FilmWeek

Brazil has been a rising star in international cinema. The Secret Agent, a political thriller set in 1977 about a researcher trying to escape the country for unknown reasons, is just the latest film from Brazil to gain critical acclaim. Directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho and starring Wagner Moura, the film shows the tangible and intangible effects an authoritarian regime imposes on its people. Moura's character Marcelo, spends the film in hiding under an alias as he waits for assistance to get him and his son out of the country. Moura's central performance holds audiences in the precarious situation with him. The film has been nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best International Feature, Best Lead Actor (Wagner Moura), and Best Achievement in Casting. Today on FilmWeek, Larry Mantle speaks with actor Wagner Moura about the film and its reception abroad.
The Secret Agent is still playing in select theaters.

Larry Mantle and LAist film critics Tim Cogshell and Christy Lemire review this weekend’s latest movie releases in theaters and on streaming platforms.
Films:
How To Make A Killing, Wide Release
EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, In Select IMAX Theaters|Expands February 27
Redux Redux, In Select Theaters
I Can Only Imagine 2, In Select Theaters
This Is Not a Test, In Select Theaters
Threshold, Streaming on Peacock
One Mile: Chapter One & Chapter Two, Two films available simultaneously on digital
Blades of the Guardians, In Select Theaters
The Dreadful, In Select Theaters
Diabolic, Available on Digital and On Demand

A quiet, meditative film about the Pacific Northwest’s logging and railroad industry at the turn of the 20th century is this year’s sleeper hit, accumulating four Oscar nominations including Best Picture. Train Dreams tells the story of Robert Grainier, played by Joel Edgerton, as he helps expand the nation’s railway system, clearing forests alongside nomadic characters. As the film progresses, the audience is transported to the changing landscape of the West, the visuals dreamy like sifting through memories. The film is an adaptation of the novella of the same name written by Denis Johnson. On FilmWeek, Larry Mantle speaks with Train Dreams’ director and co-writer Clint Bentley, who is nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay alongside co-writer Greg Kwedar, and the film’s director of photography, Adolpho Veloso, who is nominated for Best Achievement in Cinematography.
Train Dreams is nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Achievement in Cinematography, and Best Achievement in Music (Original Song).
Train Dreams is available to stream on Netflix.

Larry Mantle and LAist film critics Christy Lemire and Lael Loewenstein review this weekend’s latest movie releases in theaters and on streaming platforms.
Films:
Wuthering Heights, Wide Release
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, In Select Theaters
Crime 101, Wide Release
Nirvanna: The Band–The Show–The Movie, In Select Theaters
Calle Malaga, Laemmle Town Center [Encino] & Laemmle Monica Film Center [Santa Monica]
Starman, Laemmle Glendale
Cold Storage, In Select Theaters
Trango, Available on VOD on Documentary+
By Design, In Select Theaters

Writer-director Joachim Trier makes award-winning films that strike an emotional chord with audiences. Probably best known for his previous film The Worst Person in the World (2021), starring Renate Reinsve and co-written by Eskil Voght, Trier recreates that magic with his latest work Sentimental Value, about two sisters and their relationship with their estranged director father. Trier teamed up with Voght once again to co-write the screenplay and Reinsve plays the lead, marking the third film the director and actress have worked on together. Stellan Skarsgard stars alongside Reinsve as her character's father. Sentimental Value has nine Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best International Feature, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. We speak with writer-director Joachim Trier about the film and why it has resonated so much with audiences.
Sentimental Value is playing in select theaters.