Review by Dan Skip Allen

The thing I like about documentaries is they focus on a lot of different topics. It's especially interesting to learn about places and people that I might not have known about before. In the case of My Darling Supermarket, the filmmakers focus on a grocery store chain called Veran Supermarcados, a Brazilian company not too dissimilar to grocery stores in the United States. 

The film deals with some of the employees of Veran, including an Asset Control worker (nicknamed "The Eye in the Sky"), two bakery workers named Rodrigo & Kelly who may or may not have feelings for each other, a baker/dishwasher who likes manga & anime and does cosplay in their spare time, a cashier with anxiety issues, and a warehouse worker and manager who has thoughts about the great hereafter. All of these people do regular jobs in a grocery store just like any other store.

Employees walking around doing their jobs is a regular occurrence in the film. One sequence follows a guy who is zoning, bringing all the merchandise to the front of the shelves. This is a familiar trick in American grocery stores as well. It's neat to see stores in different countries do similar things. This store will be very familiar to viewers despite the language barrier that separates them.

The film is a nice look at these regular people who work at a grocery store. It also has some nice camera tricks up its sleeve. The filmmaker uses some creative techniques to put the camera in interesting places like a bread grinder and looking out at the screens viewing the store from the eye in the sky. The score is really nice as well. It has a melancholy feeling to it. It's very mellow and soothing. It is placed best over the quieter moments of the film.

My Darling Supermarket is a nice little film. It offers a look into grocery stores in another country, but the point is in seeing how it's very similar to our own in the United States. The characters were interesting but their stories were not that exceptional. They were just normal people who worked at this store featured in the film. A few different camera tricks and a warily soothing and melancholy score added to the overall feel of the film. This may not be a great or revolutionary film, but for what it is, it works.

My Darling Supermarket streams in virtual cinemas beginning February 24. A list of participating locations can be found here.

Rating: 2.5/5

Review by Sean Boelman

Nicholas Jarecki’s opioid epidemic thriller Crisis straddles the line between being an above average B-movie and a below average ensemble drama. Consistently entertaining but never really fulfilling the full potential of the premise, this is better than anyone would have expected even if it isn’t particularly memorable.

The film tells the interconnected stories of a drug smuggler trying to arrange an operation between the U.S. and Canada, a recovering addict mother investigating the mysterious disappearance of her son, and a research professor challenging Big Pharma. Jarecki’s script definitely has a lot of compelling elements in play, but it isn’t evenly developed.

Both the drug smuggler and missing son storylines are very conventional and don’t deviate much from the formula. Forced emotional beats and melodrama abound, and the result doesn’t have a true impact. The Big Pharma storyline is much more unique and has a lot more to say, but Jarecki doesn’t seem to trust the audience to get invested in the less action-packed storyline. 

The character development in the movie is also somewhat lacking. Although this is a very common sin of films that have this many moving parts, it feels like a lot of the characterization is accomplished through exposition rather than other, more cinematic means. And in the case of the missing son storyline, we aren’t given enough time to form a connection before we are expected to care.

Jarecki was able to assemble a really strong ensemble for his movie, but more often than not, they aren’t given much to do. The highlights are Gary Oldman, who gives an unexpectedly nuanced turn as the ethically-conflicted professor, and Guy Nadon, whose sinisterly charming kingpin doesn’t get enough screen time. Others, like Greg Kinnear, Michelle Rodriguez, Kid Cudi, Lily-Rose Depp, and Luke Evans are underused.

Perhaps most disappointing is that the film doesn’t seem to care very much about the opioid epidemic at all. Random statistics spouted by characters in dialogue and title cards right before the credits roll aren’t enough to make a statement much more nuanced than “drugs are bad”. Instead, addiction serves as a backdrop for a popcorn movie, which isn’t what needs to be done. 

On a technical level, Jarecki’s film is more than competent. The action sequences are shot in a way that is legitimately suspenseful, and this keeps the story moving along despite its nearly two-hour runtime. Jarecki also does a good job of immersing the viewer in this world that both feels real and distanced from that in which we live.

Crisis isn’t a great movie, ultimately weighed down by its lack of thematic and character development. Still, it’s far more entertaining and well-made than a majority of other generic crime thrillers that come out these days.

Crisis hits theaters on February 26 and VOD on March 5.

​Rating: 3/5

Review by Camden Ferrell

The events of Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art, may not be familiar to outsiders of the art community at the time of these events. Regardless, the newest film from writer/director Barry Avrich is a very informative and comprehensive description of events. Even though it loses steam by its final act, this documentary is equal parts surprising and interesting.
 
This documentary details the largest art fraud in American history. In the rich and obsessed art world of New York, a couple brings numerous forged paintings that are then sold to collectors at the reputable Knoedler Gallery. This is an interesting story that isn’t talked about enough in film, and it’s a great basis for the documentary.
 
One of the most commendable aspects of this documentary is how the director is able to frame the exposition of its subjects into an engaging and effective storytelling device. Especially in the first hour of the film, it is fast paced and doesn’t suffer from any of the lulls associated with heavy exposition.
 
The aforementioned steady pace of the film can be contributed significantly to the charisma of its interviewees. Featuring many members of the art community and the legal teams associated with this case, this documentary utilizes them as storytellers, and it works very well in the film’s favor. 

​The movie also does a great job of informing laymen of the jargon of the community without talking down to the audience. It’s truly informative in that regard. For someone like myself, with little knowledge of the inner workings of this industry, I found myself consistently educated throughout this film.
 
Despite a lot of the film’s virtues, it ultimately flies too close to the sun in its final 30 minutes. It spends its first hour astutely building up the story to its climax and ultimately fumbles it. Rather than maintaining the momentum of the beginning, the final act doubles down on certain aspects that ultimately feel disappointing. It drags significantly in comparison to the rest of the film.
 
Even though it severely runs out of steam in the end, it’s still a very thorough exploration into a truly surprising story that is full of twists. It should be appeal to both fans and novices to this world that is more interesting than it initially seems.
 
Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art is an above average documentary from Avrich. There’s a lot to enjoy from its elements of storytelling and its informative nature.
 
Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art is available on Netflix February 23.
 
Rating: 3.5/5

Review by Sean Boelman

The unexpectedly decade-long franchise based on the 2003 horror flick Wrong Turn isn’t known for particularly high quality, hence the surprise of most when it turned out that the 2021 reboot is a legitimately entertaining addition to the genre. Sharing the title and Appalachian setting but not much else with the series, this is the type of brutal but not overly cheap film that horror fans didn’t know they wanted. 

Alan McElroy, who also wrote the original movie, penned this new script that also has a “characters by” credit for himself. Following a group of friends who get lost hiking on the Appalachian Trail and find themselves at odds with a ritualistic community, the film eliminates the cannibal threat that defined the other six entries.

Instead, the movie takes an approach that is much more reminiscent of something like Saw — a series of gruesome and creative traps resulting in some truly inspired death scenes. It may not be much more original than what the premise that kickstarted the series had to offer, but it’s executed much more effectively.

It’s also interesting to see this film have a lot more substance than one would expect from a B-movie horror flick. There is obviously the clear didactic message, but what really stands out is the way in which it explores the idea of barbarism and how society has arguably become less evolved despite its development.

Perhaps the best thing that this film has to offer is its world-building. This takes the series in a very different direction and while this does work well as a one-off, it would be interesting to see some of the mythology of The Foundation explored and expanded upon. However, the potential is also there for this to turn into yet another derivative franchise.

The acting in the movie is also surprisingly strong. Bill Sage gives an enjoyably unhinged performance as the antagonistic cult leader. It’s a big performance in many ways, but it’s never so over the top as to go into caricature territory. Charlotte Vega is also very good, giving a strong turn as the final girl.

There are also some really interesting technical aspects in play here. Although the gore shots don’t last very long, they are disturbing despite their brevity. Some of the deaths happen so quickly and unexpectedly that they have an undeniable visceral impact that a lot of shock factor horror films have failed to achieve recently.

This new take on Wrong Turn shouldn’t be underestimated just because of the series’s bad reputation. This is an unexpectedly well-crafted horror movie with some genuinely great moments that will be etched into viewers’ memory for quite a while.

Wrong Turn hits VOD and DVD on February 23.

Rating: 3.5/5

Review by Dan Skip Allen

As a genre, biopics can make for some of the greatest movies ever or they can be pieces of trash. Musical biopics are a way to show the ups and downs of musicians' lives. A lot of musicians have had a rough upbringing or struggles in their lives. As per the title of the film, The United States vs. Billie Holiday deals with Billie Holiday fighting for her rights as a songwriter and entertainer.

Billie Holiday (Andra Day) is a jazz/pop singer in the early 19th century. She is widely considered one of the best ever in her genre of music. She is famous for singing the controversial song "Strange Fruit" which talks about the oppression of African-American people in this country in the past and present. The FBI has it out for her and won't let her sing that song at any concert without repercussions. The lead agent in charge is Harry Anslinger (Garrett Hedlund). He will stop at nothing to prevent Holiday from singing that song.

Day gives an incredible performance as this woman dealing with personal struggles with her relationships, drug addiction, and the government having it out on her. This is one of the most gritty biopics I have ever seen. These films can be preachy or sappy and this one is neither. It gives an eye-opening look at a woman and her life that has rarely been seen before. Lady Sings the Blues was a previous film about Billie Holiday starring Diana Ross. It's nowhere near as good as this film is. It's not hard to compare.

​Lee Daniels has had a rough go of it lately. His early films Precious and The Butler garnered a lot of critical and financial success. The Paperboy not so much. He ended up getting into the television game with Empire and Star as series creator and writer. His return to big Hollywood films is quite an achievement. He captured this world that Holiday lives in very nicely. It looked like it's lived in and was real. That's very effective in getting this hard-hitting story across. Daniels has a winner on his hands this time.

I am a fan of a great musical biopic. The best of the genre can capture the ups and downs in these artists' histories. They get to the crux of these performers. The United States vs. Billie Holiday is no different. This film doesn't shy away from the physical abuse she goes through at the hands of her multiple husbands or the intravenous drug use/addiction and eventual death of Holiday. It's painful to watch at times throughout the film.

This film has a vast cast of actors playing various people in Holiday's life and she penetrates as well as the FBI. Another standout is Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight) as Jimmy Fletcher, an FBI agent who has feelings for Holiday. He was torn between his duty for his government and his love for Holiday. Leslie Jordan plays a radio show host that interviews Holiday and Daniels use this interview as a framing device. His character doesn't shy away from asking the hard questions.

The United States vs. Billie Holiday is one of the best biopics I've seen in recent memory. It gets to the hard-hitting topics and tackles them very adeptly. This film isn't for the lighthearted. Andra Day deserves all the critical praise she's getting because this performance is one of the best of the year. Daniels has assembled all the pieces for a very good look at the tragic life of this amazing singer Billie Holiday.

The United States vs. Billie Holiday streams on Hulu beginning February 26.

Rating: 4/5