AMERICAN FICTION--Jeffrey Wright plays Monk Ellis, an African American college professor who, under the nom de plume of Stagg R. Leigh, pens a novel ("My Pafology") that's shameless "Black trauma porn." When the book becomes an overnight literary sensation, Monk continues the ruse while guiltily collecting his royalty checks. First-time feature director Cord (HBO's "Watchmen") Jefferson's film is one half biting social satire and one part (not as satisfying) family melodrama. (Monk's mom is dying, and his kid brother has recently come out as gay.) Wright's fantastic lead performance is the movie's true raison d'etre, and he single-handedly makes it a must-see even though it runs out of steam in the somewhat clunky third act. Nice support from Leslie Uggams, Sterling K. Brown, John Ortiz and Erika Alexander, but it's Wright's show every step of the way. (B PLUS.)
https://youtu.be/5_4RlHpqVWM?si=ia48BqTEOEzTiItl
ANYONE BUT YOU--After an extended foray into kid-friendly fare (Jamie Foxx's 2014 "Annie" reboot; the "Peter Rabbit" movies), director Will Gluck returns to his "R"-rated, "Easy A"/"Friends With Benefits" roots for a predictable, if fitfully amusing trifle. In rom-coms, casting and chemistry is everything, and Gluck is blessed with two of the most photogenic and appealing young actors working today. Ben (Glen Powell from "Top Gun: Maverick") and Bea ("White Lotus" breakout Sydney Sweeney) are exes who discover to their mutual horror that they're headed for the same destination (Australia, mate) wedding. To avoid embarrassing questions, they agree to pretend they're still a couple for the event. It doesn't take a rocket scientist or rom-com connoisseur to deduce that their play-acting will turn genuine before the flight home. Powell and Sydney strike bonafide comedic and romantic sparks. They're like a junior league Clooney and Roberts and single-handedly make this formulaic programmer (almost) worth leaving the house for. (C PLUS.) https://youtu.be/UtjH6Sk7Gxs?si=i3TF4ayE06CQote3
AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM--In what might be his final turn as Arthur Curry/Aquaman, Jason Mamoa's brawny insouciance remains the primary reason this D.C. super hero franchise is easier to take than the average Marvel or D.C. outing. The storyline--Black Monta (Yahya Abdul-Manteen II) unleashes something called the Black Trident, forcing Aquaman to reteam with his estranged Atlantis king brother Orm (Patrick Wilson) to save the world from extinction--is strictly boilerplate, but returning director James Wan brings a certain snap to the rote proceedings and unlike, say, "The Marvels" or "Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3," it's never actively boring. Drive-by cameos by Nicole Kidman, disgraced Johnny Depp ex Amber Heard and Dolph Lundgren add a modicum of spice to the same old-same old template. (C PLUS.)
ARGYLLE--Matthew ("Kick-Ass") Vaughn directed this lumbering shaggy dog story about a mousy authoress (Bryce Dallas Howard's Elly Conway) whose spy novels suddenly turn very real when she's catapulted into a globe-hopping adventure. Fiction blurs with reality, and Elly is soon working side by side with her fictional protagonist/alter ego, Henry Cavill's Argylle. While Vaughn and screenwriter Jason Fuchs were clearly aiming for a riff on "Romancing the Stone" (or 2022's "Stone" homage "The Lost City"), their movie lacks the crackerjack pacing and screwball rhythms that made those hits click with audiences. Running a derriere-numbing 139 minutes--and saddled with leads who are either grating (Howard) or merely dull (Cavill)--it's left to the game supporting cast (including Sam Rockwell, Catherine O'Hara and Bryan Cranston) to provide the fleeting moments of amusement and/or pleasure. Vaughn was probably hoping this might lead to another tongue in cheek action franchise like his "Kingsman" trilogy. But since that's highly unlikely, he's best advised to return to the sort of idiosyncratic "small" films he cut his teeth on like 2004's "Layer Cake" which helped land Daniel Craig his 007 gig. (C MINUS.) https://youtu.be/7mgu9mNZ8Hk?si=0mNSU-YkitGPX435
THE BEEKEEPER--Decidedly not a film about apiaists, Jason Statham's latest starring vehicle--his fifth in the past year alone--is about an ex CIA operative (Statham's Adam Clay) who enacts scorched earth vengeance on weaselly miscreants behind an elaborate online phishing operation targeting senior citizens. (The title stems from the name of Kay's former covert paramilitary outfit.) Better than any January Jason Statham movie has a right to be, it was directed by masculinist auteur David ("Fury," "End of Watch") Ayer who knows his way around turbo-charged action setpieces. Costarring the always welcome Jeremy Irons and, as the designated Big Bad techie, Josh Hutcherson. (B MINUS.)
THE BOYS IN THE BOAT--A pokily paced, dully earnest sports underdog movie whose real-life bona fides don't make it any less tedious to sit through. University of Washington engineering student Joe Rantz (Callum Turner) joins his school's 8-man rowing crew to help pay for tuition--he's currently living in Seattle's Hoovertown--and winds up competing in the 1936 Summer Olympics. (Yes, the same Olympics Games that were held in Hitler's Nazi Germany.) Director George Clooney, working from a by-the-numbers screenplay by "Revenant" scenarist Mark L. Smith, has made a slick, good-looking film that stubbornly fails to come to life. There's nice work from Turner, Joel Edgerton (coach Al Ulbrickson) and Hadley Robinson (Joe's debutante girlfriend), but to little avail. It's the sort of movie your grandparents might enjoy when they catch it on Amazon Prime in a few months. (C.)https://youtu.be/dfEA-udzjjQ?si=nJteQOx-7OOtkziG
THE COLOR PURPLE--Based on the long-running Broadway musical version of Alice Walker's beloved novel, Blitz Bazawule's colorful screen adaptation is so well cast and acted that it's easy to overlook the fact that none of the songs (by Brenda Russell, Stephen Bray and Allee Willis) are particularly memorable. Former "American Idol" winner Fantastia Barrino plays Celia (the same role that catapulted Whoopi Goldberg to stardom in Steven Spielberg's 1985 version), a chronically put-upon Black woman who raises herself up during the course of the story which takes place between the early to mid-twentieth century. Bazawule's movie doesn't really kick into high gear until the third act, but winds up delivering more of an emotional kick than Spielberg's somewhat prosaic version. Taraji P. Hensen (Shug Avery), Danielle Brooks (Sofia), Colman Domingo (Mister) and H.E.R. (Squeak) all deliver memorable performances. Brooks is a real scene-stealer, and Domingo makes Mister's climactic conversion the most moving part of the film. (B PLUS.)
https://youtu.be/wPwzBUui1GA?si=hwkmyS-ro7-cRPUb
FLOAT--Before starting her residency in Toronto, med school grad Waverly (Andrea Bang) decides to pay an impromptu visit to her bohemian aunt (Michelle Krusiec) in a tiny--but immensely scenic, natch--Canadian town. During the course of her visit, she makes a love connection with hunky lifeguard Blake (Robbie Amell) who's the legal guardian of his troubled teenage sister (Sarah Desjardins). But how will Waverly's parents back in Taipei react when they learn she's blown off her summer research gig for a hot weather fling with a white boy? Director Shereen Lee's swoony romantic drama feels a bit like a multicultural Nicholas Sparks flick with its box-checking cast of Asian, Black, gay and Middle Eastern characters. While not actively unpleasant (the cast and sylvan setting are immensely appealing), it's not particularly memorable either. (C.)
GHOSTWRITTEN--Eight years after penning his quasi-autobiographical debut novel, Guy (Jay Duplass) is terminally blocked and seriously cash-strapped. (His ailing mom is about to be ejected from her nursing home because of delinquent bills, and he's been reduced to sleeping on friends' sofas.) Offered a two-month residency on a secluded New England island by his publisher, Guy understandably jumps at the chance. But once sequestered in his new abode, very strange things begin happening. The pilot (Lyn Sheil) who flew him to the island--and moonlights as a bartender at the local tavern--says cryptic things about an unsolved murder. And there's an alcoholic celebrity author (Thomas Jay Ryan from Hal Hartley's "Henry Fool" trilogy) who begins stalking Guy. The discovery of a completed manuscript in the house could be the answer to his prayers if he can convince his editor (Laila Robins) that it's his work. The title of writer/director Thomas Matthews' genre-bender is literal: a spectral presence may indeed have penned the book Guy claims as his own. But despite an intriguing premise and a game cast (Ryan is particularly good), the filmmaking is halting and tentative, never choosing a single lane (dark comedy; horror; literary satire) to make its mark. Think of it as a Mumblecore riff on a Stephen King movie. (C.) https://youtu.be/0WYRYz-54Qk?si=saGDlVynzDu77IZC
LISA FRANKENSTEIN--After accidentally reanimating a 19th-century corpse (Cole Sprouse), misfit high school senior Lisa (Kathryn Newton) immediately sets to turning him into boyfriend material. But since he's still missing some essential body parts, they'll need to, uh, kill a few people to make him whole again. Working from a derivative screenplay by Oscar-winner Diablo ("Juno," "Young Adult") Cody, first-time feature director Zelda Williams turns this Tim Burton-y premise into an obvious, but relatively painless 1989-set horror-comedy. (Think "The Corpse Bride" meets "Edward Scissorhands.") Newton, so appealing in "Freaky" and "Blockers," is the real deal: I'd love to see her headline a film for grown-ups someday. And newcomer Liza Soberano as Lisa's perky cheerleader step sister steals every scene she's in. The fact that Soberano is the spitting image of a "Fast Times at Ridgemont High"-era Phoebe Cates is probably the '80-iest thing about the movie. (C PLUS.)
MEAN GIRLS--Angourie ("The Nice Guys," "Honor Society") Rice is the best reason to see this serviceable adaptation of the 2018 Broadway musicalization of Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams' 2004 sleeper. Stepping into the old Lohan role of Cady, the new girl at a clique-ruled high school who ingratiates herself with "The Plastics" (led by Renee Rapp's truly terrifying queen bee Regina) before taking them down with the help of a posse of misfits (Auli'i Cravalho and Jacquel Spivey), Rice is immensely winning. Tina Fey--who wrote the original movie, the stage version and this iteration--reprises her role as a teacher, and Jon Hamm, Jenna Fischer and Busy Phillips (all very good) play typically clueless grown-ups. None of the songs or production numbers are especially memorable, but tweeners are sure to eat it up. (B MINUS.) https://youtu.be/UpWhCU7C46I?si=leYDzcNLLxsmP8uK
MIGRATION--Benjamin Renner, director of the delightful Oscar-nominated 2012 animated feature "Ernest and Celestine," helmed this beguiling and (no pun intended) featherweight Illumination 'toon. There's very little "plot" to speak of, but this 80-minute divertissement provides intermittent delight thanks to some frequently gorgeous CGI animation and the pleasure of spending time with its flock of fine feathered friends voiced by the likes of Kumali Nanjioani, Awkwafina, Elizabeth Banks, Keegan-Michael Key and Danny DeVito. (B MINUS.)
MOLLI AND MAX IN THE FUTURE--Molli ("Girls" alumnus Zosia Mamet) and Max (Aristotle Athari) meet cute during a spaceship fender bender. Over the course of 12 years, the star-crossed duo go from mutual antagonism to nurturing friendship to finally realizing that each is their "one." Writer-director Michael Lukk Litwak's rom-com follows the classic template of the genre ("When Harry Met Sally" is an obvious influence), but the psychedelic sci-fi trappings--mostly achieved with lots of greenscreen--give it the cartoony look of an extended episode of "Futurama." Athari and especially Mamet make a charming couple, and it's hard not to root for them finally making it official. Unfortunately, a lot of the wink-wink-nudge-nudge parallels to contemporary life (demi-god sex cults; a COVID-like pandemic; presidential elections decided by audience voting on a TV reality show; etc.) are labored at best. Despite a 90-minute run time, it runs out of steam long before Molli and Max's climactic clinch. (C PLUS.) https://youtu.be/VhFmVkgxveA?si=AumHChEZYVtPWzGU
POOR THINGS--Brought back to life by a crackpot M.D. (Willem Dafoe's hideously scarred Dr. Baxter) after jumping off a bridge, Bella (a fearless Emma Stone in the year's most extraordinary distaff performance) has to relearn what it means to be human. Although Baxter's most prized student (Ramy Youssef) eventually proposes to her, Bella opts to run off with conman lawyer Duncan (Mark Ruffalo, marvelously sleazy). During the course of her Candide-like odyssey--which takes her from Victorian-era steampunk London to Lisbon, Paris and various points in between--Bella experiences both a profound sexual awakening and ultimately her well-earned emancipation from patriarchal society. Adapted from a 1992 novel by Arasdair Gray, Yorgos ("The Lobster," "The Favourite") Lanthimos' cockeyed masterpiece is like a Terry ("Time Bandits," "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen") Gilliam pop-up storybook fantasy directed by the late, great Stanley Kubrick with all of his customary trademark formal rigor. Costarring Jerrod Carmichael, Christopher Abbott and Margaret Qualley, it's the most extravagantly, sumptuously entertaining movie-movie of 2023. Winner of the Golden Lion at last summer's Venice Film Festival. (A.) https://youtu.be/RlbR5N6veqw?si=fN6c7uZJKfZd-rmo
NIGHT SWIM--It wouldn't be January without a new Blumhouse horror flick, and this year's model is better than most, if not quite up to last year's standard-bearer ("M3gan"). The movie's major assets are its two leads, "Banshees of Inisherin" Oscar nominee Kerry Condon and Wyatt Russell, star of the late, great AMC series, "Lodge 49." Making a backyard swimming pool--hence the giveaway title--the nexus of supernatural terror admittedly takes a leap of faith, but first-time feature director Bryce McGuire gives it the old college try. Expanding his 2014 short, McGuire adds a Gothic fairytale dimension that brings a quasi mythological gloss to the jump-scares. Russell, Condon and newcomers Gavin Warren and Amelie Hoeferle as their kids are all very good, and it doesn't overstay its welcome at a corcumspect 98 minutes. For the first new movie of 2024, you could do a lot worse. (C PLUS.) https://youtu.be/pcSNqteCEtE?si=EjnXua43i8YSGHey
SCRAMBLED--Still reeling from her break-up with a longtime boyfriend, flailing 34-year-old Etsy jeweler Nellie (Leah McKendrick who also wrote and directed) decides to freeze her eggs just in case she wants to have kids some day. Her old-fashioned parents (Clancy Brown and Laura Ceron) wonder why she just doesn't get back with her ex and have a baby the "normal" way. After borrowing $8,000 from obnoxious yuppie brother Jesse (Andrew Santino), Nellie begins the torturous process of daily injections. She also revisits some of her exes (played by, among others, Sterling Sulieman, Brett Dier and Adam Rodriguez) to see whether any might be daddy material. A frequently unwieldy combination of ribald, occasionally cringey comedy and heartfelt drama, McKendrick's movie is a bit of a mixed bag, but ultimately succeeds on the strength of her winning performance and some scene-stealing supporting turns (Santino and SNL cast mate Ego Nwodim as her newly married BFF are particularly amusing). It's no "Trainwreck" or even "Bridesmaids," but it made me anxious to see what Mckendrick does next. (B MINUS.)
THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR--After his two previous films (1966 Best Picture nominee "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming" and 1967 BP winner "In the Heat of the Night") catapulted him to the top ranks of Hollywood directors, Norman Jewison helmed this crackerjack entertainment which was considerably less well-received, but has since gained almost "classic" status. (It was even remade in 1998 as a vehicle for then-007 Pierce Brosnan.) Critics at the time of its release complained about "self-conscious artiness, multiple screens, flashy camerawork and pretentious dialogue," and regarded it as a major letdown. The highest praise it received was from New York Times reviewer Renata Adler who described it as "an ordinary, not wonderful, but enjoyable movie." Despite critical carping, it was--along with "Rosemary's Baby," "The Green Berets" and (despite still not being in wide-wide release) "2001: A Space Odyssey"--one of the biggest box office hits in the summer of 1968. Essentially a glossy cat-and-mouse game played between a foxy insurance investigator (Faye Dunaway in her follow-up to "Bonnie and Clyde" which turned her into The Next Big Thing) and the roguish bank robber (Steve McQueen's titular "Thomas Crown") she's stalking, it's best appreciated as a text case of what supremely charismatic actors--i.e., "Movie Stars"--can bring to even the most cliched, even desultory material. (Try to imagine Doug McClure and Jill St. John in the McQueen/Dunaway roles. Or better yet, don't.) Stunningly lensed by esteemed cinematographer Haskell ("Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," "American Graffiti") Wexler and memorably scored by Michel ("The Umbrellas of Cherbourg," "Summer of '42") Legrand, it even features an Oscar-winning song ("The Windmills of Your Mind") sung by Noel Harrison (!!). The KL Studio Classics Blu-Ray includes two separate audio commentaries (one provided by Jewison, and the second with screenwriter Lem ("The Limey," "Dark City") Dobbs and historian Nick Redman); interviews with Jewison and legendary title designer Pablo Ferro; making-of featurette, "Three's a Company;" and the original theatrical trailer. (B PLUS.)
https://youtu.be/XSGTgwGsP1U?si=N2tllDpaPFNzA8OA
TROLLS BAND TOGETHER--Part origin story, part adventure flick, director Walt Dohrn's third CGI Trolls 'toon should please fans of the earlier movies (released in 2016 and 2020 respectively) without necessarily gaining any new admirers. When Branch (Justin Timberlake) learns that his estranged brother Floyd (Traye Silum) has been kidnapped by psychotic sibling singers Velvet and Veneer (Amy Schumer and Andrew Rannells) and being held captive in a diamond perfume bottle (don't ask), he elects to join the rescue mission. The best parts of the movie are flashbacks to Branch's past as a member of boy band BroZone (Timberlake's own NSYNC history adds an amusing meta dimension to the subplot), and Anna Kendrick brightens up her few scenes as Branch gal pal Poppy. The "Taste the Rainbow" color palette remains as eye-massaging as ever, but the whole thing will seem pretty jejune unless you're 6. Or younger. (C.)
WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION-- Along with Sidney Lumet's 1974 "Murder on the Orient Express," this irresistible 1957 Billy Wilder courtroom drama remains the finest--and most extravagantly entertaining--Agatha Christie big-screen adaptation to date. Two years after directing "The Night of the Hunter," Charles Laughton starred as an aging London barrister with a heat condition who takes on a high profile murder case, defending the dandyish Tyrone Power against a charge of murdering a wealthy widow for her money. Laughton's job is made even more difficult because the prosecutor's chief witness is the defendant's frosty German wife (Marlene Dietrich in one of her last decent film roles). He must convince the jury that she's committing perjury, but can't fathom a motive for turning on her husband. The most fun comes from trying to guess if the obvious (and highly amusing) overacting by the defendant and witnesses is being done by the actors, or by the characters they're playing. A marvelous Laughton clearly reveled in his showy part with a trademark mix of sardonic humor and unforced authority, and an imperious Dietrich is clearly having a ball playing, well, "Dietrich." But it's Power who's the stealth MVP of the film as a charming rogue with a callous soul. Laughton's scenes with real-life wife Elsa Lanchester as his doting nurse are comic highlights, and the Old Bailey courtroom set is an art-directed marvel. The new KL Studio Classics' Blu Ray includes an audio commentary by Joseph McBride, author of "Billy Wilder: Dancing on the Edge;" a featurette in which Wilder and "Tin Drum" director Volker Schlondorff discuss "Witness for the Prosecution;" and the original theatrical trailer. (A.)
WONKA--Paul King, director of the delightful "Paddington" kidflicks, was the perfect choice to helm this fantastical origin story of iconic chocolatier Willy Wonka. A sumptuously-appointed sugarplum fantasy that's a glorious throwback to 1960's family musicals like "Mary Poppins" and "Dr. Dolittle," it stars the perfectly-cast Timothee Chalamet as a twentysomething Willy still attempting to forge his candy empire in Dickensian England. While housed in the prison-like boarding house of Miss Hannigan-ish landlady Mrs. Scrubitt (Oscar-winner Olivia Colman having a larf), Willy teams up with orphan Noodle (an appealing Calah Lane) to combat Big Bad Slugworth (Paterson Joseph) and the nefarious Chocolate Cartel who will do anything to foil the new kid on the candy block. The fact that the Police Chief (an amusing Keegan-Michael Key) is on the Cartel's payroll only makes Willy's task more Sisyphean. But spurred on by Noodle's nudging and the divine intervention of a persnickety Oompa Loompa (Hugh Grant in a scene-stealing performance), Willy and his heavenly confections ultimately reign supreme. Nathan Cowley's spectacular production design, Park Chan Wook mainstay Chung Chung-hoon's dreamy cinematography and six Leslie Bricusse-worthy songs by Neil Hannon are merely icing on King's supercalifragilistic cake. (A.)