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Fall, Mack & Rita, Emily the Criminal, Secret Headquarters and more.
13: The Musical **
It will always be baffling when a film adaptation of a source material—book, play, etc.—chooses to abandon the very concept that made it original, and worth adapting in the first place. This version of the 2008 Broadway show tells the story of Evan Goldman (Eli Golden), a Jewish adolescent who’s forced to move with his mom from New York to Indiana, just as he’s preparing for his bar mitzvah.
Bullet Train, Luck, Thirteen Lives, Prey, I Love My Dad and more
Bullet Train **
It has been nearly 30 years since cinemas were bursting with Tarantino copycats, convinced that motor-mouthed underworld types + plenty of violence = $$$ and an unlimited cachet of cool. It wasn’t true then, and it still isn’t. Director David Leitch (Deadpool 2) and screenwriter Zak Olkewicz adapt Kōtarō Isaka’s novel set on a Tokyo-to-Kyoto high-speed train where several characters—a conscientious snatch-and-grab man (Brad Pitt); a pair of hired killers (Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry); a mysterious young woman (Joey King)—are among those wreaking havoc over a briefcase full of cash, and its connection to a scary crime boss.
Co-writer/star Jeremy Rishe and the long road toward the local premiere
For any creative work, it can be a long road to getting that work from your head out into the world. For Jeremy Rishe and the team behind the feature film Jewtah, it feels particularly long.
DC League of Super-Pets, Vengeance, Not Okay, Resurrection and more
DC League of Super-Pets ***
The self-seriousness in so much of the mainstream, live-action DC superhero features virtually demands a cheeky, irreverent response that began in stuff like Teen Titans Go! To the Movies and The LEGO Batman Movie, and continues here with this engaging adventure.
Nope, The Gray Man, Fire of Love, Anything's Possible
Anything’s Possible **1/2
It’s not easy to decide, when taking a familiar genre like the high-school romance and introducing a transgender character into the equation, how much to lean into what makes this story different, vs. what makes this story like any other high-school romance—and this one gets caught a little bit between the two. Kelsa (Eva Reign), a trans teen, is starting her senior year of high school with no plans for a boyfriend, but finds herself interested in classmate Khalid (Abubakr Ali)—and surprised to learn that the feeling is mutual.
Persuasion, Where the Crawdads Sing, Marcel the Shell With Shoes On and more
Apples **1/2
The knowledge that co-writer/director Christos Nikou worked with Yorgos Lanthimos had me expecting that the darkly comic set-up would remain squarely in that vein, but this odd Greek comedy-drama has other things on its mind, even if they’re not always successfully executed. It’s set at a time when a strange epidemic is causing people to almost-instantaneously develop complete amnesia, to the point where the government has launched a “New Identity Program” for those found without ID and unclaimed by any loved ones.
Thor: Love and Thunder, The Sea Beast, Lost Illusions and more
Beba **1/2
Navel-gazing personal-essay cinema demands at least two pretty important things: 1) a compelling reason for why it should be a movie rather than a diary entry, and 2) a particularly interesting navel at which to gaze. I’m not convinced Rebeca Huntt meets either qualification.
Chris Hemsworth's comedic energy + a tale of loss and despair = an awkward mix of tones
I think it would be fair to say that, after 11 years playing Thor, Chris Hemsworth is currently the face of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Other long-time players like Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson have moved on; Mark Ruffalo and Jeremy Renner are still technically in the fold, but have never headlined a feature; Doctor Strange and Spider-man, blockbuster successful though they may be, are still relative newcomers.
Dinosaur expert and Jurassic Park consultant tours exhibit of his animatronic creations
It’s not necessarily an obvious life journey to go from a master’s degree in animal behavior to a journalism career to becoming one of the world’s best-known dinosaur experts.
