Opening today
Hotel Mumbai
Directed by Anthony Maras; stars Armie Hammer, Dev Patel, Nazanin Boniadi
Based on a 2008 terror attack in India, the film recalls the efforts of brave hotel employees during the chaos.
Armie Hammer in “Hotel Mumbai”
Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com remarks, “Making this kind of film inherently walks a fine line between art and exploitation, and ‘Hotel Mumbai’ feels like the latter.” Kenneth Turan of Los Angeles Times sees the film differently: “What ‘Hotel Mumbai’ does best is recreate—to an at-times unrelenting extent—what the terror and confusion of being in this kind of situation must be like.”
Nazanin Boniadi in “Hotel Mumbai”
Backtrace
Directed by Brian A. Miller; stars Sylvester Stallone, Matthew Modine, Ryan Guzman
An amnesiac thief is incarcerated for years, but a serum forces him to remember his activities and the location where he hid the stolen money.
Sylvester Stallone in “Backtrace”
Blu-ray.com’s Brian Orndorf thinks that the film “is a bore before it becomes a mess,” while Eye for Film’s Jennie Kermode opines, “though the action scenes occasionally bring the film to life, there’s an overwhelming lack of dramatic tension.”
Eerie
Directed by Mikhail Red; stars Charo Santos-Concio, Bea Alonzo, Jake Cuenca
Bea Alonzo in “Eerie”
A guidance counselor with psychic abilities must deal with the murder of a student, suspecting a fanatical nun of being the culprit.
Alonzo, who plays the counselor, recently told the Inquirer that she’s no horror film buff: “But I had to do it because it’s work. I have always been a scaredy cat, but … I had to deliver what was required of me for the film. They made sure I was always with someone whenever I shot scenes in dark places.”
Dumbo
Directed by Tim Burton; stars Michael Keaton, Colin Farrell, Eva Green, Danny DeVito
A young elephant with unusually large ears is forced to work in a circus before discovering the gift of flight.
Variety’ s Courtney Howard says the live-action remake “has a blessedly surprising proanimal rights agenda wrapped in a subtle, rebellious metacommentary on a band of outsiders shaking up a corporate establishment. Its aesthetic design is dazzling, gorgeous and meticulous.” GameSpot’s Chris Hayner says, “it’s a beautiful and whimsical movie, starring a CGI elephant with so much heart. It’s also a rather simple tale, so don’t expect tons of character depth.”
