Friday Releases: Twisters

Twisters

Directed by: Lee Isaac Chung
Studio: Universal Pictures

Daisy Edgar-Jones stars as Kate Cooper, a former storm chaser haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado during her college years who now studies storm patterns on screens safely in New York City. She is lured back to the open plains by her friend, Javi (Golden Globe nominee Anthony Ramos, In the Heights) to test a groundbreaking new tracking system. There, she crosses paths with Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), the charming and reckless social-media superstar who thrives on posting his storm-chasing adventures with his raucous crew, the more dangerous the better. As storm season intensifies, terrifying phenomena never seen before are unleashed, and Kate, Tyler and their competing teams find themselves squarely in the paths of multiple storm systems converging over central Oklahoma in the fight of their lives.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, Maura Tierney, and Sasha Lane
Action | Adventure | Thriller
PG-13 (for intense action and peril, some language and injury images)
USA (English)
117 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

My Spy: The Eternal City

Directed by: Peter Segal
Studio: Amazon MGM Studios

Back by popular demand, My Spy’s dynamic duo, veteran CIA operative JJ (Dave Bautista) and his 14-year-old stepdaughter and protégé Sophie (Chloe Coleman), reunite to save the world when a high school choir tour of Italy is interrupted by a nefarious nuclear plot targeting the Vatican.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:

Country:
Runtime:

Dave Bautista, Chloe Coleman, Kristen Schaal, Ken Jeong, Flula Borg, Craig Robinson, and Anna Faris
Action | Comedy
PG-13 (for violence/action, some strong language, suggestive references, teen drinking, and a nude sculpture)
USA (English)
112 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Oddity

Directed by: Damian McCarthy
Studio: IFC Films

When Dani is brutally murdered at the remote country house that she and her husband Ted are renovating, everyone suspects a patient from the local mental health institution, where Ted is a doctor. However, soon after the tragic killing, the suspect is found dead. A year later, Dani’s blind twin sister Darcy, a self-proclaimed psychic and collector of cursed items, pays an unexpected visit to Ted and his new girlfriend, Yana. Convinced that there was more to her sister’s murder than people know, Darcy has brought with her the most dangerous items from her cursed collection to help her exact revenge.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Gwilym Lee, Carolyn Bracken, Tadhg Murphy, and Caroline Menton
Horror | International | Thriller
R (for some bloody images/gore and language)
Ireland (English)
98 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Widow Clicquot

Directed by: Thomas Q. Napper
Studio: Vertical

After her husband’s untimely death, Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot flouts convention by assuming the reins of the fledgling wine business they had nurtured together. Steering the company through dizzying political and financial reversals, she defies her critics and revolutionizes the champagne industry to become one of the world’s first great businesswomen.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Haley Bennett, Tom Sturridge, Sam Riley, Anson Boom, Leo Suter, Ben Miles, and Natasha O’Keeffe
Drama
R (for some sexuality and nudity)
USA (English)
89 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Find Me Falling

Directed by: Stelana Kliris
Studio: Netflix

After a failed comeback album, rock star John Allman escapes to a dreamy Mediterranean island, only to discover that his new cliffside home has an unfortunate notoriety that attracts unwanted visitors and an old flame.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Harry Connick Jr., Agni Scott, and Ali Fumiko Whitney
Comedy | Music | Romance
Not Rated
USA (English)
93 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Clear Cut

Directed by: Brian Skiba
Studio: Lionsgate

Every moment is filled with danger for a man cutting timber in the Pacific Northwest, but Jack becomes the target of a brutal assault from more than the elements in this action-packed thriller. As Jack ventures deeper into the woods, he crosses paths with a criminal band of madmen from his past intent on killing him before he can fight his way back to civilization. Academy Award Nominee Alec Baldwin, Stephen Dorff and Tom Welling star in an electrifying drama about one man’s treacherous journey on the road to redemption.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Clive Standen, Alec Baldwin, Stephen Dorff, Lucy Martin, Tom Welling, Lochlyn Munro, and Jesse Metcalfe
Thriller
R (Some Sexual Content|Drug Content|Nudity|Language|Violence)
USA (English)
88 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Wild Wild Space

Directed by: Ross Kauffman
Studio: HBO Max

Focus on the intense rivalry between two visionaries and founders of contesting rocket companies, Chris Kemp and Peter Beck.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Chris Kemp, Will Marshall, Robbie Schingler, and Ashlee Vance
Documentary
TV-MA
USA (English)
93 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Clawfoot

Directed by: Michael Day
Studio: Vertical

Follows a housewife psychologically terrorized by a manipulative contractor, leading to a twisted battle of wits with deliciously unexpected results.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Francesca Eastwood, Milo Gibson, Olivia Culpo, Néstor Carbonell and Oliver Cooper
Thriller
Not Rated
USA (English)
87 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Lullaby

Directed by: Alauda Ruiz De Azúa
Studio: Outsider Pictures

Amaia has just become a mother and realizes that she doesn’t really know how to be one. When her partner goes away for several weeks because of his job, she decides to go to her parents’ house, in a lovely coastal village in the Basque Country, and so share the responsibility of looking after her baby. What Amaia doesn’t know is that, even though she is a mother now, she is still a daughter.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Laia Costa, Susi Sánchez, Ramón Barea, and Mikel Bustamante
Drama | International
Not Rated
Spain (Spanish, English, & Basque)
104 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Before Dawn

Directed by: Jordon Prince-Wright
Studio: Well Go USA Entertainment

After leaving his family’s sheep farm in the Australian outback, a young man joins his countrymen on the western front of World War I with hopes of helping expedite an end to the bloody conflict. But as war rages on, he is forced to grapple with the brutal realities of trench warfare, including a near-constant battle to keep himself alive–without leaving another man behind.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Travis Jeffery, Levi Miller, Ed Oxenbould, Stephen Peacocke, and Myles Pollard
Drama | History | International | War
R (for war violence and language)
Australia (English)
101 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

The Abandon

Directed by: Jason Satterlund
Studio: Lionsgate

Injured U.S. soldier Miles Willis awakens after witnessing a blinding white light on a battlefield in Iraq to discover he is trapped in a mysterious cube armed only with his combat gear. His dire situation escalates as the cube begins to change with violent shifts in gravity and the appearance of cryptic writing on the walls. As Miles begins to question his sanity, he finds a lifeline — a voice on the other end of his satellite phone who claims to be a prisoner in a similar space. As the walls close in, these two strangers must put their heads together if they are to outwit their captors and unlock this deadly puzzle.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Jonathan Rosenthal, Tamara Perry, Regis Terencio, Dan Kyle, and Priscilla Avila
Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller
R (for language throughout and some violent content)
USA (English)
96 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Crossing

Directed by: Levan Akin
Studio: MUBI

From acclaimed director Levan Akin (And Then We Danced), CROSSING is a moving and tender tale of identity, acceptance and unlikely connection that transcends borders and generations. Lia, a retired school teacher living in Georgia, hears from a young neighbor Achi that her long lost niece Tekla, a transgender woman, has crossed the border into Turkey. Hoping to bring Tekla home after a period of estrangement, Lia travels to Istanbul with the unpredictable Achi to find her. Exploring the hidden depths of the city, they cross paths with a transgender lawyer called Evrim, who helps them in their search. Humanistic and compassionate, Akin’s third feature is a heartfelt portrayal of overcoming the degrees of separation that divide us.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

BACK TO THE TOP

July Rhapsody
(2002 Re-Release)

Directed by: Ann Hui
Studio: Cheng Cheng Films

Brimming with unspeakable serene beauty, JULY RHAPSODY by Hong Kong’s director Ann Hui (A Simple Life) and scriptwriter Ivy Ho (Comrades Almost a Love Story) is a profound and soothing tale about how one paddles through life’s chaos as many seemingly eternal inspiration sources of times, like the Yangtze river, quietly fade away. In appearance, Lam prides himself on teaching classic Chinese literature at an elite school and a family of a caring wife and two sons. Deep down, the man of forty tastes unfulfilled ambitions in affluent old classmates’ belittlements and unsatisfied desires in seductions from a free-spirited student. The sudden return of his teenage years mentor finally wrecks this vulnerable balance. Lam must unearth the long-hidden truth about who he is and gain a new perspective on how to live the rest of his life.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Jacky Cheung, Anita Mui, Karena Kar-Yan Lam, and Eric Kot
Drama | International
Not Rated
Hong Kong (Cantonese)
103 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Creatura

Directed by: Elena Martín
Studio: Outsider Pictures

After moving in with her boyfriend to their new home, Mila begins to realize her loss of desire lies deep within. She undergoes a self-exploration journey in which she revisits experiences of her childhood and adolescence in hopes to reconcile with her own body.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Elena Martín, Mila Borràs, Clàudia Malagelada, Oriol Pla, and Clara Segura
Drama | International
Not Rated
Spain (Catalan)
112 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Join Or Die

Directed by: Pete Davis & Rebecca Davis
Studio: Abramorama

Join or Die is a film about why you should join a club — and why the fate of America depends on it. In this feature documentary, follow the half-century story of America’s civic unraveling through the journey of legendary social scientist Robert Putnam, whose groundbreaking “Bowling Alone” research into America’s decades-long decline in community connections could hold the answers to our democracy’s present crisis. Flanked by influential fans and scholars — from Hillary Clinton, Pete Buttigieg, and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to Eddie Glaude Jr., Raj Chetty, and Priya Parker — as well as inspiring groups building community in neighborhoods across the country, join Bob as he explores three urgent civic questions: What makes democracy work? Why is American democracy in crisis? And, most importantly… what can we do about it?

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Pete Buttigieg, Raj Chetty, Hillary Clinton, Eddie S. Glaude Jr., and Hahrie Han
Documentary
Not Rated
USA (English)
99 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Valleyheart

Directed by: Kathryne Isabelle Easton
Studio: Indican Pictures

In the middle of a blazing hot San Fernando Valley summer, Jane Francis must decide how far she is willing to go to help her small-time criminal brother Tommy out of a jam with the Russian mob. Jane calls on her ex-cop and former husband to get them both out of California alive or die in a brutal fashion when the mob catches up to them.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Kathryne Isabelle Easton, Anthony Goes, Jack Herholdt, Jeremy S. Walker, and Mary O’Neil
Crime
Not Rated
USA (English)
98 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Great Absence

Directed by: Kei Chikaura
Studio: Gaga

A father and son who’ve been estranged for a long time finally reconcile among lost memories and dispersed pieces of lives.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Mirai Moriyama, Tatsuya Fuji, Yôko Maki, and Hideko Hara
Drama | International
Not Rated
Japan (Japanese)
133 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Hollywoodgate

Directed by: Ibrahim Nash’at
Studio: Fourth Act Film

Immediately after the US withdraws from Afghanistan, the Taliban occupied the “Hollywood Gate” complex, claimed to be a former CIA base in Kabul. The Taliban finds countless aircrafts, weapons and pieces of military equipment. Over one year, HOLLYWOODGATE shows the transformation of an extremist militia into a military regime.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

—
Documentary
Not Rated
USA | Germany (Dari, English, & Pashtu)
92 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Young Lion of the West

Directed by: Joshua VanBuskirk
Studio: Buffalo 8

In the heart of Rochester, NY, pulses a vibrant nightlife scene, and at its center stands Nick Donato, a club promoter whose life is fueled by parties and a rebellious attitude. When a violent encounter with their criminal boss forces Nick and his best friend Raymond to start a secret venture–a rival club–it sets off a chain of events that ultimately unravels their ascent to the top. This gripping narrative intertwines themes of family, loyalty, betrayal, and the consequences of destructive choices.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Joey Sasso, Carlie Casey, Tim Abell, Luis Carazo, and Mell Bowser
Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance
Not Rated
USA (English)
93 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Customs Frontline

Directed by: Herman Yau
Studio: Well Go USA Entertainment

A container ship appears in Hong Kong waters and customs officers board to inspect it. The team, which includes hotshot Chow Ching-lai (Nicholas Tse) soon discovers the crew dead and a huge cache of weapons, including an extremely valuable compass suitable for piloting a submarine. The customs officers don’t know it yet, but an international incident is about to blow up.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Jacky Cheung, Nicholas Tse, Karena Lam, Cya Liu, with Francis Ng
Action | International | Thriller
Not Rated
Hong Kong (Mandarin, Cantonese, & Chinese)
115 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Disciples In The Moonlight

Directed by: Brett Varvel
Studio: Fathom Events

In the not-too-distant future the Bible has been outlawed in the United States of America and replaced with a government approved bible. A group of seven Christians from Indiana, are asked to smuggle the true Word of God to underground churches in Kentucky, Illinois, and Ohio. With Homeland Security hot on their trail, the smugglers must be willing to risk it all for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Todd Terry, Brett Varvel, Josh Strychalski, Drew Varvel, and Baylee Toney
Drama | Thriller
Not Rated
USA (English)
126 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

You Have to Come and See It

Directed by: Jonás Trueba
Studio: Outsider Pictures

Two couples of friends meet again. They listen to music, talk, read, eat, walk, play ping-pong… It may not seem much for a movie, that’s why You Have to Come and See It.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Itsaso Arana, Vito Sanz, Francesco Carril, and Irene Escolar
Comedy | Drama | International
Not Rated
Spain (Spanish)
64 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Crumb Catcher

Directed by: Chris Skotchdopole
Studio: Doppelgänger Releasing

At a remote estate in upstate New York, newlyweds Leah (Ella Rae Peck) and Shane (Rigo Garay) celebrate their honeymoon, but a pall hangs over their union. She works for the publisher who will be releasing his debut novel, a lightly autobiographical examination of family trauma, alcoholism, and the immigrant experience. Barely suppressed tensions over family trauma would be enough kindling for a blowup, but Leah and Shane’s marriage is truly tested by the appearance of two weirdos with entrepreneurial zeal and a half-baked blackmail plot: John (John Speredakos) and Rose (Lorraine Farris). They’re looking for investors for John’s latest invention, a culinary breakthrough called the Crumb Catcher — and they won’t take no for an answer.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Rigo Garay, Ella Rae Peck, John Speredakos, Lorraine Farris, and Rebecca Watson
Comedy | Drama | Thriller
Not Rated
USA (English)
103 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

The Punishment

Directed by: Matías Bize
Studio: Outsider Pictures

Ana is driving, her face serious and angry. Mateo, her husband, asks her to turn around, returning to the place in the forest where they have left their seven-year-old son. It’s only been two minutes, but he’s gone.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Antonia Zegers, Néstor Cantillana, Yair Juri, Catalina Saavedra, and Santiago Urbina
Drama | International
Not Rated
Chile | Argentina (Spanish)
85 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Sica

Directed by: Carla Subirana
Studio: Outsider Pictures

Sica’s father goes missing after a shipwreck with the threat of a huge storm coming to the village and the silent complicity of the villages not telling her anything, she becomes obsessed in finding out what really happened to her father, was he really fishing, or involved in a less legal business.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Thais Garcia, Núria Prims, Marco Antonio Florido, and María Villaverde
Drama | International
Not Rated
Spain (Galician, Spanish, & Catalan)
91 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP

Modernism Inc.:
The Eliot Noyes Design Story

Directed by: Jason Cohn
Studio: First Run Features

Mid-century architect and designer Eliot Noyes built the design programs for some of America’s most powerful postwar corporations. The film weaves Noyes’ story with the broader context of corporate America’s embrace of Modernism during the period of postwar economic expansion and culminates in the backlash against Noyes and his generation during the countercultural upheaval of the Vietnam era. The life and work of Eliot Noyes is a vehicle to explore the intersection of postwar business, technology and design — a story that continues to resonate in the contemporary context.

STARRING:
genre:
Rating:
Country:
Runtime:

Sebastian Roché, Katrina Alcorn, Gordon Bruce, and Dave Danielson
Documentary
Not Rated
USA (English)
118 minutes

BACK TO THE TOP