American Agitators is an inspirational, timely and illuminating documentary about Fred Ross, Sr., a pioneer of community organizing and activism during the 20th Century.  Director Raymond Telles blends archival footage and interviews with Fred Ross, Sr.'s son, Fred Ross, Jr. to inform the audience of what makes Fred Ross, Sr. an integral part of American history. He accomplished a lot including helping Japanese Americans to get released from internment camps and to find housing and jobs. Other activists like Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez have him to thank for because he trained them to become activists. For Ross, Sr., it's important for people to to come together to make a difference and to speak out for the sake of reform, truth, justice, fairness, human rights and, above all, democracy. As the wise African proverb goes, "Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable."  

      American Agitators doesn't pry into Fred Ross, Sr.'s private life, so don't expect thorough biographical documentary about him; it focuses more on his work. Fortunately, it goes beyond his achievements by delving into modern activism, e.g. the political movement Fight for $15 whose activists fought for a $15 minimum wage. Agitating, protesting, community organizing and speaking out aren't easy. They require a lot of diligence, courage, awareness, compassion, patience and determination. All of those are essential virtues and tools that Fred Ross, Sr. had which makes him a truly great role model who deserves to be as well known as Mahatma Gandhi. At a running time of 1 hour and 29 minutes, American Agitators opens at Quad Cinema via Abramorama.  

 

      In Animal Farm, the animals take over their farm that's struggling financially and declare that all animals are equal, but Napoleon (voice of Seth Rogen) becomes their dictator and them with absolute power. Snowball (voice of Laverne Cox), another pig, and Lucky (voice of Gaten Matarazzo), a piglet, lead the rebellion against Napoleon when they realize that he has bad intentions. Director Andy Serkis and screenwriter Nicholas Stoller have made a watered-down adaptation of George Orwell's classic novel. This modern update is less dark, less provocative and more dull and silly.  

         Serkis and Stoller don't quite manage to find the right balance between entertaining older and younger audiences, especially when resorting to lowbrow humor for comic relief. It's mildly engaging, a decent introduction to the novel, and has pretty good CGI animation, but it pales compared to other adaptations like the animated film from 1954.   At a running time of 1 hour and 34 minutes, Animal Farm opens nationwide via Angel Studios. Kieran Culkin as the voice of Squealer, Glenn Close as the voice of Freida Pilkington, Steve Buscemi as the voice of Mr. Whymper, Woody Harrelson as the voice of Boxer, Andy Serkis as the voice of Mr. Jones, Old Major and Randolph, and Kathleen Turner as the voice of Benjamin, are among the other actors and actresses who lend their voice to the supporting characters. 

Number of times I checked my watch: 2




 

       Hassie (Madison Lawlor) returns to California to stop her terminally ill father, Sawyer (John Pyper-Ferguson), from selling her family's ranch to Roy (Lou Diamond Phillips) in Casa Grande.  Writer/director Juan Pablo Arias and co-writer Muñoz Sherell Jackson have made thriller/drama that's gritty and mildly suspenseful with nice scenery, but it's often by-the-numbers and contrived. The screenplay suffers from on-the-nose dialogue that fails to breathe life into any of the characters of which there are many. None of them is particularly well-developed enough to connect with emotionally. Moreover, Roy makes for a very bland and forgettable villain who's cartoonish at times. Everything, including the third act, is easily telegraphed from the very beginning which means that there are no surprises especially during the intense third act. Like with the recent Irish film Horseshoe, the aspect that stands out the most is the breathtaking scenery which becomes a character in itself while providing the film with some scope. At a running time of 1 hour and 53 minutes, Casa Grande, a continuation of the Freevee series, opens in select theaters nationwide via Seismic Releasing.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3 




 

      A pilot (Aaron Eckhart) and his co-pilot (Ben Kingsley) make an emergency landing in the middle of the ocean on the way to Shanghai from Los Angeles in Deep Water. Little do they know that they and the surviving passengers must face sharks that lurk in the water. Angus Sampson plays a passenger who's consistently a selfish jerk. Kate Fitzpatrick plays the most lively character on screen: a snarky, yet lovable grandmother. Director Renny Harlin and screenwriters Pete Bridges, Shayne Armstrong, S.P. Krause, and Damien Power have made a horror thriller that's lean and occasionally exciting, but often clunky, anemic and unscary. Too many characters act stupidly and only one of them, the grandmother, has a discernible personality that makes her character come to life and is worth caring about during her brief scenes. The plot takes too long to get to the meat of the story, unfortunately, and once the plane takes a nosedive, so does the film. It's hard to believe anything that's happening because of the lack of plausibility and the subpar visual effects.

      Even the scenes with the sharks which could've been terrifying and suspenseful fall flat. The kills aren't very gory, but they're bloody and mostly forgettable except for one that will make the audience cheer. Deep Water isn't as awful,  cringe-inducing and unintentionally funny as Jaws: The Revenge, but it comes close. It's roughly on par with another disappointing, dumb and lackluster shark movie that charts similar waters, No Way Up. At a running time of 1 hour and 47 minutes, Deep Water opens nationwide via Magenta Light Studios.  

Number of times I checked my watch: 4




 

       In Departures,  Benji (Lloyd Eyre-Morgan) meets Jake (David Tag) at an airport bar while on the way to Amsterdam and they develop an sexually charged dom/sub relationship that ends in a break-up.  Normally, to state that a relationship ends in a break-up would be considered a spoiler, but not in this case because writer/co-director Lloyd Eyre-Morgan and co-director Neil Ely begins at the end with the break-up and works its way backwards. The non-linear structure of the plot doesn't quite put the audience on the same page as Benji, though, and feels like a distracting gimmick that's made even more distracting with Benji's voice-over narration. Benji wants a more serious relationship while Jake wants to remain fwb with no strings attached. Jake even has sexual relationships with other people including women while he's still fwb with Benji. Obviously, they're incompatible because they're looking for different things, yet Benji keeps visiting him in Amsterdam.  

       The film feels overly edited as it goes back and forth from scenes with some fantasy sequences in between. It's amusing initially, but gets exhausting after a while. As a romantic dramedy, Departures doesn't chart new territory or have anything profound to say about love, loneliness and sexuality. However, there's just enough witty and tender moments along with a heartfelt performance by Lloyd Eyre-Morgan which keeps the movie mildly engaged. At a running time of 1 hour and 22 minutes, Departures opens at IFC Center via Strand Releasing.

Number of times I checked my watch: 2




 

       Ohm (Adam Scott), an author, gets more than he bargained for when he travels to a remote inn to scatter the ashes of his deceased parents in Hokum. Writer/director Damian McCarthy has made an atmospheric and intermittently creepy, but uninspired, undercooked, tedious and underwhelming psychological horror film with style over substance. The screenplay ticks all of the clichés expected of the genre:  a setting in the middle of the woods? Check! A dilapidated building with a creepy basement? Check! A protagonist who's coping with grief and guilt? Check! An inn that's possibly haunted? Check! Characters who are hiding something sinister? Check! Hokum offers very few surprises and only a few scenes that are genuinely scary. Everything else just goes through the motions while taking too long to get anywhere interesting. Once the film gets there, it doesn't bother to say anything insightful about grief and guilt. Bring Her Back tackles those heavy topics with more depth and poignancy.

      Moreover, Ohm comes across as an unlikable, self-hating jerk from start to finish. His character arc doesn't feel even remotely organic. How introspective is he? What has he learned by the time the end credits roll? It's hard to know for sure. There's also not enough exposition or backstory, e.g. the supernatural elements or the relationship between Ohm and his parents. The film's major strength, though, is its stylish production design and cinematography, but that's not enough to elevate it above mediocrity. At a running time of 1 hour and 47 minutes, Hokum opens nationwide via NEON.  

Number of times I checked my watch: 3




 

       The Story of Everything, based on the book Return of the God Hypothesis, is an enlightening, engaging, well-edited and, above all, fair and balanced documentary about how science can be used to argue that the universe was created by intelligent design. Director Eric Esau includes interviews with a wide variety of scholars ranging from scientists to philosophers to engineers who explain how the design of the universe is too complex for it to be random without an intelligent designer. Even if you believe in the big bang, the big bang had a beginning which isn't just a coincidence without a purpose. Everything has a purpose and an intricate design including our DNA. Fortunately, Esau doesn't just bombard the audience with talking-heads, but also incorporates animated sequences to create a more cinematic experience that's less dry. Pictures, as the saying goes, are a thousand words. He also interviews two experts, Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist, and Lawrence M. Krauss, a theoretical physicist and cosmologist, who don't think that science points to the likelihood of intelligent design.

      Regardless of your point of view, The Story of Everything will provide plenty of food for thought for you to discuss and debate the origins of the universe and the theory of intelligent design. It might even inspire you to look at the universe and science differently, but, most importantly, it will encourage you to use critical thinking to decide for yourself using scientific knowledge. At a running time of 1 hour and 45 minutes, The Story of Everything opens nationwide via Fathom Entertainment.  

Number of times I checked my watch: 1 




 

       That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Tears of the Azure Sea. Yura (voice of Saori Ōnishi), the priestess of Kaien, an underwater kingdom, seeks the help of Rimiru Tempest (voice of Miho Okasaki) when the Azure Sea gets polluted and the Kaien kingdom's diety, the Aqua Dragon, is in threat of being awaken which would lead to an invasion against civilization above sea level. Writer/director Yasuhito Kikuchi and co-writer Toshizo Nemoto have made an animated fantasy adventure that's just as tedious, shallow, exhausted and overstuffed as the previous film in the Slime series, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Scarlet Bond. The plot, yet again, has a lot going on, yet it only offers only sporadic thrills and exhilaration. The characters are all dull and underdeveloped, and there's not enough "world building" for those uninitiated with the series. So, no, this isn't a standalone film. It's for hardcore fans only and probably won't win over new ones especially those who didn't enjoy  That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Scarlet Bond. Please be sure to stay through the end credits for a post-credits scene. At a running time of 1 hour and 45 minutes, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Tears of the Azure Sea opens nationwide via Crunchyroll.  

Number of times I checked my watch: 4