Can Natalie Portman rock our world in ‘Vox Lux’?
Also new: Zombie holiday flick ‘Anna and the Apocalypse’
Hollywood takes a bit of a holiday this week, with fewer blockbusters getting released while the indies take over. One film sparking interest is “Vox Lux.” Oscar winner Natalie Portman overacts her heart out as an irksome pop diva in an overly busy and cynical commentary about our crazy celebrity-focused culture. For the first 30 minutes or so — when actor-turned-director Brady Corbet focuses on a student survivor of a mass shooting and her relationship with her sister and a song that results — the film is fantastic, but the over-thetopness in the second half, with Portman commanding center stage, overstates its intentions and the film loses its grip. How about a quirky music-fueled comedy-drama about a zombie invasion during Christmas? “Anna and the Apocalypse” finds the undead taking over a small town while Anna (Ella Hunt) and her high school pals team up to slay ’em through song and dance, among other things. It originated as a short film, and is winning high-fives from critics. Another must-see is H.P. Mendoza’s edgy comedy “Bitter Melon,” playing in San Francisco at the AMC Van Ness. The San Francisco filmmaker delivers another winner, cementing his reputation as one of our most versatile, risk-taking directors. Here he sends us to very dark comic places as a Filipino-American family gather in Daly City during the holidays and tussle over what to do about an abusive relative. If you’re looking for a predictable pick-me-upper, dive into “Swimming with Men.” It’s been touted as a “Full Monty” in Speedos. Set in London, it finds a bored accountant (Rob Brydon) in full midlife crisis mode joining an all-male synchronized swim team, a bonding experience that makes him feel buoyant again. The cast is quite good, particularly Borden and Rupert Graves. It plays by the feel-good rules, but it made me smile. In the timely documentary category, see “Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes.” Alexis Bloom charts how the disgraced media mogul and cunning GOP strategizer amassed staggering amounts of power and became founder of Fox News. In the South Bay, a couple of theaters are finally landing the brilliant, beautiful and woefully underrated “At Eternity’s Gate,” Julian Schnabel’s impressionistic journey into the final weeks of Vincent van Gogh’s life, starring Willem Dafoe as the mercurial artist. Don’t miss this transcending experience.
On Demand, streaming
Two other finds can be found On Demand. “Magic Mike” actor Alex Pettyfer impresses in front of and behind the camera with “Back Roads,” a gutwrencher about devastating family secrets and suffocating lives in a downtrodden Pennsylvania town. It’s based on an Oprah Book Club pick and is very well done. Even better is “A Moment in the Reeds,” a tender, bittersweet romance about an intelligent, conflicted Syrian refugee (Boodi Kabbani, in a breakthrough performance) eking out a living in Finland. He falls for the artsloving son (Janne Puustinen) of his new employer, who’s refurbishing a home in the woods for sale. It’s a sexy soul-acher that touches eloquently on topical issues. Don’t let this remarkable debut from writer-director Mikko Makela slip by. Over on Netflix, Jennifer Aniston co-stars in “Dumplin’,” a comedy about the lesssvelte daughter (Danielle Macdonald) of an ex-beauty queen (Aniston). Tired of all the body shaming, she challenges the rail-thin status quo by competing in her mom’s annual event deep in Texas. Others soon join in.