Friday Releases: Napoleon, Wish, Maestro, & The Boy and the Heron

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

Napoleon

Directed By: Ridley Scott
Studio: Paramount Pictures + Apple Original Films

“Napoleon” is a spectacle-filled action epic that details the checkered rise and fall of the iconic French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, played by Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix. Against a stunning backdrop of large-scale filmmaking orchestrated by legendary director Ridley Scott, the film captures Bonaparte’s relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his one true love, Josephine, showcasing his visionary military and political tactics against some of the most dynamic practical battle sequences ever filmed.

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Wish

Directed By: Chris Buck & Fawn Veerasunthorn
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures

Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Wish” is an all-new musical-comedy welcoming audiences to the magical kingdom of Rosas, where Asha, a sharp-witted idealist, makes a wish so powerful that it is answered by a cosmic force–a little ball of boundless energy called Star. Together, Asha and Star confront a most formidable foe–the ruler of Rosas, King Magnifico–to save her community and prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen.

Starring: Ariana DeBose, Chris Pine, Alan Tudyk, Angelique Cabral, Victor Garber, Natasha Rothwell, Jennifer Kumiyama, Harvey Guillén, Evan Peters, Ramy Youssef, and Jon Rudnitsky
Genre: Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Musical
Rating: PG (for thematic elements and mild action)
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 95 minutes

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Maestro

Directed By: Bradley Cooper
Studio: Netflix

Maestro is a towering and fearless love story chronicling the lifelong relationship between Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein. A love letter to life and art, Maestro at its core is an emotionally epic portrayal of family and love.

Starring: Carey Mulligan, Bradley Cooper, Matt Bomer, Vincenzo Amato, Greg Hildreth, Michael Urie, and Brian Klugman
Genre: Biography | Drama | Music | Romance
Rating: R (for some language and drug use)
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 129 minutes

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The Boy and the Heron

Directed By: Hayao Miyazaki
Studio: GKIDS + Studio Ghibli

A young boy named Mahito yearning for his mother ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead. There, death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning. A semi-autobiographical fantasy about life, death, and creation, in tribute to friendship, from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki.

Starring: Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda, Ko Shibasaki, Aimyon, Yoshino Kimura, Takuya Kimura, Karou Kobayashi, and Shinobu Otake
Starring (English): Robert Pattinson, Gemma Chan, Christian Bale, Mark Hamill, Florence Pugh, Willem Dafoe, and Dave Bautista
Genre: Animation | Adventure | Drama | Family | Fantasy | International
Rating: PG-13 (for some violent content/bloody images and smoking)
Country: Japan (Japanese)
Runtime: 124 minutes

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Good Burger 2

Directed By: Phil Traill
Studio: Paramount+

After his latest invention fails, Dex is welcomed back by Ed to his old job at Good Burger, which is once again put in jeopardy when Dex devises a plan to get back on his feet.

Starring: Kenan Thompson , Kel Mitchell, Pete Davidson, Sofia Black-D’Elia, Mark Cuban, Lily Mae Harrington, Flula Borg, and Jillian Bell
Genre: Comedy | Family
Rating: TV-PG
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 90 minutes

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Leave The World Behind

Directed By: Sam Esmail
Studio: Netflix

In this apocalyptic thriller from award-winning writer and director Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot), Amanda (Academy Award winner Julia Roberts) and her husband Clay (Academy Award nominee Ethan Hawke), rent a luxurious home for the weekend with their kids, Archie (Charlie Evans) and Rose (Farrah Mackenzie). Their vacation is soon upended when two strangers — G.H. (Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha’la) — arrive in the night, bearing news of a mysterious cyberattack and seeking refuge in the house they claim is theirs. The two families reckon with a looming disaster that grows more terrifying by the minute, forcing everyone to come to terms with their places in a collapsing world.

Starring: Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Myha’la, and Kevin Bacon
Genre: Drama | Thriller
Rating: R (for language, some sexual content, drug use and brief bloody images)
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 138 minutes

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Monster

Directed By: Hirokazu Koreeda
Studio: Well Go USA Entertainment

When her young son Minato starts to behave strangely, his mother feels that there is something wrong. Discovering that a teacher is responsible, she storms into the school demanding to know what’s going on. But as the story unfolds through the eyes of mother, teacher and child, the truth gradually emerges.

Starring: Sakura Ando, Eita Nagayama, Soya Kurokawa, Hinata Hiiragi, Mitsuki Takahata, Akihiro Kakuta, and Shidô Nakamura
Genre: Drama | International | Thriller
Rating: PG-13 (for thematic material and brief suggestive material)
Country: Japan (Japanese & English)
Runtime: 126 minutes

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American Symphony

Directed By: Matthew Heineman
Studio: Netflix

Early in 2022, multi-instrumentalist Jon Batiste finds himself the most celebrated artist of the year with eleven Grammy nominations including Album of the Year. In the midst of that triumph, Jon is immersed in his most ambitious challenge yet: composing American Symphony, an original symphony that reimagines the traditions of the classical form, bringing together an expansive and inclusive diaspora of music for a performance at storied Carnegie Hall. This extraordinary trajectory is upended when Batiste’s life partner — best-selling author Suleika Jaouad — learns that her long-dormant cancer has returned. In the intimate AMERICAN SYMPHONY, Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning director Matthew Heineman (Cartel Land, The First Wave, Retrograde) delivers a portrait of two inimitable artists at a crossroads and a profound meditation on art, love, and the creative process.

Starring: Jon Batiste and Suleika Jaouad
Genre: Documentary | Biography | Music
Rating: PG-13 (for some strong language)
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 104 minutes

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Smoke Sauna Sisterhood

Directed By: Anna Hints
Studio: Greenwich Entertainment

In the darkness of a smoke sauna, women share their innermost secrets and intimate experiences, washing off the shame trapped in their bodies and regaining their strength through a sense of communion.

Starring: Kadi Kivilo, Maria Meresaar, Elsa Saks, Marianne Liiv, and Eva Kübar
Genre: Documentary | International
Rating: Not Rated
Country: Estonia | France | Iceland (Estonian)
Runtime: 89 minutes

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Robot Dreams

Directed By: Pablo Berger
Studio: NEON

DOG lives in Manhattan and he’s tired of being alone. One day he decides to build himself a robot, a companion. Their friendship blossoms, until they become inseparable, to the rhythm of 80’s NYC. One summer night, DOG, with great sadness, is forced to abandon ROBOT at the beach. Will they ever meet again?

Starring: Ivan Labanda, José García Tos, Graciela Molina, José Mediavilla, Rafa Calvo, Esther Solans, and Tito Trifol
Genre: Animation | Drama | International | Music
Rating: Not Rated
Country: Spain | France (Spanish)
Runtime: 102 minutes

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A Still Small Voice

Directed By: Luke Lorentzen
Studio: Abramorama

In most US hospitals, alongside medical responses to illness and injury, lesser-known interventions take place every day. Responding to patients, family members and hospital staff who are experiencing spiritual and emotional distress, chaplains sit at bedsides, helping people to deepen connections with themselves, one another, and a world beyond this one. A STILL SMALL VOICE follows Mati, a chaplain completing a year-long residency at New York City’s Mount Sinai Hospital, as she learns to provide spiritual care to people confronting profound life changes. Following his acclaimed 2019 film MIDNIGHT FAMILY, director Luke Lorentzen digs into Mati’s spiritual work as an entry point to explore how we seek meaning in suffering, uncertainty, and grief. Through Mati’s experiences with her patients, her struggle with professional burnout, and her own spiritual questioning, we gain new perspectives on how meaningful connection can be and how painful its absence is. As Mati and her patients take stock of their lives and experiences, space opens up to reflect on our own.

Starring: Margaret ‘Mati’ Engel
Genre: Documentary
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 93 minutes

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Cypher

Directed By: Chris Moukarbel
Studio: Hulu

GRAMMY-nominated lyricist and fast-rising star Tierra Whack first gained recognition at the age of 15 when she stunned viewers with her slick poetry while rapping for a YouTube channel on a Philadelphia Street. The video rapidly drew thousands of views and marked the first of Tierra’s many performances for the camera. Years later, director Chris Moukarbel begins documenting her astronomical rise, going behind the scenes of concerts and music videos as she navigates fame and receives exalted praise from stars like Erykah Badu. One night, after a particularly tiring set, a seemingly innocuous fan interaction begins a series of increasingly unsettling events that swirl around Tierra and her team — even following them to Dubai. They soon start questioning who is filming whom and whether being seen (or watched) is a desirable and unavoidable part of fame.

Starring: Brian Alvarez, Chris Anthony, Vanya Asher, Bionca Bradley, and Natalia-Leigh Brown
Genre: Documentary | Music | Thriller
Rating: R (for language)
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 81 minutes

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Due Justice

Directed By: Javier Reyna
Studio: Saban Films

In the heart pounding thriller, DUE JUSTICE, former marine Max (Kellan Lutz) experiences a devastating loss when his beloved wife and daughter are brutally murdered in a cold blooded act of violence. Consumed by grief and driven by revenge, Max embarks on a relentless mission to hunt down those responsible.

Starring: Jeff Fahey, Kellan Lutz, Efren Ramirez, Cynthia Geary, and Manu Intiraymi
Genre: Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller
Rating: R (for bloody violent content, language throughout and some drug use)
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 97 minutes

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Billion Dollar Babies: The True Story of the Cabbage Patch Kids

Directed By: Andrew Jenks
Studio: Abramorama

Before the Cabbage Patch Kids, no one could have imagined a world where police would need to break up fights between rampaging adults in toy stores. But after the Cabbage Patch Kids, every manufacturer in the world was desperate for their own “riot-worthy” toy. Everything had changed, and we were never going back. Billion Dollar Babies: The True Story of the Cabbage Patch Kids is the evolution of that change, told through the lens of what is arguably the most beloved toy of the 1980s. It’s one filled with doll hospitals with delightfully attentive staff tending to every need of the “babies” birthed from a cabbage patch before their adoptions, dangerous counterfeit dolls and intense U.S. Customs raids, inevitable black-market sales, a glut of spin-off products, severe doll shortages and a rabid media frenzy that gave rise to a BILLION-dollar toy brand unlike anything the world had ever seen. Oh, and did we mention the “custody battle” over the origin of the idea? An unassuming and relatively unknown artist from rural Kentucky filed suit claiming she was the true creator of the dolls, setting off a contentious four-year legal battle over the Kids. This is the story you never knew about the dolls that stole America’s heart… and turned us all into total maniacs.

Starring: Neil Patrick Harris
Genre: Documentary
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 100 minutes

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Run Nixon

Directed By: SkyDirects
Studio: AMC Theatres Distribution

A desperate mother robs a strip club to pay for her child’s heart surgery.

Starring: Bryant Smith, Robert Sophyne West, Wavyy Jonez, Lil’ Fizz, Brianna Robinson, Marjahone Twitty, Jeff Shelley, Apple Watts, and Emperor Kaioyus
Genre: Drama
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 113 minutes

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Menus-Plaisirs: Les Troisgros

Directed By: Frederick Wiseman
Studio: Zipporah Films

Founded in 1930 in central France, the Troisgros family restaurant has been holding 3 Michelin stars for 55 years over four generations. Michel Troisgros, the third generation to head the restaurant, has turned over the responsibility for the cuisine to his son César, the 4th generation of Troisgros chefs. From the market to pick fresh vegetables, to a cheese processing plant, a vineyard, an organic cattle ranch to the backyard garden supplying the restaurant, Wiseman embarks us on a mouthwatering and sense-pleasing journey into the family’s three restaurant kitchens. An immersive experience, showing the great artistry, ingenuity, imagination, and hard work of the restaurant staff in creating, preparing, and presenting meals of the highest quality.

Starring: Michel Troisgros
Genre: Documentary
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA | France (English & French)
Runtime: 240 minutes

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You’re All Gonna Die

Directed By: Dominic Ross
Studio: Indican Pictures

In their attempt to exonerate an innocent man, a group of social justice warriors raid an abandoned campsite in search of a serial killer. But, one by one, they are eliminated until it’s just one person left against the prolific killer.

Starring: Lori Petty, Richard Tyson, Sean Dillingham, and Bill Wetherill
Genre: Horror
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 89 minutes

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Deep Sea

Directed By: Xiaopeng Tian
Studio: Viva Pictures

Shenxiu was abandoned by her mother when she was a child. Since then, she has bad dreams about a monster called “Nightmare”. One day, she travels on a cruise ship with her family. On a stormy night, she sees “Nightmare” on the deck, humming her mother’s song and calling her to the sea. She falls and breaks into the fancy “Deep Sea” restaurant, an old transformed submarine. She meets the Chef, Nanhe, and embarks on a mysterious journey.

Starring: Tingwen Wang, Su Xin, Kuixing Teng, Yang Ting, and Jing Ji
Genre: Animation | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | International
Rating: PG-13 (for thematic material and smoking)
Country: China (Mandarin)
Runtime: 112 minutes

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Genie

Directed By: Sam Boyd
Studio: Peacock

After millennia of being summoned to grant wishes of gold doubloons and hot babes for greedy men, Flora is accidentally called to service by Bernard Bottle (Emmy nominee Paapa Essiedu; I May Destroy You), whose life is unraveling around him. Bernard’s been so busy working that he has lost sight of his marriage to his wife Julie (Tony nominee Denée Benton; The Gilded Age) and the childhood of his young daughter, Eve (Jordyn Mcintosh; Emancipation). When Bernard misses Eve’s birthday 12 days before Christmas because of work, Julie decides it’s time for a trial separation. And then Bernard’s tyrannical boss (Tony winner Alan Cumming; The Good Wife) fires him. Alone in his New York City apartment, a despondent Bernard dusts off a jewelry box he finds in their home and unintentionally releases the one entity who just might be able to help him get his family back. Maybe. Possibly. It’s a longshot, frankly. But in the process, Flora and Bernard will discover that love, and an unexpected friendship, can unleash a special holiday magic all its own.

Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Paapa Essiedu, Denée Benton, Marc Maron, Jordyn McIntosh, Luis Guzmán and Alan Cumming
Genre: Comedy | Fantasy
Rating: PG (for some language and suggestive references)
Country: USA | UK (English)
Runtime: 93 minutes

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12.12: The Day

Directed By: Kim Sung-soo
Studio: Megabox Plus M

On the verge of a mid-life crisis, a former stand-up comedian believes an appearance on a popular late-night show will save his career, but ends up learning that the journey is more rewarding than the destination.

Starring: Hwang Jung-min, Jung Woo-sung, Lee Sung-min, Park Hae-joon and Kim Sung-kyun
Genre: Drama | History | International
Rating: Not Rated
Country: South Korea (Korean)
Runtime: 101 minutes

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Frybread Face and Me

Directed By: Billy Luther
Studio: ARRAY Releasing

Frybread Face and Me follows two adolescent Navajo cousins from different worlds as they bond during a summer on their grandmother’s Arizona ranch, learning more about their family’s past and about themselves.

Starring: Keir Tallman, Charley Hogan, Sarah H. Natani, Martin Sensmeier, and Kahara Hodges
Genre: Drama
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (Navajo & English)
Runtime: 83 minutes

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