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Documentary explores the legacy of nuclear war and testing
Utah writer and activist Mary Dickson has spent decades exploring the consequences and legacy of U.S. nuclear testing in the American southwest, and the “downwinders” who suffered as a result. Yet through participating in the new documentary Silent Fallout, she realized there was still more she had to learn.
Park City/Salt Lake City among 6 finalists for 2027 festival and beyond
The Sundance Institute announced on Friday six finalists--including Park City/Salt Lake City--in response to a Request for Proposal process initiated in May to determine the home of the Sundance Film Festival in 2027 and beyond.
Twisters, Oddity, National Anthem, Widow Cliquot, Skywalkers: A Love Story
National Anthem ***
American queer cinema has reached the point where the stories can take on a wider variety of shapes, and director Luke Gilford and screenwriter David Largman Murray find something that both makes use of tropes and upends them. Charlie Plummer plays Dylan, a 21-year-old in rural New Mexico who takes day-labor jobs to help support his alcoholic single mother (Robyn Lively) and younger brother, Cassidy (Joey DeLeon).
Fly Me to the Moon, Longlegs, Touch, Dandelion, The Convert and more
The Convert **
A little past the half-way point in co-writer/director Lee Tamahori’s period drama, Guy Pearce—as Thomas Munro, a lay minister recently-arrived to serve a British colony in 1830 New Zealand—gets one of those monologues that you just know was underlined in yellow highlighter as the reason an actor takes a part. His character dynamic, and his status as the “convert” of the film’s title, should be the engine that drives this narrative, even as it comes to focus on Munro’s involvement in the conflict between two Māori tribes, and his understanding that they both face a much greater threat from the coming surge of colonialism.
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Despicable Me 4, Maxxxine, Summer Solstice, Green Border and more
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F **1/2
At one point in this latest adventure of Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy), it appears that he’s about to launch into one of his improvised character riffs to secure a room in a fancy hotel—except that he stops short to explain to the clerk, “I’m too tired.” And it’s awfully hard not to see that as a thesis statement for what feels off here. Axel finds himself back in California when his daughter Jane (Taylour Paige) gets caught up in a case involving crooked cops, leading to a reunion with Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), Taggert (John Ashton) and Serge (Bronson Pinchot), plus a new partner in local cop—and Jane’s ex-boyfriend—Bobby (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).
Annual musical revue gives its social satire a burst of musical-theater energy
Salt Lake Acting Company has been mounting summer productions filled with music and social satire for decades now—and while some of the details and creative personnel have changed, the foundations of the successful formula haven’t. You’ll get some skewering of local and national politics, served up with a generous helping of musical-theater song parodies and energetic performances.
