Weekend Preview: ‘Samsara,’ ‘Little White Lies,’ ‘Wild Horse,’ ‘Premium Rush’ & More
Consider this a weekend to indulge at the movies. The 70mm documentary “Samsara” is a gorgeous, spiritually rich experience to let wash over you, while “Wild Horse, Wild Ride” examines the equine-and-man relationship and delivers a moving result akin to last year’s “Buck.” Guillaume Canet (“Tell No One”) returns with the unabashedly French “Little White Lies,” which requires antsy Americans to accept its slow pace and self-indulgence in order to appreciate its fine acting, particularly Marion Cotillard and Benoît Magimel.
Writer-director David Koepp turns “Premium Rush” into a streamlined visceral 99-minute shot of adrenaline, carried ably by rising star Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who took stitches from a bike accident that wound up in the film. Michael Shannon also makes a memorable bad cop villain. And standup comic Mike Birbiglia and This American Life producer Ira Glass should stick to their day jobs; “Sleepwalk with Me” is a better radio story than a movie.
Trailers, reviews and details for these and more below:
“Premium Rush” Columbia, US | DIR: David Koepp CAST: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jamie Chung, Dania Ramirez, Michael Shannon | 91% Fresh | Slant: “Rarely has a movie been so well served by its superficiality; Premium Rush proves how invigorating genre filmmaking can be in the hands of a savvy, perpetually inventive director.”
“Little White Lies” MPI Media, FR | DIR: Guillaume Canet CAST: François Cluzet, Marion Cotillard, Benoît Magimel, Gilles Lellouche, Laurent Lafitte, Jean Dujardin | 44% Rotten | ThePlaylist calls it A Leisurely Gallic Dramedy | Variety: “With a meandering 2 1/2-hour edit that could easily lose a reel or two, the fun gives way to several longueurs midway through.”
“Wild Horse, Wild Ride” Screen Media, US | DIR: Alex Dawson | THR: “The real subject in this winning group portrait is the bonds that develop between a charismatic collection of horse whisperers, pro and am, and the spirited young beasts they train in a miraculous 100 days.”
“Samsara” Oscilloscope, US | DIR: Ron Fricke | 71% Fresh | Box Office Mag: “Profoundly gorgeous stuff that appeals more to the senses than it does to the intellect.” | Criticwire’s Pick.
“Somewhere Between” IFC, US | DIR: Linda Gondstein Knowlton | Time Out NY: “The film is overcrowded with story lines and short on thrust, but fortunately, its protagonists carry the day with their candor and precocious poise.”
“Neighbouring Sounds” Cinema Guild, BRAZIL | DIR: Kleber Mendonça Filho CAST: Irma Brown, Sebastião Formiga | AV Club: “Through the residents of a crumbling middle-class city block in Recife, a city on Brazil’s northeastern coast, Filho looks at the fault lines that open up between people of varying races, social classes, and generational identities. Yet the beauty of the film is how organically its themes are presented—it’s a slice of life that comes about its sweeping ideas with surprising delicacy.”
“Sleepwalk with Me” IFC, US | DIR: Mike Birbiglia, Seth Barrish CAST: Mike Birbiglia, Lauren Ambrose, Carol Kane | 85% Fresh | Variety: “An endearing indie feature about the day-to-day indecisions and nocturnal perambulations of a commitment-phobic New Yorker.”
“Hit and Run” Open Road Films, US | DIR: Dax Shepard, David Palmer CAST: Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell, Bradley Cooper, Tom Arnold | 51% Rotten | Chicago-Tribune: “‘Hit & Run’ is merely the latest picture, more modestly scaled than most, to give the catch-all notion of the B movie a bad name, deserving of a new category: the D movie.”
