Spanish director Álex de la Iglesia’s “The Last Circus” hits theaters this weekend via the Magnolia Pictures, and it’s the pick of the week, according to the folks polled on criticWIRE.
A parody of the Spanish Civil War featuring a circus, two clowns, one ballerina, a blood-and-bullets-riddled love triangle, and lots of dark humor, “The Last Circus” stars Carlos Areces, Antonio de la Torre, Carolina Bang, and Manuel Tallafé. Last year, it won both the Silver Lion and Best Screenplay Awards at the Venice Film Festival.
Three critics gave “The Last Circus” an average of B on the film’s criticWIRE page, making it the only new release to receive a B-level average. “Amigo,” “One Day” and “Flypaper,” meanwhile, all found lukewarm averages in the C-levels. More extensive takes on those titles all are linked to below. Also offered is the top 10 criticWIRE scores for films already in theaters, which is currently topped by Steve James’ “The Interrupters.” Note that only films with three or more grades have their averages included.
iW Film Calendar & criticWIRE:
criticWIRE | Opening this week | Opening this month | All Films A – Z
criticWIRE: Films Opening This Week
NOTE: The averages listed here are current as of the publishing of this article. They are subject to change as new grades come in, and will be updated in next week’s edition of this article.
The Last Circus (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: B
Amigo (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: C+
One Day (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: C
Flypaper (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: C-
5 Days of War (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: TBD
Griff The Invisible (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: TBD
Mozart’s Sister (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: TBD
criticWIRE: 10 Best Bets Already In Theaters
1. The Interrupters (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: A-
2. Attack The Block (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: A-
3. Mysteries of Lisbon (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: A-
4. Senna (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: A-
5. Project Nim (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: A-
6. Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: B+
7. Page One (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: B+
8. Buck (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: B+
9. Terri (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: B+
10. Littlerock (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: B+
Previous Picks of the Week:
August 3: Asif Kapadia’s “Senna”
August 3: Raoul Ruiz’s “Mysteries of Lisbon”
July 26: Steve James’ “The Interrupters”
July 20: Mike Cahill’s “Another Earth”
July 13: Errol Morris’ “Tabloid”
July 6: James Marsh’s “Project Nim”
June 29: Azazel Jacobs’ “Terri”
June 22: Rodman Fletcher’s “Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop”
June 15: Andrew Rossi’s “Page One: A Year Inside The New York Times”
June 8: Michael Winterbottom’s “The Trip”
June 1: Richard Ayoade’s “Submarine”
May 25: Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life”
May 18: Woody Allen’s “Midnight In Paris”
May 11: Lu Chaun’s “City of Life and Death”
May 4: Koji Wakamatsu’s “Caterpillar”
April 27: Clio Barnard’s “The Arbor”
April 20: Denis Villeneuve’s “Incendies”
April 13: Janus Metz’s “Armadillo”
April 6: Kelly Reichardt’s “Meek’s Cutoff”
March 30: Michaelangelo Frammartino’s “Le Quattro Volte”
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