Don't Bogart My Blog: Movies Update: 'Serenity,' 'The Image Book' and More

Plus, a look at Oscar bait movies where interracial friendships come with a paycheck.

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Friday, January 25, 2019

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Kyle Buchanan

Pop Culture Reporter

Hey, movie fans! It's your faithful Carpetbagger.

This week's new releases include "Serenity," a thriller with Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway, as well as the family-friendly "Kid Who Would Be King" from Joe Cornish, who last directed the 2011 sci-fi comedy "Attack the Block." Hot on the heels of two Oscar nominations for best foreign-language film and best cinematography, you can also catch the German film about the artist Gerhard Richter, "Never Look Away."

Meanwhile, I'm in Park City, Utah, escaping the Oscar-season hubbub for just a week to catch new movies at the Sundance Film Festival. The fest opened last night with Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams in a remake of the Danish film "After the Wedding," and then a provocative, modernized adaptation of Richard Wright's novel "Native Son" starring the "Moonlight" actor Ashton Sanders, who continues to be one to watch.

Today, after moderating a TimesTalks with Jackie Chan, I'm off to see two of my most anticipated films of the festival: "Honey Boy," where Shia LaBeouf plays a character modeled on his own father, and "Late Night," which Mindy Kaling scripted and stars in opposite Emma Thompson. If you happen to be in Park City as well, come by my TimesTalks every morning! In the days to come, I'll be talking to Ashton Sanders and KiKi Layne, Boots Riley and Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Jenny Slate and Ed Helms.

Why Do the Oscars Keep Falling for Racial Reconciliation Fantasies?

Photo illustration by Delphine Diallo for The New York Times; Universal Pictures, STX Films, Warner Bros. DreamWorks Pictures (Film stills)

By WESLEY MORRIS

In many Oscar bait movies, interracial friendships come with a paycheck, and follow the white character's journey to enlightenment.

Movie Reviews

'Serenity': Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and One Very Bad Mess

By WESLEY MORRIS

As Captain Baker Dill, McConaughey is asked to throw his ex-wife's new husband into the ocean. He should have thrown the script in instead.

Critic's Pick

'The Image Book': Godard Looks at Violence, and Movies

By A.O. SCOTT

Jean-Luc Godard's latest film is a gloomy, lively essay on some disturbing history, cinema and himself.

'Never Look Away': A Lush Adventure in Sex, Politics and Painting

By A.O. SCOTT

This film, based on the life of Gerhard Richter, follows a German artist from the Nazi era to the 1960s.

Critic's Pick

Sally Forrest plays a dancer who contracts polio, and Keefe Brasselle is her husband in Ida Lupino's

'Never Fear': Revisiting a Film from Ida Lupino, Hollywood Star Turned Director

By MANOHLA DARGIS

This 1949 movie that has been superbly restored tells the story of a dancer felled by polio.

From left, Rhianna Dorris, Tom Taylor, Dean Chaumoo and Louis Ashbourne Serkis in

'The Kid Who Would Be King': Cult Director Waxes Arthurian

By BILGE EBIRI

Joe Cornish bestows Excalibur upon a boy who is fleeing bullies, and the legend comes alive, just when a divided country needs a hero.

'The Invisibles': On the Run and in Plain Sight in World War II

By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

Splicing two movies into a documentary-fiction hybrid, the director Claus Räfle follows four German Jews as they resist deportation to the camps.

A scene from the Brazilian animated film

'Tito and the Birds': Pigeons Carrying a Message

By BEN KENIGSBERG

The film's pleasures are primarily visual, whether it's the swirls of paint suggesting a fiery lab accident, the design quirks or the shadowy palette.

Sanda Ould Bouamama, a leader of Ansar Dine, an al Qaeda-linked group in Mali, in

'Jihadists': Interviewing, but Not Challenging, Islamic Extremists

By BEN KENIGSBERG

In this French documentary, extremists in Mali, Tunisia and Mauritania preach to the camera. If its directors offered any pushback, it doesn't show.

Tom Courtenay, left, and Michael Caine in

'King of Thieves': Michael Caine Leads a Crew of Artful Codgers

By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

Based on the 2015 Hatton Garden burglary, the film has many familiar faces. They're just a bit older now.

Anatomy of a Scene

'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' and How a Scene Crawled to Life

By MEKADO MURPHY

The directors of the Oscar-nominated film discuss the spider-bite sequence that changes everything for its main character, Miles Morales.

News & Features

The Carpetbagger

Blockbusters, #MeToo and More: 4 Takeaways From the Oscar Nominations

By KYLE BUCHANAN

There was heartening news for an academy that nearly introduced a popular-film award. But accusations against the director of "Bohemian Rhapsody" show the group's limits.

Jonas Mekas in 2017. Part intellectual, part enthusiast, part provocateur, Mr. Mekas could be counted on to sound off on behalf of experimental films.

Jonas Mekas, 'Godfather' of American Avant-Garde Film, Is Dead at 96

By BRUCE WEBER

Lithuanian-born, he arrived in New York in 1949 and became a prolific filmmaker, curator, critic and evangelist for independent movies, especially experimental ones.

Lee said it was no secret that his nomination took 30 years in the making.

Spike Lee Reacts to His First Best-Director Nomination

By REGGIE UGWU

The filmmaker behind "BlacKkKlansman" likes being the underdog: "We're the dark horse in the race, pun intended."

Adam Driver, left, and John David Washington in a scene from

Where to Stream the 2019 Oscar-Nominated Movies

By SCOTT TOBIAS

Many of the biggest nominees are already streaming. Here's a rundown of what they are and where to find them.

The climactic family road trip in Alfonso Cuarón's

2019 Oscar Nominations: Full Ballot

See this year's Oscar nominees and make your picks.

Critics' Picks

Melody, left, Desirae and Deondra Brown in a scene from the film.

'The 5 Browns'

By GLENN KENNY

A new documentary tells the painful but ultimately hopeful story of a classical music quintet of siblings, three of whom were molested by their father.