Samantha Bergeson, Christian Blauvelt, Wilson Chapman, Kate Erbland, Alison Foreman, Jim Hemphill, Tony Maglio, Mark Peikert, Harrison Richlin, Sarah Shachat, Brian Welk and Christian Zilko contributed to this story.
In Nathan Silver’s “Between the Temples,” the veteran independent writer-director expresses himself in a new way, with an all-star cast led by Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane and a cast of Sony Pictures Classics. The film follows Schwartzman as a mourning singer. the tragic death of his spouse and a regression to a childish state. But he finds solace in helping his former music instructor (Kane) at his Bat Mitzvah.
In IndieWire’s Sundance review, David Ehrlich wrote: “By focusing less on the happiness we create for others and more on the happiness we share with them, we locate enough fleeting joy that being alive feels like our own eternal reward. . ” -HOUR
Writer-director Jazmin Jones’ DIY investigation, “Seeking Mavis Beacon,” premiered in the NEXT segment of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, generating buzz for its curious and cleverly edited investigation into Black representation. Along with producer Olivia McKayla Ross, Bay Area filmmaker Jones is suing a woman named Renee L’Esperance, who served as the cover model for one of the first AI computer input systems, “Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing “, one of the most popular educational software teams of all time. The program was first introduced in 1987. Now In 2024, this documentary shows the limits of documentary fieldwork, how the search for an elusive subject that possibly wouldn’t need to be discovered at all can prove futile. —RL
The long-awaited sequel to Tim Burton’s 1988 “Beetlejuice” is nevertheless in position to have a good time almost 40 years later. And now, Michael Keaton’s Beetlejuice is back to hang out with a new generation. Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) and her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) are summoned to the transitional framework of what happens between life and death. In other words, this portal to the afterlife is open and strange ghosts played by Willem Dafoe, Justin Theroux and Monica Bellucci. Venture into the real world. “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” will open the Venice Film Festival and bring writer Burton back to the Lido after the premieres of “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Corpse Bride. ”—SB
Brandy is one of the most beloved celebrities of the late ’90s for her musical work and her performances in the ABC movies “Cinderella” and “Moesha. ” Her filmography, however, is strangely sparse, making her an intriguing selection to headline an A24 horror film.
“The Front Room,” based on a short story by Susan Hill, is the latest entry in the pregnancy horror genre that brought us videos like “Rosemary’s Bathrough” and “Mother!”Brandy plays a woman expecting her first child, and her move to a new house is confusing when her husband (Andrew Burnap) is forced to take in his racist ex-stepmother (Kathryn Hunter), who has strange plans for their son. Brandy facing a maniacal Hunter turns out like a recipe. to have a good time, but the most intriguing thing about “The Front Room” might be who the camera is. The film is the first film from Robert Eggers’ younger dual brothers, Max and Sam, who seek to bring “Nosferatu” to light. “The Director’s Legacy of Twisted Horror Stories. “
If three A-list actresses on an aside, tearing each other apart and putting them back together, is your bag, then “His Three Daughters” is the New York indie for you. Filmmaker Azazel Jacobs wrote the roles. of Rachel (future Oscar nominee Natasha Lyonne), Katie (Carrie Coon) and Christina (Elizabeth Olsen) in particular for those actors, who play sisters who gather in a Lower East Side apartment to watch their father die. the next piece. Except Jacobs never shows us this play, instead restricting the drama to the explosive interior lives of the three women, in long central monologues that feel more like theatrical monologues than the confessional outpourings we’re used to seeing in the movies. More of a black comedy. With barbed rope edges like a requiem for the excessively dead, “His Three Daughters of Him” flees from sentimentality in search of harder truths, with 3 brilliant actors as the north star. —RL
Over two decades and four chapters, this semi-autobiographical feature film by writer-director Alessandra Lacorazza chronicles the ups and downs of the relationship between father Vicente (René Pérez Joglar) and his daughters Violeta and Eva (played by three groups of actresses, adding Sasha Colle and Lío Mehiel) their annual trips to their home in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The drama won the Grand Jury Prize for United States Drama at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, as well as the directing award for Alessandra Lacorazza. —Deputy
Over the course of two feature films, multi-talented filmmaker Megan Park has deftly exploited the full spectrum of new adolescence. His first film, the SXSW-winning drama “The Fallout,” follows an organization of prominent school students traumatized by a horrific school shooting. . For her second film, “My Old Ass,” the former actress-singer opted to go a little lighter, envisioning a post-school comedy in which her lead actress (Maisy Stella) spends her last summer before going to school a) having fun. , b) falling in love, and c) oh, simply communicating with your long-term self (Aubrey Plaza). The concept has already come to fruition, but Park and her cast put such a clever and no-nonsense spin on the whole affair that it almost redefines the coming-of-age genre and what it can be. —KÉ
There has been strangely little marketing for the American remake of “Speak No Evil. “This may simply be because Blumhouse deftly protects mystery writer-director James Watkins’ upcoming mental horror film, or it may simply be because even the studio knows that Nobody is in a position to make a re-edit of a popular film made just two years ago.
Either way, the Danish original has controlled anything quite sinister through director Christian Tafdrup’s “Funny Games”-style exploration of a Hollywood holiday weekend to start over. Celebrities James McAvoy and Mackenzie Davis will try to channel the same kind of terror as travelers going through their own edition of hell. We do not know what – if it is! – has been replaced between the two accounts. Until “Speak No Evil,” the American remix is in theaters, we’re just. . . By shutting up. —AF
It’s a pleasure to see two other people who love to make themselves laugh. It’s even greater when you still have things to learn from each other. That’s the joy you discover in “Will and Harper,” which documents a 17-year history. A day trip undertaken through famed actor and longtime friend Will Farrell, who also hosted “Saturday Night Live” and “EuroVision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga,” writer Harper Steele. Steele began his transition in 2021 and Farrell, thankfully, accepts the project to be his winger across the United States. Mileage varies. But their friendship (and frustrating Will Forte) remains a charming constant. —SS
The old saying that “beauty is only apparent” sounds pretty good on paper, but when you’re noticeably different from everyone else, it’s easy to wonder if all your troubles could be resolved if you kept things on the surface. That is the tragic miscalculation. Edward (Sebastian Stan) stars in “A Different Man,” Aaron Schimberg’s brilliant satire that swept Sundance. Stan undergoes a radical transformation to play a disfigured aspiring actor who fakes his own death in hopes of building a new life after “fixing” his face through experimental surgery. But while his new appearance yields mostly superficial benefits, he soon finds himself usurped by Oswald (Adam Pearson), an actor with a similar case of facial disfigurement whose confidence and charm allow him to be everything effortlessly. Edward has spent his life seeking to become one. Schimberg masterfully examines the extent to which each of us can blame someone other than ourselves for our own external flaws in what deserves to be one of the most talked-about films of the fall season. C. Z.
The world has ended at the hands of an unnamed evil, and a circle of family members, led by Halle Berry, survive only because they remain tied to each other and their home by ropes. Except… what if the global still existed and genuine evil was at home? Should children doubt their mothers or is that what evil needs them to do? The trailer alone is drenched in dread and scares (director Alexandre Aja also directed “The Hills Have Eyes”), and this circle of family-centered mystery just seems like the joyful, spooky moment we can’t get enough of. Plus, Halle Berry works with accessories! -deputy
Brazilian-American filmmaker Bernardo Britto is embarking on a long-term assignment that began in 2017 at the Sundance Institute Screenwriting, where his script for “Omni Loop” was decided for consideration at the workshop. Starring Mary-Louise Parker and Ayo Edebiri, the film follows a plot worthy of “Groundhog Day” around a terminally ill physicist (Parker), trapped in a time loop, who asks a young student (Edebiri) for help to help him. Free yourself from it and heal yourself.
In our review of SXSW, where “Omni-Loop” premiered, IndieWire wrote, “Writer-director Bernardo Britto’s most recent film is one of the low-fiction sci-fi films that intertwines with the mundane texture of everyday life, which follows on from his previous work, which includes a stint as editor of “Los Espookys” and the 2016 mockumentary “Jacqueline Argentina. “
Coralie Fargeat’s second feature film is temporarily the must-see film at Cannes. Demi Moore makes the most productive return of her career as elderly actress Elisabeth Sparkle, who decides to undergo an experimental cosmetic test and inject herself with the titular drug to restore her youth. Still, there’s a mystical twist: Elizabeth cannot exist in the same consciousness as her younger, more productive ego, Sue (Margaret Qualley). While Sue reorganizes her career, Elisabeth has to wait a week to find hers. frame, and vice versa. Dennis Quaid plays Elisabeth and Sue’s studio manager. The horror drama Frame won the Cannes Award for Best Screenplay and was called an “instant classic” by IndieWire’s David Ehrlich.
As Hollywood’s long-term grows bleaker by the day, a handful of ingrained cinematic truths remain unanswered. Chief among them is that Brad Pitt and George Clooney are two of our most trusted resources in cinematic charm. Any movie that discovers an excuse to bring them combined on screen is sure to be, at the very least, a glamorous and clever moment.
Jon Watts’ upcoming crime comedy “Wolfs” stars Pitt and Clooney as two fixers who are proud of their status as off-duty lone wolves. When they are forced to collaborate, chaos and bromance inevitably ensue. While Apple has notably scaled back the film’s planned theatrical release (likely as part of a broader strategic shift away from large-scale releases), its arc in Venice and the sequel’s early announcement suggest that the tech giant still suspects it has an opportunity on its hands. . —CZ
A hobby assignment for star Kate Winslet (she even covered crew salaries for two weeks of filming), this biopic about model, surrealist muse and World War II photographer Lee Miller brings the pioneer back to life amid so much cigarette smoke. Miller, a photographer for Vogue, managed to travel to the front lines of the conflict and capture some of the most disturbing moments of the war and its immediate aftermath, at an immense personal cost. Directed by Ellen Kuras, the film also stars Alexander Skarsgård, Andy Samberg, and Andrea Riseborough. —Deputy
It is in spite of everything here. After a debatable Cannes premiere, Francis Ford Coppola’s $120 million project found itself facing what seemed like an uphill distribution battle: Within weeks, it had also found a spot at Lionsgate. than in IMAX, for a full theatrical premiere. Formation
Moving forward, Adam Driver will play Caesar Catherine, an architect tasked with redesigning New Rome after a cataclysm strikes the city. In one component, the character “La Fontaine”, the component “The Fall of the Roman Empire”, his utopian concepts for the city. Clash with the corruption of the town’s mayor (Giancarlo Esposito), with the mayor’s daughter (Nathalie Emmanuel) as a kind of character. intermediary between them.
Filled with big, almost unheard of tweaks in those days in a film of this scale — Aubrey Plaza plays a TV channel called Wow Platinum, among the many extravagances that became imaginable just because Coppola was self-funding it — “Megalopolis” feels up to the task. Love it or hate it, enjoy the year. The fact that Coppola has been looking to succeed since the late ’70s only complements his tradition. And for what it’s worth, IndieWire’s David Ehrlich, with a B rating from “Critic’s Pick,” enjoyed his gonzo ambitions so much that he said it “inspires new hope for cinema’s long-term. ” —CB
Based on the e-book series by Peter Brown, “The Wild Robot” is DreamWorks Animation’s new adventure that turns out to be much more than just a walk in the woods. Written and directed by “How to Train Your Dragon” veteran Chris Sanders, the film follows a robot named Roz (Lupita Nyong’o), who gets lost in transit on a component of Earth undergoing reconstruction. He will have to adapt his nature to nature and eventually take care of a dwarf (Kit Connor) who falls under his care. , helped through friends, and the fox (Pedro Pascal), who she meets along the way. The film’s impressive lighting formula and environments promise to take you to a truly wild place. —SS
Someone wants to make the definitive documentary about the story of the Joker’s on-screen character. From Jack Nicholson to Heath Ledger and now Joaquin Phoenix, each and every version of DC’s iconic villain (we’re assuming we’re thanking Cesar Romero here) has been, well, iconic.
Todd Phillips’ “Joker” (2019) was well-received, especially at the box office, so “Joker 2” is a no-brainer. Instead, we were technically given “Joker: Folie à Deux,” a fantastic name indicating that the October 4 release is a sequel (“Deux”) and, for the French-speaking population (OK, Google translation), a deeper version: an adventure into the delusions of Arthur Fleck (Phoenix). (For the lazy: “Folie à deux” translates to a shared psychosis. )
This time, Fleck will have a crazy time with Harley Quinn, played by Lady Gaga. If the lipstick scene in the trailer is any indication, we’re in for a treat. Well, for Gotham. This role needs a hero. —TM
That Saoirse Ronan is one of our most productive actresses (period, no qualifier “of her generation” is obligatory here) has long been inevitable. But the Irish-American star is never content to rest on her hard-earned intelligentsia when it comes to her next role.
Ronan has always liked to mix things up, so when she takes on a role like that in Nora Fingscheidt’s drama “The Outrun,” it’s clear that her interest goes beyond simply aspiring to get more attention at the awards.
Well, he’ll get it anyway, thanks to his clear, heartbreaking performance as a young alcoholic struggling to go blank (Ronan also produced the film, based on Amy Liptrot’s memoir of the same name). the remote Orkney Islands, while his Rona tries to remain blank while she tracks elusive birds, grappling with a difficult voluntary task that might be the only thing keeping her sane. The same old superlatives apply here: it’s an invigorating, heartbreaking, glorious experience. paintings, but it is also at the service of one of the most productive films of the year, one that surprises at every moment. —KÉ
Surrealist master filmmaker Guy Maddin joins Evan and Galen Johnson for a wildly absurd satire set in a single meeting of G7 world leaders that turns into an apocalypse. Cate Blanchett, proving that she was destined for a Maddin joint all along, plays the neurotic German chancellor Hilda, who organizes a summit led by Roy Dupuis, Denis Menochet, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Takehiro Hira, Charles Dance, Rolando Ravello’s Array Array and Alicia Vikander. As a confused global crisis shakes the world out of its rarefied bubble of peace talks, a thick fog awakens. . . Ancient swamps that explode when masturbated? Even with the co-directors on board, this raunchy image is something Maddin’s purists will appreciate. —RL
“SNL 40” was 10 years ago. The series is now turning 50 years old, and Columbia and Sony are celebrating this golden anniversary with a tour of reminiscence.
Speaking of comedy and gold, golden comedy: Ivan Reitman drew on some of the original “Saturday Night” films (as the series was then called) Not Ready for Primetime Players for his classic comedy films like “Ghostbusters,” “Animal House,” and “Stripes. “His son Jason Reitman now tells the story of John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd and others with a biopic about the first broadcast of “Saturday Night Live. “
“Saturday Night” will delve deep into the tumult of the fateful night in 1975 that brought us this crazy live-action sketch-comedy concept born from the brain of a young Lorne Michaels. From what we saw, “Saturday Night”, the TV screen was not in the prime time position (hence the time slot), but the movie was. —TM
“Have a Merry Christmas, we hope art doesn’t dirty your back! He’s just a clown, back in town and eager to attack! Ho ho, Damien Leone knows it. . . ”
Okay, okay, that’s it, we’re done. The most sadistic slasher franchise in indie horror is going down the chimney with even more cinematic cruelty. Just in time for the 2024 holiday season, audiences can see Art the Clown torturing the fictional citizens of Miles County, this time against the backdrop of a bloody Christmas Eve.
David Howard Thornton returns for the third time as the initial Terrifier, as opposed to Lauren LaVera as the last female Sienna Shaw in the sequel. Sienna’s incredibly annoying little brother, Jonathan (Elliott Fullam), is also back. . . And the children who suffer seem to be fair play?In the trailer, the Grinch-ified Art is discovered in front of a Cindy-Lou Who boy, and while he doesn’t actually do anything, his ill-healthy smile makes the invasion of Dr. Seuss’ house seem like a pleasure. —AF
In fact, the trailer for “We Live in Time” raises some concerns. With the photographs presented alone, it is easy to see the story of two lovers over the years descend into overly sentimental and tearful territory. Still, even if it’s not your thing, not each and every Weeper has two killer actors like Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield in the central roles.
His participation is worth admission alone, but the skill of the scenes is just as promising: Olivier and Tony-nominated playwright Nick Payne wrote the script for his first stage production, and John Crowley, who contributed a great sensitivity to the immigration romance in “Brooklyn”. ”, he directs. With all the skill involved, one and all are hopeful that “We Live in Time” is a lot smarter and more nuanced than it first appears. -BATHROOM
Writer-director Sean Baker won this year’s Palme d’Or at Cannes (the first win for an American film since Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” in 2011) for this hilarious, captivating and downright nonconformist character that confirms Mikey Madison. (“Better Things,” “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) as a leading actress of her generation.
The story of a stripper (Mikey Madison) who marries the spoiled son (Mark Eydelshteyn) of a Russian oligarch without thinking about the consequences, “Anora” has elements of a traditional romantic comedy but it is, as IndieWire’s reviewer noted David Ehrlich. his glowing review of the film, more “Uncut Gems” than “Pretty Woman. “
Anchored by Madison’s signature performance, “Anora” is another of Baker’s masterful observational films about sexual paintings (along with “Starlet” and Tangerine), with a deep dive into elegance and American culture that deftly shifts from one tone to tone, giving audiences an adventure that is as exciting and exhilarating as it is, in the end, devastating. —JH
Written and directed by Titus Kaphar and animated throughout his life, this father-son drama stars André Holland and Andra Day as Tarrell and Aisha, a couple (he’s an artist, she’s a musician) who will have to deal with the sudden reappearance of their former lover, homeless father (John Earl Jelkes). As he prepares for a new gallery exhibition, Tarrell begins interviewing his father about his drug addiction and the resulting emotional abuse that permeated his childhood. A variety of Sundance 2024, “Exhibiting Forgiveness” also stars Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Tarrell’s mother and features an original song by Day. —MP
Michelle Dockery, Mark Wahlberg, and Topher Grace star in this three-way action mystery set in a small plane, which apparently transports a government witness (Grace) and her U. S. agent Marshall (Dockery) to testify against a mob family. It’s a shame that Wahlberg’s pilot is a hitman sent to prevent the two from reaching the courtroom: a guy who fights as the balance of forces shifts between the three at 10,000 feet. Mel Gibson directs, and Wahlberg, with a shaved head, in the role of the hitman. —MP
Fifteen years after “Maria
Colson Whitehead’s best-selling 2016 novel, “The Underground Railroad,” has already been adapted into one of the greatest artistic achievements in television history, along with Barry Jenkins’ 2021 limited series. If the next film adaptation of his next novel “Nickel Boys” is a tenth just as good, it will be a masterpiece.
Inspired by the famed Florida School for Boys, a Florida reformatory that closed in 2011 after stories of corruption and student abuse, the book follows the bond between two children from the same Nickel Academy as they battle the abuses of the administration. Array The film comes from a relatively new skill: Director RaMell Ross does his storytelling even after his 2018 documentary “Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” but the cast (including Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Fred Hechinger, Hamish Linklater, and Daveed Diggs) is strong, and the curtains are poignant and devastating enough to make the film worth watching during Oscar season. -BATH
Pictured above: Director RaMell Ross
A new Steve McQueen movie is a cause for birthday parties in those regions, and the newest, an old Apple-backed drama about World War II, is no exception. Starring Saoirse Ronan (check out our ‘The Outrun’ presentation if you want to remind you why she is, was and still is one of our most productive active actresses) as a young mother desperate to locate her missing son (newcomer Elliott Heffernan) during the lightning attacks on London at the height of the war. The film, which will screen at the London and New York film festivals, promises to offer a shocking and surprising look at life during this specific time of this horrific period of war, and McQueen’s unwavering gaze makes for a thrilling film. —KÉ
Nearly three decades after its initial release, the legacy of Kevin Smith’s “Chasing Amy” remains more confusing than ever. The film, starring Ben Affleck as a New Jersey boy struggling to make sense of his friend’s (Joey Lauren Adams) bisexuality, was first embraced by the queer network as one of the first primary depictions of lesbian encounters. on the big screen.
But as time went on, many enthusiasts began to distance themselves from her due to Affleck’s emphasis on the straightforward character. It’s a nuanced theme, as it can be argued just as easily that Smith never intended for “Chasing Amy,” a queer film. and that Affleck’s focus on Holden McNeil makes sense given his semi-autobiographical subject matter.
But that doesn’t reposition the confusing dates that many lesbians, especially moviegoers who came of age in the ’90s, have with the film. Sav Rodgers’ documentary “Chasing Chasing Amy” seeks to take account of this confusing legacy. The film seeks to explore the queer community’s view of “Chasing Amy” as part of a larger discussion about the tension between the need for nuanced art and the enormous position our problematic favorites continue to occupy in our hearts. —CZ
Fresh off his Oscar-winning German cut of “All Quiet on the Western Front,” director Edward Berger embarks on his first English-language film with an adaptation of Robert Harris’ mystery “Conclave. ”
Starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini, the film transforms a papal conclave formed after the Pope’s death into a pressure cooker. When a secret is discovered that threatens the legacy of the belated Pope as well as the long run of the Catholic Church, a prominent cardinal (Fiennes) is forced to turn the conclave into an investigation to uncover the truth. -THE TIME
One of the most popular films at a relatively modest Cannes Film Festival, Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Pérez” won awards and received an enthusiastic reception upon its premiere. A Spanish-language musical comedy with songs by Camille about a Mexican cartel boss in transition looking to reunite with his wife and circle of family is a wild twist that will shock some and stink for others, but there’s no denying that the Director Jacques Audiard (known for dramas like “Un Prophète”) stepped out of his comfort zone with this one.
What almost everyone can agree on about the film is that the female members of the cast, who won the joint award for Best Actress at Cannes, are fantastic, with Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez delivering the roles of their careers as lawyer and wife of the reigning crime boss. Array and Karla Sofía Gascón, as the character in the middle of the movie, provide exceptional functionality that is sure to make your middle skip a beat. -BATHROOM
Jesse Eisenberg follows his first feature film, “When You’re Done Saving the World,” with a tragicomedy about two cousins with opposite personalities (Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin) who combine to honor their wonderful mother while traveling through their local Poland. As the family story begins to come to life, old grudges between the two resurface and how the affair unfolds.
In addition to starring and directing, Eisenberg also wrote the screenplay and produced “Zombieland” co-star Emma Stone. In our Sundance review of the film, for which Eisenberg won the Waldo Salt Award for Screenplay, IndieWire wrote: “At first glance, this isn’t a departure from Eisenberg’s other roles. But through David’s relationship with his brooding and lively cousin Benjamin, or “Benji” (Kieran Culkin), the actor, writer and director reveals a series of complex social and personal dynamics that draw attention not only to the profound lack of confidence that underlies the average Eisenberg. character, but Eisenberg’s lingering guilt as an American Jew with European roots, who comes from a traumatic position, but worries about the little things. -HOUR
Sonequa Martin-Green and Natalie Morales star in this SXSW Audience Award-winning comedy-drama about a war veteran who helps keep seeing the ghost of his dead comrade and remains friends with her, much to the frustration and confusion of those around her. he. Unable to move on, she is nevertheless forced to face her life as she begins to care for her grandfather (Ed Harris), who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Former U. S. Army infantry paratrooper Kyle Hausmann-Stokes is making his directorial debut (and co-wrote the screenplay with A. J. Bermudez). The cast also includes Morgan Freeman, Gloria Reuben, and Utkarsh Ambudkar. —MP
It’s a family affair with Denzel Washington’s upcoming adaptation of August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson. ” His eldest son, John David, reprises the role he played in the 2022 Broadway production, along with his co-stars Samuel L. Jackson, Ray Fischer and Michael Potts. , all directed through Washington’s youngest son, Malcolm, in his feature film debut.
They are joined by Danielle Deadwyler and Corey Hawkins, who play supporting roles. The play on which the film is based is set in Pittsburgh during the Great Depression and follows Charles’ family as they confront his history, as well as the history of a piano carved with engravings made through his slave ancestor. . The film marks the second August Wilson adaptation that Denzel Washington produced for Netflix, the first being “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” starring Viola Davis. Denzel also directed and starred alongside Davis in the 2016 adaptation of Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama “Fences. ” -HOUR
Pictured: John David Washington.
Robert Zemeckis has been hit or miss for most of the 21st century, but since at least 2016’s “Allied,” he’s struggled to make it big: 2018’s “Welcome to Marwen” was a desirable disaster, while “The Witches” and “Pinocchio” turned out to be boring retreads of old children’s tales. His latest film, “Here,” promises to get back in shape, at least in terms of the visual ambition that explained the “Roger Rabbit” director’s career.
Based on a graphic novel by Richard McGuire, “Here” is made up of a single static plane of a single plot of land, from prehistoric times to the remote future. No one knows if this attempt to tell a story about the slow passage of time will pay off, but at least “Here” will offer a healthy dose of nostalgia thanks to Zemeckis’ reunion with his “Forrest Gump” stars, Tom Hanks and Robin Wright.
“A Quiet Place” writers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods direct A24’s “Heretic,” a test of faith turned horror escape room in which Hugh Grant is thrown against the current. The conundrum here seems bleak (what’s going on with the architecture in this trailer?), yet it’s the performances that will make or break the studio’s liveliest fall genre effort.
When two Mormon missionaries (Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East) attempt to renovate the house, they find themselves trapped by an antagonist whose motives have their own religious leanings. Roman comedy legend Grant has played confused villains before; see “The Gentlemen” by Guy Ritchie. ” and HBO’s “The Regime”; however, this is the first time the actor has gotten this dark. To seriously paraphrase “Notting Hill”, they are just girls. . . status in front of a child. . . Asking. . . Open that damn door. —AF
Great Christmas videos appear infrequently in the age of Hallmark videos and Netflix videos, making a gem like “Christmas Eve at Miller’s Point” even more important to cherish. Tyler Taormina’s comedy-drama garnered positive reviews at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. (IndieWire gave it a B), captivating critics with its wry humor and melancholy story about family and culture.
Centered around the ultimate Christmas party held in a giant circle of Long Island relatives in their ancestral home, it’s a low-plot, high-vibe affair that revels in the little pleasures and exasperations of the holidays. And its cast is exquisite, from Michael Cera as a sad-eyed cop to Elsie Fisher, the star of “Eighth Grade,” and two bathrough nepo writers (Francesca Scorsese and Sawyer Spielberg) who bet on rebellious teenagers. -BATH
Yes, the world is still entertained with “Gladiator” 24 years after its premiere. So much so that director Ridley Scott persisted in making this sequel despite the twists and turns to get here, adding a scripted edit by Nick Cave that followed Russell Crowe’s Maximus in Elysium.
This edition is not the one that Scott, despite everything, delivered for November. Written by David Scarpa, screenwriter of Scott’s “Napoleon” and “All the Money in the World” (based on a story by Scarpa and Peter Craig), “Gladiator II” will stick with Paul Mescal’s Lucius; yes, that’s the boy, now fully grown, who was the son of Connie Nielsen’s Lucilla in the original film and idolized Maximus. Somehow, he was separated from his mother in the years that followed (no, killing Joaquin Phoenix’s Commodus did not resolve Rome’s unrest or save the eventual fall of the Eternal City). She does not recognize him even when he, now played through Mescal, is enslaved and forced to fight as a gladiator in the Colosseum in Rome.
He is flanked by Macrinus, played by Denzel Washington, who plays virtually the same role as Oliver Reed in the original film. And Rome now has two decadent co-emperors providing bread and circus games for its people: Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla. (Fred Hechinger). Talk about overhyping its sequel, even though “Gladiator II” is as much of an “adult blockbuster” as anything on this fall’s schedule. SPQRFTW. —CB
Broadway enthusiasts have been waiting for “Wicked” to hit theaters for more than a decade. And finally, the film edition of Stephen Schwartz’s 2003 mega-musical about the story of the Wicked Witch of the West of Oz will be released in theaters this Thanksgiving season.
Whether it will recapture the original’s broad, undeniable campy magic remains to be seen, and there are real reasons to worry: the trailers are full of flashy set designs and shaky CGI, and the choice to split the film into two parts. The act of the original musical turns out to be frustrating.
However, the others and in front of the camera are in a position to offer a sumptuous musical production: Jon M. Chu has also directed a dazzling translation of a play to the big screen with “In the Heights,” and the supporting cast, from Jonathan Bailey as a speedy playboy to Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard of Oz, is promising. But most importantly, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are more than adequate replacements for the original leads, Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, and it’s hard to resist the prospect of seeing them tear down space with show-tune criteria like “Defying Gravity. “» and “Populares”. -BATHROOM
We want to explain which new “Moana” movie we’re talking about here because, interestingly, there are two direct sequels in the works to the 2016 film. The first is the animated “Moana 2,” the direct (albeit belated) sequel to the original film .
This Thanksgiving, Auliʻi Cravalho returns as the voice of Disney’s titular princess. But in the live-action “Moana” of 2026, we will have a new. . . Moana. For what? It’s a matter of age.
Moana is a teenager and Cravalho is now in her twenties. While this age difference between actor and character isn’t unusual in Hollywood, it may be in the future. Disney has instead selected 17-year-old Catherine Laga’aia to play its Polynesian princess live. Obviously, Disney is pretty rich in sequels, especially in those days, and Laga’aia can make this one bigger and longer.
Mike Leigh reunites with Marianne Jean-Baptiste, the actress whose role as a black optometrist who reconnects with her white biological mother propelled “Secrets and Lies” to the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1996, for her 23rd film. Truths” follows Jean-Baptiste as Pansy, a woman who is the mental opposite of Sally Hawkins’ character in “Happy-Go-Lucky. ” Pansy has a strained relationship with her husband and her adult son, she starts fighting with strangers and gives away anyone. that she will pay attention to everything that concerns humanity. So a typical Mike Leigh character, a user whose chronic sadness is the complete usability of him. Leigh is never a sentimental filmmaker, but he is never without empathy for such people. — rl
“Hard Truths” will have an awards-qualifying run on December 6 before a broader one on January 10.
In 2021, the American Rachel Yoder channeled her rage and confusion into what would become the novel “Nightbitch”, in which our protagonist (and Yoder’s avatar) discovers that her domestic disaffection has shocking consequences: at night she becomes a dog and an angry man for boot. It’s a clever concept for a story, like “Diary of a Teenage Girl” and “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”Director Marielle Heller will then move on to a film version, starring Amy Adams as our titular night dog. The duo have been discussing the charms of the feature film for a while now and promise to pack rage and catharsis into a wild package. . It would be crazy to miss this one (sorry, I’m not sorry). —KÉ
A little spoiler alert for “The Odyssey,” but who’s bigger than Ralph Fiennes by including Homer’s cunning and confusing hero, Ulysses, at the end of his journey; And who better to stay in Ithaca as Penelope than Juliette Binoche?Uberto Pasolini’s “The Return” tells the last chapters of the famous Greek poem, when the traveler Odysseus will finally have to tidy up his own space by indulging in a frenzy of homicides through all the young people vying for his place. With Fiennes and Binoche anchored in the project, it’s safe to assume that there will also be enough tortured preference to fill a giant wooden horse. For enthusiasts of the afterlife couple collaborations, it sounds just as epic. —SS
Before the clock struck on January 1, 2000, planet Earth took a deep breath and squeezed its collective buttocks. At that time, an infamous computer glitch (related to calendar date formatting) had humanity worrying about a coded Armageddon: a time when cascading errors would wreak havoc on the global economy and dismantle the society as we know it.
Directed by Kyle Mooney and co-written by the “SNL” veteran with his friend Evan Winter, A24’s gonzo “Y2K” takes this mythical premise and turns it into a time capsule horror-comedy brimming with the ensemble spirit. Jaeden Martell (“Stranger Things”), Julian Dennison (“Godzilla vs. Kong”), Rachel Zegler (“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”) and many others play the school’s top students. school who observe the apocalypse in this dramatic film. praised the SXSW premiere, which, yes, also features nu-metal icon Fred Durst. —AF
Sony was thrilled with “Kraven the Hunter” at CinemaCon, its first R-rated entry at global Marvel, touting it as the culmination of its comic universe. But that was in 2022, before two moves derailed any promotional project. but also before “Morbius” and the memes surrounding “Madame Web” dampened the enthusiasm. Obviously, though, the studio believes in the film, continually delaying it and even giving director JC Chandor some other chance to make a new movie before it is released. liberated.
This time around, Sony can simply lean into the more country elements of its supervillain origin story, with Russell Crowe’s thick Russian accent, a teenage Aaron Taylor-Johnson getting his powers from a drop of lion’s blood, plenty of gratuitous bloodshed, and of course, of course, villain transforming into Rhino, the villain of Spider-Man. —PC
“I’m not a witch” Welsh Zambian writer-director Rungano Nyoni returns with Cannes’ Un Certain Regard-winning “Becoming a Guinea Fowl,” a surreal and even mischievous drama about the long-buried secrets of a middle-class Zambian family. A sinister omen occurs when Shula (Susan Chardy, in her first on-screen role), jumping to the beat of the music while driving alone on an abandoned road at night, digs up her uncle’s corpse. But no classic grief follows like the Relatives descend into the circle of relatives at home. Shula flees from the harpist refrain of her heartbroken aunts for the comfort of her cousins and in search of a less classic path to mourning. Nyoni’s ever-changing tone helps keep you in a restless position, a mark of an idiosyncratic storyteller who delivers on the promise of her early days. —RL
Pedro Almodóvar can now count among his new cinematic muses Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore. The Oscar-winning Spanish director returns for another colorful, impeccably styled melodrama about women with secrets whose afterlife and his offering collide on the path to realization. Swinton reunites with the filmmaker after her short film “The Human Voice” to play war journalist Martha, whose old friend Ingrid, an autofiction novelist played by Moore for the first time in Almodóvar, comes between Martha and her daughter. “The Room Next Door” is the first feature film entirely in English from the director of “Pain and Glory”, after lending his hand to the Western genre in his afterlife of the film, the short film “Strange Way of Life”, and directing Swinton in the film animated by Jean Cocteau. break Closing poem “The Human Voice. “—RL
Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson in an erotic mystery between May and December? Has there been a greatest phrase in the history of human language? We didn’t believe it. “Bodies Bodies Bodies” director Halina Reijn reunites with A24 for “Bathroughgirl,” which centers on a CEO (Kidman) who begins an affair with a corporate intern (Dickinson). Antonio Banderas, Jean Reno, Esther McGregor and Sophie Wilde star in this successful film that will debut at the Venice festival. Even Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera explained how “Bathroughgirl” evokes an emotionally “sadomasochistic” tryst with a shocking, modern ending, no doubt influenced by post-#MeToo awakenings. Kidman’s reign on the big screen continues in Reijn’s third feature, which is sure to stimulate verbal exchange based on the synopsis alone. —S. B.
James Mangold’s “Walk the Line” has suffered a lot of ridicule due to the multitude of stereotypical imitators it has encouraged over the past two decades. But without this context, it remains arguably the most productive musical biopic of the 21st century. If anyone can find a way to breathe new life into one of Hollywood’s most tired genres, it might be the guy who invented the wheel in the first place.
“A Complete Unknown” stars Timothée Chalamet as a young Bob Dylan who moves from Minnesota to Greenwich Village to pursue folk music before being ranked as the voice of his generation and giving up his prescient prestige to experiment with electric instruments. Rather than a traditional birth-to-death story, the film focuses on a few pivotal years in what has become one of American music’s most prolific careers. Since Mangold’s vision for the film was endorsed by the famously reclusive (and convention-hater) Dylan, this will be an ideal choice for armchair Dylanologists and new enthusiasts alike. —CZ
“It’s coming!” warns Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp), object of Count Orlok’s (Bill Skarsgård) growing affection, in the teaser for Robert Eggers’ “Nosferatu. ” And, in fact, what is to come is more taken from Francis Ford Coppola’s film. “Dracula’s” gothic practical effects manual than any CGI-injected neck bite that has spread through Hollywood since.
The cast includes Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin and Eggers collaborators Ralph Ineson (“The Witch,” “The Northman”) and Willem Dafoe (“The Lighthouse,” “The Northman”)) in This reinvention of F. W. Murnau’s film, a 1922 German Expressionist vintage, encouraged through Bram Stoker’s novel, Skarsgård told Esquire that the role, which required six hours a day of prosthetics, “was like conjuring natural evil. It took me a while to get rid of the demon that had been evoked within me. I am hopeful that Eggers can once again evoke evil in theaters worthy of his first film “The Witch—RL. “
Nine years after Aardman’s beloved short duo of Wallace and Gromit made their film debut with the glorious Hammer Horror parody “Curse of the Were-rabbit,” and six years after their last appearance in a new short film, everyone’s favorite cheese-lover. Through it all, Lancashire and his trusty dog are back for a new adventure.
To celebrate the return, “Vengeance Most Fowl” brings back the duo’s most iconic supporting character, the penguin thief Feathers McGraw from “The Wrong Pants,” for a new adventure. While it’s a shame you can’t see this memorable reunion on the big screen, Netflix’s release of “Vengeance Most Fowl” this year makes it the best holiday watch of the season. -BATH
It’s a shame that “It’s What’s Inside” likely won’t get much of a theatrical run before it hits Netflix, because Greg Jardin’s genre twists may just be a wild crowd-pleaser and potential summer hit. But instead, Netflix will release “It’s What’s Inside,” its $17 million Sundance mega-seller, this fall, and we hope it’s destined to explode in streaming.
Jardin’s film, which he wrote and directed, has the feel of a horror movie, but plays with surprising emotional games and has a sense of humor that makes a genre hard to pin down. Viewers will also be better adapted to the bloodless, the best for aimlessly browsing Netflix. It follows an organization of old school friends who meet at a mansion before a wedding, only to have an old friend show up with a briefcase containing a mysterious board game. With this setting, Jardin plays in a sexy, provocative, and scary sandbox and offers a clever observation of a culture obsessed with social media, the male gaze, and identity politics. -PERSONAL COMPUTER