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When a man exposes government programs that sound more like conspiracy theories than reality, you can bet that someone will make a movie about it. It only took three years for the story of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden to hit theaters, but that doesn’t mean that it was easy to do. Co-writer and director Oliver Stone has spoken very publicly about the struggle to get financing for Snowden, which he claims was turned down by every major studio in Hollywood.
The Space Between Us is the classic boy meets girl story, except the boy and girl are on different planets and the boy doesn’t know who his father is. It’s science fiction, romance, mystery, and medical drama all rolled up into one hopefully neat package. Admit it, if the film can pull off all these threads, it’ll be a pretty great movie.
I suppose the title A Monster Calls has a double meaning. It certainly refers to the tree-like monster that appears to young Connor, but it could also refer to the monstrous situation before him: the impending death of his mother.
Film Inquiry publishes a list of the movies that are opening in cinemas every Tuesday. Opening this week: Star Trek Beyond, Ice Age:
Whistling in on a plaintive melody is La La Land, a musical so out of left field that it needs a gentle introduction for you to acclimate to. And so LA wipes in, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling make their entrances, and it’s not until the trailer is over that you realize how far you’ve gone. Sure, it’s just a teaser, but it’s transportive in a way that cuts through the cliché of that word.
Mike Birbiglia examines the start of another comedy career in Don’t Think Twice, the second feature from the writer, director, actor, and all-around performer. He had a lot of support adapting his semi-autobiographical play and book into his first film, Sleepwalk with Me, but strikes out on his own with Don’t Think Twice, taking sole writing and directing credits. Still, it’s hard not to think of a film about an improve troupe as an ensemble, especially when it features of bevy of established comedians like Keegan-Michael Key and Gillian Jacobs.
If you were to ask me what genre of movie will never die, I’d probably put my money on boxing films. It’s already survived since 1894, when the first live fight was recorded by William K.L.
2016’s Sundance Film Festival was a splashy show of muscle from streaming leaders Amazon and Netflix, with early headlines being grabbed by the latter for its pre-festival acquisition of Tallulah. The film reunites Juno stars Ellen Page and Allison Janney for another movie that circles around a baby, but this time Page’s character isn’t as up front about the child’s origins. Tallulah is the kind of film that likely would’ve found a home with a major studio’s independent label, like Juno’s deal with Fox Searchlight, before the streaming companies pushed into feature distribution.
Film Inquiry compiles the info & trailers of the movies that are opening in cinemas every Tuesday. Opening this week: Ghostbusters, The Infiltrator, Cafe Society, Equals, Phantom Boy and Undrafted.
Daniel Radcliffe has certainly blazed his own trail post-Potter, but Imperium takes him out on a limb no one was expecting. Images of him as a white supremacist are certainly startling, so much so that the poster clearly puts his FBI badge front and center to soften the blow. Yep, Radcliffe’s character is only pretending to be Neo-Nazi, but that’s still enough to jar your Potter memories into nightmarish territory.
You may not have signed up for that astronomy 101 course, but you probably should get yourself to a movie theater for Terrence Malick’s universe epic Voyage of Time. It’s sure to be gorgeous, and whatever crazy dinosaur behavior Malick puts on the screen will (allegedly) be explained by Brad Pitt or Cate Blanchett, depending on which version you choose. That, or they’ll ramble existentially about the passage of time, because Malick doesn’t need your narrative clarity.
Sometimes the right person ends up at the right place at the right time. Whether you believe in chaos or destiny, it’s moments we all recognize as miraculous, and one of those moments happened when Sully Sullenberger safely landed a commercial jet on the Hudson River. People immediately pinned an exorbitant amount of hope on the incident, and Sullenberger unwittingly became an American hero.
While not the biggest hit at Sundance or Berlin, Indignation walked away from its festival showings with strong buzz for everyone involved, which should be considered a rousing success given the difficult material it’s based on. The narrative density of the average novel by acclaimed writer Philip Roth has long tripped up filmmakers, leading to outright disastrous adaptations like Portnoy’s Complaint and forgotten mediocrity like Elegy. Indignation, even if imperfect, is shaping up to be a rare Roth adaptation that isn’t brushed aside, if only for the crucial moments it falls on in the careers of its director and lead actor.
Film Inquiry compiles a list of the movies that are opening in cinemas every Tuesday. Opening this week: The Secret Life Of Pets, Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates, Captain Fantastic, Our Little Sister and Zero Days.
Bryan Cranston hops to the other side of the drug war in The Infiltrator, portraying a real-life U.S. Customs official working undercover to take down Pablo Escobar’s cartel.
