Josh (Dylan O'Brien) brings his girlfriend, Liz (Phoebe Dynevor), to the 25th wedding anniversary of his mother, Ellen (Diane Lane), a college professor, and father, Paul (Kyle Chandler), in Anniversary. Liz happens to be Ellen's former student who's now a member of a radical political movement called The Change. Director Jan Komasa and screenwriter Lori Rosene-Gambino have made a mildly provocative and timely, but undercooked, overstuffed and toothless psychological thriller, and a poetic portrait of a dysfunctional family. The film's systemic issue is that it takes too long to get to the meat of the story: its political subplot involving Liz and The Change movement which the central conflict arises from. That's the most interesting part of the plot, but the screenplay spends too much time in the first act introducing the characters and their relationships before finally veering toward the political subplot. There are too many characters and not enough time developing them enough allow the audience to care about them, i.e. Ellen's other daughters,Birdie (Mckenna Grace) and Cynthia (Zoey Deutch). In other words, they're merely plot devices. Perhaps, collectively, they're a metaphor for the political divisiveness within the US, so the family's dysfunction symbolizes the political dysfunction in the US. That said, the third act has somewhat of a bite to it with a twisted ending reminiscent of the endings of 1970s political thrillers. If only the film itself as a whole were as bold , cynical and biting as those films. At 1 hour and 51 minutes, Anniversary opens nationwide via Lionsgate.

 

       Coexistence, My Ass! is a mildly engaging, timely and occasionally provocative, but unfocused and shallow biographical documentary on Noam Shuster-Eliass, an Iranian Jewish activist/comedian. Director Amber Fares bites off more than she could chew. She follows Noam as she creates her one-woman stand-up performance for a comedy show in 2024. You'll learn a little bit about her background and how went from becoming an activist to a stand-up comedian. She has a mother who's Persian and a father who's Israeli, so she speaks Arabic, Hebrew and English. Through her stand-up comedy, she protests for equality among Palestinians and Israelis. She comes across as candid, intelligent and compassionate in her interviews. It's too bad, then, that the director doesn't explore Noam's messages with more depth, especially because of how complex they are, in reality. Noam makes valid points and cares about peace, but is she naive and idealistic? What would she do if she were Israel's Prime Minister? The solution of Israelis and Palestinians being treated equally and living in a functional democracy sounds great, but how practical is that solution when Hamas is still around to destroy that democracy? The filmmaker too doesn't ask Noam enough tough questions. Coexistence, My Ass! ultimately serves as a decent Reader's Digest introduction to a brave and controversial stand-up comedian, but it's underwhelming and undercooked while failing to make a strong emotional and intellectual impact. At 1 hour and 35 minutes, Coexistence, My Ass! opens at IFC Center.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3

      Dracula is an experimental, zany, bold, subversive and satirical interpretation of the classic novel by Bram Stoker. It's also exhausting, anarchic and overlong. Writer/director Radu Jude combines A.I., dark humor, tongue-in-cheek humor and unhinged zaniness that creates a surreal experience that might be enjoyed more while drunk or high. Perhaps the film is merely a protest against A.I., but, even so, it makes its point within the first hour and then repeats itself with more sex, violence and zaniness ad nauseam while overstaying its welcome. At 2 hours and 50 minutes, Dracula opens at IFC Center via 1-2 Special.

Number of times I checked my watch: 4


 

      Maddie (Rosamund Pike) and her husband, Frank (Matthew Rhys), drive in the middle of the night to reach their  daughter, Alice (voice of Megan McDonnell), who claims to have accidentally struck a pedestrian while driving in Hallow Road.  Director Babak Anvari and screenwriter William Gillies have made a lean, taut and atmospheric horror thriller. The audience knows just as much as Maddie and Frank do about the events that led their daughter to strike the pedestrian. The screenplay avoids giving away too much at the beginning, but it does provide a foreshadow of the events to come. Maddie wants her to call the emergency number, 999, to seek help for the young woman that she struck, but she ends up being the one to talk her through it instead. More happens that won't be spoiled here. Fortunately, the filmmakers have a great handle on exposition and know when to trust the audience's intelligence as well as their imagination. The aforementioned accident isn't shown nor are Alice or the injured young woman shown either. Be prepared for a a twisty and thought-provoking third act that doesn't provide the audience with easy answers. Hallow Road is ultimately an elevated B-movie that knows how to escalate the tension gradually while leaving just enough room for interpretation. It's also very well-cast with strong performances by Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys. At a running time of only 1 hour and 20 minutes (1 hour and 13 minutes minus the end credits), Hallow Road opens in select theaters nationwide via XYZ Films.

Number of times I checked my watch: 1


 

      Ali (Adam Bakri), an Iraqi doctor seeking asylum in the US, falls in love with Katie (Jess Jacobs), an American woman in New York in If You See Something. A crisis in Ali's homeland affects his relationship with Katie and his asylum status. Director Oday Rasheed and co-writers Avram Ludwig and Jess Jacobs have made a provocative and timely dramatic thriller, but not suspenseful enough or emotionally engrossing enough to rise above mediocrity. The film has decent performances by Jess Jacobs and Adam Bakri, though, who help to breathe life into their roles. Like Anniversary which also opens this week, If You See Something could've been more bold, unflinching, biting and dark. At a running time of 1 hour and 48 minutes, If You See Something opens at Quad Cinema via Joint Venture.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3


 

       Princess Shaira (voice of Shabana Azeez) goes on an adventure through space to search for her ex-girlfriend, Kiki (voice of Bernie Van Tiel). who's been kidnapped by Straight White Maliens in Lesbian Space Princess. Co-writers/directors Leela Varghese and Emma Hough Hobbs have made an unconventional, offbeat, campy, witty and delightfully bonkers slice of animated sci-fi satire. To be fair, it does take a while to get used to its quirky tone, fast pace and being bombarded with lots of tongue-in-cheek, zany humor and gag that are reminiscent of the humor found in South Park. Moreover, its consistently offbeat tone and zaniness get slightly repetitive and exhausting, but those are minor flaws. If you're sick of conventional, uninspired and bland animated films, then Lesbian Space Princess will be right up your alley. It would pair well with Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same and Boys Go to Jupiter in a double feature. At 1 hour and 27 minutes, Lesbian Space Princess opens in select theaters nationwide via Cineverse.

Number of times I checked my watch: 2


 

       In Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, a Amélie (Loïse Charpentier), a 2-year-old Belgian girl, lives with her family in Japan and bonds with her nanny, Nishio-san (Victoria Grosbois), who teaches her the harsh truths about how her family members died during WWII. Co-writers/directors Liane-Cho Han and Maïlys Vallade and their co-writers, Aude Py and Eddine Noël have made a beautifully animated, whimsical and poetic film with vibrant colors, but it comes up short on an emotional level, especially when it gets its to darker territory. Based on the novel The Character of Rain by Amélie Nothomb, the screenplay struggles to juggle its combination of magical realism, whimsy and serious drama. The attempts at humor are amusing at best and sometimes even silly. It's brave for tackling tough subject matters, but it does so in a way that feels sugar-coated while bombarding the audience with symbolism that feels heavy-handed. The ending isn't quite as powerful as it could've been with a better screenplay. So, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain ultimately suffers from style over substance. At 1 hour and 18 minutes, it opens at Angelika Film Center via Gkids.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3

      Love + War is a heartfelt, captivating and illuminating biographical documentary on Lynsey Addario, an American war photography. Co-directors Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin focus on how Addario balances her work with her family life, and how her work has affected it. They interview Addario herself as well as her stay-at-home husband, Paul de Bendernto, to get a sense of what those experiences are like. You'll learn about the many conflicts around the world that she had photographed including the Iraq War and the Russo-Ukrainian war. She put her life at risk and even got kidnapped twice. Love + War doesn't dwell on those traumatic experiences, but it doesn't shy away from letting her talk about them briefly. Kudos to the filmmakers for finding just the right balance between entertaining the audience and provoking them emotionally as well as intellectually, and for respecting their subject's personal boundaries without being too invasive. At 1 hour and 35 minutes, Love + War opens at IFC Center via National Geographic Documentary Films. It would be a great double feature with Never Look Away, another well-made documentary about a war photographer.

Number of times I checked my watch: 1


 

      Jean-Luc Godard (Guillaume Marbeck) shoots Breathless in Nouvelle Vague. He casts Jean Seberg (Zoey Deutch) and Jean-Paul Belmondo (Aubry Dullin) in the lead roles. Director Richard Linklater and screenwriters Holly Gent and Vincent Palmo have made a charming, breezy and amusing, but shallow and tedious homage to the French New Wave that overstays its welcome. All of the actors and actresses resemble the Golden Age actors and actresses that they portray as do the actors in the role of directors like Adrien Rouyard who plays François Truffaut. The stand-out, though, is Aubry Dullin who's Nouvelle Vague's MVP. Linklater shoots the film in black-and-white which adds to the authenticity, but beyond that, this probably would've worked better as a short. At 1 hour and 38 minutes, Nouvelle Vague opens at Angelika Film Center and The Paris Theatre via Netflix.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3

      Another week, another horror movie that tries to be an elevated B-movie, but doesn't succeed. Olivia (Landry Bender), a college freshman, reconnects with her mother, Rebecca (Amy Hargreaves) at a mysterious self-actualization retreat led by Curtis (Jake Weber) in Self-Help. The screenplay by writer/director Erik Bloomquist and co-writer Carson Bloomquist doesn't offer the audience enough surprises or palpable thrills, but it does offer some interesting backstory about the relationship between Olivia and her mother. From the second that Olivia arrives at the retreat, it's obvious that something sinister will occur and that its leader, Curtis, can't be trusted. The members of his group---or cult, more accurately---have allowed him to brainwash them. Of course, they look up to him. What follows is an often dull amalgam of psychological thriller, horror and drama with a few twists that aren't very shocking. It does get dark and bloody, just as expected, but doesn't go over-the-top. If it were more bold, campy and razor-sharp, it'd be more than just a mediocre, run-of-the-mill and forgettable B-movie. At 1 hour and 25 minutes, Self-Help opens in select theaters nationwide via Cineverse. It would be an interesting double feature with the similarly flawed Dirty Boy which also centers on a cult.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3




 

      At 1 hour and 29 minutes, Stitch Head, written and directed by Steve Hudson, is a nauseating, unfunny and exhausting animated film with annoying characters and a dull plot. It opens in select theaters nationwide via Briarcliff Entertainment.

Number of times I checked my watch: 6

      Lucas (Billy Magnussen) comes from a crime family and desperately tries to get away from any trouble, but that's easier said than done in Violent Ends. He's engaged to Emma (Alexandra Shipp) and tries to protect his half-brother, Tuck (Nick Stahl), from danger. Tensions within the family arise when his cousins, Sid (James Badge Dale) and Eli (Jared Bankens), get involved in a violent crime. Writer/director John-Michael Powell has made a dark and gritty, but uninspired and tedious crime thriller. If you could imagine a Martin McDonaugh or Coen brothers movie without the dark comedy, it would look something like this. While it's unflinching its grimness, it could use some much-needed levity, wit or something that would allow it to stand out and rise above mediocrity. Violent Ends doesn't have anything that feels refreshing. That said, Billy Magnussen brings charisma to his role as Lucas and breathes some life into it that the screenplay doesn't manage to achieve. In a double feature with In the Bedroom or Bully, which are also crime thrillers with Nick Stahl, Violent Ends would be the inferior B-movie At 1 hour and 52 minutes, Violent Ends opens in select theaters nationwide via Independent Film Company.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3




 

      At 1 hour and 35 minutes, The Wrecker, directed by Art Camacho and written by Niko Foster, Sophia Louisa Lee and James Dean Simington, is a bland, uninspired and forgettable B-action thriller. It opens in select theaters via Quiver Distribution.

Number of times I checked my watch: 6