Portrait of the artist mocking herself.
‘The Moment’
Charli XCX plays a facsimile of herself in this winking mockumentary directed by Aidan Zamiri that follows the artist on tour.
From our review:
“The Moment” lights on substantive subjects throughout, yet partly because it’s about one individual’s ostensible struggles rather than the larger system, its bite is toothless. That’s presumably by design, but who knows?
In theaters. Read the full review.
Critic’s Pick
Real siblings in a surrealist film.
‘The Love That Remains’
Directed by Hlynur Palmason and starring his own children, this drama follows a family after the parents’ separation.
From our review:
The film unfolds without any obvious narrative stakes: The story is simply that time goes on, which is, in fact, how real life happens. So it is a credit to Palmason — and the cast’s performances — that you want to keep watching these people’s lives. Much of that is because of the visual beauty, but some is in the surrealism that begins to mount as time goes on.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Critic’s Pick
A failing artist, a triumphant film.
‘A Poet’
A writer past his prime clashes with his successful friend and mentors a talented high school student.
From our review:
Set in Medellín, “A Poet” is the very funny and occasionally tragic tale of a man for whom art is everything and yet not nearly enough. The writer and director Simón Mesa Soto skewers with knowing precision a kind of devotion to the creative life — without much of the creating — that renders one useless in the real world.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Critic’s Pick
(Half) brothers in (muscular) arms.
‘The Wrecking Crew’
Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa star as half brothers with a proficiency in combat and a thirst for justice in this buddy action flick directed by Angel Manuel Soto.
From our review:
Rolling down Hawaii highways together on vintage motorcycles, wearing cool leather jackets and doing martial arts with the Yakuza, Momoa and Bautista simply seem in their element, like Arnold Schwarzenegger hauling a bazooka on his shoulder in “Commando” or Sylvester Stallone firing a machine gun in “Rambo III.”
Watch on Prime Video. Read the full review.
Critic’s Pick
Sam Raimi at his pulpiest.
‘Send Help’
After a plane crashes, the sole survivors, Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) and her boss, Bradley (Dylan O’Brien), wrestle with power dynamics and their circumstances.
From our review:
Part survival horror-comedy, part female revenge fantasy, “Send Help” is clearly identifiable as a Sam Raimi product. From its cheeky score by the director’s frequent collaborator Danny Elfman, to its darkly humorous tone and playfully yucky special effects, the movie is Raimi at his most gleeful and twisted.
In theaters. Read the full review.
A religious drama that falls short of divine.
‘Moses the Black’
Fourth-century Egypt and present-day Chicago collide in this drama that interweaves religious history and gang wars.
From our review:
This film, by the writer and director Yelena Popovic, is guided by a kookiness that isn’t necessarily by design. Tonally overwrought, the work often recalls Spike Lee’s equally distinctive “Chi-Raq”: Like Lee’s film, “Moses the Black” is an earnest work that jostles jarringly against spiritual revelations on one side and nonsensical subplots on the other.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Critic’s Pick
Like ‘The White Lotus’ with extra existentialism.
‘Islands’
After a rich couple hire a washed-up tennis pro to train their son, the husband goes missing and mysteries abound in this thriller directed by Jan-Ole Gerster.
From our review:
There’s a refreshing willfulness here to leave some quandaries lingering, and like the rough beauty of the volcanic island the movie is set on, “Islands” beckons and rebukes and beckons some more.
In theaters. Read the full review.
The relationship is complicated. The movie is not.
‘Paying for It’
Sonny and Chester, a couple in an open relationship, grow distant as Sonny brings a new lover home and Chester hires prostitutes to get even in this dramedy directed by Sook-Yin Lee.
From our review:
“Paying for It” keeps its narrative tight, perhaps overly simple. There’s space to savor the retro intimacy, amplified by the film’s striking primary colors and lo-fi rock soundtrack. Lee — while only gesturing toward the complexities of open arrangements — captures Chester and Sonny in a fleeting time that feels soft, but not shy.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Jason Statham’s dependable playbook.
‘Shelter’
Jason Statham stars as a rogue former MI5 agent facing off against his old handler while trying to protect a teenage girl in this thriller directed by Ric Roman Waugh.
From our review:
The spy-versus-spy scenario set out by the screenwriter Ward Parry isn’t going to give the maestro Mick Harron (“Slow Horses”) any sleepless nights. But as a vehicle for Statham’s bone-breaking escapades, it’ll do.
In theaters. Read the full review.
January movies don’t come duller.
‘Worldbreaker’
On a planet inhabited by monsters, a family struggles to survive.
From our review:
Directed by Brad Anderson, “Worldbreaker” is committed above all to shortchanging its themes, along with excitement and visual interest, a showy Steadicam shot notwithstanding.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Compiled by Kellina Moore.
The post 10 New Movies Our Critics Are Talking About This Week appeared first on New York Times.
