A&E::FILM
[ FILM CLIPS ] Crawl R When a category five hurricane hits the Florida hometown of Haley (Kaya Scodelario), she refuses to leave without her missing father (Barry Pepper). Finding him seriously injured in the crawl space of his home, Haley is preparing to get him out when they realize that rising floodwaters have ushered in large, hungry alligators. Rescuers have evacuated, so their survival depends on Haley’s ability to ensure their escape. Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures made this survive-or-die epic for $17 million. Paramount is handling the theatrical release, as it did for last year’s low-budget survival film, A Quiet Place, from which it made a pile of cash. (Lisa Miller)
Spider-Man: Far From Home PG-13 Returning as the young Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Tom Holland once again anchors a complex plot featuring multiple superheroes and villains. While searching for his proper role in the multiverse, Peter pursues romance with MJ (Zendaya), hoping to spend time as a normal 16-year-old teenager. The plan goes wrong, like any good plan does. Peter is touring Europe with friends when he’s obliged to join Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) in stopping planet-destroying “Elementals.” Alternate realities abound, but which are real? Set following Avengers: Endgame, the screenplay interlocks with that universe, managing a few surprises. Two important scenes play during and following the end credits... like we have nothing else to do. (L.M.)
Stuber R ‘Midsommar’
‘Midsommar’ Rituals of Sex and Death
A
::BY DAVID LUHRSSEN
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Stuber pairs Vic (Dave Bautista), an aggressive cop, with Stu (Kumail Nanjiani), a mild-mannered Uber driver. The unlikely duo occurs because Vic’s Lasik surgery causes temporary blindness at a time when he also receives a tip on the whereabouts of a dangerous heroin dealer. Politically correct Stu prefers to ignore Vic’s weaponry, but that’s difficult, because nearly blind Vic requires Stu’s help to aim his guns. While Stu’s biggest concern is maintaining his five-star Uber rating, he grudgingly helps Vic and comes to respect the cop and his old-school methods. (L.M.)
[ HOME MOVIES / NOW STREAMING ] n Nixon
Anthony Hopkins gives a surprisingly sympathetic and credible performance as Richard Nixon in this 1995 film. As with all of director Oliver Stone’s non-Vietnam historical films, it’s full of hypotheticals. And yet, the depiction of Nixon’s self-pity, awkwardness, class resentment and fear seems psychologically true. The new Blu-ray release includes the theatrical and director’s cuts plus bonus interviews and deleted scenes. Joan Allen plays Pat Nixon, and a strong supporting cast depicts all the president’s men.
n The Landlord
Beau Bridges stars as Elgar, a naïve rich kid who buys a tenement with the notion of evicting the tenants and fixing it up as his home. Many details in director Hal Ashby’s 1970 comedy haven’t aged well, but others still seem acutely pertinent: Biracial identity? Gentrification? Black lives matter? The story moves to the rhythm of Al Kooper’s music and the voices of The Staple Singers with interesting cinematography by Gordon Willis (The Godfather).
n The General / Steamboat Bill, Jr.
Unlike most silent movie comedians, Buster Keaton still seems like one of us—an ordinary person buffeted by calamity, pummeled by adversity, but still pushing on. In his greatest film, the Civil War comedy The General (1926), the poker-faced Keaton plays a railroad engineer pursuing—against all odds—a stolen train (his girlfriend is onboard). His ability to perform physical stunts remains jaw-dropping. The new Blu-ray release pairs The General with Steamboat Billy, Jr. (1928).
n Mississippi Burning
The screenplay gets a bit Hollywood, but in its best scenes, Mississippi Burning (1988) visually dramatizes the danger faced by white freedom riders and African Americans in the South as the civil rights movement gained force. Mississippi Burning benefits from costars Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe as FBI agents pursuing justice down different avenues. Frances McDormand is another bright light as the abused wife of a racist deputy. American racism’s economic roots are cited. —David Luhrssen J U LY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9 | 25