Friday Releases: A Haunting In Venice & Dumb Money

September 15, 2023 / Leave a Comment

by Christopher Haskell

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

A Haunting In Venice

Directed By: Kenneth Branagh
Studio: 20th Century Studios

“A Haunting in Venice” is set in eerie, post-World War II Venice on All Hallows’ Eve and is a terrifying mystery featuring the return of the celebrated sleuth, Hercule Poirot. Now retired and living in self-imposed exile in the world’s most glamorous city, Poirot reluctantly attends a séance at a decaying, haunted palazzo. When one of the guests is murdered, the detective is thrust into a sinister world of shadows and secrets.

Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Kyle Allen, Camille Cottin, Jamie Dornan, Tina Fey, Jude Hill, Ali Khan, Emma Laird, Kelly Reilly, Riccardo Scamarcio, and Michelle Yeoh
Genre: Crime | Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller
Rating: PG-13 (for some strong violence, disturbing images and thematic elements)
Country: USA | UK |Italy (English)
Runtime: 103 minutes

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Dumb Money

Directed By: Craig Gillespie
Studio: Columbia Pictures

Dumb Money is the ultimate David vs. Goliath tale, based on the insane true story of everyday people who flipped the script on Wall Street and got rich by turning GameStop (yes, the mall videogame store) into the world’s hottest company. In the middle of everything is regular guy Keith Gill (Paul Dano), who starts it all by sinking his life savings into the stock and posting about it. When his social posts start blowing up, so does his life and the lives of everyone following him. As a stock tip becomes a movement, everyone gets rich — until the billionaires fight back, and both sides find their worlds turned upside down.

Starring: Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Vincent D’Onofrio, America Ferrera, Nick Offerman, Anthony Ramos, Sebastian Stan, Shailene Woodley, and Seth Rogen
Genre: Biography | Comedy | Drama
Rating: R (for pervasive language, sexual material, and drug use)
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 104 minutes

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Cassandro

Directed By: Roger Ross Williams
Studio: Amazon Studios

Saúl Armendáriz, a gay amateur wrestler from El Paso, rises to international stardom after he creates the character Cassandro, the “Liberace of Lucha Libre.” In the process, he upends not just the macho wrestling world, but also his own life.

Starring: Gael García Bernal, Roberta Colindrez, Perla De La Rosa, Joaquín Cosío, Raúl Castillo, El Hijo del Santo and Bad Bunny
Genre: Biography | Drama | Sport
Rating: R (for language, drug use and sexual content)
Country: USA | Mexico (English)
Runtime: 107 minutes

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Canary

Directed By: Danny O’Malley & Alex Rivest
Studio: Oscilloscope Laboratories

Witness the extraordinary life of Dr. Lonnie Thompson, an explorer who went where no scientist had gone before and transformed our idea of what is possible. Daring to seek Earth’s history contained in glaciers atop the tallest mountains in the world, Lonnie found himself on the frontlines of climate change–his life’s work evolving into a salvage mission to recover these priceless historical records before they disappear forever.

Starring: Lonnie Thompson and Ellen Mosley-Thompson
Genre: Documentary
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 104 minutes

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Invisible Beauty

Directed By: Bethann Hardison & Frédéric Tcheng
Studio: Magnolia Pictures

An essential memoir of fashion pioneer Bethann Hardison, INVISIBLE BEAUTY shines a spotlight on the singular and unapologetic Hardison, one of the fashion industry’s most influential icons who, as a pioneering Black model, modeling agent and entrepreneur, has pushed the boundaries of fashion culture and has been at the forefront of progress throughout her career. In her lifetime, Hardison has seen the pendulum swing toward and away from the Black model. At every setback, she spoke up and rallied her colleagues and clients in the industry to advance change. Now in her 70s, the Brooklyn native is writing her memoir, taking stock of her own legacy at a moment when the fashion industry was shaken by discrimination. In INVISIBLE BEAUTY, Frédéric Tcheng and Hardison trace her impact on fashion from runway shows in the 1970s to roundtables about the lack of racial diversity in the early 2000s. Featuring intimate interviews with luminaries including Iman, Tyson Beckford, Tracee Ellis Ross, Zendaya, Fran Lebowitz, Pat Cleveland, Naomi Campbell, and Stephen Burrows, INVISIBLE BEAUTY is an absorbing record of the racial evolution of fashion and an original contemplation on the life of an unparalleled trailblazer.

Starring: Tyson Beckford, Stephen Burrows, Naomi Campbell, Pat Cleveland, Bethann Hardison, Aurora James, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Zendaya
Genre: Documentary
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (Spanish)
Runtime: 115 minutes

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Love At First Sight

Directed By: Vanessa Caswill
Studio: Netflix

After missing her flight from New York to London, Hadley (Haley Lu Richardson) meets Oliver (Ben Hardy) in a chance encounter at the airport that sparks an instant connection. A long night on the plane together passes in the blink of an eye but upon landing at Heathrow, the pair are separated and finding each other in the chaos seems impossible. Will fate intervene to transform these seat mates into soul mates?

Starring: Haley Lu Richardson, Ben Hardy, Dexter Fletcher, Rob Delaney, Sally Phillips and Jameela Jamil
Genre: Drama | Romance
Rating: PG-13 (for brief strong language and some suggestive references)
Country: USA | UK (English)
Runtime: 90 minutes

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Outlaw Johnny Black

Directed By: Michael Jai White
Studio: Samuel Goldwyn Films

Hell bent on avenging the death of his father, Johnny Black vows to gun down Brett Clayton and becomes a wanted man in the process. He goes into hiding, posing as a preacher in a small mining town that’s been taken over by a notorious Land Baron.

Starring: Michael Jai White, Anika Noni Rose, Erica Ash, Chris Browning, Barry Bostwick, Randy Couture, Kym Whitley, and Tommy Davidson
Genre: Action | Comedy | Western
Rating: PG-13 (for violence, strong language and some sexual material)
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 130 minutes

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After Everything

Directed By: Castille Landon
Studio: Voltage Pictures

The film finds Tessa and Hardin living separate lives after Hardin published his revealing book without her knowledge. Alone in England, Hardin retreats into drinking and other harmful habits. To make things worse, he’s suffering from writer’s block and may have to return his sizeable advance if he doesn’t finish a new manuscript, soon. Rather than give in to his demons, Hardin starts to realize that the only way to move forward–and have any chance of winning back Tessa–is to right wrongs from his past. He travels to Portugal to visit Natalie, a woman he once treated terribly. By spending time with Natalie and realizing she has moved on, Hardin is finally able to forgive himself and envision a bright future with the woman he loves. Meanwhile, back in the States, Landon and Nora prepare for their upcoming wedding–where Tessa and Hardin will be in attendance. Can the couple who have been through it all forgive each other and make the ultimate commitment?

Starring: Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Josephine Langford, Louise Lombard, Stephen Moyer, and Mimi Keene
Genre: Drama | Romance
Rating: R (for sexual content and language)
Country: USA (English & Portuguese)
Runtime: 93 minutes

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Rebel

Directed By: Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah
Studio: Yellow Veil Pictures

When Kamal resolves to change his life for the better, he leaves Belgium to help war victims in Syria. But, having arrived, he is forced to join a militia and is left stranded in Raqqa. Back home, his younger brother Nassim quickly becomes easy prey for radical recruiters, who promise to reunite him with his brother. Their mother, Leila, fights to protect the only thing she has left: her youngest son.

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Metamorphosis

Directed By: Brigham McNeely
Studio: BCM Productions

A young woman is looking for love and fulfillment in all the wrong places. As the forces of darkness drag her deeper into the drug underworld, her path crosses with a mystery man that could change her life forever.

Starring: Greg Kriek, Brigham McNeely, Cass Huckabay, Marcus Nelson, Sara Wimmer, and Cydney Wallace
Genre: Drama
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: — minutes

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Elevator Game

Directed By: Rebekah McKendry
Studio: Shudder

Based on the online phenomenon of the same name, ELEVATOR GAME follows socially awkward teenager Ryan, who ingratiates himself into a group of recent high school graduates that run an online web series debunking urban legends. But Ryan has a secret: his sister disappeared months earlier, and he believes they — and a dangerous online challenge called ‘The Elevator Game’ — were responsible. To play the game, you must ride the elevator in a specific sequence, invoking a supernatural creature called ‘The 5th Floor Woman’. In an attempt to gain more information as to the whereabouts of his sister, Ryan persuades the group to play the game once more, and risk unleashing the most fearsome consequences imaginable.

Starring: Eline Schumacher, Benjamin Ramon, Hélène Moor, Wim Willaert, and Pierre Nisse
Genre: Horror | International
Rating: Not Rated
Country: Belgium (French)
Runtime: 118 minutes

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Camp Hideout

Directed By: Sean Olson
Studio: Roadside Attractions

Noah is a troubled teen who nearly gets caught stealing a top-secret gadget from some big city thugs. After barely escaping, he decides to hide out at a summer camp that’s run by the eccentric Falco and counselors Jake and Selena. As Noah tries to blend in with the rest of the rowdy campers, his crooked partners show up to steal the classified item, now in his possession.

Starring: Corbin Bleu, Ethan Drew, Amanda Leighton and Christopher Lloyd
Genre: Comedy | Family
Rating: PG (for slapstick violence and thematic elements)
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 100 minutes

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The Inventor

Directed By: Jim Capobianco & Pierre-Luc Granjon
Studio: Blue Fox Entertainment

“The Inventor” follows famed inventor and artist Leonardo da Vinci after he leaves Italy for France. In his new country, da Vinci joins the French court where he experiments with flying contraptions, invents machines and studies the human body, all in an effort to answer the question: “What is the meaning of life?”

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Satanic Hispanics

Directed By: Alejandro Brugués, Mike Mendez, Demián Rugna, Eduardo Sánchez, & Gigi Saul Guerrero
Studio: Dread + Iconic Events

When police raid a house in El Paso, they find it full of dead Latinos, and only one survivor. He’s known as The Traveler, and when they take him to the station for questioning he tells them those lands are full of magic and talks about the horrors he’s encountered in his long time on this earth, about portals to other worlds, mythical creatures, demons and the undead. Stories about Latin American legends.

Starring: Efren Ramirez, Jonah Ray, Hemky Madera, Patricia Velasquez, Greg Grunberg, Ari Gallegos, Jacob Vargas, and Sonya Eddy
Genre: Horror
Rating: R (for bloody violence and gore, language throughout and some sexual material)
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 105 minutes

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American Outlaws

Directed By: Sean McEwen
Studio: Vertical

In “American Outlaws,” audiences are invited to delve into the lives of the Dougherty siblings–Ryan, Lee-Grace, and Dylan–as they embark on a cross-country journey in search of home, safety, happiness, and freedom. The film paints a powerful picture of their struggle to break free from the suffocating circumstances and past mistakes that have defined their lives.

Starring: India Eisley, Emory Cohen, Sam Strike, Treat Williams, Tess Harper, Cory Hardrict, Mackenzie Graham, Vanessa Giselle, Lance E. Nichols, and Johnny Ray Gibbs
Genre: Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 99 minutes

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Radical Wolfe

Directed By: Richard Dewey
Studio: Kino Lorber

From a beat reporter at the Washington Post to an overnight sensation as the leader of the New Journalism movement, Tom Wolfe was at the forefront of reshaping how American stories are told. Recognizing the importance of overlooked subcultures and communities, Wolfe documented everything from rural stock car drivers to hippies in Haight Ashbury to the Apollo Astronauts, and his ability to bridge cultural and class divides while tackling stories central to American Life was unique in fiction and non-fiction. With a distinctive and oft-imitated style all his own, Wolfe’s body of work includes some of the most memorable and culturally impactful stories of the 20th century like The Right Stuff, The Bonfire of the Vanities, and A Man in Full. Radical Wolfe is a deeply personal and illuminating look at the man inside the famous white suit, featuring conversations and interviews with those who knew him best, including Michael Lewis, Gay Talese, Lynn Nesbit, Terry McDonell, Tom Junod, Christopher Buckley, Niall Ferguson, and Alexandra Wolfe.

Starring: Christopher Buckley, Jon Hamm, Tom Junod, Michael Lewis, Gay Talese, and Tom Wolfe
Genre: Documentary
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 76 minutes

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Lift

Directed By: David Petersen
Studio: Paramount Global

Over a decade in the making, LIFT follows children impacted by homelessness as they discover the magic of self-expression through dance. Guided by mentor Steven Melendez, whose journey leads back to his childhood shelter, their path within a remarkable ballet program becomes a celebration of joy and triumph in the face of adversity.

Starring: Victor Abreu, Sharia Blockwood, Diana Byer, Yolanssie Cardona, and Steven Melendez
Genre: Documentary
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 87 minutes

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My Last Best Friend

Directed By: Filippo M. Prandi
Studio: Majox Films

New York City. March-April 2020. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, two men, both named Walter Stoyanov, watch their lives getting turned upside down, as one of them falls ill and the other one is being investigated by FBI Special Agent John McCallany.

Starring: Eric Roberts, Carol Alt, Rico Simonini, Brian Byus, and Adrienne Laurén
Genre: Drama
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 105 minutes

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Borderline

Directed By: Rich Mallery
Studio: Cinema Epoch

Diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder when she was 18 years old, Charli struggles maintaining healthy relationships, often feeling that the whole world is against her. She attempts to numb the pain with opiates which only drive her further away from the ones she loves. Charli’s condition worsens when she begins developing romantic feelings for her best friend Zee, a kind soul who cares strongly for her but only in a platonic way. Refusing to take her meds, Charli’s illness worsens and her addictions take over. With no hope in sight, Charli quickly spirals out of control, forcing her to take desperate measures.

Starring: Kate Lý Johnston, Kylee Michael, Irmon Hill, Quentin Boyer, Jennifer Penner, and Sloane Wilson
Genre: Crime | Drama | Thriller
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 100 minutes

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Zeta: When the Dead Awaken

Directed By: Amanda Iswan
Studio: Buffalo 8

High school delinquent Deon and his mother become trapped in their apartment during a mysterious outbreak, while zombies prowl the streets. Deon’s scientist father joins the special forces to retrieve the serum for the outbreak.

Starring: Cut Mini Theo, Jeff Smith, Dimas Aditya, Edo Borne, and Joshua Pandelaki
Genre: Action | Horror | International
Rating: Not Rated
Country: Indonesia (Indonesian)
Runtime: 94 minutes

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Warm Blood

Directed By: Rick Charnoski
Studio: Factory 25

Set in the underbelly of 1980s Modesto, California, Warm Blood uses the real-life diary of a teenage runaway named Red (newcomer Haley Isaacson) returning home to find her father. In his narrative feature debut, director Rick Charnoski’s history as a skate video director informs the frenetic storytelling style, as he combines Red’s nihilist musings with a collage of documentary and B-movie meta-narratives that paint a seedy picture of life on the outskirts of town. Talk-radio bits and punk music underscore the auditory cacophony of doom, while frequent Kelly Reichardt collaborator Christopher Blauvelt (First Cow, The Bling Ring) lends his immersive, naturalist lens shooting on gritty 16mm film. While Red searches the streets, a constant foreboding presence looms around the chemically toxic river polluting the town. Via a cable-access news reporter interviewing the local residents about its impact, Charnoski infuses today’s growing apathy around the insurmountable nature of our man-made ecological disasters into this raw, politically subversive tale.

Starring: Haley Isaacson, Ryan Toothman, John Veit, Andy Roy, and David Deery
Genre: Drama
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA | New Zealand (English)
Runtime: 86 minutes

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Elis & Tom: It Had To Be You

Directed By: Roberto de Oliveira
Studio: Outsider Pictures

Los Angeles, February 1974. TOM Jobim, the incarnation of Bossa Nova, and ELIS Regina, then Brazil’s most popular singer, met to record what would become one of the most iconic albums in the history of Brazilian music. Through rare and never before seen images, “Elis & Tom: It Had to Be You” is the musical documentary that tells the story of how the encounter and recording of these two giant Artists happened. Elis brought her band, who joined Tom Jobim and the best musicians in LA, arranged by Bill Hitchcock at MGM studios. “Elis and Tom” reveals the conflicts and joys of a unique moment, in a journey through time, revealing the intimacy of the creative process and the extraordinary personalities of these amazing artists. The recording was captured by a team of filmmakers led by director Roberto de Oliveira, who arranged for the duo to meet. The original footage was kept for 45 years until they were restored and remastered in 2018. These rare and unpublished images drive this musical documentary. Dramas and tensions surrounded the recording of the album, to the point that the project was almost interrupted. In the end, the power of the music took over and led Elis Regina, Tom Jobim and a group of talented young musicians to record a masterpiece.

Starring: Elis Regina, Antonio Carlos Jobim, César Camargo Mariano, and Frank Sinatra
Genre: Documentary | International
Rating: Not Rated
Country: Brazil (Portuguese)
Runtime: 100 minutes

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Remembering Every Night

Directed By: Yui Kiyohara
Studio: KimStim

A story of three women, weaved in the “Tama New Town” suburbs of Tokyo, opened in 1971 as the country’s largest-ever residential housing project. One person’s precious memory resonates through one day in the life of another.

Starring: Kumi Hyôdô, Manami Ohba, Ai Mikami, Guama Uchida, Tadashi Okuno, Mizuho Nojima, and Yûya Shintarô
Genre: Drama | International
Rating: Not Rated
Country: Japan (Japanese)
Runtime: 116 minutes

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