Here’s the February / March roundup, in alphabetical order. Enjoy!

Asteroid City (2023)

written and directed by Wes Anderson

from a story by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola

A lot of people seem to be drawn to filmmaker Wes Anderson’s deadpan style, but for some reason I am not one of them. While I can certainly appreciate his symmetrical theatricality – and indeed, the art design always looks gorgeous – I often can”t connect with the plot or characters. Such is the case with Asteroid City, a film about a junior astronomy convention in the desert. But wait. The film itself is an interpretation of a play named Asteroid City, and a TV documentary is being made about its production. Got that? Yeah. All the meta funkiness and odd interactions quickly grow tiresome, although a cool-looking alien does stop by to steal the show.

Rating: **

Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)

written by Robert Getchell

directed by Martin Scorsese

Sandwiched between his superior Mean Streets (1973) and Taxi Driver (1976) is this somewhat odd dramedy from director Martin Scorsese. The first half works best, as recently-widowed Alice (Ellen Burstyn) and her son Tommy (Alfred Letter) travel from New Mexico to Phoenix, where she gets a job as a lounge singer. But the second part, in which Alice becomes a waitress and falls in love with a rancher (Kris Kristofferson), doesn’t really develop into a believable romance. Still, intimate moments like Alice practicing the Rodgers and Hart song Where or When (1937) on piano show Scorsese’s talent for conveying emotion through song. Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore might be a slighter effort in Scorsese’s filmography, but an interesting one nonetheless.

Rating: **½

Leave the World Behind (2023)

based on the novel by Rumaan Alam

written and directed by Sam Esmail

If, like me, you’re a fan of the TV series Mr. Robot (2015-2019), you’ll find plenty to appreciate in this offbeat apocalyptic thriller from writer/director Sam Esmail. As an unknown enemy cyberattacks the United States, two families, one white and one black, find themselves forced to trust each other. The film awkwardly tries to balance multiple tones, and in the end Esmail is more successful at creating a mood of creeping menace than at making clunky social observations. Still, if you’re in the mood for some surreal satire, Leave the World Behind fits the bill. Now more than ever I’m questioning whether I can survive once my teeth come off and planes start to fall out of the sky (and obviously the answer is no).

Rating: **½

First Cow (2019)

written by Jonathan Raymond and Kelly Reichardt

based on the novel The Half-Life by Jonathan Raymond

directed by Kelly Reichardt

This contemplative film by director Kelly Reichardt is probably one of the best dramas I’ve seen in a long time. Two men in early 1800’s Oregon (John Magaro, Orion Lee) become friends as they try to make ends meet by secretly milking the cow of a wealthy chief trader. It’s lovingly constructed, superbly acted, and as usual with Reichardt, beautifully human above anything else. First Cow is a quiet, unhurried watch… and yet it speaks volumes with every frame.

Rating: ***½

The Killer (2023)

written by Andrew Kevin Walker

based on the comic book by Alexis “Matz” Nolent and Luc Jacamon

directed by David Fincher

The Killer begins with a professional assassin (Michael Fassbender) patiently waiting for his target to arrive. We see him practicing yoga, eating, sleeping, listening to music (The Smiths), and telling us in voiceover how meticulous he needs to be in his line of work. Then he botches the execution and goes on the run. Perfect setup for a thriller… or so it seemed.

The dude goes back to his hideout, an oceanfront mansion in the Dominican Republic, and realizes other assassins have found his crib and tortured his girlfriend (insert surprised emoji here). This hardened and fastidiously careful killer has a mansion and a girlfriend? I didn’t buy it, and later scenes – such as a ludicrously over-the-top fight that would give John Wick a run for his money – only added to my lack of interest. Even director David Fincher’s usual visual flair seems largely absent from the proceedings, making The Killer his most lackluster effort since The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011).

Rating: **

The Legend of Tarzan (2016)

written by Adam Coda and Craig Brewer

based on the Tarzan stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs

directed by David Yates

Not sure what I was thinking when I decided on The Legend of Tarzan for family movie night. Trailer already looked bad, but damn if the movie’s not worse. I’ll give you three of my twelve-year-old son’s remarks while we were watching:

“That CG is terrible.”

“Awkward transition!”

“Makes no sense.”

Agreed. I’m not a Tarzan connoisseur, but this was dreadful, even in terms of a brainless adventure flick. For a much better experience, watch Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984) instead.

Rating: *½

X (2022)

written and directed by Ti West

Filmmaker Ti West has quietly been building a B-horror niche for himself for twenty years or so, and in movies like The House of the Devil (2009) and The Inkeepers (2011), you can see his obvious adoration for the genre. You can see The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) all over X , as a film cast and crew travel to a farm to make a porn and the elderly owners of the property start to kill them off one by one. It’s a fun slasher which also has some points to make about aging, beauty, and celebrity, although I can’t help but think it could’ve dug deeper. Still, consider me on board for the prequel (2022’s Pearl) and sequel (2024’s MaXXine).

Rating: **½

Carlos I. Cuevas