Movies Update: 'Ad Astra' and More

Plus, how the "Downton Abbey" TV team made a movie.

View in browser|nytimes.com SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

By Kyle Buchanan

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

A few days after my last newsletter to you, the Toronto International Film Festival announced the results of its People's Choice Award, an audience-voted trophy that often gives us a sense of what films might pop this Oscar season. Last year, this was the first award "Green Book" won, but certainly not the last.

So what movie triumphed this time around? The first-place getter was Taika Waititi's "Jojo Rabbit," an audacious Nazi satire that I expect will be one of this year's most talked-about specialty films; second-place went to Noah Baumbach's "Marriage Story," while Bong Joon-Ho's Palme d'Or winner "Parasite" picked up third. If all three of those movies make it into the best-picture race, we'll have an awfully exciting category.

This week's wide releases are the Brad Pitt space drama "Ad Astra," Sylvester Stallone in "Rambo: Last Blood" and a big-screen continuation of the series "Downton Abbey." In more limited release are films including Paolo Sorrentino's "Loro" and the dark comedy "Corporate Animals," as well as documentaries looking at a soccer star ("Diego Maradona") and a fixer ("Where's My Roy Cohn?").

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Francois Duhamel/20th Century Fox   Critic's Pick 'Ad Astra' Review: Brad Pitt Orbits the Powers of Darkness The latest from the director James Gray centers on an astronaut whose mission into deep space becomes a voyage of self-discovery.

MOVIE REVIEWS 'Downton Abbey' Review: Back to the Past From its spectacularly detailed aesthetic to the characters' march down well-worn personality paths, the movie argues insistently for the status quo. by jeannette catsoulis 'Rambo: Last Blood' Review: Death Country for Old Men While the killings in this continuation of Rambo saga are zestfully depicted, the movie overall is rote. by glenn kenny 'Loro' Review: A Corrupt Leader, and the People Who Love Him Toni Servillo plays the former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Paolo Sorrentino's extravagant portrait. by a.o. scott 'Midnight Traveler' Review: A Refugee Family's Search for Safe Harbor The global migration crisis comes into intimate view in this documentary about an Afghan family's arduous journey toward asylum. by manohla dargis 'Where's My Roy Cohn?' Review: A Fixer's Progress A documentary traces the life and times of a notorious lawyer whose career stretched from Joseph McCarthy to Donald J. Trump. by a.o. scott 'Corporate Animals' Review: Trust Falls at the Center of the Earth Demi Moore plays the unpleasant boss of unpleasant people trying to survive after a cave collapses on a company retreat. by glenn kenny 'Zeroville' Review: An Innocent Finds a New Religion A near-catatonic James Franco plays a movie-obsessed innocent in "Zeroville," a painful head trip through 1970s Hollywood. by jeannette catsoulis

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ANATOMY OF A SCENE Francois Duhamel/20th Century Fox   Anatomy Of A Scene Watch Brad Pitt in a Chase on the Moon in 'Ad Astra' The director James Gray narrates a moment that uses actual images of the moon as the setting for a harrowing rover action sequence.

NEWS & FEATURES Brooke Palmer   How to Solve the Stephen King Adaptation Puzzle The directors of "It Chapter Two" and the coming "Doctor Sleep" know all that can go wrong with film versions of his work. Here's what they learned. Jaap Buitendijk/Focus Features, via Associated Press   5 Lessons the 'Downton Abbey' TV Team Learned About Filmmaking Julian Fellowes, the show's creator, and the producer Gareth Neame had a lot of characters to work with and a lot of fans to satisfy. Here's how they navigated the challenge.

STREAMING streaming movie review 'Between Two Ferns: The Movie' Review: Taking a (Web) Show on the Road Zach Galifianakis's popular "Funny or Die" series has been turned into a road pic. Should it have been? by jason bailey NBCUniversal Introduces Peacock, Its New Streaming Service The service joins a competitive streaming field, and it will offer new shows that incorporate elements of older NBCUniversal properties. by nicole sperling Funny or Die Finds New Life in the Streaming Era The company, which began as a comedy website, has branched out to podcasts and feature films, including "Between Two Ferns: The Movie," which debuts on Netflix on Friday. by nicole sperling

CRITICS' PICKS critic's pick 'Diego Maradona' Review: A Soccer Player Who Got His Kicks The filmmaker Asif Kapadia (who won an Oscar for "Amy") cuts through the filler of conventional sports documentaries. by ben kenigsberg critic's pick 'Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice' Review: And What a Voice It Is The career of a vocalist who sang every kind of song that's ever been made. by a.o. scott

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