Week Ending 6/5/26
RIP Marjane Satrapi
It was sad to hear of Marjane Satrapi's passing yesterday at age 56. Way too young.
Author of the award-winning autobiographical comic Persepolis about her life growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, the author and animator would later pivot to cinema with an adaptation of that book (alongside Vincent Paronnaud) that earned her an Oscar nomination.
I had the pleasure of listening to Satrapi discuss both in Buffalo during the 2009 Babel series that's put on by the Just Buffalo Literary Center. She was such a great orator: funny, intelligent, confident. We all laughed when she left the stage before the Q&A because she needed a nicotine fix after talking for ninety minutes straight.
Her latest film (Dear Paris) released in 2024 to cap off a six-title filmography of which I've seen three including the bonkers The Voices and effective Radioactive. And you've probably seen her memorable quote circulating online that "The difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you. And our governments are very much the same." ever since Trump began his war with Iran. Her humanist voice for peace will be sorely missed.
And with her family's announcement that she "died of sadness" a year after her husband passed away, you can't help feeling your heart weigh even heavier when considering the tragic suicide of Claude Lemieux just last week. It's a difficult time to be alive right now as the fascism that took over Satrapi's Iran now grabs hold of Europe, America, and beyond. Take care of yourselves out there.
The Italian Job
This was a lot goofier than I anticipated having remembered the remake as a pretty straightforward heist flick leaning towards drama via its revenge angle. Watching Michael Caine break back into the prison he just left to surprise Noël Coward of all people in his private bathroom (since he runs the joint from his Queen Elizabeth shrine cell) was therefore a big early laugh.
I love that writer Troy Kennedy Martin (who bought the idea from his brother Ian before shifting its setting from London to Italy) and director Peter Collinson just decided to make it as silly as possible with the largest crew of doofuses they could conjure up. Caine becomes more school teacher herding simpleminded cattle than mastermind. Heck, it wasn't even his plan to begin with.
I think the part I'll remember most is the cliff full of mafia men with machine guns acting tough despite their boss doing all his damage (again, more gag than menacing) via a slow-moving bulldozer with a smile. Sure, the cliffhanger ending is great too, but, like the extended car chase that proves more about absurd places to drive than suspenseful action, it goes on way too long.
That's what happens when your script is all robbery and zero backstory. More thought went into solving its disaster-waiting-to-happened ending in 2008 by the Royal Society of Chemistry than cobbling together a semblance of plot to bolster the hijinks. It is a lot of fun, though. "B-I-G" fun.
7/10
The Little Sister
"The film is therefore less a “coming of age” than it is an “evolving to be.” It’s about the indelible moments that push Fatima to embrace her desires while also reminding her that doing so doesn’t mean she must also erase her faith."
– Full thoughts at The Film Stage.
This week saw The Jane Austen Book Club (2007) added to the archive (cinematicfbombs.com).
Maggie Grace dropping an f-bomb in THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB.
Opening Buffalo-area theaters 6/5/26 -
• The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act at Scene One Market Arcade; AMC Maple Ridge; Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria, Quaker
• Carolina Caroline at Regal Transit, Quaker
"Cue the road trip crash course in grifting and the electric chemistry of their tandem running amok with such expert precision that their crimes might somehow exude more sex appeal than their sex scenes." – Full thoughts at The Film Stage.
• Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai at Regal Elmwood
• The Last Whale Singer at Regal Transit, Galleria, Quaker
• Masters of the Universe at Dipson Flix, Capitol; Scene One Market Arcade; AMC Maple Ridge; Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria, Quaker
• Mollywood Times at Regal Elmwood
• Peddi at Regal Elmwood, Galleria
• Power Ballad at Dipson Amherst; Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria, Quaker
• Scary Movie at Dipson Flix, Capitol; Scene One Market Arcade; AMC Maple Ridge; Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria, Quaker
• Tuner at Regal Quaker
"The script’s machinations might conveniently draw lines connecting Niki’s professional, personal, and hidden lives together to push him into a corner to face his insecurities, but the emotion that results is authentic." – Full thoughts at The Film Stage.
Streaming from 6/5/26 -
• Groundswell (Prime) – 6/5
• The Ice Tower (Shudder) – 6/5
"Whereas most would let that shared experience bond these two as protector and protected, The Ice Tower understands that the would-be protector having never been protected themselves almost guarantees they don’t know what it means to protect." – Full thoughts at HHYS.
• Keeper (Hulu) – 6/5
• Lorne (Peacock) – 6/5
• The Marked Woman (Netflix) – 6/5
• Mexico 86 (Netflix) – 6/5
• Office Romance (Netflix) – 6/5
• Pillion (HBO Max) – 6/5
• The Pout-Pout Fish (Prime) – 6/5
• Scarlet (Netflix) – 6/6
"I applaud Hosoda’s desire to heal rather than harm, but Claudius probably isn’t the literary figure for that pursuit. How he brings it to life is gorgeous, though." – Full thoughts at HHYS.
• The Strangers: Chapter 3 (Starz) – 6/6
• Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs That's the Weight of the World) (HBO Max) – 6/7
• USA 94: Brazil’s Return to Glory (Netflix) – 6/7
• Colors of Evil: Black (Netflix) – 6/10
Now on VOD/Digital HD -
• Speed Demon (5/31)
• Amrum (6/2)
"Because it’s not just about Nanning breaking free to acknowledge a better way. It’s also the reality that he must now carry [his parents'] mistakes with him forever." – Full thoughts at The Film Stage.
• Casa Grande (6/2)
• Erupcja (6/2)
"We have fun with the ladies. Suffer the disappointment of their significant others. And find solace in Nel and Rob’s mutual desire to keep orbiting Bethany despite the heat. Sometimes we become too mesmerized to remember to run." – Full thoughts at The Film Stage.
• Hokum (6/2)
• Hunting Matthew Nichols (6/2)
• I Swear (6/2)
"It’s a delicate subject handled with great sensitivity, humor, and intelligence by Jones. Bringing this film into the world only helps expand the reach of [John's] quest to educate, inspire, and protect." – Full thoughts at HHYS.
• In the Grey (6/2)
• Is God Is (6/2)
• Palestine 36 (6/2)
"Whereas so many Hollywood examples reduce this region’s story to terrorism, Palestine 36 gives it the care necessary to remind us how that label is often used by oppressive forces to maintain their control." – Full thoughts at The Film Stage.
• Premarital (6/2)
• Ricky (6/2)
"Ricky must believe himself to be worthy of their love before he can accept it, but the pain he holds threatens to make it impossible. James has never been better en route to giving that struggle the care it demands." – Full thoughts at jaredmobarak.com.
• Affection (6/5)
• Chum (6/5)
• The Passenger (6/5)
• Seven Snipers (6/5)
• Signal One (6/5)
Pieces from the Joe Versus the Volcano (1990) press kit.
