This weekend's recommendations will have you tapping into a multitude of emotions. Up To Date's indie, foreign, and documentary film critics are presenting educational and historical documentaries, melancholic dramas, and some very quirky — and at times very dark — comedies.
Steve Walker
The Last Word, R
- Though it dips into sentimentality, this comedy features a valiant 82-year-old Shirely MacLaine — with 60 years of film experience, and every line on her face well-earned — as a former advertising executive determined to make sure her obituary doesn't reflect her regrettable mistakes.
Song to Song, R
- With no less than six Oscar-winners or -nominees among the cast, Terrence Malick's new film about love, lust, and loss around the Austin, Texas, music scene eschews a straight narrative for a series of artfully composed scenes that recall a mosaic of visually arresting sea glass.
I Am Not Your Negro, PG-13
- A whip-smart documentary portrait of writer James Baldwin that combines archival footage of speeches and talk show appearances with passages from his unfinished book about Martin Luther King, Macolm X and Medgar Evers.
Beck Ireland
The Lure, Unrated
- An off-beat horror comedy centering on a love triangle between two mermaid sisters, and a human man. Not your typical fairy tale, director Agnieszka Smocynska creates a genre-defying and lust-charged ride for viewers.
The Sense of an Ending, PG-13
- Based on Julian Barnes' novel, a quiet man enjoys his simple existence until secrets of his past force him to reflect on his young adulthood and its consequences. Learning the truth about his first love, Tony Webster finds his way from remorse to redemption.
I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore, Unrated
- After her grandmother's silverware is stolen and she is snubbed by authorities, Ruth turns to vigilante justice. Partnering up with her martial arts-obsessed neighbor, Elijah Wood, the duo follow a crime trail they soon can't find their way out of.
Bob Butler
Get Out, R
- A film that is sure to make any viewer question the idea of a post-racial society. Jordan Peele writes and directs an incredibly witty and troubling film, centered on a boyfriend meeting his significant other's family on a weekend getaway.
Kedi, Unrated
- The documentary about the stray cats of Istanbul, Turkey, demonstrates — in vignettes both moving, and, even to a dog person, adorable — why the city's residents feel like they are "on the same frequency" as their beloved felines.
I Am Not Your Negro, PG-13
- From the civil rights movement to #BlackLivesMatter, this documentary questions the representation of African-Americans throughout history in Hollywood and other outlets. Based on James Baldwin's unfinished book, Raoul Peck envisions the end with modern influence.
