Oscar hopeful ‘Cold War,’ doc ‘Fyre’ are sensational
It’s been lingering in the shadows of “Roma,” but now that other exceptional blackand-white foreign language Oscar hopeful — “Cold War” — finally hits Bay Area screens. The Amazon Studios release is one of this week’s must-see newbies.
The most high-profile title is “Glass,” the last leg in M. Night Shyamalan’s trilogy that includes the terrific “Sixth Sense” and the the awful “Last Airbender.” In this ode to comic books, alumni characters from “Unbreakable” and “Split” — played by Bruce Willis, James McAvoy and Samuel L. Jackson — assemble. The bulk of the reviews for this one aren’t so favorable. Maybe including McAvoy’s workout routine would have helped.
The release that you must see on the big screen is “Cold War.” The beautifully made, shatteringly personal romance from Poland’s Pawel Pawlikowski — director of the 2015 Oscar winner “Ida” — is a bracing work of art with Joanna Kulig and Tomasz Kot playing fiery lovers whose relationship gets tested during volatile times.
For clever mind games, crafty screenwriting and standout acting, seek out the nifty indie “The Standoff at Sparrow Creek.” The “Usual Suspects”-like psychological thriller thrusts us into the confined-in-a-building search by militia men for one of their own who’s been involved in a funeral shooting. It’s a startlingly good debut from writer-director Henry Dunham. It’s also available on video on demand.
Netflix picks
Netflix continues to wow with its original content, and its latest documentary, “Fyre,” is one of the streaming service’s best titles yet.
Director Chris Smith serves a bang-up investigation into what went terribly awry with a heavily social media-marketed 2017 music fest in the Bahamas that promised so much and delivered so little. Smith provides an addictive insider’s look, constructing mostly through interviews a damning portrait of an unscrupulous “mover and shaker” who took social media influencers, investors, workers and so many others on a ride. The last 15 minutes of this film are shocking.
Other Netflix original releases coming Friday include:
• “Close,” starring Noomi Rapace as a bodyguard fending off the kidnapping attempt of a rich woman she’s hired to protect.
• “IO,” a sci-fi thriller with Anthony Mackie and Margaret Qualley caught between a desire to help a devastated Earth and an urge to leave for a place filled with more promise.
•“Soni,” a drama set in Delhi about a female cop whose personal and professional life take a dramatic turn.