Movies Update: “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” and More

Plus "Jojo Rabbit" and "The Lighthouse"

View in browser|nytimes.com October 18, 2019

By Kyle Buchanan

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

Are you ready for the onslaught of new streaming services? Both Apple+ and Disney+ debut next month, and while the former is banking on stars like Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston to sell a slim slate of originals, Disney+ went for the nostalgia jugular this week, tweeting a massive thread of old movies and TV shows that consumers will have access to if they sign up. It was a stroke of promotional genius since nearly everyone on Twitter sparked to at least one old movie they'd either grown up on or forgotten until this week, when it came back to them in a giddy rush.

Nostalgia is going to be a potent play in the upcoming streaming wars, especially when you have services like NBC's Peacock that are touting old series like "The Office" and continuations of old shows like "Saved by the Bell" and "Punky Brewster." The streaming era was supposed to be a place where movies and TV could surprise you, now that they'd been freed from pernicious influences like box-office battles and network notes.

But when you see the list of Netflix's top 10 hits of the past year that the service released this week, where the warmed-over Adam Sandler-Jennifer Aniston comedy "Murder Mystery" was the second-biggest film, it's natural to wonder whether the future of streaming will seem less like the Wild West and more like a familiar strip mall.

This week at the box office includes two sequels showing up somewhat late to the party in "Zombieland: Double Tap" and "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil," as well as two buzzed-about fall festival movies, Taika Waititi's audacious Nazi satire "Jojo Rabbit" and the Robert Pattinson-Willem Dafoe two-hander "The Lighthouse." But that's not all! You can also check out the odd comedy "Greener Grass," Hulu's Armie Hammer thriller "Wounds," François Ozon's "By the Grace of God," and acclaimed documentaries like "Tell Me Who I Am," "The Cave" and "The Elephant Queen."

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Ryan Pfluger for The New York Times   What Can Robert Pattinson Do to Keep You Guessing? After "Twilight," the actor reinvented himself in art-house films. How will he follow "The Lighthouse" and his wildest role so far? With yet another swerve: He's playing Batman. By Kyle Buchanan

MOVIE REVIEWS 'Jojo Rabbit' Review: The Third Reich Wasn't All Fun and Games Taika Waititi's new film mixes farce, fantasy and drama in a Nazi-era coming-of-age story. by a.o. scott 'Maleficent: Mistress of Evil' Review: Sleep, Sleep, My Lovelies Angelina Jolie returns as the powerful, dangerous fairy in this tame, disappointing follow-up to the 2014 revisionist hit. by manohla dargis 'The Lighthouse' Review: Dark Nights, Troubled Souls, Hairy Men Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe play antagonistic lighthouse keepers in a twisted tale of men and loneliness. by manohla dargis 'Zombieland: Double Tap' Review: Back to Crack Wise and Crush Skulls After 10 years, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Jesse Eisenberg and Abigail Breslin are still murdering the pop-culture clichés. by a.o. scott critic's pick 'The Cave' Review: Do No Harm, for as Long as Possible Feras Fayyad's new documentary takes viewers into a subterranean Syrian hospital, as warplanes rumble overhead and bombings rattle the walls. by ben kenigsberg 'Tell Me Who I Am' Review: Twin Brothers Face an Awful Truth This documentary about siblings and irrevocable memory loss is sad and eerie to the extent that you wish it were fiction. by glenn kenny '#Female Pleasure' Review: Fighting the Patriarchy Barbara Miller's humane profile of five women fighting back against sexism and misogyny is a hopeful, clearheaded confessional. by jeannette catsoulis 'Greener Grass' Review: Life Is (Not) Beautiful Burying itself in weirdness and absurdity, this oddball movie follows two soccer moms through a surreally competitive suburban hell. by jeannette catsoulis

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NEWS & FEATURES on second thought When We Laugh at Nazis, Maybe the Joke's on Us More than a half-century after Mel Brooks made "The Producers," mocking Hitler isn't what it used to be. by a.o. scott Why the Oscars, Emmys and Tonys Are Not Ready for They and Them Asia Kate Dillon of "Billions" is calling on the Television Academy to scrap gendered categories. But the organization and others have no plans for change, for now. by cara buckley HBO Max Will Stream 'Spirited Away' and 20 Other Studio Ghibli Films Start up the cat bus: For the first time, the films from the anime studio co-founded by Hayao Miyazaki will be available on a U.S. streaming service. by nicole sperling The Many Shades of Wednesday Addams With a new "Addams Family" movie in theaters, a look back at the portrayal of one of its most popular family members over the years. by devin fuller

STREAMING streaming movie review 'Wounds' Review: He Sees Dead People Armie Hammer plays a New Orleans bartender who quickly loses his friendly veneer when a spooky cellphone takes over his life. by helen t. verongos Netflix's Top 10 Original Movies and TV Shows, According to Netflix The streaming giant had been hush-hush about how many people watch its original content. Until now. by john koblin

CRITICS' PICKS critic's pick At MoMA, Home Movies That Reveal the World "Private Lives Public Spaces" is a thought-provoking show of neglected footage from the museum's collection. With little background information available, you get to play historian and detective. by ben kenigsberg critic's pick 'The Elephant Queen' Review: Magnificent Images of Majestic Animals In footage shot over several years, this documentary follows a herd of elephants across the Kenyan savanna. by ken jaworowski

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