Past Lives

• Director: Celine Song
• Writer: Celine Song
• Starring: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro

Grade: A-

Fate. Love. Identity. Regret. Longing. All of these ideas are familiar devices in films when filtered through certain genres. Some of the best romances, like In the Mood for Love and the Before trilogy, deal with a number of those themes while creating memorable moments and dialogue. But those films came from celebrated, seasoned veterans who had years of experience under their belts. For writer/director Celine Song, she tackles these ideas in her searing debut Past Lives, and makes it look easy. The result is one of the best films of the year so far.

Elemental

• Director: Peter Sohn
• Writers: John Hoberg, Kat Likkel, Brenda Hsueh
• Starring: Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie, Ronnie del Carmen, Shila Ommi, Wendy McClendon-Covey, Catherine O’Hara

Grade: B

Pixar’s best films, like Ratatouille, Up, Finding Nemo, or Inside Out, have the ability to transport audiences to new worlds, and explore thought-provoking ideas that appeal to moviegoers young and old alike. Though the venerated studio has struggled to measure up to its glory days in recent years, there have been bright spots, like Turning Red or Luca. Its newest release, Elemental, attempts a four-quadrant film by crafting an adult-minded story while filling it with bright, beautifully realized characters, but ultimately falls short in some crucial areas.

Flamin’ Hot

• Director: Eva Longoria
• Writers: Lewis Colick, Linda Yvette Chavez
• Starring: Jesse Garcia, Annie Gonzalez, Dennis Haysbert, Tony Shalhoub, Emilio Rivera, Matt Walsh

Grade: B-

2022 was the year of the miniseries and television show centered on infamous real-life grifters, ranging from the enjoyable to the forgettable. Whether it was exploring Elizabeth Holmes (The Dropout) or Anna Delvy (Inventing Anna) or Anna and Rebekah Neumann (WeCrashed) – plus an extra few that I’m likely forgetting – something compelled the television gods into telling these stories all at the same time. Now, in 2023, the focus has shifted to the true stories behind some of our most iconic brands and products. First it was Nike with Air, then Nintendo and Tetris, then BlackBerry. Naturally, the next in line would be the true story of *checks notes* the creation of the “Flamin’ Hot” varietal of Cheetos with Flamin’ Hot.

BlackBerry

• Director: Matt Johnson
• Writers: Matt Johnson, Matthew Miller
• Starring: Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, Matt Johnson, Rich Sommer, Cary Elwes, Michael Ironside, SungWon Cho, Michelle Giroux

Grade: B+

Director, co-writer, and star Matt Johnson does something simple but effective in the early-goings of his newest film BlackBerry: he shows the titular device’s first prototype literally being put together. With most films in its genre, the product is shown as almost perfect from the beginning, as if it was destined to be great from conception. Johnson portrays the painstaking and frantic process of its creator Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel) Frankenstein-ing the BlackBerry prototype together from various electronics in the waning hours before its first sales pitch. The rest of the film doesn’t necessarily revolutionize similar films based on fictionalized retellings of corporate disruption, but it’s a small indication that Johnson is dedicated to what really matters within the story.

Peter Pan & Wendy

• Director: David Lowery
• Writers: David Lowery and Toby Halbrooks
• Starring: Jude Law, Ever Anderson, Alexander Molony, Yara Shahidi, Joshua Pickering, Jim Gaffigan

Grade: B

Disney’s live-action remakes of their classic films have largely been an exercise in futility. From the forgettably bland (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King) to the simply forgettable (Mulan, Aladdin) to the creatively bankrupt (Pinocchio), the projects mostly fail to justify their own existence. They almost exclusively copy the plot of the original films beat for beat, with maybe an extra song thrown in, and utilize shoddy visual effects for the more fantastical elements. So why remake Peter Pan, when countless iterations already exist? Perhaps it was always meant to happen – I imagine that somewhere in the Disney offices lies a deck of cards, and Peter Pan’s was the next one drawn – but there’s an outside chance it’s because director and co-writer David Lowery had something unique to bring to the material.

Showing Up

• Director: Kelly Reichardt
• Writers: John Raymond, Kelly Reichardt
• Starring: Michelle Williams, Hong Chau, Andre Benjamin, John Magaro, Judd Hirsch

Grade: B+

Kelly Reichardt has amassed a loyal following of arthouse cinema nerds over the course of her almost 30 year career, and she’s done so without repeating herself in each of her films. Though the subjects of her films are often vastly different, she’s shown a keen sense of understanding her characters, and the specific places they inhabit. With her latest film Showing Up, she utilizes this ability through the micro lens of the Portland art scene.