Reviews

Neo-nazis tend to be a noisy bunch, and it takes an extraordinary and confident work of art to drown out their loud, ugly racket. Parade , opening tonight on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, is that work of art. With a serendipitous advertising slogan – “This Is Not Over Yet” – borrowed from one of the most powerful songs from a lovely score, the revival of 1998’s Parade arrives just when it’s needed most, providing an eloquent smackdown response to the rise in antisemitism made all too clear by the hate group protesting outside the show’s first preview (they haven’t been back). With a cast as fine as it is large, led by Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond – two of the best singers currently on Broadway – Parade , set in 1913 Georgia, scores its topical points with all the artistry and theatrical know-how to meet and exceed its noble intensions. Parade is as commanding as any musical revival to hit Broadway in years. Directed by Michael Arden, … [Read more...] about ‘Parade’ Broadway Review: Ben Platt & Micaela Diamond Lead Exceptional March Through History

Naming a young Black man’s story after a transport stop gives off strong Fruitvale vibes, but Aristotle Torres ’ feature debut reaches back further to the hip-hop morality tales of the early ’90s, like Boaz Yakin’s Fresh or Ernest Dickerson’s Juice — the wave that immediately followed John Singleton’s influential Boyz n the Hood . Surprisingly, given Torres’ history of videos for the likes of Ludacris and Nas, the soundtrack is light on rap, using unexpected needle drops like Pavarotti’s version of “La Donna e Mobile” to score scenes of spray-can anarchy on the New York subway. In all other ways, however, Story Ave is very much a ’hood movie, in the sense that its young protagonist is both constrained and defined by the place where he lives, in this case the Bronx. That person is Kadir ( Asante Blackk ), a talented young artist tormented by the recent death of his disabled little brother. Kadir runs with a graffiti crew called Outside the Lines, headed up by … [Read more...] about ‘Story Ave’ Review: Asante Blackk Stands Out In An Old-School N.Y. ’Hood Drama – SXSW

Ghost shirts, which are sacred to certain Indigenous communities, were thought to guard the wearer against bullets through spiritual power. This precious heirloom is at the center of Tony Tost ’s directorial debut film at SXSW, Americana . This western dramedy has some tricks up its sleeve, thanks to the brilliant writing and the script’s comedic timing. It boasts a big cast of actors including Sydney Sweeney , Halsey , Paul Walter Hauser , Zahn McClarnon, Simon Rex, Eric Dane and Gavin Maddox Bergman. RELATED: SXSW 2023: All Of Deadline’s Movie Reviews Cal (Bergman) loves to watch black-and-white, cowboys-and-Indians films. While he’s enthralled with what he sees on the television, Joan Jett lookalike Mandy (Halsey) and local thug Dillian (Dane) argue about why Cal, her brother, is so weird. Maybe it’s because he’s a white kid who claims to be the reincarnation of Lakota ancestor Sitting Bull. To get them away from Dillian’s abusive household, Mandy knocks him … [Read more...] about ‘Americana’ Review: Tony Tost Turns The Western Genre Upside Down In Directorial Debut Dramedy Starring Sydney Sweeney & Halsey – SXSW

Your prom probably didn’t have a glorious gaggle of Broadway troupers and their trunk loads of self-regard and narcissism gumming things up for your rite of passage – more’s the pity – but in some ways I’d guess Broadway’s musical The Prom isn’t so unlike the one you lived through way back when. The build-up was more fun than the event, right? Inspired by an actual event – and the inspired is apt – The Prom is the latest razzle-dazzle show-biz love fest from director and choreographer Casey Nicholaw, who applied the same glitz and show-biz glitter to Mean Girls, Aladdin and, more to the point here, Something Rotten! , that great mash-up of the Bard and Broadway. Comparisons won’t do The Prom much good – Something Rotten it isn’t, but it tries. The Prom begins with a first-act of laughs and a demolition of the type of delicious Broadway monsters who can drop Carrie the Musical jokes with the timed precision of a Fosse broken doll walk. The premise … [Read more...] about ‘The Prom’ Review: Broadway Comedy Razzle-Dazzles Small Town Bigotry

There’s a lot going on in this troubled-girl-on-a-journey story, which recalls the late-’90s proliferation of books like Elizabeth Wurtzel’s Prozac Nation and Susanna Kaysen’s Girl, Interrupted . Brittany Snow ’s directing debut doesn’t so much add to that canon as dust it down a bit for a new generation, and its success is mostly attributable to its empathetic star Courtney Eaton — the deserving winner of a SXSW Special Jury Recognition for Performance — whose low-key work anchors a needlessly busy film that never quite settles down. A lot is packed into the opening salvo, from the moment we see Riley (Eaton) sitting on the curb outside a forbiddingly nondescript building, scrolling through pages and pages of narcissistic Instagram influencers. It will come as no surprise when we find out, shortly after that, that she’s been in for a fairly serious disorder she’ll describe variously as “an eating thing” and “body stuff,” but that doesn’t stop her best friend from insisting … [Read more...] about ‘Parachute’ Review: Life After Rehab In Brittany Snow’s Directing Debut – SXSW

The four indelible stars o f 80 for Brady — Lily Tomlin , Jane Fonda , Rita Moreno and Sally Field — have a combined age of 335 years but are not the least bit inclined to act like it in this highly concocted but sassy, good-natured wish-fulfillment comedy. The film is as silly and contrived as all get-out and you can’t help feeling that, with a cast this good, it’s a shame that a script worthy of the actresses’ combined talents couldn’t have been found and put to much better use. Still, if you’re at all inclined to spend a couple of hours in the company of four ultra-talented ladies doing dopey and rambunctious things to worm their way into the Super Bowl to behold their sports hero Tom Brady in person, then this is your ticket. Since the 45-year-old Brady won’t be playing in the Super Bowl this season, some fans might, as consolation, decide to go see this film, in which the now-ex-star quarterback appears not only on the field, in footage of his … [Read more...] about ‘80 For Brady’ Film Review: All-Star Cast Drives Timely Wish-Fulfillment Comedy

“I love you, but you are not serious people,” says Logan Roy ( Brian Cox ) to his estranged and ambitious offspring in Succession ‘s fourth and final season. For a series stuffed to gills with verbal uppercuts that would leave Malcolm Tucker bruised and blushing, the profanity-free candor from the Emmy-winning series’ media baron fulfillingly sticks the shiv in deep. Now, beyond that quote from the Season 4 trailer , there isn’t much more that can be said. Truly. With more implied NDAs than a Waystar RoyCo corporate retreat, series creator Jesse Armstrong and HBO have requested piquant critics keep almost everything that happens in Season 4 locked down. So, let’s just cut to the non-specific chase: This final season, which debuts March 26, is where Succession truly succeeds. For one thing, the expletive-stuffed satire that has long plundered the ostentatious psychology and lifestyles of profoundly faltering people packs a tremendous emotional wallop in this … [Read more...] about ‘Succession’ Review: Final Season Of HBO’s Media Mogul Satire Has No Intention Of Going Quietly

A wily old pro teams up with one of the most exciting young actresses of the day in the emotionally loaded drama A Good Person . Zach Braff ’s third feature excels at taking the measure of how people cope with personal tragedy and does so in a vital and engaging way that’s far more invigorating than depressing. Braff essentially makes one feature film every 10 years ( Garden State and Wish I Was Here came before), and while he otherwise busies himself with music, television and other pursuits, his talent is such that you’d like to see him wade more frequently and deeper into film work than he so far has. This may be melodrama, but it’s melodrama of a pretty high order, one that benefits from a first-rate cast led by Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman , and shifts tones and moods that startle with their bluntness and honesty; that raucous laughs emerge from such an upsetting story is a testament to the filmmaker’s daring and dexterity. The film wrestles bravely … [Read more...] about ‘A Good Person’ Review: Florence Pugh In Zach Braff’s Blunt And Honest Drama

At least one of the characters in Broadway ’s Mean Girls would describe this musical adaptation of Tina Fey ’s 2004 not-for-teens-only film comedy as absolutely fetch. And fetch it is, whether that word ever happens or not. Vibrant, beautifully sung and visually splendid, this funny charmer – book by Fey, music by Jeff Richmond and lyrics by Nell Benjamin – broadens the original Paramount movie – a bar-raiser for teen flicks – to full musical comedy scale without sacrificing any of the mordancy and compassion that made a superstar of Lindsay Lohan and a generational descriptor of the title. Directed and choreographed by The Book of Mormon ‘s Casey Nicholaw (and produced by, among others, Lorne Michaels , who surveyed this preview performance with the same inscrutable, puckered expression caught occasionally by the cameras of Saturday Night Live ) Mean Girls , at the August Wilson Theatre, stays true to the plot (and well-remembered jokes and catchphrases) … [Read more...] about ‘Mean Girls’ Review: Tina Fey Musical Makes Broadway Honor Roll

In another sign of the return to China for Marvel after a long drought, Disney /Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has been set for a day-and-date release on May 5. The James Gunn -directed finale in the series is due to hit North American cinemas that same day while international rollout will begin on May 3. (Check out the new China poster below.) This marks the third Marvel title to secure a theatrical release in China following a three-and-a-half year period during which no movies featuring a Marvel character gained entry to the world’s second largest box office market. Last month , Disney/Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania became the first titles in since Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: Far From Home in June 2019, and Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame in April that same year. Neither Wakanda Forever ($15.6M) nor Quantumania ($39M through last Sunday) spun Chinese turnstiles off their axes in February — … [Read more...] about China: ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3’ Secures Day-And-Date Release