I am adding the following films to my "To-See" list or "Maybe-See" list; the linked reviews and excerpts are from the critics at RogerEbert.com.
Drama
Promising Young Woman
3 stars. This looks like a compelling film from Carey Mulligan. Directorial debut (Emerald Ferrell) and a cast that includes Alison Brie, Adam Brody, and Laverne Cox. "at Sundance, a lot of films dissipate from memory on the way to the next screening. Not this one. Not for a long time."
Horse Girl
3 stars. A Netflix film. Alison Brie stars as Sarah, a socially awkward craft store employee whose mental health is rapidly deteriorating. The history of mental illness within her family, particularly that of her grandmother, is not on the forefront of her mind as images from her dreams start to blend into reality. Written by Brie and director Jeff Baena, "Horse Girl" ambitiously tries to show such a decline from the perspective of someone who can't tell the difference.
The Assistant
4 Stars. Seems to be a compelling drama about an office worker and a suspicious boss.
Dark Comedy
Downhill
2 stars. Only 2 stars, but I would see it; it is a remake of the 2014 Swedish film Force Majeur, which I really liked. It's interesting that the movie is being remade, but hopefully it will bring more attention to the original. The two stars of this film - Will Farrell and Julia Louis Dreyfus - are actors I think are ok but don't love; I'm familiar with their comedy work, mostly all lighter stuff compared to this subject matter. They seem miscast to me as the leads, though; I'll have to see the film, I could be wrong.
Thriller/Horror
Gretel and Hansel
3.5 stars. This looks to be one of the better horror/thriller films of recent months. "smartly conceived, visually stylish and genuinely creepy at times."
International
Beanpoll
4 stars. Russia. Called an astonishing second film from the director, set in post WWII. Inspired by the oral histories of Soviet war veterans compiled by Nobel Prize-winner Svetlana Alexievich in her 1985 book, The Unwomanly Face of War, Balagov strove to portray the criminally underrepresented experiences of female soldiers grappling with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Jose
4 stars. Guatemala. This sounds like a film that I would like watching. With its engaging drama of a young gay man facing the challenges of coming of age in urban Guatemala, Li Cheng’s “José,” a prize winner and audience favorite at Venice and other festivals, might obviously be categorized as an LGBT film, one of a fairly familiar sort. Yet it also stands out for representing another branch of cinema: films combining the objectives of ethnography and drama, in which a filmmaker dives into a foreign culture and fashions a story to illustrate the discoveries he makes there.
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