Movies

Right off the bat, a new movie written and directed by Sally Potter does not take it easy on the viewer. It opens with plain white-on-black titles followed by the sight of Javier Bardem in a bed, in a barely furnished apartment. He lies alone, staring at the ceiling, grunting and mumbling. His guttural utterances are sometimes more frightening than pitiful.What is ailing this man? It’s never revealed. Later in the movie, when Bardem’s character Leo has been examined by a doctor after a fall, the practitioner tells Leo’s daughter (Elle Fanning; her character’s name is not shared until almost the very end of the movie, but is done pointedly) that the resulting cut is not serious. But he then expresses concern for Leo’s “underlying condition.” Whatever it is, it is making life impossible both for him and his daughter, whose devotion seems to know no bounds.“The Roads Not Taken” shows a day in the life of this Leo — and of two others. The incapacitated Leo who’s exiled himself in a tatty Brooklyn flat is tormented by visions of his other potential lives. In one, he lives in Mexico with his first love, Dolores. In another, he lives on a Greek island where he smokes, drinks, writes a bit and flirts with women a third of his age.[embedded content]The three alternate lives have one unifying feature: They all look like a form of hell on earth. Potter’s film preaches a variant of the “you can’t stop what’s coming” ethos articulated in “No Country for Old Men” (a Coen brothers’ movie for which Bardem won an Oscar), and it insists that whatever joys are in living, its miseries are heartbreaking and potent.The film also evokes the poet Philip Larkin’s line, “Man hands on misery to man,” particularly with respect to Leo’s relationship with his daughter. Leo’s a writer, and she aspires to be one. “You sacrificed your family for a book?” a young woman on the Greek island asks Leo, incredulous. In the New York setting, Fanning’s character loses a potential job while taking care of her father.Potter delivers her vision here in a form that’s perhaps too raw, too undistilled. There’s precious little lightness negotiating with the dark. Her lack of compromise is, as always, admirable — as is her way with actors. Laura Linney and Salma Hayek, among other cast members, do great work. But this is a movie one is apt to recommend with a caveat of “if you’re up for it.”The Roads Not TakenRated R for language and themes. Running time: 1 hour 25 minutes. More

Every “Oh wow” in “Human Nature” is matched by an “Oh no” somewhere down the line. Together, these two competing emotions — excitement and unease — make for one pretty fascinating documentary.The film, directed by Adam Bolt, explores Crispr technology, which, broadly speaking, can be used to snip out problematic parts of DNA — say, a portion that causes an illness — and replace them with different DNA, thus curing the ailment. Some versions of the process are already being deployed; this is, by and large, science fact rather than fiction.[embedded content]Employing Crispr for gene-editing has the potential to radically change human, animal and plant life. Besides removing unwanted DNA, Crispr might also be applied to add desired traits to an organism. As expected, there’s discussion of “designer babies,” eugenics and “improving” our species. There are enough ideas here to inspire a thousand sci-fi novels, not the least of which is a clip of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia warning about the possibility of creating a soldier who cannot feel fear or pain.In place of a narrator, Bolt employs a first-rate crew of bioethicists, geneticists and researchers to guide the film, and provides interviews with patients who have diseases that could soon be cured. Chapter titles like “Brave New World” and “Playing God” set the tone, as does a shrewd score and some well-used animation that illustrates the basics of DNA.Thorny questions arise throughout “Being Human” over what we are and what, if anything, we should change about ourselves on a cellular level. Though the film usually takes a hopeful, pro-Crispr outlook, uncertainties still linger, as do fears over the future. As one biologist says, this isn’t just the start of a new era for the world — it’s the end of our beginning.Human NatureNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 35 minutes. More

Pete Davidson, the “Saturday Night Live” bad boy, is a natural at playing the guy your parents want you to stay away from. His character in “Big Time Adolescence,” the tatted, platinum-haired, foul-mouthed Zeke, feels like an extension of the Davidson we see in the tabloids. A 23-year-old slacker who never grew up, Zeke spends his time smoking weed and being a bad influence on his fawning minion, the 16-year-old Mo (Griffin Gluck), his ex-girlfriend’s younger brother.Mo is endearingly nerdy, like Duckie from John Hughes’s “Pretty in Pink”; amusingly, Jon Cryer, who portrayed Duckie, plays Mo’s father. He pays Zeke as he would a babysitter.But under Zeke’s tutelage, Mo only wades further into trouble in this debut film by the writer-director Jason Orley. He starts selling drugs to upperclassmen at Zeke’s request, first at a “pimps and hos” party, where, among the flashy costumes, he appears in his father’s bathrobe with a gold chain.Then he tramples a blossoming romance with his crush, Sophie (Oona Laurence), after an ill-advised ghosting. Mo, not unexpectedly, crashes and burns while chasing Zeke’s approval.Though Davidson, Gluck and Laurence show star potential, Orley either boxes them into a too-conventional coming-of-age arc or gives them cloyingly charming characteristics: Mo, awkwardly, calls Sophie instead of texting her; Sophie always has a rapid-fire comeback ready; and Zeke is a walking stoner punchline. Despite some moments of tenderness and easy chemistry between Zeke and Mo, “Big Time Adolescence” doesn’t have enough heart or humor to save it from becoming just another movie about white dudes bro-ing out.Big Time AdolescenceRated R for teens partying too hard. Running time: 1 hour 31 minutes. More

“Heimat Is a Space in Time” observes Germany for more than a century through the experiences of one family. The bulk of this almost four-hour experimental essay film consists of the unseen writer-director, Thomas Heise, reading documents in voice-over — generally letters to and from his relatives, but also résumé drafts, diary entries and, from the Cold War era, a surveillance report.Heise’s recitations are accompanied by photographs and artifacts from the past or footage from contemporary Germany, particularly landscapes and city scenes. The contrast between the cataclysmic past and the placid present owes something to “Shoah,” Claude Lanzmann’s groundbreaking 1985 Holocaust film. But because most of the testimony in “Heimat” (the word roughly means “homeland”) is filtered through Heise, the structure seems even more oblique.[embedded content]Patterns emerge. In the 1930s, Thomas’s grandfather Wilhelm, a teacher, is forced to retire because his wife, Edith, is Jewish. In the 1960s, Thomas’s father, the philosopher Wolfgang Heise, is pushed out of a university position in East Berlin because he is perceived as insufficiently devoted to Communism.During a wrenching stretch, Heise reads letters from Edith’s sister and father as their Jewish neighbors in Vienna are rounded up by the Nazis, who eventually come for them as well. As we hear this correspondence, the camera scans a list of names that seems unending.Heise’s mode of filmmaking takes getting used to, and his omission of context leaves certain connections obscure, especially in the scattered final hour. But despite some tedious passages, “Heimat Is a Space in Time” takes an intriguing approach to history that remains refreshingly rooted in primary sources.Heimat Is a Space in TimeNot rated. In German, with subtitles. Running time: 3 hours 38 minutes. More

Film adaptations of popular Y.A. romance novels have proven such a boon to Netflix that it’s not surprising to see Disney Plus getting into the game. The novel in question is Jerry Spinelli’s best seller “Stargirl.” The film is noteworthy, beyond that target audience, for the participation of the director Julia Hart, the force behind last year’s breathtaking and brilliant “Fast Color.”Leo (Graham Verchere) is a fairly typical high school student with a simple philosophy: if you want to survive, you have to lay low. He attends a small-town Arizona high school and plays in the marching band. That group’s incompetence is barely eclipsed by the football team whose sparsely-attended games they accompany.[embedded content]And then a smiling girl (Grace VanderWaal) in brightly-colored clothes appears next to Leo’s table in the cafeteria, announces herself as “Stargirl,” and sings “Happy Birthday” to him in a beautiful, melodic voice (complete with ukulele accompaniment). She’s the new girl, home-schooled for years, now entering public school as a bit of an outsider.A strange magic seems to follow Stargirl; the football team starts winning games, the marching band starts playing in tune and Leo starts to fall in love. (She also has a crate of very good vinyl, which is magical to a certain segment of viewers.)“Stargirl” was published twenty years ago, and its age occasionally shows in this adaptation; some of the story beats and character qualities (particularly those of the rather precious title character) have congealed into cliché. But Hart (who wrote the screenplay with Kristin Hahn and Jordan Horowitz) is such an enchanting filmmaker, her storytelling style so warm and welcoming, that those concerns fade — particularly in the picture’s second half, as her characters’ interactions and motivations become more complex.When his classmates inevitably turn on Stargirl, Leo pleads, “Why can’t you just be more like everyone else?” She gives it her best, but to no avail, and here is where the film’s message becomes clear: nothing is more important than being one’s true self. That lesson never loses its value, or its timeliness.StargirlRated PG. Running time: 1 hour 44 minutes. More

LOS ANGELES — The actor Tom Hanks said on Wednesday that he and his wife, Rita Wilson, have the coronavirus.Mr. Hanks and Ms. Wilson, both 63, are in Australia, where he was set to film a movie about the life of Elvis Presley. “We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches,” the Academy Award-winning actor said in a statement. “Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers, too. To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the coronavirus, and were found to be positive.”He added that he and Ms. Wilson “will be tested, observed and isolated for as long as public health and safety requires.”“Not much more to it than a one-day-at-a-time approach, no?” Mr. Hanks said in his statement, which he also posted on Instagram accompanied by a photograph of a lone medical glove in a hazardous waste container. “We’ll keep the world posted and updated.”Mr. Hanks is by far the most prominent entertainment figure to say he has the virus and, by going public with the information, instantly becomes the face of an outbreak that has cascaded around the globe.With the seriousness of the pandemic still being debated in some corners of the media, learning that Mr. Hanks, the star of films like “Saving Private Ryan” and “Apollo 13,” has been stricken may make the situation seem much more tangible to some Americans. At virtually the same time that Mr. Hanks released his statement, the N.B.A. announced it was suspending its season. Hours before, the N.C.A.A. said its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments would be played without spectators. Ann Curry, a journalist and former host of NBC’s “Today,” said on Twitter: “Ok, now we all have someone we love diagnosed with #coronavirus.”Other Hollywood stars immediately offered their support for the couple. “Wishing two of the kindest, coolest, most talented people in the world ⁦⁦@tomhanks⁩ & @RitaWilson a swift recovery,” Mia Farrow said on Twitter.In the movie he was in Australia to film, Mr. Hanks is playing the role of Colonel Tom Parker, Presley’s eccentric manager, who groomed the famous singer for stardom in the 1950s.Production on the film, which is being directed by Baz Luhrmann and does not yet have a title, is set to begin on Monday. Warner Bros., the studio behind the movie, has said it spans “over 20 years, from Presley’s rise to fame to his unprecedented stardom, against the backdrop of the evolving cultural landscape and the loss of innocence in America.”Mr. Luhrmann, an Australian, wrote the script with Craig Pearce, with whom he also wrote “The Great Gatsby” and “Moulin Rouge!” Australia has had more than 120 cases confirmed cases of coronavirus.“The health and safety of our company members is always our top priority, and we are taking precautions to protect everyone who works on our productions around the world,” Warner said in a statement.Warner has been among the Hollywood studios most affected by the coronavirus epidemic because of its large television production division, which makes more than 80 shows.Also on Wednesday, Warner confirmed that it had suspended production of “Riverdale,” a teenage drama based on Archie Comics characters that runs on the CW network, because of the coronavirus. “Riverdale” films in Vancouver, British Columbia.“We have and will continue to take precautions to protect everyone who works on our productions around the world,” Warner said in its “Riverdale” statement.In the United States, the number of cases has surpassed 1,150, and warnings about the safety of mass gatherings has begun to have tangible effects in the entertainment world. Daytime talk shows like “The View” and “Live With Kelly and Ryan” filmed without their usual studio audiences on Wednesday, and late-night shows based in New York, like “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” and “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” announced that they would go without studio audiences starting on Monday.“The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” a Warner production in Burbank, Calif., will also begin taping without a studio audience.Brooks Barnes and Daniel Victor contributed reporting. More