\n<\/p>\n
Directed by Marc Webb, this fairy-tale reimagining sees Snow White (Rachel Zegler) rescuing the seven dwarfs as they rebel against the Evil Queen (Gal Gadot).<\/p>\n
From our review:<\/p>\n
\nIn an essay pegged to Disney\u2019s unhappy 2019 live-action version of \u201cAladdin,\u201d the critic Aisha Harris wrote in The New York Times that \u201cshoehorned-in progressive messages only call more attention to the inherent crassness of Disney\u2019s current exercise in money-grabbing nostalgia.\u201d That was true then and it remains the case with \u201cSnow White,\u201d which is neither good enough to admire nor bad enough to joyfully skewer; its mediocrity is among its biggest bummers.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
In theaters. <\/em>Read the full review<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n
Critic\u2019s Pick<\/p>\n
Disrupting a town (and audience expectations).<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\u2018Misericordia\u2019<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n
J\u00e9r\u00e9mie (F\u00e9lix Kysyl), an out-of-work baker, returns to a small French village to attend the funeral of his former boss and quickly becomes embroiled in several conflicts in the latest thriller from the director Alain Guiraudie.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\nFrom our review:<\/p>\n
\nIf Guiraudie isn\u2019t mocking the way we\u2019ve been trained to receive stories, movies, people, then he\u2019s at least disrupting the usual patterns. Retraining us to see anew, to suspend expectation and abandon comfort, the way that John Waters and Mike Leigh, Aki Kaurismaki, Hal Hartley and the other oddball live-action cartoonists have. It\u2019s risky, but something thrilling and often true comes of it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
In theaters. <\/em>Read the full review<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n
\u2018The Hunger Games\u2019 meets \u2018Eurovision.\u2019<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\u2018O\u2019Dessa\u2019<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n
This postapocalyptic musical directed by Geremy Jasper follows O\u2019Dessa Galloway (Sadie Sink), as she competes in a high-stakes song competition and falls in love with the sex worker and cabaret singer Euri Dervish (Kelvin Harrison Jr.).<\/p>\n
From our review:<\/p>\n
\nWhat is clearly deliberate is the single most interesting aspect of \u201cO\u2019Dessa\u201d \u2014 the way Jasper reverses the usual roles. The traditional ramblin\u2019 man is now a ramblin\u2019 lass with a pompadour, while the prostitute with a heart of gold and a penchant for self-sacrifice is now a sensitive guy. Is a clich\u00e9 turned on its head still a clich\u00e9? \u201cO\u2019Dessa\u201d will keep you wondering, and that counts for something.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Watch on Hulu<\/em><\/a>. <\/em>Read the full review<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n
Seeing double De Niro.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\u2018The Alto Knights\u2019<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n
Robert De Niro plays two friends-turned-rivals, Vito Genovese and Frank Costello, in this Mafia crime drama directed by Barry Levinson.<\/p>\n
From our review:<\/p>\n
\nIs there anything really new here? Well, yes. In a move that pretty much dares you to call it a stunt, the roles of Genovese and Costello are both played by De Niro. And the actor pulls it off, at least as far as anyone could pull it off. He provides each figure with a genuine, distinct characterization.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
In theaters. <\/em>Read the full review<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n
A bodybuilder muscles his way through life.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\u2018Magazine Dreams\u2019<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n
Jonathan Majors stars as an obsessive bodybuilder in this drama written and directed by Elijah Bynum, which, after its premiere at Sundance two years ago, was shelved when the star was arrested and charged with assault and harassment of his girlfriend at the time. Majors, who denied the accusations, was found guilty on two of four counts<\/a> and sentenced to probation and a year of domestic violence counseling.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\nFrom our review:<\/p>\n
\nIt\u2019s an impressive show of bravado from both the actor and the director, albeit in a way that makes it difficult to tell who\u2019s swaggering more \u2014 the character or the filmmaker. \u201cMagazine Dreams\u201d bludgeons viewers to show off its sensitivity. Bynum piles on the misery in increasingly bogus ways.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
In theaters. <\/em>Read the full review<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n
Zero gravity, zero explanations.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\u2018Ash\u2019<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n
After she wakes up with foggy memories on a spaceship where she\u2019s surrounded by dead crew members, Riya (Eiza Gonz\u00e1lez) must put the pieces together while marooned on a hostile alien planet.<\/p>\n
From our review:<\/p>\n
\nThough not as adventurous, \u201cAsh,\u201d from the musician-turned-director Steven Ellison, known as Flying Lotus, conjures comparisons to \u201cAlien\u201d and \u201cMission to Mars.\u201d Its futuristic science \u2014 a terraforming planet, celestial alignment, parasitic beings \u2014 is equally wonky. Because the fractal script doesn\u2019t aim to provide explanations, this film can be confusing. But that incomprehensibility is part of its aesthetically alluring package.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
In theaters. <\/em>Read the full review<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n
A less than fertile social critique.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\u2018The Assessment\u2019<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n
In a future dystopia where procreation is strictly controlled, a married couple (Elizabeth Olsen and Himesh Patel) undergo a weeklong evaluation to gauge their parental potential.<\/p>\n
From our review:<\/p>\n
\nA sterile drama about state-controlled procreation, \u201cThe Assessment,\u201d the first feature from the French director Fleur Fortun\u00e9, is visually stark and emotionally chilling. From the elegant severity of Jan Houllevigue\u2019s production design to Magnus Jonck\u2019s coolly unwelcoming cinematography, the movie repels warmth. By the end, you\u2019ll want nothing so much as a woolly jumper.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
In theaters. <\/em>Read the full review<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n
Facebook friendship IRL.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\u2018Bob Trevino Likes It\u2019<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n
After Lily (Barbie Ferreira) mistakenly friend-requests a stranger (John Leguizamo) on Facebook who has the same name as her estranged father, the two develop an unlikely friendship in this dramedy directed by Tracie Laymon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\nFrom our review:<\/p>\n
\n\u201cBob Trevino Likes It\u201d is a middling indie tear-jerker. It suffers from an overwritten script chock-full of tropes and artificial dialogue. \u201cYou don\u2019t have any tools,\u201d Bob exclaims to Lily at one point, meaning a literal toolbox, but also, you know, a metaphorical, emotional one.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
In theaters. <\/em>Read the full review<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n
A locked-car thriller that\u2019s stuck in one place.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\u2018Locked\u2019<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n
This thriller directed by David Yarovesky takes place almost entirely inside a locked car, where a devious vigilante (Anthony Hopkins) traps and tortures a petty criminal (Bill Skarsgard).<\/p>\n
From our review:<\/p>\n
\nThe violent fun and games aren\u2019t quite inventive enough to get past the single setting and its cramped leather seats. The performers hold their ground even if the script simply goes through the motions \u2014 the car-as-prison may at first come off like a new jam, and yet you\u2019ve definitely seen it all before.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
In theaters. <\/em>Read the full review<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n
Compiled by Kellina Moore.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n