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Hailey Bieber rocked a jersey from Montreal skateboard shop Dime this week.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic The unimaginable — a modern U.S. civil war — gains considerable clarity and alarming proximity in the documentary “Against All Enemies,” about the continuing rise of far-right extremist groups. Various talking heads here stress that the January 6 insurrection was no aberration but part of a fast-evolving pattern that poses a serious threat to our democracy. Charlie Sadoff’s film focuses largely on the role of military veterans in groups that one way or another seem to be agitating for violent government overthrow, though it also casts a wider net. This densely packed, sobering overview of hitherto subterranean political trends feels tooled for broadcast, where in any case it would have the most impact. 

Dennis Harvey Film Critic You might think Shia LaBeouf portraying a 20th-century Italian saint under the direction of perpetual bad-boy expat Abel Ferrara is a pretty strange prospect. But that’s just the iceberg tip of the oddities in “Padre Pio,” which, despite the American star’s casting in the title role, often appears uninterested in its own venerated ostensible subject.  Instead, much of this awkward English-language period piece focuses on peasants’ struggle to overthrow padrone control just after the First World War. Depicting that conflict often feels beyond the modest production’s scale — and, in any case, is never meaningfully connected to the angsty histrionics of LaBeouf, who seems to be in his own separate, indulgent, semi-improvised movie. Though coherent relative to Ferrara’s last narrative feature, the impenetrable espionage tale “Zeroes and Ones,” this eccentric misfire will likely puzzle fans of his past cult favorites, while flummoxing Catholic viewers who expect straightforward religious uplift. Gravitas Ventures is releasing to 50+ U.S. markets. 

Dennis Harvey Film Critic Released to theaters in the theatrical dog days of mid-2020, Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion’s “Becky” became a home-formats hit, its gleefully tasteless home-invasion thrills a guilty-pleasure tonic for COVID captives going a bit stir-crazy. Now Lulu Wilson is back as that title character, more or less the sole survivor of her prior screen outing. You can be sure in “The Wrath of Becky” that age hasn’t dulled her pissed-off homicidal verve, and that fate will surely provide another crop of ne’er-do-wells to tempt its exercise.  However, a different writing-directing duo is in charge this time, Matt Angel and Suzanne Coote. Their efforts generate rewards that are somewhat diminished, if still diverting. Quiver is releases this SXSW-premiered sequel to U.S. theaters, with home-formats dates as yet unannounced. 

The score for Apple TV+’s Bad Sisters features a collaboration between Tim Phillips and P.J. Harvey. Phillips recalled inventing a new instrument with Harvey so she could record most of her work ahead of her album and book tour.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic Joe Piscatella’s 2017 “Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower” offered a fairly exhilarating view of youth activism, as it charted one Hong Kong student’s spearheading public opposition to mainland China’s increasingly heavy-handed takeover. The can-do optimism that documentary left viewers with is on life support in the director’s follow-up, which shifts nominal focus to one of Joshua Wong’s fellow protest leaders. But mostly “Who’s Afraid of Nathan Law?” observes the gradual crushing of a pro-democracy movement that not long ago had promised to engage Beijing in genuine dialogue. This equally skillful if much more downbeat sequel should follow its predecessor to wide travel on the festival circuit, then broadcast and streaming exposure. 

Dennis Harvey Film Critic A creeping black spot on a darkening globe suffers some degree of illumination — not voluntarily, of course — in “The Rise of Wagner.” Benoit Bringer’s documentary about the Russian private army of mercenaries relies on a mix of news reports, human rights experts and sometimes anonymous witnesses to expose Wagner Group’s shadowy involvement in various conflicts over the last decade. It’s a damning if necessarily rather fragmented view, since the organization remains cloaked in secrecy, its own government continuing to deny affiliation. Offering global political insights as well as lurid true-crime-type content, this Hot Docs premiere is well-suited to broadcast slots for serious-minded nonfiction.  

Dennis Harvey Film Critic As the saying goes, you can take the man out of Texas … but apparently he’ll drag an arsenal of Lone Star State clichés wherever he goes, at least in “One Ranger.” Stuntman turned writer-director Jesse V. Johnson’s latest action programmer has Thomas Jane as a Texas Ranger so ornery-tough he makes even Chuck Norris look too nice, called upon to chase terrorists overseas for no obvious reason at all. Well, perhaps the reason is simply to indulge some viewers’ notion that Texamurricans just naturally shoot ’n’ smack them foreign evildoers better. Those not buying such logic will find this mediocre effort ridiculous as well as uninspired. Lionsgate is releasing the feature to 11 U.S. theaters as well as digital and on-demand platforms on May 5. 

Dennis Harvey Film Critic The sensation of a nation crumbling from within — not in slo-mo deterioration, but amid the chaos of widespread violence and political upheaval — is unimaginable to most people. Yet it’s something many will live to experience. Offering a primer of sorts in that grim prospect is “5 Seasons of Revolution.” Made by the pseudonymous Lina, this very first-person documentary doesn’t offer a lot of explanatory background or big-picture commentary on Syria’s still-ongoing civil war. But in charting the filmmaker’s attempts at reportage alongside the fates of her imperiled group of friends between 2011-15, it provides one vivid perspective on a whole country in freefall.  At that timespan’s beginning, the pro-democracy protests of the Arab Spring reach our English-language narrator’s homeland, where she’s an aspiring video journalist. Her likewise twentysomething close associates, introduced at the start here, are fellow journalists, social workers, activists. All grew up in a de facto police state now controlled by President Bashar al-Assad, whose father presided over the country’s transformation into a military dictatorship decades prior. Defying an official media blackout, she interviews demonstrators and those who witnessed their being fired on by government forces. We see joyful still images of street actions, suggesting a turning point may be at hand.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic Offering a singular perspective on Russia’s current pariah status in much of the world is Gaukur Ulfarsson’s “Soviet Barbara,” probably the most enjoyable — as opposed to depressing — documentary involving the invasion of Ukraine you’re likely to see. It focuses on Icelandic multimedia artist Ragnar Kjartansson’s preparation for exhibits that would open a major new museum in Moscow.  That launch proves fatefully ill-timed in terms of larger events, however, even as his splashiest custom creation provides ironic commentary on recent Russian history by reprising an American TV soap opera that had been an unlikely imported smash in the nation’s immediate post-USSR years. The colorful intersection between art, ideology, patronage and politics should appeal to a wide range of nonfiction outlets and programmers.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic Artificial Intelligence has been increasingly in the news of late, with observers worried that it will soon become difficult for teachers to tell if students actually completed a project themselves (or a program did it for them), for anyone to recognize whether a supposed breaking evidential video is in fact a deepfake, and so forth. “The Artifice Girl,” however, frames the problems raised by ever-growing technological sophistication in a familiar narrative framework: that of the machine intelligence that begins to surpass its human “masters.”  Unlike portrayals from “2001” to “Ex Machina” and beyond, however, Franklin Ritch’s debut feature does not treat that dynamic in thriller terms, as a hostile takeover. Instead, this smaller-scaled speculative fiction is more concerned with ethics, as pondered in a series of dialogue sequences that aren’t static but might also have worked on stage, and require nothing in the way of FX. The results may not be what fantasy fans in need of action and spectacle are looking for. But Ritch’s film, which won the Best International Feature Audience Award at Fantasia last year, is engaging food for thought for viewers willing to let ideas rather than visuals fire up their futuristic imagination. XYZ Films is releasing it April 27 to limited U.S. theaters, as well as on-demand and digital platforms. 

Martin Lawrence his flowers. On Thursday, the 58-year-old received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Hollywood Blvd.

The Lovely Bones, describing the film as a “tough experience”.The actor was asked about his past performances during an interview with Entertainment Tonight, where he named his role as serial killer George Harvey in the 2010 film as one he wouldn’t like to return to.“I would not play George Harvey again in The Lovely Bones, that was horrible,” Tucci said. “It’s a wonderful movie but it was a tough experience. Simply because of the role.“I asked [director] Peter Jackson why he cast me in that role.

Stanley Tucci has had plenty of memorable roles over the years, including “Big Night,” “Road To Perdition,” “Spotlight,” and “The Hunger Games” franchise, among others. But there’s one role the actor hopes never to play again and almost tried to get out of playing it entirely.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Stanley Tucci recently told Entertainment Tonight that he would never play his role in “The Lovely Bones” again. The actor starred as the serial killer George Harvey in Peter Jackson’s divisive adaptation of Alice Sebold’s 2002 novel. Tucci earned an Oscar nomination in the supporting actor category for his performance, but ironically it was a role he tried to get out of before filming started. “I would not play George Harvey again in ‘The Lovely Bones,’ which was horrible,” Tucci said. “It’s a wonderful movie, but it was a tough experience. Simply because of the role.” “I asked Peter Jackson why he cast me in that role,” Tucci continued. “I tried to get out of playing the role, which is crazy because I needed a job. But I was like, ‘Why do you want me?’ And he said, ‘Because you’re funny.’ And I thought, ‘Okay.’ But I understand what he was saying. I think what he meant was that I wouldn’t be too — not that I wouldn’t be serious about it, but that I wouldn’t be overly dramatic about it. That I would throw it away a bit. Which is what you have to do when you’re playing somebody who’s that awful, right?”

Stanley Tucci earned his first Oscar nomination playing serial killer George Harvey in The Lovely Bones but it’s a role he would never want to revisit.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic In 2014, Argentine writer-director Damian Szifron made a considerable splash with “Wild Tales.” The Oscar-nominated, Almodóvar-produced feature consisted of six escalatingly over-the-top stories that put a blackly comic slant on human behaviors at their worst, adding up to a flamboyantly enjoyable whole. It’s surprising that it’s taken him nearly a decade to deliver his next feature, and more surprising still that it turns out to be his English-language debut “To Catch a Killer.”  This Baltimore-set thriller, with Shailene Woodley as a cop helping FBI agent Ben Mendelsohn track down a mass shooter, is the screen equivalent of a page-turner: a solid investigative procedural that breaks no new ground, but delivers sufficient suspense, character interest, and action in confident fashion. Nonetheless, it’s a curiously impersonal, straight-ahead genre piece for a writer-director who so assertively staked out his terrain as an auteur the last time around. Vertical Entertainment is opening it on 500+ U.S. screens this Friday.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic Even among many who’ve grasped the scientific evidence, or experienced escalating weather extremes, climate change remains an abstraction for most — something too large and vague to trigger urgent emotional response. Not so the fictive activists in “How to Blow Up a Pipeline,” inspired by Andreas Malm’s nonfiction tome of the same name. Though diverse in background and motivations, the eight individuals here drawn together to attack an oil conduit in Texas share a sense that the planetary environmental crisis is immediate, and the time for gently chiding protests past.  Whether their actions constitute “eco-terrorism” and whether violence of any kind is ever justifiable in the service of progress are questions Daniel Goldhaber’s sophomore feature duly grapples with. Still, its degree of moral self-examination is unlikely to appease climate deniers, who’ll likely decry the film (if they notice it at all) as a recruitment poster for aspiring saboteurs. It’s more nuanced than that, but this strong, straightforward drama-cum-thriller about a divisive topic will nonetheless primarily appeal to viewers on the left side of the political dial. Neon is releasing to U.S. theaters on April 7.

EastEnders star Lacey Turner has shared a heartwarming snap alongside her rarely seen family to mark her mum Bev’s birthday on Saturday.The 35 year old star, who is best known for player Stacey Slater in the BBC soap, was pictured alongside her mum and two sisters Daisy Turner and Lily Harvey in the snap, both of which have also enjoyed successful acting careers. Donning a long black dress, Lacey looked stunning as she beamed alongside the talented women in her family, and opted to style her brown hair in a sleek bun that helped to accentuate her facial features. The birthday girl herself, Bev, also cut a stylish figure as she sported a white and blue floral dress as she posed next to her three daughters.The youngest of the bunch, Lily, 23, opted for a white shirt and black skirt combo, while middle child Daisy, 32 opted for a brick red midi dress, as the family enjoyed a delicious meal together.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic It has been rather bewildering to witness no less than two dozen low-budget action movies involving Bruce Willis being churned out over the last three years. That legacy-dimming run ends with “Assassin,” which arrives almost exactly one annum after his family announced a retirement due to diagnosis of cognitive disorder aphasia (and, later, frontotemporal dementia). Like nearly every preceding opus featuring the erstwhile global superstar in roles of prominent billing but little screentime, this rote genre exercise is little more than a time-killer, and as such a regrettable close to a significant career. Saban Films is releasing it to U.S. theaters, digital and VOD platforms on March 31.

EastEnders is set for emotional scenes next week as Freddie Slater's emotional past is explored on the hit BBC One soap. In the upcoming scenes, Freddie finds himself double booked with two dates for the same evening as he panics whether he can pull it off. And things go from bad to worse when he muddles up his dates to which Jean Slater upsets Freddie when she questions his intelligence.

EastEnders is set for devastating scenes next week on the hit BBC One soap when a horror car crash involving Kim Fox and Denzel Danes rocks Albert Square. In the upcoming scenes, Denzel secretly hosts a party whilst Kim and Howie attend an awards do, where she receives an award for Influencer of the Moment and a prize of a brand new car. However, the celebrations are soon cut short when they return to Albert Square to find Denzel's party as they quickly shut it down.

A retired teacher alleges she was evicted from her "beloved" £15k beach hut because she was too glamorous for her "jealous" neighbours. Michelle Spicer became involved in a row with locals over a number of issues which eventually landed her in court.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic Found-footage horror — that thing you never want to see again, until once every couple years someone finds a fresh angle — meets “The King of Comedy,” of all things, in “Late Night With the Devil.” The third feature from enterprising Aussie siblings Colin and Cameron Cairnes kicks up a notch their flair for bringing novel twists to familiar genre tropes, by positing occult mayhem during a live broadcast of a 1970s network talk show.  The resulting mix of vintage Me Decade showbiz cheese and “Exorcist”-y demonic doings is distinctive, not to mention deftly handled by the brothers as both writers and directors. Well-received at its SXSW premiere, this clever high-concept gambit should raise its makers’ profile, likely inviting some Hollywood offers — which one suspects they’d be open to, given this is their first project set (though not produced) in the U.S. rather than on home turf. 

When Scream was released in December 1996, nobody could have anticipated that it would become one of the most popular and long-standing slasher franchises of all time. Despite a lackluster opening weekend, the horror film, which introduced a mysterious killer in a Ghostface Halloween costume, went on to become a hit making household names of its talented cast of actors, including Courteney Cox and Drew Barrymore.This week, the sixth installment of this iconic horror franchise hits theaters, 26 years after the release of the first movie.To mark the release, here’s a look at the original Scream cast who started it all and where they are now.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic Who am I? Where do I fit in? Am I some kind of misfit? Will I ever be an ex-virgin? Such questions surely occur to every adolescent at one point or another. But only one out of approximately every 5,000 female ones arrive at them for the same diagnostic reason as the heroine of “Bloody Hell.” Molly McGlynn’s second feature focuses on a 16-year-old distressed to discover she has a rare congenital disorder that considerably complicates her nascent sex life, formative sexual identity and indeed basic sexual plumbing. This SXSW-premiering Canadian seriocomedy is a bit less focused and effective than the writer-director’s prior “Mary Goes Round,” but it’s still accomplished, and similarly renders relatable the sometimes self-defeating behaviors of a protagonist who’s got a lot of issues on her plate.

After 10 days of deliberation, a Los Angeles jury found disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein guilty of one count of rape on December 19, 2022.Weinstein, 70, was charged in Los Angeles with seven sexual assault counts involving four women: three counts of forcible rape, two counts of sexual battery by restraint, one count of forcible oral copulation, and one count of sexual penetration by a foreign object. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.In addition to the one count of rape, Weinstein was found guilty of forced oral copulation and another sexual misconduct count relating to one of the four victims. The jury did not reach a verdict on charges relating to two other alleged victims, one of whom was Jennifer Siebel-Newsom, the wife of Governor Gavin Newsom.

The Los Angeles prosecution in Harvey Weinstein's latest rape trial has decided not to retry charges against the film producer. Deputy District Attorney Paul Thompson announced the decision to Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench at a hearing in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday.The judge originally dismissed the rape and sexual assault charges involving two women that left a jury deadlocked in December.