Review: Disappointing ‘Beauty,’ another college admissions scandal and more movies

‘Magnificence’

The musical drama “Magnificence” ought to’ve been a smash. Director Andrew Dosunmu is famend for his visually placing photos equivalent to “Mom of George,” which provide intense, expressionistic takes on alienation. Screenwriter and co-producer Lena Waithe is acclaimed for her work on the TV sequence “Grasp of None” and “The Chi.” The movie has a grabby premise, evenly fictionalizing the story of the pre-fame Whitney Houston, right here named Magnificence (Gracie Marie Bradley). The solid consists of Niecy Nash because the singer’s compassionate mom, Giancarlo Esposito as her domineering father and Sharon Stone because the supervisor who needs her to be blander — which means “whiter.”

But the film’s Tribeca Movie Competition premiere got here and went with out a lot buzz, and now the movie is dropping on Netflix with even much less fanfare. On the day it premiered on streaming, “Magnificence” didn’t also have a Wikipedia web page. It’s extremely uncommon for a undertaking with this many massive names to garner so little consideration. And it’s unlucky, too, as a result of whereas “Magnificence” doesn’t actually work, it does fail in fascinating methods.

Waithe’s model of Houston’s story — by which a phenomenally gifted, simply marketable singer is secretly having a lesbian affair along with her private assistant — is suffused with private feeling, coming from an overtly homosexual Black girl who herself has needed to hustle to make it in present enterprise. However Waithe too typically pares the story all the way down to archetypes in ways in which clumsily recall mid-Twentieth century progressive theater. Magnificence’s bickering brothers are named Cain and Abel, for instance, and Stone’s character is named “Colonizer.”

Dosunmu has a couple of standout moments of staging, together with a haunting scene the place Magnificence watches each Judy Garland and Patti LaBelle sing “Someplace Over the Rainbow” and ponders which form of performer she ought to be. However this semi-true story is in the end too sketchy to have something efficient to say about Houston, mainstream success or being within the closet. On paper, this film is de facto one thing. Onscreen, it lacks dimension.

‘Magnificence.’ R, for language and drug use. 1 hour, 35 minutes. Out there on Netflix.

‘Accepted’

In November of 2018, the New York Occasions revealed a narrative about T.M. Landry School Preparatory, an unaccredited Louisiana personal college that had gotten a number of optimistic nationwide press for touchdown underprivileged teenagers in Ivy League faculties however which, based on the newspaper, had been faking transcripts and abusing college students. Documentary filmmaker Dan Chen and his crew began interviewing Landry children — together with the college’s charismatic co-founder Mike Landry — earlier than the scandal broke, aspiring to comply with a handful of seniors by way of commencement. As an alternative, his film “Accepted” went a special means.

The manufacturing’s unusual circumstances clearly had an affect on what “Accepted” grew to become — and never all the time for the higher. The story that emerged midshoot calls for extra investigative rigor fairly than a free assortment of interviews and slice-of-life scenes. Nonetheless, “Accepted” is remarkably affecting, because of the best way Chen works his means again to what his doc is de facto about.

The Landry children who had their school goals yanked away by the Occasions exposé aren’t frauds. They’re good and vibrant kids who felt they wanted an establishment like Landry to assist them make the form of connections that wealthy college students often get pleasure from. By specializing in the collateral injury of the scandal, “Accepted” takes on the entire damaged school admissions system, arguing that the obsession with “elite” universities could also be an impediment to training.

‘Accepted.’ Not rated. 1 hour, 32 minutes. In restricted launch, together with the Laemmle Monica Movie Middle, Santa Monica; additionally out there on VOD.

George Blagden, from left, Julia Franz Richter and Mark Ivanir within the film “Rubikon.”

(Philipp Brozsek / IFC Midnight)

‘Rubikon’

Director Leni Lauritsch’s debut characteristic movie, “Rubikon,” is a science fiction drama tackling massive points in a scaled-down means, placing three characters aboard an area station and letting them speak it out. Julia Franz Richter performs Hannah, a soldier on an environmentally devastated future Earth, the place the rich dwell in sealed bubbles and the armies work for companies. She and wealthy child Gavin (George Blagden) go to an orbiting science lab the place Dimitri (Mark Ivanir) is experimenting with life-sustaining algae-centered ecosystems. There, all three keep away from the poisonous cloud beneath that wipes out a lot of the planet’s inhabitants.

Except for a scene the place Hannah is on a spacewalk and sees the lights going out on Earth, “Rubikon” doesn’t have a number of typical style “motion.” Lauritsch and her co-screenwriter, Jessica Lind — and their excellent solid — as a substitute emphasize the interaction between this well-meaning trio, who all have completely different concepts about whether or not they need to head again dwelling to hitch the survivors or keep in area the place their know-how can preserve them alive. The dialogue-heavy state of affairs robs the movie of some rigidity, however the conversations are sometimes fairly thrilling as these three debate what they owe to what stays of humanity, in a society that way back stopped caring about anybody who couldn’t afford a secure place to dwell.

‘Rubikon.’ Not rated. 1 hour, 50 minutes. In restricted launch, together with the Laemmle Glendale; additionally out there on VOD.

‘The Passenger’

There are echoes of John Carpenter’s “The Factor” and “Massive Bother in Little China” within the Spanish horror-comedy “The Passenger,” a classy first characteristic from co-directors Raúl Cerezo and Fernando González Gómez. Written by Luis Sánchez-Polack, the movie stars Ramiro Blas as Blasco, a blustery ride-share driver who checks the nerves of his three newest passengers as he drives the ladies by way of the countryside, all whereas boasting chauvinistically about his bygone days as a matador and rock star. Then Blasco’s van smashes right into a stranger within the darkness, and shortly the driving force and his fares change into bonded of their struggle towards what seems to be a shape-shifting alien.

The filmmakers are extremely resourceful. Whereas they shot “The Passenger” principally in and round one beat-up previous camper in the course of nowhere, their film is nonetheless suspenseful and humorous, with a couple of good jolts and gore results to fulfill fright followers. However the actual key to this image’s success is the character element. Blasco particularly is not any extraordinary horror hero — or sufferer, for that matter. He’s a fast-talking eccentric, typically irritating and typically noble — like someone who walked out of a Pedro Almodóvar movie and ran smack right into a monster film.

‘The Passenger.’ In Spanish with English subtitles. Not rated. 1 hour, half-hour. Out there on VOD.

‘Sniper: The White Raven’

The revenge thriller “Sniper: The White Raven” is simplistic however stirring: the story of a Ukrainian hippie who trains to change into a deadly killer after invading Russian forces kill his spouse. Director and co-writer Marian Bushan takes time to determine the idyllic lifetime of the ecology-minded small-town physics trainer Mykola (Pavlo Aldoshyn) earlier than a mindless act of violence upends it. After that, “Sniper” follows a standard “uncooked recruit will get whipped into form” plot as Mykola joins the military and learns to coexist with troopers — whereas additionally impressing his superiors together with his intelligence and dedication. Bushan employs completely different types all through the movie, revealing a knack for dynamic motion that his extra low-key first half-hour doesn’t recommend. He delivers the products for anybody searching for an intense warfare film — however he doesn’t let the capturing begin till everybody understands the stakes.

‘Sniper: The White Raven.’ In Ukrainian with English subtitles. R, for violence, bloody photographs, language and a few sexuality/nudity. 2 hours. In restricted theatrical launch; additionally out there on VOD.

Additionally on streaming and VOD

“Endangered” covers the delicate state of journalism world wide as residents more and more get data from sketchy web sources that vilify conventional media. Administrators Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady profile 4 reporters (working in Mexico, Brazil and the U.S.) over the course of 1 yr, capturing their rising concern that enormous parts of the general public now belief authoritarians, pundits and conspiracy theorists greater than the free press. Out there on HBO Max

“The Sword and the Dragon” (also referred to as “Ilya Muromets”) is a traditional Soviet-era fantasy movie, directed by Aleksandr Ptushko within the mid-Fifties after which reedited and redubbed in markets world wide. Newly restored in 4K, the film appears to be like gorgeous and feels epic, telling a twisty story from Russian folklore a few knight who battles invading armies, traitors, demons and fire-breathing monsters to guard his land and household. Out there on VOD.

Out there now on DVD and Blu-ray

“Out of Sight” is a profession spotlight for the prolific director Steven Soderbergh: a slick adaptation of an Elmore Leonard novel a few veteran thief (George Clooney) who flirts and matches wits with a U.S. marshal (Jennifer Lopez). The brand new 4K UHD version captures the film’s delicate nuances of colour and in addition consists of earlier variations’ glorious particular options — together with a enjoyable commentary observe by Soderbergh and screenwriter Scott Frank. KL Studio Classics