Friday Releases: Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Road House, & Immaculate

MARCH 22, 2024

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

Directed By: Gil Kenan
Studio: Columbia Pictures

In Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the Spengler family returns to where it all started — the iconic New York City firehouse — to team up with the original Ghostbusters, who’ve developed a top-secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the next level. But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second Ice Age.

Starring: Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Celeste O’Connor, Logan Kim, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, William Atherton, Kumail Nanjiani, and Patton Oswalt
Genre: Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy | Sci-Fi
Rating: PG-13 (for supernatural action/violence, language and suggestive references)
Country: USA | Canada (English)
Runtime: 115 minutes

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Road House

Directed By: Doug Liman
Studio: Amazon Studios

In this adrenaline-fueled reimagining of the 80s cult classic, ex-UFC fighter Dalton (Jake Gyllenhaal) takes a job as a bouncer at a Florida Keys roadhouse, only to discover that this paradise is not all it seems.

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Daniela Melchior, Conor McGregor, J. D. Pardo, Arturo Castro and Billy Magnussen
Genre: Action | Thriller
Rating: R (for violence throughout, pervasive language and some nudity)
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 121 minutes

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Immaculate

Directed By: Michael Mohan
Studio: NEON

Sydney Sweeney (Anyone But You, Euphoria, The White Lotus) stars as Cecilia, an American nun of devout faith, embarking on a new journey in a remote convent in the picturesque Italian countryside. Cecilia’s warm welcome quickly devolves into a nightmare as it becomes clear her new home harbors a sinister secret and unspeakable horrors.

Starring: Sydney Sweeney, Álvaro Morte, Benedetta Porcaroli, Dora Romano, Giorgio Colangeli, and Simona Tabasco
Genre: Horror
Rating: R (for strong and bloody violent content, grisly images, nudity and some language)
Country: USA | Italy (English)
Runtime: 89 minutes

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Problemista

Directed By: Julio Torres
Studio: A24

Alejandro (Julio Torres) is an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador, struggling to bring his unusual ideas to life in New York City. As time on his work visa runs out, a job assisting an erratic art-world outcast (Tilda Swinton) becomes his only hope to stay in the country and realize his dream. From writer/director Julio Torres comes a surreal adventure through the equally treacherous worlds of New York City and the U.S. Immigration system.

Starring: Julio Torres, Tilda Swinton, RZA, Greta Lee, Catalina Saavedra, James Scully, and Isabella Rosselini
Genre: Comedy
Rating: R (for some language and sexual content)
Country: USA (English & Spanish)
Runtime: 104 minutes

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Late Night with the Devil

Directed By: Colin & Cameron Cairnes
Studio: IFC Films + Shudder

Johnny Carson rival Jack Delroy hosts a syndicated talk show ‘Night Owls’ that has long been a trusted companion to insomniacs around the country. However, ratings for the show have plummeted since the tragic death of Jack’s beloved wife. Desperate to turn his fortunes around, on October 31st, 1977, Jack plans a Halloween special like no other–unaware he is about to unleash evil into the living rooms of America.

Starring: David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss, Fayssal Bazzi, and Ingrid Torelli
Genre: Horror | International
Rating: R (for violent content, some gore, and language including a sexual reference)
Country: Australia | United Arab Emirates (English)
Runtime: 93 minutes

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Luca (2021 Re-Release)

Directed By: Enrico Casarosa
Studio: Pixar Animation + Walt Disney Pictures

Set in a beautiful seaside town on the Italian Riviera, Disney and Pixar’s original feature film “Luca” is a coming-of-age story about one young boy experiencing an unforgettable summer filled with gelato, pasta and endless scooter rides. Luca (voice of Jacob Tremblay) shares these adventures with his newfound best friend, Alberto (voice of Jack Dylan Grazer), but all the fun is threatened by a deeply-held secret: they are sea monsters from another world just below the water’s surface.

Starring: Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, Saverio Raimondo, Marco Barricelli, Maya Rudolph, Jim Gaffigan, Peter Sohn, Lorenzo Crisci, Marina Massironi, and Sandy Martin
Genre: Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Family | Fantasy
Rating: PG (for rude humor, language, some thematic elements and brief violence)
Country: USA | Italy | Japan (English & Italian)
Runtime: 95 minutes

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Sleeping Dogs

Directed By: Adam Cooper
Studio: The Avenue

In this gripping crime thriller, Russell Crowe stars as Roy Freeman, an ex-homicide detective with a fractured memory, forced to revisit a case he can’t remember. As a man’s life hangs in the balance on death row, Freeman must piece together the brutal evidence from a decade-old murder investigation, uncovering a sinister web of buried secrets and betrayals linking to his past. With only instincts to trust, he faces a chilling truth — sometimes, it’s best to let sleeping dogs lie.

Starring: Russell Crowe, Karen Gillan, Marton Csokas, Tommy Flanagan, Kelly Greyson, and Elizabeth Blackmore
Genre: Crime | Mystery | Thriller
Rating: R (for violence/bloody images, sexual content and language)
Country: USA | Australia (English)
Runtime: 110 minutes

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Femme

Directed By: Sam H. Freeman & Ng Choon Ping
Studio: Utopia

With his performances as Aphrodite Banks, Jules (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Candyman) has a place among London’s celebrated drag artists. One night after a show, he steps out to get some cigarettes and is brutally attacked by a man (George MacKay, 1917), out with a gang of his friends. Although Jules is able to recover physically, he withdraws from the outside world, traumatized. Months later, he recognizes his attacker by chance in a gay sauna. Without make-up and wrapped only in a towel, Jules is able to approach the other man incognito and find out who he is. He begins an affair with the closeted Preston, with a plan to take his revenge.

Starring: George MacKay, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Aaron Heffernan, John McCrea, and Antonia Clarke
Genre: International | Thriller
Rating: Not Rated
Country: UK (English)
Runtime: 99 minutes

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Stormy

Directed By: Sarah Gibson
Studio: Peacock

From reporters to lawyers to politicians, many have attempted to define Stormy Daniels. Stormy tells the unvarnished truth about an unlikely American icon — this time, in her own words.

Starring: Stormy Daniels, Gina Rodriguez, and Donald Trump
Genre: Documentary
Rating: TV-MA
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 109 minutes

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William Shatner: You Can Call Me Bill

Directed By: Alexandre O. Philippe
Studio: Legion M

From make-believe starship captain to a real-life rocketman, William Shatner has led one of the most unique and best-lived lives on the planet. And while the actor William Shatner may be recognizable around the globe, the man behind the masks is even more interesting than the iconic roles he’s played. Join Legion M and the acclaimed documentary team at Exhibit A Pictures (Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist, Memory: The Origins of Alien, 78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene) in producing this fascinating look at one of the most illustrious actors of our time.

Starring: William Shatner
Genre: Documentary
Rating: PG-13 (for some language, brief drug use and a suggestive reference)
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 96 minutes

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Peter Five Eight

Directed By: Michael Zaiko Hall
Studio: Invincible

A seemingly glamorous real estate agent in a small mountain community is revealed to be an unhinged alcoholic with a dark secret when a charismatic man in black shows up one day at the behest of his shadowy boss.

Starring: Kevin Spacey, Rebecca De Mornay, Jet Jandreau, Jake Weber, and Michael Emery
Genre: Comedy | Drama | Thriller
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: — minutes

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Riddle Of Fire

Directed By: Weston Razooli
Studio: Yellow Veil Pictures

This neo-fairytale set in Wyoming, USA follows three mischievous children as they embark on an odyssey when their mother asks them to run an errand. On the hunt to obtain her favourite blueberry pie, the children are kidnapped by poachers, battle a witch, outwit a huntsman, befriend a fairy, and bond together to become best friends forever.

Starring: Lio Tipton, Charles Halford, Weston Razooli, Lorelei Olivia Mote, and Austin Archer
Genre: Action | Adventure | Comedy
Rating: PG-13 (for strong language, violence, smoking, and child alcohol use)
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 113 minutes

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Limbo

Directed By: Ivan Sen
Studio: Brainstorm Media + Music Box Films

Travis Hurley (Simon Baker), a detective, arrives in the remote outback town of Limbo to investigate the cold case murder of local Indigenous girl Charlotte Hayes 20 years ago. As truths begin to unfold about the events of the murder, the detective gains a new insight into the unsolved case from the family, the witnesses and interviews with the brother of the chief suspect.

Starring: Simon Baker, Rob Collins, Natasha Wanganeen and Nicholas Hope
Genre: Crime | Drama | International | Mystery | Thriller
Rating: R (for violence, drug use, some sexuality and language)
Country: Australia (English)
Runtime: 108 minutes

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Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter
(2015 Re-Release)

Directed By: David Zellner
Studio: Amplify

Frustrated with her mundane life, a Tokyo office worker (Rinko Kikuchi) becomes obsessed with a fictional movie that she mistakes for a documentary. Fixating on a scene where stolen cash is buried in North Dakota, she travels to America to find it.

Starring: Rinko Kikuchi, Nobuyuki Katsube, Shirley Venard, David Zellner, Nathan Zellner, and Kanako Higashi
Genre: Drama
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English & Japanese)
Runtime: 105 minutes

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You’ll Never Find Me

Directed By: Josiah Allen & Indianna Bell
Studio: Shudder

When an isolated man living at the back of a desolate caravan park is visited by a desperate young woman seeking shelter from a violent storm. As the savage storm worsens, these solitary souls begin to feel threatened — but who should really be afraid?

Starring: Brendan Rock, Jordan Cowan, Elena Carapetis, and Angela Korng
Genre: Horror | International | Thriller
Rating: Not Rated
Country: Australia (English)
Runtime: 96 minutes

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The Fox

Directed By: Adrian Goiginger
Studio: Greenwich Entertainment

At the dawn of World War II, a young motorcycle courier in the Austrian army encounters a wounded fox cub and takes it with him to occupied France. The soldier and the fox develop an unlikely bond. Based on the true story of Franz Streitberger, director Adrian Goiginger’s great-grandfather.

Starring: Simon Morzé, Karl Markovics, Adriane Gradziel, Joseph Stoisits, and Marko Kerezovic
Genre: Drama | History | International | War
Rating: Not Rated
Country: Germany | Austria (German & French)
Runtime: 118 minutes

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Free Time

Directed By: Ryan Martin Brown
Studio: Cartilage Films

Drew is approaching the end of his twenties and, with it, his relative youth. Looking to make a sudden change, he decides to quit his cushy desk job and “embrace life.” Cycling quickly through friends, hobbies, and goals, it’s not long until Drew realizes he has no idea what to do with his newfound freedom. Led by Colin Burgess and featuring a wide ensemble of New York City’s funniest performers, Ryan Martin Brown’s debut feature is an uproarious comedy — filmed on location in the midst of America’s “Great Resignation” — about the search for meaning in the modern world.

Starring: William Banks, Alexander Bliss, Rebecca Rose Bulnes, and Colin Burgess
Genre: Comedy
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 78 minutes

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Sentinel

Directed By: Stefano Milla
Studio: Vertical

In 2155, through a multi-dimensional portal, an alien invasion annihilates nearly the entire human race. Some of the people who manage to survive are miners hidden on the dark side of the moon. Years after the invasion, and with the use of new technology, three soldiers are sent back to Earth. Their plan is to connect with the human resistance and end the occupation of the aliens. Upon arrival, our three heroes soon find themselves face to face with the all-powerful guardian of the portal known as the Sentinel and its army. Despite being completely outnumbered, the soldiers are determined to accomplish their mission at any cost and reclaim Earth.

Starring: Michael Paré, Jason R. Moore, Ellie Patrikios, and Neil Cole
Genre: Sci-Fi
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 90 minutes

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Paradise

Directed By: Max Isaacson
Studio: Tubi Original + Paradise Film Group

Ella has a reputation for two things: being a rebellious punk and the fastest gun around. When corrupt officials try to cover up her father’s murder, she cuts a swath through the weird anachronistic underbelly of her small island town.

Starring: Patricia Allison, Tate Donovan, Myles Evans, Adam Lustick, and Arjun Gupta
Genre: Action | Western
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 83 minutes

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Art Talent Show

Directed By: Tomas Bojar & Adéla Komrzý
Studio: Film Movement

Year after year, talent admission exams are held at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague to determine who among the many applicants will earn a coveted spot at the 220-year-old institution. By extension, those chosen will set the tone in the fine arts world for years to come. Professors from each of the school’s subdisciplines interrogate the nervous young applicants, who in turn must not only present their work but also answer for their own artistic beliefs and practice. Equally exhausted by this process, the instructors are confronted by their own set of questions: how can and should artistic talent be assessed? What role do institutions such as the Academy play in the 21st century? What does the next generation of great artists look like?

Starring: Rita Moreno, Connor Kalopsis, Ramona Young, Keith David, and Kate Flannery
Genre: Documentary | International
Rating: Not Rated
Country: Czech Republic (Czech)
Runtime: 102 minutes

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Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told

Directed By: P. Frank Williams
Studio: Hulu

A celebratory exploration of the boisterous times of Freaknik, the iconic Atlanta street party that drew hundreds of thousands of people in the ’80s and ’90s, helping put Atlanta on the map culturally.

Starring: André 3000, The Notorious B.I.G., CeeLo Green, Killer Mike, 21 Savage, Big Boi, Jalen Rose, Jermaine Dupri, and Lil Jon
Genre: Documentary
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 82 minutes

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Carol Doda Topless at the Condor

Directed By: Marlo McKenzie & Jonathan Parker
Studio: Picturehouse

Against the backdrop of the 1964 Republican Convention, a San Francisco cocktail waitress became one of the city’s most popular entertainers after making her debut as America’s first topless dancer. The new documentary feature Carol Doda Topless at the Condor tells the story of the fresh-faced girl next door who defied convention and the law by gyrating atop a white baby grand piano and turning a North Beach nightclub into the city’s second-most-popular tourist attraction after the Golden Gate Bridge. Meanwhile, Doda’s very public use of silicone to enhance her breasts launched a new industry. Directors Marlo McKenzie and Jonathan Parker share an unprecedented look at Doda’s life and legacy, as well as a behind-the-scenes tour of the vibrant, sometimes outrageous and always entertaining world of North Beach.

Starring: Carol Doda, Dina Moore, Charles North, Pete Mattioli, and Charlie Farrugia
Genre: Documentary
Rating: R (for nudity/graphic nudity throughout, some sexual material, language and drug content)
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 100 minutes

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Radioactive: The Women of Three Mile Island

Directed By: Heidi Hutner
Studio: First Run Features

RADIOACTIVE: The Women of Three Mile Island is an award-winning film about the 1979 Three Mile Island meltdown — the worst commercial nuclear accident in U.S. history — and its aftermath. It uncovers the never-before-told stories of four intrepid homemakers who take their local community’s case against the plant operator all the way to the Supreme Court — and a young female journalist who’s caught in the radioactive crossfire. RADIOACTIVE features activist and actor Jane Fonda, whose film, THE CHINA SYNDROME (a fictional account of a nuclear meltdown), opened 12 days before the real disaster in Pennsylvania. The film also breaks the story of a radical new health study that may finally expose the truth of the meltdown. For over forty years, the nuclear industry has done everything in their power to cover up their criminal actions, claiming, as they always do, “No one was harmed and nothing significant happened.”

Starring: Lynne Bernabei, Linda Braasch, Joyce Corradi, Aaron Datesman, and Joanne Doroshow
Genre: Documentary
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 76 minutes

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The Heart Stays

Directed By: Diane Fraher
Studio: Indican Pictures

The Heart Stays is a coming of age story, about a Native American girl who must choose between personal achievement and the traditional responsibilities of the old ways.

Starring: Nathalie Standingcloud, Sierra Kihega, Jon Proudstar, Delanna Studi, and Irene Bedard
Genre: Drama
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 136 minutes

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Dad & Step-Dad

Directed By: Tynan DeLong
Studio: NoBudge

A comedy about family, communication, insecurity, and the fragility of the male ego, the film follows Jim and Dave, a dad and a step-dad, as they struggle with bonding during a weekend upstate with Branson, the son they share. DAD & STEP-DAD first began as a series of improvised shorts created by Tynan DeLong, Colin Burgess, and Anthony Oberbeck in 2018, allowing the trio years to hone their characters and comedic sensibility before growing the project to feature-length. Inspired by cinéma vérité documentaries, ASMR, and Japanese environmental music, the formally and tonally unique character-driven slow-burn was shot in four days during the summer of 2021 with a production budget of $18,000 and is entirely improvised, based on a robust outline and several rehearsals.

Starring: Colin Burgess, Brian Fiddyment, Clare O’Kane, and Anthony Oberbeck
Genre: Comedy
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 78 minutes

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The Black Guelph

Directed By: John Connors
Studio: Entertainment Squad + Slated

Kanto, a small time drug dealer trying to get off the streets whose long absent father Cormac, an industrial school survivor, returns home looking for forgiveness and reconciliation.

Starring: Graham Earley, Paul Roe, Tony Doyle, Denise McCormack, and Lauren Larkin
Genre: Drama | International
Rating: Not Rated
Country: Ireland (English)
Runtime: 120 minutes

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