Now Playing

We’ve hit the weekend and, perhaps, you’re looking for a new movie. Below is a roundup of some theatrical and streaming releases you can check out! You can keep up with everything I’m watching by following me on Letterboxd @knighthawk7734.

Couture (Limited)
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Ella Rumpf, and Anyier Anei
Synopsis: This limited release is loosely tied to Paris fashion week and features loosely connected stories of three women struggling. One is an American director (Jolie) who is going through a divorce and dealing with a painful medical diagnosis. One is a makeup artist (Rumpf) who is trying to expand her career. And one is a new model (Anei) trying to get established in a bigger market. Most of the film finds these three living out their own stories, all in the same city. While they do loosely intersect in the final act, all coming together as part of the same show, it’s not as if there is a big, joint payoff. It’s an interesting character study, or at least an interesting idea for a character study. The performances are fine, and there are some interesting shots. But the story feels too thin and there doesn’t feel like enough of a payoff for the investment of time.
Rating: Rated R for language, some sexuality, nudity and brief bloody violence.
Verdict: Two stars out of five 

Jackass: Best and Last (Theaters)
Synopsis: Since the original series kicked off on MTV in 2000, the crew of Jackass has been part of the cultural landscape. The series ran through 2007 and has been followed by a series of theatrical films. This new one, which captures 25 years of Jackass antics, is their fifth and final theatrical film. In part it’s a retrospective, looking at the best bits from their time, including some bits that were deemed too over-the-line to make it on MTV. It’s also a way to pay homage to key members of the team, like Bam Margera and Ryan Dunn, who are no longer part of the group. In part, it’s also a chance for the group, including Johnny Knoxville and Steve-O, to have a few new segments and bits that show that even though they’ve aged they haven’t outgrown that Jackass spirit. If you’ve been a fan of the series or previous films, you’ll enjoy this last outing. It feels like a fitting sendoff and a fun ride in the theater. It’s a short 90 minutes, including some great tributes to 25 years of content.
Rating: Rated R for extremely dangerous stunts and crude material throughout, graphic nudity, pervasive language and sexual material.
Verdict: Two and a half stars out of five 

Little Brother (Netflix)
Starring: John Cena, Eric Andre, and Michelle Monaghan
Synopsis: This is a big, broad comedy. It centers on Rudd (Cena), a successful New York real estate mogul with a loving wife (Monaghan) and a great family. But he’s always been in the shadow of his successful brother (Christopher Meloni), which has prompted him to land a spot on a successful reality show. But as his big break is about to happen, a blast from his past shows up. At one point, to look good on college applications, he participated in the Big Brother program. His little brother, Marcus (Andre), has long held him in esteem. And little does Rudd know, his assistant (Sherry Cola) has been keeping the relationship alive via a series of e-mails on Rudd’s behalf. So, Marcus shows up believing them to be best friends, throwing Rudd’s carefully crafted life and public image into chaos. And hilarity ensues. At least, it’s supposed to ensue. We’ve seen this set up many times before, even including several with Cena in the film. But usually he plays the wacky one, and here he’s the straight man. It works OK at times, but the film quickly goes off-the-rails and wears out its welcome despite a 100-minute run time. It’s sometimes painfully unfunny and predictable, especially in the second and third act. I liked the cast and the potential, but this landed with a thud.
Rating: Rated R for sexual content, language throughout, some drug use and brief graphic nudity.
Verdict: One and a half stars out of five 

Supergirl (Theaters)
Starring: Milly Alcock, Jason Momoa, and Eve Ridley
Synopsis: In one of his poems, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, “Not all who wander are lost.” The meaning being that sometimes people have to take a long and unorthodox path to find their center and their purpose. That’s certainly true of Kara Zor-El. The second film in the new D.C. universe is Supergirl, which focuses on Kara (Milly Alcock) and her search for identity, purpose, meaning, and home. It’s an expansion of the world and one that hopes to prove this new D.C. has legs. But does it work? We pick up with Kara, celebrating another birthday, is roaming the galaxy. She’s on a drinking tour with her best friend Krypto. While her cousin Clark (David Corenswet) has found his purpose as Superman, Kara hasn’t been as lucky. He keeps reaching out, trying to coax her home, but that feels like a foreign concept to Kara. When Krypton exploded, her father (David Krumholtz) used his scientific prowess to protect Argo City. It was meant to keep civilization alive. It was where Kara was born, and the only home she’d known. But all his efforts did was create a temporary stopgap. With Argo City failing, too, he sent Kara to Earth, following her cousin. Kara and Krypto survived, but they were adrift. Kara was older than Clark when she arrived on Earth, and it didn’t feel like home. So, she took to searching the galaxy—which brought her to Ruthye (Eve Ridley), a young girl whose family was murdered and is seeking revenge. When the man who killed Ruthye’s family attacks Krypto, it spurs Kara into action. As she hunts Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts) to save Krypto and keep Ruthye safe, she begins to find her purpose and consider what it means to have a home. This new film is a bit of a tonal departure from Superman, which bowed last summer. But it’s a fun journey into Kara and her story. It also features a fun debut of the anti-hero Lobo (Jason Momoa), who is a larger-than-life presence during portions of the film. The film comes from director Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya, Dumb Money). It features a script from Ana Nogueira, featuring a blend of comedy, action, and some pathos. It’s a nice exploration that provides some personality and humor to connect the bigger action set pieces. I also liked the way it mixed in flashbacks to help tell Kara’s story and see how she came to be where we meet her in the story. The whole thing really works thanks Alcock, who has to carry the film as the lead character. She does a nice job of taking us on a journey, especially with the payoff in the third act and in the concluding sequence. This feels more like an origin story than what we got with Superman, but that feels fitting for this character who has never really had a strong leading role in films.  It’s also a bit of fun. I enjoyed the dialogue and the story. I liked Momoa as Lobo and I thought Ridley did a decent job as Ruthye. The film has a decent story and some fun action sequences, feeling like a solid summer blockbuster. It gives me hope we’re going to see some nice worldbuilding as the new D.C. continues to roll out.
Rating: Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, action, language, and smoking.
Verdict: Three and a half stars out of five