Life, as a great philosopher once said, is just one film festival after another. But sometimes the fests descend upon us all at once. This week, the Twin Cities Film Fest hits its stride, the Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival gets underway, and the Twin Cities German Film Festival pops off.
Meanwhile, a three-hour film about fraudster Elizabeth Holmes and a four-hour movie about white nationalist billionaire Elon Musk premiere locally, and Ken Russell's unmissably sacrilegious The Devils returns to theaters, with all the naughty parts they made him cut now back in place.
Swoop on down to find new reviews of Sense and Sensibility and NAZA.
Special Screenings
Thursday, October 15
Training Day (2001)
AMC Southdale 16
A 25th anniversary screening. $19.99. 7 p.m. More info here.
The Corpse Bride (2005)
Granada Theater
A Taste the Movies event—mmm, corpse! $169. 6 p.m. More info here.
The Lost Boys (1987)
Grandview 1&2
Yep, still makes me think of the Phoebe Bridgers song. $13.19. 9:15 p.m. More info here.
Mysterious Skin (2004)
Heights Theater
RIP Michelle Trachtenberg. $10/$13. 7 p.m. More info here.
You Belong Here (2026)
Marcus West End
A documentary about Chef Ouita Michel. Part of the Twin Cities Film Festival. $15. 5 p.m. More info here.
Wild Horse Nine (2026)
Marcus West End
Sam Rockwell and John Malkovich are CIA agents in the latest from Martin McDonough. Part of the Twin Cities Film Festival. $30. 7:15 & 7:45 p.m. More info here.
Get Out (2017)
Parkway Theater
What a game-changer this was. $10/$15. Trivia at 7:30 p.m. Movie at 8 p.m. More info here.
Minnesota Neighbors (2026)
Riverview Theater
A documentary about neighborhood activism during the ICE occupation. $10 suggested donation. 7 p.m. More info here.
Mamá Papaya FilmSparks Fellows Screening
Walker Art Center
Four emerging Minnesota filmmakers present their work. Free. 6 p.m. More info here.
Friday, October 16
Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)
Alamo Drafthouse
The Cenobites are back. $13.99. 6:45 p.m. More info here.
American Psycho (2000)
AMC Rosedale 14/AMC Southdale 16
I guess it’s a horror movie? Also Tuesday. $7. 8 p.m. More info here.
Another Place (2026)
Edina Mann
A doc about the life of asylum seekers. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. Free. 4 p.m. More info here.
Captive (2026)
Edina Mann
A journalist stumbles into a dangerous science project. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 6 p.m. More info here.
Run Amok (2026)
Edina Mann
A student plans a bizarre musical reenactment of a shooting at her school to commemorate its 10th anniversary. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 8:30 p.m. More info here.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Heights Theater
Took my baby away from me. $10/$13. 9:45 p.m More info here.
Memorializing the Movement (2026)
Marcus West End
Follows the org working to preserve street art from the George Floyd uprising. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 4 p.m. More info here.
The Art of Sustaining: Prison (2026)
Marcus West End
A doc about two men who met in prison. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 4 p.m. More info here.
Small Town Girl (2026)
Marcus West End
A teen girl disappears from a small Midwestern town in 1973. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 5:30 p.m. More info here.
Josephine (2026)
Marcus West End
Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan are parents trying to help their 8-year-old daughter after she witnesses a crime. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 7:30 p.m. More info here.
Hot Dish Surprise
Marcus West End
A block of short films from Minnesota filmmakers. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. Sold out. 8 p.m. More info here.
#WhileBlack (2026)
TriLingua Cinema
A doc about what happens when Darnella Frazier and others share viral video of police violence. Free. 7 p.m. More info here.
Race With the Devil (1975)
Trylon
Two vacationing couples are pursued by a satanic cult. $8. 7 p.m. Saturday 9 p.m. Sunday 1 p.m. More info here.
House of the Devil (2009)
Trylon
Early Ti West. $8. 9 p.m. Saturday 5 & 7 p.m. Sunday 3 p.m. More info here.
Saturday, October 17
The Craft (1996)
Alamo Drafthouse
Teen witches gone wild. $10.99. 12:15 p.m. More info here.
The Met: Live in HD—Macbeth
AMC Rosedale 14/AMC Southdale 16/Emagine Willow Creek/Lagoon Cinema/Marcus West End
Also Wednesday. Noon. Prices and more info here.
Unscripted Block
Edina Mann
A block of short films. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. Free. Noon. More info here.
Donostia (2026)
Edina Mann
A grieving woman meets a mysterious stranger. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 4 p.m. More info here.
Bonding (2026)
Edina Mann
Three estranged siblings reunite at a remote Colorado ranch. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. Sold out. 6:15 p.m. Thursday 6:30 p.m. More info here.
2026 SUPER SPOOKSHOW SPECTACULAR!
Emagine Willow Creek
This horrific daylong event is: Sold out. 1 p.m. More info here.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Emagine Willow Creek
A Christmas movie or a Halloween movie? You decide. $14.50. 3:30 p.m. More info here.
Hocus Pocus (1993)
Heights Theater
The witchy childhood fave returns. $6-$13. 11 p.m. More info here.
Demon Witch Child (1975)
Heights Theater
A witch possesses the daughter of a cop! $10/$13. 9:45 p.m. More info here.
The Mummy (1932)
Lagoon
You can really get "wrapped up" in this movie. $13. 12:15 p.m. More info here.
Always Lalisa (2026)
Marcus West End
Follow the Blackpink singer’s solo career. $15.50. 7 p.m. More info here.
A Deeper Love: The Story of Miss Peppermint (2026)
Marcus West End
A doc about the trans artist. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 12:15 p.m. More info here.
Wings Over Water (2026)
Marcus West End
A doc about bird migration. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 12:30 p.m. More info here.
Miss Representation: Rise Up (2026)
Marcus West End
A look at how tech allows assaults on female mental health. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 2 p.m. More info here.
One in a Million (2026)
Marcus West End
A Syrian girl’s relationship with her refugee family frays when they relocate to Germany in this excellent doc. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $30. 2:30 p.m. More info here.
Cabali and the Tiki Mug Obsession (2026)
Marcus West End
A man is obsessed with tiki mugs. Takes all kinds! Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 4:30 p.m. More info here.
Give Me the Ball! (2026)
Marcus West End
A doc about Billie Jean King. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 5:15 p.m. More info here.
Morelife (2026)
Marcus West End
A mushroom-hunting fish-man prevents a suicide. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 7 p.m. More info here.
Hurricanna (2026)
Marcus West End
Wait, there are two new movies about Anna Nicole Smith? Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 7:45 p.m. More info here.
Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2006)
Parkway Theater
Our heroes battle a giant rabbit. $6-$12. 1 p.m. More info here.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Parkway Theater
Would you people keep it down? I’m trying to watch the movie. $10/$15. Midnight. More info here.
When Evil Lurks (2023)
TriLingua Cinema
Demonic possession overtakes a small town. $5. 6:20 p.m. More info here.
Sick & Twisted Tales (2026)
Trylon
A new horror anthology. $10. 3 p.m. More info here.
Sunday, October 18
A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
Alamo Drafthouse
A horror adaptation of a Korean folktale. $10.99. 12:15 p.m. More info here.
The Smitten Kitten Presents Dirty Arthouse
Bryant Lake Bowl
The heroes at Smitten Kitten offer up some more arty smut, with half of the proceeds going to mutual aid. $15. 7 p.m. More info here.
Turning the Page
Edina Mann
A block of documentary shorts. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. Noon. More info here.
A Month in Minnesota (2026)
Edina Mann
A documentary about the 2026 ICE occupation. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. Sold out. 2:30 p.m. More info here.
The Immigrant Rapid Response Fund (2026)
Edina Mann
A documentary about emergency nonprofit fundraising during Operation Metro Surge. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. Sold out. 2:30 p.m. More info here.
Beyond the Eagle Obsession (2026)
Edina Mann
A documentary about the ’60s sci-fi TV show Space: 1999. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 6 p.m. More info here.
Clue (1985)
Emagine Willow Creek
What’s next? A movie about Battleship? Also Wednesday. $11. Noon & 6:45 p.m. More info here.
Halloween (1978)
Grandview 1&2
Tis the season. Also Thursday. $13.19. 9:15 p.m. More info here.
Kids Like Me (2026)
Marcus West End
A 12-year-old has a rare genetic condition. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. Noon. More info here.
Noxturne (2026)
Marcus West End
A classical pianist shatters her spine just before her scheduled Carnegie Hall debut. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 12:15 p.m. More info here.
Mackenzie (2026)
Marcus West End
A teen runs away, hoping to meet her celebrity crush. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 2 p.m. More info here.
Demons and Depictions (2026)
Marcus West End
An artist struggles with mental health and substance abuse issues. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 2:45 p.m. More info here.
Moonlight (2016)
Marcus West End
Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Barry Jenkins’s poetic Oscar winner. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. Free for TCFF members only. 4:15 p.m. More info here.
Welcome to the Fishbowl (2026)
Marcus West End
An aspiring writer drives a spoiled legendary writer to an award ceremony. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $30. 4:45 p.m. More info here.
Caity (2026)
Marcus West End
A teen operates a haunted house with her newly sober dad. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 6:45 p.m. More info here.
You Don’t Know My Name (2026)
Marcus West End
A man is reunited with the incarcerated mother he was separated from as a baby. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. Sold out. 7:30 p.m. More info here.
Drag Me to Hell (2009)
Trylon
Never deny a loan to a witch. $8. 5 & 7 p.m. Monday-Tuesday 7 & 9 p.m. More info here.
Monday, October 19
Yuri!!! On Ice (2016)
Alamo Drafthouse
Five episodes of the classic anime series. $13.99. 6:45 p.m. More info here.
Wildwood (2026)
Emagine Willow Creek
Advance screening of the new handcrafted animated adventure. $14.50. 7 p.m. More info here.
The Thing (1982)
Edina Mann
Can you be more specific, Mr. Carpenter? What kind of “thing”? Also Wednesday. $10.90. 7 p.m. More info here.
Night of the Demons 2 (1994)
Emagine Willow Creek
Fun fact about star Amelia Kinkade from Wikipedia: “In 2002, she was invited to Buckingham Palace to work with the household cavalry of Queen Elizabeth II and to ‘whisper’ with the hunting horses of Prince Charles.[1][better source needed].” $9. 7:30 p.m. More info here.
WTF: Watch Terrible Films Club
56 Brewing
I don’t know what they’re gonna show, but I know it’s gonna be terrible. Free. 7 p.m. More info here.
$5 Secret Movie (2026)
Lagoon Cinema
What could it be? $5. 7 p.m. More info here.
Marcus Mystery Movie (2026)
Marcus West End
Another secret movie. $6. 7 p.m. More info here.
Tuesday, October 20
Spookies (1986)
Alamo Drafthouse
A USA Up All Night fave. $10.99. 8 p.m. More info here.
T (2026)
Edina Mann
A film about what it’s like to take testosterone. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 4 p.m. More info here.
Ithiqua (2026)
Edina Mann
19th century Canadian fur traders fight for survival. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 8:30 p.m. More info here.
Noga (2026)
Fine Line
The Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival kicks off with this doc about Israeli alt-pop star Noga Erez. $21.40/$27.31. 7 p.m. More info here.
Silver Screamers (2025)
Heights Theater
Old folks make a low-budget horror movie. Free. 2 p.m. More info here.
Let the Right One In (2008)
Lagoon Cinema
Good advice when it comes to vampires. $13. 7:15 p.m. More info here.
Love Reflected (2026)
Marcus West End
A woman communicates with her dead husband through a mysterious mirror. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 5:30 p.m. More info here.
Harvest (2026)
Marcus West End
People from diverse backgrounds form a new community. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 5:30 p.m. More info here.
Clarissa (2026)
Marcus West End
Mrs. Dalloway, transplanted to Lagos. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 7:15 p.m. More info here.
Club Kid (2026)
Marcus West End
A club promoter’s life is changed when he learns he has a 10-year-old son. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 7:30 p.m. More info here.
Union County (2026)
Riverview Theater
A man battles opioid addiction in rural Ohio. Free. 7:15 p.m. More info here.
Wednesday, October 21
Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966)
Alamo Drafthouse
An MST3K fave. $10.99. 7:15 p.m. More info here.
Filmmakers Forum: Minnesota Made
Capp Center
Local filmmakers display their current projects. Part of the Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival. Free. 3 p.m. More info here.
All Too Clear: Beneath the Surface of the Great Lakes (2026)
Edina Mann
Drones explore the watery depths. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 4 p.m. More info here.
Faces of Hope (2026)
Edina Mann
A look at recovery from opioid addiction in Anoka County. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. Free. 6 p.m. More info here.
Work Life Imbalance
Edina Mann
A block of comedy shorts. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $10. 4 p.m. More info here.
Duets: Narrative Shorts Program
Emagine Willow Creek
A selection of short films. Part of the Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival. $12/$16. 3 p.m. More info here.
Frontier (2025)
Emagine Willow Creek
Spanish villagers smuggle Jews out of Nazi-occupied France. Preceded by the short film The Suitcase. Part of the Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival. $12/$16. 5:30 p.m. More info here
Tell Me Everything (2026)
Emagine Willow Creek
A 12-year-old boy is disturbed by a secret he learns about his father. Part of the Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival. $12/$16. 8 p.m. More info here.
Prince of Darkness (1987)
Lagoon Cinema
Don’t open the spooky ancient canister! $13. 7:15 p.m. More info here.
Hellavision Television Presents: Dance Everywhere
Main Cinema
Dane Cree and Woodlin Latocki curate this selection of local animation. $13. 7 p.m. More info here.
Back to the Future (1985)
AMC Rosedale 14/Marcus West End/Riverview Theater
Cause the movie takes place on October 21. AMC: $13.49. 4 & 8 p.m. More info here. Marcus: $10.50. 5 & 7:45 p.m. More info here. Riverview: $5/$7. 7:15 p.m. More info here.
Name That Nightmare
Marcus West End
A surprise horror movie. $6. 7:30 p.m. More info here.
One Plant (2026)
Marcus West End
A farmer investigates hemp’s potential benefits. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 5 p.m. More info here.
Out of the Woods (2026)
Marcus West End
Frances Farmer is an aging woman who must make a romantic choice. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $30. 5:15 p.m. More info here.
Jane’s Not Here (2026)
Marcus West End
A woman awakens from a coma and must rebuild her life. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. Sold out. 7:30 p.m. More info here.
Boris Is Dead (2026)
Marcus West End
Dane Cook is a waiter caught up in a heist. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 7:45 p.m. More info here.
The Ring (2002)
Parkway
Goddammit Naomi, don’t watch the tape! $10/$15. DJ set from Shane Kramer at 7 p.m. Movie at 8 p.m. More info here.
Alien Beasts (1991)
Trylon
I read the description three times and I still don’t know what’s up here. Presented by Trash Film Debauchery. $5. 7 p.m. More info here.
Thursday, October 22
Desert Angel (2026)
Edina Mann
Documentary about a man who scours the Southwest to rescue immigrants and recover the remains of those who didn’t make it. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. Free. 4:15 p.m. More info here.
An Invitation to Wonder (2026)
Edina Mann
A doc about the Waubesa Wetlands. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. Free. 6:15 p.m. More info here.
Comedy Through the Chaos (2026)
Edina Mann
Miss Shannen Paul’s community-building comedy series. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 8:15 p.m. More info here.
Fallen Angels by Noel Coward (2026)
Emagine Willow Creek/Marcus West End
Kelli O'Hara and Rose Byrne in the 1925 farce on Broadway. Emagine: $17. 7 p.m. More info here. Marcus: $15.50. 7:20 p.m. More info here.
We Met at Grossinger’s (2026)
Emagine Willow Creek
A documentary about the storied Catskills resort. Part of the Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival. $12/$16. 1 p.m. More info here.
Bookends (2026)
Emagine Willow Creek
A queer writer finds unexpected connections with his grandparents. Part of the Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival. $12/$16. 8 p.m. More info here.
I Had the Heart (2026)
FilmNorth
A Buenos Aires rocker in the ’70s tries his hand at tango. Part of the Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival. $12/$16. 5:30 p.m. More info here.
Brother vs. Brother (2025)
FilmNorth
Competitive twin musicians search for the dying father in San Francisco in this improvised film. Part of the Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival. $12/$16. 8 p.m. More info here.
Weekend Rebels (2023)
Main Cinema
An autistic boy sets out to pick a favorite soccer team. Part of the Twin Cities German Film Festival. Free. 10:30 a.m. More info here.
Spies Among Us (2025)
Main Cinema
A look into the inner workings of the East German Stasi. Part of the Twin Cities German Film Festival. $12. 7 p.m. More info here.
Ashes (2026)
Marcus West End
A woman and her younger brother leave Mexico to reunite with their mother in Madrid. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 5 p.m. More info here.
Dream(E)scapes
Marcus West End
A block of sci-fi shorts. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $15. 5 p.m. More info here.
Elsinore (2026)
Marcus West End
Andrew Scott plays Ian Charleson playing Hamlet. Part of the Twin Cities Film Fest. $30. 7:15 p.m. More info here.
Dracula in Istanbul (1953)
Trylon
The oldest surviving Turkish horror film. Presented by Archives on Screen. $8. 7 & 9:15 p.m. More info here.
Opening
Follow the links for showtimes.
California Schemin’
Two Scots pretend to be California rappers.
Crawlers
Spiders overrun a quarantined apartment complex!
Jailer 2
A cop comes out of retirement to save his family.
Ken Russell’s The Devils (1971)
The pop provocateur’s masterpiece, now with more nun porn than ever.
Misty Green
Chris Rock directs the story of an actress struggling with her career.
Musk
Alex Gibney’s four-hour investigation into a truly reprehensible scumbag.
Sense and Sensibility
We can debate our preferred Pride and Prejudice or wonder why no Emma has surpassed Clueless, but for most people Ang Lee’s 1995 film is Sense and Sensibility. Director Georgia Oakley’s damp, darkened, lived-in Jane Austen faces this challenge head-on—perhaps too deliberately—battling our memories of sun-dappled landscapes and cute bonnets with a lowkey naturalism. Tossed out of their home by an elder half-brother after their father’s death, the Dashwood sisters set about finding husbands, as Austen heroines must do. The elder Elinor (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is constrained in her relations with her beloved Edward (George Mackay, putting his woodenness to good use) by her good sense, while a romantic sensibility allows the younger Marianne (Esmé Creed-Miles) to be swept away by the dashing Willoughby (a suitably caddish Frank Dillane). Edgar-Jones has a face made for period pieces, but there’s something inappropriately waifish and younger sisterly about her Elinor, and she struggles to achieve an outward representation of her propriety. Creed-Miles fares better, in part because Oakley favors her sensibility to Elinor’s sense—I often felt the director might prefer to be mucking around in something a little more Brontëan. In fact, this affair can feel unduly heavy when Fiona Shaw’s Mrs. Jennings isn’t around to liven things up, but we do get a real warmth between the sisters, and the two dance scenes are such standouts Oakley really should do a musical next. In short, no one gets in the way of the source material, and the film gets the job done. After all, how many truly terrible Austen adaptations that don’t star Dakota Johnson are there? B
My favorite Miyazaki and maybe yours, back in theaters.
Street Fighter
There are just so many ways to tell this story.
Tenzing
The story of the sherpa on Hillary’s ascent of Mount Everest.
Trust Me I’m a Doctor
The story of Anna Nicole Smith’s personal physician.
Whalefall
A man is trapped inside a whale while searching for his father. OK, Pinocchio.
You Can See Everything
An unstoppable autistic meets an immovable sociopath.
Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother
The movie Bassam Tariq and Mahershala Ali made instead of Blade.
Ongoing in Local Theaters
Follow the links for showtimes.
Coyote vs. Acme
When a fed-up Wile E. Coyote belatedly recognizes that defective Acme products are the source of all his woes, he seeks out Kevin Avery (Will Forte), a lawyer who specializes in settling animated clients’ product-liability cases fast and cheap. But the fired-up Coyote, along with Avery’s idealistic niece (Lana Condor), decide to stick it to The Man. Or rather, The Rooster—as Acme’s CEO, Foghorn Leghorn reveals himself as the evil bully we always knew he was, and it’s a hoot to watch him intimidate his lawyer, an obligingly game John Cena. If much of the comedy here leans on nostalgia, the old bits remain good ones. And while there’s a reason classic Looney Tunes didn’t exceed 10 minutes, Bugs and Daffy and Porky and Tweety all turn up at opportune moments. The human/toon interaction is as seamless as it should be, with Forte a serviceable enough straight man that I won’t compare him to Bob Hoskins. Though having avoided mentioning Who Framed Roger Rabbit? as long as I could, I couldn't help but notice that this film flirts with the other’s idea of cartoons as manic chaos agents but never quite plunges in. As for the anti-corporate storyline, it could be a critique of animal testing if it wanted to. (It’s a stretch, I say, I say, a stretch to claim it’s metaphorically calling out Big Tech’s beta-testing.) What stage of capitalism have we reached when a solid piece of entertainment like this becomes a cause célèbre simply because biz pinheads nearly binned it as a tax write off? I’m just glad it gives today’s kids the opportunity to learn who Peter Lorre was the same way that I did. B+
Digger
Spoilers ahoy, because this frustrating puzzle-box of a film is unintelligible without them. The gaudy, artificial production design has you asking within minutes if Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s latest is some kind of elaborate put-on. And of course, it is: It’s soon revealed that we’re watching a stage production about a catastrophic climate crisis. But that’s not all! It’s revealed much later (in a gush of exposition that Jesse Plemons is almost good enough to pull off) that this all really happened several decades earlier, and the broad cartoonishness of the staged farce (or is it a satire?) will be cathartic for the traumatized survivors in the audience. Digger is the sort of film that anticipates your every objection—there was a reason for all that loud overacting, and how dare you deny imaginary future generations the balm of watching the men who destroyed the Earth suffer. But back here in 2026, there are still two hours of loud overacting to sit through: As the president, John Goodman’s ferocity level basically starts at the climax of Barton Fink and ratchets up from there, while Sandra Hüller is wasted as a shrill half-sister. As for Tom Cruise’s performance as oil tycoon Digger Rockwell, that’s a meta text in itself: Here’s the dumpy, balding, little old man he might well have become had he not gone to such neurotically/professionally motivated extremes to preserve himself. And the film’s ultimate message is that no matter how dystopian the future may get, audiences will still crave spectacle—and Tom Cruise. B-
The History of Concrete
A partial list of topics un- or just semi-related to concrete that are covered over the course of John Wilson’s first feature film: the structure of Hallmark movies, preserving corpses’ tattoos, DMX’s criminal record, the difficulty of financing your passion project, the debate over affordable housing, and a monthlong 3,100-mile foot race around a Queens high school. This is very much not where to start with Wilson for newbs: You may well find his affected speech patterns, his reliance on punny street signs or emotionally expressive dogs as punchlines, and his willfully tangential storytelling to be flat-out maddening. But if you already appreciate how Wilson chronicles the absurdity of our jobs and lives and preoccupations with a comedy that rarely stoops to condescension (in part because he’s well aware of the absurdity of his own job and life and preoccupations), then you won’t pass up what’s essentially but not exactly a solid but not transcendent extended episode of How to With John Wilson. And you’ll even learn a little something about concrete, if that’s really what you’re here for. B+
Naza
“After Oct. 7th,” an Israeli soldier tells journalist/filmmaker Yuval Abraham, “everyone kept saying: ‘There are no innocent people in Gaza.’” NAZA (the term is a euphemism that Israeli military and intelligence use for civilian casualties, a shortening of “nezek agavi,” or collateral damage) documents the horrific results of that thinking. From rooftops overlooking Tel Aviv, always at night, Abraham interviews 24 anonymous soldiers and intelligence officers, their faces obscured and voices digitally altered, as they discuss the IDF’s decision to attack civilian targets, sharing their personal rationalizations but expressing no regrets. Critically evaluating what’s at its core a work of journalism can feel downright obtuse—what does it mean to debate the aesthetic merit of a significant exposé? Yet Abraham and Rachel Szor, who previously captured the brutality of West Bank settlers in their Oscar-winning doc No Other Land, make striking artistic choices. They understand the power of cinematic distance: With the camera focused on modern, bustling, dazzling Tel Aviv, watching its inhabitants going about their lives, Gaza feels both a world away and perpetually present, especially as televisions blare recriminations and denouncements from Netanyahu and other Israel leaders—the same people who will condemn Naza and call for a prosecution of its makers and its sources. A-
9 to 5 (1980)—ends October 15
The Odyssey—read full review here
What we tend to forget about The Odyssey is that it’s maybe 10% cool mythological shit like one-eyed giant cannibals and sinister witches and gods punishing impudent mortals and like 90% about exchanging gifts with your hosts and telling very long stories to impress them. What’s remarkable about Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is that it honors this aspect of the epic while delivering the supernatural adventure film moviegoers want. Yet as always, Nolan is so transparent in his ideology you can almost believe he’s making an argument, when like any storyteller he’s just using fiction to justify his beliefs. Which, as always, is that we are always one well-told tale away from chaos. Whether the gods are real or not, warns the David Brooks of the cineplex, if we don’t honor them we will undermine the customs that hold our society together. Hey man, I just came here for the Cyclops. B+
Primetime
If you were born too late to experience the ass-end of the Bush era, Lance Oppenheimer presents the grubby sanctimony of 2006 in all its garish, digitally green-tinted horror for you. In this maybe too engaging dark comedy about one of that moment’s most telling cultural artifacts, NBC’s Chris Hansen (Robert Pattinson, rehearsing for Batman or maybe auditioning for Ahab) creates a national phenomenon by luring online creeps in front of the TV camera with the promise of hooking up with minors. Yet this is not really a story best told from within—Hansen’s troubled marriage and professional ambitions are of limited interest, and David Osit’s smart 2025 doc Predator is much better at tracing the legacy of To Catch a Predator. Not only does god write lousy theater, but he inspires screenwriter Ajon Singh to overcompensate for his divine sloppiness with too-tautly structured character arcs, so Merritt Wever’s Nicorette-chomping producer Andie Bender ponders whether she should jump ship to NBC and Skyler Gisondo’s twinky decoy Dan Plum strives to balance his thespian ideals against his tawdry job. And while I appreciate that Primetime assumes we all retrospectively view this once-celebrated bottom-feeder phenomenon as a grotesque relic, its strengths (especially Pattison’s magnetic performance) are more parodic than insightful. Is it really that much less scummy to snicker at these crass vigilantes than it was for TV viewers to cheer for the downfall of the creeps Hansen and his crew entrapped? B
Resident Evil
If video game movies we must have (not like we get to decide) better this gory schlock slapstick than the klutz existentialism of the tedious Exit 8. (Both share a plot point—pregnant girlfriend—if that means anything.) Zach Cregger keeps it simpler here than in Barbarian or Weapons, which means Resident Evil is a little dumber than those (derogatory) but also means Resident Evil is a little dumber than those (complimentary). Austin Abrams (the addict from Weapons) is our dumbass hero, a driver dispatched with a high-priority delivery to the hospital in snowy Raccoon City. His cargo, I sincerely hope you won’t be astounded to learn, is the crucial ingredient needed to synthesize an antidote to a man-made contagion sweeping the land. Symptoms typically include zombie catatonia, grasping tentacles, and blob-like absorption of other humans, but there are also acid-puking ghoulies and one tubby fella with an exploding, critter-infested gut. The script could occasionally try a tiny bit harder (how much Abrams muttering “fuck” do we need?) but in a world of forced MCU quippery that’s a venial sin. And in keeping with the source material, the stakes are both enormous (the end of the world!) and virtually negligible (game over). B
Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom
The Social Reckoning
As both fans and foes are aware, Aaron Sorkin has two modes of dialogue, and The Social Reckoning overindulges in each. In 2019-20, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison) and WSJ muckraker Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White), while building a case against the social media company’s corrosive effects, banter in rat-a-tat faux screwballisms that confuse velocity and wit. (I'm guessing Horwitz's supposedly amusing/charming inability to use basic tech will just remind anyone under 50 of their boss who doesn't know how to open a PDF.) A year later, Jeremy Strong’s stiff-necked Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Burr’s “Charlie,” a mythical colleague turned gadfly, hurl tiresome paragraphs of pontification at one another about whether Facebook should better moderate its content until—spoiler for anyone who’s slept through the past decade—Janu-anu-anuary 6, 2021. Because The Social Network was too “your weird Boomer uncles explain the internet” for me, I don’t consider this flat-footed sorta-sequel a desecration, though David Fincher’s sense of style is missed. If Jesse Eisenberg played Zuckerberg like Jesse Eisenberg, Strong plays him like Strong, and while the former was more entertaining, at least the latter doesn’t ask for our sympathy. In fact, mediocre as it is, The Social Reckoning might have a positive effect. I’m assuming plenty of Aaron Sorkin fans also spend an inordinate percentage of their golden years sharing angry liberal memes on Facebook, and if nothing else, this film makes you hate Facebook passionately. So maybe some of them will quit in disgust? A boy can dream. C+
Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Look, we all know what’s wrong with the MCU. Too long, too constructed to promote future installments, just plain too familiar. But I’m not here to relitigate all that. I’m here to tell people who might be in the mood for a Spider-Man movie whether they should see this Spider-Man movie, and my answer is a resounding “Uh, sure.” It is the one currently in theaters, after all, and it’s downright sleek compared to the Spider-Man: No Way Home, which was overstuffed with Spiders-Men, supervillains, and multiverse nonsense. Peter Parker’s existence (Tom Holland) has been magicked away from everyone’s memory, and as he watches his once-gf MJ (Zendaya) and once-bff Ned (Jacob Batalon) live blissful Peter-free lives at MIT, he throws himself into his work. He debates attempting to reintroduce himself while tracking a mysterious entity that leaps from body to body in search of some government secret and dealing with some freakily increasing spidery tendencies. Along the way, he encounters Florence Pugh’s Black Widow (says “potatoes” amusingly), Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk (bigger than ever), (a little too much of) Jon Berenthal’s Punisher, and, of course, Sadie Sink, who plays Jean Grey with an intense school-shooter vibe. Because this is Spider-Man, the fights are less monotonous than the MCU norm, though I was a bit fatigued by the time we got to the climatic battle with the evil ninjas. And as for future installments, I’m sure the device Peter invents that inhibits superpowers won’t be used against the good guys in future films. B
Ueck—ends October 15
Verity
“I can’t tell if you’re just very calm or you’re in shock,” Josh Hartnett’s Jeremy Crawford says to Dakota Johnson’s Lowen Ashleigh as she mops blood off her face following a grisly traffic accident, and who among us hasn’t wondered the same about a Dakota Johnson character before? (Lowen later admits, “I have resting bored face.” We get it, girl. You can’t act.) In this eye-roll of a Colleen Hoover adaptation, Lowen, a struggling novelist, has been recruited to finish the work of best-selling author Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway), who has been rendered mute and immobile by an accident (OR HAS SHE?) Lowen stays with the Crawfords in their fancy Vermont home while working on the book. Lowen discovers a SECRET JOURNAL wherein Verity confesses to CRIMES! (OR DOES SHE?) Lowen masturbates in a tub. Lowen repeatedly says “wow” in that dopey, unphased way we’ve come to expect/dread from Johnson. While I’d blame Hoover for the plot, which would have gotten her laughed out of the 19th century by bona fide Gothic credibility-stretchers, Michael Showalter’s diffident direction, which aspires to no stylistic flair at all, is the real culprit—it’s like he’s trying to keep this dumb thing on the rails, which takes misunderstanding the assignment to all new levels of incomprehension. And now, if you’ll promise to believe me when I say there’s little or nothing more where this comes from, I’ll leave you with the only good line in the movie: “You deserve to rock in your sad little robot bed, you selfish Machiavellian cunt.” C-
