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      ‘Cocoon’ Review: The Very Hungry Caterpillar

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      Sunshine, ice pops and rainbow flags mark a summer of transformation for a teenager in Berlin in the coming-of-age drama, “Cocoon.”There are butterfly species that have evolved to be invisible to predators until their wings open, and suddenly their backs have the appearance of watchful eyes peering out from the wilderness. Nora (Lena Urzendowsky), the teenage protagonist of the German bildungsroman “Cocoon” is interested in butterflies, even keeping caterpillars in her bedroom. Like them, everything about Nora, except her watchful eyes, seems to blend into the background. Like them, she’s looking for a reason to transform.When the film begins, it’s summertime in Berlin and Nora is 14 years old, a quiet girl, less brash than her blonde and boy-crazy older sister, Jules (Anna Lena Klenke). Nora still has the choppy bangs of a middle school student, and she’s too naïve to know how to use tampons. that the heart flutters her sister experiences around handsome boys, Nora instead feels for girls. Nora falls into a flirtation with an older classmate, Romy (Jella Haase), a tomboy who skinny dips with the class heartthrobs and doesn’t lose her cool over it. As attraction blooms into a tentative romance, Nora grows a little more confident, and her sense of self becomes a little more defined.The writer and director Leonie Krippendorff favors warmth for Nora’s coming-of-age story. Even when Nora encounters things she doesn’t like — boys with their loud rap music, girls with stick-straight hair who slur cold words after sniffing lines in the bathroom — the cinematography lingers on golden light and soft skin. The softness lacks detail, the butterfly metaphors lack originality, but the movie is pleasant, a balmy introduction to adult feelings of desire and belonging.CocoonNot rated. In German, with subtitles. On virtual cinemas and available to rent or buy on Apple TV, Vudu and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators. More

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      ‘Father of the Bride’ Review: A Remake With a Cuban Twist

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      A Cuban American family walks down the aisle, treading carefully along the line separating tradition and tomorrow.The protagonist of “Father of the Bride” would probably bristle to hear this new romantic comedy referred to as a “Latinx” remake of the classic, which was last revived in 1991, with Steve Martin in the role. This time a Cuban American family is at the center of the story and Billy Herrera (Andy Garcia) is the father who must confront his daughter’s coming wedding.Herrera, as he often likes to remind his children, emigrated from Cuba with little more than a few cents in his pocket and managed to build a thriving architectural firm. He has expectations for his children and their futures. When his daughter and golden child Sofia (Adria Arjona), announces she is marrying Adan (Diego Boneta), a Mexican man who does not fit the macho image Billy has always imagined, he must contend with the ways in which Sofia’s vision for her life differs from his own.The film, directed by Gaz Alazraki and written by Matt Lopez, delivers on authenticity — using actors who speak Spanish fluently and working in cultural nuances rather than relying on the broad stroke representation of Latinos we have come to expect from Hollywood. Gloria Estefan plays Billy’s wife, Ingrid, who is fed up with his rigid ways; Isabela Merced is Sofia’s sister Cora, a free-spirited fashion designer; and the comedian Chloe Fineman plays the wacky wedding planner. Most of the film’s humor comes from her hamhanded attempts at adapting to the culture and language of the Herreras.But there is little other comic relief to leaven the exploration of generational rifts between immigrants and their children, which are fueled in part by machismo and elitism. Diversity, also, is an issue, with an all-white Latino cast,” except for a brief appearance by the reggaeton star Ozuna. Still, “Father of the Bride” shows the sort of rich cultural representation that can happen when people from the cultures being represented are enlisted to tell their own stories.Father of the BrideRated PG-13. Running time: 1 hour 57 minutes. Watch on HBO Max. More

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      ‘Bitterbrush’ Review: Alone on the Range

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      Though this quiet documentary about two young range riders recalls a western or two, it presents a modern-day portrait of hard work and friendship.Through countless tales of frontier justice and stoic machismo, the western genre has been an American mythos machine. In “Bitterbrush,” Emelie Mahdavian’s becalmed documentary, the grand vistas and cattle roundups inevitably recall a western or two (at least to this city slicker). But in following two young women employed as range riders in Idaho, the film presents its own modern-day picture of hard work and camaraderie.Hollyn and Colie are essentially freelancers under contract to look after cattle on the open range. They’re usually the only two humans visible for miles, and their West isn’t a metaphor: It’s a workplace with open skies and rolling hills, and a cabin to bunk down in. Logistics is most of the job — how to get hundreds of cows (and the herd dogs that accompany them) from here to there, what tactics to use for “starting” a colt (training for the saddle).Each task takes as long as it takes, and is carried out with easy banter (Hollyn’s sense of humor is pleasantly goofy) and mutual care. Challenges are taken in stride without much fuss (nor much fuss about not making a fuss). One of the most emotional moments occurs at the campfire when Colie recalls the hands of her deceased mother — an achingly beautiful scene that almost takes the film by surprise (and has echoes in the close-ups on both women’s hands as they wrangle wire, a scene or two later).Scored with Bach, the film nearly resists drama. Hollyn and Colie’s experiences impress not as a spectacle but as a memory of a few seasons, with a wistful touch, before each moved on to her next station in life.BitterbrushNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes. In theaters. More

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      ‘Poser’ Review: Fade Into You

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      Strong acting and a cool setting elevate this surreal tale of artistic compulsion.“Poser,” the shivery first feature from Ori Segev and Noah Dixon, is a drifting psychodrama whose menace builds with excruciating slowness. The dazed and dreamy mood, however, is established immediately in the pale face of Lennon (Sylvie Mix), an aspiring podcaster whose seemingly innocent ambition evolves into a much darker obsession.Lennon’s blank affect and almost total lack of back story make her more than a little creepy and an untrustworthy title character. As she infiltrates the underground music scene in Columbus, Ohio, recording bands and random conversations, her physical stillness and intense vibe grow increasingly unsettling. When not insinuating herself into the artists’ social circles, she works as a dishwasher for a catering outfit; at home, she painstakingly labels and files her audiotapes. It takes a while to notice that she hasn’t produced a single podcast.Unfolding in gloomy clubs and freewheeling performance spaces, “Poser” draws vibrancy from Logan Floyd’s atmospheric photography and the quirky participation of real-life musicians. (I especially enjoyed the singer who described her band’s music as “queer death pop.”) When Lennon announces her own musical ambitions and befriends the charismatic performer Bobbi Kitten (playing a version of herself), the movie’s somewhat flaccid plot gets a much-needed shot in the arm. Set against Lennon’s chilly passivity, Kitten’s dazzle is a delight.At once polished and punky, “Poser” is about the maturing of a vampiric personality. Like its music, the movie feels exploratory and raw-edged, yet with a persistent pathos that clings to Lennon and isolates her. Her destination might be predictable, but her detours are rarely less than beguiling.PoserNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 27 minutes. In theaters. More

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      ‘Brian and Charles’ Review: I, Robot Wearing a Cardigan

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      The comic performer David Earl plays a lonely inventor who builds a robot friend in this bionic buddy comedy.For over a decade, the British comedian David Earl has been playing the character Brian Gittins, a shaggy, unfiltered eccentric whose prickly point of view inspires pity and unease. The pseudo-documentary “Brian and Charles,” an unevenly sentimental heart-tugger directed by Jim Archer, finds Brian in a corner of rural Wales feeling depressed and solitary despite the implied presence of documentarians, whom he addresses directly while facing the camera. There’s no evident reason for the mockumentary element, although it gives Earl a chance to mug for the lens.To fix his low and lonely state, Brian builds a robot. Let Silicon Valley chase a sleek future of frictionless rectangles and orbs: Brian’s creation, Charles, is a towering, homemade shambles with gray hair and a doddering shuffle that gives the impression of a retired sheepherder. Chris Hayward, who wrote the movie with Earl, plays the bot and radiates marvelous vocal and physical energy from inside a costume that appears to be constructed from a cardboard box covered in a cardigan, with a mannequin head on a pole poking out of the top. He tests the audience’s ability to become invested in an unapologetically ridiculous concoction — and he succeeds better than the human caricatures who make up the rest of the ensemble, from a stock brute (Jamie Michie) to a potential love interest (Louise Brealey) who is stuck smiling patiently as the robot teaches Brian social skills.As Brian and Charles acclimate to each other, the story appears to be about Brian the crank realizing that he is the cause of his own isolation. (Charles helps in one scene by blurting, “You are boring!”) Too soon, however, this intriguing psychological study turns into a programmatic geeks-vs-bullies story that relies on pushing the easiest emotional buttons.Brian and CharlesRated PG. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes. In theaters. More

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      ‘Jerry & Marge Go Large’ Review: You Don’t Know Jackpot

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      Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening play an aging couple who cash in on a lottery loophole in this flavorless comedy.The mild Midwestern couple anchoring “Jerry & Marge Go Large” are hearty, spry and scarcely beyond their fifties. But you wouldn’t know that from their dialogue, which seems intent on establishing Jerry (Bryan Cranston) and Marge (Annette Bening) as geriatrics; “too old,” “golden years” and “missed my chance” are a few of the key terms encircling them.This framing of the protagonists is essential to “Jerry & Marge”; the dopey comedy uses the sheer implausibility of its scenario as a selling point. Elderly simpletons pulling off a cash gambit? Don’t be silly! Audiences may roll their eyes, but the director, David Frankel, plays up the hook: One more slow-mo shot of dad sneakers or mom jeans and certain sequences could double as ads for Walmart clothing.Loosely based on a true news item, the story begins with the recently retired Jerry discovering a flaw in the arithmetic behind a lottery game. Capitalizing on the loophole, he starts to win big, and even ropes in fellow townspeople as shareholders. The neighbors pool their profits, hoping to reinstall a local jazz fest, until a group of Harvard students inexplicably emerges as avaricious adversaries.In tone and semiotics, “Jerry & Marge” evokes conventional sitcoms. A schematic score accentuates moments of humor or sentiment, and each realization, narrative turn or lesson learned is repeated aloud in concrete terms. While the movie sustains levity, its lack of subtlety — and a lack of stakes, save for sweepstakes — make for an altogether bland bonanza.Jerry & Marge Go LargeRated PG-13 for windfalls and pratfalls. 1 hour 36 minutes. Watch on Paramount+. More

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      ‘Mad God’ Review: Highway to Hell

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      In this mostly animated experiment, the filmmaker Phil Tippett leads us through a stop-motion inferno of despair and devastation.Strange and squelchy and all kinds of sick, “Mad God” comes at you with nauseating energy, its flood of dystopian images both playful and repulsive. Merging live action, stunning stop-motion animation and endearingly awkward puppetry, this bleak experiment from the visual-effects titan Phil Tippett is best viewed on a very large screen and after a very small meal.There’s no real narrative or dialogue. Instead, an overwhelming sense of hopelessness accompanies a gas-masked figure as he’s lowered into a crime-ridden, post-apocalyptic hellscape. His mission is unclear as he follows a toxic yellow river, dodging misshapen monsters and other gurgling horrors. (These are often distressingly visceral, like the array of seated giants, their liquefied feces flooding the mouths of creatures lying beneath them.) Gloopy surgical procedures, performed in derelict rooms by white-coated figures — echoes of “Jacob’s Ladder” (1990) — linger on evisceration and extraction. One of the things extracted might be described as a baby.Though sprinkled with reminders of Lynch and Cronenberg and others, Tippett’s defiantly adult vision has a freakish originality and a sorrowing tone that’s oddly touching. Humanlike figures are squashed, tortured and consumed by roaming brutes; piteous squawks and rattles pepper a soundtrack soothed by Dan Wool’s moving musical score. Alongside, Chris Morley’s gorgeously tactile cinematography adds texture and depth to Tippett’s nightmarish vision.Conceived decades ago and resurrected in part as a training ground for a generation of special-effects artists weaned solely on computers, “Mad God” is a vivid and valuable showcase for disappearing skills. In the press notes, Tippett admits his film “kind of defies description.” I tried my best.Mad GodNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 23 minutes. Watch on Shudder. More

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      ‘A Man of Integrity’ Review: Fighting Dirty

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      Mohammad Rasoulof’s scathing drama about corruption in Iran is striking in its blunt rage, if somewhat exasperating in its monotony.The films of Mohammad Rasoulof often tell stories of ordinary Iranians cornered within a censorious government. It’s a theme with personal import for Rasoulof, who, since 2010, has faced several arrests and bans for his cinematic critiques of the Iranian state.Where the 2021 film “There Is No Evil” portrayed the moral absurdities of capital punishment, “A Man of Integrity” takes a broader view, examining how corruption has permeated everyday Iranian life. Here, Rasoulof delivers his diagnosis with a bluntness that is striking in its rage, if somewhat exasperating in its monotony.Reza (Reza Akhlaghirad), a goldfish farmer with a rebellious streak, lives in the countryside in North Iran. His isolated rural lifestyle is a deliberate choice: an attempt to evade an orthodox yet opportunistic social system, where, as one character puts it, you either become the oppressor or the oppressed.But a shady new corporation, referred to mysteriously as “The Company,” has upset the local bucolic balance. Its operators have their eyes on Reza’s land, and they resort to extortionary tricks — including poisoning his goldfish — to get him to give it up. As Reza and his wife, Hadis (a superb Soudabeh Beizaee), try various personal, legal and not-so-legal means of recourse, they encounter a Kafkaesque labyrinth of dead ends, greasy palms and sinister violence.Employing minimal background music and a bleak, blue-gray color palette, Rasoulof evokes a sense of nihilism that is as suffocating as it is affecting. Every narrative twist — including some rather contrived mafia-thriller turns — hammers home the same point: that it’s hard to be a good man in a bad system. Given the system Rasoulof works within (and against), however, it’s a message well worth repeating.A Man of IntegrityRated PG-13 for scenes of drug use, violence and general existential bleakness. In Farsi, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 53 minutes. In theaters. More