In news that’s not really news, Jackass is quite old and the cinema branch of DC has issued a sputtering salvo in the pointless, unwinnable, poorly timed war with Marvel. In the case of the former, Jackass: Best and Last would appear to be a pragmatic coda, a sort of clip-show send-off from a group of undeniably influential goofs whose anatomical ability to survive their own imagination has become, by now, questionable to say the least. The latter, despite its appeal to both my feminist inclination and general displeasure with its monolithic rival, looks a lot like — at least from the snippets I’ve seen — what it is ostensibly working notto be. I wish everybody well, and I’ll probably check in with Best and Last, someday. I can’t say the same for Supergirl, as much as I admire James Gunn and an underdog narrative, onscreen or behind the scenes.
From this distance, both movies seem like relics, one knowingly and one with a fatally solipsistic refusal to acknowledge what is, hopefully, the beginning of a new era, in which smaller though equally ambitious projects might eventually find their audience, be it at home or (unlikely) in the theater. At this point, lamenting the centralization of resources in popular entertainment is, despite my obvious predilection for it, obvious and likely pointless. But the numbers might indicate that, like me, the audience at large is tired of billion-dollar dice rolls and computer-generated slop. Probably not, but look at me being hopeful.
As “indie” horror continues to somehow surprise the bookmakers with its ongoing success, one might think somebody could take a hint, maybe throw some promotional weight behind the other, modest, non-IP work that, despite all odds, continue to be made — whattya know, there are still artists and crafts-people out there — and give movie-lovers the benefit of the doubt. If you build it, they will come, sure, but they have to know it’s there.
And so, optimism grinding against futility, here are a couple:
CAROLINA CAROLINE. Adam Carter Rehmeier, one of the few multi-hyphenate filmmakers of his generation with the fortitude and good luck to keep working, has a brief but impressive CV, having followed a couple of truly independent features with Dinner in America (2020), Snack Shack (2024) and now this, a quasi-timeless con-artist road movie as much about this country as it is about identity and grief at the loss of things one may never have really had.
Caroline (Samara Weaving), treading water in small-town Texas, gets wise to and falls for an itinerant hustler, Oliver (Kyle Gallner), who opens her eyes to the oft-ignored opportunities within an economic system in service of repression. Together, they set out on a hopeless, romantic criminal spree across the American Southeast and running headlong into the inevitabilities of life outside the lines.
On one hand, Carolina Caroline (written by William Thomas Dean IV) could be called simplistic, even anti-modern, but that is a significant part of its appeal. Recalling decades of couples-on-the-run stories, the movie manages, in its style and the performances of its leads, to elevate a rather humble scenario, to become more than the sum of its parts. Which, after all, is what I ultimately want a movie to do. R. 107M. PRIME.
TUNER. Because it exists within a micro-genre, of tales of crime and intrigue and angst set within the worlds of music and auditory phenomena, Tuner can’t help but summon comparison and counterpoint: The Conversation (1974), Whiplash (2014) and Sound of Metal (2019) spring immediately to mind. Like Carolina Caroline, it is part of a lineage but also an example of the opportunity presented by it.
Nick (Leo Woodall), a lonely piano tuner whose acquired hearing disability has forced him to largely abandon his talent for the instrument, discovers by happenstance that he might actually have a superpower. His hyper-sensitive ears, it turns out, enable him to be something of a safe-cracking savant. This, fortuitously and to his own detriment, attracts the attention of the criminal-minded owner of a security company catering to the needs of the very wealthy. His side-hustle enables him to help out a friend in need, while his day-to-day leads to a promising relationship with a graduate-student composer called Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu); worlds collide.
Directed by Daniel Roher (Academy Award-winning documentarian for Navalny, 2022), who co-wrote the screenplay with Robert Ramsey, Tuner neatly avoids the myopia of some subculture dramas with abundant style and endearing, often heartbreaking performances. Exploring talent and opportunity and loss as parts of the intractable mess of life, but with the pace and punch of a top-tier caper picture, it is an auspicious transition to scripted material that, with a little luck, might be the first of more good things to come. R. 107M. PRIME.
John J. Bennett (he/him) is a movie nerd who loves a good car chase.
NOW PLAYING
BACKROOMS. Trippy horror in which a man (Chiwetel Ejiofor) slips into another dimension via a furniture store basement, followed by his therapist (Renata Reinsve). Everything Must Go edition with bonus footage. R. 105M. BROADWAY.
DISCLOSURE DAY. Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor out extraterrestrial government secrets in a Steven Spielberg sci-fi. PG13. 145M. MINOR.
JACKASS: BEST AND LAST. Johnny Knoxville and company risk breaking their hips with a farewell movie likely full of crotch injuries. R. 92M. BROADWAY.
LUCKY STRIKE. Granite-jawed nepo baby Scott Eastwood plays a soldier trapped behind enemy lines during the Battle of the Bulge. R. 102M. BROADWAY.
THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU. Big-screen adventure with masked bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his adopted green son Grogu. PG-13. 132M. BROADWAY.
MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE. Mattel butches up for a post-Barbie reboot of the swords-wielding He-Man. PG13. 132M. BROADWAY.
MINIONS AND MONSTERS. More animated workplace adventure with the little yellow henchmen. PG. 90M. BROADWAY.
OBSESSION. A man makes a doomed wish for a woman’s love and it turns out to be a curse with zero chill. R. 108M. MINOR.
SCARY MOVIE. Horror parody mash-up with Anna Faris, Regina Hall and Shawn and Damon Wayans Jr. R. 95M. BROADWAY.
SUPERGIRL. Milly Alcock stars as the hard-drinking superhero dog lover. PG13. 107M. BROADWAY.
TOY STORY 5. The emotional masochism of letting Woody and Buzz open our childhood wounds every few years. PG. 105M. BROADWAY, MINOR.
YOUNG WASHINGTON. Well, if you were ever going to try making this violent enslaver of men, women and children look heroic at least by comparison, now’s the time. PG13. 125M. BROADWAY.
For showtimes, visit catheaters.com and minortheatre.com.
This article appears in 731 Dogs.