Category Archives: New In Theaters

Reviews of what’s out now

New In Theaters

Crushed

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Obsession

by Hope Madden & George Wolf

Obsession is a film about consent.

Filmmaker Curry Barker made waves in 2024 with his free YouTube feature Milk & Serial, which you should watch if you have not. Made on a shoestring, the spare chiller is immensely impressive. His second feature shows what he can do with just a little bit more budget.

Barker writes a fresh and relevant take on the “deadly wish” fable. Sad boy Bear (Michael Johnston) can’t bring himself to confess his feelings for co-worker Nikki (Inde Navarrette). He’s so desperate after one cringy missed chance that he breaks open a One Wish Willow he’d purchased as a joke and—without reading any of the warnings printed all over the box—wishes that she would love him more than anyone else on earth.

And she does.

The themes Barker mines are incredibly of-the-moment. Bear wants what he wants, but he wants it to be true. It isn’t, but that’s not good enough. Make it be true. But you can’t make something be true if it isn’t true, no matter how sad the boy is who wants it. Male entitlement masquerading as loneliness leads to violently self-centered behavior. Barker’s story, however jump-scary or genre friendly it becomes, never forgets this central, relevant concept.

Navarrette is especially impressive, able to carve out a recognizable, realistic character quickly so you notice the changes. Johnston, also excellent, naturally unveils the selfish center of the “nice guy.”

Solid support work from Cooper Tomlinson and Megan Lawless root the fantasy in believable reality. The performances and dialog feel very authentic for this generation, and Barker settles us in to this familiar premise before making his pivot at just the right moment.

The third act not only ups the horror quotient, it draws Bear’s bargain with the sinister edges it deserves and begins a march toward a violent and satisfying payoff.

Barker has a bigger, more expansive canvas here, but his storytelling instincts remain impressively hungry. The film is atmospheric but never overstuffed, with a small group of well defined central characters delivering a clear, concise message of prices to be paid.

Reality can carry a sobering bias. Obsession is bloody reminder that no amount of spin can change the dangers that come from making desperate, narcissistic bargains with the future.

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New In Theaters

To Sheep With Anger

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The Sheep Detectives

by George Wolf

I was expecting to enjoy The Sheep Detectives. And I did, but for reasons I hadn’t prepared for.

What seemed like a silly showcase for sleuthing sheep in a droll knockoff of the whodunnit formula also turns out to be warm, human and downright touching.

Shepherd George Hardy (Hugh Jackman) tends his flock with loving care in the quaint English village of Denbrook. He also reads the animals mystery stories in the evening. So when George turns up dead and the bumbling Officer Derry (Nicholas Braun) is ready to rule “heart attack,” woolly suspicions erupt.

This was murder! And the sheep are going follow the lead of their “night stories” to guide these dimwitted humans toward the evidence that will root out the guilty party.

Director Kyle Balda (Minions, Despicable Me 3) and writer Craig Mazin adapt Leonie Swann’s novel “Three Bags Full” with tenderness, wit, and a big assist from pristine production design and the CGI department’s wonderfully rendered talking animals.

Mazin’s resume runs the gamut from the Chernobyl series to The Hangover franchise, so the warm fuzzies here are another welcome surprise. The humor is more amusing than LOL, but the stellar cast of bodies (including Emma Thompson, Hong Chau, and Molly Gordon) and voices (Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Sir Patrick Stewart, Regina Hall and Bryan Cranston) work together in landing every opportunity for mirth, mystery and meaning.

The film’s foray into darker themes earns the PG-rating, but there is fertile ground here for all-ages family bonding over lessons on kindness, belonging, and loss. You might come for the funny talking sheep, but you can expect to be thoroughly delighted by the mix of Knives Out and Charlotte’s Web that was hiding in plain sight.

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Toasty!

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Mortal Kombat II

by Hope Madden

I went into 2021’s Mortal Kombat with the lowest possible expectations. Maybe that’s why I liked it so much. It was dumb. So dumb! But director Simon McQuoid made excellent use of that R rating, there were some real laughs thanks to one character, and more than enough goretastic violence to make up for a lot.  

We lost Hiroyuki Sanada in the first installment, though, which left the franchise with no actors. Who can act, I mean. So, McQuoid, returning for Mortal Kombat II, relies on the ever-reliable Karl Urban to punch things up.

Urban is Johnny F. Cage, washed up 90s action hero (tipped hair and all!). And he’s not interested when the elder gods come calling. Tournament to the death? Dude, he’s got stunt guys for that!

There’s also a necromancer, which means more returning cast than you might expect. This is sometimes a really good thing.

And there’s not that much plot to slog through between the lightning bolts and blood spatter. What’s there involves a subjugated princess (Adeline Rudolph), a very big dude bent on inter-realm domination (Martyn Ford), a Thunder God who oversees warriors of the Earthrealm (Tadanobu Asano), said warriors (Jessica McNamee, Mehcad Brooks, Ludi Lin, Lewis Tan), a washed-up action hero, an amulet, very toothy people, and a bunch of battles to the death.

Less time is spent this go-round on the super meaningful weighty drama of each back story, leaving more time for bloody fisticuffs and what not. These fight sequences lack a lot of the zest for violence and fatalities of McQuoid’s first film, but the Cage foolishness helps to pull the film back from its several brinks of tediousness.

It’s a full 2-hour runtime, just like last time, which is still wildly unnecessary. But casting the fool as the hero helps engagement, especially when the necromancer (Reggie Herriman) starts bringing back the fun guys.

Is Mortal Kombat II as dumb as the first? Almost. Is it as fun? Not quite. But as a bloody, lightningy time waster, it’s A-OK. B-OK. It’s B-OK.

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Fashion Comeback

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The Devil Wears Prada 2

by Hope Madden

It has been 20 years since Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) learned how to dress. And now, after two decades of award-winning investigative work, she’s back at Runway Magazine thanks to the death of journalism.

What makes her think print magazines aren’t also mortally wounded?

The Devil Wears Prada 2 is essentially a mash note to all things analog. Can Andy and the gang save this fashion icon through sheer determination, journalistic integrity and fashion sense?

Hathaway’s co-stars return: Emily Blunt as the irascible Emily, Stanley Tucci as the warm yet caustic Nigel, and Meryl Streep as the formidable Miranda Priestly. Also returning: impeccable costuming, gorgeous locations and glamour. And quips, acerbic remarks, and fish-out-of-water humor. Amanda Priestly flying coach?! Bon dieu!

Yes, Miranda’s lost a bit of her bite. She’s even hanging up her own coat now, thanks to the ever-present HR checklist (a fairly funny gag during staff meetings). No, the real villain in TDWP2 is the soulless maw of progress, personified by the CEO’s son (B.J. Novak) and Emily’s billionaire boyfriend (Justin Theroux). And fast fashion.

While Blunt, Tucci and Streep slip easily back into the old skin, it’s tough to believe Hathaway’s Andy, after years of global investigative journalism, hasn’t developed a thicker skin. Indeed, Andy’s well-intentioned naivete causes as many problems this go-round as it did in 2006.

But that’s the point, right? Update context to the degree necessary but play the hits. Returning director David Frankel and screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna understand the assignment.

The stakes never feel as high as they should, the resolution is a telegraphed fantasy, and it’s less fun seeing Miranda Priestly brought down a peg than you’d expect. But Streep looks amazing, and she gives Miranda’s third act the bittersweet vulnerability it deserves. She has too few scenes with Tucci if only because the two are so effortlessly perfect onscreen together. Still, his eye-rolling snarky nurturing is as charming as ever.

Blunt is again the butt of the joke and, again, she shoulders the comedic weight with aplomb.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 ends up being a jacket that doesn’t fit quite as well as it did years ago, but it’s comfortable and it still looks pretty good.  

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Serkis Circus

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Animal Farm

by George Wolf

You may have questions going into the newly realized Animal Farm. And it’s a good bet you’ll have more coming out.

Who is this for exactly? What’s with these changes? Did someone think Orwell didn’t get the point across? And just…why?

For his part, director Andy Serkis has addressed some of these concerns in the weeks leading up to the film’s release. Serkis has stressed that he worked closely with Orwell’s estate, striving to update the classic tale with modern themes and a nod toward understanding “the contradictions within its author.”

That is an ambitious goal, to say the least, and one that Serkis, screenwriter Nicholas Stoller and a star-studded voice cast can’t completely bring to market.

The first major adjustment is adding the character of Lucky (voiced by Gatan Matarazzo), a young pig that serves as a moral compass for younger viewers. Lucky is easily influenced by boss hog Napoleon (Seth Rogen) as the farm rules of equality and fairness are twisted and broken.

Lucky is key to Napoleon’s plan of exploitation, and to making hard working animals like Boxer (Woody Harrelson) believe Napoleon has their best interests at heart. So why is he cozying up to the cyber truck driving tycoon Frieda Pilkington (Glenn Close) and Mr. Whymper the banker (Steve Buscemi)?

Well, some animals are more equal than others. That’s always been the rule!

The fart jokes and obvious humor are a bit jarring for such cherished material, but make it clear Serkis is aiming to give younger audiences a primer in Orwell’s belief that absolute power corrupts absolutely. It’s best to keep that in mind when the movie delivers a new, hope-filled ending that’s a few pastures away from Orwell’s bleak reveal.

To adults who revere that original cautionary tale, much of this overhaul may feel like a blasphemous Chicken Run rebellion. These animals have to decide for themselves that they’ve been hoodwinked, don’t they? So isn’t Lucky’s hand-holding a bit contradictory? And as well meaning as this might be, why risk diluting the power of Orwell that will come when the kids are old enough to grasp it?

After a series of examples both pro and anti-capitalism, the end credits montage cements the message that the enemies are the absolutely corrupt of any ilk. And history has shown they can be overcome.

Some of it works, yes. But honestly, it’s just impossible to come at it with the fresh eyes and clear heads of the ones it appears to be meant for. Do I respect what this Serkis circus is trying to do? Yes.

Do I wish he did it with an original story not named Animal Farm?

Also yes.

New In Theaters

Wrecked Him? Nearly Killed Him!

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Deep Water

by George Wolf

It isn’t too long before counting all the borrowed ideas becomes the most fun Deep Water is offering.

It’s a shark movie, so…Jaws. But you’ll also spot Titanic, the Airport franchise, The Shallows, Train to Busan, The Perfect Storm and a good bit of The Poseidon Adventure.

At least they acknowledge that last one with a Shelly Winters wisecrack, and it’s welcome. Because for a film that seems to think it’s farther above a Sharknado sequel than it ends up being, a bit of self awareness is long overdue.

First, director Renny Harlin has to get us on a plane to Shanghai, so the team of six screenwriters (six!) runs us through a some broadly-drawn Airport style intros of passengers and crew.

In the cockpit we meet the rugged First Officer with personal demons (Aaron Eckhart), the veteran Captain with scalawag charm (Sir Ben Kingsley), and the patient flight attendants (Lucy Barrett, Chrissy Jin). On the passenger list we have the asshole (Angus Sampson), the idiot parents looking to join the Mile High Club (Kelly Gale and Ryan Bown), kids in peril (Molly Belle Wright and Elijah Tamati), the Shelly Winters (Kate Fitzpatrick) and two twentysomething dudes who almost throw hands early on (might they be forced to put aside petty differences and work together??)

The plane crashes into the sea, and the placement of the two main chunks of wreckage allows Harlin to execute some Poseidon-esque set pieces in between shark attacks. Those sharks are CGI, of course, and their ridiculous gymnastics make you long for the true tension of a mechanical maneater that often broke down.

Nothing here is the least bit scary, the writing is obvious and overwrought, and the entire tone is caught awkwardly between giving in to sharksploitation silliness and striving for a well-plotted thriller.

Only Kingsley seems to know which end of the pool Deep Water belongs in. Too bad nobody else let the Cap’n make something fun happen with all these remnants of better movies..

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Irish Spirits

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Hokum

by Hope Madden

Damian Mc Carthy is doing something right. The Irish filmmaker writes original stories, invests time and attention to visual storytelling, and produces eerie, memorable horror. There’s an elegance to his movies, but his tales are not meant simply to provoke thought or to elevate the genre. Caveat, Oddity, and now Hokum draw from a long tradition of Irish horror storytelling and love a jump scare as much as anybody.

Mc Carthy’s latest sees an absolute prick of an American writer (Adam Scott) checking into an Irish inn to spread his parents’ ashes. Is he having a problem with writer’s block? He is! Is the hotel haunted? It is!

Hokum does feel less original than either of the filmmaker’s previous features, but somehow that works in its favor. Mc Carthy knows you think you’ve seen this before, and he leans into its familiarity to lull you.

Scott’s prickly, unpleasant performance at the center of the film is a gift. His unlikability gives the film a nice edge. Scott’s lowkey, brittle performance anchors the macabre whimsy so gorgeously brought to life by Til Frolich’s production design. The inn looks like a place where time stood still, quaint to the eyes of a tourist, spooky in the hands of a talented filmmaker.

Though Mc Carthy’s script feels less original than expected, he knows how to light, pace, and frame scenes to heighten dread. The sound design is also an eerie delight. And Mc Carthy reminds you that jump scares are not just for kiddie horror.

It would be easy for Hokum to feel overstuffed. The protagonist’s own ghost story, a very flesh-bound horror, and don’t forget the witch—that’s a lot to fit into a honeymoon suite. Scott’s grounded performance provides a clear path through it, and Mc Carthy ‘s skill at crafting intelligent yet primal horror pulls it together.

Scene after scene balances a funhouse vibe with Irish folktale spookiness, and the vintage horror beauty of every frame beguiles you. Caviat offered quietly claustrophobic terror. Oddity delivered clever, melancholy horror. Hokum feels more polished yet more old school. It is perhaps less terrifying than Mc Carthy’s previous features, but it’s a haunting good time.

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Full of Grace

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Mother Mary

by Hope Madden

Whatever it is director David Lowery is making, I’m watching. Not every film lands but he always delivers something thought provoking, and his best films are unlike anything else you’ll see.

Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, A Ghost Story, and The Green Knight were cinematic wonders. His latest, Mother Mary, is as tough to pin down as any of these, and just as gorgeous.

Anne Hathaway is Mother Mary, a Lady Gaga styled music icon and diva in the midst of some kind of prolonged torment who seeks the aid of an old friend. Michaela Coel is Sam, Mother Mary’s oldest confidant and the designer who created the pop star’s legendary look. Ostensibly, Mother Mary needs a gown. In reality, both women are open wounds who need the other, either to heal or to die.

Essentially a chamber piece—more than half of the film takes place in Sam’s barnlike studio—Mother Mary is as poetic and dramatic as a pop song. Lowery, who also writes, seems genuinely empathetic of the isolating nature of superstardom, particularly for those vulnerable souls who create their own art.

Lowery’s vision benefits immeasurably from two outstanding performances. Hathaway seems equally comfortable in semi-surreal concert footage as she does with the raw, constant verge-of-tears intimate drama. And Coel may be the one person who cuts so fascinating a figure that she makes Hathaway look ordinary.

Their fraught back and forth, though occasionally overwritten, feels lived in and wounded but seeking. What they ask of each other allows the filmmaker to pose, but not answer, questions about connection, authenticity, superficiality, fame, creativity, and who ultimately owns the artist and their art.

It’s a heady piece wrapped in silks and sequins, and it won’t be for everybody. But Lowery and his small cast make bold, risky choices. It works because the actors are fully committed and taking those risks themselves, some of which don’t pay off. But Cole and Hathaway bring their vulnerability, buoyed by tremendous talent. The result is a film that feels quite unlike anything else, and for any piece of art, sometimes that’s accomplishment enough.

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War Toys

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Fuze

by Rachel Willis

An unexploded bomb from World War II is discovered at a construction site in the heart of London and a massive effort to diffuse it gets underway in writer/director Ben Hopkin’s film Fuze.

As wild as it sounds, 80-year-old bombs exploding in populated cities in England is not unheard of. A bomb discovered in Exeter in 2021 resulted in the evacuation of 2,600 homes and caused massive property damage.

However, the bomb uncovered in Fuze seems out of the ordinary, and to say anything more would remove the elements of suspense and surprise Hopkins works into every minute.

The best thing about the movie is the unrelenting pace. It never gives you time to second guess some of what’s happening on screen. While some moments might falter under the weight of skepticism, Fuze keeps you hooked by the action. There’s something bigger at play, and the film demands you stay focused as it unfolds.

The cast is more than game for the material. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Theo James play opposite sides of the action. The film moves from one to the other, tension continuing to build as you’re kept on edge, waiting for the next link in the overarching chain.

The downside, though, is that the film doesn’t offer anything in the way of character development. We get little bits and pieces through dialogue, but it’s not enough for us to feel invested in any character. The stakes aren’t high enough, which is a major blunder. The overfocus on plot makes for a tense thriller but not a very interesting one.

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Pop Life

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Michael

by George Wolf

Two of the best things about Michael are hardly shockers. One is a pleasant surprise.

Colman Domingo and Nia Long are both terrific as Michael’s parents Joe and Katherine Jackson. The surprise is Jaafar Jackson, rising to the challenge of carrying this move as his real life, iconic uncle Michael. In an impressive acting debut, Jaafar is assured and charismatic, flashing plenty of natural talent.

And for the first half of this two-hour biopic, director Antoine Fuqua and writer John Logan find some depth with the story of the Jackson 5’s rise from Gary, Indiana to major chart success at Motown.

That’s the movie I would have loved to spend more time with, ditching the greatest hits nostalgia package that followed. Because from the pivotal moment that Michael seeks management from John Branca (Miles Teller) and starts to break away from his domineering father, the film feels force fed and surface level.

The second half is reduced to a parade of very slick recreations of Michael’s most famous pop culture moments (Motown 25, the “Thriller” video, “Beat It” video, Pepsi commercials, the Victory Tour), unabashed fan service wrapped around an overcooked metaphor of a messianic Peter Pan battling an unrelenting Captain Hook.

With most of the family (Janet’s name is noticeably missing) on board as producers, a warts-and-all biography wasn’t to be expected. And while Father Joe takes plenty of hits, they become the springboard for a reminder about Michael’s greatness that’s as nuanced as a fan club prize package.

Though there’s already chatter about a sequel, I’m not convinced the parting bit of onscreen text is guaranteeing a part two that picks things up in the late eighties. As we know, Michael’s later years came with plenty of complications. The smarter play for the family might be take a cue from Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis EPiC.

After these impressive imitations, just raid the vaults, and put the real footage up there in all its IMAX glory. That might fit like a sequined glove.

Michael ends up feeling like an empty suit.