‘Run,’ ‘Mangrove’ are weekend’s best bets
Note: Several films here have been released to select theaters. Due to recent changes in Bay Area COVID-19 safety precautions, filmgoers are urged to check ahead before attending any indoor theater screenings.
What’s happening in movie land? Former San Jose resident Aneesh Chaganty is cementing his Hitchcock cred, David Fincher is proving again he needs to win an Oscar already, and Steve McQueen is taking a “Small Axe” to racism.
Here’s our roundup of new releases — those worth watching and those worth ignoring.
“RUN” >> Former San Jose resident Aneesh Chaganty tricked out his feature debut “Searching” by having it told via electronic devices. In his follow-up, the wunderkind sticks to traditional filmmaking and retains the same tension. While his twisted story about a mother (Sarah Paulson, chilling as ever) and her clingy and deluded devotion to her isolated wheelchair-bound daughter (Kiera Allen, in a killer debut) is predictable, it delivers one of the most satisfying endings I’ve seen in some time. Chaganty and cowriter/co-producer Sev Ohanian wink a lot at Alfred Hitchcock but never allow the tension to ease for a nanosecond. It’s great fun, and not overly violent.
DETAILS >> \*\*\*; available Friday on Hulu.
“MANGROVE” >> Oscar winner Steve McQueen’s first of five stand-alone films reflecting the rancid racism experienced by London’s West Indian community during the ’ 70s and ’ 80s is excellent. Featuring “Black Panther’s” Letitia Wright, “Mangrove” rings with such authenticity it feels like a documentary. McQueen tells the true story of Frank Crichlow (Shaun Parkes) and how his cafe became a target of relentless and unprovoked po
lice raids. It culminates in a 1970 trial presided over by a ludicrous judge. As with McQueen’s other films, it’s flawlessly made with outstanding performances. It also conveys another time and place that sadly echoes our own. Can’t wait to watch other films in Amazon Prime’s “Small Axe” series. DETAILS >> \*\*\*/*; available Friday on Amazon Prime.
“CODED BIAS” >> Shalini Kantayya’s eye-opening documentary sounds the alarm on manipulative algorithms, AI “advances” and facial recognition technology — all of which create problems for people of color. The film centers mostly on MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini and her efforts to circumvent plans to use more faulty face ID technology for companies such as Amazon. Kantayya’s doc
umentary and its unsettling findings should be mandatory viewing for Silicon Valley innovators. DETAILS >> \*\*\*/*; available as part of the Virtual Cinema series at the Smith Rafael Center, rafaelfilm.cafilm.org, and the Roxie Theater, www.roxie.com.
“TEAM MARCO” >> Julio Vincent Gambuto’s charmer is a rare liveaction family film winner, one that’s funny, sweet and certain to make you tear up a little. A bocceloving Italian grandfather (Anthony Patellis) offers pointers to his video-game-playing grandson (Owen Vaccaro) about how not to just play bocce but to disconnect from this plugged-in world. DETAILS >> \*\*\*; streaming Friday on various platforms.
“THE NEST” >> Few contemporary
filmmakers can unsettle us with the restrained moodiness of Sean Durkin. The “Martha Marcy May Marlene” director gradually tightens the dramatic screws as a marriage and family self-destruct due to greed and restlessness. As the hot and then cold couple, Jude Law and Carrie Coon make the bitter words written by Durkin slap and sting. Durkin gives this tale set in the 1980s an ominous thriller vibe and a perfect timeperiod soundtrack. The film never overstates itself as it reaches a memorable conclusion.
DETAILS >> \*\*\*/*; streaming on various platforms.
“LEAP OF FAITH — WILLIAM FRIEDKIN ON ‘THE EXORCIST’ ” >> Director Alexandre O. Philippe builds his entire documentary around renegade director Friedkin’s thoughts and recollections. Smart move. Friedkin is a natural-born storyteller, spinning Hollywood tales with candor and exuberance. Friedkin’s adventures in making the classic 1973 horror film about demon possession a fascinating trivia excursion as he reveals scenes and actors that satisfied him as well as an ending that he still doesn’t think works. DETAILS >> \*\*\*; available today on Shudder.
“AMMONITE” >> Although Francis Lee’s follow-up to “God’s Own Country” — one of 2017’s best features — isn’t as impressive as its predecessor, it gorgeously showcases Lee’s ability to create earthy, rugged landscapes and earthy, rugged characters. In one of her most patient and natural performances yet, Kate Winslet plays an emotionally stunted paleontologist who finds her passions stirred by an unhappily married younger woman (Saoirse Ronan). Sensual but reserved, Lee’s slow drama might frustrate some. So what? It captures the essence of a forbidden attraction at a time when same- sex love was stifled and considered deviant. DETAILS >> \*\*\*; in select theaters. Available to stream Dec. 4.
“COLLECTIVE” >> Echoing the tragic elements of the fatal Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland, this riveting investigative documentary from Alexander Nanau covers the aftermath of a fire that killed 27 at a Bucharest nightclub. Rather than offer survivors specialized treatment, officials shuffle them off to care facilities illequipped to care for them. That move sparks a dogged journalistic investigation that exposes how officials put politics over people’s lives. But Nanau’s damning film — applicable to political failures around the world — goes beyond that, exposing the very roots of corruption and exploring the harm it does. DETAILS >> \*\*\*\*; in select theaters and available to stream Friday.