Out of Step

FATIMA (2016) (B) - Divorced cleaning lady Fatima (Soria Zeroual) jousts with her young-adult daughters across the generational divide. The older one is starting medical school; the younger one is a lazy high school student.

Philippe Faucon has spent his career studying immigrants in France, and here he takes his time letting us get to know Fatima and her dreams -- not just for herself, but for her daughters. She toggles between prudery and pride. Nesrine (Zita Hanrot) is full of doubt about making the leap to a higher class. Younger Souad (Kenza Noah Aiche) seeks to rebel in anti-intellectual ways.

Fatima keeps a diary and takes French writing lessons, perhaps surprising herself with her thoughts and ideas. Each woman's story unfolds in touching ways.

TYREL (B-minus) - Psych! What if you made a horror film but nothing horrible or horrific happens? Sebastian Silva ("Crystal Fairy," "Nasty Baby") pulls off the ultimate misdirection with this mind-fuck about a black man joining his friend for an otherwise all-white-male weekend of bro debauchery in the Catskills.

He's not really the only "minority" at the party. The host and one other guest are apparently Latin American, and an older gay man is there too.

One of Silva's assertions is that the opposite of black culture is the music of R.E.M. (three songs featured here, including a menacing "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"). Of course this and other micro-aggressions add up for our hero, Tyler (Jason Mitchell). (The title is an intentional typo, based on one character's botching of his name -- again a seemingly innocuous event.

Not enough happens here, and the improvised dialogue never sizzles like a more reliable Apatovian exercise would. Christopher Abbott (HBO's "Girls") can't find the right tone, Mitchell is solid but unspectacular, and not even Michael Cera's loopy charm can elevate this above average.

Late-Stage Capitalism

Two early films from the Chinese master, Jia Zhang-Ke:

UNKNOWN PLEASURES (2002) (A-minus) - Here we see the flowering of Jia's vision -- aimless young adults coping with a seismic shift from old-school communism to the capitalism of the future. Here is a concise plot summation from the Onion AV Club (no relation):

Set in the small provincial city of Datong, the film centers on Zhao Wei Wei and Wu Qiong, jobless best friends who spend their limitless free time hanging around a pool hall, tooling around the city on mopeds, and coveting the American dollars that will get them out of their rut. Still living at home with his mother, who is lost to the Falun Gong religious cult, Zhao joins the long line of young men looking to volunteer for military service, but his blood tests reveal hepatitis. Meanwhile, Wu pursues the forbiddingly beautiful Qiao Qiao (Zhao Tao), a traveling dancer shilling for Mongolian King Liquor, a company run by a possessive gangster (Zhou Qing Feng) who keeps her on a tight leash and sics his goons on each of her suitors. As their situation grows more hopeless, the two friends hatch a comically misconceived robbery scheme to scrape up some quick money.

While it isn't very sexual, it is sensual, especially during a pivotal club scene. Tao Zhao emerges as a unique talent who would grow into Jia's collaborator and, eventually, wife.

PLATFORM (2000) (B+) - Here's IMDb again with the helpful summary:

Set in Fenyang, Shanxi Province, the film focuses on a group of amateur theater troupe performers whose fate mirrors that of the general population in China as massive socio-economic changes sweep across the mainland. The film commences in 1979 with the troupe performing numbers idolizing Mao Zedong, ending in the '80s when the shows reflect the strong Western influences pervading China, covering a decade in which China saw tremendous changes.

Jia has a steady hand with the camera, showing patience with scenes, as actors come and go through shots, particularly in a scene between Tao Zhao and her would-be beau. The sweep of history is subtle, reflected obtusely through hairstyles and clothes. This new generation struggles with love and art, and the interplay can be heartbreaking, especially during a scene in which that future rolls in on the rails, bringing hope from the outside world, as if the Beatles are onboard it. (See the second video below.)

BONUS TRACK
The "Platform" trailer and a key scene:

New to the Queue

Paying dues to the survivors guild ...

A documentary about an odd coupling of Harlem street musicians, "Satan & Adam."

An underworld-themed trend? A zippy documentary from Penny Lane ("Our Nixon," "Nuts!") profiles devil worshipers in "Hail Satan?"

We're on the fence about this giddy romp about Emily Dickinson, but Molly Shannon in the title role is drawing us to "Wild Nights With Emily."

It's normally a hard pass when it comes to Andrew Garfield, but the latest from David Robert Mitchell (enchanting with "The Myth of the American Sleepover," clunky with "It Follows") looks fun -- and it has Riley Keough -- "Under the Silver Lake."

A documentary about a craftsman in the heart of New York City, "Carmine Street Guitars."
 

Doc Watch: Innovations

APOLLO 11 (B+) - This fairly by-the-numbers documentary about the moon landing 50 years ago has the good sense to get out of its own way. No talking heads are needed, as original footage, some of it rarely seen before, forms the narrative and ratchets up the drama. 

With a throwback "You Are There" style, the documentary launches with the famous speech by President Kennedy vowing a man on the moon by the end of the decade and then marches through the events of the summer of 1969, with countdown clocks and odometer readings. (Warning: The graphics are in small print and might be hard to read on a TV or computer screen.)

Todd Douglas Miller's curation of the footage might come off as too dry at times, but you have to admire his restraint. There is no denying the building suspense and the sense of camaraderie that seemed to sweep the nation. Nostalgia hangs in the air, as nerds in short-sleeved white dress shirts banter in Mission Control and families in sunglasses gape across the bay at the launch from the Kennedy Space Center. It was a time when Americans conquered a monumental task rather than bickered over how it couldn't be done.

JOSEPH PULITZER: VOICE OF THE PEOPLE (B-minus) - This PBS "American Masters" production offers a primer on the 19th century newsman who defined an era and lives on today through his namesake awards for journalistic excellence. The film traces his journey as a Hungarian immigrant, fighting as a hired gun in the U.S. Civil War and eventually launching a media empire in St. Louis and New York. 

The re-enactments here can be distracting, but director Oren Rudavsky keeps them understated as he tries to enliven a story devoid of modern images. Liev Schreiber hams it up as the voice of Pulitzer, and Adam Driver drones as the humorless narrator.

Even veteran news junkies can learn a thing or two from this meticulous curation. Pulitzer was an innovator, melding the low road with the high road as he never lost sight of his goal: selling newspapers. His papers uncovered corruption while also scraping the bottom of police reports for some of the more lascivious examples of human nature.
 

New to the Queue

Altered states ...

The colorful debut feature from Ghanian musician Blitz Bazawule, "The Burial of Kojo."

French teens explore their sexuality and desires in "Slut in a Good Way."

The documentary about a program in New York that treats prostitutes as victims, not as criminals, "Blowin' Up."

Claire Denis goes to space and explores the human condition in "High Life."

Alex Ross Perry ("Listen Up Philip") re-teams with Elisabeth Moss ("Queen of Earth") for the punk anthem "Her Smell."

A profile of a classic hockey bad boy, "Tough Guy: The Bob Probert Story."
 

Fathers and Sons

A SCREAMING MAN (2010) (B) - This slow burn occasionally borders on tedium, but at 92 minutes and with a powerful lead performance, it manages to provide a compelling portrait of a middle-aged man competing with his son for relevance. Adam (Youssouf Djaoro), also known as Champion for his youthful swimming exploits, tends the pool at a club in N'Djamena, Chad. But new Chinese club owners are purging older workers, and the manager fancies Adam's son, Abdel (Diouc Koma), and so Adam is demoted to working the front gate.

Adam also feels pressure from local military leaders, who extract taxes for the war against the rebels. Adam makes a fateful decision that could earn him his job back -- but at a much higher price than paying money to the rebels. Adam's resentments are never clearly stated but rather encapsulated in his persistence in hanging on to his youth. He still walks with an athlete's lanky strut. A simple scene of him doing sit-ups speaks volumes. Writer-director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun creates a low, satisfying hum throughout Adam's ordeal that will engulf his family.

THE WINDOW (2009) (A-minus) - Antonio Larreta is mesmerizing as a dying man holding vigil in his bed as he awaits a visit from his estranged son. Writer-director Carlos Sorin uses Laretta -- who literally looks like he's on his death bed (the actor was in his mid-80s at the time and would live to be 92) -- as the centerpiece around which a delightful cast of characters assembles.

The frail Antonio can count on his faithful servants Maria del Carmen and Emilse at his rose-colored retreat in Patagonia, Argentina. Buzzing in and around the mansion over the course of the main day that the film takes place are a piano tuner (Antonio's son is a celebrated pianist), a doctor and a friend. Everyone's task can be traced to preparations for the arrival of the son.

Hard-headed Antonio decides to take an ill-advised stroll to experience the elements outside his window. Sorin's tender treatment of this man's final days and hours can be considered rose-colored itself -- especially in gauzy flashbacks to Antonio's childhood that bookend the movie -- but there is not denying their emotional appeal. At a brisk 85 minutes, this often unfurls like a perfectly executed stage play.
 

At Your Own Peril

THE GUILTY (B) - Jakob Cedergren is solid as a cop under investigation, forced into desk duty as a dispatch operator, making the best of his situation by hustling to help a woman in danger. The film unfolds almost in real time over an hour and a half, as Officer Asger Holm takes a call from a woman being transported in a van against her will. He juggles incoming calls and coordinates with different precincts as he tracks the woman's movements.

Newcomer Gustav Moeller (co-writing with Emil Nygaard Albertsen) shoots in the claustrophobic dispatch center, climbing up in Cedergren's personal space. They unravel the simple story gradually, revealing a couple of not very surprising twists as the narrative chugs along. Cedergren makes you care about the story behind the story.

GLASS (D) - I was forced to watch this. M. Night Shyamalan might have good ideas, but he is a klutz when it comes to writing and directing a movie. The dialogue is laughable. The camera shots are the work of a serviceable hack. The story makes sense in the end, but it's torture getting there. Shyamalan had his moment, but that was a couple of decades ago. His output has been unappealing since. Is this rock bottom? I haven't paid attention, so I don't know. This is ridiculous.