. Metacritic: 89/100. COMPARISON SHOPPING:Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom FINAL RATING: 8.5/10 NEXT:Detachment
(20th Century Fox) Liam Neeson, Forest Whitaker, Famke Janssen, Dougray Scott, Maggie Grace, Leland Orser, Jon Gries, Al Sapienza, Judi Beecher. Directed by Olivier Megaton
Bryan Miller is a man with a particular set of skills. His work with the government had essentially put his marriage into Divorce-land and left him with an estranged wife and a daughter who adored him but for whatever reason was constantly getting into trouble. Sadly, Bryan’s reconciliation with his wife is cut tragically short by an old enemy. Framed for the crime and on the run, he is determined to protect the last person he has left while avoiding the cops, the FBI, the CIA – and the killers, who mean to kill his daughter before taking him out. Bryan Miller has other ideas, most of them involving killing them first.
See the trailer, clips, interviews and B-roll video here. For more on the movie this is the website. Release formats: Standard (opens Thursday) Genre: Action Now Playing: Wide Release Rating: PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence and action, and for brief strong language)
Inherent Vice
(Warner Brothers) Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Josh Brolin, Benicio del Toro. In L.A. at the tail end of the psychedelic era, a rumpled private investigator is visited by an ex-girlfriend who explained that her current beau, a billionaire, is being kidnapped and held in a loony bin by his wife and her boyfriend. It’s all a bit confusing but the private eye consents to take the case, and with a boatload of characters that could have only come from the mind of Thomas Pynchon, the game is afoot. Or a leg.
See the trailer, clips and interviews here. For more on the movie this is the website. Release formats: Standard Genre: Crime Now Playing: Wide Release Rating: R (for drug use throughout, sexual content, graphic nudity, language and some violence)
Selma
(Paramount) David Oyelowo, Cuba Gooding Jr., Tim Roth, Tom Wilkinson. In 1965, voting rights in the South were essentially limited to whites and African-Americans were often violently discouraged from demanding the right to vote. Into this came Rev. Martin Luther King and his decision to stage a high profile march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, a march that would be met with violence that would shock a nation and lead to President Lyndon Johnson signing into law the Voting Rights Act which until the Supreme Court recently dismantled it, protected the rights of all voters to go to the polls.
See the trailer, interviews, clips and B-roll video here. For more on the movie this is the website. Release formats: Standard (opens Thursday) Genre: True Life Drama Now Playing: Wide Release Rating: PG-13 (for disturbing thematic material including violence, a suggestive moment and brief strong language)
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