Will ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ hit the right notes?
Also opening: ‘Boy Erased,’ ‘Nutcracker,’ ‘Nobody’s Fool’
What will rock you at the movie theaters this weekend? The options range from several big new releases and indie films and two don’tmiss Netflix films that focus on the iconic film force Orson Welles.
This week, the potential best actor Oscar race grows more interesting. Rami Malek (“Mr. Robot”) is getting touted for his performance in Bryan Singer’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” a musical biopic about Queen’s talented, enigmatic frontman Freddie Mercury. Early reviews on the film itself are mixed but Malek is getting serious buzz.
Another based-on-a-truestory drama fueling awards chatter is Joel Edgerton’s “Boy Erased.” Lucas Hedges aces the role of a conflicted young man who painfully comes out to his devout Christian parents (Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman) and then gets shuttled off to a crackpot gay conversion camp. Troye Sivan, the singer and actor who performs tonight and Friday at San Francisco’s Masonic, and Xavier Dolan are impressive in smaller roles. Edgerton, who also wrote and co-stars, takes a calm approach to the material and sidesteps the strident; the result is a soulful story with a hopeful message.
Need to get into the holiday spirit? “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” Disney’s live-action drama, might help. But be warned: The non-dance feature pirouettes around a darker
chapter inspired by that holiday chestnut. This handsomely mounted production finds Clara entering the magical Four Realms. Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren and Morgan Freeman deliver the star power. We hope it turns out better than Disney’s lame efforts on “Alice in Wonderland” and “Oz.”
When Luca Guadagnino’s “Suspiria” premiered at the Venice Film Festival, the persnickety crowd split, delivering bravos and jeers. Decide for yourself if the “Call Me by Your Name” director’s liberal rethinking of Dario Argento’s horror cult classic makes the grade. Dakota Johnson and Tilda Swinton star in an ambitious redo set in a haunted dance hall company.
The greatest question mark pertaining to Tyler
Perry’s latest, “Nobody’s Fool,” is how in the heck the ever-busy Tiffany Haddish found enough time to appear in it. “The Oath” star plays a sassy ex-con who helps her more straightlaced sis (Tika Sumpter) exact vengeance on an online creep.
“Viper Club,” a topical, somber character study, features a magnificent performance from Susan Sarandon. The Oscar winner portrays a mother and nurse desperately trying to save her journalist son who is being held captive by terrorists in Syria. Matt Bomer and Lola Kirke co-star in Maryam Keshavarz’s painfully real homefront drama. It’s powerful.
At first, “Stella’s Last Weekend” seems like a gimmick only a mother could
love. Polly Draper co-stars and directs her two sons — Alex and Nat Wolff — in a comedy-drama about two brothers smitten with the same young woman. But the result is quite good, with banter and situations ringing ever true. Worth checking out.
Even better is “Museo,” Alonso Ruizpalacios’ daring psychological heist drama that is as intense as it is masterfully made. It boasts one of Gael Garcia Bernal’s best performances, playing a deadbeat son who can’t complete anything, except masterminding with his friend the theft of a bundle of Mexican artifacts.
Like “Museo,” the engrossing, bold Scandinavian film “Border” screened at the Mill Valley Film Festival this year. Filmmaker
Ali Abbasi has made one of 2018’s best, most original films. It’s about Tina (Eva Melander), a Swedish border agent with a heightened sense of smell. When Tina encounters Vore (Eero Milonoff), a connection happens that leads Tina to dark and dangerous places. If you liked “Let the Right One In” (also written by John Ajvide Lindqvist), you’ll eat this up. Note: The less you know about this film going in, the better.
Garry Winogrand loved to snap candid photos of people in their element during the ’60s and ’70s and in “Garry Winogrand: All Things Are Photographed” the lens turns on him, along with his work.
Finally there’s “Monster Party,” a horror/heist thriller set in Malibu in which thieves planning to hit a dinner party get more than they bargained for. It has a cool setup with a blah payoff.
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Netflix outdoes itself this week with two releases associated with one of our most praised and legendary filmmakers, the late Orson Welles.
“The Other Side of the Wind” gifts us with one of Welles’ lost films — a long-inthe-creative process curiosity about a bitter filmmaker’s final film and his last birthday party. This quasi-autobiographical film is stacked with cameos as Welles tells two tales, shifting between a sexually charged, nearly wordless film being shot by a director (John Huston) and the ego clashes at that director’s out-of-control party. It is self-indulgent at times and skewers Hollywood with spit and venom but it’s also flatout brilliant in segments (particularly a seven-minute sex scene in a car). Cinema buffs will salivate over this treasure trove of symbols. It’s available Friday and also will be in limited theatrical release.
For more insight on why it took “The Other Side of the Wind” so long to get released, check out Morgan Neville’s superb documentary “They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead.” The “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” director gives us an interesting portrait of a complicated Welles during the final phase of his influential career. Neville’s film is endlessly clever and fascinating. It’s also available Friday.
And if you’re ready to leap into the winter holiday season, Netflix is releasing “The Holiday Calendar” Friday. Kat Graham stars in this rom-com revolving around a fortune-telling advent calendar.