Recent theatrical viewings

[Rev. Powell]

SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS: When assassins steal the pendant Shang-chi's mother gave him, he must track down his father, who owns ten magical rings that make him nearly invincible, and face his heritage. I don't like them getting Marvel in my wuxia, but I must confess some of the action scenes are ace (particularly the one on the city bus). Still, it mostly made me nostalgic for the artistry of a lightly-edited, CGI-free Shaw Brothers classic. 3.5/5, however I think many/most here would rate it higher. It's the top movie at the box office and has a remarkable 8/10 on IMDB and 93% on RT.

[Rev. Powell]

THE CARD COUNTER: An ex-con is a card-playing genius; he takes a young man with a connection to his dark past under his wing, trying to steer him in the right direction. The film's stoic hero and its moral fatalism are right out Paul Schaeder's regular playbook, and by changing the details (and omitting the fascinating nightmare scene) you could make this into a classic Western. 4.5/5.

[Rev. Powell]

CANDYMAN: An artist bases his latest exhibit around the urban legend of Candyman, a boogeyman who appears when you say his name five times in a mirror, and---surprise!---the killer appears and starts slaughtering the cast. Co-scripted by Jordan Peele, this sequel stays true to the lore of the 1992 original while putting a new black spin on the material. 3/5.

[Rev. Powell]

TITANE (2021): After a car accident, a girl receives a titanium plate in her head; she grows up to be a sexy car-show dancer obsessed with automobiles, and things get strange after she deals with a stalker. The plot goes in at least two crazy directions you'd never expect, and the trip is extremely squirm-inducing with its body horror; the hints of weirdness conceived in Julia Ducournau's debut RAW are given birth here. Excellent performances by the two leads. 3.5/5.

[Rev. Powell]

After it stuck with me some more, I'm bumping TITANE up to 4/5.

LAMB: A childless Icelandic couple living alone on a remote farm adopt a lamb, which soon obsesses them. A simple but effective story, though delivered rather languidly, exploring how the desire for something to love can turn perverse. 3.5/5.

[Archivist]

Due to a combination of lockdown and work, I haven't been to the cinema since the beginning of 2021! That was Wonder Woman 1984 back on the 3rd of January! The month before, I saw TENET. Blew my mind. Now that lockdown is lifted in my neck of Australia, I'm hoping to get to the cinema sooner or later. We've missed Shang Chi, Snake Eyes, Black Widow, although the new Bond film will be out here. Fingers crossed.

[Rev. Powell]

LAST NIGHT IN SOHO: A young woman who's obsessed with the Swinging Sixties moves to London to pursue a career as a fashion designer, where she begins to have vivid dreams about an aspiring 1960s singer named Sandie. Edgar Wright's sumptuous and stylish recreation of Soho circa 1965 elevates a decent ghost-story script. 3.5/5.

[Archivist]

Shang Chi! What a great movie, and a nice way to get back into the cinema. It's been a long lockdown, and I'm thrilled to be able to see this on the big screen.

[Archivist]

No Time To Die - see my comments in a standalone thread. A truly enjoyable movie, deeply emotional, with plotlines and story devices that are different from almost all Bond movies that came before. A very fitting swan song for Daniel Craig's James Bond. It has motivated me to watch all of his Bond movies again, in order. Now that I think of it, I should have done this prior to watching NTTD. Will probably watch again before it leave the cinema.

[jimpickens]

Starship Invasion cheesy but fun 70's sci fi
The Wolfman a 1979 period piece werewolf movie

[Rev. Powell]

Starship Invasion cheesy but fun 70's sci fi
The Wolfman a 1979 period piece werewolf movie

Where did you see these?

[Rev. Powell]

Got back to the theaters to catch a couple of awards-nominated features I didn't have screeners for.

LICORICE PIZZA: In the 1970s, a teenage TV star/entrepreneur sets his sights on a woman in her mid-20s. An episodic romance with good period feel; Paul Thomas Anderson always delivers quality cinema, but his last two efforts seem like he's stopped taking major creative chances. 3/5.

WEST SIDE STORY: Stephen Spielberg remakes Leonard Bernstein's "Romeo & Juliet" musical about rival ethnic gangs in NYC. Obviously high quality, but my temptation was to dismiss it as an unnecessary exercise, until I considered the Jets as Proud Boys and the Sharks as Spanglish-speaking proponents of critical race theory. Their pride, bigotry and hatred ruins the lives of normal, good people. 4.5/5.

[Rev. Powell]

BELLE (2022): A shy and morose girl finds a new life as pop-singing superstar in a virtual world, where she encounters a troublemaking outlaw known as the Dragon. A sweet story and the astounding digital visuals---golden glowing whales sailing past massive skyscrapers in a sea of digital confetti as hundreds of individually drawn avatars look on---charm you into overlook some narrative liberties. The most extravagant production from Mamoru Hosoda yet. 3.5/5.

[Rev. Powell]

PARALLEL MOTHERS (2021): Two new mothers---an unwed teen and an unwed photographer nearing menopause---bond as maternity ward roommates, then fate reunites them after their daughters' births. The story is a bit drawn out, a little contrived, and has a disinterment subplot that doesn't really mesh well, but it works as an acting showcase for Penelope Cruz and Milena Smit. Kind of a meh effort from Pedro Almodovar. 3/5.

[Rev. Powell]

WHO WE ARE: A CHRONICLE OF RACISM IN AMERICA (2021): Attorney Jeffery Robinson gives a lecture on the history of racism in America, enhanced with interview footage. Personal and with some nice details (e.g., Andrew Jackson's dirty laundry), but there's nothing new here; the problem is that Robinson lectures to an appreciative audience looking to have their own beliefs reinforced, when it needed more scenes like the one where he engages directly to a man waving a Confederate flag. I was the only one in the theater, which kind of proves my point: how do they expect to get this in front of people who might benefit from it? The IMDB page has been slammed with 1 star reviews from exactly the type of people Robinson is hoping to reach (even if you disagree with Robinson on certain points, no fair-minded person could legitimately believe this is a one-star movie). 3/5