ANSELM--If the late Rainer Werner Fassbinder was the "Father" of the German New Wave's Holy Trinity and mystic visionary Werner Herzog the "Holy Ghost," then Wim ("Wings of Desire," "Paris, Texas") Wenders should rightfully be designated the "Son." Having observed firsthand Germany's postwar "Economic Miracle"--largely fueled by American capitalism and technology--it's no wonder he became the most America-obsessed of the filmmaking trio. That economic dominance inadvertently produced a form of cultural imperialism which conveniently erased Germany's Nazi past. According to Wenders, "the need to forget 20 years created a hole, and people tried to cover this up by assimilating American culture." Ironically, the subject of Wenders' latest documentary, painter/sculptor Anselm Kiefer, made his career out of a personal reckoning with German history, including the Holocaust and Nazis. His first major work, 1969's controversial action piece "Heroic Figures," was a series of photographs in which Kiefer (ironically) gives the Nazi salute. Mortality, permanence, being and nothingness have been major themes throughout the 79-year-old Kiefer's remarkably prolific career. (An abandoned French airplane hangar was the only place large enough to house a lifetime of work.) "Anselm" isn't a conventional "Great Artist" documentary in which the arc of a subject's life is relayed through reams of archival footage and admiring talking-heads interviews with colleagues, friends and family members. Instead of an air-brushed biographical sketch, Wenders' film is instead the study of a man told almost exclusively through his art. With its free-form blending of animation, re-enactments of Kiefer's past (Wenders' great nephew, Anton, plays Kiefer as a boy; Kiefer's own son, Daniel, portrays him as a young man) and Kiefer's poetic, frequently political, occasionally rambling musings on his life, art/work and times, Wenders' portrait of the man emerges. Shot in 6K resolution, cinematographer Franz Lustig's mobile, floating-in-space 3-D imagery achieves a remarkably tactile effect: it's immersive in every sense of the word. The Janus Contemporaries new Blu-Ray set includes both 3-D and 2-D versions of the film, as well as an interview with Wenders and the theatrical trailer. 

(A MINUS.) https://youtu.be/JYb4wDJKpsQ?si=tl9UqqSBFYw9qyzf
 

CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC--Until seeing mega producer Allan ("Grease") Carr's 1980 Village People musical, I used to think "camp"--in the gay, Susan Sontag definition of the term--could only succeed if it was wholly unintentional. ("Valley of the Dolls" and "Mommie Dearest" qualify as sublime camp because directors Mark Robson and Frank Perry actually thought they were making serious movies.) But "Can't Stop the Music" takes deliberate, ostentatious camp to such dizzyingly kitsch dimensions that it qualifies as a bona fide classic in the "so bad it's great" annals of film history. Despite being released with a massive promotional campaign (Carr's premiere parties were legendary), this delirious explosion of Queerness was in and out of theaters so fast you'd have sworn that it had cooties. For decades, it was a movie that seemed to exist only in rumors ("Someone actually made a Village People movie?") because it was so notoriously difficult to see in the pre-home video era. Inexplicably helmed by former Bounty paper towel pitch woman Nancy Walker despite her dearth of directing credits ("Music" was Walker's feature debut), the movie kicks off with a bang: a truly sensational opening number scored to David London's infectious "Sound of the City" with Steve Guttenberg's aspiring songwriter/club DJ Jack Morell (think V.P. mentor Jacques Morali who co-produced with Carr) sashaying through the streets of Manhattan on roller skates. With the help of his foxy ex-model roommate ("Lenny" Oscar nominee Valerie Perrine) and an uptight tax attorney (former Olympian Bruce Jenner decades before he transitioned to "Caitlyn"), Jack eventually puts together a "super group" comprised of every gay stereotype under the sun (cowboy; leatherman; construction worker; etc.) to sell his songs. Everybody in the film--except Jenner who seems gobsmacked to be in an actual movie--appears to be on the wink-wink "camp wavelength" including Tammy Grimes, Paul Sand, Marilyn Sokol (in the Eve Arden "best friend" role) and Gypsy Rose Lee's kid sister, June Havoc. The Village People themselves have few precious lines of dialogue between them (good thing, too, since clearly none of them were actors), but give it their all in the "Gotta Sing! Gotta Dance!" Busby Berkeley-influenced production numbers of iconic V.P. tunes like "Y.M.C.A." and "Macho Man." Seen today, Carr's unabashed celebration of gaydom has an unmistakably poignant undercurrent since it prefaced the outbreak of the AIDS virus which would erupt the following year. KL Studio Classics' 4k Ultra HD Blu Ray includes two audio commentary tracks, one with critic/historian Lee Gambin and Village People authority DJ Maynard, the other featuring "The Fabulous Allan Carr" director Jeffrey Schwarz and Bruce Vilanch; an interview with original V.P. cowboy Randy Jones (!); and the 1980 theatrical/TV spots. (A.)   https://youtu.be/6Gk1mIef5iQ?si=XNIxn_JPYcP47uDH

DEADPOOL AND WOLVERINE--Probably the most critic-proof movie of the year, this rambunctious "R"-rated pairing of Marvel titans Deadpool and Wolverine should have no trouble ruling the box office roost for the rest of the summer. Besides being catnip for fanboys/girls, it's also surprisingly decent lowbrow fun for anyone with a nihilisic sense of humor and a tolerance for ultra-violence. Deadpool/Wade Wilson Ryan Reynolds' re-teaming with his "Free Guy" director Shawn Levy proves fortuitous since they once again bring out the best in each other, and Jackman's chronically dyspeptic Wolverine just seems happy to be along for the ride. (B.)
https://youtu.be/Idh8n5XuYIA?si=m7307w0rrEWT-nCd

THE FABULOUS FOUR--A destination wedding in Key West is the occasion for a reunion of college pals in Australian director Jocelyn ("Muriel's Wedding," "The Dressmaker") Moorhouse's better-than-average "old broads cracking raunchy/wise" ensemble comedy starring Bette Midler as the bride and Susan Sarandon, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Megan Mullally as her bridesmaids. Compared with some of Diane Keaton's recent geriatric big-screen sitcoms (I'm looking at you, "Summer Camp"), it's practically Restoration Comedy. Much of the credit belongs to the gifted Moorhouse whose career I've been tracking since her 1992 breakout "Proof" which afforded Russell  Crowe one of his best pre-Hollywood roles. While it's not appreciably better than something you might find channel-surfing on cable, at least it doesn't insult your intelligence or, most importantly, condescend to its underserved AARP audience. (C PLUS.)  https://youtu.be/8GsJUsmuvK4?si=NU4G-_Tf7q-8bNfe

FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE--Chen ("The Emperor and the Assassin," "Life on a String") Kaige's 1993 arthouse smash has always felt like the movie David Lean could have made if he'd elected to follow "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Dr. Zhivago" with a Chinese-language historical romance. Despite being the first Asian film to win Cannes' Palme d'Or where it shared top honors with Jane Campion's "The Piano," 16 minutes were chopped off the original 171-minute run time by Miramax major domo Harvey "Scissorhands" Weinstein prior to the U.S. release. Finally restored to the "Cannes Cut," Criterion Collection's gorgeous new 4K Blu Ray rendering is a cause for rejoice in all self-respecting cinephile households. Along with Zhang ("Raise the Red Lantern," "Shanghai Triad") Yimou, Chen was one of the leading lights of China's "Fifth Generation" of filmmakers. A member of Mao's army in his youth, Chen frequently referred to "Concubine" as his official mea culpa for having publicly denounced his own father at the time. Spanning fifty tunultous years, this glorious old-fashioned epic--with staggering Technicolor vistas courtesy of director of photography Gu Changwei--boldly uses the wide-screen format to tell a surprisingly intimate story about the lifelong friendship between two wildly disparate orphans (brawny Duan Xiaolou and androgynous Cheng Dieyi) apprenticed to the Beijing Opera as children. During the '40s Japanese occupation, the duo makes the acquaintance of House of Blossoms' courtesan Juxian (Yimou muse Gong Li), inaugurating a love triangle which creates an irreconcilable rift between Xiaolou (Zhang Fengyi) and Dieyi (best known for his starring roles in John Woo's "A Better Tomorrow" and Wong Kar-Wai's swoon-worthy gay romance, "Happy Together") who still harbors an unrequited crush on his boyhood pal. The movie heartbreakingly climaxes in the aftermath of Mao's Cultural Revolution when loyalties, and even love, were crushed by government-mandated political dogma. The Criterion disc includes a new conversation between Chinese cultural studies scholar Michael Berry and producer Janet Yang; a 2003 documentary about the making of the film; Chen's 1993 American television interview with Charlie Rose; and an essay by author/scholar Pauline Chen. (A.)  https://youtu.be/FFiHfDBt9lE?si=4jO4cqGMOVSdWrgq

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.)      

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.)   

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.)    

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.)      

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.)    

TWISTERS--Five years after a twister killed her boyfriend, New York meteorologist Kate Cooper (Daisy Edgar-Jones from 2022 sleeper "Where the Crawdads Sing") is reluctantly dragged back into the world of storm-chasing by former colleague Javi ("In the Heights" star Anthony Ramos). Almost immediately, Kate strikes romantic sparks with "Tornado Wrangler" Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), a cocky social media sensation whose biggest fan is himself. This standalone "legacy sequel" to Jan de Bont's 1996 blockbuster is a somewhat unlikely follow-up to director Lee Isaac Chung's previous film, lo-fi indie--and 2020 Best Picture nominee--"Minari." Fortunately, Chung manages to bring some of the humanist tropes from his Korean immigrant saga to the world of I.P. tentpoles. Edgar-Jones and blast of charisma Powell are predictably solid, and there's nice support from "Nope" breakout Brandon Perea and Sasha ("American Honey") Lane as members of Tyler's thrill-seeking crew. The state-of-the-art CGI easily surpasses the FX work from the earlier film, but the "wow factor" has been seriously dampened by the plethora of You Tube videos of actual tornados we've been inundated with over the past 28 years. Yes, global warming is real. (B MINUS.)     

---Milan Paurich