Movies

Two major entertainment industry unions have settled an internecine dispute over streaming theater, reaching an agreement that should make it easier for professional theaters around the country to film plays and musicals for broadcast during the coronavirus pandemic.The dispute centered on a distinctly pandemic-era question: As theaters that have been shut down by the outbreak try to stream productions, should their contracts fall to the union that represents people who work in theater, or the one that represents film and television workers?After a sometimes-bitter dispute, the Actors’ Equity Association, which represents 51,000 stage actors and state managers, and SAG-AFTRA, which represents 160,000 people who work primarily in film and television, announced the agreement Thursday evening.“This is a great day,” Kate Shindle, the Equity president, said in an interview Thursday. “This gives people who make theater the ability to innovate in ways that they need in order to survive.”Shindle said she was hopeful that the agreement will make it possible for theaters to stream more work for the duration of the pandemic. “We want this work to happen,” she said.Under the agreement, which is tentatively scheduled to last until Dec. 31, 2021, the two unions agreed that Equity will cover work recorded for digital distribution that replaces, or supplements, a live audience.There are many restrictions — the Equity-covered work is supposed to be distributed to ticketholders or subscribers, and not broadcast to the general public. The audience, over the course of the streaming run, must not exceed twice the theater’s seating capacity over that time period, or three times the capacity for theaters with fewer than 350 seats.“The program may not include work that is more in the nature of a television show or movie, including work that is shot out of chronological order, that is substantially edited prior to exhibition, or that includes visual effects or other elements that could not be replicated in a live manner,” the agreement says.The unions agreed that ordinarily, meaning during non-pandemic times, most work made for streaming is part of SAG-AFTRA’s jurisdiction.“The agreement preserves SAG-AFTRA’s historic jurisdiction while creating an important accommodation that serves performers,” that union’s president, Gabrielle Carteris, and David White, the national executive director, said in a letter to their members. “We are pleased that we are able to help create work opportunities for AEA members when it is vitally needed, while also protecting SAG-AFTRA members’ work opportunities now and into the future,” they added.The dispute, between two unions that are both part of the AFL-CIO, has been unfolding throughout the pandemic, as theaters increasingly pivoted to streaming because government regulations and union safety protocols prohibited most performances before live audiences.Both unions argued that they should have the right to represent performers working on streamed plays and musicals; theaters and commercial producers were caught in the middle, often frustrated that Equity at times seemed like an obstacle to making work, but also aware that Equity objected to theaters’ working with SAG-AFTRA.Equity had argued that SAG-AFTRA was undercutting it, paying its members less and making it harder for them to qualify for health insurance, while SAG-AFTRA argued that filmed entertainment had always been its territory.Equity has filed grievances against some theaters over streaming deals already reached with SAG-AFTRA, and those grievances will still need to be resolved. More

Opening with a montage in which the financier George Soros is shown as the object of unrelenting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, the documentary “Soros” positions itself as a corrective. The movie highlights Soros’s life as a Holocaust survivor, successful investor and, mainly, philanthropist. It lays out how Soros contributed to such causes as fighting apartheid, aiding democratizing forces in the Soviet Union and, lately, a closing title card says, helping Covid-19 relief efforts.[embedded content]This isn’t an objective portrait and doesn’t aspire to be. Directed by Jesse Dylan, who for several years did video production work for Soros’s philanthropic organization Open Society Foundations (and also directed an “American Pie” sequel), the film boasts interviews with Soros, his adult children and various humanitarians who have worked with him. It’s light on biographical detail. While we hear about Soros’s upbringing and influences (like his father or the philosopher Karl Popper), the most insight we get into his business career is in an anecdote about how he reacted to news of financial troubles at Rolls-Royce.But even as hagiography, “Soros” is unfocused; it races from topic to topic, with clips that seem arbitrary at best. (To describe the atmosphere at the fall of the Soviet Union, why not cut to James Hetfield of Metallica?) “George always feels an individual can make a difference, and doesn’t hesitate to try,” says Kofi Annan, the former United Nations secretary general, in an interview, offering a typical platitude. Soros is forthright in acknowledging that his wealth has made such difference-making easier. It hasn’t, however, made him a dynamic movie subject.SorosNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 25 minutes. Watch through virtual cinemas. More

In the middling family drama “Team Marco,” 11-year-old Marco (Owen Vaccaro) lives with his mother, Anna (Anastasia Ganias), in Staten Island. His father, Richie (Louis Cancelmi), left them, going west to chase the technological gold rush. Richie talks only about tech and coding, and he encourages Marco’s obsession with video games. Marco in turn rejects offers of friendship, hates the outdoors and is as absent from his own social life as his father is from Marco’s life.Everything changes when Marco’s grandfather moves in. Nonno (Anthony Patellis) is an old-timer who springs out of bed with the sunrise to play bocce matches with friends. At first, Marco sniffs at Nonno’s lust for living. But eventually, as Nonno introduces the boy to sunshine and rainbow cookies and games that can be enjoyed without a console, Marco’s disdain melts away.[embedded content]If there is an aspect of “Team Marco” worth richly enjoying, it’s that the movie has a loving sense of place. The director Julio Vincent Gambuto takes a golden view of Staten Island, with its bocce courts, Italian bakeries and gaggles of older men who still wear hats to the park. He just doesn’t extend the same warmth to his protagonist.As a character, Marco is a collection of faults designed to be corrected. It’s hard to be on his side and harder still to see him as a reflection of genuine childhood. Instead, he stands in for the grievances an older generation holds against a younger one, with their infernal virtual reality headsets and online games. Marco’s sourness curdles the confection and his undercooked complaints clack against the movie’s warm tone, sending its simple pleasures into a scatter.Team MarcoNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 32 minutes. Rent or buy on iTunes, Google Play and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators. More

In the 2018 picture “Bleeding Steel,” the daredevil performer Jackie Chan pulled off a remarkable action sequence on top of the Sydney Opera House. Thrilling, and a little surprising. The man turned 66 this year. He’s broken a lot of bones to entertain us during the course of a multidecade career and owes us nothing. But he’s still an international star. If he’s not going to kickbox atop high places, what should he be doing in movies?“The Foreigner,” a relatively sober action drama from 2017 in which Chan gave a frankly middling performance, was one answer. “Vanguard” is more in line with his brand of amiable action mayhem Chan pioneered in 1980s vehicles like “Police Story” and “Project A,” only not as good.[embedded content]Here, rather than do much stunt work (he figures prominently in one action set piece, an old-school waterfall bit), Chan wears a suit and observes as younger performers jump, kick, punch and get punched. Playing the chief executive of the titular high-end security company, he also recites a lot of banal “I’m concerned” dialogue as multiple villains converge on Fareeda (Ruohan Xu), a rich man’s daughter and African wildlife conservationist.Extortionists to the left of her, poachers to the right; stuck in the middle with her is the dreamy Vanguard agent Lei (Yang Yang). Pursuing kidnappers elsewhere is Mi Ya (Miya Muqi), a Vanguard operative who objects to being used as a “honey trap” but soon shows up in a bathing suit to tempt a tough guy anyway.“Vanguard” is directed by Stanley Tong, who made Chan’s “Rumble in the Bronx,” a 1995 movie in which the mountains of its Vancouver shooting location are prominent in many shots. Tong is not a stickler for verisimilitude. Hence, this movie’s ridiculous computer generated lions; hence also, its solid-gold sports cars.VanguardNot rated. In Mandarin, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 48 minutes. In theaters. Please consult the guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before watching movies inside theaters. More

The dark haired, strapping Danish actor Claes Bang played a museum curator in 2017’s “The Square.” In last year’s “The Burnt Orange Heresy” he played a jaded art critic. In “The Last Vermeer” he plays a Dutchman, working with the Canadian army, after the fall of Germany in World War II, repatriating paintings and sculptures stolen by the Nazis.Directed by Dan Friedkin (no relation to the director William; this Friedkin’s father, Thomas, is a renowned stunt pilot) and adapted from the nonfiction book “The Man Who Made Vermeers” by Jonathan Lopez, the movie opens with the discovery of “Jesus and the Adulteress,” a work reputedly by Vermeer, stashed away by Hermann Göring. Bang’s character, Joseph Piller, is eager to track down whoever sold it to the Nazis, despite his misgivings about the firing squads he sees dispensing rough justice in Amsterdam.[embedded content]It doesn’t take him long to find Han van Meegeren (Guy Pearce), an ostensibly failed artist who more than passes the smell test for a collaborator. But Piller can’t quite believe in van Meegeren’s guilt. He’s committed some kind of crime, to be sure. But what?The film moves from detective story to courtroom drama with nicely sketched character studies as a bonus; Piller’s marriage is suffering because he can’t accept his own wife’s undercover work during the war. While Vicky Krieps does stealthily affecting work as Piller’s assistant, the movie ultimately belongs to Pearce’s van Meegeren, an aging dandy intent on long-term revenge — even at the potential cost of his own freedom — against the art world insiders who disdained and shunned him.The Last VermeerRated R for language, themes, brief nudity. Running time: 1 hour 57 minutes. In theaters. Please consult the guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before watching movies inside theaters. More

A testosterone substitute in drama form, “Embattled” practically peacocks onto the screen. The camera starts on its side and rotates upright (big, unconventional shot, suckers!). It then tracks Cash Boykins (Stephen Dorff), a mixed martial arts fighter, as he saunters cage-ward for his latest match. In his first lines, Cash banters about how well-endowed he is. Soon he’s pummeling the skull of a Russian opponent. “Embattled” goes so hard, it puts the ending of “Rocky IV” up front.Cash is not what you would call an easy man. He battered his children and his now-ex-wife (Elizabeth Reaser), who works as a waitress with no support from Cash’s millions. Cash disdains one of their sons (Colin McKenna), who has Williams syndrome, and is involved in the life of the other, Jett (Darren Mann), only insofar as he can train him to fight and dispense advice on how to drink and drive without getting caught. (Lest we think Cash is a total monster, he maintains a wavering interest in negotiating benefits for his fellow fighters.)[embedded content]“Embattled” emerges as Jett’s story: the struggle of a caring brother, considerate son and failing calculus student who sees his clearest path forward as following in his brutal father’s footsteps. When it’s showing its sensitive side, the film, scripted by David McKenna (“American History X”) and directed by Nick Sarkisov, unexpectedly shines. Alas, it’s too much to assume that Jett and Cash could settle their grievances Jett’s way, or that an M.M.A. movie might get financed without devoting 20 minutes to a climactic beat down.EmbattledRated R. Merciless cage matches. Running time: 1 hour 57 minutes. In theaters and available to rent or buy on iTunes, Google Play and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators. Please consult the guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before watching movies inside theaters. More

Matthew Rankin’s loony debut feature, “The Twentieth Century,” presents a feverish reimagining of turn-of-the-20th-century Canada. An exuberant feat of visual design, it’s meticulously weird and full of rambunctious humor.In Rankin’s lurid vision, the goody-two-shoes Mackenzie King (Dan Beirne) is groomed to be prime minister by his eccentric, shut-in mother (Louis Negin). King — the character shares his name with the actual 10th prime minister of Canada — faces major obstacles: a fascist leader called Lord Muto (Seán Cullen), bullying from other candidates and some heavy sexual neuroses. He’s energized by Muto’s noble daughter, Ruby (Catherine Saint-Laurent), but political defeat plunges him into self-loathing and an all-consuming foot fetish.[embedded content]Like I said, this isn’t the Canada of history textbooks (despite including the Boer War). It’s more akin to the fond burlesques of Guy Maddin, or the surreal lampooning of “The Kids in the Hall.” Maddin is largely the method here: Rankin similarly toys with the Victorian trappings of silent-movie melodramas (orphans, wall-to-wall yearning), supercharged with rude passions that would tickle Freud. The candidates for prime minister compete in “tests of leadership” that poke fun at national identity: sniff-testing wood, passive-aggressive queuing, and clubbing baby seals.“The Twentieth Century” also boggles the eyes with, well, 20th-century arts. The expressionistic sets evoke wartime poster art and Art Deco, and the 16 millimeter film stock yields both ruddy hues and Northern Lights blues. Is it all a bit much? Sure, but the self-consciousness is baked in: Rankin names one public gathering place “Disappointment Square.”The Twentieth CenturyNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes. Watch through virtual cinemas. More