Kip Mooney
On We Are Your Friends And The Rest Of The Weekend’s New Film Releases.
No Escape.
Director: John Erick Dowdle.
Writers: John Erick Dowdle, Drew Dowdle.
Cast: Owen Wilson, Lake Bell, Claire Geare, Sterling Jerins.
Playing At: Wide.
Don't you just hate it when you start your new job and then a military coup breaks out? That's the horror that befalls Jack (Owen Wilson) and his family in No Escape. In another world, this would be a straight-to-video Nicolas Cage thriller, but this one is much better than it has any right to be. No, really! Check out my full review here.
We Are Your Friends.
Director: Max Joseph.
Writers: Max Joseph, Meagan Oppenheimer.
Cast: Zac Efron, Wes Bentley, Emily Ratajkowski, Jon Bernthal.
Playing At: Wide.
Watch as DJ Zac Efron drops the bass. But seriously, if you like Magic Mike and EDM, this movie is probably right up your alley. Or if you'd ust like to see Efron or Emily Ratajkowski in as few clothes as possible, well, then this one's for you, too.
War Room.
Director: Alex Kendrick.
Writers: Alex Kendrick, Stephen Kendrick.
Cast: Priscilla C. Shirer, T.C. Stallings, Karen Abercrombie, Tenae Downing.
Playing At: Wide.
Adam Sandler. Jason Friedberg & Aaron Seltzer. The Kendrick Brothers. These names inspire dread in me whenever I find out they've got a new movie coming out. The latter are the dreadfully incompetent duo behind such faith-based hits as Facing the Giants and Fireproof. Their success is infuriating considering they're literally preaching to the choir while actual good Christian movies like Blue Like Jazz and Believe Me languish in obscurity. This one features a couple striving to save their marriage through “the power of prayer,” which is not quite how that works.
Meru.
Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi.
Playing At: Angelika Dallas, Angelika Plano.
Mount Meru is one of mountain climbing's biggest challenges. It's basically a giant wall in the Himalayas, and only the bravest dare scale it. This doc follows three such fools who risk their lives to make it to the top.
Mistress America.
Director: Noah Baumbach.
Writers: Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig.
Cast: Greta Gerwig, Lola Kirke, Michael Chernus, Jasmine Cephas Jones.
Playing At: Angelika Plano, The Magnolia.
Noah Baumbach is hit-or-miss for me, but Greta Gerwig is unimpeachable. Her joie de vivre is undeniable. Their last collaboration, Frances Ha, was one of 2013's best movies. Here, Gerwig is the even more carefree Brooke, who takes her stepsister Tracy (Lola Kirke) under her wing during a crazy weekend in New York. Expect low-key humor aimed at taking down phony people, but in a non-preachy way.
Digging for Fire.
Director: Joe Swanberg.
Writers: Jake Johnson, Joe Swanberg.
Cast: Jake Johnson, Rosemarie DeWitt, Orlando Bloom, Anna Kendrick. Playing At: The Magnolia.
Speaking of hit-or-miss directors, Joe Swanberg's dramedies are occasionally well-observed slices of life — like Nights & Weekends. But, more often, his films just lie there with no discernible point, like Drinking Buddies. But he always gets great actors to improvise along with him, and Digging for Fire boasts his best cast yet. Married couple Tim (Jake Johnson) and Lee (Rosemarie DeWitt) split for the night to have their own separate adventures and find their limits tested when they meet attractive strangers (Orlando Bloom for her, Anna Kendrick for him). This is familiar territory for Swanberg, but I'm hoping the stellar group here — as included are Sam Rockwell, Brie Larson, Judith Light and Sam Freakin' Elliott — elevate the material. Our own Angela Jones says that's the case, anyway.
Turbo Kid.
Directors: Francois Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissell.
Writers: Francois Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissell.
Cast: Munro Chambers, Laurence Leboeuf, Michael Ironside, Edwin Wright.
Playing At: Alamo Drafthouse.
There are movies that play by their own rules, and then there's Turbo Kid, which combines the childlike imagination of The Neverending Story with grindhouse-level gore. Audiences at SXSW and other festivals have all given it rousing endorsements. Munro Chambers plays the titular reluctant hero, who must save his post-apocalyptic world from an evil dictator (Michael Ironside). Find a more in-depth review here.
Z for Zachariah.
Director: Craig Zobel.
Writer: Nissar Modi.
Cast: Margot Robbie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Chris Pine.
Playing At: LOOK Cinemas.
You had me at Margot Robbie in a post-apocalyptic thriller. Here, she plays Ann, who thinks she's the only survivor of a terrible blight. But soon she meets both Loomis (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Caleb (Chris Pine). She falls for both, even as she learns more about each man's disturbing past. I'm all in.
The Usual Suspects.
Director: Bryan Singer.
Writer: Christopher McQuarrie.
Cast: Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Spacey, Chazz Palminteri, Kevin Pollak.
Playing At: Alamo Drafthouse.
Showing: Monday, August 31.
By now, you probably know the film's big twist. But, even if you do, there's so much to admire here, from its careful construction to Kevin Spacey's Oscar-winning performance to the insane amount of confidence Bryan Singer (X-Men: Days of Future Past) showed in his first major film. Aside from Pulp Fiction, few '90s crime thrillers have endured and, frankly, that's because none of them are as good.
