By Richard Roeper
Signal Contributing Writer
Here are the rest of the “award-season” shows that Richard Roeper is looking forward to between now and Thanksgiving.
Minireview: “Dune”
3.5/4 Stars
The jaw-dropping visuals and pulse-pounding sound editing in Denis Villeneuve’s stunningly gorgeous “Dune” are so awesome they make up for the slow-moving and quite familiar storyline. The movie ends at the halfway point of the story, but now that the stage has been set in such lavish and epic fashion, it’s not unreasonable to expect the remainder of the journey to be even more impressive. Rating: Three stars.
“The Harder They Fall”
Fresh off “Concrete Cowboy” on Netflix, Idris Elba is back in the saddle (and back on Netflix) as a killer named Rufus Buck who is released from prison and is the target of a manhunt led by the outlaw Nat Love (Jonathan Majors), whose parents were murdered by Buck. With Zazie Beetz, Lakeith Stanfield, Delroy Lindo and Regina King, and music by Jay-Z (who is also a producer on the film), this could be an exciting new addition to the tradition of the great American Western.
“Spencer”
Anyone who still refers to Kristen Stewart as the actress from the “Twilight” movies simply hasn’t been paying attention, as Stewart has carved out a marvelous career in films such as “The Runaways,” “Personal Shopper,” “Still Alice” and “Certain Women” and has established herself as one of the most interesting actors of her generation. In “Spencer,” directed by Pablo Larrain (“Jackie”), Stewart has a potential Oscar nomination coming her way as she plays Diana, Princess of Wales, during the period when she is making the decision to leave Prince Charles.
“Red Notice”
Dwayne Johnson stars as a top FBI profiler who finds himself working with an infamous con artist (Ryan Reynolds) to track down the world’s greatest thief (Gal Gadot). This sounds like awfully familiar territory, but this is reportedly the biggest Netflix movie ever, and that might be a good thing — plus we have that power trio headlining the cast, so this could make for some escapist entertainment on a cold November evening. Do we call that Netflix and warm?
“Ghostbusters: Afterlife”
On this timeline, the well-intentioned but regrettable “Ghostbusters” (2016) doesn’t exist, as “Afterlife” is a three-quel to the 1984 classic and the 1989 follow-up, which was cleverly titled “Ghostbusters II.” Jason Reitman, son of original “Ghostbusters” director Ivan Reitman and an accomplished filmmaker in his own right (“Juno,” “Up in the Air,” “Young Adult”), helms the story, set 30-plus years after the original, with Carrie Coon as the daughter of the late Dr. Egon Spengler, and boy, do we miss Harold Ramis. The cast also features Finn Wolfhard, Paul Rudd and Mckenna Grace — with Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver and Annie Potts reprising their original roles. Now THAT’S who you’re gonna call!
“King Richard”
No, this isn’t a 12th-century biopic about the King of England. The title character is Richard Williams, who will be played by Will Smith, and if you’re asking “Who is Richard Williams?” he’s the father of Venus and Serena Williams, who had a vision to take his daughters (played by Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton) from Compton to historic greatness.
