NEW THIS WEEK JUNE 28, 2024 (IN THEATERS AND ON HOME VIDEO)
NEW THIS WEEK IN THEATERS, HOME VIDEO AND/OR VOD:
CORA BORA--Megan Stalter, so funny in a supporting role as apprentice agent/nepo baby Kayla on MAX's "Hacks," makes an only partly successful transfer to leading lady in Hannah Pearl Utt's uneven dramedy. Stalter brings Kayla's near-pathological level of self-absorption to the titular flailing singer/songwriter, and it's a little grating over 93 minutes. Newly relocated to Los Angeles where her musical career is going nowhere fast, the Portland native impulsively decides to surprise her ex (JoJo T. Gibb's long-suffering Justine) by attending her college graduation party. Unbeknownst to Cora, Justine has moved on and has a new live-in girlfriend (Ayden Mayeri) which makes their reunion more than a tad awkward. Through the course of one very long night, Cora searches for her missing dog, gets a phone thrown in her face by an old friend (she slept with her boyfriend) and almost gets into an orgy with some New Age swingers. Cora's ultimate realization that, yeah, she's a bit much--could she finally be growing up?--is a bit of a relief for the audience as well. As the nice guy Cora keeps bumping into (they meet cute when she tries stealing his first-class airplane seat on a flight to Portland), Manny Jacinto from "The Good Place" comes close to stealing the movie with some very crafty underplaying. Stalter might still become the next Melissa McCarthy (she totally nails the tonal shifts in the movie's surprising third act), but she needs to be more careful in selecting future big screen vehicles. (B MINUS.) https://youtu.be/JA_-uMVZofA?si=AYxRj6ONILKRF8Gz
DADDIO--After returning from a visit to her older half-sister in Oklahoma, a computer programmer (Dakota Johnson) hails a cab at J.F.K. Airport, only to get stuck in a traffic jam on the drive back to Manhattan. Fortunately her cabby (Sean Penn's Will) turns out to be a loquacious type who's not shy about proffering life and love lessons to his (deliberately unnamed) passenger. Both driver and fare have rather complicated pasts: he's had two failed marriages, and she's got major daddy issues stemming from a distant father (her current boyfriend is both older and married). First-time writer/director Christy Hall takes this not terribly auspicious premise--which sounds more like a stage play than a feature film--and turns it into a micro tour de force. Both Penn and Johnson are letter-perfect, beautifully playing off each other as only the best actors can, and veteran cinematographer Phedon ("Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," "The Descendants") Papamichael somehow manages to make the claustrophobic setting both kinetic and even visually compelling. Movies set almost entirely inside moving vehicles have had a checkered screen history (director Steven Knight and Tom Hardy pulled it off brilliantly in 2013's "Locke" while Liam Neeson flopped big time in last year's dreadful "Retribution"). But against all odds, Hall and her remarkable pair of actors manage to achieve true cinematic alchemy. (A MINUS.) https://youtu.be/PJrr2amlFyc?si=tD63rGpMk19Wl9SU
ENNIO--The deservedly legendary Italian film composer Ennio Morricone may have died in 2020 at the ripe old age of 91, but he lives, gloriously, in Giuseppe ("Cinema Paradiso") Tornatore's exhaustive, emotionally resonant documentary portrait. Thanks to interviews Tornatore conducted with Morricone in 2015 and 2016, he remains front and center throughout the entirety of the film's voluminous 156 minute run time. My major complaint with the movie is how it essentially glosses over Morricone's most famous composition: his unforgettable theme music for Sergio Leone's "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." How was that even possible? While Tornatore devotes considerable screen time to Morricone's towering collaborations with Sergio Leone (the section on 1984's "Once Upon a Time in America" could have served as the basis for a standalone short), that particular Leone/Morricone masterwork is perversely ignored. Also befuddling is that, among the copious talking heads interviews with film directors who worked with Morricone--Bertolucci, Argento, Tarantino and Cavani, as well as many relatively unknown in the U.S. Italian directors--or simply revered him, e.g., Wong Kar-Wai, Martin Scorsese is conspicuously absent. Surely Tornatore invited him to participate. If so, I'd love to know his reasons for passing since Scorsese has never been shy about expounding at length on cinematic luminaries. Fellow composers like Quincy Jones, John Williams and Hans Zimmer effuse on Morricone's genius, but the most memorably apt comment is provided by former "Man With No Name" (and stellar film composer in his own right) Clint Eastwood who credits Morricone with helping "dramatize me, which is hard to do." Extras on the Music Box Films DVD include an interview with Tornatore; behind the scenes footage; a bonus scene, "The Democracy of Sound;" and the theatrical trailer. (B PLUS.)
HORIZON: AN AMERICAN SAGA--CHAPTER ONE--Set against highly scenic backdrops of the Wyoming and Kansas territories in 1859, the first part of Kevin Costner's new big-screen western epic ("Chapter 2" opens in August, and he's currently shooting "Chapter 3" with more installments planned) would have probably worked better as the kick-off for a new miniseries. Seen in that episodic format, it might have soared like the two Paramount+ "Yellowstone" prequel miniseries, "1883" and "1923." But as a standalone theatrical feature, it falls a little flat. The episodic script--by Costner and Jon Baird--rambles a bit too much for its own good, introducing a plethora of supporting characters (essayed by, among others, Luke Wilson, Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Danny Huston and Jena Malone), none of whose individual narrative arcs are satisfyingly intertwined. Accordingly, there isn't enough follow through for any of them to register emotionally. It essentially plays as a series of vignettes, some of which work better than others. Costner's leading character, laconic horsetrader Hayes Ellison, isn't even introduced until an hour into the film. Some of the most impressively staged scenes are the (frequently violent) encounters between settlers and Apache Indians, but they're only one part of a very long, ultimately exhausting whole. While I admire Costner's creative vision and audacity in tackling such an ambitious, multi-tier project, I'm worried that he may have misjudged the venue for his considerable hubris. (C PLUS.) https://youtu.be/YYsReoZMj1k?si=X5aHtTmuRB6xmugM
NOWHERE SPECIAL--After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, 34-year-old Belfast single dad John (James Norton from "Bob Marley: One Love" and Greta Gerwig's 2019 "Little Women") tirelessly searches for adoptive parents who will care for his 4-year-old son, Michael. (The boy's mother returned to her native Russia six months after giving birth without leaving any contact information.) While doing his best to shield Michael (Daniel Lamont in a performance that's remarkable for its unaffected naturalness) from the grim realities of his impending death, John and a compassionate young social service worker (the appealing Eileen O'Higgins) interview a series of prospective candidates. Director Uberto Pasolini, best known as the producer of 1997's "The Full Monty," brings such a delicate, empathetic touch to the potentially maudlin material that it can't help but be enormously affecting. Much of the credit for the film's success belongs to Norton and Lamont who never make a single disingenuous move between them. Inspired by a real-life adoption case, this gem of a movie has just been released on Blu-Ray by the Cohen Media Group and Kino Lorber. Extras include interviews with Pasolini, Norton and Lamont; a making-of featurette; and the theatrical trailer. (B PLUS.) https://youtu.be/NOv_J9JzSqs?si=yJq_EVZ6ndcNXSxG
A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE--Like the first season of "Fear the Walking Dead," this Michael ("Pig") Sarnoski-directed prequel--or "origin story" if you prefer--to John Krasinksi's two "Quiet Place" movies somehow manages to better its antecedents. Some very good actors (including Alex Wolff, Djimon Housou and Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o) help seal the deal, and it's a suitably creepy, nicely atmospheric kickoff to a potential new horror franchise. I just hope the quality control is better than it was on AMC's "Walking Dead" spin-off which spiraled into rank tedium after a spectacular first season. (B.) https://youtu.be/E-WIb4ATfT8?si=HUr40uMgjtHFcHNL
A SACRIFICE--California social psychologist Ben Monroe (Eric Bana) moves to Berlin, Germany to do research for a new book about cults and group-think. Quicker than you can say "Jonestown," Ben finds himself smack dab in the middle of the story when his visiting 16-year-old daughter Mazzy (Sadie Sink) becomes inextricably drawn to a young man (Jonas Dassler) connected to a death cult (Sophie Rois plays their deceptively serene leader). As Ben and Mazzy slip deeper and deeper inside the rabbit hole, he also makes the fatal mistake of getting romantically involved with a woman (Sylvia Hoeks) who herself has a complicated history with Rois' "Church of Enlightenment." Directed by Jordan Scott (yes, she's Ridley's daughter), this is a slick, good-looking film that's ultimately too intellectually shallow to do its mind control theme justice, and too clumsily written to succeed as a satisfying thriller. (C.)
THE VOURDALAK--The foppish Marquis d'Urfe (Kacey Mottet Klein), an emissary for the King of France, is robbed by hooligans while on a stealth mission in the early 19th century. Seeking a new horse and maybe a hot meal, he winds up on the doorstep of an exceedingly strange family. Pater familias Gorcha is off fighting the Turks, but has warned his extended brood not to let him back inside their domicile if he doesn't return in six days. Because suck-up eldest son Jegor (former Claire Denis muse Gregoire Colin) disobeys dad's orders, they immediately fall prey to the titular vampire. (During his military stint, Gorcha has, er, transitioned into a vampire.) It's left to Gorcha's rebellious daughter (Ariane Labed) and cross-dressing son (Vassili Duburoq) to save the day since the Marquis is pretty much helpless. Adapted from a Alexei Tolstoy novella that preceded Bram Stoker's better-known "Dracula" by fifty years, first-time director Adrien Beau's handsome-looking film was shot on Super 16 mm using all natural lighting. But despite a circumspect 90 minute run time, it quickly wears out its welcome. None of the characters are remotely appealing (Klein is particularly annoying), and it takes forever for the blood-sucking to commence. It might have a limited future as a Midnight Movie cult curio, but only among fanboy types who aren't averse to reading subtitles. (C.)
NOW AVAILABLE IN THEATERS, ON HOME VIDEO AND/OR STREAMING CHANNELS:
BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE--Was there really a crying need for a fourth "Bad Boys" movie? Probably not, but at least Sony had the good sense to re-hire Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, co-directors of 2020's "Bad Boys For Life," the 29-year-old franchise's standout iteration. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence (naturally) reprise their roles as Miami cops Mike and Marcus, this time tasked with clearing their late boss (Joe Pantoliano's Captain Howard) of corruption charges. It's all pretty boilerplate, but El Arbi and Fallah once again manage to make the whole thing go down smoothly enough. And unlike most derriere-numbing studio tentpoles these days, the movie clocks in at a relatively breezy 110 minutes. Another wise choice the directors made was bringing back the threequel's scene-stealing bad guy, Jacob Scipio. (B.)
THE BIKERIDERS--Based on Danny Lyon's 1968 coffee table photography book about a 1960's motorcycle club (The Chicago Outlaws), director Jeff ("Loving," "Take Shelter") Nichols' movie was originally slated for release last December after premiering on the fall festival circuit. But when Fox--who only seems interested in releasing "Avatar" and "Star Wars" sequels since their corporate buyout by Disney--sold distribution rights to Focus Features, it got pushed back to Summer '24. Now opening in a multiplex universe dominated almost exclusively by franchise tentpoles ("Inside Out 2," "Bad Boys: Ride or Die," et al), it feels like a balm. The story of a fictitious biker gang, The Vandals, inspired by the real-life Outlaws, and spanning roughly a decade from the mid-1960's until the mid-'70s, Nichols' movie has a hand-tooled grit and authenticity that automatically sets it apart from most of today's formulaic, assembly line productions. The heart of the film is a love triangle (of sorts) between Vandals leader Johnny (Tom Hardy whose accent sounds like "The Bowery Boys Go British Method"), his James Dean-ish lieutenant Benny ("Elvis" Oscar nominee Austin Butler, suitably smoldering) and Benny's wife Kathy ("Killing Eve" breakout Jodie Comer). Although Nichols deliberately downplays any suggestion of homoeroticism, it's clear that Johnny and Benny are in thrall to each other. After Johnny is murdered by a rival biker, the Vandals increasingly get involved in some unsavory business--including drug-smuggling and even contract killings--that spell imminent doom for the future/legacy of the club as well as its individual members. Speaking of which, the supporting cast is aces. Playing sundry Vandals are such estimable actors as Nichols' longtime muse Michael Shannon (wild card Zipco), Boyd Holbrook (in-house mechanic Cal), Emory Cohen (goofball Cockroach) and Toby Wallace (a surly Milwaukee runaway dubbed "The Kid"). More interested in creating a hang-out "vibe" than telling a conventional narrative, it's curiously evocative of Terrence ("Badlands," "The Tree of Life") Malick's oeuvre. Considering the dearth of dialogue, it would have worked just as well if Nichols had told the story strictly through Kathy/Comer's voiceover narration a la Linda Manz's wraparound v/o in "Days of Heaven." The stunning visuals are courtesy of ace cinematographer Adam Stone (who shot all of Nichols' previous films), and the soundtrack's groovy needle drops feel indebted to "Mean Streets"-era Martin Scorsese. Clocking in at just under two hours, it's the sort of "Pure Cinema" event that could make you fall in love with movies all over again. (A MINUS.)
DOGFIGHT--Nancy Savoca made three wonderful movies with producer/co-writer husband Richard Guay between 1989-'93 then essentially disappeared. In the process, the American cinema lost one of its most singular and distinctive voices. The fact that Savoca is largely unknown today, despite this being an era which purportedly champions female directors, makes her relative obscurity both depressing and infuriating. Fortunately, Criterion is doing their part to help auto-correct that grievous injustice by releasing "Dogfight," Savoca's greatest film, on Blu Ray for the first time. (In a happy coincidence, Kino Lorber just released Savoca's two other masterworks, "True Love" and "Household Saints," on home video as well.) Savoca's only major studio production, "Dogfight" was badly marketed and barely released by Warner Brothers in the fall of 1991. I remember driving three hours round trip to see it when a single Pittsburgh theater finally opened it months after the New York premiere. Part of a sub-genre I like to refer to as the "Doomed Love Love Story"--other exemplars include Elia Kazan's "Splendor in the Grass," Alan J. Pakula's "The Sterile Cuckoo" and John Sayles' "Baby, It's You"--"Dogfight" tells the heart-wrenching story of an impactful San Francisco night shared by an 18-year-old marine (River Phoenix's Eddie Birdlace) ready to be shipped off to Vietnam and waitress/folk singer aspirant Rose (Lili Taylor) in November 1963. After impulsively inviting Rose to be his plus-one at a party (the titular "dogfight") in which the grunt with the ugliest date wins a cash prize, Eddie tries to make amends by taking her on a real date. During the course of their enchanted evening, the two find themselves connecting in ways neither could have ever anticipated. Phoenix, who was on the cusp of officially becoming "The Actor of His Generation" before his untimely death two years later, gives a performance of such aching, lacerating vulnerability that he literally takes your breath away. (Amazingly, Gus Van Sant's "My Own Private Idaho," with an equally remarkable Phoenix performance, opened the same month.) And the mercurial Taylor, in an exquisitely modulated turn, matches her co-star's brilliance every step of the way. Extras include Savoca/Guay's audio commentary recycled from a no-frills 2003 DVD release; "American Psycho"/"I Shot Andy Warhol" director Mary Harron's 32-minute interview with Savoca and Guay; a 2024 featurette in which Guay interviews the film's cinematographer, production designer, script superviser and editors; and an insightful essay, "Love and War," by critic Christina Newland. (A PLUS.)
THE EXORCISM--Russell Crowe plays Anthony Miller, a once celebrated actor whose career hit the skids thanks to substance abuse problems. Hired as a last-minute replacement for the lead in a remake of a famous exorcism movie (guess which one?), Anthony doesn't think twice about accepting the role even though his predecessor purportedly committed suicide on set. When Anthony starts evincing, uh, erratic behavior, the film's "spiritual consultant" (David Hyde Pierce, a long way from "Frasier") suspects that the demon Moloch may be possessing him. First-time director Joshua John Miller--whose dad, Jason, played Father Karras in William Friedkin's "The Exorcist"--may know a thing or two about Catholic priests battling evil, but he clearly has no idea how to make a movie. Miller can't seem to decide whether he's making a meta showbiz roman a clef or simply a generic horror flick. Accordingly, he fails on both counts. Crowe, who played another exorcising priest in last year's slightly more tolerable "The Pope's Exorcist," clearly needs to find a new agent. (D PLUS.)
THE FALL GUY--After a work-related injury that nearly cost him his life, stunt man Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) reluctantly goes back to work as the stunt double for Tom Cruise-y superstar Tom Ryder's new action blockbuster, "Metal Storm." The fact that "Storm" is also the directing debut of the ex (Emily Blunt's Jody Moreno) Colt still pines for also factors into his decision to accept the gig. But when Tom (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) mysteriously disappears in the middle of the shoot (some shady mobsters are involved), Jody tasks Colt with helping locate her MIA lead actor. A glossy, big-screen spin-off of the long-running 1980's Lee Major tube series, director/former stunt man David ("Bullet Train," "Deadpool 2") Leitch's film has pacing problems, especially in the first half, and is maybe a half hour too long. But Gosling and Blunt evince beaucoup chemistry and their rom-com screwball banter helps you get over some rough patches. As Jody's conniving producer, Hannah ("Ted Lasso") Waddingham steals every scene she's in. (B.)
FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA--The first "Mad Max" movie without a Max, Australian visionary George Miller's follow-up to 2015's Oscar-winning "Fury Road" is an origin story for Imperator Furiosa, the one-armed rig driver introduced in that film and memorably incarnated by Charlize Theon. Spanning 15 formative years in the eventful life of Furiosa--played alternately by Ayla Browne and "Queen's Gambit" breakout Anya Taylor-Joy--and divided into five chapters, it's more interested in (occasionally labored) world-building than mind-blowing action setpieces. Evolving from a gender-bending orphan into a hellion of Max-ian proportions, Furiosa ultmately finds her loyalty split between dueling post-apocalyptic underworld leaders Dr. Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) and Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme). At two-and-a-half hours, it's the longest entry in the 45-year-old franchise, as well as the first to incorporate more VFX than practical effects. Not surprisingly, it feels more like a Marvel movie at times than any of Miller's previous (and better) MM actioners. (B.)
THE GARFIELD MOVIE--This cookie-cutter CGI 'toon based on Jim Davis' long-running comic strip seems to exist solely to give the already overexposed Chris Pratt another potential movie franchise. After reuniting with his wastrel alley cat dad Vic (Samuel L. Jackson), lasagna-loving Garfield (Pratt) and beagle BFF Odie (Harvey Gillen) are suckered into joining Vic in the heist of 1,000 gallons of milk from a
dairy farm. Naturally things end badly--but not as humorously as intended--for all involved. While Garfield survived two middling live-action/animation hybrids in the early aughts (Bill Murray provided sardonic vocal duties for the titular kitty), the latest incarnation just might close the chapter on any future big-screen outings. With Nicholas Hoult as Jon, Garfield's long-suffering human, and Snoop Dogg as "Snoop Cat" (that casting marks the quintessence of wit here), it's a movie only the youngest, least sophisticated viewers will embrace. (C MINUS,)
IF--Venturing beyond his hugely successful "Quiet Place" sci-fi-ers--a third entry is due this summer--director John Krasinski gives family fare a try with this only fitfully charming fantasy flick. After developing a superpower that allows her to see imaginary friends abandoned by their human pals after growing up, Tweener Bea (Cailey Fleming, best known as Judith from AMC's "The Walking Dead') makes it her mission to reunite everyone. While the movie's piece de resistance is the A-list cast tasked with providing the friends' voices (including Steve Carell, Matt Damon, Bradley Cooper, Emily Blunt, Sam Rockwell, Amy Schumer and George Clooney), all that star wattage ultimately overwhelms the movie's precious conceit. I was reminded of the sort of all-ages-friendly films churned out by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Productions back in the '80s. Unfortunately, it's closer to the deservedly forgotten "Harry and the Hendersons" and "Batteries Not Included" than classics like "Gremlins" or "Back to the Future." (C.)
INSIDE OUT 2--A "pretty much what you expected" sequel that picks up two years after the events of the Oscar-winning 2015 Pixar 'toon with Riley (Kensington Tallman) confronted with brand new emotions to contend with (Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment, Nostalgia and Ennui voiced by Maya Hawke, Ayo Edebiri, Paul Walter Hauser, June Squib and Adele Exarchopoulas respectively). All the old emotions that previously roiled now-tweener Riley are present and accounted for, too--Joy, Envy, Disgust, Fear, et al--along with her well-intentioned if rather feckless parents (Diane Lane and Kyle MacLachlan reprising their duties from the first film). The CGI animation is once again lovely and it's all very benign, but first-time director Kelsey Mann's film is also yawningly, depressingly predictable. As a minority voice who found the original a tad overrated (earlier Pixar movies like "Up, "Wall-E," "Finding Nemo" or any of the "Toy Story" iterations are all infinitely superior), I thought it was just O.K. Fans of the earlier film will almost surely disagree, though. (C PLUS.)
KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES--The fourth entry in the rebooted franchise that launched with 2011's "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" ("Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" and "War of the Planet Apes" followed in 2014 and '17) picks up 300 years after the last movie. With apes now the dominant species--and humans regressing to near-primitive levels--the "Kingdom" is ruled by Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand) who repurposes ancient human weapons to enslave his fellow simians. Deeply alarmed by this perversion of the original Caesar's teachings, sensitive chimp Noa (Owen Teague) teams up with human Mae (Freya Allan) to take down Proximus' tyrannic regime. Directed by Wes Bell who cut his teeth on the "Maze Runner" trilogy, it's the first of the new breed of "Apes" films where you almost take for granted Weta FX's ground-breaking motion-capture CGI. Like 2022's "Avatar: The Way of Water," it's an indisputably dazzling technical achievement that ultimately feels a tad undernourished dramatically. (B.)
QUERELLE--The remarkably prolific German New Wave wunderkind Rainer Werner Fassbinder died in June 1982 shortly after finishing "Querelle," and when it opened in theaters the following year reviews were generally dismissive. Even New York Times critic Vincent Canby who did more than anyone to "break" Fassbinder in America found the movie disappointing. Or maybe it was simply because the (largely) heterosexual bloc of American film critics at the time failed to appreciate Fassbinder's swan song for what it was: the most luxuriously stylized evocation of Gay Sensibility ever seen in a major movie. Along with Fellini's "Satyricon," it was (and remains) pretty much the gayest film ever made: a veritable Disneyland of queerness. Luxuriating in Fassbinder's deliberately artificial mise-en-scene is like taking a hit of amyl nitrate on the dance floor at Manhattan's fabled Crisco Disco in the pre-AIDS era. Although adapted from a novel by Jean Genet, the film seems even more beholden to the homoerotic artwork of Tom of Finland. As the titular sailor, Brad ("Midnight Express") Davis practically oozes sexuality, strutting his fine self into Feria, a Brest bar/brothel run by the imperious Madame Lysiane (Nouvelle Vague diva Jeanne Moreau). In short order, Querelle gets involved in an opium deal with Lysiane's husband (Gunther Kaufmann's Nono) that climaxes with the killing of his criminal cohort. Lusted after by everyone he crosses paths with, especially his superior officer, Lieutenant Seblon (Franco Nero), Querelle is a veritable walking and talking phallus. While the film ends tragically, it's also deeply, ironically funny. (Shades of Fassbinder creative muse Douglas Sirk's gloriously overheated 1950's Hollywood melodramas.) Would the New Queer Cinema that emerged a decade later have ever taken root without Fassbinder's posthumous masterpiece? Maybe, maybe not. Both Todd ("Poison") Haynes and Gregg ("The Living End") Araki have cited the film as a key influence on their early work. What can't be disputed is that Fassbinder--who died at age 37 after having directed over 40 films, 24 plays (most of which he wrote) and three television miniseries (including his magnum opus, 1980's "Berlin Alexanderplatz")--remains, along with Jean-Luc Godard, the most compelling, provocative and singular European filmmaking voice to emerge in the post-WW II era. Extras on the new Criterion Collection Blu-Ray include an interview with Museum of the Moving Image editorial director (and Queer Cinema scholar) Michael Koresky; Wolf German's 1982 documentary, "Rainer Werner Fassbinder: Last Works;" and a compelling, appreciative essay by critic Nathan Lee. (A.)
THELMA--After getting fleeced of $10,000 by someone claiming to be her grandson, Thelma (94-year-old June Squibb) decides to get even. Partnering with her late husband's best friend (the late Richard Roundtree in his final screen role) on matching electric wheelchairs, Thelma "borrows" a gun from and they hightail it to the p.o. box where she sent the cash. The phone scammer, who turns out to be a failing antique shop owner (former Kubrickian droog Malcolm McDowell), winds up being relatively easy prey for the feisty Thelma. Writer/director Josh Margolin based his protagonist on his own 103-year-old grandmother--the real-life Thelma makes an appearance during a charming end credits sequence--and the movie is clearly a labor of love for all concerned. But what could have been merely a cutesy, condescending big-screen sitcom about old people saying--and doing--the darndest things is instead infused with palpable affection for all its characters and happily buoyed by the behavioral charms of its wonderful ensemble cast. Besides Squib, Roundtree and McDowell, there are nice supporting turns by Parker Posey and Clark Cregg as, respectively, Thelma's daughter and son-in-law. The film's stealth MVP, though, is "White Lotus" Season 1 standout Fred Hechinger as Thelma's doting grandson, Daniel. Hechinger takes a role that could have been played strictly for lazy Gen-Z jokes and somehow manages to make Daniel enormously appealing (you really believe this overgrown kid loves his grandma) and even deeply touching. It's a sweetheart of a movie that deserves to become one of the summer's key box office sleepers. (A MINUS.)
THREE REVOLUTIONARY FILMS BY OUSMANE SEMBENE--Unlike most Third World films of the 1960-70's which were unrelievedly grim and barely disguised Marxist tracts (e.g.,"The Hour of the Furnaces" by Argentinean directors Octavio Gettino and Fernando Solanas), the works of Senegal's Ousmane Sembene were often warm, funny and satirical. Although Senegal--a former French colony which won its independence in 1960--has a population of just four million, it produced the most important movies of Black Africa, notably those of Sembene, the continent's best-known filmmaker.
Three of Sembene's finest, most controversial and politically incendiary films ("Emitai," 1971; "Xala," 1975; and "Ceddo," 1977) have just been released in a Criterion Collection box set. For fans and initiates alike, it's a cause for celebration in helping boost the profile of World Cinema. Sembene, the unofficial "Godfather of African Cinema," has finally received his due.
Set during World War II, "Emitai" depicts the clash between native Senegalese and French troops over forcible conscription, heavy taxation and dwindling rice supplies. Although it won prizes in the former Soviet Union (Sembene studied filmmaking in Moscow and briefly worked at Gorki film studios in the early 1960's), the movie provoked considerable resentment in France where it was deemed "politically objectionable."
Spoken in French and Wolof, Senegal's native language, "Xala" (roughly translated as "the curse of impotence") uses the story of an aging businessman (Thierno Leye's El Hadji) unable to consummate his third polygamous marriage for an expose of the nation's ruling class whose members have eagerly embraced the culture of their white colonial predecessors/oppressors. Although it's easy to laugh at El Hadji's absurd Europeanization (always speaking French, drinking Evian water and driving a Mercedes), we ultimately grow to sympathize with his ultimate downfall at the hands of others who are even more corrupt.
The East-West clash of cultures also figure prominently in "Ceddo" which depicts a Senegalese village sometime between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as a heady microcosm of African political and social history. Set against the backdrop of an outsider community with animist beliefs, the narrative kicks into gear after the king dictates that everyone must convert to Islam. As retaliation, the king's daughter (Tabara Ndiaye) is kidnapped, triggering a series of cataclysmic, history-altering events.
The Criterion set includes 4K digital restorations of all three titles; a dialogue between African Film Festival founder/executive director Mahen Bonetti and writer Amy Sall; Paulin Soumanou Vierya's 1981 documentary, "The Making of 'Ceddo;'" and a thoughtful essay by New York-based writer and film programmer Yasmina Price. (A.)
TO DIE FOR--Released at the apotheosis of the American obsession with tabloid culture--and a year after O.J. Simpson became the most famous man in the world thanks to his Bronco freeway chase and Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers" topped the box office charts--Gus Van Sant's gleefully amoral 1995 black comedy immediately catapulted Nicole Kidman to the top ranks of working actors. As Suzanne Stone, a TV weather girl with oversized ambitions and zero conscience, Kidman is alternately laugh-out-loud funny and utterly terrifying. Married to a nice guy (Matt Dillon's Larry) whose presence in her life has become increasingly extraneous, Suzanne somehow manages to seduce a trio of teenage stoners into killing him. Naturally her perfectly calibrated machinations ultimately self-destruct--what do you expect from high school potheads?--and Van Sant takes inordinate delight in watching his anti-heroine stew in her own malice. Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck and Alison Folland play the luckless kids Suzanne ropes into her scheme and match Kidman every step of the way. (Trivia note: Phoenix and Affleck would both go on to win Best Actor Oscars for "Joker" and "Manchester by the Sea" respectively.) Co-written by Buck ("The Graduate") Henry and Joyce Manard whose novel the film was based on, "To Die For" spun the real-life Pamela Smart case in which a New Hampshire teacher coerced four students into murdering her husband into one of the defining American movies of the decade. The newly released Criterion Collection 4-K Blu-Ray lacks the usual plethora of Criterion extras (there's an audio commentary with Van Sant, cinematographer Eric Alan Edwards and editor Curtis Clayton, a handful of deleted scenes and an essay by Berlin-based critic Jessica Kiang), but the film itself is the real star. It'll make a great future double bill with Todd Haynes' "May/December." (A.)
THE WATCHERS--Stranded in the middle of an Irish forest after her rental car breaks down, visiting American artist Mina (Dakota Fanning) finds shelter with a visibly spooked group led by the enigmatic Madeline (Olwen Fouere). Sequestered in a concrete bunker ("The Coop"), Mina, Madeline, Ciara (Georgina Campbell) and Daniel (Oliver Finnegan) are observed each night by fearsome creatures who treat them like human pets. Although based on A.M. Shine's best-selling novel, it also has a lot in common with the recent dystopian nail-biter, "Arcadian." Like the characters in that April sleeper, daytime hours for humans are relatively tranquil. But when the sun comes down, they're easy prey for otherworldly monsters. Can Mina help her new friends escape? Or are they trapped to remain in their limbo-land forever? The first film by Ishana Shyamalan (yes, she's "The Sixth Sense" director M. Night's daughter), this is a reasonably diverting debut effort with some decent performances and nice atmospherics. But like some of Shyamalan pere's recent outings, Ishana doesn't quite nail the ending. (C PLUS.)
---Milan Paurich
