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This violent story of seven strangers, all with their own malevolent, personal secrets, who randomly meet at a once well-known hotel bordering California and Nevada in the 1960s, is excessive in both positive and negative manners. ‘El Royale’, has enough meat in its unnecessarily lengthy running time to be given a chance, at the very least, by Goodard and Abrams enthusiasts. The influx of pop-culture references, grindhouse violence, and impeccably delivered performances keeps this train going, until it derails when a new character is added into the mix in its final stretch....

Based on a true story that received national media attention in 2013, the whole film feels like it would have been better served as a 60-second news segment rather than a two-hour movie. The result is all the more disappointing due to it reuniting the screenwriting duo of Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry, 15 years after writing their groundbreaking screenplay for Ang Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain.” “Good Joe Bell” tackles an important subject matter, but I don’t believe the real-life Joe Bell was as ignorant and dubiously detached from reality as Mark Wahlberg is on-screen here....

Sexual self-discovery is at the rendez-vous in Celine Sciamma’s “Portrait of A Lady on Fire,” a sumptuously made 121 minute triumph which simmers with slow-burn until it breaks your heart ten-fold. It is, as we speak, the leading contender to win the Palme D’or next weekend in what has been a Cannes filled with good movies, but not great ones. This is surely one of the peaks of entirely female-led cinema that we’ve seen in recent years, if ever....

The minute detail of the mechanics of suspense was admirably Hitchcock-ian; Krasinsk found ways to make every mute, subtitled interaction count. For a studio-financed endeavor, “A Quiet Place” felt damn-near experimental. And yet, here comes the inevitable sequel. Did we need one? The film did end on an ambiguous note, but I hate hate hate originally conceived box-office hits that decide to sequelize. “A Quiet Place” ended so perfectly that I cringe even watching this trailer....

With that being said, yes, Cannes is going on with the show and even went as far as announcing the opening night film on Monday. If rumors were pointing towards Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch” kicking off the fest then we were all gravely surprised to learn that Leos Carax’s “Annette” will kick-off the 74th edition of this Cannes festival. Carax’s last release was 2012’s “Holy Motors.” That Cannes-premiered film ended up not only getting critically-acclaimed, but also appeared in a slew of best-of-the-decade lists, even finishing 20th on our 2010’s critics poll of the best movies of the last decade....

The Playlist’s resident Oscar pundit Gregory Ellwood is semi-mixed on the film’s Oscar chances in his piece titled “Is ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ A Best Picture Player?”: David Ehrlich (IndieWire): “Wakanda Forever is messy in ways Black Panther never had to be & the action is almost as weak, but it’s hard not to be impressed by how forcefully - often movingly - it meshes real personal loss & political context together w/ the usual superhero mishegoss....

The visuals look great, but Ana de Armas is struggling with that American accent. That will be a bothersome qualm for the purists that wanted a 100% authentic feeling biopic. The Cuba-born actress has mentioned in interviews that she spent 9 months working on this accent. And yet, there were rumors, dating back to early last year, that they were thinking of dubbing some of her dialogue. Now we know why....

Eddie Murphy is back in the role of Akeem, the privileged African prince who settled into Queens to look for an American wife in the 1987 original. Craig Brewer, who just directed Murphy in the hilarious and heartfelt “Dolemite Is My Name,” is at the helm for this sequel, which has Akeem learning about a long lost son, and returning to America to meet his unlikely heir to the throne of Zamunda....

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Adapted from a news item that shook Italy back in 1988, “Dogman” focuses on Simoncino (Edoardo Pesce), a former boxer prone to violence and cocaine addict fresh out of prison, who torments an Italian village. Meanwhile, the unsuspecting the titular dog man, Marcello (Marcello Fonte), a simple man who loves his daughter and owns a grooming salon for canines, inadvertently finds himself in the barrel of Simoncino’s wrath. The “friendship” between dog-loving Marcello and small-town bully Simoncino borders on an abusive relationship of familiarity: Marcello oddly respects Simoncino, while the ex-pugilist intimidates and threatens his “pal” on an almost daily basis....

According to Forbes’ Scott Mendelson, “Dune” will gross around $7.1 million this weekend for an $83.5 million 17-day total. “Barring an awards season revival, this one will still struggle to top $100 million domestic.” Marvel’s “Eternals” took in around $21 million on Friday plus that $9.5 million from Thursday previews. A $65 million opening weekend seems to be the number projectors are going with. Not too bad, considering it’s the worst-reviewed Marvel movie of all-time....

Having so far made $50 million domestically, only a fool would not think that, at the very least, this movie could be in contention for one of the ten Best Picture slots next year. It has a decent shot. At a time when independent movies are struggling to break even at the box-office, here comes a successful and critically-acclaimed movie like this one. Michelle Yeoh could also nab a Best Actress nomination....

In “Force of Nature,” Gibson is a supporting player, albeit one with a lot of screen time and his face planted on the movie’s poster. Set in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Emile Hirsch, and Stephanie Cayo play two cops tasked with evacuating an entire apartment building during a Category 5 hurricane. However, almost all of the building’s residents have left, except for Mel Gibson’s Ray – an ailing retired cop whose doctor daughter (Kate Bosworth) pleads with the cops to convince him to exit ASAP....

Coming off very successful runs at Telluride and Toronto, “Holy Spider” now has a trailer and it does showcase very well the doom and gloom vibe Abassi attains in this Fincher-esque procedural drama. The film, produced by Danish money, is set in Iran and tells the true story of a serial killer that specifically targeted prostitutes in his reign of terror. This God-fearing man went on to kill 17 women back in 2001....

Brie delivers some of her finest work as the complex, fragile and, potentially, delusional Sarah. In the first few minutes, you wouldn’t think Sarah is just a mere brain switch away from the looney bin. The deceptively simple way that Baena builds up his movie could have you thinking it’ll be another observational low-key, character-driven indie, but that, “Horse Girl” isn’t. Sarah seems perfectly happy and content at her workplace, especially with the friendship she strikes up with co-worker Joan (Molly Shannon, doing fine work here)....

Meanwhile, the disastrous numbers for critically-acclaimed musical “In the Heights” continued as it dropped a whopping 63 percent from its already terrible opening last weekend. Going from second place to sixth. And so, we went from “In The Heights is totally having a $30 million opening” to “It probably won’t even reach $30 million in its cumulative total”. Pathetic and embarrassing for its creator Lin Manuel-Miranda. All of this to say that the current state of the box-office, and movie theatres in general, is in dire straits at the moment....

Watching Garret Price’s “Love, Anotsha,” the upcoming Sundance-premiered doc about Yelchin’s life, you start to realize how Yelchin was a universally loved individual because he didn’t have a bad bone in his body. In the doc, more than 60 people are interviewed, friends, family members and collaborators (including a very emotional Jennifer Lawrence). Their reminiscences of their dearly departed friend comprises most of the more touching moments of the doc....

Herzog’s film, one of the very best non-fiction works he’s given us, has the filmmaker interviewing the 87-year-old Gorbachev in a film that ambitiously tries to show how the new world order was formed right before and after the Soviet collapse under Gorbachev’s leadership. Seen through the eyes of this fascinating historical figure, Herzog never balks at asking the tough questions. He meets his match in Gorbachev, who, despite being at the twilight of his life, still has a witty sense of humor and the sharpest memory for his historical bouts with not just the Americans, but the inner enemies of his own confederation....

“If Los Angeles and NY further spike with the virus, Tenet will move to October to take WW84’s place, and that will move into next year, probably March. Mulan may end up going to Disney Plus. I heard this from a friend who’s with a big theater chain. It’s what he’s been told.” If “Mulan” is indeed going straight to Disney+ then that puts all the pressure right back at Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” which is set to be released in theaters on July 31st....

For “No Time to Die,” $56 million to start is somewhat disappointing because it carries an enormous budget and will need to gross at least $800 million globally to get out of the red (probably closer to $900 million). Box office experts predict the film will complete its domestic run with approximately $150 million, considerably short of its franchise predecessors, 2012’s “Skyfall” ($300 million) and 2015’s “Spectre” ($200 million). In that case, “No Time to Die” will need to generate significant coinage at international box office, where it’s already amassed a strong $145 million....