“Meeting Gorbachev”
Director: Werner Herzog
Synopsis: Famed director/documentarian Werner Herzog travels to Russia to interview former Cold War-era, Soviet Union President Michael Gorbachev.
Verdict: Werner Herzog has been hit or miss with feature-length dramatic efforts of late, but, over the years, he’s never lost a step with his piercing, probing documentaries. This certainly applies to “Meeting Gorbachev,” his interlocution with the famous, former President of the U.S.S.R. and it’s one of the best documentaries you haven’t yet seen. “Gorbachev turns out to be one of the most fascinating political figures of our time,” our TIFF review wrote.” All thanks to Herzog’s keen eye at having a continuous fluid flow to the story…this is one of the most important documentaries of the year because it still feels fresh and relevant to our times.”
Our Review: B+ review from TIFF
Release Date: The Orchard will release the film TBD 2019. – RP
“High Life”
Director: Claire Denis
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, Mia Goth, André Benjamin
Synopsis: Living out life sentences in jail, a crew of desperate prisoners is given a second chance for freedom by agreeing to be guinea pigs for a mysterious experiment in vast outer space.
Verdict: Iconoclastic French doyenne and auteur Claire Denis has created all kinds of different movies in her nearly 20 years of making films, but rarely does she touch pure genre. And still, “High Life,” is no typical science-fiction movie, more of a twisted social experiment itself, depraved, shocking, and nothing short of mesmerizing. Denis’ strange, kinky, spellbinding film is a dazzling commentary on the existential nature of life as a prison and the void we live in. It’s also hypnotizing to watch and experience and or as our TIFF review said, “a notable entry in the rather grand tradition of bugfuck space movies.” Do not miss this one at all costs.
Our Review: B review from TIFF.
Release Date: April 19 via A24. – RP
“Donnybrook”
Director: Tim Sutton
Cast: Jamie Bell, Margaret Qualley, Frank Grillo, James Badge Dale
Synopsis: An ex-marine must enter into a brutal fight circuit in order to take care of those he loves.
Verdict: The work of the indie darling Tim Sutton has not yet reached a point where it finds a wide audience, but that might change with “Donnybrook.” A film that made a quiet, bloodied indention on the Toronto International Film Festival in the fall, Sutton’s hellish decent earned acclamation from Playlist editor-in-chief Rodrigo Perez. He wrote in his review: “A stunning, often flooring masterwork about desperation, writer/director Tim Sutton’s, ‘Donnybrook’ is a brutal elegy for those living on the forgotten fringes of America.”
Our Review: A review from Toronto.
Release Date: IFC Films is releasing the film on Feb. 15. – Cory Woodroof
https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1040675337313632256
“Little Woods”
Director: Nia DaCosta
Cast: Tessa Thompson, Lily James, Lance Reddick, James Badge Dale
Synopsis: A modern Western that tells the story of two sisters who are driven to work outside the law— illicitly helping the struggling residents of her North Dakota town access Canadian health care and medication—to better their lives.
Verdict: Nia DaCosta sounds like a voice worth watching and Tessa Thompson, Lily James and the rest of the cast bring their A-game. DaCosta’s film feels of a pace with Debra Granik’s “Winter’s Bone” and David Mackenzie’s “Hell or High Water”— tales of struggle that leads to desperate measures. Our review from Tribeca says the realist drama is “exceptional” and a rare and insightful look at the life of America’s struggling modern-day working class.”
Our Review: B+ from the Tribeca Film Festival
Release Date: Neon acquired the rights to the Tribeca winner for a TBD 2019 release. – RP
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“The Heiresses”
Director: Marcelo Martinessi
Cast: Ana Brun, Margarita Irun, Ana Ivanova
Synopsis: Former members of Paraguay’s upper crust, Chela staves off poverty in an unconventional fashion when her lifelong partner is sent to prison.
Verdict: When in doubt, always take a chance on Latin American cinema, which has been overflowing with fresh talent in recent years. A first-time filmmaker, Marcelo Martinessi made a prize-winning splash at the Berlin Film Festival with this finely-observed picture about class transformations in Paraguay. Oftentimes as interior as its initially meek protagonist, our Jessica Kiang nonetheless notes: “What the film lacks in forward momentum it makes up for in its heady sense of place, and its observation of the way our havens can also become our prisons.” “The Heiresses” is a discreetly LGBT entry as well, just another facet of the unique lifestyle Martinessi puts on display.
Our Review: B+ review out of Transilvania
Release Date: Distrib Films opens “The Heiresses” in New York on January 16th. – TS
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