Photo © CTMG via Sony Pictures
Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum in ‘Fly Me to the Moon’
Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum in ‘Fly Me to the Moon’
“Danza Macabra Volume Three: The Spanish Gothic Collection”
(Severin Blu-ray)
If the Spanish horror film Cross of the Devil (1974) looks very Hammer Studio, it’s because the director, John Gilling (The Plague of the Zombies), was a Hammer veteran who had retired to Spain. This was his final film and has probably never been seen in such pristine form as on its new release. Cross of the Devil is among four Spanish horror movies from the late Franco period included in “Danza Macabra Volume Three.” Also in the set are the anthology film Cake of Blood, Leon Klimousky’s The Night of the Walking Dead and Miguel Madrid’s Necrophagous. Each disc is loaded with interviews and commentary.
But back to Cross of the Devil. The protagonist is an English, kief-smoking author with writer’s block suffering from a recurring nightmare concerning a woman being attacked by hooded riders. The kerosene and candle Edwardian setting is typically Hammer, as is the romantic melodrama punctuated by deep kisses followed by bloody mayhem. Naturally, a spooky thunderstorm greets the author when he arrives in Spain at a lonely manor house to seek his sister. He discovers that she’s dead, but that’s not how the story ends. (David Luhrssen)
Divorce in the Black
(In Theaters & Streaming on Amazon, July 11)
In Tyler Perry’s R-rated drama, Ava (Meagan Good) does all she can to be the perfect wife to her abusive husband Dallas (Cory Hardrict). Her identity takes a hit when Dallas suddenly deserts her. While attempting to figure out why, Ava discovers her husband harbors dark secrets. She reconnects with a gentler, kinder old friend (Joseph Lee Anderson) she believes could be the love of her life. With Ava seeing a bright future on the horizon, Dallas reappears to demand a reconciliation. Richard Lawson and Debbi Morgan portray Ava’s supportive parents, becoming caught up in Dallas’s newfound obsession with the wife who no longer worships him. Much melodrama stretches the story to two-and-a-half hours. Writer-director Perry’s motto here could be: If it’s worth doing once, then it’s worth proving why you did it a dozen times. (Lisa Miller)
Edge of Everything
(Lightyear DVD/Digital)
Disaffected and depressed by her mother’s death, Abby, 14, is sent to live with her estranged father and his new, much younger wife. In her new home, Abby is all passive aggressive refusal; she lights up with her friends—and is drawn toward more dangerous turf by a new girl, trashy, boozy, cigarette smoking. The 2023 debut by filmmakers Sophia Sabella and Pablo Feldman catches teen spirit with nailed down accuracy and no unnecessary melodrama. (David Luhrssen)
Fly Me to the Moon
(In Theaters July 12)
A fanciful conspiracy intrudes into this strange rom-com entry. Scarlett Johansson portrays Kelly Jones, a con woman whose powers of persuasion make her suited to sell anything. Channing Tatum appears as Cole Davis, a NASA launch director on the Apollo 11 moon landing mission. In 1969 the pair are assigned to opposing sides of the same team. Despite this, romantic attraction slowly blooms, unless Kelly is pretending in order to smooth over the road leading to her objective. It's 1969. President Nixon determined that the U.S. beat the USSR in landing a man on the moon. At times deadly serious while at others striving to make us laugh, the film never finds its sweet spot. Woody Harrelson plays a political operative and fixer, while Anna Garcia and Ray Romano appear at the periphery, their abilities untapped. (Lisa Miller)
