Movies Update: 'Judy,' 'Abominable' and More

Plus, Eddie Murphy is bringing Eddie Murphy back.

View in browser|nytimes.com SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

By Kyle Buchanan

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

Today kicks off the New York Film Festival, which snagged one very notable premiere in Martin Scorsese's crime drama "The Irishman," starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci. (The story spans decades, while the movie itself spans three and a half hours.) NYFF attendees will also get the chance to sample some of the most buzzed-about films from other recent festivals, including "Marriage Story," "Parasite," "Joker" and the surprise late addition of "Uncut Gems."

And what of this week's non-NYFF releases? They include the animated "Abominable," the limited debut of Renée Zellweger as Judy Garland in "Judy," Steven Soderbergh's Netflix satire "The Laundromat" and Takashi Miike's "First Love."

Daniel Dorsa for The New York Times   On Comedy Eddie Murphy Is Bringing Eddie Murphy Back In a wide-ranging interview, the star explains why he's returning to stand-up and the big screen, why he regrets leaving and why it's hard to watch himself in "Raw" these days.

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MOVIE REVIEWS 'Judy' Review: The Singer (Disaster, Legend) at Rainbow's End Renée Zellweger plays Judy Garland near the end of her life, when she grasped onto one more comeback and one last chance. by manohla dargis 'The Laundromat' Review: Meryl Streep in a Cycle of Spin In a film about the Panama Papers scandal, Steven Soderbergh convenes a seminar in international finance, with Antonio Banderas, Gary Oldman and Sharon Stone. by a.o. scott 'Abominable' Review: Are We There, Yeti? Visual dazzle helps animate a familiar creature-rescue story. by glenn kenny 'The Death of Dick Long' Review: About Last Night … Three young Alabama men have a less-than-enchanted evening in this dark comedy. by glenn kenny 'The Day Shall Come' Review: The Revolution Will Be Compromised This cartoonish counterterrorism satire is a slapstick circus that can't decide who is slapping whom. by jeannette catsoulis 'Sister Aimee' Review: Bible Belter In this weird, erratic film, a famous evangelist and singer fakes her own death and heads for Mexico. by jeannette catsoulis 'Jim Allison: Breakthrough' Review: Taking On Cancer He won a Nobel Prize for his discoveries in immunotherapy. This documentary shows how he got there. by ben kenigsberg 'Anthropocene: The Human Epoch' Review: Global Warnings This documentary narrated by Alicia Vikander captures alarming ways in which Earth's natural beauty has been disturbed. by ben kenigsberg

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ANATOMY OF A SCENE Jaap Buitendijk/Focus Features   Anatomy Of A Scene Watch an Awkward and Funny Moment From 'Downton Abbey' The film's director, Michael Engler, narrates a sequence involving a servant and a comic gaffe.

NEWS & FEATURES Sony Pictures Classics, via Associated Press   Critic's Notebook Around the Movie World in 17 Days at the New York Film Festival This year's edition includes the latest from Martin Scorsese, Pedro Almodóvar, Kelly Reichardt and Bong Joon-ho. Ryan Pfluger for The New York Times   The Carpetbagger Renée Zellweger Will Be Back in a Moment The Oscar winner took a six-year break from acting. Now, she is steeling herself for the spotlight with her portrayal of Judy Garland in her final years. Universal Studios/DreamWorks   REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK In 'Abominable,' Asian Actors Play Asian Characters. What a Novelty. Also rare for a big-studio animated feature, it's centered on a modern Chinese family. Will it help change the lack of Asian representation onscreen? Even its supporters are unsure. Rozette Rago for The New York Times   A Photographer Looks for Herself In the Movies She Loved What if these coming-of-age films had all-Asian casts?

STREAMING streaming movie review 'In the Shadow of the Moon' Review: A Twisty Romp Through Time and Genre Jim Mickle's unconventional serial-killer movie for Netflix is clever, if bloody messy. by chris vognar How a 'Walking Dead' Guru Brought 'Creepshow' Back to Life The 1982 film, directed by George Romero and written by Stephen King, changed Greg Nicotero's life. Now he has brought the franchise full circle, and invited his old friends. by austin considine A Director Who Is Old School With a Vengeance S. Craig Zahler's brutal, stylized action films, "Bone Tomahawk," "Brawl in Cell Block 99" and "Dragged Across Concrete," exemplify an attitude: Mash a genre, smash a skull. by j. hoberman

CRITICS' PICKS critic's pick 'First Love' Review: Eluding Assassins With the Help of a Boxer The prolific director Takashi Miike delivers an unusually satisfying Japanese genre romp. by glenn kenny 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. by manohla dargis 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

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