Recent theatrical viewings

[Rev. Powell]

CRIMES OF THE FUTURE (2022): Sometime in the future, for unknown reasons, human evolution has accelerated; one man makes performance art out of growing new organs and surgically removing them before a live audience, while other groups attempt to put their own stamp on humanity's future. David Cronenberg returns to his favorite theme of extreme body horror, and although CRIMES lacks the narrative drive of his earlier features, the atmosphere of evil, corruption, mutation and decay is stronger than ever.  4/5.

[Rev. Powell]

THE BOB'S BURGERS MOVIE: The Belcher family struggles with their burger business: they're behind on a business loan, a sinkhole just opened in front of their restaurant, blocking storefront access, and the kids are off investigating the murder of a carny. Lots of pleasant chuckles in an animated comedy that's modest in scope (despite some amusing musical numbers) and hits its marks. I'd never seen an episode of the TV show, and I had no trouble following it. 3/5.

[Trevor]

CRIMES OF THE FUTURE (2022): Sometime in the future, for unknown reasons, human evolution has accelerated; one man makes performance art out of growing new organs and surgically removing them before a live audience, while other groups attempt to put their own stamp on humanity's future. David Cronenberg returns to his favorite theme of extreme body horror, and although CRIMES lacks the narrative drive of his earlier features, the atmosphere of evil, corruption, mutation and decay is stronger than ever.  4/5.

I've been wondering if our beloved censors will allow that to be released here.

[Rev. Powell]

CHA CHA REAL SMOOTH: A recent college graduate starts a business as a bar/bat mitvah party host, while pursuing a single mother with an autistic daughter. A well-characterized, modest, and mature dramedy about young people. 3/5.

[indianasmith]

THE BLACK PHONE - Ethan Hawke does a sinister turn as "The Grabber," a child murderer terrifying Denver in the spring of 1978.  Finney, a young baseball player, is about to become his sixth victim.  The boy is drugged, kidnapped, and locked in a soundproof cellar with a cot, a toilet, and a broken black phone on the wall.  But as "the Grabber" toys with his victim over the next few days, the phone on the wall begins to ring . . . and on the other end are the spirits of his previous victims, advising Finney on how to survive his ordeal and defeat his captor.  Creepy and brilliant, with great performances all around, this one hit it out of the park!  5/5

[Rev. Powell]

THE BLACK PHONE: Neighborhood children are disappearing, abducted by "the Grabber"; when young Finn is kidnapped he finds himself in a bare basement with nothing but a mattress and a black phone on the wall. His abductor thinks it is useless, but he can actually communicate with the spirits of past victims through it, who give him clues on how to escape. More a thriller with a supernatural hook than a horror movie, this is a well-constructed contraption that hits all the appropriate notes of suspense and catharsis.

Note: I was distracted at the beginning because a couple of teenagers seated right in front of me were basically having sex until they got kicked out of the theater. I mean, they kept their clothes on, but they might have slid their pants aside (the girl was wearing leggings). It was highly distracting and they ignored comments from people to stop until the usher came and actually led them out. Wow! 3.5/5 (the movie, not the dry-humping teenagers).

[Rev. Powell]

ELVIS: Col. Parker (Tom Hanks) recalls the career of a promising young singer named Elvis Presley. Actually, a Col. Parker movie would have been more entertaining than Baz Luhrmann's overlong and sometimes over-stylized biopic, but no one could have taken Hanks' Dutch boy accent for 2 hours. An OK, if predictable, tribute, but they should have cut out about 45 minutes of Elvis agonizing over whether he was going to sing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" on his comeback special. Elvis fans will want to pay homage, but I prefer to remember the King the way he was in BUBBA HO-TEP. 2.5/5.

[Rev. Powell]

MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS: 50s war widow Mrs. Harris scrimps and saves her money to travel to Paris and buy a Christian Dior dress in this feature-length advertisement for Christian Dior (and communism) funded by Christian Dior. I could have handled the old-fashioned smarminess alright if not for the blatant branding propaganda. 2/5.

[Rev. Powell]

MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON: A documentarian films Marcel, a shell with shoes and his grandmother (also a shell with shoes) as they make do living alone in an airbnb after they were left behind when their former owner relocated his large shell collection. Totally charming, funny and unforced, sweet without being treacly, like a combination of THE BORROWERS and GREY GARDENS. 4/5.

[Rev. Powell]

Went to see NOPE, but it was sold out (first time that's happened in a long time). So instead I bought a ticket for

VENGEANCE: A jaded NY writer ("The Office"'s BJ Novak) goes to Texas to attend the funeral of a hookup (her family believes she was her steady boyfriend), then decides to make a podcast about her death, which may involve foul play. This culture clash comedy/murder mystery doesn't reinvent the wheel, although it provides solid laughs and reasonably trenchant shots at our contemporary shallow social media-based culture. 4/5.

[Rev. Powell]

INU-OH: Amidst imperial intrigue, a disfigured dancer and a blind biwa player team up to sing forgotten stories of Heike samurai (in anachronistic rock and roll) in order to put their souls to rest. Masaaki Yuasa's latest anime is deeply steeped in Japanese history, culture and mythology, but don't miss out on the brilliant, intensely varied animation (how can you resist the chance to see a breakdancing samurai skeleton?) 3.5/5.

[Rev. Powell]

DRAGON BALL SUPER: SUPER HERO: A green guy with antennae and a spiky-haired dude battle androids using arbitrary power-ups, while other, presumably more powerful, spiky-haired dudes hand out on a planet with Anubis. At least the new villains are explained this time, although I guess it would be impossible to fill in newcomers on the dozens of heroes and ancillary characters; expensive looking animation, and kids (and adults who first saw this series as kids) will enjoy the bright lights and frequent fights. I'm still not sure what a "dragon ball" is or why the series is named after them. 2.5/5.

[WingedSerpent]

Bullet Train with a couple of friends

Fun movie.  Some really cool scenes and cameos. 

[Rev. Powell]

BODIES BODIES BODIES (2022): A bunch of spoiled rich 20-somethings have a "hurricane party" at a remote mansion and play a game where they pretend one of them is a killer; when real bodies start showing up, they turn on each other. Bloody thriller with touches of satire ("don't call her a psychopath, that's ableist!") and some great "mean girl" (and guy) performances from the ensemble cast. 3.5/5.

[Rev. Powell]

BARBARIAN (2022): Tess arrives to find her Airbnb is double-booked, and decides to share the place with Keith---a bad idea (though not necessarily for the reason you suspect.) Nicely done, with creepy dungeons and a script that's good at character building and misdirection; too bad the ending goes a little off the rails (in a bad way). 3/5.