18-year-old Cécile (Lily McInerny) spends her summer at a villa in the South of France with her boyfriend, Cyril (Aliocha Schneider), her widowed father, Raymond (Claes Bang), and his girlfriend, Elsa (Naïlia Harzoune) in Bonjour Tristesse. She's unhappy when Anne (Chloë Sevigny), a friend of Raymond, arrives to visit, and distracts Raymond's attention on Elsa. Writer/director Durga Chew-Bose has made a picturesque, but vapid and emotionally hollow adaptation of the classic novel by Françoise Sagan. The film suffers from the same systemic problem that Parthenope: it just goes through the motions without allowing the audience to get inside the head of any of the characters, so none of them truly come to life. It's also not as unflinching, powerful or engrossing as it could've been with a more sensitive and organic screenplay. The performances are decent, but no one gets a chance to shine nor to rise above the shallow screenplay. Beautiful scenery and great cinematography alone aren't nearly enough to compensate for the lack of substance. At a running time of 1 hour and 50 minutes, Bonjour Tristesse opens at IFC Center via Greenwich Entertainment.  

 

       In Lavender Men, Taffeta (Roger Q. Mason), a stage manager, imagines a romance between two actors, Chris (Alex Esola) and his boyfriend, Max (Pete Ploszek), who portray an officer and Abraham Lincoln, respectively. Writer/director Lovell Holder and co-writer Roger Q have made a bold and unconventional, but clunky and uneven comedic fantasy/drama that ultimately runs out of steam while becoming less than the sum of its parts. It's neither funny, provocative, cinematic nor witty enough to be engaging for its lengthy running time. Perhaps it would've worked better as a short. The filmmakers have interesting ideas, but don't know how to take those ideas to interesting enough places. At 1 hour and 39 minutes, which feels more like 3 hours, Lavender Men opens at Look Dine-In Cinemas W57 via Decal.  

Number of times I checked my watch: 4




 

      David (Iair Said), a 30-year-old man, flies home from Italy to Buenos Aires to attend the funeral of his uncle and discovers that his mother, Dora (Rita Cortese), plans on pulling the life support for his comatose father whom he's estranged from in  Most People Die on Sundays.  Despite a premise that sounds like it could be profound, engrossing and perhaps even gripping, the screenplay by writer/director Iair Said is undercooked, dull and anemic. The characters feel real, especially Dora, but Said doesn't provide enough of a window into anyone's heart, mind and soul. It's hard to connect with her or with David emotionally except for a poignant albeit ephemeral scene in a hospital waiting room. Iair Said gives a bland performance that almost seems deadpan, but makes David come across as cold and distant. The only much-needed warmth comes from Rita Cortese who plays David's mother, so the film is lucky to have her provide that along with some gravitas and charisma as well.

      Unfortunately, the brief moments of offbeat humor feel forced and clunky, and the pace moves sluggishly with barely any narrative momentum. Too many scenes either overstay their welcome or don't add anything revealing enough about the characters. Writer/director Iair Said doesn't quite manage to find profundity within this mundane "slice-of-life" nor does he find the spectacle within it either, so the audience feels both empty and underwhelmed by the time the end credits roll. Pedro Almodovar could probably take the premise and turn it into a much more lively, bold, witty, funny and poignant experience. At a running time of 1 hour and 13 minutes, which feels more like 2 hours, Most People Die on Sundays opens at Quad Cinema via Big World Pictures.  

Number of times I checked my watch: 4




 

       Upon learning that her grandmother, Griselda (Costanza Gutierrez), has died, Rose (Emeraude Toubia) leaves work during a snowstorm to travel to her grandmother's apartment while waiting for the ambulance to arrive in Rosario. Little does she know that an evil curse awaits her there. Director Felipe Vargas and screenwriter Alan Trezza have made an atmospheric and effectively creepy horror thriller with palpable scares and a compelling story. They don't introduce the horror elements right away, but rather tease them through the foreboding prologue at the first communion of Rose (Emilia Faucher) when she was a child before flashing forward to her adult years. A lot has happened since then including the death of her mother, Elena ((Diana Lein), and her job as a stockbroker.

      Fortunately, Rosario doesn't overcomplicate its plot with unnecessary tangents or over-explaining. Rose doesn't have a boyfriend or a love interest. The plot remains lean and focused on Rose's struggles to make sense of the supernatural events that occur when reaches her grandmother's apartment. Emeraude Toubia gives a solid performance in the lead role, and David Dastmalchian makes the most out of his supporting role as Griselda's neighbor. Everything from the lighting to the set design and camera angles heighten the creepiness without going overboard.  Most of the horror is psychological, so kudos to the filmmakers for trusting the audience's imagination.  There are some visuals that will make the audience squeamish, though, but Rosario doesn't rely on grossing out or shocking the audience. It's one of the scariest horror films since The Ring. At a running time of only 1 hour and 28 minutes, Rosario opens nationwide via Mucho Mas Releasing. 

Number of times I checked my watch: 1

      In Salvable, Sal (Toby Kebbell), a boxer whose heyday has been long gone, struggles to get a chance to resurrect his boxing career and to patch up his rocky relationship with his teenage daughter, Molly (Kila Lord Cassidy). Meanwhile, his friend Vince (Shia LaBeouf), a troublemaker who's freshly released from prison, reunites with him. Writer/director Björn Franklin and co-director Johnny Marchetta have made a gritty, but uninspired and bland boxing drama that's more compelling inside the ring than outside the ring. Toby Kebbell tries his best to make the most out of the shallow screenplay and has a few scenes that feel heartfelt. The plot has too many subplots to juggle, but Franklin doesn't do a great job of fleshing them out enough. Salvable has the potential to be an unflinching, profound and poignant character study about a very flawed man. However, it doesn't quite stick the landing and ends up failing to pack enough of an emotional wallop. Moreover, the lack of levity makes the film monotonous and somewhat exhausting after a while. Every film that deals with heavy topics could use some well-placed comic relief. Salvable would be the inferior B-movie in a double feature with Raging Bull. At a running time of 1 hour and 57 minutes, it opens at Cinema Village and on VOD via Lionsgate.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3




 

      A surfer (Nicolas Cage) from California visits a beach at an Australian town  with teenage son (Finn Little), where he had grown up as a child in The Surfer. A group of local surfers lead by Scally (Julian McMahon) don't allow him to surf and torment him when he refuses to leave. His son leaves him, so he must face the bullies alone. He also hopes to buy a beachside house, but needs to find more money to outbid the offer that another prospective buyer had made. Director Lorcan Finnegan and screenwriter Thomas Martin have made an intense, gripping and provocative slice of psychological horror. As the unnamed surfer loses his possessions one by one, he slowly descends into madness. Does Scally have a motive for tormenting him? Even a cop (Justin Rosniak) treats him with hostility. Soon enough, he starts looking like a homeless man. Finnegan knows how to ratchet up the tension in a sun-soaked location. Everything from the cinematography, the lighting, a water fountain smeared with poop to a vicious-looking dog to the sound of a laughing kookaburra create a sense of unease. The sound mix is superb.

      Nicolas Cage and Julian McMahon are very well-cast and breathe life into their roles. Fortunately, Scully isn't just a one-note villain; he actually has a backstory that provides some context for the way that he behaves. Meanwhile, the only person that the surfer can trust is a kind photographer (Miranda Tapsell). Everyone else continues to torment him and/or steal his belongings, even his watch, cell phone and car. The Surfer is one of the most stressful movies to watch since Uncut Gems, so be prepared to feel uncomfortable for almost 2 hours. It can also be seen as an allegory as it blurs the line between reality and fantasy. At a running time of 1 hour and 46 minutes, The Surfer opens nationwide via Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions. It would be an interesting double feature with the much less intense The Family Man or the equally intense Falling Down and Wake in Fright. 

Number of times I checked my watch: 1




 

       Yelena (Florence Pugh), Walker (Wyatt Russell), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), come together to form a superhero team, the Thunderbolts, after CIA director Valentina (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) sends them on a mission and tries to have them killed. Bucky (Sebastian Stan), a senator, and Red Guardian (David Harbour), Yelena's father, join them in Thunderbolts*. The screenplay by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo is clunky, unfunny and disjointed as it unevenly blends action, suspense, comedy and drama. Its attempts to try to add emotional depth by exploring the psychology of Yelena and another character feels forced without cutting deeply enough. A great screenplay would integrate those elements smoothly; here it causes the narrative momentum to briefly derail. Expect some tonal whiplash and plenty of scenes that feel contrived.

      The dialogue ranges from stilted to trying hard to be tongue-in-cheek, especially during the scenes with Red Guardian. Florence Pugh's Russian accent is generally fine, but sometimes somewhat shaky. Unfortunately, the Thunderbolts don't have much chemistry together as a superhero team nor is it much fun to watch them fight together. The action sequences are mildly engaging at best, but come with diminishing returns. There aren't a lot of action scenes, though, so the best thing that can be said about Thunderbolt*s is that it doesn't feel exhausting. At a running time of 2 hours and 6 minutes, Thunderbolts, directed by Jake Schreier, opens nationwide via Walt Disney Pictures.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3




 

      Two friends, Derek (Joel Potrykus) and Marty (Joshua Burge), go hiking in a Michigan forest in Vulcanizadora. Writer/director Joel Potrykus keeps exposition to a bare minimum. The audience learns that Marty has been charged with arson. Derek has an ex-wife, Lynn (Melissa Blanchard), and a son, Jeremy (Solo Potrykus). Why are Derek and Marty king through the woods? Vulcanizadora isn't interested in answering that question right away nor does it seem interesting in hooking the audience with anything captivating within the first hour or so. The camera just follows the two guys as they walk and walk and walk some more while Derek does most of the talking. They don't banter much nor do they say anything that's funny or witty. They're not only unlikable characters, but also dull ones who never come to life, so the beats don't land in the third act. Once the plot goes somewhere remotely interesting after taking a dark turn, it's too little, too late. What ensues is a meandering, elliptical, tedious and unpredictable genre-bending experiment that's ultimately less than the sum of its parts. At a running time of 1 hour and 25 minutes, which feels more like 2 hours, Vulcanizadora opens at IFC Center via Oscilloscope Laboratories.  

Number of times I checked my watch: 4




 

       Anna Politkovskaya (Maxine Peake), a Russian journalist, puts her life and career in jeopardy when she reports on the horrors of the Second Chechen War during the reign of Russia's tyrant, Vladimir Putin, in Words of War. Director James Strong and  screenwriter Eric Poppen have made a mildly engaging, but shallow, by-the-numbers, overlong and sugar-coated biopic with choppy editing and stilted, on-the-nose dialogue. Maxine Peake gives a decent performance, but she's undermined by the screenplay that fails to get inside of Anna's heart, mind and soul or to explore her relationship with her underwritten husband, Sasha (Jason Isaacs). Anna still remains a stranger to the audience by the time the end credits roll which is disappointing because she's such an interesting character with a whole world of complex emotions going on inside of her. Unfortunately, the ending doesn't pack enough of an emotional wallup. At a running time of 1 hour and 57 minutes, Words of War opens at Village East by Angelika via Decal.  

Number of times I checked my watch: 3