NEW THIS WEEK JULY 12, 2024 (IN THEATERS AND ON HOME VIDEO)
NEW THIS WEEK IN THEATERS, HOME VIDEO AND/OR VOD:
DANDELION--KiKi ("If Beale Street Could Talk") Layne's beautifully layered performance as the titular Cincinnati troubadour is the standout attraction of director Nicole (2020 Spirit nominee "Holler") Riegel's otherwise fairly standard-issue American indie. Fearing that her time for either making it (or not) in the music business is soon running out, thirtysomething Dandelion impulsively heads for a combination biker rally/music showcase (who knew?) in South Dakota. Almost immediately upon arrival she meets kindred soul Casey (Thom Doherty), a guitarist/songwriter who's been out of the game for a few years. While collaborating on some new songs, romance blooms, giving Riegel the chance to incorporate some very Terrence Malick-y montages of Dandelion and Casey walking through scenic Plains landscapes. Sort of a Yank variant to John ("Once," "Sing Street") Carney's music-saturated love stories, Riegel's film goes down easy without being particularly memorable or even all that distinctive. For the record: Dandelion's (very good) songs were written by The National's Aaron and Bryce Dessner. (B MINUS.)
https://youtu.be/8TZqVMA-8Yo?si=YwhM8e3QtS7e1WOb
FLY ME TO THE MOON--In early 1969, White House apparatchik Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson) recruits Madison Avenue marketing whiz Kelly James (Scarlett Johansson) to help NASA sell Apollo 11's impending moon landing to an increasingly apathetic America. It's Kelly who brainstorms the idea of engineering a studio-lensed fake ("Project Artemis") in case the real Apollo mission fails. Complicating Kelly's hush-hush agenda is her growing attraction to straight-arrow NASA launch director Cole Davis (Channing Tatum). Greg ("Love, Simon," "The Broken Hearts Club") Berlanti's defiantly old-fashioned rom-com is a movie that will probably work best for audiences unfamiliar with its Golden Age Hollywood predecessors (e.g., the films of Frank Capra and Preston Sturges). As competent a job as Berlanti does, his direction sorely lacks the snap, crackle and pop panache to pull it off. Perhaps only the Steven Spielberg of 2002's "Catch Me if You Can," another movie that mix-and-matched Capra-corn idealism and Sturges snark, could have pulled it off. And as "Movie Star"-charming as Johansson and Tatum are, they're clearly not Gary Cooper and Rosalind Russell. The frequently doddering 132-minute run time doesn't help; instead of soaring to the stars (or moon), it remains persistently, stubbornly earthbound. (C.)
LONGLEGS--Creepy as hell, Osgood ("Gretel and Hansel," "The Blackcoat's Daughter") Perkins' serial killer procedural gives Nicolas Cage his best screen role since 2021's "Pig" as a psychopathic dollmaker (think a demonic Tiny Tim minus the ukele) targeting families with young daughters born on the 14th of the month. Fortunately fledgling FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe from "It Follows" and "Watcher," terrific) is hot on the case, using her psychic abilities to help crack the case. Cinematographer Andres Arochi's stunning imagery--he ingeniously uses analog 16 mm for the intermittent flashback sequences--contributes immeasurably to the freak-out vibe Perkins is clearly grooving on. It's one of those increasingly rare contemporary horror films with the uncanny, insidious ability to take up unwanted residence in your subconscious. (B PLUS.)
PROJECT SILENCE--A Seoul bridge is the principal setting for director Kim Tae Gon's modestly effective Korean disaster flick. While driving his tween daughter, Kyeong-min (Kim Su An), to the airport--she's flying to Australia to study music--widower Jung-won (Lee Sun-Kyun from "Parasite") gets trapped in a miles-long traffic jam precipitated by a freakish highway accident. Making a bad situation even worse are the "Echoes" (cloned killer dogs created in lab experiment Project Silence to fight in any potential future war) who somehow manage to escape from a van stalled on the bridge. With the help of a mercenary tow truck driver (Ju Ji Hoon), Jung-won hatches a plot to rescue himself, Kyeong-min and sundry other stranded folk (including an elderly couple and the crackpot scientist who hatched Project Silence) before the bridge collapses or they're all eaten alive by the feral dogs. Clocking in at a svelte 91 minutes before end credits, Kim's movie suffices as an entertaining summer popcorn movie until the inevitable Hollywood remake which will probably, sigh, run a good deal longer. (B.)
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.)
DESPICABLE ME 4--Gru (Steve Carrel) and wife Lucy (Kristen Wiig) have a new baby--Gru Jr.; what else?--in the fourth official entry in Illumination Animation's all-ages-friendly franchise that kicked off in 2010. Chris Renaud, who helmed the first two movies, returns to the director's chair and it's all pretty much business as usual. After being targeted for extermination by his adolescent arch nemesis (Will Ferrell's Maxine Le Mal), the Anti-Villain League puts Gru and family into their Witness Protection Program. Subplots include Gru's unwanted new tweener protege (Netflix poster girl Joey King), a heist involving some nasty honey badgers (don't ask) and the Minions being turned into Minion Mutants. It's all so busy and episodic that the whole thing feels more like a collection of loosely connected shorts than a cohesive feature. Per usual, the Minions are the standouts, once again proving better in support than they are headlining their own middling standalone vehicles. (C PLUS.)
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.)
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.)
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.)
MAXXXINE--The concluding chapter of the groovy Ti West trilogy that began in 2022 with "X" and "Pearl," this is also an official sequel to the first movie. ("Pearl," set in 1918, was a prequel to "X.") If all that sounds confusing, you're probably not the target audience anyway. For fans of the earlier films, though, it's decadent fun. Maxine (Mia Goth, terrific as usual), the sole survivor of "The Texas Porn Shoot Massacre" from "X," is now a bona-fide adult film actress living in 1985 Los Angeles who dreams of crossover/ mainstream stardom. After landing the starring role in a B-horror flick ("The Puritan II") helmed by British diva Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debicki), Maxine finds herself being stalked by the serial killer--inspired by L.A.'s real-life 1980's Night Stalker--currently terrorizing the city. Costarring Kevin Bacon as a private eye with sinister motives and Bobby Cannavale and Michelle Monaghan (amusing as a pair of LAPD detectives), it also serves as West's mainstream breakthrough, too. A "B" movie with "A" movie ideas about Hollywood's epidemic (mis)treatment of women throughout cinema history, "Maxxxine" proves that he's definitely ready for the Big Leagues. (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.)
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.)
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.)
---Milan Paurich
