If you, like me, are not currently in the South of France, sucking on the teat of cinema at the Cannes Film Festival, a welcome variety of genre films await your sampling at your local movie theater.
We've gathered them together here, like unruly children, eager for your attention. We've seen a few, and links to reviews by our contributing writers can be found below.
Enjoy your weekend! And watch a movie or two or three.
Obsession
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters, via Focus Features. Visit their official site for locations and showtimes.
Our review by Kurt Halfyard: "Obsession has got game, it brings something to the table, and can easily hold its own with the best of them. I think Rod Serling would have loved this one; so might have Shakespeare."
Is God Is
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters, via Amazon MGM Studios. Visit their official site for locations and showtimes.
Our review by Mel Valentin: "Aided immeasurably by Alexander Dynan's compelling cinematography and Jay Rabinowitz's efficient, energetic editing, [director Aleshea] Harris crafts an exceptionally taut, tense genre mash-up that all but announces her as one of the most exciting filmmakers to watch."
In the Grey
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters, via Black Bear. Visit their official site for locations and showtimes.
Guy Ritchie directed; Jake Gyllenhaal, Henry Cavill, and Eiza González star.
Official synopsis: "In The Grey follows a covert team of elite operatives who live in the global shadows, as comfortable wielding power and influence as they are automatic weapons and high explosives. When a ruthless despot steals a billion-dollar fortune, the team is sent to steal it back on what would be for anyone else a suicide mission. What begins as an impossible heist gets much worse, spiraling into an all-out war of strategy, deception and survival."
Decorado
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters, via GKids Films. Visit their official site for locations and showtimes.
Our review by yours truly: "Alberto Vázquez has created another distinctive and haunting experience that burns its way steadily into the subconscious and burrows its way deep under the skin."
LifeHack
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters, via Iconic Events Releasing. Visit their official site for locations and showtimes.
Our review by yours truly: "The raw humanity of the four leads is what drew me in. That, and its incessant energy, as opposed to overkill. ... motions are never lost in the blizzard of imagery, especially as tensions rise to an unfair level. It feels like Lifehack begins to attack the nervous system, so that my blood pressure started rising and a palpable sense of excitement surrounded me.
"Maybe that's just me. ... Or maybe it was Lifehack, disabling my defenses and leaving me open to a nerve-jangling experience."
Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: The Sorcery of Nymph Circe
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters, via Bandai. Visit their official site for locations and showtimes.
Our review by yours truly: "It's a very busy narrative, with its various threads sprawling wildly, yet it remains vastly entertaining, ensuring that thoughtful action predominates, leading to an intense battle and a startling final shot. (But stay through the credits.)"
Been Here Stay Here
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters, via Grasshopper Film. Visit the film's official site for more information.
Our review by Daniel Eagan: "An impressionistic documentary centered around Tangier, an island in the Chesapeake Bay, Been Here Stay Here has big ambitions that aren't always met. ... In fact, the story of Tangier can be repeated up and down the Atlantic Coast, on Cape Cod and Tuckernuck, Fire Island, the Outer Banks, and so forth. Viewers should recognize our culpability, even if the islanders do not.
The Wizard of the Kremlin
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters, via Vertical Entertainment.
Our review by Kurt Halfyard: "Played by Paul Dano, an actor who frequently takes parts in which his characters have the crap kicked out of them, his slick demeanour, with a measured understatement here, is a different kind of flavour. It is a welcome one. He is a cool customer. You might want to punch him in the face, as an audience member, but the The Wizard of The Kremlin is his story (itself a rough analog of the real-life Vladislav Surkov) as told, by him, to an American political writer Rowland (Jeffrey Wright) at a snowy rural country estate, where Baranov has retired early."
Magic Hour
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters, via Greenwich Entertainment. Visit their official site for locations and showtimes.
Actress Katie Aselton has carved out an impressive career as a director, from The Freebie to Black Rock to Mack & Rita to this year's SXSW-debuting Their Town. Last year's SXSW saw the debut of her previous film, which is now receiving a theatrical release. Hooray!
Official synopsis: "Charlie and Erin escape to the desert to navigate an unexpected and challenging new phase of their relationship. A Duplass Brothers Production starring Daveed Diggs (Hamilton) and Katie Aselton (The League)."
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