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      ‘Fitting In’ Review: Her Body, Herself

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      Maddie Ziegler plays a teen who is diagnosed with a rare reproductive condition in this movie that tends toward the obvious.The title of the teen dramedy “Fitting In” refers both to the social pressure to belong and to the sexual constraints caused by the 16-year-old protagonist’s reproductive condition. The double entendre sets a cheeky tone that Molly McGlynn, the film’s writer and director, strives to carry through every scene.Lindy (Maddie Ziegler) is an outgoing, athletic teen who begins the movie eager to explore sex with her new boyfriend. Her intentions are derailed, however, when she is diagnosed with a rare reproductive syndrome which, doctors warn, could present issues during intercourse. Tormented by the idea of abnormality, Lindy resolves to keep the news a secret from everyone but her harried single mother.“Fitting In” opens with consecutive quotes from Simone de Beauvoir and “Jennifer’s Body,” as if to telegraph that its story straddles culture of both the high and pop variety. I’d argue that it falls squarely inside the latter; its revelations about gender, sexuality and identity tend toward the obvious, and sometimes veer into the facile.Lindy sees her new reality as earth-shattering, and the film’s prolonged validation of her distress often makes it feel like the screenplay is straining to marginalize the condition it ultimately wants to normalize. In daily conversation, Lindy fields an awful lot of random reverence for childbirth (of which her body is incapable), and her male gynecologist is more uniformly asinine than a cartoon villain.The film contains flashes of inspiration, as when McGlynn intercuts Lindy’s use of a dilator with frenetic music and jarring clips of construction equipment. That’s when “Fitting In” is at its best — showing us Lindy’s pain rather than telling us about it.Fitting InRated R for gynecological horror and humor. Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes. In theaters. More

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      ‘Bushman’ Review: Outsider Art

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      A 1971 indie whose making was disrupted by its star’s deportation finally receives a release in New York.A film of and ahead of its time, David Schickele’s “Bushman” — first shown in 1971 and featured at New Directors/New Films in 1972 but never formally released in New York — is finally opening in a pristine restoration. Its status as a half-forgotten outsider of American independent cinema makes a weird sort of sense.It isn’t a masterpiece, but it probably couldn’t have been. The star, Paul Eyam Nzie Okpokam, was arrested and deported before shooting finished, and Schickele (who died in 1999) had to adapt. Fifteen minutes before it ends, “Bushman,” having already blurred fiction and nonfiction, becomes a documentary about the real-life circumstances that led to its unraveling. “The guy that was playing the part of Gabriel — well, he ain’t here no more,” a man explains to the camera.Until then, Okpokam, who had appeared in a previous documentary that Schickele filmed in Nigeria, has indeed played Gabriel, a Nigerian living in the hippie-radical ferment of San Francisco in 1968 — a turbulent year both domestically and in Nigeria, which was embroiled in civil war.“Bushman” could accurately be called a fish-out-of-water movie, but part of the conceit is that Gabriel, who happily identifies as a bushman, seems more settled than everyone else. (At the outset, he provides language instruction for the Peace Corps — “then they go over to Africa and teach us civilization,” he quips.) His girlfriend, Alma (Elaine Featherstone), insisting that he can’t relate to people “on the block,” tries to explain how he should “talk Black.” (Soon after, her brother makes fun of her for code switching.)After she departs from his life (and the film) for Watts, where she grew up, Gabriel encounters various others. A sociology student (Ann Scofield) regards him in academic terms (“McLuhan would really appreciate this”). A man (Jack Nance, before “Eraserhead”) tries to talk him into sex.But the jarring switch to documentary gives “Bushman” its added charge. Paul’s legal troubles — it’s strongly suggested that he was framed — amplify the echoes between the film and life. Misunderstandings no longer seem trivial. The state can only see an innocent abroad as guilty.BushmanNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 13 minutes. In theaters. More

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      ‘Dario Argento Panico’ Review: When He Says ‘Cut,’ the Scene Begins

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      This jam-packed portrait of the revered Italian horror maestro both fascinates and frustrates.To document the singular life and extensive oeuvre of the revered Italian filmmaker Dario Argento, master of the horror-mystery genre known as giallo, would require many more than the 98 minutes allotted to “Dario Argento Panico.” Yet its director, Simone Scafidi, seems driven to try, assembling a seams-bursting tribute whose cacophony of voices — family, filmmakers and collaborators — threatens to obscure its most tantalizing insights.Part career profile and part psychological exploration, “Panico” smoothly accomplishes the first but teases gold with the second. A lengthy discussion of Argento’s most celebrated films — especially “Suspiria” (1977), “Inferno” (1980) and “Tenebrae” (1982) — is followed by a swift glide over his later, lesser-known work. Throughout, Scafidi (whose 2019 biopic of Lucio Fulci proves he’s no stranger to bedeviled auteurs) presents Argento primarily as a visual artist, emphasizing the surreality of his images and the shadowy menace of his anonymous cityscapes.“Everything in Argento’s movies is trying to kill you,” opines Guillermo del Toro, one of the documentary’s most valuable and perceptive contributors. Even more essential is Argento’s younger daughter, Asia, who began acting for her father at 16 and vividly illuminates the porous, unstable border between loving family man and emotionally volatile artist. In vintage interviews, Argento ponders this duality, the depression and suicidal thoughts that have influenced his work as thoroughly as his mother’s stylized photographs of movie divas informed the way he views women.And it’s the women here — among them a sister, an ex-wife and former partners — whose faces and memories linger. At one point, Scafidi presses Cristina Marsillach, the luminous star of “Opera” (1987), to answer the question “Who is Dario Argento?”“I don’t know,” she replies, as the camera loiters on her distress. It’s not the only moment in “Panico” that leaves us feeling there is so much more to tell.Dario Argento PanicoNot rated. In Italian, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 38 minutes. Watch on Shudder. More

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      ‘Skin Deep’ Review: A Different Kind of Therapy

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      A sensitive relationship drama in sci-fi trappings explores big questions about bodies, souls and intimacy.The persistence of body-swapping as a plot device — “Freaky Friday,” “Being John Malkovich,” the recent “Jumanji” series — suggests something profound: We ache to know who we’d be if we inhabited someone else’s body. It’s a serious question, but onscreen it tends to turn into a comic showcase for the actors, who get to revel in performing the incongruity of one stable, established self invading another. Physical bodies are treated as vessels; the “real” you is in some nonphysical self that can jump blithely around.“Skin Deep,” directed by Alex Schaad, has something more philosophically profound on its mind. A reflective bit of realism wrapped in science fiction, it starts from a simple premise: What if you could go to a body-swapping retreat? The point here isn’t comedy, nor is it the mechanics, the science, or the plausibility of any of it. With the ability to switch taken for granted, it goes deeper into its premise, emerging with unsettling and profound thoughts about love, and trauma, and gender, and intimacy.I don’t want to rob you of this movie’s pleasure of skillfully constructed discovery. “Skin Deep” unfolds without hurry. What I can say is that it centers on Leyla (Mala Emde) and Tristan (Jonas Dassler), who love one another deeply but have hit one of those indescribable rough patches brought on by not quite being able to connect as they once did. They’ve boarded a ferry and headed to a two-week retreat on a tranquil remote island, invited by an old university friend of Leyla’s. Once there, the strangeness begins. “What is this place?” Tristan asks, but Leyla does not quite know.Perhaps the plot is better left there. Schaad wisely constructed “Skin Deep,” a movie about trying on someone else’s view from the inside, to replicate that experience as much as possible for the audience. Much of the film is shot with a hand-held camera, which gives the audience a sense of intimacy, as if we’re present in the room, another character in the drama. The choice to only gradually unfurl what’s going on — there are no clunky expository speeches here to establish the rules of the world for us — draws us in. We’re right there with Leyla and Tristan, just trying to figure out what is happening. Strong performances by Emde and Dassler, along with Dimitrij Schaad, Maryam Zaree, and in particular Thomas Wodianka, make the swapping less funny and more moving.But once you’ve accepted the more fantastical trappings, the film moves into a different mode. There are metaphors for body image issues and for the experiences of transgender people, rendered in a way that feels unforced. Each swap brings new questions. If you loved someone, and they were suffering, what would it mean to give them your body? If your lover finally felt like themselves in a new body — even one of a different sex — would that change your relationship? When we love someone, what does that actually mean? We love their body? Their soul? Are they even separable?We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?  More

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      ‘Barbie’ Conquered the World. Are the Grammys Next?

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      Songs from the soundtrack to Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster have 11 nominations on Sunday night, led by Billie Eilish’s heart-wrenching “What Was I Made For?”The Grammy Awards have long faced criticism for spotlighting the work of older, male artists. But at the 66th annual ceremony on Sunday night, young women dominate the nominees: SZA earned nine. The R&B singer and songwriter Victoria Monét picked up seven. Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Miley Cyrus and the band boygenius all nabbed six. And one very recognizable lady has the most nods of all: Barbie.“Barbie: The Album,” the soundtrack to the director Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster, will enter Sunday’s pre-telecast and prime-time ceremonies with 11 nominations across seven categories. (In best song written for visual media, four of its tracks will compete against one another.) Five of Billie Eilish’s six nominations this year honor “What Was I Made For?,” her spare, aching “Barbie” ballad, written with her brother, Finneas.“It’s really cool to be part of the ‘Barbie’ family,” said Eilish, who could win her third record of the year trophy for the song.“Barbie” charmed viewers at the box office with grosses of $1.4 billion worldwide, became one of last year’s inescapable cultural touchstones and scored eight Oscar nominations. How did its soundtrack become a powerhouse, too?In terms of attracting talent, “It was Greta, hands down,” said Mark Ronson, one of the soundtrack’s producers, explaining how he conscripted an A-list roster that also includes Dua Lipa, Nicki Minaj, Lizzo and Sam Smith. “Everybody admired her work — I feel like there wasn’t anyone who hadn’t seen ‘Lady Bird’ or ‘Little Women’ and didn’t love both of those films.”Working with Gerwig was certainly part of the allure for Eilish, who first met the director when they were grouped together at a 2019 gala dinner. “I remember being like, ‘Greta Gerwig sitting next to us is so cool,’” she said in an interview. “‘She seems like somebody I would be friends with already.’”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?  More

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      Stream These 11 Movies Before They Leave Netflix in February

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      “Dune” and “Snowpiercer” are among the action epics, dramas and teen comedies leaving soon for U.S. subscribers. Watch them while you can.Family fun, action epics, historical dramas, teen comedy — there’s a little something for everyone among the titles leaving Netflix in the United States in February. (Dates indicate the final day a title is available.)‘Chicken Run’ (Feb. 14)Stream it here.With the long-awaited made-for-Netflix sequel “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget” having hit the service barely six weeks ago, you’d think Netflix would have licensed the original installment for a bit longer. Frankly, they should keep it around even if there weren’t I.P. to service — this is one of the most delightful family pictures of the 2000s, a fast-paced and very funny riff on “The Great Escape” and its ilk. Assembled with the customary care and wit by the stop-motion masterminds at Aardman Animations (the crew behind Wallace and Gromit), it’s a delight for kids and grown-ups alike.‘Prometheus’ (Feb. 14)Stream it here.In 1979, the director Ridley Scott had his first big hit with “Alien,” an ingeniously conceived and cleverly executed mash-up of an alien adventure and a haunted-house horror movie. The series continued in the hands of directors like James Cameron and David Fincher, while Scott continued to hone his distinctive style; this 2012 installment was his return to the franchise. Some were disappointed that the results weren’t merely “Alien” redux, but credit to Scott for making “Prometheus” an exploration of the themes and aesthetics that preoccupied him at that point in his long career, rather than merely retreading a past success. The special effects are astonishing, the production design is spot-on and the performances (particularly Charlize Theron as a villainous upper manager and Michael Fassbender as an enigmatic android) are memorable.‘Real Steel’ (Feb. 14)Stream it here.It’s not exactly a promising premise: a washed-up boxer turned sleazy promoter finds a champion on the underground robot-boxing circuit, bonding with his estranged son in the process. To call it hypercalculated is an understatement (our critic parsed its DNA as “‘Transformers’ meets ‘E.T.’ meets ‘Rocky’ meets ‘The Champ,’” and that’s not far off), but as Roger Ebert liked to say, it’s not what a movie’s about, but how it’s about it. The director Shawn Levy orchestrates the events with earnestness, refusing the urge to look down on the material (or the audience), and he has an invaluable partner in the movie’s star, Hugh Jackman, who plays the slimy lead without pulling his punches, yet retains enough of his inherent charisma to make us root for his inevitable redemption arc.‘Operation Finale’ (Feb. 19)Stream it here.Oscar Isaac is in fine form as a tough but sensitive Nazi hunter tasked with finding and extracting Adolf Eichmann (Ben Kingsley), one of the architects of the Final Solution, from his hide-out in Argentina to stand trial in Jerusalem. This true story is efficiently dramatized by the director Chris Weitz (whose filmography, which includes such divergent efforts as “American Pie” and “About A Boy,” might not make him an obvious choice for a tough historical drama), and though Matthew Orton’s screenplay includes juicy supporting roles for the likes of Nick Kroll, Mélanie Laurent and Haley Lu Richardson, its best scenes put Isaac and Kingsley toe to toe and watch them work.‘Babylon Berlin’: Seasons 1-3 (Feb. 28)Stream it here.This German crime epic became an international sensation when it began airing in 2017 — reportedly the most expensive television program ever produced in its home country. Based on the best-selling novels by Volker Kutscher and brought to life by a trio of writer-directors (Achim von Borries, Henk Handloegten and Tom Tykwer, the latter of “Run Lola Run” and “Cloud Atlas”), this sprawling, handsomely mounted narrative is set in the underworld of Germany during the Weimar Republic, the wild and fruitful period that preceded the Third Reich. It’s dizzyingly complex and giddily entertaining, but also timely; as Handloegten noted on its premiere: “All these people didn’t fall from the sky as Nazis. They had to become Nazis.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?  More

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      Which Sundance 2024 Movies Will Make It to Next Year’s Oscars?

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      A Jesse Eisenberg-Kieran Culkin film, along with performances by Saoirse Ronan and André Holland, may be on the ballot next year.We’ve only just gotten this year’s Oscar nominations, but is it already time to begin looking ahead to next season?I can sense you bristling, and I understand. “Kyle, no,” you’ve just muttered, because we’re on a first-name basis now and you’re still mired in dinner-party discourse over whether the snub of Greta Gerwig in the best-director race is an extinction-level event.I hear your concerns, and I share them. But even as we continue to sift through the wreckage and tea leaves following this season’s Oscar nominations, I’ve just come back from snowy Park City, Utah, where the 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival debuted a full slate of new movies that could give shape to next year’s awards race. Make no mistake, trophy-related considerations can affect these films’ fortunes even at this early date: I’ve already heard that one terrific Sundance indie has had trouble selling because of concerns that its lead would be unavailable for a full-blown press tour next awards season.Could any of these films follow best-picture nominee “Past Lives,” which premiered at Sundance last January, or even “CODA” (2021), the first Sundance movie to win the top Oscar?The likeliest film to factor into next year’s race is “A Real Pain,” a dramedy starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin as mismatched cousins who embark on a road trip through Poland to better understand the personal history of their late grandmother, a Holocaust survivor. Eisenberg, who also wrote and directed the film, plays the by-the-book cousin and generously hands the flashy, sure-to-be-nominated role to Culkin: His cousin is a charismatic hot mess, and the Emmy-winning “Succession” actor zigs and zags through every scene like a freewheeling live wire.Searchlight bought “A Real Pain” for $10 million, and I could see it making a deep run into awards season. Pronounced a “knockout” by our critic Manohla Dargis, it’s the kind of thematically resonant, culturally specific comedy that voters often respond to. Most of all, I think movie folks will be eager to welcome Culkin into their club: They were just as obsessed with “Succession” as their TV brethren, and it’s finally their turn to shower the 41-year-old with awards attention.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?  More

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      Do Panic: Dario Argento’s Cinema

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      The Italian horror director is the subject of a new documentary and a film retrospective. But his artistry can be summed up in his feature directing debut, “The Bird With the Crystal Plumage.”There’s a moment in “Dario Argento Panico,” a new documentary about the Italian horror movie maestro Dario Argento, that made me wonder if I’ve misunderstood why his assertively macabre and stylishly grotesque films so deeply give me the willies. It comes late in the film in Argento’s own words — word, actually — as he talks about what makes his scary movies scary.“I’m looking for panic,” he says.Panic: terror’s more dire, immediate, physically inescapable weird sister. The Italian word for panic is right there in the title of Simone Scafidi’s humanizing and absorbing documentary (on Shudder Feb. 2), and it courses through Argento’s filmography.But I was caught off guard hearing that word on Argento’s lips, because it laid bare what I feel when I watch his films, a sensation I assumed was mere fright. Its real-world parallel is the gut punch I received one night when the lights went out in an elevator I was in, just as it came to a shuddering halt between the eighth and ninth floors. Trapped in dangling darkness, I got scared, and then rescued. But first, I panicked. We all know that feeling, but Argento feeds on it, monstrously.Starting Jan. 31, Argento fans and the curious uninitiated have a terrific chance to sample the 83-year-old master’s disquieting work when Shudder and the IFC Center in Manhattan present — here’s that word again — “Panic Attacks: The Films of Dario Argento.”Stefania Casini and Jessica Harper in “Suspiria.”Seda SpettacoliThe 13-movie retrospective, which continues through Feb. 8, features the director’s best-known titles, including the 1977 supernatural dance academy shocker “Suspiria” (also streaming on Tubi), the more traditional whodunit “Deep Red” from 1975 (on Shudder), and the less heralded (and unfortunately more cornball) fare like “Dracula 3D” from 2013 (on Amazon Prime Video in 2-D). Not included is Argento’s most recent film, “Dark Glasses,” starring his actress-director daughter Asia Argento, which came out in 2022 to mixed reviews and is streaming on Shudder.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?  More