\n<\/p>\n
Stream it on Amazon Prime Video<\/a>.<\/p>\n The last time a dryly zany comedy from New Zealand involving fantastical shenanigans made me laugh this much, it was the original \u201cWhat We Do in the Shadows.\u201d<\/a> Michael Duignan\u2019s new film<\/a> may not quite reach that level, but it is still very funny.<\/p>\n A former tennis pro who peaked at No. 347 in the world, Dutch (Benedict Wall) ends up with a limp after a hit and run. In his search for the Toyota Corolla that maimed him, he meets the mysterious Lyra (Florence Noble), who looks like she was kicked out of the Bene Gesserit from \u201cDune.\u201d She informs Dutch of the existence of multiple dimensions (including \u201cthe avocado dimension\u201d) and claims to have \u201cpsionic powers\u201d that include telekinesis. \u201cCould you use it to change the channels on a TV?,\u201d he asks. \u201cThat\u2019s what a remote control does,\u201d Lyra responds. About 50 minutes into the film, Dutch does locate the Corolla\u2019s driver, which is when \u201cThe Paragon\u201d takes an even odder turn \u2014 because it is actually serious-minded \u2014 involving the consequences of roads taken, or not. If an accident hurting someone can have a beneficial effect on someone else, what is the net result? \u201cThe Paragon\u201d is inventive and sneakily well written, but the real reason it works is because it has heart.<\/p>\n Rent or buy it on most major platforms<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Setting a film in a desolate, empty world might have inspired some directors to go big with the vistas. Instead, Jeffrey St. Jules\u2019s feature has a claustrophobically tight focus (though he does squeeze in good location shots of Newfoundland). Theodore (Elias Koteas) has been on his own for a long time, sentenced to working alone on a planet-size penal colony. During the day he mines ore that\u2019s then sent to Earth; at night he watches sitcoms in his small habitat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n And then one day another convict, Niyya (Briana Middleton), arrives \u2014 Theodore has taken out the monitor in his chest so he\u2019s thought to be dead, or almost there. They engage in a tense cohabitation, which has the benefit of revealing to the viewers why they were exiled in the first place. Niyya says she was framed for terrorism. As for Theodore \u2026 well, it\u2019s a little tricky because he can\u2019t really tell the difference between facts and the stories he tells himself anymore. Whether something is fake or fiction, \u201cit doesn\u2019t really matter here,\u201d Niyya says. But it does, very much so, because she and Theodore might share a crucial connection. \u201cThe Silent Planet\u201d unspools like a slow, pensive, ultimately dangerous game of cat and mouse \u2014 it\u2019s just hard to tell who is playing which role.<\/p>\n Stream it on Fandango at Home<\/a> or the Roku Channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Ash (Joma West) and Sam (Annabel Logan) are young filmmakers trying to rebound from what appears to have been a bad experience on a movie. So when they get their hands on found footage that appears to capture the disappearance of a woman named Emily (Josie Rogers) after she goes through a free-standing door, the pair smell potential. Especially after they manage to lug said door back home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Watching Ash and Sam bumble their way through Graham Hughes\u2019s \u201cHostile Dimensions\u201d is like watching Bill and Ted simultaneously try to make a movie and locate a missing person. They consult a physicist (Paddy Kondracki), who comes up with such highly technical statements as \u201cThis could just be creepypasta rubbish but \u2026\u201d The best part of the movie is the multiple planes of existence that are revealed behind the various so-called wolf doors, including an empty amusement center called \u201cPandamonium.\u201d After \u201cDeath of a Vlogger\u201d (which featured much of the same cast), Hughes is starting to make a bit of a name for himself, if only in the microbudget dimension.<\/p>\n Stream it on Max<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The phenomenon of powerful creatures defeated, or at least slowed down, by seemingly innocuous things \u2014 common bacteria in \u201cThe War of the Worlds,\u201d water in \u201cSigns\u201d \u2014 is not new in science fiction. The so-called Reapers that appear out of the blue to kill everybody on Earth in George Nolfi\u2019s movie seem indestructible, but at least one thing prevents them from rampaging everywhere: For mysterious reasons, they don\u2019t venture above 8,000 feet. This works out well for a mountainous state like Colorado, where small communities survive out of reach of the strange killing machines. Unfortunately, Will (Anthony Mackie) must leave his encampment and travel to a lower elevation to retrieve oxygen filters for his ailing young son. He\u2019s accompanied by Nina (Morena Baccarin), a scientist trying to return to her old lab to test her theories about their opponents. As a skier, I\u2019m definitely going to dig any scene in which people use a chair lift to escape their pursuers, but \u201cElevation\u201d should please fans of B movies in general \u2014 it has the kind of old-fashioned efficiency that\u2019s actually hard to pull off. The film ends with a glaring opening for a sequel, and I for one am ready for it.<\/p>\n Stream it on Amazon Prime Video<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Carlos (Michel Brown) and Elena (Sandra Echeverr\u00eda) are on the brink of an acrimonious divorce when Cupid (Mauricio Barrientos) intervenes and sends them back to the 1990s, around the time of a fateful date at a Man\u00e1 concert. The older couple goes to town trying to prevent its younger selves (played by Fernando Cattori and Marian\u00e9 Cartas) from falling for each other, thus sparing them future distress. Would Carlos have been better off with the wealthy Cristina (Aminta Ireta)? Could Elena, who was in a band, have made it big if she hadn\u2019t gotten married? But, of course, the pair also realize that they did have something good going on at first, and abruptly change course: Young Carlos and young Elena must get together!<\/p>\n Roberto Girault\u2019s film, from Mexico, shares a major theme with the recent \u201cMy Old Ass\u201d<\/a>: Is something worth pursuing if, before heartbreak sets in, it brings genuine happiness? \u201cWith You in the Future\u201d has fun with some of the consequences the older couple\u2019s actions set in motion, including the fact that changing the course of events leads to changing yourself. And do you really want to do that?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u2018The Silent Planet\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018Hostile Dimensions\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018Elevation\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018With You in the Future\u2019<\/h2>\n