Alphabetical Menu
Chronological Menu
Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg is an intimate, engrossing and warts-and-all documentary biopic about Anita Pallenberg, a model and actress who gained fame in the 1960s and 70s. Co-directors Alexis Bloom and Svetlana Zill use the manuscripts from Anita's unpublished memoir to show her perspective and to allow the audience to grasp her mindset. Scarlet Johannson reads excerpts from the memoir. Anita is more than just a model and actress who's into sex, drugs and rock'n'roll: she's also Brian Jones's and Keith Richard's ex-girlfriend, and has two sons from her relationship with Richards. Catching Fire doesn't shy away from delving into Anita's abusive relationship with Jones and her drug addiction. She comes across as a free-spirited rebel who's struggling to overcome traumatic experiences. She's a troubled soul and a flawed human being, but she also yearns to conquer her adversities. Most of the film focuses on her struggles rather than on her resilience and how her difficult past shaped her during her later years well after her popularity during the 1960s and 70s. At least the filmmakers avoid turning this documentary biopic into a hagiography. At a running time of 1 hour and 50 minutes, Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg opens at IFC Center and on VOD via Magnolia Pictures. 
The Fall Guy is an unfunny, witless, bloated and tonally uneven mess. Colt (Ryan Gosling), a stuntman for Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), suffers a back injury during a film shoot. He and his girlfriend, Jody (Emily Blunt) Jody (Emily Blunt), a camera operator, call it quits. Over a year later, Gail (Hannah Waddingham), a producer, convinces him to work as the stuntman for Tom again while he's filming Metalstorm, directed by Jody. He seizes the opportunity to rekindle his romance with her, but little does he know that Gail has something else in store for him when Tom goes missing and Gail gives him the task to find him. Part satire, part comedy, part action thriller, part romance, part mystery, the screenplay by Drew Pearce has a lot of different genres and tones to juggle. Unfortunately, the beats rarel land because the film tries too hard to please the audience with over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek and offbeat humor that falls flat most of the time. The plot also takes a while to get to the meat of the story after a lengthy first act that's filled with exposition. When Gail informs Colt that Tom has gone missing, that's when the film's main plot kicks into gear. There's a big twist, but it's revealed too early and very lazily. Does The Fall Guy really need to explain the "Easter Eggs" when someone quotes a classic movie like Rocky? Colt confusing Notting Hill and Pretty Woman is among the film's many failed attempts to generate laughter. Winston Duke, who plays a stunt coordinator, and Stephanie Hsu from the superior genre-bending awards winner Everything Everywhere All At Once, are both wasted in forgettable supporting roles. Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt exude plenty of charisma, but their charisma alone can't save the film. The Fall Guy could've been at least 30 minutes shorter because it overstays its welcome at 2 hour and 6 minutes. It opens nationwide via Universal Pictures. 
Finding the Money is a captivating, eye-opening and provocative documentary about Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). Director Maren Poitras follows Dr. Stephanie Kelton, an economist and professor, as she gives lectures and discusses MMT during interviews. Kelton comes across as an intelligent critical thinker who knows how to get her points across in a way that's articulate, clear and concise. She explains the basic principles of MMT which starts with the concept that the U.S. government can spend as much as it wants to and that it has the ability to do that because the FED creates the money. Taxes exist just to create a demand for money, but our tax dollars are essentially "burned" once they reach the government. The most controversial concept, though, is that a government's deficit isn't actually bad because it's a surplus for the people. Conversely, a surplus for the government is a deficit for the people. Finding the Money charts the history of MMT starting with its founder, Warren Mosler, who's also interviewed here. Other MMT economists like Randall Wray and Mathew Forstater also provide plenty of insights. Fortunately, the film avoids turning into a dry, academic doc that would compel the audience to ask, "When is the exam??" at the end. Director Maren Poitras ultimately manages to find the right balance between entertaining the audience and provoking the intellectually which isn't an easy balance to strike. There are few lovely animated sequences that enliven the film while also allowing the audience to visualize the concepts more clearly. Most importantly, Finding the Money also includes interviews with economists and political advisors who don't believe in MMT which provides some different perspectives. Those scenes also come with some laughs when they appear to be confused and even stumped by tough questions that require them to use critical thinking, a very essential tool. Dr. Stephanie Kelton remains hopeful that she can cause a paradigm shift with MMT. Her optimism, perseverance and astuteness shines when she quotes Gandhi at the end: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." At a running time of 1 hour and 35 minutes, Finding the Money opens at Quad Cinema via Giant Pictures and Kanopy. 
I Saw the TV Glow is an exhilarating, poignant and poetic emotional journey. Writer/director Jane Schoenbrun opts for an elliptical approach to telling the coming-of-age story of Owen (Justice Smith), a high school teenager, and Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine). They befriend each other during the high school years in the 90's when Maddy introduces him to a late night TV show called "The Pink Opaque" which they watch together throughout the course of their relationship. Owen, who's now going through a sexual identity crisis, grew up in a toxic home with his father, Frank (Fred Durst), and mother, Brenda (Danielle Deadwyler). I Saw the TV Glow is hard to describe in words because it's much more than the sum of its parts and its plot remains open to interpretation. It's also hard to label the film in a particular genre as it transcends genre. Schoenbrun trusts the audience's imagination, intelligence and emotions which are very important qualities in a filmmaker. She's unafraid to confuse the audience at times, too, as the line between reality and fantasy gets blurred. What's wrong with being confused? Owen and Maddy are at a point in their lives where they're confused, too. On a purely aesthetic level, I Saw the TV Glow has plenty of visual style and provocative use of color as well as lighting which occasionally creates a dreamlike atmosphere. There are many shades of David Lynch here, but the film ultimately manages to find its own unique voice that turns it into unlike anything you've seen before. At 1 hour and 40 minutes, it opens at Angelika Film Center and AMC Lincoln Square via A24. 
This World is Not My Own is a captivating, refreshing, stylish and illuminating documentary biopic about Nellie Mae Rowe, an African American folk artist. Co-directors Petter Ringbom and Marquise Stillwell interview Rowe's family members, friends and gallery owners to help the audience grasp what makes Rowe such a significant and unique artist. She made collages, sculptures, drawings, dolls and much more. Through motion-capture animation with the voice of Uzo Aduba, Nellie Mae Rowe comes to life in very creative animated sequences. The most interesting and moving part of the film is her friendship with a Jewish art gallerist, Judith Alexander, who's also brought to life through the delightful animation. Rowe comes across as an eccentric artist who's unafraid to express herself freely with childlike wonder while managing to find her true, unadulterated inner voice. The filmmakers embrace the off-beat charm of her art and also succeed in adding some off-beat charm to the film with the animation. This World is Not My Own serves as an equally entertaining and insightful introduction to an American artist who you probably never heard about, but you'll be glad that you did discover her and her artworks by the time the end credits roll. At 1 hour and 37 minutes, it opens at Quad Cinema via Juno Films. 
Wildcat is an unconventional, but anemic, undercooked and disjointed biopic about Flannery O’Connor (Maya Hawke), a writer. In 1950, Flannery moves in with her estranged mother, Regina (Laura Linney), in Georgia while imminently publishing her first novel. Instead of just focusing on Flannery's relationship with her mother or letting the audience get to know her better as a human being, writer/director Ethan Hawke and co-writer Shelby Gaines interject snippets from Flannery's stories with Maya Hawke and Laura Linney playing many different roles. The constant back and forth between the reenactments of Flannery's stories and the narrative biopic eventually become frustrating and distracting from any narrative momentum or emotional depth. There are only two scenes that come alive, but they're ephemeral: one with Liam Neeson as a priest and one with Cooper Hoffman which won't be spoiled here. Wildcat bites off more than it could chew, especially when it comes to her questioning her Roman Catholic faith. The choppy editing doesn't help, either. At a running time of 1 hour and 48 minutes, which feels more like 3 hours, it opens at Angelika Film Center and AMC Lincoln Square via Oscilloscope Laboratories. Adios Buenos Aires  Julio (Diego Cremonesi) lives in Argentina with his mother, Dorothe (Regina Lamm), and teenage daughter, Paula (Violeta Narvay), while working as a shoe salesman and playing the bandoneon in a local tango band. He hopes to move to Berlin and to sell his car, but a cab driver, Mariela (Marina Bellati), runs a red light and crashes into it before fleeing the scene.
The screenplay by writer/director German Kral and his co-writers, Stephan Puchner and Fernando Castets, has some heartfelt moments, but also suffers from being cloying, overstuffed and sugar-coated. Set in 2001 during a time of political turmoil in Argentina, the plot juggles Julio's desire to leave Argentina, his love of playing the bandoneon with other musicians in the tango band, his strained relationship with his daughter, who's no longer planning to leave Argentina, his struggles to make ends meet, and his blossoming romance with Mariela. He manages to track her down and to strike a deal with her: she'll pay for his car's repairs and become his driver in exchange for him not filing a police report for the accident. If he were to report her, she'd get into even more trouble for a fake insurance card. Adios Buenos Aires follows a traditional "opposites attract" as Mariela and Julio have very contrasting personalities like Susan and David in Bringing Up Baby. She's blunt, impertinent and unashamed to use vulgar language. Despite their differences, they gradually hit it off, although he's not quite ready to kiss her yet. With his potential romance with Mariel, conflicts with his family and his unwavering love of being part of his tango band, will he still choose to flee Argentina or will he change his mind and stay? The screenwriters barely skim the surface of the political climate and financial crisis plaguing Argentina during that time. There are some glimpses of the protests, but they're not part of the film's main focus. Julio's struggles with his family and band are more interesting than his somewhat corny romance with Mariela. Adios Buenos Aires feels more engaging when it doesn't dwell on Julio and Mariela's relationship. Moreover, its third act seems like a contrived fairy tale with an ending that doesn't fully earn its uplift. Diego Cremonesi gives a warm, charismatic and natural performance that grounds the film in humanism. Much of the poignancy comes from his performance rather than from the screenplay. Marina Bellati is charming in her role as Mariela and makes her schmaltzy scenes with Julio more palatable. The pace moves leisurely at first before moving too fast during the rushed third act. That said, scenes with the band playing are well-shot and captivating, and the film doesn't overstay its welcome with its brief running time. Kudos to the filmmakers for grasping the concept of restraint and brevity. At just 90 minutes, Adios Buenos Aires is engrossing, gentle and sweet, but slightly contrived, unfocused and sugar-coated. It would be an interesting double feature with Moscow, Belgium, a romantic drama that also begins with a car accident.
 Dragonkeeper  In a world where humans have imprisoned dragons, Ping (voice of Mayalinee Griffiths), an orphaned young girl, embarks on a journey with Danzi (voice of Bill Nighy), an ancient dragon, to save the dragons from extinction. She must bring a dragon egg to a special place with magical water that will make it hatch.
The screenplay by co-writers Ignacio Ferreras, Rosanna Cecchini, Carole Wilkinson blends a family-friendly adventure with thrills and a positive message about friendship and believing in yourself. Ping, the hero of the tale, comes from a poor family that has been enslaved in Imperial China. So, she can relate to the dragons that are imprisoned because she yearns to be free. She gradually learns how to harness the power of her qi to defend herself against Diao (voice of Anthony Howell), a dragon hunter. Although Dragonkeeper doesn't reach the heights of How to Train Your Dragon, it comes close enough to being as exhilarating. The film will entertain both children and adults without pandering to younger audiences. Some scenes are exposition-heavy, but they're necessary. There's a surprisingly intense scene, though, with a spider/bee hybrid that the villain unleashes which could scare little kids who are arachnophobic. Fortunately, that scene doesn't last too long. The plot remains easy-to-follow without running out of ideas or being stretched too thinly. Moreover, the bond between Ping and Danzi feels quite moving which means that the beats land during the action scenes in the third act. Dragonkeeper has dazzling CGI animation with some photorealistic images, especially the snow and water. The character designs are also exceptional because they give everyone a personality through their facial expressions that brings them to life. The English voice-dubbing is actually quite impressive with Bill Nighy's being the highlight as the voice of Danzi. The pace moves along briskly enough with an ideal running time of 1 hour and 39 minutes. Dragonkeeper is ultimately an exciting, inspirational and thrilling adventure for the whole family.
 Mars Express  Aline (voice of Léa Drucker) teams up with her partner, Carlos (voice of Daniel Njo Lobé) to investigate the disappearance of a cybernetics student which might have something to do with the recent spree of jailbroken androids who've killed humans. They travel from Earth to Mars where Chris Royjacker (voice of Mathieu Amalric) runs a company that creates the androids.
The screenplay by writer/director Jérémie Périn and co-writer Laurent Sarfati has a plot that's heavily borrowed from Blade Runner and other sci-fi classics, but it borrows it well. The film opens with an intense prologue that sets up the mystery that Aline and Carlos will soon investigate. Someone must be responsible for jailbreaking the androids to allow them to take over the world. Who would possibly do that and why? What does that have to do with the disappearance of the cybernetics student and what was she working on that could be tied to the jailbroken androids? Fortunately, the screenwriters do a decent job with "world building" and incorporating just the right amount of exposition at the right time. The plot could've easily turned into a convoluted mess, but it avoids that pitfall while remaining intriguing and suspenseful with a few twists and turns. There's a surprisingly moving scene where Carlos goes to a shop to have his arm replaced after it was damaged in an action sequence. Mars Express isn't cerebral per se nor does it say anything new about AI that hasn't been said before. However, it's not totally mindless either and it does serve as a cautionary tale about the dangers of living in a futuristic world with AI. The 2D animation is reminiscent of Ghost in the Shell and Akira with a few visually dazzling scenes, i.e. the ones that take place in outer space and some of the actin sequences. There's not too much action because this is the kinda of anime that cares about having a compelling narrative. It probably would've been just as engaging as a live-action crime thriller which says a lot about the strength of its screenplay. At a running time of 1 hour and 25 minutes, Mars Express is an exhilarating, rousing and intriguing neo-noir sci-fi thriller.
 The Roundup: Punishment  Ma Seok-do (Don Lee), a cop, promises the mother of a murdered app developer that he'll seek revenge against the people responsible for killing her son. Soon enough, he hunts down an illegal online gambling syndicate run by an IT CEO, Chang Dong-cheol (Lee Dong-hwi), and his henchman Baek Chang-gi (Kim Moo-yul).
Screenwriter Oh Sang-ho keeps the plot easy to follow with just the right amount of exposition without wasting any time with unnecessary filler or undercooked subplots. Ma Seok-do, a.k.a. the Monster Cop lives by his nickname because he'll stop at nothing to take down the criminals and keep his promise to the murdered app developer's mother. He's cunning, ruthless and determined, but not very savvy with modern technology terms like the "cloud" which he mishears as "crowd." So, while the film does take its plot seriously, it does have a few scenes with comic relief which helps it to avoid becoming tedious, dry or monotonous. The suspense comes not from trying to figure out who the criminals are, but rather from how and when Ma Seok-do will find them, and what lengths he'll take to succeed in his mission. Action fans will be satisfied by the exhilarating fight sequences that take place in various locations including on an airplane. Don Lee reprises his role as Ma Seok-do and knocks it out of the ballpark with his charismatic performance yet again. He's like the equivalent of Liam Neeson in Taken crossed with John Wick. The action set pieces are very well choreographed and among the highlights of the film. Director Myeong-haeng Heo doesn't shy away from depicting the violence unflinchingly with some blood and guts, but nothing that will make audiences too squeamish or that pushes the envelope. It's great to watch an action-packed thriller that doesn't forget to have a compelling story and memorable characters like Ma Seok-do who have a personality. There's more to Ma Seok-do than meets the eye; he's tough, but has a warm, beating hard underneath which the film occasionally unmasks through the screenplay as well as Don Lee's performance. At a running time of 1 hour and 49 minutes, The Roundup: Punishment is a suspenseful, exciting and gritty crime thriller.
 Slow  Elena (Greta Grineviciute), a dancer, teaches a deaf students how to dance with the help of Dovydas (Kęstutis Cicėnas), a sign language interpreter. She and Dovydas start a romance, but his asexuality complicates their relationship. Slow begins like a conventional romantic drama as Elena and Dovynas meet at work and flirt. Their banter is witty and even funny at times, i.e. when he mentions an upcoming wedding and she assumes that he's the one getting married, so she's confused when he claims to not know the date of the wedding. He explains to her that he's just working there as an interpreter. You can sense the sadness in Elena when she makes that assumption and then her excitement she learns that she misconstrued him. At that point, the audience doesn't know that Dovydas is asexual nor Elena knows either, so you and her are both on the same page. He lets her know of his asexuality early in the relationship, though, which shows his emotional maturity and his respect for her. If he were to have withheld it or lied about why he doesn't want to have sex with her, he would've been stringing her along. Her reaction to his confession is natural: she first assumes that he thinks she's unattractive. Slow isn't about asexuality per se, though; it's fundamentally about two adults who are in the process of accepting each other for their true selves while finding common ground through compassion, understanding and empathy. Writer/director Marija Kavtaradze grasps that those virtues take time and patience to achieve. Meanwhile, Elena and Dovydas' relationship gets put to the test. Bravo to Kavtaradze for not judging neither of them nor for asking the audience to judge them either. There are no villains. No one gets cancer or hurt in an accident, so the plot remains focused without any underdeveloped subplots or tonal unneveness. It doesn't become schmaltzy either which is quite a remarkable feat for a romantic drama. Greta Grineviciute and Kęstutis Cicėnas give natural, raw and heartfelt performances. They find the emotional truths of their roles and aren't afraid to display emotional vulnerability in front of the camera. They do get naked physically, too, but it's ultimately their emotional nakedness that's truly brave and admirable. Most importantly, they have chemistry together which helps the audience to want them to end up together. The grainy cinematography provides warmth that wouldn't be easy to be captured aesthetically without it. There's also a sense of voyeurism as though you were eavesdropping into the private lives of two strangers. By the end of the film, they are no longer strangers to each other nor to the audience. At a running time of 1 hour and 48 minutes, Slow is a warm, tender and unflinchingly honest love story. It would be an interesting double feature with An Affair of Love, Sanctuary and Before Sunrise.
 Tarot  A group of college friends, namely, Elise (Larsen Thompson), Haley (Harriet Slater), Lucas (Wolfgang Novogratz), Paige (Avantika), Grant (Adain Bradley), Paxton (Jacob Batalon) and Madeline (Humberly González), gather at a manor in the Catskills to party together. In the basement, they find a box of tarot cards, but little do they know that the cards are cursed and that they'll be facing their own deaths one by one after Haley performs a reading for each of them including herself.
Tarot is actually based on a novel, Horrorscope by Nicholas Adams, but you'll probably find that hard to believe because of the undercooked screenplay by co-writers/directors Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg. The film doesn't waste any time as it briefly introduces the group of friends and, before you know it, they're gathered in the basement for a tarot card reading. They'll each die in a way that's referenced by their card readings. What ensues is a bland supernatural horror thriller that barely delivers any scares or even suspense. The plot quickly becomes repetitive as it merely goes through the motions and only slows down to provide some exposition about the supernatural entity haunting the cards. The entity's backstory is mentioned too briefly which makes the villain a poorly developed character. The dialogue suffers from stitledness and over-explaining without bothering to flesh out the relationships between the college friends, so the victims are essentially forgettable, one-dimensional characters and plot devices. The same can be said about a mysterious elderly woman (Olwen Fouéré) who the college friends visit out-of-the-blue in the middle of the night because they know that she can help them to figure out what's going on and to break the curse. She's yet another poorly-introduced and underwritten character. Why are the filmmakers so scared of taking risks? Nothing happens that's surprising or terrifying or even thrillin on a psychological level. Moreover, the conventional ending plays it too safely and can be seen from a mile away. The production values are decent at best with lighting and set design that adds an eerie atmosphere. There are some creepy sequences, but they're far and few between. The film relies a lot on the audience's imagination to fill in the gaps without showing too much. That said, since this is a PG-13 film, it's not gory or disturbing on a visceral level, so it's very tame as a horror thriller. The music often feels intrusive, especially during the jump scares and real scares, which means that the filmmakers don't trust the audience's emotions enough. At least the running time is only 1 hour and 32 minutes because if it were longer, it'd be a chore to sit through. Tarot is ultimately bland, uninspired and unscary.
 |