Superintelligence: The Melissa McCarthy formula was losing it a while ago and now we’ve got this high concept thing with James Corden playing a sentient A.I. and all sorts of other problems. Lost me. DUD
Mank: A series of wonderfully acted and carefully executed black-and-white scenes that ooze 30s Hollywood so hard that it’s fun to just take in and see the ridiculous. Give it up for Mank. ***1/2
Save Yourselves!: I expected hipsters and aliens, but got hipsters in a cabin. Dig the (limited) cast, but this wasn’t funny enough to also not have really explored anything it seemed that it wanted to. **1/4
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom: Chadwick Boseman is on trumpet and holding something in, Viola Davis is singing and caked in makeup, and the tensions are building in this recording session slash play. The way this builds with pure dialogue (and an assist from Chadwick just doing IT) is incredible. ****1/2
Let them All Talk: Stephen Soderbergh directing Meryl Streep and Lucas Hedges doing loose improvisation with a small camera is a cool hook but it wasn’t enough steam fo a whole movie. **1/2
