Reviews for November 22nd, 2024
      James (Jason Patric) and his son, Casey (Josh Wiggins) work as armored truck drivers fight for their lives when a gang of thieves, Smoke (Dash Mihok), Echo (Josh Whites) and Viper (Jeff Chase), led by Rook (Sylvester Stallone), ambush their truck and trap them on a bridge in Armor. Co-writers Cory Todd Hughes and Adrian Speckert take a simple premise and turn it into a meandering, dull and uninspired blend of drama and action with not nearly enough thrills. They try to humanize James and Casey by providing them with a backstory involving a tragic event that's the cause of James' feelings of guilt and shame as well as his alcoholism and rocky relationship with Casey. James is trying his best to get on the right track by going to AA meetings. The ambush will put his relationship with Casey to the test. Is there not enough dramatic tension within their dysfunctional relationship to propel the plot? If only it were the meat of the story instead of the ambush which is the least compelling part of the film. Rook remains a boring, underwritten villain, and the ending tries to be un-Hollywood and surprising, but doesn't make much sense in hindsight and becomes a weak, lazy ending that feels like a cop-out. The action scenes are lackluster and the dialogue sounds bland without comic relief that would've provided much-needed levity. Talented actor Josh Wiggins, who also stars in the super dramas Hellion and Giant Little Ones, deserves better material than this. At a running time of 1 hour and 29 minutes, Armor, directed by Justin Routt, opens at Cinema Village and on VOD via Lionsgate.
Number of times I checked my watch: 3
      After quitting his job as a barista, Khalid (Derrick B. Harden) travels from Brooklyn to a small coastal town in Bulgaria to meet an older woman who hires him for sex work in The Black Sea. She dies before he arrives and his passport ends up stolen, so he's now stranded in Bulgaria. Soon enough, he befriends and romances Ina (Irmena Chichikova), a travel agent who helps him to find a job before he gathers enough money to open his own shop with her selling macha and toasted sandwiches. Co-writers/directors Crystal Moselle and Derrick B. Harden have woven a captivating, funny and heartfelt story brimming with warmth, tenderness and wit. Sure, most of the plot can be easily predicted and requires some suspension of disbelief because of a few contrived events, i.e. how quickly Khalid bonds with the townspeople and charms them. Those are forgivable flaws, though. At its core, The Black Sea is about a man who conquers adversity through his determination, lively personality and compassion for others. It's uplifting to watch as he finds a sense of community in the small town and makes the most out of his tough financial situation.
      Derrick B. Harden and Irmena Chichikova have palpable chemistry together which makes you want to root for Khalid and Ina to be together as a romantic couple. Moreover, the scenery is often picturesque with a few instances of visual poetry. The town eventually becomes a character in itself. Will Kalid want to return to the US or stay in Bulgaria? The ending won't be spoiled here, but it's worth mentioning that it's satisfying and sweet without being schmaltzy. At a running time of only 1 hour and 36 minutes, The Black Sea opens at Metrograph via Metrograph Pictures. It's better than Anora while dealing with the topics of culture clash, class, love and happiness with much more depth.
Number of times I checked my watch: 1
      In Bonhoeffer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Jonas Dassler), a German pastor, travels to America to study at the Union Theological Seminary where he befriends Frank Fisher (David Jonsson) and has an epiphany when he learns about the issue of racism. Back in Germany, he soon begins to speak out against Hitler and the religious institutions that don't condemn him and his hatred as well as intolerance. Bonhoeffer eventually hatches a plot attempt to assassinate Hitler. Writer/director Todd Komarnicki has made an occasionally moving, provocative and timely, but heavy-handed and clunky biopic that follows a non-linear narrative structure. Beginning with Bonhoeffer's childhood, it then flashes forward to his adulthood when he's at a Nazi prison reminiscing about his past before flashing back to him in prison. Some of the dialogue is preachy and on-the-nose while some scenes feel heavy-handed with too much over-explaining, but there are at least a handful of powerful scenes and some surprisingly unflinching ones. Jonas Dassler gives a heartfelt performance and Clarke Peters briefly steals the scene with his gravitas in a supporting role as Reverend Powell Sr. So, fortunately, the performances by the ensemble cast rise well above and breathe life into the mediocre screenplay. At a running time of 2 hours and 12 minutes, Bonhoeffer opens nationwide via Angel Studios.
Number of times I checked my watch: 2
      A cat seeks shelter when a giant flood displaces it in Flow. Throughout its desperate struggle to survive, it meets a dog, a capybara, a lemur and a crane. Writer/director Gints Zilbalodis and co-writer Matiss Kaza have made a bold, heartwarming, poetic and exhilarating journey without one single line of dialogue. Instead of words, the filmmakers provide the audience with facial expressions and music to convey and capture many different emotions. The deceptively simple story becomes increasingly complex and like a roller-coaster ride of emotions in the sense that the audience experiences joy, sadness, despair and hope just like the cat on-screen does. If you're a cat-lover, that's an added bonus, but there's also a dog which will please dog-lovers, so hopefully you're either one or the other or, better yet, both. Exposition is kept at a very bare minimum without a sense of where the cat is within the world and how or why the giant flood occurs. The CGI animation looks dazzling albeit not always photo-realistic; at times it looks more like painted CGI. There are many sequences that are so awe-inspiring that they transcend beyond words and might even bring you tears of sadness and joy. That's a testament to the film's power and, above all, to its palpable humanism, a truly special effect. At a running time of only 1 hour and 24 minutes, Flow opens at Angelika Film Center via Sideshow and Janus Films.
Number of times I checked my watch: 1
      Lily (Kara Wang) suspects that death of her husband in a lab fire wasn't an accident in From Embers. She now has to raise her autistic son, Kevin (Alexander J. Lee), on her own. With the help of her husband's colleague, Angela (Kathryn Morris), she begins to investigate her suspicions about his death after she meets a neighbor, Marty (Matthew Morrison). Writer/director Kate Bohan and co-writer Kathleen I-Ying Lee have woven a gripping psychological thriller with shades of Hitchcock. Some scenes are a bit heavy-handed with on-the-nose dialogue and contrivances that diminish the plausibility, so this is the kind of film that requires some suspension of disbelief to fully enjoy it. At it's core, though, it remains grounded in humanism because it's about a mother and wife who's trying her best to seek truth and justice while bravely going up against goliaths who try to gaslight her. There are twists and turns that won't be spoiled here, but it's worth mentioning Lily's determination and persistence will keep the audience at the edge of their seats until the shocking ending. The less you know about the film's plot, the better because you'll maximize the suspense and surprises by going in cold. At a running time of 1 hour and 39 minutes, From Embers opens at Cinema Village via Indican Pictures.
Number of times I checked my watch: 2
      Lucius (Paul Mescal) becomes a gladiator to seek revenge against Acacius (Pedro Pascal), a Roman general, who killed his wife, Arishat (Yuval Gonen) in Gladiator II. Macrinus (Denzel Washington) trains him to fight while Lucius' mother, Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), plots with her husband, Acacius to kill Emperor Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Emperor Caracalla (Fred Hechinger). Oh, and, soon enough, Lucius discovers that he's actually the son of Maximus (Russell Crowe) who died in the first Gladiator. The screenplay by David Scarpa is clunky, shallow and unfocused with underwritten characters and stilted dialogue. The attempts at generating poignancy fall flat from schmaltz and melodrama. Much of the film outside of the arena feels like a contrived and dull soap opera that fails to explore any of its themes or to get inside any of the characters' heads. It's too concerned about getting to the next intense gladiator fight, some of which includes fights with sharks and rhinos that makes the film seem as though it were a parody albeit an unfunny one. There's not nearly enough comic relief and the action sequences aren't quite as exhilarating as the ones in Gladiator.
      Unfortunately, director Ridley Scott effectively captures the physical grit much more than emotional grit. He also doesn't hold back on showing the gore during the violent scenes. That said, Gladiator II's major strengths are Denzel Washington's bravura performance and the exquisite set and costume designs. Its visual style doesn't compensate for its lack of substance. Moreover, it overstays its welcome and begins to feel tedious around the 90-minute mark. Even the action thriller The Carpenter is more entertaining and imaginative B-movie than this overproduced and overlong B-movie. At a running time of 2 hours and 28 minutes, Gladiator II opens nationwide via Paramount Pictures.
Number of times I checked my watch: 3
      Never Look Away is an engrossing, inspirational and empowering warts-and-all documentary biopic on Margaret Moth, the first female news camera operator in New Zealand who went on to work for CNN. Director Lucy Lawless combines archival footage, photographs and interviews with CNN's Christiane Amanpour and Moth's ex-boyfriends. She's lucky to have such an interesting subject because Moth comes across as brave, fearless, wild and a bit mysterious which makes her all the more intriguing. Despite suffering a severe facial disfigurement from gunfire while filming the war in Sarajevo, Moth went back to work with her video camera, but it wasn't the same because it was hard for her to communicate. Never Look Away, much like its title, remains unflinching in the details of Moth's injuries and how they affected her psychologically and emotionally. Fortunately, the film isn't merely a series of dry talking heads. The interviews with her ex-boyfriends are very revealing and insightful, and the images that Moth captures of the war are quite harrowing and unflinching. She, as well as all war photojournalists, are an essential part of the quest for truth, justice and, above all, democracy in a world with many dysfunctional democracies. In many ways, she's the equivalent of a soldier. At a running time of 1 hour and 25 minutes, Never Look Away opens at IFC Center via Greenwich Entertainment. It would be an interesting double feature with Lee.
Number of times I checked my watch: 1
      A Photographic Memory, directed by Rachel Elizabeth Seed, is a documentary about the director's attempts to learn about her mother, Sheila Elizabeth Seed, a photographer, who died when Rachel was a baby. She never got the chance to get to know her, but that changed when she discovered audio recordings of conversations betwen her mother and other photographers. What ensues turns out to be a poignant and illuminating journey for both Rachel and for the audience concurrently. Although the film doesn't reach the powerful, emotional or cinematic heights of other docs like The Mother of All Lies that would allow it to become transcendent, it's nonetheless a captivating, well-edited documentary that avoids becoming dry or dull. At a running time of 1 hour and 27 minutes, A Photographic Memory opens at DCTV's Firehouse Cinema.
Number of times I checked my watch: 2
      Porcelain War is a mildly engaging, timely and well-shot, but undercooked, repetitive and incomplete documentary about Ukrainian artists who stayed behind and made art during the Russo-Ukrainian war. Slava Leontyev, who co-directs the film with Brendan Bellomo, works as an artist along with his wife, Anya. He documents their experiences making and painting porcelains which, like the Ukrainians, are resilient: they can be pieced back together over and over even after they're broken into pieces. They also reflect the strength of people coming together to form a community. Slava and Anya's friend Andrey, who's also an artist, decides to document the Ukrainian's wartime struggles. Porcelain War tackles a timely and important issue, but without enough depth or insights beyond showing the brave Ukrainians' resilience during a time of adversity. You learn very little about Slava, Anya and Andrey individually which is a squandered opportunity to humanize them and the audience with them on a more emotional level. Since their art becomes a form of poetry, poetry can often become a form of protest, so while it's inspiring to watch these artists protesting through art, it would've been great to get to know them better in the process. At a running time of 1 hour and 27 minutes, Porcelain War opens at IFC Center via Picturehouse.
Number of times I checked my watch: 2
      Sabbath Queen is a provocative and eye-opening, but overstuffed and unfocused documentary about Amichai Lau-Lavie, a queer Jewish man who comes from a line of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis. Directed by Sandi Simcha DuBowski follows Lau-Lavie throughout the course of nearly 2 decades when he moved to New York from Israel after coming out as queer, and joined the LGBTQ community there. He also founded Lab/Shul, a non-denominational, all-inclusive spiritual community, and studied at the Jewish Theological Seminary before becoming a rabbi. Dubowski covers a lot of ground and bombards the audience with a lot of information about Lau-Lavie, his family history and his spiritual journey as he questions his religions and what it really means to be a Jew. He's lucky to have such a compelling subject because Lau-Lavie seems like a compassionate, intelligent human being and critical thinker who has learned to embrace his true self and inspires others to do the same. Ultimately, though, Sabbath Queen bites off more than it could chew and would've benefited from a more focused approach rather than one that leaves the audience exhausted and overwhelmed by the time the end credits roll. At a running time of 1 hour and 45 minutes, Sabbath Queen opens at IFC Center via Roco Films.
Number of times I checked my watch: 2
      Iris (Isabelle Huppert), a mysterious French woman, lives in Korea with a roommate, Inguk (Ha Seongguk), and teaches French to Wonju (Lee Hyeyoung) in A Traveler's Needs. When she's not teaching her French, she walk around with her and her husband (Kwon Haehyo) at a park, reads poetry, drinks a Korean rice wine called makgeolli, and pretends to be her roommate's French tutor when his concerned, controlling mother (Cho Yunhee) arrives. Writer/director Hong Sang-soo has made yet another breezy, undercooked and meandering film with very little dramatic tension and dry, observational humor. How many times can you laugh at Iris drinking makgeolli, though? She clearly has issues with alcoholism which the story doesn't even bother to explore and, instead, uses it for laughs. The only moments of poignancy are there poems that Iris encounters and tries to translate into French. The pace moves very slowly, just like in the director's previous films. Fortunately, Isabelle Huppert's charismatic performance helps to keep the audience somewhat engaged. At a running time of 1 hour and 30 minutes, which feels more like 2 hours, A Traveler's Needs opens at Film Forum via The Cinema Guild.
Number of times I checked my watch: 4
      Arlene (Jess Weixler) drives her 11-year-old daughter, Chloe (Chloe Guidry), to California to meet her fiancé, Larry (Rob Morrow) in Wayward. On the way, she picks up a hitchhiker, Orbison (Jessica Sula), who bonds with Chloe before showing her hidden motive. The screenplay by writer/director Jacquelyn Frohlich begins as an engrossing portrait of mother's relationship with her stubborn, moody daughter and how strangers can be seemingly kind and charming before the plot takes a turn into darker territory with a twist that won't be disclosed here. That's around the time Wayward takes a bit of a nosedive and becomes preposterous without much in terms of palpable suspense or psychological thrills. The concept itself is interesting and comes with a few unpredictable surprises, but the film doesn't know where to take its ideas to and doesn't take them anywhere interesting during the lazy and anticlimactic third act. It's only mildly engaging thanks to the convincingly moving performances by Chloe Guidry, Jess Weixler and Jessica Sula. At a running time of 1 hour and 40 minutes, Wayward is well-acted and refreshingly unpredictable, but undercooked and ultimately less than the sum of its parts. It opens at Village East by Angelika via Abramorama.
Number of times I checked my watch: 3
      Galinda (Ariana Grande), the soon-to-be Good Witch of the East, befriends Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), the soon-to-be Wicked Witch of the West at Shiz University in Wicked. They team up together to confront the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum) after learning that animals like Dr. Dillamond (voice of Peter Dinklage), a goat, will be caged and lose their ability to speak. Michelle Yeoh plays Madame Morrible, the university's headmistress. The screenplay by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox spends too much time with exposition and padding to get to the heart of its story: Elphaba and Galinda bonding as they embark on their quest to save the animals. Why waste the audience's time treading so much water? You'll be able to feel the wheels of the screenplay turn every step of the way. Even the attempts to be witty, i.e. made up words like "braverism", are clunky, forced and awkward. Jonathan Bailey plays a prince named Fiyero who's both Galinda and Elphaba's cheesy love interest. Of course, there's a love triangle. The musical numbers are among the highlights, though, thanks to the wonderful choreography, costume designs, cinematography and set designs. Elphaba has a particularly memorable music number which culminates when she sings by the edge of a cliff.
      Unfortunately, the performances by the ensemble cast are a mixed bag. Ariana Grande is miscast because she exudes very little emotional range while failing to breathe life into her role as Galinda. Cynthia Erivo gives a radiant and heartfelt performance. Ethan Slater, who plays Boq, and Bowen Yang, who plays Pfannee, provide some comic relief in their supporting roles. There are also pacing issues and a third act that goes on for too long before the words "To Be Continued" to show. Yes, in case you didn't know, the film's actual title is Wicked: Part One. It's never a good sign when you can feel the weight of a film's running time. Hopefully Wicked: Part Two will be much more moving, captivating and exhilarating. At 2 hours and 40 minutes, Wicked, directed by Jon M. Chu, is visually stunning with lively music numbers and an Oscar-worthy performance by Cynthia Erivo, but it's overlong and meandering while suffering from excessive style over substance. It opens nationwide via Universal Pictures.
Number of times I checked my watch: 3