It's a Jam-Packed Saturday

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Happy Saturday, all. If last week was sleepy, this one’s wide awake. All of a sudden it’s September and there’s way too much going on. Your time is valuable, so let’s get right to it.

It was a busy week at our Breakfast All Day YouTube channel and podcast. Here’s what we reviewed in case you missed it.

• THE CONJURING: LAST RITES. Supposedly this is the last “Conjuring” movie, but does anybody really believe that? The Conjureverse has made over $2 billion. That includes various “Annabelles” and “Nuns.” This one’s about a spooky mirror. It’s got some mood, and then it gets silly, but Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga give it their all, as always. In theaters.

• HIGHEST 2 LOWEST. Spike Lee remixes Akira Kurosawa’s “High and Low,” placing it in modern-day New York and making a music industry titan the target of the story’s kidnapping scheme. This is the fifth time Lee and Denzel Washington have teamed up, and you can feel the confidence in that connection. Alonso and I do not agree on this movie! It’s been in theaters for a few weeks and is now streaming on Apple TV+.

• HIGH AND LOW. We also reviewed the 1963 Kurosawa original, which somehow neither of us had seen. It’s one of the Japanese master’s greats: meticulous in its specifics as a crime procedural and dazzling in its balance of tone. It’s streaming on HBO Max and The Criterion Channel if you’d like to rewatch or catch up with it yourself.

• CAUGHT STEALING. Darren Aronofsky’s latest came out while we were gone, so of course we had to catch up with it. This might be his most accessible movie ever: A crime comedy set in late-’90s New York, a lark with a dark heart. The tremendous cast includes Austin Butler, Zoë Kravitz, Liev Schreiber and Vincent D’Onofrio. And, like “Highest 2 Lowest,” it features a subway chase during a baseball game. In theaters.

• THE ROSES. We’re supposed to believe that Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch hate each other so much that they’re prepared to destroy each other. Trouble is, they banter so beautifully that we never feel their marriage is truly in danger. You may have seen this in 1989 when it was called “The War of the Roses” and starred Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas. That movie had real bite. In theaters.

• MOVIE NEWS LIVE! We’re back with a lengthy news livestream, from the fall festivals to new trailers to the gross use of AI to restore Orson Welles’ “The Magnificent Ambersons.” Plus, we remember the late, legendary Graham Greene, who died this week at 73. Join us every Friday at Noon Pacific.

I also appeared on both radio shows I do with two brilliant women: FilmWeek on LAist 89.3 with Lael Loewenstein and Press Play on KCRW with Alison Willmore. Give ‘em a listen! Your local public radio station needs your support, now more than ever.

Over at Ebert, I had the pleasure — and the challenge — of writing about “Twinless.” This is one of those movies where you should know as little as possible before you see it, but just trust me when I tell you that you should see it. Dylan O’Brien and James Sweeney co-star as strangers who meet at a support group for twins who’ve lost a sibling. This is a fascinating and inspired premise, because such grief is so specific. It’s obvious from their first conversation that these two would never be friends under ordinary circumstances: O’Brien’s Roman is stoic, muscular and hotheaded, while Sweeney’s Dennis is reedy, queer and quick-witted. But they do become friends — and then things get really weird. Sweeney also directed and wrote the thrillingly bold script, and he’s an exciting talent to watch with only his second feature. (His first, 2019’s “Straight Up,” earned him a Spirit Award nomination for best first screenplay.) And O’Brien has never been better. If you only know him from “The Maze Runner” movies, you are in for a huge surprise. Alonso and I will review “Twinless” on the channel next week. It’s in theaters now.

Also in theaters this weekend is “Hamilton,” finally. This is the filmed version of the Broadway musical sensation, which was recorded after it won all those Tonys in 2016. It was always meant to be seen on the big screen — but when the pandemic happened, Disney+ released it on July 4, 2020, for people to enjoy it while they were stuck at home. We reviewed it back then, if you’d like to revisit our lockdown looks, and were overwhelmed by its incredible beauty and energy. Director Thomas Kail knows when to hold a close up and when to pull back for greater perspective. It’s so intimate, you can see the spittle flying from Jonathan Groff’s mouth as he sings “You’ll Be Back.” And just to see this cast up close is a a great reminder of the prodigious talent Lin-Manuel Miranda amassed: Leslie Odom Jr., Daveed Diggs, Anthony Ramos, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Phillipa Soo and so many more. I never got the allure of “Hamilton” until I saw it this way, and it’s probably even more impressive in the theater with great sound. Bring the family and sing along.

That’s gonna do it for me this week. Alonso and I are recording a Table for One review with one of our viewers later this morning, which is one of my favorite things to do. If you’d like to pick a movie to discuss with us, please feel free to fill out the form at ChristyLemire.com, or just reply to me here and I’ll get back to you. And if you’ve enjoyed my newsletter, I’d be honored if you’d pass it along to other folks. Have a great week, and I’ll see you back here next Saturday.