April movie reviews

In theaters:

AIR

You know what I like about Air? That it's a movie. So often lately these kinds of stories become series, and thus become bloated and less than they could have been. I'm not even sure the story of how Nike signed Michael Jordan needed to be told, but it's better in this format, with a cast of movie stars (chiefly Matt Damon at his most effortless) and a big directors (Ben Affleck). Very well written and acted. A little weird how you never see Jordan's face. 

HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE

Well it's all there in the title. This is about a group of people setting out to blow up an oil pipeline. We get the process, and well placed flashbacks to kind of show how each member of the group came to be there. A few recognizable actors here but largely new faces. Everyone is excellent. And the film doesn't soft pedal anything. This is a deliberately angry, propulsive, political film. And one of the best of 2023 so far. 

POLITE SOCIETY

This is like if Scott Pilgrim was filtered through Bollywood. A young Indian girl (the wildly charismatic Priya Kansara) tries to prevent her big sister from marrying a potentially shady suitor. From there bursts a movie full of laughs and creative spirit. It reminds me of Pilgrim due to its not quite reality based fight scenes, but it's its own unique thing. 

Everything else:

HONOR SOCIETY

A solid high school movie with Angourie Rice from the new Spiderman flicks as one of those high achievers you only see in high school movies, who sets out to ruin her competitors for a scholarship, then ends up falling for one (Gaten Matarazzo from Stranger Things). It has a late twist I really didn't like, but it's a well written movie with a lot of charm. 

KIN

Kin is kind of assembled out of parts of other movies. It's a road trip movie, a sci-fi movie, a gritty crime movie, and others too. It kind of works though, like one of those kid-led 80s movies that still felt a little dark or dangerous. Zoe Kravitz pops up for a while, which is always good.