2024 Tribeca Festival (June 5th - June 16th)
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In Between the Temples, Ben (Jason Schwartzman), a cantor, suffers a crisis of faith after the death of his wife. He bumps into Carla (Carol Kane), his former music teacher in grade school, and befriends her while reluctantly agreeing to prepare her for her Bat Mitzvah. The screenplay by writer/director Nathan Silver and co-writer C. Mason Wells is clunky, dull and tonally uneven. Silver and Wells understand that comedy's roots can often be found in tragedy. Between the Temples could have either taken that concept to comedic heights or used it sparingly while delving into Ben's midlife crisis or it could have accomplished both. Unfortunately, it accomplishes neither. Ben comes across as annoying, unpleasant and emotionally immature. He doesn't have enough of a convincing character arc nor does the screenplay provide enough of a window into his heart, mind and soul. Carol Kane does her best to breathe life into her role. Her heartfelt performance alone is the film's highlight, although it's too bad that the screenplay isn't as strong and witty as the screenplay of Hester Street, one of her iconic movies from the 1970s. Caroline Aaron and Dolly De Leon are wasted in smaller roles as Ben's mother and her wife, respectively. Everything from the cinematography to the editing to the lighting looks rough, bland and visually unappealing. A Serious Man is a much wiser, funnier and well-shot dramedy; Between the Temples fails in every way that A Serious Man succeeds. At a running time of 1 hour and 51 minutes, Between the Temples opens nationwide on August 23rd, 2024 via Sony Pictures Classics.
Number of times I checked my watch: 5
In Crossing, Lia (Mzia Arabuli), a retired schoolteacher from a small town in the country of Georgia, who embarks on a quest with 25-year-old Achi (Lucas Kankava), to find her estranged, transgender niece, Tekla (Tako Kurdovanidze), in Istanbul. Writer/director Levan Akin has woven a poignant, tender and captivating story that avoids melodrama, schmaltz and contrivance. Akin sees and treats Lia and Achi as complex human beings, warts and all. Initially, Lia and Achi don't quite get along because their personalities clash, so it's fascinating to watch how they gradually and, more importantly, organically, connect on an emotional level. Lia seems tough, mean, cantankerous and unforgiving at times, but beneath the surface, she has empathy. She finds kindness in Evrim (Deniz Dumanil), a transgender lawyer who agrees to help her to find Tekla. Even without flashbacks to Lia's past with Tekla, you can sense that she genuinely misses her and loves her. Where is Tekla? Is she alive and safe? Those are the basic questions that keep the audience in suspense. However, Crossing isn't fundamentally a thriller; it's an emotional journey about hope, regret, compassion and unconditional love. There are even some surprising moments that provide levity. Mzia Arabuli's performance brims with warmth that breathes life into her role even during the quiet moments. The pace moves slowly, but not too slowly, which means that writer/director Levan Akin trusts the audience's patience. At a running time of 1 hour and 45 minutes, Crossing opens on July 19th, 2024 at Angelika Film Center via MUBI.
Number of times I checked my watch: 1
Set in 1750 Austria, The Devil's Bath centers on a young woman, Agnes (Anja Plaschg), who marries a fisherman, Wolf (David Scheid), but becomes depressed after Wolf neglects her emotionally while his controlling mother, Gänglin (Maria Hofstätte), emotionally abuses her. The screenplay by co-writers/directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala is an unnerving psychological horror film that pulls no punches as it shows Agnes slowly descending into madness. A prologue sets up the dark tone when another young woman throws a baby to its death before being apprehended. The Devil's Bath maintains its grim and foreboding tone from start to finish and becomes increasingly intense. Its main flaw, though, is that there's no room for the audience to breathe with any form of levity which means it occasionally veers into tedium and exhausts the audience. The filmmakers use lighting, cinematography and the natural landscape to create a visual style that compliments the dark tone. They leave nothing to the imagination, though, in the relentlessly gory and grotesque third act. That said, Anja Plaschg gives a raw, breakthrough performance that provides the film with genuine poignancy. At a running time of 2 hours, The Devil's Bath opens on June 21st, 2024 at IFC Center via Shudder.
Firebrand is an emotionally hollow and stodgy period piece that's slightly elevated by great costume design and cinematography. Co-writers Henrietta and Jessica Ashworth center the narrative on Katherine Parr (Alicia Vikander), the sixth wife of King Henry VIII (Jude Law). He appoints here as regent while he goes off to war before he returns physically ill and mentally unstable. Firebrand squanders its opportunity to turn into compelling and heartfelt biopic because Katherine always remains at a cold distance from the audience. Perhaps the novel The Queen's Gambit did a better job of getting instead her heart, mind and soul, but the film version fails to accomplish that important feat. None of the characters come alive no matter how hard the actors try. Jude Law and Alicia Vikander deserve better material. At a running time of 2 hours, Firebrand is just as lethargic as the recent Jeanne Du Barry. It opens nationwide on June 14th, 2024 via Roadside Attractions.
In Kill, Amrit (Lakshya), a Special Ops agent, wants to marry Tulika (Tanya Maniktala), but she's headed by train to an arranged marriage. He boards the train before 40 armed bandits take over the train. The screenplay by writer/director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat and co-writer Ayesha Syed is a lazy, shallow and tedious cross between Bullet Train and John Wick. The wafer-thin plot seems like just an excuse to set up the action sequences of which there are many. Kill throws suspense and logic while also throwing away imagination out the window. What ensues is a very bloody, action-packed ride that quickly becomes a repetitive and exhausting video game masquerading as an action thriller. The witless, stilted dialogue doesn't help matters either nor does the cheesy romantic subplot that veers into parody. The only highlight is the solid stunt work and two darkly humorous kills. Beyond that, the film overstays its welcome at just under 2 hours which feels more like 3 hours. Kill opens nationwide on July 5th, 2024 via Roadside Attractions.
In the Summers is an engrossing and tender portrait of relationship between a divorced father, Vincente (Residente) and his two daughters, Eva (Luciana Elisa Quinonez) and Violeta (Dreya Castillo), over the course of two decades. Allison Salinas and Kimaya play Eva and Violeta in their teenage years while Sasha Calle and Lio Mehiel play them in their young adulthood. The screenplay by writer/director Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio remains light on exposition and dramatic tension. Instead, it offers the audience an immersive slice-of-life similar to Boyhood in how it shows kids growing up in a dysfunctional family. Samudio separates the film in four chapters, each designating a summer where Vincente spends time with his two daughters. A tragic event occurs during one of the summers which won't be spoiled here, but it briefly takes the film into darker territory without being emotionally devastating. In the Summers often feels like a documentary because it seems so real. The natural performances help to enhance that quality. Samudio doesn't include voice-over narration or flashbacks nor does hit the audience over the head with anything that's heavy-handed, so she trusts the audience's intelligence, imagination and emotions. A lot happens that's not actually shown in the film which, again, makes it kindred spirits with Boyhood. She also trusts their patience because the film moves at a slow pace. Patient audiences will be rewarded the most. At a running time of 1 hour and 38 minutes, In the Summers opens on September 20th, 2024 at IFC Center via Music Box Films.
Number of times I checked my watch: 2
Elizabeth (Elizabeth Banks), a surgeon, operates on a patient, Lisa (Acacia O’Connor), who dies after a mistake occurs during the operation in A Mistake. Her younger, inexperienced colleague, Richard (Richard Crouchley), is the one who made the error, but it was under Elizabeth's supervision, so she's held responsible. The screenplay by writer/director Christine Jeffs, based on the novel by Carl Shuker, is a taut, provocative and engrossing psychological character study of a woman faced with a moral dilemma. She doesn't want to ruin her career or Richard's career either, but she also knows that it's not 100% certain that the patient died as a result of the mistake. A Mistake goes into the nitty gritty details of the operation and unflinchingly shows it from Elizabeth's perspective. Elizabeth Banks gives the best performance of her career in the role of a woman who has to project strength and confidence, but who's also fragile and has a conscience weighing down on her. Bravo to her for agreeing to playing a fully-fleshed human being who's flawed and complex which makes her all the morereal. Writer/director Christine Jeffs designs the window into the surgeon's heart, mind and soul; it's ultimately Elizabeth Banks who opens that window very widely with her raw and emotionally generous performance. At a running time of 1 hour and 41 minutes, A Mistake opens on September 20th, 2024 at Quad Cinema via Quiver Distribution.
Number of times I checked my watch: 1
Treasure follows Ruth (Lena Dunham) and her father, Edek (Stephen Fry), a Holocaust survivor, as they embark on a trip to Poland, his homeland, which unlocks his painful memories. Based on the novel by Lily Brett, the screenplay by writer/director Julia von Heinz and her co-writer, John Quester, is a shallow, inert and clunky blend of drama, tragedy and comedy. None of the beats land, unfortunately. The attempts at generating laughter, in particular, fall flat with stilted dialogue and a few cringe-inducing scenes, like when Edek suddenly makes a joke about Ruth's sex life at the dinner table. The editing feels choppy, the exposition is poorly integrated and the supporting characters, i.e. a woman who works as a translator, are underdeveloped and forgettable. The same can be said about Ruth and Edek. Moreover, the cinematography makes Poland look dull, hazy and dreary with washed-out colors. Lena Dunham gives a performance here that ranges from bland to wooden. Stephen Fry brings some warmth and charisma, but he's undermined by the vapid and meandering screenplay. The running time of 1 hour and 52 minutes feels more like 3 hours. Treasure opens nationwide on June 14th, 2024 via Bleecker Street.
Documentaries
America's Burning is a provocative, timely and slickly-edited documentary about how divided America has become and it's at risk of losing its democracy. Director David Smick includes talking-head interviews with experts like James Carvillage, archival footage, and voice-over narration by Michael Douglas. He covers a lot of ground, but each segment could be the main topic of a separate documentary, i.e. how the upper class flaunt their wealth unlike in the old days before social media platforms like Instagram with "influencers" enabled that kind of behavior. America's Burning makes valid points, though, regarding the increase of economic and political division in America, the rise of hatred, the concept of the "American dream", and capitalism. The opposite of hatred, according to one of the experts interviewed, is empathy. That, along with finding common ground, is the film's solution to the issues. The solution sounds hopeful and optimistic, but oversimplified and not very practical. If Smick were to have interviewed Naomi Wolf, author of The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, it would've added more insights and different perspectives on both the issue and the solution. Moreover, he neglects to ask the experts basic questions that has different answers: "What is democracy?", "What is a functional democracy?" and "How do you feel about the fact that economics textbooks teach students that the higher a country's GDP is, the better? Is it not better if a country's GDP rises with the poor?" At a running time of 1 hour and 23 minutes, America's Burning opens on July 12th, 2024 at Angelika Film Center via Abramorama.
Number of times I checked my watch: 2
¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor! is a mildly engaging and amusing, but myopic and shallow documentary about how Trey Parker and Matt Stone saved Casa Bonita, an iconic Mexican restaurant in Denver, after it declared bankruptcy and closed during the pandemic. Directed by Arthur Bradford makes it clear that the restaurant means a lot to many people since it first opened in 1974 and also has sentimental value for Parker and Stone because they ate there a lot during their childhood. They wrote an episode South Park that featured the restaurant. Casa Bonita was a fun and joyful place for kids that provided them with activities like puppet shows, cave exploration, a giant waterfall and more. By the time it closed in 2021, the building became dilapidated and needed much more repair than Parker and Stone could've imagined. It ended up costing $40 million. ¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor! spends too much time focusing on the renovation of Casa Bonita and not enough on the people behind it like its executive chef, Dana Rodriguez, nor does it provide much in terms of revelations. It plays too much like an infomercial for a restaurant that many people know has managed to successfully reopen. At a running time of 1 hour and 28 minutes, ¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor opens on September 13th, 2024 at Alamo Drafthouse in Manhattan via MTV Documentary Films
Number of times I checked my watch: 2
I'm Your Venus is an equally gripping, timely and moving documentary about the unsolved murder of Venus Xtravaganza, a drag queen who was found strangled to death in 1988. Venus was one of the drag queens featured Paris is Burning. Her family try to re-open her case in hope of finding the killer and bringing him or her to justice. They hire a lawyer to get the ball rolling, but it's an uphill battle. Her brothers also hope to change her legal name to Venus so that she wouldn't be deadnamed posthumously. Director Kimberly Reed manages to balance the crime thriller elements with the family's emotional journey to come to terms with their traumatic past and to grieve. Her brothers are very candid about their feelings, regrets and frustrations. It's heartwarming to watch them connect with House of Xtravaganza, the drag group that Venus was a part of. Their compassion, tolerance and emotional maturity makes I'm Your Venus a transcendent documentary that's more than just the sum of its parts. You'll forget that you're watching a documentary at times because it's so captivating. At a running time of 1 hour and 20 minutes, I'm Your Venus is currently seeking distribution.
Number of times I checked my watch: 1
Made in England: The Films of Powell & Pressburger, directed by David Hinton, is a well-edited and illuminating documentary about the career and films of filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. The main talking head is Martin Scorcese who provides his perspectives on their films, many of which he loves and was inspired by. There are a few amusing anecdotes like how Pressburger sent him a letter which included a criticism about Mean Streets that he used too much of the color red in it. Scorcese quips that Powell & Pressburger used plenty of red in The Red Shoes. This documentary begins as a hagiographic introduction to the filmography of Powell & Pressburger with many clips from their classic films. You'll learn how they formed their production company, The Archers. A few archival interviews with Powell & Pressburger give you a sense of their personalities and sense of humor. They struggled to maintain their artistic freedom throughout their career. The documentary finally stops being hagiographic when it delves into their films that weren't well received at the box office or by critics, i.e. Peeping Tom. Powell & Pressburger soon found it harder and harder to raise money for their films, and they stopped making movies together in the late 1950s. More focus on their life after the demise of The Archers or even a small glimpse of what their lives were like beyond their film careers, i.e. their childhood, family, etc, would've been great. As long as you don't expect a biopic of Powell & Pressburger to have anything very revealing or surprising about them, you'll be able to enjoy the documentary and be compelled to rewatch their films from a new perspective with more appreciation or to watch them for the first time. At a running time 2 hours and 11 minutes, Made in England: The Films of Powell & Pressburger opens at Quad Cinema on July 12th, 2024 via Cohen Media Group. It would be a great double feature with the documentary Merchant Ivory.
Top Naratives
In Daddio, a young woman (Dakota Johnson) takes a taxi cab from JFK to her apartment in Manhattan. During the ride, she converses with her cab driver, Clark (Sean Penn). What sounds like a mundane premise turns into a surprisingly tender, provocative and engrossing slice-of-life thanks to the sensitive screenplay by Christy Hall. There are no villains or big twists. Like Richard Linklater and Eric Rohmer, Hall manages to find the spectacle with just two people talking. Exposition is kept at a minimum which makes both characters a little mysterious, but eventually you get to know more about their past without flashbacks. The woman works as a computer programmer and texts her boyfriend who's married. The discussion of "0s and 1s" becomes something more profound when Clark sees it as a metaphor that can be applied to life itself. Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn have palpable chemistry together as the woman and cab driver gradually bond. Without giving away any spoilers, they talk about very intimate things which makes the film have a voyeuristic aspect to it. In other words, the audience becomes a third character who's eavesdropping on these two strangers' conversations. Comparisons to Before Sunrise would be fair, but Daddio lets the audience's mind wonder whether or not they'll see each other again. For a film that takes place in predominantly one location, with a few shots of the city at night, it's actually somewhat cinematic without becoming tedious or dull. At a running time of 1 hour and 41 minutes, Daddio opens in select theaters on June 28th, 2024. It would be an interesting double feature with any Eric Rohmer film or, if you're looking for something much darker, Asphalt City which also stars Sean Penn.
Set in 2019, Kneecap is a wickedly funny and captivating biopic about Kneecap, a Irish rap group that performs in their native Irish language. The members, each played by the real-life Kneecap members, include Liam, Naoise, and, eventually, JJ, a school teacher. They cause mayhem in Belfast with their destructive behavior while a detective (Josie Walker) investigates them. Michael Fassbender has a supporting role as the Kneecap's father figure. Writer/director Rich Peppiatt infuses the film with energy and offbeat humor reminiscent of Guy Ritchie's films like Snatch. It also has some shades of Ken Loach with its unflinching grittiness. Peppiatt doesn't judge Liam, Naoise or JJ nor does he ask the audience to. They're not very likable, but they're nonetheless very flawed young men who remain determined and passionate about rapping in their native Irish language despite the opposition. You don't have to be a fan of rap music or to be familiar with Kneecap to enjoy the film, but it would help. At 1 hour and 45 minutes, it opens in select theaters on August 2nd, 2024 via Sony Pictures Classics.
Heather (Naomie Harris) contacts Carla (Natalie Dormer), her friend from middle school, and persuades her to murder her husband, Simon (Dominic Allburn), for £50,000 in The Wasp. Screenwriter Morgan Lloyd Malcolm and director Guillem Morales effectively suspense, thrills and intrigue with a gripping plot that has a few clever twists and turns. Malcolm does a decent job when it comes to exposition as both Heather and Carla have more to them than meets the eye. Initially, it doesn't make sense why Heather would be so desperate to hire Carla, of all people, to murder Simon, especially given the fact that she's not a professional killer. Why not hire a hitman? Be patient, though, because those questions will be answered after a major reveal in the middle of the second act. The Wasp could've easily turned into a tonally uneven dark comedy or an intense horror film, but, instead it turns into a fascinating character study that sheds light on the dark side of human nature like the recent film Coup!. Who can you trust when both Heather and Carla have dark secrets? Kudos to the filmmakers for maintaining suspense, for including thought-provoking symbolism, and for not going over-the-top with violence and gore during the bold third act. Naomie Harris and Natalie Dormer give career-best performances. At a running time of 1 hour and 35 minutes, The Wasp, is a spellbinding, taut and intelligent Hitchcockian thriller. It opens in select theaters nationwide on August 30th, 2024 via Shout! Studios.
Number of times I checked my watch: 1
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