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MOVIE REVIEW
Pushpa: The Rise (2021)
The three-hour-long first half of what is evidently an epic crime saga, “Pushpa: The Rise” recounts Allu Arjun’s titular character working his way up from lowly coolie born out of wedlock to boss of a lucrative sandalwood-smuggling syndicate. He displays ingenuity and cajones very early on, apt at doing whatever it takes to avoid getting busted by the authorities. Pushpa quickly earns the trust of Konda Reddy (Ajay Ghosh), who parcels out greater responsibilities and a percentage of the profits to him. Once he catches wind that dealer Mangalam Srinu (Sunil) grossly shortchanges them, Pushpa urges Konda to renegotiate. When Konda balks, Pushpa conspires to pit him against Mangalam and reap all the benefits.
Continue reading “Power Moves” »
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MOVIE REVIEW
Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui (2021)
“Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui” starts off like many a Bollywood romance: Manu (Ayushmann Khurrana), working-class gym owner and strong-man contestant, falls madly in love with the well-born new Zumba instructor, Maanvi (Vaani Kapoor). Typically their affair would be doomed when her parents begin arranging for her to marry a suitor of compatible social standing, but something is a little different here. When signing up for a dating app, Maanvi hesitates for a moment before selecting “woman.” During a phone conversation with her father, we learn that she’s not on speaking terms with her mother. Given the press surrounding the film, it’s not spoiling to disclose that Maanvi is trans. There’s no shocking “Crying Game”-esque reveal, what with the aforementioned foreshadowing in place to mentally prepare those watching the film cold.
Continue reading “It’s Complicated” »
Murray Close/Warner Brothers Pictures
MOVIE REVIEW
The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
“The Matrix Resurrections” is part ’90s cyberpunk (remember “Hackers,” “The Net” and “Johnny Mnemonic,” which also features our beloved Keanu Reeves?), part zombie flick and part ’20s bracing critique of internet corporate overlords like Google, Amazon and Facebook. Much of the new entry retreads the Wachowskis’ trilogy circa 1999 to 2003, with a few exceptions: Smith, here played by Jonathan Groff, is now, rather than Terminator in the computer simulation, a Musk/Bezos/Zuckerberg-type tyrant and business partner of Thomas Anderson/Neo (Mr. Reeves), who deliberately articulates in early scenes his disdain for Warner Brothers’ decision to revive “The Matrix” with or without its creators – which perhaps explains how Lana Wachowski only begrudgingly came onboard.
Continue reading “Nary a Vision” »
Kasper Tuxen/Neon
MOVIE REVIEW
The Worst Person in the World (2021)
The title “The Worst Person in the World” isn’t a reference to the film’s protagonist, but it very well could have been. We learn during the prologue that Julie (Renate Reinsve) hasn’t quite settled on what she wants in life and has switched her college major a couple of times. Though decidedly lacking in stick-to-itiveness, she plunges headlong into a committed relationship with Aksel (Anders Danielsen Lie) the moment he urges her to move on and find herself because of their 15-year age gap.
Continue reading “Bad-Self Discovery” »
Paul Thomas Anderson/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures
MOVIE REVIEW
Licorice Pizza (2021)
Essentially Paul Thomas Anderson’s take on “Once Upon a Time in . . . Hollywood,” “Licorice Pizza” is ’70s nostalgia peppered with sketchy Tinseltown lore and auteurist details variously recalling “Boogie Nights,” “Punch-Drunk Love” and “Inherent Vice,” revolving around the puppy love between 16-year-old child star Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman, son of Philip Seymour) and arrested-developed 25-year-old Alana Kane (Alana Haim, of the namesake band) in the 1973 San Fernando Valley.
Continue reading “That ’70s Flick” »
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MOVIE REVIEW
The Battle at Lake Changjin (2021)
Centered on the 1950 Battle of the Chosin Reservoir that decided the Korean War, “The Battle at Lake Changjin” is a spare-no-expense epic commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party that boasts three noted filmmakers – Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Dante Lam (plus three more codirectors!) – a budget of $200 million and a three-hour runtime. It’s like Michael Bay’s “Pearl Harbor” but for the Chinese – same jingoistic celebration of militarist carnage but, instead of white gaze, we get communist homilies.
Continue reading “Land War in Asia” »
Rob Youngson/Focus Features
MOVIE REVIEW
Belfast (2021)
In a movie about people whose lives are torn apart by terrorism, it’s pretty bad to reduce your audience to rooting for the bombs, but here it’s the only rational choice. The only innovation in Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast” is to make the tax situation of one family as important as the sectarian violence busting out all over. Otherwise no cliché of the Troubles or life in ’60s Ireland is forgotten. Critics who don’t know the city of Belfast are salivating over this movie. Critics who do are finding praise sticking in the throat.
Continue reading “Homeland Insecurity” »
Amirhossein Shojaei
MOVIE REVIEW
A Hero (2021)
Asghar Farhadi’s “A Hero” is yet another engrossing thriller in the vein of his “A Separation,” in which a few seemingly innocuous white lies spiral out of control and lead to dire consequences.
Continue reading “No Good Deed” »
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MOVIE REVIEW
Revirginized (2021)
In “Revirginized,” Filipina superstar Sharon Cuneta stars as Carmela, and the film’s opening scene finds her arriving at the courthouse in a daze, seemingly dreading what is about to take place: her divorce proceedings. Just when you think her day has hit rock bottom though, her parked car gets booted.
Continue reading “Girls Trip” »
Concordia Studio
MOVIE REVIEW
All These Sons (2021)
The documentary “All These Sons” looks at two Chicago nonprofits – Maafa Redemption Project and Inner-City Muslim Action Network’s Green ReEntry – working to deescalate the gun violence plaguing the city’s south and west sides. Billy Moore, life coach and case manager at IMAN, served a 20-year sentence for murder. Robert Ervin, life coach and program manager at Maafa and deacon of New Mount Pilgrim Church, is apparently also a former convict. Having been lured down the wrong paths themselves, these reformed men now serve as father figures to at-risk youths struggling with broken families, mental health issues and/or substance abuse, and help steer them in the right direction.
Continue reading “It Takes a Village” »