Genre: Documentary
Actor: Garry Kasparov, Henrik Carlsen, Magnus Carlsen, Viswanathan Anand
Director: Benjamin Ree
Chasing the feel of watching Avengers: Infinity War ? Here are the movies we recommend you watch right after.
Genre: Documentary
Actor: Garry Kasparov, Henrik Carlsen, Magnus Carlsen, Viswanathan Anand
Director: Benjamin Ree
Though it doesn't delve too deeply into any pressing issues in baseball or into its protagonist's Taiwanese roots, Late Life: The Chien-Ming Wang Story still makes for interesting viewing, mostly for its extremely specific discussions on baseball. Part sports documentary and part study on physical therapy, the film rejects any narratives about innate talent and greatness and aims to depict most great players as they really are: athletes who have had to train hard and maintain their progress through sheer force of will. And at the center is Chien-Ming Wang himself, a gentle and humble giant who makes for an unlikely but refreshing sports celebrity.
Genre: Documentary
Actor: Billy Connors, Brian Cashman, Chien-Ming Wang, Frank W Chen, Neil Allen
Director: Frank W Chen, Tommy Yu
In Fatih Akin’s In the Fade, Katja is seeking justice after the killings of her Turkish husband and their young son in a terrorist bomb attack. Diane Kruger in the role of Katja delivers a powerful and rather grueling performance, for which she was awarded Best Actress at Cannes Film Festival. Her grief is vivid and forces viewers to bear witness to her inescapable pain. In the Fade also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, beating astonishing films such as Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Loveless. This moving story about a fearless woman determined to take justice into her own hands to fight the cruelty of others delivers a message that needs to be heard.
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Actor: Adam Bousdoukos, Aysel Iscan, Cem Akin, Denis Moschitto, Diane Kruger, Edgar Selge, Hanna Hilsdorf, Henning Peker, Jessica McIntyre, Johannes Krisch, Karin Neuhäuser, Laurens Walter, Numan Acar, Samia Chancrin, Şiir Eloğlu, Ulrich Brandhoff, Ulrich Tukur, Uwe Rohde, Yannis Economides, Youla Boudali
Director: Fatih Akin
Genre: Drama, TV Movie
Actor: Aaron James Cash, Aaron Lustig, Anne Heche, Ben Marley, Brendan Ford, Carmen Thomas, Catherine Keener, CCH Pounder, Cher, Chris Ellis, Christine Avila, Craig T. Nelson, Demi Moore, Diana Scarwid, Eileen Brennan, Geoffrey Nauffts, Georganne LaPiere, Harris Yulin, Hedy Burress, Ian Bohen, Jack Kehler, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jason London, Joanna Gleason, Jordana Spiro, Judith Drake, Kevin Cooney, Lindsay Crouse, Lorna Scott, Lorraine Toussaint, Mary Portser, Matthew Lillard, Phyllis Lyons, Rita Wilson, Rob Camilletti, Robert Wisdom, Robin Gammell, Rusty Schwimmer, Sally Murphy, Sarah Koskoff, Shirley Knight, Sissy Spacek, Susie Spear Purcell, Tim DeKay, Xander Berkeley, Zack Eginton
Director: Cher, Nancy Savoca
With nearly a century to cover, If These Walls Could Sing had the daunting task of giving justice to the history of the iconic Abbey Roads Studios. In 89 minutes, Mary McCartney outlines the studio’s history through archival footage and a stacked selection of artist interviews, popping only in random moments to organize the timeline. With the wide selection of artists, the film can feel scattered, as it jumps from classical music, to rock and roll, and to film scoring. The documentary doesn’t really go in-depth into how the studio developed its sound, but there are some interesting insights into certain tracks, like how the studio approached contracts, experimentation, different genres, and technology. While the film relies too much on nostalgia, it’s still an interesting tour based on the subject matter alone.
Genre: Documentary, Music
Actor: Brian Epstein, Cilla Black, Cliff Richard, David Gilmour, Elton John, George Harrison, George Lucas, George Martin, Giles Martin, Jimmy Page, John Legend, John Lennon, John Williams, Kanye West, Kate Bush, Liam Gallagher, Linda McCartney, Mary McCartney, Nile Rodgers, Noel Gallagher, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Roger Waters
Director: Mary McCartney
An indigenous language is dying, and the last two people who speak it have not spoken to each other in 50 years. In this calm drama from Mexico, linguists are sent to try to get them to talk so they can document the language.
The story goes that two men have stopped talking because they fell in love with the same woman, so there is a romance wrapped neatly within the linguistic story. What truly steals the show, however, is the breathtaking nature in which it's all set - the stunning region of Chiapas.
Genre: Drama, Fantasy
Actor: Eligio Meléndez, Fátima Molina, Gabriela Cartol, Héctor Jiménez, Hoze Meléndez, José Manuel Poncelis, Juan Pablo de Santiago, Mónica Miguel, Nicolasa Ortíz Monasterio, Norma Angélica
Director: Ernesto Contreras
Set in the 1930's English Countryside, the story of the eccentric Mortmain family is told from the daughter Cassandra's point of view. Her father, a once acclaimed and famous writer has written nothing in years, leading the family into bankruptcy. Themes such as first love and financial troubles are explored from Cassandra's comic and intelligent point of view. A classic and a must-see.
Genre: Drama, Romance
Actor: Alice Marie Crowe, Anna Paquin, Bijou Phillips, Bill Nighy, Billy Crudup, Christopher Ettridge, David Bamber, Dolly Wells, Eion Bailey, Eric Stonestreet, Fairuza Balk, Frances McDormand, Helena Little, Henry Cavill, Henry Thomas, James Faulkner, James Warrior, Jason Lee, Jay Baruchel, Jean Warren, Jimmy Fallon, Joe Sowerbutts, John Patrick Amedori, Kate Hudson, Kevin Sussman, Marc Blucas, Marc Maron, Michael Angarano, Noah Taylor, Patrick Fugit, Pauley Perrette, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rainn Wilson, Ray Porter, Romola Garai, Rose Byrne, Sarah Woodward, Sinead Cusack, Sophie Stuckey, Tara Fitzgerald, Terry Chen, Zack Ward, Zooey Deschanel
Director: Cameron Crowe, Tim Fywell
Happiness is a difficult, disturbing watch. Unlike films that claim to be brave, Happiness actually goes there and shows us just how deep, dark, and perverse our urges can get. But far from being controversial for the sake of it, this fearless film has important things to say about the facade of happiness, the urgency of loneliness, and the futility of feigning ignorance about both. And it does so with an impressively wry humor delivered by a talented cast that includes Philip Seymour Hoffman, Lara Flynn Boyle, and Dylan Baker. They play their complicated characters so well, they'll have you thinking about the strange ways you can, in fact, relate to them on some level, long after the credits roll.
This isn't a film you'll want to revisit often, but you will have to see it at least once in a lifetime—if anything, for the kind of painful honesty you’ll rarely find anywhere else.
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Actor: Ann Harada, Anne Bobby, Arthur J. Nascarella, Ben Gazzara, Bina Sharif, Camryn Manheim, Cynthia Stevenson, Dan Moran, Diane Tyler, Douglas McGrath, Dylan Baker, Elizabeth Ashley, Gerry Becker, Jane Adams, Jared Harris, Joe Lisi, Johann Carlo, Jon Lovitz, José Rabelo, Justin Elvin, Lara Flynn Boyle, Lisa Louise Langford, Louise Lasser, Marina Gayzidorskaya, Marla Maples, Matt Malloy, Molly Shannon, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rufus Read, Socorro Santiago, Todd Solondz, Wai Ching Ho
Director: Todd Solondz
This musical drama about a Mumbai street rapper was India’s official submission to the Oscars. It was also produced by U.S. artist Nas.
Murad, who grew up poor and with an abusive father, starts working as a part-time chauffeur, which exposes him to the substantial inequalities that exist in Mumbai.
He incorporates all of this into his lyrics, and hopes to make it as a rapper in a story that sits somewhere between a musical and an adventure movie.
Genre: Drama, Music
Actor: Alia Bhatt, Amruta Subhash, Chaitanya Sharma, Jasleen Kaur Royal, Jyoti Subhash, Kalki Koechlin, Krishna Kaul, Kubbra Sait, Mona Ghosh Shetty, R. Bhakti Klein, Rahul Piske, Raja Kumari, Ranveer Singh, Sheeba Chaddha, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Srishti Shrivastava, Sushant Singh, Svar Kamble, Vijay Maurya, Vijay Raaz, Vijay Varma
Director: Zoya Akhtar
If you like movies without plot, you'll love Korean master Hong Sang-soo's work in Grass. Sang-soo likes to write the script for his characters and not the other way around: he hires actors, then writes a script that would fit them every morning of the shoot.
The result is a personal movie that feels improvised and experimental, despite being quite simple: it's about a small café and a woman who observes the interactions of the guests.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Ahn Jae-hong, B-Real, Damian Marley, Gi Ju-bong, Gong Min-jeung, Han Jae-yi, Han Jai, Jin-young Jung, Ju-bong Gi, Jung Jin-young, Kang Tae-u, Kang Tae-woo, Ki Joo-bong, Kim Min-hee, Kim Myeong-su, Kim Myung-soo, Kim Sae-byuk, Lee Yoo-young, Lee You-young, Seo Young-hua, Seo Young-hwa, Shin Seok-ho, Snoop Dogg, Steven Hager
Director: Fab 5 Freddy, Hong Sang-soo
This movie is a wild ride, literally, since it mostly takes place on a bus driving really fast. It's about one Russian-American social worker who gets hung-up between helping his community driving a group of elderly Russians to a funeral or helping the people he's hired to help.
In its essence, Give Me Liberty is a comedy where the chaos doesn't stop escalating, but thanks to impeccable character work and excellent acting, it's a relevant and poignant movie. You will find yourself in the same position as the social worker, trying to decide who needs his help more.
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Actor: Chris Galust, Darya Ekamasova, Lauren 'Lolo' Spencer, Lauren Spencer, Maxim Stoyanov, Tatyana Yegorova
Director: Kirill Mikhanovsky
Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as a disgraced doctor-turned-immigrant cab driver who inadvertently stumbles upon London's black market organ trade. Audrey Tatou and Sophie Okonedo also star as fellow "illegals" struggling to make ends meet in the shadows of England. This film is about illegal immigrants, it is told from their perspective, and because of that it becomes so humane that it indulges in social commentary. It's a really interesting, sometimes thrilling, watch.
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Actor: Adrian Scarborough, Audrey Tautou, Barber Ali, Benedict Wong, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Damon Younger, Darrell D'Silva, Deobia Oparei, Fisun Burgess, Israel Aduramo, Jean-Philippe Écoffey, Jeffery Kissoon, Jeillo Edwards, Josef Altin, Kriss Dosanjh, Michael Mellinger, Nizwar Karanj, Noma Dumezweni, Paul Bhattacharjee, Ray Donn, Sergi Lopez, Sophie Okonedo, Sotigui Kouyaté, Zlatko Burić
Director: Stephen Frears
This excellent new drama is about three indigenous Māori women and their upbringing in colonial New Zealand.
The story is split into two timelines: the present, where two of them are trying to protect their ancestral land from a government project, while the third, Makareta, is wandering aimlessly through a big city. And the past, the story of how they got separated and how Makareta got taken away by a residential-school-like orphanage.
It's a heartbreaking tale, one of how a people can be ravaged by colonialism and decades of discrimination. But being focused on the personal lives of the three women, it’s also heartwarming and deeply humane.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Ana Scotney, Briar Grace Smith, Calvin Tuteao, Chelsie Preston Crayford, Cian Elyse White, Cohen Holloway, Erroll Anderson, Freya Milner, Gentiane Lupi, Jim Moriarty, Jonathon Hendry, Kirk Torrance, Miriama Smith, Rachel House, Richard Falkner, Sylvia Rands, Tanea Heke, Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne
Director: Ainsley Gardiner, Briar Grace Smith
This low-stakes coming-of-age movie stars SNL's Pete Davidson as Zeke, an aimless college dropout. His best friend, Monroe, is still in high school and is much younger and more innocent. Monroe doesn't realize that he has a very biased outlook on life through Zeke, as he starts drug dealing, partying, and dating according to rules that are not his own.
Big Time Adolescence tries to be a statement on destructive friendships but doesn't fully succeed. Its true value is that it's a movie that you can turn your brain off to, and those rarely come with statements.
Genre: Comedy
Actor: Aiden Arthur, Brielle Barbusca, Emily Arlook, Esteban Benito, Griffin Gluck, Jon Cryer, Jon Freda, Jordan Rock, Joseph Vincent Gay, Julia K. Murney, Kimberly G. Grader, Larry John Meyers, Machine Gun Kelly, Michael Devine, Nick Ziobro, Omar Brunson, Oona Laurence, Patsy Meck, Pete Davidson, Shaun Woodland, Sydney Sweeney, Thomas Barbusca
Director: Jason Orley
From early footage of country-folk threshing their crops to blissed-out clubbers at a rave, there is a mesmerizing, insistent sense of rhythm and motion to Arcadia. Director Paul Wright has curated an astonishing array of archive material for this feature-length video montage examining the British and their sometimes uneasy relationship with the land.
Cut together in loosely chronological order, the footage is enigmatic, seductive, and disturbing, set to a haunting soundtrack from Adrian Utley of Portishead and Will Gregory of Goldfrapp. Watching Arcadia is hypnotic, like wading into the uncertain waters of time with a head full of shrooms. And that’s definitely a good thing.
Genre: Documentary
Actor: Ian Sexon
Director: Paul Wright