Here are some reviews of films coming out at the theater this week as well as others that may be in theaters or newly on home video.
Opening: Jul. 26, 2019
Wide (United States)
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
2019 Films In Theaters Now In Select Areas
Annabelle Comes Home
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Apollo 11
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Art of Self-Defense
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Brightburn
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Child’s Play
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Crawl
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Dead Don’t Die
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
The Lion King
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Ma
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Men in Black International
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Midsommar
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Wild Rose
For member reviews of this film, follow this link
Angels Are Made of Light
Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: An engaging documentary about Afghanistan’s youth that activates our empathy.
The Art of Self Defense
Ron WIlkinson @ its just movies
- Excerpt: Finding the inner warrior might be more trouble than it is worth.
Article 15
Kathy Gibson @ Access Bollywood
The Chambermaid
Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: Slice-of-life film about a young maid at a luxury hotel coping with and rising above the messiness of her work life.
Crawl
Jeremy Kibler @ The Artful Critic
- Excerpt: “Crawl” is a nonstop blast, a prime summer movie that will satisfy moviegoers who paid to see some expertly staged gator shenanigans.
David Crosby: Remember My Name
Laura Cifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Eaton’s changing interview venues keep things fresh and he limits most of his other talking heads to archival footage, allowing Crosby to tell his own story
DreadOut
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
- Excerpt: Quick, fast-paced, and surprisingly well-lit for a horror movie, DreadOut delivers an engaging genre adventure.
A Faithful Man
Laura Cifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Garrel’s film is both funny and wise, upending our expectations from beginning to end.
For Sama
Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: A heart-wrenching and unflinching documentary filmed by a young mother and citizen journalist living through the siege of Aleppo, Syria.
Give Me Liberty
Ron WIlkinson @ its just movies
- Excerpt: Frenetic to a fault, bordering on sensory overload, this is a van ride to be remembered.
A Good Woman is Hard to Find
Scott Phillips @ The Movie Isle
- Excerpt: Anchored by a fearless leading performance from Sarah Bolger, this film is a tale of female empowerment that avoids talking the talk and instead walks the walk.
J.R. “Bob” Dobbs and the Church of the SubGenius
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
- Excerpt: Whatever you make of the people involved, J.R. “Bob” Dobbs and the Church of the SubGenius is a wild-ass ride, an engrossing look at a fascinating sliver of off-the-wall Americana, a minor religious movement that just sort of happened while two friends were fucking around.
Jirga
Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: A powerful story of a soldier seeking to make amends who turns his enemies into friends.
Knives and Skin
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
- Excerpt: Bleak and grin, but ultimately hopeful and optimistic, Jennifer Reeder creates something unique and special. She’s a fresh new voice with much to add to the conversation.
The Legendary Stardust Brothers
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
- Excerpt: More unhinged nonsense than you can cram into a silver bodysuit.
Luz
Laura Cifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: exhibits artful craftsmanship, especially in its sound design, but its fuzzy storytelling may lose many.
Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love
Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: Documentary about the magical and toxic moments in the lifelong relationship between the poet/songwriter and his muse.
Murder Mystery
Jeremy Kibler @ The Artful Critic
- Excerpt: Even as a diverting romp, “Murder Mystery” is neither as involving as an everyone’s-a-suspect whodunit should be, nor is it ever as funny as one would like it to be, but it’s an amicable time-killer.
The Other Story
Jonathan Richards @ santafenewmexican.com
- Excerpt: When parenting is paired with religion, logic is in pell-mell retreat and remains so throughout Israeli director Avi Nesher’s entertaining but scattershot story of strained relationships and cultural divides in contemporary Jerusalem.
Papi Chulo
Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: A sensitive portrait of urban loneliness.
The Perfection
Jeremy Kibler @ The Artful Critic
- Excerpt: The Perfection is a lurid, brazen, steadily insane ride that catches one off-guard as it keeps changing and shuffling through so many different thriller subgenres—an erotic thriller, revenge horror thriller, contagion body-horror and psychological thriller, and not necessarily always in that order—with nearly as much flair and tension as the best of Brian De Palma and Park Chan-wook.
Phil
Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: Dramedy about a depressed middle-ager who tries to unravel the mysteries of life.
Porno
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
- Excerpt: Gory, ridiculous, and often legitimately scary, it’s a perfect movie to watch late at night, preferably with a rowdy, intoxicant-lubricated crowd.
The Prey
Brent McKnight @ The Last Thing I See
- Excerpt: But even with the problems, The Prey is watchable and should satisfy action fans for a time as they wait for the next movie from the likes of Gareth Evans and Timo Tjahjanto.
The Prey
Scott Phillips @ The Movie Isle
The Reports on Sarah and Saleem
Ron WIlkinson @ its just movies
- Excerpt: Melding the hurtful and selfish extramarital affair with the explosive politics of the occupied West Bank makes this a great thriller for our time.
Rosie
Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: Moving drama about a suddenly homeless family dealing with the challenges of this increasingly common situation.
Sea of Shadows
Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat @ Spirituality & Practice
- Excerpt: A documentary that unreels like an action thriller to tell the story of attempts to save the vaquita porpoise from extinction.
Secret Obsession
Betty Jo Tucker @ ReelTalk Movie Reviews
- Excerpt: Too bad some scenes appear a bit repetitive and hard to believe. Still, I never lost interest in brave Jennifer’s plight.
Stare
C.H. Newell @ Father Son Holy Gore
- Excerpt: Stare doesn’t necessarily give J-horror fans anything new. Still, Adachi’s film is incredibly creepy, touching on themes about how and why folk tales affect us, and how the past connects with modernity through urban legends.
Trespassers
Jeremy Kibler @ The Artful Critic
- Excerpt: While “Trespassers” gives its characters plenty of interpersonal drama to work with before their life-or-death struggle, there is precious little to care about.
2018 Films
CoinCoin and the Extra-Humans
Gregory J. Smalley @ 366 Weird Movies
- Excerpt: ..it captures the Western world’s current mood of ambivalent anxiety as well as anything out there. An apocalypse is coming—maybe—and it’s actually sort of funny—a little.
2017 Films
Maria By Callas
Dennis Schwartz @ Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
- Excerpt: A well-researched, personal and fascinating documentary.