5 films to see on the week of Apr. 22-29, 2016
CCTV a.k.a. 13 Cameras
NEWLYWEDS move into a new home, having no idea their grim and lascivious landlord has installed secret cameras in their rental home. Ryan and Claire soon find out that their marital issues are nothing in comparison to the monster that watches their every move. Written and directed by Victor Zarcoff, the film stars PJ McCabe, Brianne Moncrief, and Neville Archambault. Michael Nordine of the Village Voice was not impressed — “The film inspires almost no feeling at all — even the Friday the 13th movies bother giving the bad guy a backstory.” But Variety’s Dennis Harvey considers the film “An effective variation on stalker/home-invasion thriller themes.”
MTRCB Rating: R-13
Midnight Special
VERY POPULAR among the critics — the film got a 82% positive score on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes — Midnight Special stars Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, and Kirsten Dunst in a drama about a father and his eight-year-old son who go on the lam upon discovering that the boy possesses mysterious powers. Directed by Jeff Nichols, it also stars Adam Driver. “It’s refreshing to find yourself immersed in a film that zigs and zags between genres — and occasionally zaps your senses with an electric charge of shock and awe,” writes Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times. “In this spellbinding sci-fi chase movie, UFOs take a back seat to identifiable human emotions. Go with it. Let director Jeff Nichols turn your head around,” enthuses Peter Travers of Rolling Stone
MTRCB Rating: PG
Unlucky Plaza
EPY QUIZON stars as a Filipino living in Singapore who is scammed out of his life savings, and out of desperation holds the scammer hostage — and publicizes his act on YouTube. Written and directed by Ken Kwek, the film also stars Adrian Pang and Judee Tan. “Singaporean writer-director Ken Kwek defies expectations with the pulpy thriller Unlucky Plaza, his feature debut,” writes Village Voice’s Simon Abrams. Less satisfied with his viewing experience is the New York Times’ Nicolas Rapold who writes: “The multicultural milieu lends an initial boost as Mr. Kwek’s jokes and plot entanglements take potshots at life in Singapore, but all the air seeps out of this attempt at zippy, tabloid-nutty storytelling.”
MTRCB Rating: R-16
Bastille Day
IN BASTILLE DAY, Michael Mason (Richard Madden from Game of Thrones) is an American pickpocket living in Paris who finds himself hunted by the CIA when he steals a bag that contains more than just a wallet. Sean Briar (Idris Elba), the field agent on the case, soon realizes that Michael is just a pawn in a much bigger game and is also his best asset to uncover a large-scale conspiracy. Directed by James Watkins. “It ends up playing like a shoddy blend of V for Vendetta and Mr. Robot but without the budget bandwidth or style of either,” writes Leslie Felperin of the Hollywood Reporter. On a more positive vein, Variety’s Guy Lodge writes “It’s Watkins’ lean, keen instinct for choreographing and cutting action set pieces that keeps Bastille Day afloat.”
MTRCB Rating: R-13
High Strung
RUBY ADAMS (Keenan Kampa) is a dancer from the Midwest on scholarship in New York, while Johnny Blackwell (Nicholas Galitzine) is a British musician, playing for money in the subway tunnels. Despite their disparate styles, they team up and enter a competition that combines both their skills. Directed by Michael Damian. “Sure, this is all a familiar tune — but it’s still catchy,” writes Sara Stewart of the New York Post. “The story strings pearls of performance on the flimsiest of plots,” writes Jeannette Catsoulis of the New York Times.
MTRCB Rating: PG
