What to watch: Here’s something to ‘Crow’ about

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Watch out, Deadpool and Wolverine. The Crow flies again. Caw.
A new take on the gothic superhero has come to theaters with Bill Skarsgård, who most notably played Pennywise in the “It” movies, as the supernatural protagonist really into eyeliner and black leather. (Fun fact: Like those Marvel do-gooders, The Crow also first appeared in a comic book!) The summer movie season might be coming to a close, but at least it’s ending in interesting fashion, because Channing Tatum is playing a Me Too-era tech bro in a new psychological thriller and we’ve got a new No. 1 on the best 2024 movies leaderboard.
Now on to the good stuff:
Did we really need another version of “The Crow”? Probably not. The 1994 action thriller was a super-stylish, seminal flick of the grunge era, with the talented Brandon Lee as a resurrected musician on a mission of revenge and a tragic backstory that’s overshadowed the film over three decades. (It’s also streaming on Prime Video if you’ve never seen it.) The new reboot is definitely a different sort of experience, an ultra-violent affair with Skarsgård in the title role and FKA Twigs as the murdered girlfriend our hero is trying to bring back to life. “It’s quite beautifully broken, but it’s real and it’s deep and it’s instant,” Twigs says of the romance in my colleague Patrick Ryan’s new profile of the Grammy-nominated singer.
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But for movie fans of a certain age, any mention of “The Crow” automatically brings up memories of the accidental shooting death of Lee on the original film’s set in 1993. My pal Erin Jensen wrote up an explainer of what happened back then and how new “Crow” director Rupert Sanders insisted on no live-firing weapons during filming: “It’s just not worth the risk.”
Let’s pour one out for the demise of Bennifer 2.0. At least one Hollywood couple is still going strong: Tatum stars in his fiancée Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut “Blink Twice” as a disgraced but charming billionaire who invites a cater waiter (Naomi Ackie) to his private island for a never-ending party with friends. The booze and drugs are fun, but after experiencing blackouts and other weirdness, she uncovers the sinister truth of the place in an edgy and often darkly funny tale. (Did you dig C-Tates’ “Deadpool” cameo as Gambit? Catch him here in maybe his most unsettling role ever.)
Inspired by the “rage and confusion” she was feeling in the wake of the Me Too movement, Kravitz explains to Patrick how she wanted to explore power dynamics between genders. “Women are expected to pretend like we’re OK when we’re not,” she says. “We are expected to smile, to make everybody else comfortable, and to forget. I was trying to find a way to highlight how bizarre that request is.”
“Dune: Part Two” had a nice run as the best movie of the year, but now that spot belongs to “Sing Sing,” a moving and truly excellent prison drama – and the first 2024 flick that really screams “best picture contender.” Recent Oscar nominee Colman Domingo gives another award-worthy performance as Divine G, a man incarcerated for a crime he didn’t commit who recruits a hardened fellow convict (Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin) into the prisoner theatrical troupe that brings him creative joy. If you haven’t had the pleasure, go to the “Sing Sing” website, find your city and score a free ticket to see it at participating AMC theaters.
The movie was based on a theater program for inmates at New York’s Sing Sing Correctional Facility, and Patrick interviewed real-life members who star in the film – and returned to a jail setting to make “Sing Sing” – including Maclin and Sean “Dino” Johnson. Maclin admits “there was a lot of apprehension” in going back to a prison space, while Johnson adds, “My whole mindset was, ‘This is a choice. This is not mandatory. This is not punishment. The doors are open and I can walk out whenever.’ ”
Got thoughts, questions, ideas, concerns, compliments or maybe even some recs for me? Email [email protected] and follow me on the socials: I’m @briantruitt on Twitter (not calling it X!), Instagram and Threads.