THE WEEKEND WARRIOR Reviews and Repertory Round-Up Jan. 10, 2025
DEN OF THIEVES: PANTERA, THE LAST SHOWGIRL, HARD TRUTHS, THE PROSECUTOR
It’s another year, and we’re ankle-deep into January with only one or two wide or wide-ish releases with a few already cutting back on their expansion plans. I’ve reviewed a few movies this week, including a few that I hadn’t reviewed when they were mentioned in previous version of this column, though at least one of them I did see way back at the New York Film Festival last September, and I hope it will continue to expand. Anyway, we might as well get to the weekend’s wide release first…
Hey, guess what? Lionsgate have embargoed reviews for the anticipated Den of Thieves: Pantera until Thursday night at 9pm EST, after the first preview screenings have already ended. Because I’m not going to hold this column up until then, I’m just going to run it without said review now, and if I feel like writing a review and adding it on Thursday night, then I’ll add it then.
DEN OF THIEVES: PANTERA (Lionsgate)
I only recently saw the 2018 heist movie to prepare for the sequel, and I quite enjoyed it. I mean, it’s no Heat, even if at times it’s trying to be, but I also generally like Gerard Butler and find his choices for action movies to always be interesting. He clearly likes to make movies that are entertaining and reason to go out to theaters, rather than trying to make movies for cinephiles, critics or Oscar consideration.
Six years after the original Den of Thieves, Butler revives his character and reunites with filmmaker Christian Gudegast and O’Shea Jackson Jr. for a direct sequel that moves the story and action to Europe, as Butler’s Nick O’Brien is still chasing after Jackson’s Donnie Wilson, who is setting up another elaborate heist of a diamond exchange.
Mini-Review: The first Den of Thieves was definitely left in a place where the story could be continued, especially with O’Shea Jackson Jr’s Donnie having escaped and the money stolen from the Federal Reserve never recovered. Apparently, Butler’s Nick is still after Donnie, and realizing that he’s relocated to Europe, he gets the proper badge that will allow him to relocate to catch him with the help of the local crime task force. At least, that’s the original plan.
Meanwhile, Donnie has just stolen a valuable gem from an airport in Belgium, and he’s setting up an elaborate heist of a Diamond Reserve in Nice, putting together a team to do the job. When Nick arrives and finds Donnie, he decides that maybe he should join said team, but they soon learn that the gem belongs to the nefarious Panther Mafia that wants it back. By then, Donnie, going under the name Jean-Jacques, has already sold the diamond to the reserve for reasons that aren’t quite clear.
While the original Den of Thieves borrowed heavily from heist films like Michael Mann’s Heat, the sequel makes no bones that it’s borrowing from the 1998 heist film, Ronin, even using “Ronin” as a codename during the initial jewel heist. It’s an odd way to start the film since a.) it isn’t clear why Donnie is stealing the jewel just to sell it off; b.) why Donnie takes on a (bad) French accent and guise to sell it; and c.) why aren’t there more authorities after him for that crime alone?
That’s just a few of the questions that might come up in the mind of the viewer in this sequel that’s far less focused, both in terms of its storytelling and also its tone. In fact, for a while, the movie almost turns into a buddy comedy with Butler and Jackson became the best friends and colleagues in crime.
It takes a good hour plus to get the actual heist of the Diamond Reserve, as Nick and Donnie become targets of the Italian mob who own the jewel that Donnie stole, plus there’s another group after them for a less serious infraction, because Nick drunkenly hits on the group’s co-leader Jovanna (Evin Ahmad), who happens to be the ex of another member of the team.
All of this just distracts from the reason you go to watch a heist movie i.e. the heist. Although this heist is generally interesting enough – essentially Nick and his team trying to evade the cameras in the reserve to break into and loot the enormous safe – it’s nowhere on the par of the one in the first movie… or any of the other movies this is trying to emulate.
Gudegast is a perfectly suitable filmmaker for a movie like this, which is never meant to be more than a few hours of entertainment, but it’s hard not to imagine having so many actors acting as producers didn’t help. Granted, Butler produced the first movie through his company G-Base with mark Canton, but why are Jackson and 50 Cent (not in the movie) executive producers? Even actors playing minor characters like Meadow Williams (who returns for one scene as the stripper Nick slept with in the first movie) and Swen Temmel are listed as “executive producers.” It’s not that uncommon, but it feels like a classic case of “too many cooks,” which might not have been quite the case with the first movie.
In other words, this sequel is not nearly as elegant as the first movie either in terms of plot or the actual heist at its center, but it still offers enough that if there’s a third movie, people will probably want to watch it.
Rating: 6.5/10
Instead, we’ll jump right to this week’s “Chosen One” is also a movie that’s expanding fairly wide this weekend, and that is…
THE LAST SHOWGIRL (Roadside Attractions)
Pamela Anderson returns to the big screen in Gia Coppola’s indie drama based on a screenplay by Kate Gersten, playing Shelly, an older veteran dancer at the Vegas cabaret show, “Le Razzle Dazzle,” who has to deal with what her life might be like once the show closes. At the same time, she reconnects with her estranged daughter Hannah (Billie Lourd), who does not approve of her mother’s profession and how Shelly turned her back on Hannah when she was younger. The cast also includes Dave Bautista as Le Razzle Dazzle’s stage manager Eddie, Brenda Song and the inevitable Kiernan Shipka as Shelly’s fellow dancers, and Jamie Lee Curtis as an even older former dancer trying to keep her shit together, basically.
If you read my Top 25 for 2024, then you already know that this made the list, even though I realized that I never actually reviewed it, so….
Mini-Review: I generally enjoyed Gia Coppola’s previous films, but I definitely didn’t see this one coming or hitting me as hard as it did. While I do enjoy when I get to spend time in Vegas, I never bothered with showgirls and the more decadent side of Sin City, though it’s amazing that there haven’t been more movies about the experience other than Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls, obviously. The Last Showgirl is a very different movie than that.
We meet Anderson’s Shelly while she’s on an audition that’s not going well, one that’s revisited later in the film for better context. In general, we see her both at work and when she’s hanging out with her colleagues, as well as with her good friend Annette, who is almost a mentor and mother figure to Shelly, even though she’s retired from the stage to serve cocktails. Bautista’s Eddie plays an interesting role since he and Shelly had a relationship at one point, one that he’s keen on rekindling. When Shelly learns that “Le Razzle Dazzle” is closing, she’s distraught and more concerned with what’s next for her. Her fellow showgirls, played by Song and Shipka, bring an interesting dynamic to the story, since you can see how competitive it is to get work and how being younger is definitely an advantage that Shelly no longer has.
Comparisons to Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler may be somewhat obvious, and while Coppola’s film may deal with similar issues, it’s far more focused on the idea of older women being dismissed and forgotten, possibly even more than The Subtance, without all the genre and body horror elements of that film that everyone seems to love.
The Last Showgirl is far more grounded and much better for it, as Coppola brings the most out of her cast to show how loneliness sometimes comes with living and working in Vegas. That’s driven home by Anderson’s heartbreaking performance as Shelly, while Curtis once again shows she’s not afraid of changing her appearance drastically and not necessarily making herself look glamorous.
Although there’s a sadness to Shelly’s story and the life she lives, the film still ends on a heartwarming note that she still offers us hope for her future.
Rating: 8.5/10
Another film that I saw all the way back at the 62nd New York Film Festival but never ended up reviewing…
HARD TRUTHS (Bleecker Street)
Mike Leigh’s return to the modern-day “kitchen sink drama,” a genre he helped originate along with Ken Loach, is an amazing film that showcases his Oscar-nominated Secrets and Lies star Marianne Jean-Baptiste. Here, she plays Pansy, a middle-aged Londoner who generally seems to be unhappy about anything and everything around her, including her son Moses (Tuwaine Barrett) and husband Curtley (David Webber). Meanwhile, her hairdresser sister Chantelle (Michele Austin) is living a much happier life along with her two grown daughters, none of them who understand why Pansy is so miserable.
I’ve been a Mike Leigh fan probably going back to Vera Drake, and I’ve been fortunate enough to interview him a few times over the years, and I even got to fill in some of the blanks of movies I’ve missed of his when Film at Lincoln Center did a retrospective a few years back. After making a few bigger historical epics with Mr. Turner and Peterloo, Leigh has returned to the smaller character-driven dramas that helped establish him as one of Britain’s most respected filmmakers.
We meet Jean-Baptiste’s Pansy as she’s in a particularly foul mood, yelling and berating her husband, her son, and just about anyone she encounters. At first glance, it’s hard not to think of this as a counter to Leigh’s Happy Go Lucky, which put Sally Hawkins on many of our maps as Poppy, a very different type of flower.
The entire film is driven by this fantastic performance from Jean-Baptiste, one that rightfully has gotten her many critics’ awards so far and hopefully will get her a second Oscar nomination. Importantly, her character and performance is not just about all of her griping either, and there’s a nuance to her delivery that could only come from working with such a master filmmaker like Leigh.
Some might not be able to enjoy the film due to the unpleasant nature of the main character, but like most of Leigh’s better films, it leaves you really thinking about the characters and how your own life might relate to them.
It’s a little vexing that the movie does leave a few things unresolved – I have a feeling that most people will want Pansy’s husband or son to go off on her, which doesn’t happen – but it’s still another intriguing character study from a filmmaker who has mastered that art to a T.
Rating: 8/10
Hard Truths is only opening in 22 theaters on Friday, which you can locate on the official Bleecker Street site, but I’ll also have an interview with Mr. Leigh over on Cinema Daily US quite soon.
THE PROSECUTOR (Well Go USA)
Donnie Yen is back in action, and he’s also back behind the camera directing this action-filled crime-drama based on a true story. He plays police officer Fok, who is so disheartened with the judicial system and how criminals keep getting off, that he studies law to become a prosecutor himself. His first case is a complex one involving a young man who received a packaged full of drugs that he claims wasn’t his. The young man is convinced to plead guilty and beg for a lighter sentence, but due to the nature of the Hong Kong judicial system, he’s sent to prison for 27 years. Fok soon learns that there’s conspiracy afoot with the young man’s defense attorney being corrupt and in the pocket of the drugdealers who need to clean up their loose ends.
I’m not really sure I’ve seen many of the films that Donnie Yen has directed, since not that many of his more recent HK films have been released here, despite the success he’s found thanks to appearances in 2023’s John Wick movie and the Rogue One prequel to Star Wars. I’ve always appreciated Yen as an actor, and obviously, when it comes to action, he’s probably among one of HK’s top martial arts stars. Although The Prosecutor begins with his character Fok in the field, fighting against criminals, it soon settles down into more of a courtroom drama complete with explanations of how the court system works.
Even so, Fok hasn’t completely set aside his crime-fighting and while trying to get more details about the case, he runs afoul of the aforementioned criminals, which often means that he’s out on the streets fighting again. Anyone who worries that the 61-year-old Yen is done with his martial arts days need not worry there.
The brilliant fight choreo is enhanced by some impressive camerawork and fight choreo that keeps things visually interesting, include one scene atop on a rooftop club where a drone captures the action flying over the building far above the action. Yen also allows one of the younger officers to get his own impressive scene, taking on a number of thugs, this type of thing clearly being something Yen has mastered after years of being in martial arts sequences for other top filmmakers.
The Prosecutor sometimes runs into issues by having such an erratic tone, in terms of mixing its high-paced action with the slower courtroom drama, but Yen is great both in front of and behind the camera, making this a more than welcome offering from Hong Kong.
Rating: 7.5/10
DIANE WARREN: RELENTLESS (Greenwich)
The legendary songwriter who famously has received 15 Oscar nominations without ever winning – though she did get an honorary Oscar last year – is showcased in this documentary being released in the midst of Oscar voting just to remind the Academy that she has a new song in the running (from Tyler Perry’s The Six Triple Nine). Directed by Bess Kargman, the doc includes appearances by producer Jerry Bruckheimer, as well as music biz luminaries Cher, Clive Davis, Quincy Jones, Common, Gloria Estefan, Jennifer Hudson, and many more. Oh, and Dianne Warren herself, as well. It’s opening at the Quad Cinema in New York with Ms. Warren doing a QnA after a screening on Thursday night.
I generally liked this even though the music snob in me never really has thought much of Warren’s musical output, even though she’s obviously had many enormous hits for a variety of artists, including the likes of Kiss and Aerosmith. Most of the artists and friends she’s made are on hand to give their thoughts on the good and bad of working with her, since that subtitle of “relentless” is quite apt, and there’s no denying that she is considered one of the world’s greatest songwriters for good reason.
Otherwise, this is a fairly standard spotlight doc that sheds some light on Warren as a person, even if she mostly tries to keep her personal life and life outside of making music to herself, but she also doesn’t talk a lot about her craft of writing either. In some way, this is just a good way to learn more about Warren and all she’s achieved, though it doesn’t really shed that much more light on her to make me want to listen to her music more.
Diane Warren: Relentless is in theaters beginning Jan. 10 and will stream on MasterClass starting Jan. 23. (The streaming has been delayed a week due to the L.A. fires.)
EVERY LITTLE THING (Kino Lorber)
Opening at the IFC Center this Friday* and at the Laemmle Monica Film Center in L.A. on January 17 is this documentary by Sally Aitken about author Terry Masea and her goals to save any injured hummingbird in Los Angeles, following her as she tries to rehabilitate the tiny, fragile birds back to healthy, running the Los Angeles Hummingbird Rescue since 2004. I don’t have a lot to say about this movie, except that it’s gorgeously shot, and the hummingbirds all have interesting stories as Masea nurses them back to health. I think any animal lover will enjoy Aitken’s film, even if it’s very California, since few New Yorkers will ever have seen a hummingbird except at a zoo/aviary, I’d imagine. *Aitken will be on hand with her cinematographer for QnAs on Thursday night and Friday screenings.
Other movies out this weekend include…
LAWS OF MAN (Saban Films)
SURVIVRE (Samuel Goldwyn Films)
HAZARD (RBL Films) (Note: This is only opening in Appalachia but will open elsewhere in February, which is when I’ll probably cover.)
BIRDEATER (Dark Sky Films) - My Review
PEPE (MUBI)
TURN ME ON (Vertical)
OCEANS ARE THE REAL CONTINENTS (Film Movement)
EAT THE NIGHT (Altered Innocence)
EXTREMELY UNIQUE DYNAMIC (Strand Releasing)
REPERTORY
Beginning this weekend is the series “Male Magnetism Curated by Andrew Norman Wilson,” a series that features a lot of stuff shot on VHS including Harmony Korine’s Tramp Humpers from 2009, which will be shown on Friday night preceded by different shorts filmed on VHS. There are also two other collections of similar shorts.
The “Sandya Suri Selects,” featuring movies picked by the director of the Metrograph Pictures’ Oscar shortlisted International Feature, Santosh, will screen Nilita Vachani’s 1992 film, Diamonds in a Vegetable Market on Saturday afternoon.
“Amongst Humans” screens John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) (one of my favorite horror movies but one I’ve also seen way too many times), more screenings of David Bowie in The Man Who Fell to Earth from 1976, as well as Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). They’re also screening the 1988 film Alien Nation, which led to a popular television series.
“The Many Lives of Laura Dern” – essentially another excuse for the Metrograph to show David Lynch’s Wild At Heart :) – will screen the late Jean-Marc Vallée’s Wild, starring Reese Witherspoon, the late Peter Bogdanovish’s Mask (1985), and the thankfully still-alive David Lynch’s Inland Empire (2006), one of a bunch of three-hour movies you can see at Metrograph this weekend!
The “Delphine Seyrig: Rebel Muse” retrospective continues with screenings of Jacques Demy’s Donkey Skin (1970), as well as more screenings of Chantal Akerman’s 3-hour-20-minute Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du commerce,1080 Bruxelles.
The oddly-titled “Raise Ravens and They Will Pick Your Eyes Out” series continues to show Tarkovsky’s Mirror, Andrzej Żuławski’s On the Silver Globe (1988), Ye Lou’s Suzhou River (2000), as well as screenings of Abbas Kiorstami’s 1997 film, Taste of Cherry, both in 35mm and on DCP.
“15 Minutes” is only screening Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring one time this weekend on Friday night, probably due to all those three-hour movies.
“Ursula X Metograph: Seize the Fire” continues this weekend with Quality Control and a double feature of Dreams Are Colder Than Death with Skip Norman’s 1969 short, Strange Fruit. They’re also showing Buster Keaton’s Steamboat Bill Jr. along with the Disney short, Steamboat Willie, both from 1928, but I do have to say that I do NOT like Cohen Media’s restoration of Steamboat Bill Jr, mainly for the overbearing orchestrated score that’s been added. I’ll stick with the piano, thank you very much.
“AI: From Metropolis to Ex Machina” continues this weekend with screenings of Alex Garland’s Ex Machina, Spielberg’s A.I: Artificial Intelligence, Alien, Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Blade Runner, Cronenberg’s Videodrome, and much more. Sunday’s “Film Forum Jr.” is Pixar’s WALL*E, which also fits in with the aforementioned series.
Beginning on Wednesday, the IFC Center presents “Donald Sutherland: (Never) The Guy Next Door,” a tribute to the late great Emmy winner who also got an honorary Oscar. This weekend, it’s screening a ton of great movies including Klute, Backdraft, Don’t Look Now, The Dirty Dozen, Ordinary People, M*A*S*H*, Day of the Locust, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and much more. It’s a great way to catch up on the incredible work of this actor who had continued to work right up until just before his death last year. They’re also offering ticket packs ($30 for members, $45 for non-members) that allows you to attend any three of the movies in the series.
“Late Night Favorites” will screen David Lynch’s Eraserhead and David Cronenberg’s Crash on Thursday night, and then Crash continues through the weekend, joined by the 2000 Japanese classic thriller, Battle Royale, on Friday and Saturday late night.
Greg Araki’s Mysterious Skin (2004), starring Joseph Gordon Levitt and recent Golden Globe winner Brady Corbet, will screen on Tuesday, as will Catherine Hardwick’s Thirteen, also starring Corbet! Thirteen will also screen on Saturday while Mysterious Skin will screen on Sunday, while the 4k restoration of the Oscar-winning Amadeus will screen both days as well.
The series “Blackout 1973” includes screenings of Bill Gunn’s Ganja & Hess; Jack Hill’s Coffy, starring Pam Grier; Mel Stuart’s WattStax, and more.
I’m going to be here on Sunday afternoon, because they’re showing François Ozon’s brilliant musical 8 Women, the movie that made me an Ozon fan, in 35mm! Otherwise, lots of stuff that you can watch on Netflix or go to see it at the Paris, knowing that your box office won’t be reported. ;)
Masaaki Yuasa’s crazy 2004 animated Mind Game is screening in Downtown Brooklyn and Staten Island on Saturday morning (only in Brooklyn, and that’s almost sold out) and Monday night as well. Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai is screening in Staten Island and Lower Manhattan on Saturday, but the latter is sold out and the former is almost sold out as well.
NITEHAWK CINEMA PROSPECT PARK & WILLIAMSBURG
This weekend’s “All About Altman” offering at Prospect Park is Robert Altman’s Brewster McCloud on Saturday, but then on Tuesday night, you can see the late great Robin Williams in Altman’s Popeye. Monday night’s “80s Invaders” movie (still at Prospect Park) is James Fargo’s 1984 movie, Voyage of the Rock Aliens, which I have never heard of. On Tuesday, Carl Franklin’s Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) will screen at Prospect Park as part of “Adventures in Black Cinema.”
Friday and Saturday late night at Williamsburg will screen the 1988 remake of The Blob from director Chuck Russell, starring a very young Shawnee Smith from the “Saw” franchise, as well as Kevin Dillon, and Donovan Leitch Jr. On Saturday and Sunday morning, Williamsburg offers McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971) as part of “All About Altman.” Also on Saturday and Sunday morning they’re showing Adam Rehmeir’s 2020 film, Dinner in America, as part of “ICYMI”... and I definitely must have missed it.
Scorsese’s Casino is screening on Sunday, and then on Monday, you can see Al Pacino in Brian De Palma’s Scarface, screening in 35mm twice.
There will be two showings of Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush (1925) in 35mm as part of “Silents, Please!” “See It Big: Let It Snow” also has a great line-up this weekend, screening Runaway Train (1985) on Saturday afternoon, and the James Bond flick, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), and Kubrick’s horror classic, The Shining (1980), on Sunday afternoon.
On Saturday night, MoMI’s “Disreputable Cinema” will screen Troma’s Bring on the Damned!, which actually is a new 2024 movie, so not repertory, and the same with the “Always on a Sunday” offering, Dourgoti Town, which is also from 2024.
Starting on Thursday is MOMA’s annual “To Save and Project: The 21st MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation” which will screen a wide range of films from the ‘20s and the ‘80s, including many rarities. I’m not smart enough to talk about any of them since they’re all so rare, but click on that link if it interests you.
One of my biggest regrets about not spending as much time out in Long Island is that I haven’t been able to get to Huntington’s Cinema Arts Centre as much as I’d like. On Friday night, they’re showing one of my favorite Paul Verhoeven movies, Starship Troopers! And then on Saturday night, even cooler is they’re doing an all-night horror marathon with Scream Society, screening The Toxic Avenger, the German version of Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu the Vampyr, Society, and Phantasm (another personal fave), as well as a mystery film. All for $50 (or $40 if you’re a member). On Sunday they’re showing the 1995 Jumanji as well as Alfred Hitchcock’s Lifeboat (1944) tied into a screening of Mark Cousin’s 1922 doc My Name is Alfred Hitchcock.
That’s it for this week. Next week, we get Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man, Keke Palmer’s comedy, One of Them Days, and a few limited releases expanding wider, but we’ll see if any of them actually go nationwide after this week’s major fake out.