Film Clips: October 12, 2023

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Cadejo Blanco

(Film Movement DVD/Digital)

Bea is the fun-seeking sister and Sarita, the serious sibling. When Bea drags her into a dance club, Sarita observes an argument between her sister and a gangbanger boyfriend. When Bea doesn’t come home in the morning, Sarita sets out to find her.

Cadejo Blanco is an engrossing drama set in Guatemala, whose social disparities are evident in the gated neighborhoods just beyond the poverty where Bea and Sarita share a home with their grandmother. When they report Bea missing, the police can only offer, “Let’s hope for the best.” Bea’s gang boyfriend is thuggish, a small cog in a cartel, but does he have a glimmer of conscience? Sarita’s odyssey is lonely—and dangerous—but she is resourceful. Will she be able to infiltrate the cartel and find Bea? Filmmaker Justin Lerner directs a cast entirely believable in their roles. (David Luhrssen)

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour

(In Theaters Oct. 13)

There’s simply no escaping the phenomenon that is Taylor Swift. In the U.S., 53% of adults, across all age groups, proclaim themselves fans of this seasoned 33-year-old singer/songwriter/performer. Of those identifying as Swift’s avid fans, 45% are Millennials, age 27 to 42. When Swift announced her international “Eras Tour,” no one could predict either the scope of demand, nor the speed at which her tickets would sell out. It was a scandal for Ticketmaster, whose website continually crashed, prompting Congressional hearings into the company’s practices. 

But Ticketmaster’s problems were repeated by other ticket sellers in virtually every nation that is hosting her tour. In an effort to meet demand, Swift added a half dozen countries and numerous performances. In the U.S. alone, she’s scheduled 52 stadium shows, each around three hours in length. A quick check reveals that, as of this writing, a ticket, provided you can score one, starts at around $900. That makes seeing her on the silver screen a bargain, and it provides an affordable way for hardcore “Swifties” to experience her show over and over again. (Lisa Miller)

Dangerous Waters

(Limited Theatrical Release & Streaming on VOD, Oct. 13)

Derek (Eric Dane) hopes to impress his girlfriend Alma (Saffron Burrows), by taking Alma and her teenaged daughter Rose (Odeya Rush), for an ocean cruise aboard his yacht. While Alma canoodles with Derek, Rose discovers his small arsenal of semi-automatic weapons stashed onboard. The reasons for this become clear when a small group of heavily armed men board their boat at sea. One of those is Captain, played by Ray Liotta, 67, in what turned out to be the actor’s final work as he died in his sleep, during filming, due to cardiac and respiratory failure. It’s sad to lose this talented performer who had just begun to embrace (and was rocking), salt-and-pepper hair. Observant but relatively inexperienced, Rose squares off, in a fight to the death, with Captain. Their seafaring battle is reminiscent of 1989’s “Dead Calm,” starring Sam O’Neill and Nicole Kidman. Directed by John Barr, this claustrophobic thriller pits Liotta’s signature arrogance as Captain against Rose’s determination to prevail. (Lisa Miller)