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Reviews of movies showing in theaters or streaming online
‘DUNE’: On screen, Frank Herbert’s Baron Harkonnen-sized 1965 novel “Dune” best suits a director operating in a pre-“Star Wars” mode of storytelling. The patient, densely embroidered narrative invests heavily in themes of environmental, ecological and colonialist exploitation. Earnest sentiments such as “When you take a life, you take your own” go against the grain of most successful Hollywood-financed science-fiction forays. Even in a post-“Star Wars” smash such as “Avatar,” still the biggest hit in the universe, the point — setting aside the anguish over genocidal imperialist conquerors — is how many enemies a noble warrior can kill under pressure, in a hurry, so that we feel good and (per “Star Wars”) wouldn’t mind putting quarters in the same game again right away. “Dune” defies all that. So does its latest screen adaptation, a lot of which I love. 2:35. 3 stars. Streaming on HBO Max.
— Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
‘THE ELECTRICAL LIFE OF LOUIS WAIN’: Should you be anticipating “The Electrical Life of Louis Wain” in the hopes of a lighthearted Victorian romp featuring lots of cute appearances by cats, approach with caution. The cats are certainly there, particularly a dignified black-andwhite kitten named Peter who deserves a kitty Oscar of some sort (he gets some real drama into a scene where he climbs some stairs), but the mood of this movie definitely falls on the side of wistful and often heartbreakingly sad. It’s helped immensely by Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy, two actors who know how to craft nuance in a moment of silence and suggest devastation in a gaze. 1:51. 3 stars. Streaming on Netflix. — Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times ‘FOUND’: For adopted children curious for information about their biological family, that process can be especially complicated in cases of international adoption. Complicated doesn’t necessarily mean impossible, though, and the three teens at the center of “Found,” the deeply moving new documentary on Netflix, are optimistic enough to give it a shot. Chloe, Sadie and
Lily are cousins who found each other through 23andMe. Born in China and adopted by parents in the United States, they had no blood relations here that they knew of — and then suddenly, they did. Their bond is instantaneous and palpable, and while I may be personally dubious about the business practices of various DNA ancestry companies, the genetic tests they offer are what made these relationships possible. You can’t argue with how meaningful this has been for all three. 1:37. 3 ½ stars. Streaming on Netflix. — Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune
‘THE FRENCH DISPATCH’: The great Hollywood film composer David Raksin said it: “None of my music should ever be played for the first time, since it only confuses people.” I’ve read several colleagues (who traveled the festival circuit) say something similar about Wes Anderson’s new film, “The French Dispatch” — that it doesn’t benefit from a second viewing, it requires one, so elaborate is its visual construction and production detail. That’s another way of saying there’s a lot
going on, and you won’t catch it all the first time. But in his fastidious, exacting, extraordinarily blinkered creation, writer-director Anderson this time has driven straight into a cul-de-sac, stranding every sort of good and great actor in the cinematic equivalent of a design meeting. 1:48. 2 stars.
— Michael Phillips
‘HALLOWEEN KILLS’: O Haddonfield! My Haddonfield! Why, in the name of fictitious Illinois towns, have you resorted to hapless mob violence, like the pitchfork crowd in “Frankenstein” or the January Sixers that came along after “Halloween Kills” was filmed? And why is “Halloween Kills” such a drag, as well as a clear step down from director and co-writer David Gordon Green’s 2018 “Halloween” reboot? Three years ago, that reboot made for a pretty good, hugely profitable reminder that Jamie Lee Curtis can open a movie, and serial killer Michael Meyers can still
clog up a small town’s drainage system with the blood of his victims. The movie served as a solid showcase for Curtis, and it delivered in its climax, even if wobbled some en route. The new film’s a comparative mess — jaded, structurally awkward and overpacked. 1:46. 1 ½ stars. Streaming on Peacock. — Michael Phillips
‘THE HARDER THEY FALL’: “I’m lightning with the blam-blams,” brags the quick-draw ace played by RJ Cyler in the violent, jokey, starry Western “The Harder They Fall.” The ace’s name is Jim Beckwourth, based on a real 19th-century figure, as are many of the outlaws populating British co-writer, director and musician Jeymes Samuel’s larkish bloodbath. The scale, the tone and the splatter go great with Samuel’s soundtrack. It’s loaded with dubstep, reggae, Ennio Morricone-adjacent orchestral swells and artists such as Jay-Z, who also co-produced. For all the mashups and mayhem, there’s a hint of scrambled reality in the film, with a half-century’s worth of Black figures corralled into the same time period and the same narrative for imagination’s sake. In the words of the film’s opening titles: “These. People. Existed.” 2:10. 3 stars. Streaming on Netflix Nov. 3. — Michael Phillips
‘INTRODUCING, SELMA BLAIR’: As an actor, Selma Blair has never been the lead of a movie. Until now, that is. The actor takes center stage in “Introducing, Selma Blair,” a genuinely touching and unflinching look at her ongoing bout with multiple sclerosis. 1:30. 3 stars. Streaming on Discovery+. — Adam Graham, The Detroit News
‘THE LAST DUEL’: One way to tackle a difficult, challenging, taboo or otherwise complicated subject on film is to set the story in a period far, far away from our recognizable present, which often allows screenwriters to be that much more frank about the topic at hand. In “The Last Duel,” directed by Ridley Scott, a 14th-century setting offers screenwriters Nicole Holofcener, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, adapting a book by Eric Jager, the opportunity to unpack the hypocrisy of modern rape culture via the gender politics of medieval France, demonstrating not how modern these issues were, but how regressive many current viewpoints remain. 2:32. 3 ½ stars.
— Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service
‘NO TIME TO DIE’: As Robert Graves wrote when he was ridding himself of stultifying English conventions, a generation before Sir Ian Fleming created James Bond: Goodbye to all that. Watching the final Daniel Craig iteration of 007 settle his affairs and get right with his emotions in “No Time to Die,” the most plainly divided of all the Bond movies — nostalgic retro, depressive-ashen, frisky-jokey, apocalyptic sentiment al—one can’t help but think a dozen hyphenated things at once. Let’s start with: Good great job, Mr. Craig. As bittersweet farewells go, this one’s quite good. 2:43. 3 stars. — Michael Phillips
‘VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE’: In 2018, a delightful surprise was smuggled inside what would otherwise appear to be just another rote comic book movie. It was Tom Hardy’s performance in “Venom,” playing a San Francisco journalist, Eddie Brock, who becomes the host body for an alien symbiote affectionately known as Venom. As the possessed Eddie and the voice of Venom, Hardy’s funny, freewheeling and frequently unhinged performance felt like an alien parasite inside a Marvel movie itself. As a result, “Venom” was that much more entertaining, anarchic and frankly punk rock than any other comic book movie going. The sequel, “Venom: There Will Be Carnage,” is directed by Andy Serkis, and now, host and alien have achieved symbiosis. The person quite obviously steering the ship is Hardy. 1:30. 2 ½ stars. — Katie Walsh
RATINGS: The movies listed are rated according to the following key: 4 stars, excellent; 3 stars, good; 2 stars, fair; 1 star, poor.