Coming Soon
The glossy biopic genre is getting yet another entry in Hidden Figures, which dredges up the forgotten story of African-American women in NASA and displays it with wit and verve. We’re only two years removed from the mathlete battle between The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything, and while Hidden Figures has no clear rival this year, it will be hard not to draw comparisons to those two recent films. Why?
The largest oil spill in U.S. history isn’t the most obvious, or even the most appropriate, place to set a story about everyday heroes, but director Peter Berg and star Mark Wahlberg are doing their best to sell us on that version of events in Deepwater Horizon.
In 1974, TV news reporter Christine Chubbuck killed herself live on-air in Sarasota, Florida. She was 29 years old. As disturbing as the event was, it’s not the only time a suicide has been broadcast, and the memory of it has faded from public knowledge.
Film Inquiry compiles a list of the movies that are opening in cinemas every week. Opening this week: Kubo & The Two Strings, Ben-Hur, A Tale of Love & Darkness, War Dogs, Morris From America, Lo And Behold:
Clashing tradition with modernity is Ixcanul, a Guatemalan film that scooped up a variety of awards from its festival run but has struggled to find distribution in major markets. I suppose films from first-time feature directors that aren’t about people with paved roads and indoor plumbing seem like a hard sell, but I think that good stories can find audiences, and Ixcanul looks like a good one. Set in the shadows of a volcano and about something as basic as a girl’s transition into womanhood, the film takes a long look at 17-year-old Maria’s impending arranged marriage and her fling with a young local.
Brad Pitt’s doin’ one thing and one thing only in Allied… falling for Marion Cotillard. Yeah, he’ll kill some Nazis along the way, but it looks like the shady backwaters of the spy world is there to complicate their relationship instead of override the plot. It’s possible that will change in later marketing pushes, but for now, Allied is being pitched as another in a long line of wartime romances.
I wish more trailers hinted instead of explained like this one, but most trailers don’t have as much to offer as Closet Monster. By that, I don’t mean that it has some big narrative twist, but that there’s layers to the story and the way it’s told. The basics of Closet Monster is still clear:
From child prodigy to Star Wars to the Oscars, Natalie Portman’s career has taken a lot of turns. Adding writing and directing roles to her resume isn’t really surprising at this point, but what may catch people off guard is the feature project she picked to debut these new endeavors. A Tale of Love and Darkness is based on the autobiography of the same name by Israeli author Amos Oz, covering the period of his childhood when the British Mandate for Palestine ended and the State of Israel began.
New York City is a discordant place. People with different backgrounds and values build lives on top of each other, creating a diaspora of the world that never quite feels settled. I suppose a settled feeling would go against its treasured idea of endless opportunity, where you can indulge, reinvent, and achieve your dreams.
Film Inquiry compiles a list of the movies that are opening in cinemas every Tuesday. Opening this week: Pete’s Dragon, Florence Foster Jenkins, Sausage Party, Hell Or High Water, Antrhopoid, Operation Chromite, Edge of Winter and Ghost Team.
Violence isn’t the only way to thrill people, and while that’s been the primary technique for writer/director Chan-wook Park in the past, he leans more heavily on that other tried-and-true method in The Handmaiden: sex. Working from the novel “Fingersmith” by Sarah Waters, Park and co-writer Seo-Kyung Chung change the setting from Victorian era Britain to 1930s Korea.
Growing up is hard. Growing up as a minority is even harder. I’ve only had a taste of this experience, as the things that set me apart aren’t as obvious as my accent or the color of my skin, but most of us have experienced the feelings of isolation that come from being different than everyone around them, just not to the extent that Morris feels in Morris from America.
Blair Witch is 2016’s second hidden horror sequel, joining 10 Cloverfield Lane in utilizing a late-game title reveal to cause a swarm of free internet buzz. Both film franchises are known for their unusual marketing strategies, which makes the tactic a bit less off-putting, but it still elicits fear that the flashy move is a cover for sub-par material. By the time 10 Cloverfield Lane was actually released, most viewers were genuinely surprised by its quality, and I’ve got a feeling that Blair Witch might become a similar shocker.
We like to remind ourselves that people stood up to the Nazi party. That’s why we get movies like Anthropoid, Valkyrie, and Schindler’s List rather routinely, showing us the brave few who put their lives on the line to stop a massacre. The problem with these movies is that the flip side of history always lingers in the background, with people who put their heads down or actively participated in the genocide filling the screen.
Film Inquiry compiles a list of the movies that are opening in cinemas every Tuesday. Opening this week: Suicide Squad, Nine Lives, Little Men, Five Nights In Maine and Front Cover.
