The Stop Button

Anora (2024) D: Sean Baker. S: Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov, Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, Luna Sofía Miranda, Lindsey Normington. Good but overlong story of stripper Madison and son-of-a-Russian-oligarch Eydelshteyn going from a professional arrangement to a quickie wedding. Except then his family finds out. The “courtship”’s way too long (with shockingly little character development for Madison), but the second half picks up. Strong performances, great direction, no ending (because it was never about Madison).

A Different Man (2024) D: Aaron Schimberg. S: Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, Adam Pearson. Pretty good drama about Stan going from having a disfiguring facial condition to looking like Sebastian Stan. The first half of the picture, which has Stan almost entirely in prosthetics and forming a friendship with new neighbor Reinsve, is solid. The second half, despite a delightful performance from Pearson (who actually has Stan’s dramatized condition), misses its marks.

Doc Hollywood (1991) D: Michael Caton-Jones. S: Michael J. Fox, Julie Warner, Barnard Hughes, Woody Harrelson, David Ogden Stiers, George Hamilton, Bridget Fonda. Barely charming romcom about hotshot surgeon Fox getting sentenced to be a small-town doctor while his car gets fixed. Then he meets Warner, who he’s destined by plotting to pursue. Not a good vehicle for Fox (or anyone, save maybe Fonda and Harrelson; but barely). Maybe if director Caton-Jones noticed the changing and disparate Southern accents.

Event Horizon (1997) D: Paul W. S. Anderson. S: Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan, Joely Richardson, Richard T. Jones, Jason Isaacs, Sean Pertwee. Boring, bad sci-fi horror picture about a rescue mission to a ghost spaceship. Fishburne’s captain’s tough but fair and cares, Neill’s mad(?) scientist has secrets. Everyone else is either collateral damage, comic relief, or terror fodder. At least Neill’s so terrible he overshadows mid to bad performances from everyone else. Lousy special effects, beyond derivative script; the pits.

Harlem Nights (1989) D: Eddie Murphy. S: Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx, Danny Aiello, Michael Lerner, Della Reese, Lela Rochon. Murphy’s debut as a writer-director has problems, but the film’s production values are top notch and there’s some great acting. Pryor is a nightclub owner in thirties HARLEM, Murphy’s his kid. White gangsters decide to muscle them out. Strange, earnest performance from Pryor. Murphy doesn’t know what to do with it. Reese is hilarious and Lela Rochon’s excellent.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) D: Yorgos Lanthimos. S: Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Barry Keoghan. Absurdly affected psychological thriller about teenager Keoghan terrorizing Farrell and his family. Keoghan blames surgeon Farrell for his father’s death, and the piper wants to be paid. They’re both great. Kidman is not as Farrell’s wife (can’t hold the accent even), but her part’s lousy. Alicia Silverstone’s cameo’s rough, too. Director Lanthimos’s very busy and opinionated, but nothing more.

The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) D: Martin Scorsese. S: Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey. Ambitious Scorsese biblical epic has a conflicted Jesus (Dafoe) trying to understand his situation as moving through the familiar New Testament stories. Keitel’s a standout as Judas, the viewer’s surrogate. The film gets through its bumpier parts–mostly the transition from miracles to the crucifixion–thanks to amazing technicals, an excellent performance from Dafoe, and the great Peter Gabriel score.

The Secret of My Success (1987) D: Herbert Ross. S: Michael J. Fox, Helen Slater, Richard Jordan, Margaret Whitton, John Pankow, Christopher Murney, Gerry Bamman. Fox is a farm boy gone to New York City to become a yuppie. Overlong by a lot, with tedious song montages and inert direction from Ross. The real problem’s the script, which doesn’t give the game cast much to work with (especially poor Slater). Whitton’s great as Fox’s aunt (by marriage) and lover. Everyone else just tries to stay afloat.