Popcorn & Candy is DCist’s selective and subjective guide to some of the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week.
John Boyega (Annapurna Pictures)
On July 25th, 1967, three young black men were shot and killed in Detroit’s Algiers Motel in the middle of a riot that consumed the city. Marking the 50th anniversary of the incident, this crime drama from director Kathryn Bigelow (Near Dark, Zero Dark Thirty) addresses this volatile history. Star Wars‘ John Boyega stars as Melvin Dismukes, a security guard at the Algiers. Vanity Fair writes that although the film, “comes laden with a set of built-in problems—perhaps even red flags….[it’s] such a gripping and ultimately shattering piece of cinema that it merits seeing—albeit with a skeptical eye.” Stay tuned for a full review from Chicagoist.
Watch the trailer.
Opens tomorrow at area theaters.
Catherine Deneuve and Catherine Frot (Michaâl Crotto/Music Box Films)
Claire (Catherine Frot) is dedicated to her work in a maternity hospital. When plans are announced to shut down her workplace, Claire runs into another complication when Béatrice (Catherine Deneuve), her late father’s former mistress, reappears in her life—and is diagnosed with cancer. The film’s tepid, Lifetime-movie score and heavy-handed symbolism threaten to derail the movie, but it’s carried by a uniformly strong cast, starting with the moving performances from its veteran lead actresses. Deneuve may be the iconic name on the marquee, but it’s Frot, who was wonderful as the naive singer Marguerite, who really soars, conveying great reserves of strength as her past strains to come back to her and challenge her limits of compassion.
Watch the trailer.
Opens tomorrow at Landmark West End Cinema and the Avalon Theatre.
Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill (Alchetron)
The Charlize Theron action thriller Atomic Blonde, which opens tomorrow, is set in Berlin just days before the dismantling of the Berlin Wall. This weekend the AFI screens a 1981 thriller also set in the divided city. The film looks at the rocky marriage of Anna (Ishtar‘s Isabelle Adjani) and Mark (Sam Neill), but what sounds like a mere domestic drama chronicles an amour fou that reaches supernatural extremes. The AFI will be screening a digital restoration of Andrzej Zulawski’s 127-minute director’s cut.
Watch the trailer.
Friday, July 28 and Tuesday, August 1—Thursday, August 3 at the AFI Silver.
Zhou Dongyu and Ma Sichun (The Freer)
The 22nd annual Made in Hong Kong Film Festival continues this weekend with the story of a young woman who tracks down the source of a serialized web novel—one that is based on her own high school friendship with a young woman whom she lost contact with 20 years ago. The debut feature from director Derek Tsang, Soul Mate transcends its digital melodrama. Seattle Screen Scene writes that, “within this clichéd character construction, Tsang and his actors find unsuspected depths—Beaches this is not!”
Watch the trailer.
Sunday, July 30 at 2 p.m. at the National Museum of American History, Warner Bros. Theater. Free.
Stephen Dorff, Debbie Mazar and Dennis Hopper (Cineplex)
Next week, the Washington Psychotronic Film Society presents this 1996 thriller from director Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator). Dennis Hopper stars as a futuristic freight driver who takes a job transporting mysterious cargo with co-pilot Steven Dorff and his girlfriend Debi Mazar. The Psychotronic curators note: “This is low-budget, B-movie space opera that’s a parody of low-budget, B-movie space operas, with all the cheesy lines, cheesy set design, and cheesy special effects you could expect.”
Watch the trailer.
Monday, July 31 at 8 p.m. at Smoke and Barrel.
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Also opening this weekend, Charlize Theron stars as a kick-ass MI6 agent in Atomic Blonde, the latest action thriller from John Wick‘s uncredited co-director David Leitch. We’ll have a full review tomorrow.
