Don't settle for a cold and rainy Kansas City this weekend! Travel the world with esteemed journalist Marie Colven, immerse yourself in Nordic lifestyle, or tag along on a crime investigation in Copenhagen. The latest recommendations from Up To Date's indie, foreign and documentary Film Critics will take you on a global adventure.
Steve Walker
"The Guilty," R
- Denmark's Academy Award submission for Best Foreign Film is an intense drama set in the emergency call center of the Copenhagen police department where one caller's plea of "help me" compels an officer to connect the details of what seems to be a horrific crime in progress.
"A Private War," R
- Rosamund Pike gives an uncanny performance as war correspondent Marie Colvin who reported from the world's most hellish and dangerous sites of brutality and carnage.
"Boy Erased," R
- In this powerful and timely drama, a pastor and his wife, played by Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman, send their son (Lucas Hedges from "Manchester by the Sea") into a faith-based conversion therapy program aimed at obliterating his same-sex attractions.
Cynthia Haines
"Can You Ever Forgive Me?" R
- Lee Israel made her fame profiling celebrities. When her unconquerable writer's block and her alcoholic tendencies leave her broke, she does what she knows best. This time, though, her thoughtfully crafted stories about the famous are made up.
"Border," R
- A cynical Swedish romance rooted in Nordic lore that is unike anything you will see this year. Its supernatural elements and startling plot line pale next to the real stand-outs of the film, the complex and irresistable characters.
"The Guilty," R
- This Danish thriller takes you on a journey while never leaving a single room. After a demoted police officer gets a frightened phone call from a supposed kidnapping victim, he watches the investigation unfold from the side lines.
Bob Butler
"Border," R
- Seemingly mundane customs officer Tina has a unique set of skills. When those skills are challenged by Vore, a mysterious new man with whom she shares a bond, she is dragged into a world filled with supernatural creatures and Nordic lore.
"A Private War," R
- Marie Colven's life mission was to give a voice to the voiceless. In this film, it's her own story that gets told. A sobering look at the dangerous lengths journalists go, both physically and mentally, to do their job.
"Can You Ever Forgive Me?" R
- An alcoholic New Yorker scrapes the bottom of her career, and her life, as she struggles to make a pay check. Her desperation turns to deceit when she resorts to forging letters from literary icons. Melissa McCarthy gives a penetrating, dramatic performance of the famous writer and infamous plagiarist, Lee Israel.
