Two movies featuring Oscar-winning performances top the DVD releases for the week of May 18. Minari : Written and directed by Lee Isaac Chung, this semi-autobiographical story follows a Korean American family that moves from California to rural Arkansas to start a farm. The movie . takes its name from a hardy Korean herb that thrives if given time, an apt emblem for what this family â and most immigrant families â must sacrifice to pursue the American dream, critic Glenn Whipp wrote in his review for the Los Angeles Times. The story is mostly seen through the eyes of the precocious youngest child, David (newcomer Alan S. Kim), something of a stand-in for Chung himself, explains Whipp, as he based the screenplay on his experience of growing up on a small farm in Lincoln, Arkansas, in the 1980s.
The California Times is committed to reviewing theatrical film releases during the
COVID-19 pandemic. Because moviegoing carries risks during this time, we remind readers to follow health and safety guidelines
as outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health officials.
Guy Ritchie’s “Wrath of Man” has a proper opening credits sequence, with classical illustrations of angels, lions and other dramatic biblical scenes juxtaposed over slow-motion images of anguished men, bass strings groaning relentlessly. It’s time for some heavy-duty masculine myth-making melodrama, a fable of men, guns, tragedy and revenge; a burly, entertaining entry into the “dudes rock” cinematic canon, as imagined by Ritchie in rare form.
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This year’s virtual TCM Classic Film Festival is underway, taking place on multiple platforms with movies and talks happening both on the Turner Classic Movies cable channel and the HBO Max streaming platform. The selections on HBO Max will be available throughout May. I, for one, am looking forward to watching Patricia Birch’s “Grease 2,” the documentary “Nichols and May – Take Two” and Chantal Akerman’s “News From Home” and “La Chambre.”
Available virtually via Film Forum (and playing in L.A. at the Laemmle NoHo) is a new restoration of Melvin Van Peebles’ 1968 debut feature “The Story of a Three Day Pass,” starring Harry Baird and Nicole Berger in the tale of a Black American G.I. on leave in Paris. Taking stylistic cues from the French New Wave, the film introduces Van Pebbles’ distinct voice and vision, which would develop into such future p
The Times is committed to reviewing theatrical film releases during the
COVID-19 pandemic. Because moviegoing carries risks during this time, we remind readers to follow health and safety guidelines
as outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and
Guy Ritchie’s “Wrath of Man” has a proper opening credits sequence, with classical illustrations of angels, lions and other dramatic biblical scenes juxtaposed over slow-motion images of anguished men, bass strings groaning relentlessly. It’s time for some heavy-duty masculine myth-making melodrama, a fable of men, guns, tragedy and revenge; a burly, entertaining entry into the “dudes rock” cinematic canon, as imagined by Ritchie in rare form.
The California Times is committed to reviewing theatrical film releases during the
COVID-19 pandemic. Because moviegoing carries risks during this time, we remind readers to follow health and safety guidelines as
Billy Crystal is always a welcome presence on screen. In his last film, 2019’s “Standing Up, Falling Down,” he played a quirky dermatologist helping a comedian get out of a rut. In “Here Today,” which Crystal wrote and directed (his first feature in 20 years), the tables are turned; he stars as a comedy writer who learns to love life again thanks to an unlikely friendship. A takeoff on the Alan Zweibel short story “The Prize,” Crystal writes himself a honey of a role that he performs with his signature charm and wit. But he seems to have forgotten to write any of the other roles with the same depth, which is a darn shame.