Race The promos for this Jesse Owens biopic want us to know that there's no such thing as black and white, only fast and slow. Sounds pretty dodgy to me: I'd suggest a few other categories are pertinent, like "chokehold" and "rough ride." Anyway, modern-day audiences will thrill to the only slightly tweaked story of how Owens grabbed the glory at the 1936 Olympics, cowing Adolf Hitler so significantly that World War II never happened. (PG-13)
Risen Personally, I can't wait to see what kind of a job Joseph Fiennes does as Michael Jackson. After all, everything I know about Asian-Americans, I learned from Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's. But before Fiennes gets to don the most famous glove that wasn't used to murder Nicole Brown Simpson, we get to see him do Easter duty as a Roman soldier assigned to locate Christ's missing body before the apostles go positively ape poop. Just what the world of faith needs: CSI: Golgotha. Director Kevin Reynolds cut ties with partner Kevin Costner after Waterworld, so he knows a thing or two about getting rid of a corpse. (PG-13)
Son of Saul A prisoner at Auschwitz tasked with burning the dead bodies of people put to death in gas chambers discovers the body of a boy he believes could be his own son. Rather than allow the child to be dissected and burned anonymously, he attempts to find a rabbi to give the child a proper burial. During filming, director László Nemes pledged that he would not make a film that looked beautiful or appealing. (R)
The Witch What better recommendation do you need than the knowledge that a movie has been praised by both the Sundance Film Festival and the Satanic Temple? Filmmaker Robert Eggers' first feature nabbed a directing award in Park City and was lauded for its clear-eyed view of religious fundamentalism gone amok by our old pals the Satanists – who even co-presented a few promotional screenings around the country. And boy, would I have loved to have gone to one of those things because I bet the Dark Lord's minions can wield a heck of a T-shirt cannon. In the flick, a family of New England Puritans castigates one of their own as a witch after she loses track of their infant child. (Speaking of which, did you know that Casey Anthony is opening a photography studio? For serious! I hope she does family portraits, 'cuz talk about somebody who knows how to get a kid to keep quiet.) (R)
