city Dennis, county Harvey

Dennis Harvey Film Critic The urge to dazzle can be its own straitjacket, and it’s one that weighs heavily on Meshal Aljaser’s feature debut “Naga.” He aims for a hurtling virtuosity, à la “Run Lola Run,” in depicting a disobedient young Saudi woman’s extreme travails in trying to get home before her strict curfew. But that quarter-century-old German thriller’s simplicity of plot supported its hyperbolic style, while here the writer-director is so preoccupied with camera and editorial calisthenics, nothing else has a chance to come into focus.

Germany county Harvey Saudi Arabia city Riyadh city Dennis, county Harvey film social hospital man Progressive Extreme Party

‘Hard Miles’ Review: Matthew Modine Stars in a Scenic Cycle Through the West

Dennis Harvey Film Critic A grueling two-pedal route to the Grand Canyon just might provide the course-correction male juvenile offenders need in “Hard Miles.” With Matthew Modine as their teacher-coach, this fact-inspired tale covers familiar redemptive sports drama terrain. But it’s traveled with affectingly understated assurance by director R.J.

Daniel Hanna Greg Townsend state Colorado county Harvey state Virginia county Christian city Dennis, county Harvey film stars cover Cycling Provident Matthews UPS

‘Damaged’ Review: Samuel L. Jackson and Vincent Cassel Headline a Slick but Tepid Serial Killer Thriller

Dennis Harvey Film Critic At their least, the myriad serial-killer movies that followed in the imitative wake of “Se7en” three decades ago have gotten the grisly part down, but find compelling suspense, atmospherics and original narrative ideas harder to come by. Such is certainly the case with “Damaged,” which serves up a considerable number of victims’ severed limbs, yet is likely to leave scant impression — scarring or otherwise — on the viewer. Though Samuel L.

Vincent Cassel Samuel L.Jackson Gianni Capaldi Scotland Chicago county Harvey city Dennis, county Harvey film actor wellness Lawson investigations Extreme Headlines

‘Strictly Confidential’ Review: Makeout Scenes and Flimsy Melodrama on a Caribbean Isle

Dennis Harvey Film Critic “Some secrets are meant to stay buried” says the ad line for “Strictly Confidential.” But you’d need a sizable underground bunker to contain all the effortfully shocking revelations sprung in this very silly sudser, which starts out looking like an erotic thriller-mystery, then descends into a series of flashback-laden explication monologues more apt for “Dynasty” than Agatha Christie. Damian Hurley’s directorial feature, with famous mum Elizabeth top-billed and producing, provides several hardbodied younger performers opportunity to model clothes and approximate recognizable human emotions on the coastline of tax haven island nation Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Agatha Christie Damian Hurley county Harvey city Dennis, county Harvey Saint Kitts And Nevis Entertainment film performer shock wellness Provident Features

‘The Bones’ Review: It’s Paleontologists vs. Profit in Entertaining Look at the Fossil Trade

Dennis Harvey Film Critic The proliferation of billionaires — with trillionaires reportedly soon to come — has raised a lot of questions in world politics. But one question has been around as long as wealth itself: What can an individual actually do with that much money? A new answer arises in “The Bones,” proving that the rich will always break fresh ground in the realm of luxury expenditures. Even for the man or woman who “has everything,” there may still be unfulfilled need for a reconstructed Triceratops skeleton dating from approximately 67,000,000 B.C.

county Harvey city Dennis, county Harvey Entertainment film reports country Trade man UPS

‘5lbs of Pressure’ Review: Forgiveness Comes Hard for an Ex-Con in This Unconvincing Crime Drama

Dennis Harvey Film Critic It is no great aberration in the modern mysteries of film finances that the Manhattan-set “5lbs of Pressure” was, for whatever reason, shot in Manchester, England. While the ruse works well enough superficially — maybe the industrial U.K.

Manchester county Martin county Harvey city Dennis, county Harvey film exclusive wellness community persona Dreams Citi

‘Stopmotion’ Review: Art Infects Rather Than Imitates Life in IFC’s Partly Animated Creepshow

Dennis Harvey Film Critic English animator Robert Morgan has deservedly accrued a shelf of awards over the past quarter-century or so for shorts like “The Cat With Hands,” “The Separation” and ickily awesome “Bobby Yeah.” Their macabre, surreal nightmares are at once threatening and oddly winsome, with a sinister aesthetic equally redolent of the Brothers Quay, early David Lynch and the painter Francis Bacon — all of whom count among the director’s admitted influences. He’s been in no hurry to adopt a longer format, and his first feature underlines the wisdom of that reluctance.

Aisling Franciosi Francis Bacon Robert Morgan Britain county Harvey city Dennis, county Harvey film art awards infection Equality action Features

‘Hundreds of Beavers’ Review: A Singular Live-Action Cartoon of Inspired Slapstick

Dennis Harvey Film Critic Those dismayed by the cancellation of the big-budget “Coyote vs. Acme” — a high-profile casualty of the recent Hollywood trend towards pulling the plug on near-completed projects — may find consolation and then some in “Hundreds of Beavers.” That is, if they become aware of it, of course.

Jules Verne Buster Keaton Chuck Jones Guy Maddin USA county Harvey county Lake state Michigan city Dennis, county Harvey trends Hollywood film stars wellness Adventure Aware

‘Queen of Bones’ Review: Twins Navigate a Series of Tepid Travails During the Great Depression

Dennis Harvey Film Critic Religious hysteria, family secrets and a tinge of the occult make hard times all the harder for protagonists in “Queen of Bones.” This Ontario-shot U.S. indie production is a rural gothic with echoes of both “Flowers in the Attic’s” dark YA melodrama and “Carrie’s” supernaturally vengeful coming of age.

county Harvey state Oregon city Dennis, county Harvey film audience isolate shock Progressive UPS Тикеры

‘Head South’ Review: A Mild-Mannered Tribute To A Formative New Zealand Punk Epoch

Dennis Harvey Film Critic Joining a long line of filmmakers who’ve fictionalized their comings-of-age in one regional punk scene or another, veteran New Zealand writer-director Jonathan Ogilvie turns the clock back to 1979 Christchurch in “Head South.” Its protagonist is the classic shy but would-be rebellious teen boy dared into starting his own band, whose first gig naturally provides an underdogs-triumphant climax. Pleasant but awfully thin, feeling like a short insufficiently fleshed out to feature length, this modest nostalgic exercise provides a lightweight opener to this year’s Rotterdam fest.

Debbie Harry John Lydon London New Zealand county Harvey city Dennis, county Harvey film record classical band Music Provident Features

‘In a Violent Nature’ Review: A Fresh Canadian Spin on Slasher Conventions

Dennis Harvey Film Critic Slasher movies often droop between grisly highlights due to the weak plotting and cardboard characters meant to lend structural integrity to their shock content. “In a Violent Mind” avoids those pitfalls by pretty much sidestepping entirely the standard niceties of narrative and psychological detail. There is explanatory backstory — however piecemeal and possibly-inaccurate — but otherwise writer-director Chris Nash’s first feature approaches the usual bloody business with a sort of minimalist purity, enabled by focusing almost wholly on the POV of one Unstoppable Killing Machine.

Chris Nash county Harvey city Dennis, county Harvey film shock Sustainability Platform Spy Features Тикеры

‘Founders Day’ Review: Political Backstabbing Turns Literal in Semi-Comedic Slasher

Dennis Harvey Film Critic “Divisive” has become the fallback term for just about any political personality or issue in recent years, so bitter have differences between the two parties and many of their adherents become. The more fanatical beliefs to be found in an era of increasingly alarmist rhetoric have already provided inspiration for some horror movies, primarily smaller indie productions. The new “Founders Day,” which opens Jan.

Erik Bloomquist county Harvey city England city Dennis, county Harvey film wellness Provident Party Platform Racing Features

‘Role Play’ Review: Kaley Cuoco Plays a Suburban Mom Moonlighting as a Global Assassin in Amazon’s Diverting Lark

Dennis Harvey Film Critic During the Cold War, we had “I Married a Communist” and “I Married a Monster From Outer Space” — two predicaments that the era’s paranoias rendered basically the same thing. In recent years, however, a more common screen fantasy might be summarized as “Whoops, My Significant Other Turns Out to Be an International Spy/Assassin.” There have been numerous efforts in that vein, of variably intentional absurdity.

Kaley Cuoco David Oyelowo International France county Thomas New Jersey county Harvey state Nebraska city Dennis, county Harvey film fun action Love War UPS

‘The Painter’ Review: By-the-Numbers Action With Charlie Weber and Jon Voight

Dennis Harvey Film Critic Awkwardly arriving the very same day as “The Bricklayer,” with Aaron Eckhart as an ex-CIA agent with the titular dayjob, “The Painter” has Charlie Weber as ex-CIA agent who has taken up … well, you can guess. This more humbly scaled actioner likewise finds its uber-tough erstwhile operative reluctantly forced back into activity amid a conspiratorial hail of bullets. From that shared starting point, Brian Buccellato’s script finds its own path.

Jon Voight Aaron Eckhart Peter Barrett county Harvey Poland county Pacific county Bailey city Dennis, county Harvey Madison, county Bailey city Madison, county Bailey Netflix Beyond film track Department Digital action

‘Fresh Kills’ Review: Jennifer Esposito’s Debut Depicts Mob Life From the Wives’ and Daughters’ POV

Dennis Harvey Film Critic Mob narratives seldom place women front and center, unless it’s in a flat-out comedy (“Married to the Mob,” recent “Mafia Mamma”) or campy TV movies like “Mafia Princess” and “Bella Mafia.” No stranger to the genre as an actress, Jennifer Esposito attempts to balance that ledger with her debut as writer-director, “Fresh Kills.” This solid drama centers on a family not unlike “The Sopranos,” but with its patriarch mostly pushed to the background. The focus here is on wives and daughters, who must turn a blind eye to criminal doings from which they both benefit and suffer the consequences.

Jennifer Esposito county Harvey city Odessa city Dennis, county Harvey film performer actress consequences travelers Mobile Platform

‘In the Shadow of Beirut’ Review: Lyrical Snapshots From a Beleaguered City’s Underside

Dennis Harvey Film Critic Palestinian refugees have been arriving in the slum district of Sabra and Shalila on the outskirts of Beirut since what Israel calls the War of Independence in 1948. Forty-four years later, their presence (and that of suspected PLO fighters) got targeted in a mid-September massacre by the Christian militia known as Lebanese Forces, executed while Israeli Defense Forces who’d already invaded the nation three months prior stood by. Another four decades have passed since, during which span the area has remained not just a last-resort magnet for multinational refugees, but “the most lawless, poorest, dirtiest place” in the city.

Hillary Rodham Clinton Ireland county Harvey Israel Lebanon Palestine city Beirut county Independence city Dennis, county Harvey Beyond film healthcare target Citi Provident Oscar

‘HWJN’ Review: A Colorful Application of Traditional Arab Mythology to the Modern World

Dennis Harvey Film Critic We’ve had genies of the playful, wish-granting “Thief of Baghdad” type, and more recently quite a number of evil djinn in horror movies. But it’s hard to recall a prior screen portrait of the same malleable Arabic mythological creatures quite like “HWJN,” which takes the cuddlesome, anthropomorphic “They’re just like us, only magical!” view of Pixar animations and such in depicting modern-day jinn (the term’s more accurate translation) who invisibly live alongside humans. Yasir Alyasiri’s visually appealing fantasy, which kicked off the Red Sea Film Fest, is at times too innocuous in tone and pedestrian in story ideas.

Williams Destiny county Harvey Saudi Arabia Uae city Baghdad city Dennis, county Harvey Entertainment film performer prevention sports

Global Box Office: Ranbir Kapoor’s ‘Animal’ Is Worldwide Top Film, Ahead of ‘Napoleon,’ ‘Hunger Games’

Naman Ramachandran Sandeep Vanga Reddy’s blood-soaked Bollywood epic “Animal,” starring Ranbir Kapoor, emerged as the No. 1 film globally with $42.1 million, according to data published by ComScore. “Animal” released across 38 global territories.

Ridley Scott Anil Kapoor Ranbir Kapoor Andrew Tate South Korea India county Harvey city Dennis, county Harvey city Sandeep film stars concert Sony action Celebrity man

‘Animal’ Review: Sandeep Reddy Vanga Conducts Another Blood-Soaked Hymn to Heroic Excess

Dennis Harvey Film Critic A movie directed by the berserk “Muppet Show” character known as Animal couldn’t be any more unruly than Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s new film of that title. This sporadically fun but exhausting hot mess provides 202 minutes of hyperventilating overkill for star Ranbir Kapoor as a tycoon’s favorite son whose anger-management (as well as daddy) issues are off the charts.