Friday Releases: Insidious: The Red Door & Joy Ride

JULY 7, 2023

<Click film’s poster to see info/trailer>

Insidious: The Red Door

Directed By: Patrick Wilson
Studio: Screen Gems

In Insidious: The Red Door, the horror franchise’s original cast returns for the final chapter of the Lambert family’s terrifying saga. To put their demons to rest once and for all, Josh (Patrick Wilson) and a college-aged Dalton (Ty Simpkins) must go deeper into The Further than ever before, facing their family’s dark past and a host of new and more horrifying terrors that lurk behind the red door.

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Joy Ride

Directed By: Adele Lim
Studio: Lionsgate

The hilarious and unapologetically explicit story of identity and self-discovery centers on four unlikely friends who embark on a once-in-a-lifetime international adventure. When Audrey’s (Ashley Park) business trip to Asia goes sideways, she enlists the aid of Lolo (Sherry Cola), her irreverent, childhood best friend who also happens to be a hot mess; Kat (Stephanie Hsu), her college friend turned Chinese soap star; and Deadeye (Sabrina Wu), Lolo’s eccentric cousin. Their no-holds-barred, epic experience becomes a journey of bonding, friendship, belonging, and wild debauchery that reveals the universal truth of what it means to know and love who you are.

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Biosphere

Directed By: Mel Eslyn
Studio: IFC Films

In the not-too-distant future, the last two men on earth must adapt and evolve to save humanity.

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Amanda

Directed By: Carolina Cavalli
Studio: Oscilloscope Laboratories

Born into an upper-class family with a doting mother who foots the bill for her indolent lifestyle, 24-year-old combative Amanda (emerging talent Benedetta Porcaroli) searches for boyfriends but only finds misfits who are repelled by her intensity. She longs for connection but has never had a friend of her own… until she discovers a long lost childhood bond, spurring a mission to convince another recluse that they are still best friends. A playful, provocative feature debut from writer-director Carolina Cavalli.

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Earth Mama

Directed By: Savanah Leaf
Studio: A24

With two children in foster care, Gia, a pregnant single mother pitted against the system, fights to reclaim her family. In her close-knit Bay Area community, she works to make a life for herself and her kids.

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The Lesson

Directed By: Alice Troughton
Studio: Bleecker Street

Liam (Daryl McCormack), an aspiring and ambitious young writer, eagerly accepts a tutoring position at the family estate of his idol, renowned author J.M. Sinclair (Academy Award nominee Richard E. Grant). But soon, Liam realizes that he is ensnared in a web of family secrets, resentment, and retribution. Sinclair, his wife Hélène (Academy Award nominee Julie Delpy), and their son Bertie (Stephen McMillan) all guard a dark past, one that threatens Liam’s future as well as their own. As the lines between master and protégé blur, class, ambition, and betrayal become a dangerous combination in this taut noir thriller.

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The League

Directed By: Samuel D. Pollard
Studio: Magnolia Pictures

THE LEAGUE celebrates the dynamic journey of Negro League baseball’s triumphs and challenges through the first half of the twentieth century. The story is told through previously unearthed archival footage and never-before-seen interviews with legendary players like Satchel Paige and Buck O’Neil — whose early careers paved the way for the Jackie Robinson era — as well as celebrated Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Hank Aaron who started out in the Negro Leagues. From entrepreneurial titans Cumberland Posey and Gus Greenlee, whose intense rivalry fueled the rise of two of the best baseball teams ever to play the game, to Effa Manley, the activist owner of the Newark Eagles and the only woman ever admitted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, THE LEAGUE explores Black baseball as an economic and social pillar of Black communities and a stage for some of the greatest athletes to ever play the game, while also examining the unintended consequences of integration.

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Dead Man’s Hand

Directed By: Brian Skiba
Studio: Lionsgate

Gunslinger Reno (Jack Kilmer, “The Nice Guys”) is headed west for a quiet life with his new bride. But when their stagecoach is ambushed, he kills an outlaw in self-defense. In a nearby town, Reno learns that the man he slayed is the brother of the corrupt mayor, Bishop (Stephen Dorff, Blade), who vows revenge. After their card game turns into a bloody shootout, who will be left standing? Cole Hauser (“Yellowstone”) appears as a U.S. Marshal who becomes Reno’s ally in this pulse-pounding Western.

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The Crusades

Directed By: Leo Milano
Studio: VMI Releasing

For many, high school is supposed to be defined by wild parties, backseat hook-ups and a devil-may-care attitude. But, when three friends at Our Lady of the Crusades, an all boys high school, receive earth-shattering news about an upcoming merger with their rivals, they make a pact to have one last, epic weekend before their lives turn upside down. Along the way, however, they unknowingly make a dangerous enemy, “The Wrecking Crew”, hell-bent on settling their vendetta at all costs. While dodging the authorities, love affairs and their sadistic archrivals, the choices they make over the weekend might end up changing their lives more than they ever could have imagined.

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Bad Girl Boogey

Directed By: Alice Maio Mackay
Studio: Dark Star Pictures

BAD GIRL BOOGEY follows Angel whose mother was brutally murdered one Halloween night, when blood was shed by a deranged killer wearing a parasitic mask cursed with black magic and bigotry. Sixteen years later, when Angel’s best friend is slaughtered by a killer with the same mask, they must overcome their personal struggles, fight their fear, and find the masked killer before he, or it, slaughters everyone they hold dear.

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Wham!

Directed By: Chris Smith
Studio: Netflix

In 1982, the best of friends and still teenagers – George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley as WHAM! set out to conquer the world. By June of 1986 they played their very last gig at Wembley Stadium having done exactly that. Now for the very first time, told in their own words, the amazing story of how in four years they dominated the charts around the world with timeless and classic pop songs.

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Sound of Freedom

Directed By: Alejandro Monteverde
Studio: Angel Studios

Sound of Freedom, based on the incredible true story, shines a light on even the darkest of places. After rescuing a young boy from ruthless child traffickers, a federal agent learns the boy’s sister is still captive and decides to embark on a dangerous mission to save her. With time running out, he quits his job and journeys deep into the Colombian jungle, putting his life on the line to free her from a fate worse than death.

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Once Upon A Time in Uganda

Directed By: Cathryne Czubek
Studio: Yellow Veil Pictures

Set in Uganda, this documentary follows two men from opposite sides of the world who come together over a shared love for Chuck Norris. Isaac, a former brick maker, decides to pick up a camera and start shooting his own ’80s inspired action epics, and Alan, a film nerd from New York gives up his life in America to join forces with Isaac after seeing a trailer for one of his films online. Against all odds, the two unlikely friends have catapulted Wakaliwood to worldwide stardom with their own gonzo action movies bringing joy to millions of people across the internet.

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The YouTube Effect

Directed By: Alex Winter
Studio: Drafthouse Films

The story of YouTube is both inspirational and cautionary; the video-sharing website appeared in 2005 and quickly grew to become one of the most ubiquitous and powerful media platforms in the world. It is impossible to overstate its impact on global culture by providing easy and immediate access to news, entertainment media and other vital forms of information. It has, however, helped radicalize some of its viewers with right-wing propaganda and other dangerous forms of media. The story of YouTube is the great dilemma of our times; the technology revolution has made our lives easier and more enriched, while also presenting dangers and challenges that make the world a more perilous place. And at this extraordinary moment in history, it is the story of how we got here and where we’re going.

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Odd Hours, No Pay, Cool Hat

Directed By: Gary Matoso & Cameron Zohoori
Studio: Sub-Genre Media

“Odd Hours, No Pay, Cool Hat” takes viewers into the heart of the volunteer fire service, and by extension on a journey through the many facets of America. Locations like California’s wine (and wildfire) country, a small Nebraska farming community, and an Orthodox Jewish enclave of New York set the backdrop for a series of stories about service, personal growth, and finding purpose. Together they convey the depth, diversity, and critical role volunteer fire departments play across the country. Told through an unexpected cast of characters, the film challenges stereotypes and preconceptions at every turn. Barbara is a beloved grandma by day and a badass EMT by night. Madely, a Salvadoran immigrant, shows what teenagers are capable of when given the opportunity. For Jaime, the volunteer fire service saved his life, and he now wants to pass on his lessons and legacy to his sons and grandson. At a fragile and fractured point in our history, this film offers hope and optimism, and reminds us that we are all in this together.

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Our Deadly Vows

Directed By: Chris Chalk
Studio: Entertainment Squad

A couple celebrating their one year anniversary with friends before bidding them farewell… perhaps forever!

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