UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema ’25: A Move (short)

Viewers can tell this short documentary will be serious, because it is dedicated to the memory of Mahsa Amini, whose suspicious death while in the custody of Iran’s morality police ignited the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protest movement. However, the events filmmaker Elahe Esmaili captures might seem important to her family, but not inherently dramatic, until viewers understand her intention to participate in all said functions without the state-mandated hijab head-covering throughout the course of Esmaili’s A Move, which screens today as part of this year’s UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema.

Frankly, Esmaili’s parents can hardly complain, because she is taking time off to help them move from the big city of Mashhad to the countryside. Clearly, Esmaili is hoping for a case of out-with-the-old-and-in-with-the-new, in several respects. Yet, just as her mother clings to her old junk, the senior family members cling to their old-fashioned social customs and fears.

The clash of generations really comes to a head when Esmaili refuse any head-covering while visiting a supposedly conservative uncle in the mountains. Her mother expects shame and disgrace, but somehow, the grizzled old uncle takes it all in stride.

Indeed, Esmaili questions just how widely the regime’s hardline ideology are really shared among regular folks. Regardless, Esmaili has clearly resolved to stop participating in her own oppression. She is not argumentative, but she is firm—if anyone expects her to cover up, then the men need to lead by example.

House of Abraham: You Have the Right to Die, but not to Change Your Mind

If you ever wondered why some people oppose right-to-die legislation, “Abraham” will help explain it. Nobody would want the state to act like him. Frankly, he is not very Abrahamic. He runs a cult-like retreat for assisted suicide, with the emphasis on his assistance. Supposedly, you can change your mind at any time, but if you do, he and his assistant will change it back in Lisa Belcher’s House of Abraham, which releases today in New York.

Right from the start Dee seems a little different than the rest of the guests at Abraham’s latest final exit weekend workshop. For one thing, she brought a hidden camera. Abraham initially talks a good New Age game, but he can be a bit intrusive. Consequently, Victor, an otherwise sane senior gentleman suffering from a brain tumor, decides to leave. However, Dee suspects he never really left.

In fact, Abraham and his assistant Beatrice give off bad vibes and act conspicuously odd, but most of the guests let it go, because of their reason for coming. Yet, Dee suspects Shannon really wants to live. She only came to be with her suicidal husband, whom she does not think she can live without.

So maybe life is better than death? You think? Yet, House of Abraham will likely be ignored, at best, and perhaps even vilified for making that point. Furthermore, screenwriter Lukas Hassel’s massively creepy performance as Abraham suggests there is something very wrong with someone who takes so much satisfaction from watching death. Again, this hardly seems controversial.

Regardless, Hassel’s portrayal is deeply unsettling, partly because it seems so believable. Think of him as part Peter Stormare and part Lee Pace, with a little Jarod Leto thrown in. It is easy to envision him leading some kind of death cult out of a strip mall yoga salon.

Echo Valley, on Apple TV+

Kate Garretson should have stuck with horses. All the animals at her stables seem nice and calm, but her daughter Claire is a real piece of work. Her father Richard has had enough, but her mother keeps giving her money and shielding her from the consequences of her mistakes. Unfortunately, that indulgence has deadly consequences in Michael Pearce’s Echo Valley, which premieres today on Apple TV+.

Garretson has neglected the stables since the untimely death of the wife she left arrogant old blue-blooded Richard for. He has given up on Claire, but he still gives his ex “loans” for barn repairs. We are supposed to dislike him, but he is remarkably generous to his ex-wife, especially given the circumstances—and totally right with respects to Claire’s ungrateful, anti-social behavior.

Yet, again the prodigal daughter returns home, but this time her creepy dealer Jackie Lawson follows her. Garretson is sufficiently country to ward him off the first time. The next time Claire comes home, Lawson soon follows again, but this time he has the upper-hand. Thus begins the cat-and-mouse game, which constitutes the guts of the film.

It is easy to lose patience with this film and its major characters. They are whiny, make horrible decisions, and their potential identity box checking clearly was prioritized over wit or uniqueness. However, Brad Ingelsby’s screenplay shows sudden third act signs of life, when the momentum between the two antagonists starts to shift back and forth.

Admittedly, Julianne Moore puts on a master class projecting Garretson’s still raw bereavement (bordering on depression) and her mama bear protective drive. After the first stilted scene with her ex-husband (another thankless appearance for Kyle MacLachlan), every second she is on screen rings true.

Tatami, in The Epoch Times

TATAMI certainly depicts the hypocrisy and thuggery of the current Iranian regime. Yet, it also dramatically portrays an Iranian athlete's struggle to stay true to herself and her sport. Its one of the year's best. EPOCH TIMES review up here.

Day of Reckoning, on Tubi

Kyle Rusk is a stone-cold outlaw. Marshal Butch Hayden and his men also have serious outlaw tendencies. Getting caught between them is a lonely place for an honest cop like Sheriff John Dorsey to find himself, but he always does his duty. The ensuing standoff might just kill him, but Dorsey is running out of things to lose in Shaun Silva’s Day of Reckoning, which premieres this Friday on Tubi.

Rusk just knocked over another bank, but Hayden is waiting for him at his budget motel, for yet another reckless shootout. Somehow, the bank-robber escapes, but the Marshal figures he must be headed to his girlfriend Emily’s farm. That would be smack in the middle of Dorsey’s jurisdiction—at least for the next few weeks. His deputy, Danny Raise, looks poised to unseat him. To compound the insult, Dorsey also suspects Raise is sleeping with his wife.

Dorsey felt under-equipped for a Rio Bravo-style standoff at Rusk’s farmhouse. Much to the Sheriff’s disgust, he walks into a veritable hostage situation, in which Hayden’s deputy marshals, who are more like mercenary bounty hunters, are holding Emily Rusk as bait. They are all mean and untrustworthy, but Dorsey still must most likely fight alongside them when Rusk arrives with his biker-gang reinforcements.

Reckoning, (technically, Scott Adkins’ second such reckoning day, following Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning) is a gritty, low-frills B-movie, but Silva has full command of its neo-Western aesthetics. Although Adkins has much less screentime than the antagonistic marshal and sheriff, he has ample opportunity to show off his villainous chops. Indeed, he is entertainingly ferocious as Rusk. (He has moved away from bad guys, into leading action figure roles, but he still has the skill set.)

Detective Kien: The Headless Horror

Miss Moon’s village is like the Sleepy Hollow of Vietnam. The decapitated victims of the sinister “Drowning Ghost” keep washing up on the shore of the river. Supposedly, her niece (whom she raised as a daughter) was the exception. The waters only returned one of poor Nga’s shoes. Since the useless village chief refuses to investigate Miss Moon petitions the Judge’s Detective. That would be Kien, who conscientiously answers the call in Victor Vu’s Detective Kien: The Headless Horror, which is still playing in select theaters.

Kien an analytical but empathetic investigator, who represents the full authority of the [unseen] Judge, so Chief Liem Quan must cooperate. The good detective soon learns Nga was tragically inconvenient. Her father resented Nga, because he suspected she was her mother’s illegitimate daughter, with the lover she later absconded with. Similarly, Liem and Lady Vuong, his Lady Mabeth-ish wife, harbored ill will towards Nga, because their entitled daughter Tuyet’s arranged fiancé, Thac, fell in love with her.

Of course, Kien wants to maintain the integrity of his investigation, but Miss Moon insists on joining him—and she is the sort of person who is hard to say no to. That is especially true as the romantic attraction between them grows. Ominously, the Drowning Ghost also apparently takes an interest Kien, appearing in dreams and visions—and maybe even real life, at inopportune times.

Perhaps by Vietnam’s standards, Detective Kien might be a horror movie. For American audiences, it is more of a mystery with some genre elements, but either way, it is wonderfully atmospheric. There is a lot of sneaky skullduggery and 19^th Century detective business afoot.

Revival, on Syfy

Who misses quarantines and sheltering-at-home? Not the good citizens of Wausau, Wisconsin. They must endure another lockdown-shutdown when the dead rise from their graves. It is a very localized uncanny happening, limited only to Wausau and the newly deceased who passed away with a two-week period. They are not zombies. They seem to be the same as they ever were, with a few notable exceptions to be discovered later. Nevertheless, it all supplies plenty of grounds for fear and panic in creators Aaron B. Koontz & Luke Boyce’s Revival, based Tim Seeley & Mike Norton’s comics, which premieres tomorrow on Syfy.

Wausau Deputy Dana Cypress was about to leave town for a security job in the big city when the not-quite-zombie non-apocalypse occurred. She lost her new job, but at least her boss (and her father), Sheriff Wayne Cypress, saved her old one. He takes a hardline on Revivers, advocating for tight controls. She tends to agree with the more moderate views of Ibrahim Ramin, the CDC guy, who was almost her awkward hook-up.

Even when quarantine lifts, the Cypresses stay super-busy, especially when one Reviver starts exhibiting more traditional zombie-like behavior. So far, the crazy old lady is the only aggressive, animalistic Reviver, but she is quite a handful, especially since Revivers quickly heal back to their original state at their time of death. In addition to holding off complete anarchy, Deputy Cypress worries about her young level-headed son Cooper and her younger, not-so-level-headed sister Martha (a.k.a. “Em”).

Sheriff Cypress and Ramin clearly represent very different approaches to pandemic management, but as of the first six episodes provided for review, that clash of methods is not yet nauseatingly didactic. Wayne Cyress is definitely on the hard side of hardnoses, but he has his merits, particularly as a grandpa.

Regardless, Koontz, Boyce, and their writers’ room capitalize on many of the opportunities for intrigue offered by the Revival, like a murder victim who is suddenly back. In fact, there are four or five further complications that are embargoed for your weekly viewing pleasure, most of which successfully keep the audience hooked.

Bernard-Henri Levy’s Our War

Bernard-Henri Levy has a Ukrainian artillery position named in his honor—and he couldn’t be more proud. Probably no other philosopher has spent as much time in war-zones, thanks to his documentaries covering the Ukrainians struggling to repel Russian invaders and the Kurds’ battle against ISIS. Frankly, Levy has seen more of the Ukrainian front lines than most senior Russian officers, partly because Ukraine keeps inviting him back and partly because Russian officers keep getting killed in action. Yet, the media and politicians insist Ukraine cannot win. Levy examines the boots-on-the-ground realities of Ukrainian morale and battle-worthiness in his Our War, which opens today in New York.

Even wearing a flak jacket, you can immediately recognize Levy as he tours the Ukrainian forces in the field. That why it is so gutsy that he returns so often. At this point, he is on a first-name basis with Zelensky and has long-term relationships with several senior commanders. He also meets many enlisted men and junior officers, like Oksana Rubaniak, who also happens to be a poet, much like her late boyfriend, another fallen soldier. Touched by their stories and their verse, Levy promises to publish them both in France.

Throughout the documentary, Levy and his crew hear plenty of shells landing nearby and sometimes even whizzing past them. He also documents some of the destruction wrought be Putin’s scorched earth tactics. The images are shocking and appalling, but they can’t equal the visceral horrors of Mstslav Chernov’s 20 Days in Mariupol, but few films can.

Unfortunately, there is an awkward co-star. That would be our current President, whose bizarre Oval Office meeting with Zelensky happened during filming. It leaves a bitter taste that Macron’s administration is seen as a bigger advocate of freedom. Yet, the truth is Biden talked a better game, but he never really walked the walk either.

Yet, that scene directly into Levy’s titular thesis. He repeatedly argues that Ukraine is fighting the war now, so the rest of Europe (and even the U.S.) won’t have to fight it later. It is not just his interpretation. Russian officials like Dmitry Medvedev say the same thing, but more abrasively, on Russian national television.

Levy also forcefully contradicts conventional wisdom. Interview after interview attests to an undiminished resolve, both among the Ukrainian miliary and civilians. Yes, they could use more and better arms and supplies. At one point, Levy counts twenty Russian mortars for every Ukrainian response. However, the Ukrainians make the most of what they have. Those who nauseatingly use the term “forever war” to advocate abandoning Ukraine need to understand Putin started this “forever” war and it will only end when he withdraws. Until then, Ukrainian patriots will continue to defend their homeland, even if Trump or Lula ask them surrender.

That comes through loud and clear throughout Levy’s latest film. Highly recommended as a timely reality check regarding the state of Putin’s illegal war, Our War opens today (6/11) at the Quad.

Shiraishi's 11 Rebels

They were like an early Meiji Era Dirty Dozen except there were only eleven of them. In fact, the so-called “Suicide Squad” were initially only ten condemned prisoners who agreed to fight for the Shibata Domain, but somehow, they will add one more. They will need the reinforcements to hold the fort (literally) in Kazuya Shiraishi’s 11 Rebels, which releases today on DVD and VOD.

Masa was condemned for killing the Shibata samurai who attacked his wife, so as far as he is concerned, the rest of the clan can go die a fiery death. Nevertheless, Natsu the lady arsonist (who is stuck with all their domestic chores), convinces him to join the others “rebels,” to gain his freedom and provide for his wife.

It will be a motley crew, including the hulking serial killer, a defrocked priest, a village madman, and Koshiba, an old man, who, ironically happens to be the best swordsman of the lot. Ostensibly, they fall under the command of a handful of Shibata samurai, including the young and honorable Washio Heishiro and duplicitous Irie Kazuma. However, the Rebels take command of themselves once they discover Kazuma and Mizoguchi Takumi, the chief retainer, intend to betray them after the battle. That definitely prompts an “I told you so” moment from Masa, but the rebellious Rebels are still the only protection their village has from the approaching Imperial army.

The mayhem of 11 Rebels is not quite as spectacular as that of Miike’s 13 Assassins, but it is still pretty impressive. (To be fair, they also have two fewer rebels than assassins.) Jun’ya Ikegami’s screenplay was inspired by an unproduced and now lost screenplay written by Kazuo Kasahara way back in the 1960s. It is definitely dark, but its tragic heroism nicely taps into the concept of the “Nobility of Failure” popularized in academic circles by Ivan Morris. If you don’t really care about that, rest assured there are plenty of cool martial arts battles.

Diablo, Starring Scott Adkins & Marko Zaror

El Corvo is martial artist with an iron fist, but he is nothing like Marvel’s Hero-for-Hire or RZA’s Kung Fu hip hop hero. He is more like an invulnerable serial killer from a slasher horror movie, but with incredible chops. However, he might just meet his match in a motivated American ex-con trying to rescue his biological daughter throughout Ernesto Diaz Espinoza’s Diablo, which releases this Friday in theater and on-demand/digital.

Rather counter-intuitively, Kris Chaney paid to be smuggled into Colombia from the United States. Perhaps even more ill-advisedly, the traffickers try to extort more money from him upon arrival. He is played by Scott Adkins, so good luck with that.

Chaney had to keep his visit secret from Vicente, a big Columbian boss, who was once part of Chaney’s bank heist crew. Then Vicente betrayed Chaney and stole his lover. By the time she realized his true colors it was too late, but she made Chaney promise to save their daughter Elisa once he was released from prison. Of course, Elisa only knows life as Vicente’s daughter, so she rather resists Chaney’s rescue, at least initially.

Unfortunately, El Corvo (which translates to “The Crow,” but he nothing like the immortal Eric Draven either) is the wild card in Chaney’s feud with Vicente. Bearing a bitter grudge against the latter, the hulking killer with metallic arm (complete with a lethal selection of attachments) attempts to abduct the already abducted Elisa, to prosecute his vicious revenge plot against Vicente. At this point, Elisa starts to appreciate Chaney, since he seems to be the only mortal who can temporarily fight off El Corvo.

Frankly, co-star Marko Zaror’s fight choreography might just be some of the most intense and frequently brutal beatdowns genre fans have seen in years. (It ranks right up there with the bone-crushing Avengement, also starring Adkins.) This is the sort of film that will have you yelling “oomph” and “yow,” even if you are watching alone, in the privacy of your own home.

It also represents perfect casting. Obviously, Adkins and Zaror have all kinds of skills and moves. Adkins also has the right brooding earnestness for Chaney. Zaror’s severe screen presence sometimes makes heroic leads challenging, but his imposing physicality is perfect for El Corvo, who is like Lurch from The Adams Family, but with Matrix-level Kung Fu.

Art Detectives, on Acorn TV

DI Mick Palmer is the detective who would have to catch Raffles, John “The Cat” Robie, and the Phantom from the Pink Panther. He specializes in art related crime as the head of the one-man Heritage Department, but sometimes (more like usually) they also involve murders. Unfortunately, Palmer has a lot of insight into art crimes, thanks to his father Ron, a forger and thief, who keeps making trouble for his son in creator-writers Dan Gaster, Will Ing, and Paul Powell’s six-episode Art Detectives, which premieres tomorrow on Acorn TV.

When valuable British art is stolen, or an important art figure is killed, Taylor often gets the call. That is especially true when the original DI is an idiot, like DI Hollis in the opening episode, “Pictures at an Exhibition.” His DC, Shazia Malik is supposed to spy on Taylor for Hollis, but she would rather work with a professional DI, like Taylor.

In fact, they work so well together, Taylor requests her transfer, doubling his department in size. Frankly, she is a bit surprised by their first official case together, when they are summoned to an ancient burial site. However, it turns into a more conventional case when an extra, more contemporary body is planted within the excavation. To its credit, “Dead & Buried” is a good example of the writers’ willingness to implicate unconventional suspects as the series’ murderers. Frankly, it is never the butler or the tired stereotypical “evil” businessman.

Sadly, episode three might hit home a little too hard for Nancy Wilson of Heart (whose guitars were recently stolen), because it also features the theft of rare instruments and memorabilia from a storied recording studio. There is also a dead body in “Warped.” Again, the mystery is decent, especially considering the 45-minute-ish running times of each episode.

Instead of art, it is wine that lands Heritage the case in “Noble Rot.” It must be an especially delicate investigation, because a high-ranking government official was one of the guests at the exclusive wine-tasting that results in the poisoning death of the high-end wine-dealer. Sir Clifford Renwick also knows Ron Harper’s checkered history, forcing DI Taylor to tread carefully.

“Ice Cold” might draw a lot of one-off viewers, because it features the murder of a collector of Titanic artifacts. Inconveniently, he was killed right before finalizing the donation of his holdings to a Belfast museum, so off Taylor and Malik go to Northern Ireland. This is another good example of the chemistry shared by leads Stephen Moyer and Nina Singh, especially as they discuss their local contact DC Rory White (also nicely played by guest star Warren McCook), whose interest in Malik he picks up on and repeatedly notes, while, somehow, she cannot see it.

Tribeca ’25: Dog of God

He calls himself a werewolf, but he is really more of a holy fool and an immortal wanderer. However, as a portent of trouble, he is even more ominous than a plague of locusts. Frankly, things have been bad in the village of Zaube since forever. It has been mismanaged by both Church, represented by Priest Buckholz, and the state, in the person of inattentive Baron Klodt. Frankly, only tavern keeper and natural healer Neze reliably delivers services to villagers, but she stands accused of witchcraft in Lauris & Raitis Abele’s animated feature Dog of God, which premiered at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival.

Life is hard for Kilbis, thanks to his physical body and the cruelty of his master, Buckholz. At least, the pervy priest periodically orders Kilbis to flog him, but the poor altar boy understands it is just to reinforce his hatred. Nevertheless, the priest has plenty lusty peeping to atone for. Instead, he blames Neze for supposedly supplying the temptation. Hence, his accusations of witchcraft.

However, the Dog of God rather unsettles everyone when he crashes Neze’s trial. Nobody really knows what to make of him, but his spooky talk is definitely bad for business, so he winds up in the stocks next to her. Of course, you cannot keep a supernatural drifter tied down for long.

These are heady days for Latvian animation. Unfortunately for fans of the medium, Dog of God has none of the charm of the Oscar-winning Flow. Indeed, all the cruelty and scatological gross-outs have a bludgeoning effect on the audience. Frankly, when it finally ends, you might need an aspirin and warm shower—and maybe even your security blanket.

The Last Twins, in The Epoch Times

THE LAST TWINS fully documents the horrors of Mengele's Auschwitz experiments, but it wiesely places an even greater focus on the humanity of the survivors. It is the sort of thoughtful history lesson the world needs today. EPOCH TIMES review up here.

The Ritual: Based on the “Real-Life” Story of Emma Schmidt

Father Carl Vogl’s book, Begone Satan was like the 1930’s equivalent of Jay Anson’s Amityville Horror. It convinced a lot of otherwise skeptical readers that Satanic supernatural horror might really be real. Anson’s book had multiple movie treatments, of radically varying quality. Now the case Father Vogl (and also Time magazine) documented has inspired David Midell’s The Ritual, which opens today in theaters.

Father Joseph Steiger is a man of the cloth, but he also considers himself a modern man of reason, so he is stunned and confused when his Monsignor orders him to host the exorcism of Emma Schmidt. The exorcist will be Father Theophilus Riesinger, a Capuchin priest with a history of battling demonic possession. In fact, he already attempted a previous exorcism of Schmidt several years prior.

However, Father Steiger is skeptical, He frequently suggests Schmidt would be better off with a psychiatrist rather than an exorcist. Unfortunately, she and Riesinger arrived while he was amidst a full-blown crisis of faith, precipitated by his brother’s shocking suicide. Frankly, viewers might think the chaos unlashed during Riesinger’s exorcism sessions, which injures several attending nuns, should convince the good Father (and he is a good Father) that something uncanny and evil plagues Schmidt. However, doubt is powerful and it undermines faith, making men vulnerable to evil.

Indeed, doubt is a very human weakness, which is really the film’s bedrock theme. It is Father Steiger’s doubt and Father Riesinger’s guilt that the Evil One exploits. Yet, their weaknesses also make the priests ever so human.

Arguably, Dan Stevens might just deliver his best performance since Downton Abbey portraying the very American looking and sounding Father Steiger. He is keenly sympathetic, even when he chastely flirts with Sister Rose (his “work wife”). Similarly, Al Pacino does his best work in years as Father Riesinger. Admittedly, his accent is highly dubious, but at least it is consistent. More to the point, he forgoes all his usual tics, mannerisms, and Hoo-ah’s, disappearing into the character instead.

The Gardener, Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme

Gardeners have become a new breed of action hero, as per the trend established by the like-titled Spanish Netflix hitman series and Scrader’s Master Gardener. For the hardboiled killers haunted by their pasts, the Zen-like nature of their new work is therapeutic. However, they still handle sharp implements. Leo Apastegui (if that really is his name) will need those hedge clippers when a hit squad comes for his family in David Charhon’s The Gardener, which release today in theaters and on VOD.

Serge Shuster is an idiot who probably isn’t worth killing. Nevertheless, the presidential aide landed on the annual Matignon list of government officials his boss needs getting rid of. Unfortunately, the hapless bureaucrat was copied on a sensitive memo discussing said list—not that he gave it much thought.

Shuster is strictly comic relief, at its shtickiest. On the other hand, his gardener Apastegui is an expert in hand-to-hand combat and dirty work in general. He also used to live in the “old house” that once stood on the property, is he is familiar with the tunnels the Resistance dug under the garden during the war.

Van Damme still has the moves and the muscles, but Michael Youn is beyond annoying as Shuster. Frankly, he will remind viewers of Jed Babbin’s famous quote: “Going to war without France is like deer hunting without an accordion. You just leave a lot of useless noisy baggage behind.” Van Damme is Belgian.

Nevertheless, Jerome Le Banner, Matthias Quiviger, and Kaaris make a worthy trio of paramilitary bag guys, as the code-named Phoebus, Esmeralda, and Quasimodo. Yet, the fight choreography often undermines them and JCVD, because it is designed more for the novelty use of gardening tools than battles worthy of the cast’s talents. At least the Gardener’s final face-off with Phoebus lives up to fans’ expectations.

Predator: Killer of Killers, on Hulu

Vikings were mean and unruly. Samurai were the greatest swordsmen. And nobody could outfly U.S. Naval aviators. Unfortunately, the Predators aliens believe that to be the best, they must hunt the best. That means they will stalk all the aforementioned throughout human history in Dan Trachtenberg’s animated anthology, Predator: Killer of Killers, “co-directed” by Joshua Wassung, which premieres today on Hulu.

As viewers know from Trachtenberg’s Prey, Predators have been coming to Earth for a long time. They have an advantage in each of the Earthbound historical stories, because the Vikings, Samurai, and WWII fighter pilots are busy fighting each other, while the Predators watch and wait.

Arguably, the opening Samurai story is the weakest of the three, but the brutality of Ursa’s combat, both against her Viking enemies and the Predator, are impressive by any standard. Lindsay LaVanchy also sounds appropriately fierce as the Viking clan leader. Nevertheless, this somewhat revisits the themes and beats of Prey.

Visually, the Samurai story might be the most dynamic. Trachtenberg and Wassung also create some incredible animated martial arts and swordplay. The battle between brothers turned sworn-rivals resonates on archetypal level. Yet, the way they combine forces against the Predator holds great importance later. Although Louis Ozawa is credited as both samurai voices, this is a quiet, largely non-verbal segment, which suits its stealthy ninja vibe and elegant Jidaigeki setting.

Dangerous Animals: Finally, a Good Shark Movie

Bruce Tucker makes crusty old Captain Quint in Jaws look like a charmer. He is a serial killer and his weapon of choice is the shark. That is why his shark charter diving business has so few Yelp reviews. Zephyr is exactly the kind of nomadic surfer he likes to target, but her resourcefulness surprises him in Sean Byrne’s Dangerous Animals, which opens tomorrow in theaters.

Zephyr lives out of her van and has no real family. Both she and Tucker assume nobody will come looking for her. However, she made quite an impression on Moses Markley, before her Irish-goodbye. He comes looking, but he is about a quarter of Tucker’s size and has about half of Zephyr’s survival instincts. Nevertheless, he represents her best hope.

Basically, if you fondly remember either Chief Brody’s nightmare of getting wheeled into the shark in the under-rated Jaws 2 or the shark tank in The Spy Who Loved Me, Dangerous Animals is the film for you. Tucker’s weaponization of sharks is reasonably credible, in a nasty serial killer way.

As Tucker, Jai Courtney is one of the most fiercely man and boozily blokey movie serial killers of all time. It seems pretty Shaw’s Quint was a reference point for the character as well as Courtney’s performance—and well it should be.

Obviously, Tucker is the showy role in Dangerous Animals, but both  Hassie Harrison and Josh Heuston are far better than you would expect from the potential shark meat in a movie like this. As a result, we really care about their survival, which duly leads to suspense.

Tribeca ’25: Kundun

Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner abjectly apologized for this film, calling it “s stupid mistake.” On bended knee, he groveled to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP): “The bad news is the film was made; the good news is nobody watched it.” Disney saw to that. The film in question was directed by Martin Scorsese, who dedicated it to his recently deceased mother, Catherine. It was also nominated for four Academy Awards, including Philip Glass’s justly celebrated score. However, you can’t stream Scorsese’s cinematic biography of the 14^th (and according to him, last) Dalai Lama. Again, Disney made the conscious decision to keep it out of circulation. Hence any screening of Scorsese’s Kundun is a big deal, so its special screening to celebrate Scorsese’s birthday at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival is a huge event.

Born Lhamo Thondup, the Dalai Lama was a rather willful child, but also an intelligent one. Reting, the Regent of Tibet quickly realizes the bright little boy should be tested to determine whether he is the reincarnated spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, which indeed turns out to be the case.

As the recognized Dalai Lama studies at Potala Palace, he shows a keen curiosity regarding the outside world. That will be just as well, because the outside world soon barges into Tibet. Unfortunately, after the devastation of WWII, England and Europe are too exhausted to intervene when China invades and annexes Tibet. Likewise, the newly independent India is too disorganized and America is too far. Consequently, the Dalai Lama and his ministers agree to negotiate with Mao.

However, many of the senior Lamas realize they are really only stalling for time, even though the Dalai Lama still hopes for a more equitable and autonomous arrangement. Sadly, as the CCP starts razing monasteries, the Dalai Lama recognizes the CCP as the oppressors they always intended to be. Nevertheless, he resists seeking sanctuary in India, because he refuses to abandon his people when they need him the most.

It is easy to see why Kundun (the Tibetans’ term of reverence and affection for the Dalai Lama, meaning “the Presence”) angered the CCP. First of all, it is an excellent film, unlike the junky rom-coms and stilted propaganda movies the Chinese film industry now cranks out. It also forthrightly depicts the brutality and destruction of the CCP occupation. Yet, it is small but telling moments, like when the Dalai Lama bemoans the blaring bombastic Chinese propaganda music, lamenting: “they even took our silence,” that are especially devastating.

Indeed, Scorsese and screenwriter Melissa Mathison follow the historical record, depicting the Dalai Lama as neither a rebel nor a hot-head. He was a remains a man of non-violence, who was forced into a painful exile, as a means of preserving the Tibetan national soul.

Despite the tragedy it captures, Kundun is a gorgeous film, magnificently lensed by acclaimed cinematographer Roger Deakins. He and Scorsese use the colors and imagery of the Tibetan sand mandala to arresting effect. Glass’s score is hypnotic, but it also expresses a sense of awe. Just in terms of technical artistry, Kundun is unusually accomplished.

King’s The Life of Chuck

At least Chuck Krantz won’t have to worry about fees for 401K withdrawals. Apparently, he is retiring right in the midst of doomsday. The world is ending, but his grateful colleagues are celebrating with billboards all over town. People are definitely confused and, initially, viewers will be too. However, director-screenwriter Mike Flanagan eventually brings everything together in The Life of Chuck, based on the Stephen King novella, which opens this Friday in New Yok theaters.

It is the end of the world—and the end of an era wherever Krantz works. California is sinking into the sea, the internet and infrastructure are failing, and suicides are skyrocketing. The apocalyptic crisis compels school teacher Marty Anderson to reconnect with his ex-wife Felicia Gordon, an exhausted RN, who feels a similar desire for his familiar and comforting presence. Yet, amid all the chaos, they both find all the Chuck Krantz signage rather bizarre.

What is going on here? Act II illuminates little, especially since Flanagan’s adapted narrative flows in reverse order, ending with Act I. It also happens to be a dance number, featuring Krantz and Taylor Franck, a drummer played by “The Pocket Queen,” according to the credits. You might guess she knows how to socket in the pocket, which indeed turns out to be the case.

All will eventually be explained in Act I, which is presented as the third act. Finally, we witness Krantz’s childhood, which is sometimes sad and sometimes mysterious, but the under-sized teen also has his small triumphs.

Frankly, some viewers might be tempted to watch the walk-outs, which could very well be plentiful. However, that would be a mistake, because you really need to see the entire film for all the pieces to fall into place. The good news is the a-ha moment really happens and gives pretty darned significant meaning to everything that came before.

This is definitely Stephen King more in his Shawshank or Stand By Me bag, even though there are considerable fantastical elements—that would be spoilery to describe. It is hard to categorize and it will confuse some viewers, but this is probably the best King adaptation since The Outsider.

Rebel: The Director’s Cut

Rather ironically, the first movie featuring Sylvester Stallone as a lead actor was re-released in the UK to capitalize on the popularity of First Blood. The roles are almost inverse opposites. John Rambo was a Vietnam veteran who resented the abuse and demonization he suffered from the anti-war movement. Jerry Savage was one of the New Left activists doing the vilifying. However, Savage tired of talk and now intends to take direct, violent action in Robert Allen Schnitzer’s director’s cut of Rebel, which releases on VOD and in select theaters this Friday.

Student activism was not cutting it for Savage, so he hitchhikes to New York to join a cell of militant guerillas, led by Tommy Trafler. On the way, he meets Laurie Fisher, who sells crafts in the City with her hippy-dippy commune.

Savage feels the chemistry with Fisher, but his new roommate and co-conspirator, Estelle Ferguson obviously feels something for him. The plan is to bomb the corporate headquarters of a kitchenware conglomerate to expose their defense contracting sideline. Marlena St. James, also known as “The Black Bomber,” will craft the explosives, but Ferguson must plant them within the Midtown tower. The idea is to set the explosion for an early Sunday morning, to avoid loss of life. (Here’s a pro-tip: if you do not want to kill anyone, do not blow-up any buildings.)

However, the FBI has an informer within the domestic terror cell, but much to Special Agent William Decker’s frustration, the CIA has taken defacto operational control. As most historians would agree, J. Edgar Hoover was not at all turf-conscious and never minded sharing jurisdiction on big cases. Yeah, right.

Frankly, Rebel lands awkwardly in the wake of Boulder’s antisemitic domestic terror attack. In some ways, Schnitzer critiques the extremist mindset, but he also clearly invites sympathy for Savage’s cause.

Schnitzer’s screenplay, co-written with Larry Beinhart, is confused and raggedy, but all sides of the pseudo love triangle exhibit strange, unlikely screen presences that make Rebel oddly distinctive. Obviously, Stallone was the only cast-member who was going anywhere, but Vickie Lancaster is acutely sad (in the intended way) as Ferguson. Antony Page also has such a Dennis Hopper thing going on as Trafler, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Easy Rider thesp had been a model for the character and Page’s portrayal.

The Evil Touch: Heart to Heart (Early Stallone)

For a greedy wastrel, a perfectly good serial killer should never go to waste. He believes his rich, disapproving aunt should be the so-called “Monster’s” next victim, even if he must kill her himself. Where did this sinister scenario come from? The mind of Sylvester Stallone, who wrote the teleplay under the oddball pen-name of Q. Moonblood several years before the release of Rocky. The upcoming re-release of Stallone’s first starring-role in Robert Allen Schnitzer’s Rebel offers an opportune time to revisit his first IMDb writing credit, the “Heart to Heart” episode of the American-produced Australian anthology series, The Evil Touch, hosted by Anthony Quayle.

Nephew Richard is lazy, entitled, and mean-spirited, so his wealthy guardian Aunt has finally decided to write him out of her will. However, it will take a few days for her lawyer to return from his ill-timed business trip, which leaves ample time for Richard to kill her.

Since the Monster has been amassing a horrendous body-count across the countryside, the ne-er do well nephew assumes if he copies the killer’s M.O., her murder will automatically be attributed to the serial killer. He just needs to make nice with his Aunt, so he can lure her somewhere isolated. However, there are a few variables to his plan that he cannot control, but experienced genre viewers might anticipate.

Nevertheless, Stallone, a.k.a. Moonblood, gives his big twist an amusing additional half-twist. Consequently, “Heart to Heart” is surprisingly satisfying, in a suitably macabre way. Regrettably, episodes of The Evil Touch are currently only available as inferior-quality YouTube uploads. Yet, the slightly blurry video adds a hallucinatory effect that makes each episode feel like a feverish dream.

Yellow Singing Sail, Graphic Novel

Huang Yinfin (a.k.a. “Yinyin”) is an only child. So are nearly all her classmates. It is almost like there was a rigid government policy restricting Chinese families to one child in the 1990s. In fact, there was exactly such a policy, but she never mentions it during this graphic novel memoir, probably she would not have been aware of such realities during her elementary school years. Regardless, many of the memories from her childhood remained sufficiently fresh to inspire Huang’s Yellow Singing Sail, illustrated by the author, which releases today.

Ironically, around her fifth birthday, Yinyin was living in the countryside, much like the regime had mandated for all its subjects two decades prior. Unfortunately, the little girl experiences strife once her parents move to the industrial city of Guangzhou.

Unable to afford their own flat, Yinyin and her parents must stay with her Aunt Guma and Uncle Guye, who is a member of the state police force. Unfortunately, they are more opportunistic than hospitable when it comes to their new living arrangement, while Guma is often downright mean towards Yinyin’s mother.

Although Huang never directly addresses the “One Child” policy, there several surprisingly telling episodes. Considering Beijing’s war on Cantonese in Hong Kong, many readers will be shocked to read how Yinyin struggled to perfect her fluency to impress the Cantonese speaking “cool kids” in her Guangzhou classes.

Arguably, even an incident when young Huang discovers their six-floor walk-up apartment was broken into challenges regime propaganda claiming an absence of common street crime. Still, much of Yinyin’s school drama is presented in a way that suggests a universality of such formative experiences.

Book of Joshua: Walls of Jericho

It was produced by entirely different creative team, but this film could be considered a sequel to The Prince of Egypt. In that film, the Red Sea was parted. This time around, the Jordan River receives similar divine intervention. As the Israelites follow Moses to the Promised Land, they constantly offer peace to the Amorites, who prefer to wage war instead. Yet, the Israelites are much harder to kill than their enemies expect in Tony Goss’s animated Biblical epic, Book of Joshua: Walls of Jericho, which releases tomorrow on VOD.

Considerable time has passed since the Red Sea, but the Israelites still feed on the manna from Heaven. They must soon face “King” Sihon, but they are well-prepared for his forces, despite their dramatically smaller numbers. Obviously, Moses has access to the ultimate intelligence source. Plus, Rahab has her own insights on the cruel king Sihon.

Forced to watch Sihon torturing the Israelite emissaries, Rahab tried to intercede on their behalf and carried the survivor back to the Israeli encampment. Ironically, the faith they displayed under extreme duress inspires Rahab to open her heart to the Israelites’ God. Consequently, she will be there to help when Moses and Joshua, his designated successor, approach the hostile walled city of Jericho, where she lives.

Frankly, there are more ancient battle scenes in Goss’s Book of Joshua than Braveheart and Gladiator combined. King Sihon, King Og, and the King of Jericho all look at the Israelites and see a band of weak former Egyptian slaves. How little they know—and how little things change.

Admittedly, the character animation is only a few steps above 1970s Saturday morning cartoons. However, the background art team also create some impressively cinematic Jericho visuals. Yet, the film’s greatest strengths come from the way Doss and screenwriter-producer Amir Kovacs establish the personas of Rahab and her family. In fact, they build a great deal of suspense regarding their safety in the wicked city of Jericho.

Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme

It was one of Alexander the Great’s first conquests, but Zsa Zsa Korda has a plan to make Phoenicia great again. It is really more of a scheme. Frankly, Alexander probably would not recognize this Phenicia, because it exists solely in the world of Wes Anderson, but, be that as it may, they stand to gain from a massive infrastructure upgrade that would concurrently line Korda’s pockets. However, he must survive constant assassination attempts and figure out how to cover a funding gap that does not involve his own funds in Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme, which opens this Friday in theaters nationwide

With a name like Zsa Zsa Korda, he must be Hungarian, but Korda is a man without a country—and certainly no tax returns. Korda is an arms dealer and financier very much like Orson Welles’ Mr. Arkadin. Somehow, he convinced his syndicate and cartel conies kick into his Phoenician development scheme, but he is a little short, so he needs all his gangster buddies to kick in more—for the same return.

Obviously, this will be a tough sell, so Korda brings along his daughter, a novitiate nun Liesl, whom he designated his sole heir and successor after surviving the latest assassination attempt. She is rather appalled by his sinful ways, but recognizes an opportunity to do good through Korda’s organization—despite the arms-dealing and slave labor on which the Phoenician construction projects depend.

As you would expect from Anderson’s films, the film’s 1950s art design is charming (and less precious than some of his recent output). However, the episodic nature of Anderson and Roman Coppola’s narrative quickly grows repetitive.

Yet, the father-daughter relationship appealingly anchors the film. To his credit, Anderson refreshingly embraces good old-fashioned sentimentality and shuns cynicism. The Phoenician Scheme is another good example of that. Perhaps most tellingly, he never condemns Sister Liesl for her Catholic faith. Rather, he uses it to pass judgement on Korda’s rogue’s gallery of criminal associates.

Most of the fun of Phoenician Scheme comes from gawking at the very famous ensemble acting very goofy. Ironically, Andrson extracts the most humor from Benicio del Toro’s performance, even though he plays it scrupulously straight. Nevertheless, his extreme poker face pairs well with the vast array of injuries he endures from each successive assassination attempt.

Michael Cena also shows unusual restraint as Bjorn Lund, the tutor forced to serve as Korda’s confidential secretary, despite the obvious risks. However, nobody is more deadpan than Mia Threapleton as Sister Liesl. All that reserve from the main cast leaves plenty of room for Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Mathieu Amalric, Jeffrey Wright, and Benedict Cumberbatch to chew the scenery in the Around the World in 80 Days-esque appearances.

Marva Nabili’s The Sealed Soil

Everyone keeps telling Roo-Bekheir that she is lucky because she can say “no” to her suitors—but they don’t think she should. At the advanced age of eighteen, she is considered an old maid by her provincial neighbors. For those of us living in the modern world, it might seem understandable that the teenaged girl simply is not ready to marry, but her traditional Iranian village assumes she must be possessed in Marva Nabili’s The Sealed Soil, which is now playing in Brooklyn.

The Sealed Soil is the oldest surviving Iranian film directed by a woman. That means it survived the Revolutionary Islamic regime that would take power not long after it was produced in 1977. Banned by the regime, it has never been publicly screened in Iran, even though it is not explicitly political.

Yet, ironically, it indirectly burnishes the much-maligned reputation of the Shah, who passed the reforms that allowed women like Roo-Bekheir to have a say in her marital status. She keeps exercising that right, by maintaining her spinsterhood. It so baffles her village, the chief comes to give her a talking to. Rather perversely, he reminds her that her own mother was married away at the age of seven and frequently ran away from her abusive husband when she was ten. Somehow, this pep talk is supposed to encourage to finally accept a suitor.

Weirdly, The Sealed Soil shares a kinship with Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, because it relentlessly captures the soul-crushing repetition and toil of Roo-Bekheir’s hardscrabble life. Much is made of the eventual exorcism, but many viewers would consider it over-hyped. The scene lacks the drama we would expect from a demonic horror movie, which is presumably why endures the ritual more as a hassle than an ordeal.

Frankly, an understanding of the film’s historical and cultural context probably helps the viewing experience. It is supposed to be a grind, because Nabili wants the audience to feel all the discomfort of Roo-Bekheir’s life. Seriously, she rubs our noses in it. Yet, her aloof tone keeps viewers at arm’s length.

Tornado, in Cinema Daily US

In many ways, TORNADO serves as a Revisionist Western for Scotland and the UK, but whatever you call it, the cast (including Koki and Tim Roth), the swordplay, and the puppetry make the genre-hybrid quite distinctive and memorable. CINEMA DAILY US review up here.

Bono: Stories of Surrender, on Apple TV+

If you are a celebrity, never let a good near-death experience go to waste. Much like Jamie Foxx did in his Netflix special, Paul David Hewson frankly discusses how his heart nearly did him in too. Of course, you probably know Hewson by his stage name, Bono. In 2022 (predating Foxx), he performed a run of sold-out one-man shows (with musical accompaniment) adapted from his memoir. The rest of U2 was not present, but their songs (mostly written by Bono/Hewson) form the meat of the Beacon Theatre show captured for posterity in Andrew Dominik’s Bono: Stories of Surender, which premieres today on Apple TV+.

Although absent, Bono pays tribute to his U2 bandmates, assuring the audience Larry Mullen, Adam Clayton, and The Edge, were, are, and always will be an important part of his life. In fact, he met them the same week he first became acquainted with his future wife, Ali. That was a good week, but the show devotes more time to difficult moments, such as his mother’s tragic early death, his own health scare, and his challenging relationship with his father, especially after Hewson pere’s cancer diagnosis. That is all heavy stuff, but Bono breaks up his confessional with about a dozen of U2’s biggest hits. There are no originals in Stories of Surrender, which is exactly what most fans would prefer.

Instead of The Edge’s guitar, Bono is backed by frequent U2 collaborator Jacknife Lee on keyboards, Kate Ellis on cello, and Gemma Doherty on harp. The instrumentation is unusual, but it really suits Lee’s arrangements of “Pride,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking for,” and “Beautiful Day.” Ironically, the tie-in EP tunes, “Desire” and “The Showman” are not as grabby, despite Doherty’s electric power-harp.

However, Erik Messerschmidt’s cinematography—in glorious black-and-white, just like Phil Joanou’s U2: Rattle & Hum (mostly)—always works. As Bono notes, the staging for his solo show is not as elaborately grandiose as recent U2 stadium concerts, but the lighting effects are quite dramatic, especially when creating halo effects and boom flares, which look cool in a rock & roll kind of way.

Unfortunately, Bono’s soul-searching analysis is only applied to his relationships and never to his activism. Instead, he clings to simplistic slogans, like African debt-forgiveness, even though any college econ major will understand the continent’s perverse adherence to command-and-control economic models inevitably prevents any possibility of prosperity. Frankly, Bono often sounds rather defensive when discussing his political advocacy, with good reason.

The Better Sister, on Prime Video

Statistically, most murders are committed within families. The Mackintosh family is especially suspect, since the late husband was a lawyer and the widow is a journalist. Inevitably, they become prime tabloid fodder, because she married her unstable drug-addicted sister’s late ex-husband. Nevertheless, the estranged siblings must work together to save the young man they both consider their son in co-creators Olivia Milch & Regina Corrado’s eight-episode The Better Sister, adapted from Alafair Burke’s novel, which premieres today on Prime Video.

The murder of Adam Mackintosh is real. The break-in was faked. Unfortunately, the circumstances lead Detectives Nancy Guidry and Matt Bowen to Chloe Taylor’s step-son, Ethan. She is desperate to protect him, but, inconveniently, his biological mother Nicky Mackintosh now has custody. Their reunion is especially tense, because Taylor once agreed to sign her sister into straight-jacket-style rehab, to secure her future husband’s sole custody rights. It seemed like the thing to do at the time, but she starts to regret her decision as she learns more about the circumstances of her husband’s first marriage.

Guidry’s resentment of Taylor’s “privilege” makes her happy to focus the entire investigation on Ethan. Awkwardly, his lawyer, Michelle Sanders, shares her low opinion of the sister-mothers, but she has sympathy for their son and she is very good at her job, so they put up with her. She was referred to Taylor by Jake Rodriguez, her husband’s associate, with whom she was on the verge of having an affair. At the same time, he was closely assisting her late husband’s representation of a dodgy multi-national company, whose specialty seems to be constructing soccer stadiums in the Middle East, with suspicious rapidity.

So, clearly there are a lot of motives and conflicts of interest to untangle. Indeed, The Better Sister has several twists worthy of a Gillian Flynn adaptation, but the tone is way, way trashier. At least in this case, the soapy luridness is also entertaining. If you are looking for a hothouse fully stocked with family secrets and sneaky scheming, you will find plenty here.

Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks fully embrace the spirit of the material, diving head-first into the angst and melodrama. Similarly, Kim Dickens is one-person snark-factory as unabashedly abrasive and defiantly biased as Det. Guidry. Yet, nobody is more flamboyant than Matthew Modine as Adam’s sleazy, ambiguously villainous, and proudly out boss, Bill Braddock.

Tim Travers and the Time Traveler’s Paradox

He has a bit of a Looper complex. Instead of wanting to kill Hitler or attend a Coltrane concert, Tim Travers uses time travel to kill himself, so he can explore the resulting paradox. It is an ambitious but very bad idea that inevitably goes spectacularly awry in director-screenwriter Stimson Snead’s Tim Travers and the Time Traveler’s Paradox, which opens this Friday in theaters.

The titular paradox boils down to the notion that if you kill yourself in the past, your time-traveling self would still be alive thereby creating a paradox. It is a thought experiment that Travers takes to ridiculous lengths. Ill-advisedly, he also discusses his research with James Bunratty, an “alternate science” talk radio host. This will be a mistake, because it creates a trail for the hitman hired by the terrorists, whose plutonium Travers stole to power his time portal.

Fortunately, by the time Helter the assassin starts tracking Travers, he has already created at least a dozen other selves through time travel. He started by murdering his previous others selves, but then he started letting his selves from other times (merely one minute apart, but often enough to make considerable differences) live, so he could consult with himself. It also means Helter must keep killing every Travers he sees. To make things extra complicated, several of the Travers take time out for his/their date with Bunratty’s resentful producer Delilah, but it always ends badly, because neither of them is really suitable relationship material, especially him (all of them).

The loopy Looper-esque chaos of the first half is wildly entertaining. However, Snead has trouble maintaining the manic energy during the second half. It is also clear how desperately he was searching for an exit strategy—judging from the nearly incomprehensible speed of the double-talk. Nevertheless, Snead earns credit for developing a fresh take on time travel and for mining the science fiction material for a good deal of laughs.