Two years after it’s initially-scheduled release, the Top Gun sequel fires up its afterburners and buzzes into real, live, actual movie theaters this Memorial Day weekend. A rare case of a sequel that surpasses the original, this cinematic airshow was worth the wait. As much as a dose of propagandist fantasia might’ve tided us over during the spring 2020 “lockdowns”, this spectacle of military prowess rendered in air ballet really does benefit from the huge screen, big sound, rowdy audience experience. If you can set aside the many obvious reservations, give your brain a little vacation. The sky is dope, revel mindlessly in its majesty.
The Bob’s Burgers Movie is delightfully weird and exactly what you’d expect
Welcome into the world of Bob’s Burgers, a long-running animated series on FOX. It features a ridiculous little family (the Belchers) who fights tooth and nail to keep their shabby chic burger joint open despite constant setbacks and weird twists and turns (they get far more than their fair share).
Lux Æterna will shock the senses and the mind
Reportedly shot in about five days, it is meant to capture behind-the-scenes drama about the filming of a medieval-era movie about three women being burned at the stake.
Aiming to please, Downton Abbey: A New Era delivers consummate fan service
Less a feature film than an occasion to binge-watch a mini-season in a theater with friends who will cackle along at the cuttingly droll humor and gasp in synchrony with each revelation or faux pas, the new Downton Abbey is an utter delight of fan service. Just as some will pack the multiplexes whenever a bunch of Marvel heroes assemble, I will happily pile in with a bag of popcorn and peanut M&Ms whenever the Granthams and their sprawling team of indentured servants deign to get the gang back together for yet another round of utterly inconsequential drama that can be tidily wrapped up, two hours later, with an elegant bow.
SIFF 2022: Inu-Oh, I’ll Show You Mine, Flux Gourmet, and lots more
Several days late but not several dollars short, please see below for a machine-gun rundown of everything else I saw at SIFF …
SIFF 2022: Warm Blood
When I finished watching Rick Charnoski’s narrative feature debut, I was so bowled over I had to see it a second time in as many days on a festival screen—just to determine if my immense love for it was the cinematic equivalent of an immediate, all-consuming crush that evaporates in the harsh light of day. Upon second viewing, I realized my movie-crush was no fluke.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a Long Dull Trip
It’s not often that you feel sorry for the world’s biggest studio Goliath having the misfortune to follow in the shadow of a plucky indie release, but here we are in the season of dueling multiverses at the multiplex.
SIFF 2022: Navalny
When asked how he sees the movie of his life, Russian opposition presidential candidate Alexei Navalny bristles at the suggestion that his real-life story be depicted as a dry historic drama. It’s a thriller, Navalny asserts. And with that proclamation by its subject, filmmaker Daniel Roher literally opens the curtain on what turns out to be one hell of a thriller—and much more.
SIFF 2022: Midnighters Roundup
Although its “WTF” category was nearly as expansive as ever, this year’s truncated SIFF only featured three actual “playing-at-midnight” midnighters. Jenn takes a look at what worked and what didn’t.
SIFF 2022: The Olive Trees of Justice and Piggy
Like anyone or anything just beginning to recover from the metaphoric or literal ravages of a global pandemic, the 2022 iteration of …