Movies Update: At the movies, it’s raining dogs (and a cat or two)

Plus, film festival season has begun

View in browser|nytimes.com August 29, 2025 By Stephanie Goodman Even though it's a holiday weekend, there's so much going on in movies that I hardly know where to start. How about with dogs, a pet subject of mine (pun intended). I'm crazy about them, especially my stoic dachshund, Dolly, and never miss a chance to assign related stories. Our chief film critic, Manohla Dargis, took a fascinating look at how movies from the silents through "Superman" this summer use canines to forge human connections — with characters onscreen and with those of us in the audience. She writes, "Dogs can be comic, lovable, heroic or tragic; much depends on their humans because, while man rarely bites dog, he does execute unspeakable abuse on his ostensible best friend." (If you're more of a cat person, we've got you. My colleague Esther Zuckerman talked with Darren Aronofsky about the winning star of his new crime thriller, "Caught Stealing": the feline Tonic. Truth be told, the director isn't crazy about cats and even has socks with his dog's picture, but Tonic won him over. He said, "I was like, 'Look at this brilliant cat.'") While it's technically August, the fall festival season is already heating up. Telluride, which begins Friday, just unveiled its lineup, and it includes a new documentary about E. Jean Carroll, who sued President Trump for defamation and sexual abuse and won jury verdicts in both cases. While the festival and the filmmaker, Ivy Meeropol, are enthusiastic about the movie, it arrives as distributors are getting cold feet about documentaries, especially political ones, and it's not yet clear if the new film will get released. Also at Telluride will be the biopic "Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere." The filmmaker, Scott Cooper, and the stars Jeremy Allen White and Jeremy Strong, are taking an unexpected approach, focusing on the making of the 1982 album "Nebraska," as opposed to one of the Boss's bigger hits. By covering that album and "the depressive breakdown that Springsteen experienced in the aftermath of its creation, the film instead tells a story about the fragility of mental health and the limits of art alone to sustain it," writes my colleague Ben Sisario, who spoke with the team about the production. Of course Telluride isn't the only festival underway right now. Venice is in full swing and my colleague Kyle Buchanan has already filed several dispatches, including this one about "Megadoc," a documentary about the tumultuous production of Francis Ford Coppola's "Megalopolis." It sounds fascinating and I'm already making plans for a double feature of that and "Hearts of Darkness," the classic 1991 doc about the tumultuous production of the director's "Apocalypse Now." In the meantime, enjoy the movies! Summit Entertainment; Warner Bros.; MGM Critic's Notebook They're (Mostly) Good Dogs and Even Better Film Symbols Directors use our canine friends to convey connection even as we've grown more disconnected from the animal world. By Manohla Dargis Ryan Pfluger and Charlotte de la Fuente for The New York Times The Boss Finally Gets a Biopic, Just Not the One We Expected Jeremy Allen White and Jeremy Strong, the stars of "Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere," and the director Scott Cooper on capturing a haunted rock icon. By Ben Sisario Niko Tavernise/Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures 'Caught Stealing' Review: Austin Butler in Trouble and on the Run The actor stars as a rough-and-tumble bartender in Darren Aronofsky's odyssey across an older, grimier New York City. By Manohla Dargis Jaap Buitendijk/Searchlight Pictures 'The Roses' Review: To Honor, Cherish, Envy and Despise Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman star in a strangely bad remake of "The War of the Roses." By Alissa Wilkinson CRITICS' PICKS Santoro/Strand Releasing Critic's Pick 'Motel Destino' Review: A Lurid Brazilian Thriller As the director Karim Aïnouz reveals the secrets within the roadside establishment's walls, a dangerous love triangle appears. By Beatrice Loayza Vertical Critic's Pick 'Griffin in Summer' Review: Growing Up Stage Left The writer-director Nicholas Colia infuses his feature debut with sensitivity and the sweet awkwardness of youth. By Chris Azzopardi MOVIE REVIEWS Yana Blajeva/Legendary Pictures/Cineverse 'The Toxic Avenger' Review: More Ooze and Aahs A revival of the 1984 cult movie of the same name, this spoof about a radioactive superhero is a more confidently silly update. By Brandon Yu Giles Keyte/Netflix 'Thursday Murder Club' Review: A Whodunit With Helen Mirren The ever charming actress, plus Ben Kingsley and Pierce Brosnan, solve cold cases from a retirement home. What, did you think they'd knit? By Glenn Kenny QUAY BROTHERS/Film Forum 'Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass' Review: Dreams Out of Joint The latest phantasmagorical feature from the Quay Brothers adapts Bruno Schulz's enigmatic tale of a son visiting his sick father. By Nicolas Rapold Mubi 'Vice Is Broke' Review: The Rise and Crash of a Fleeting Empire This documentary by Eddie Huang is an angry but loving lament about the Montreal zine that became a billion-dollar empire before hurtling toward bankruptcy. By Sheri Linden Greenwich Entertainment 'Love, Brooklyn' Review: Boroughs and Relationships in Transition Smart and lovely to look at, this drama starring André Holland, and set in a changing Brooklyn, hints at a wisdom it doesn't quite deliver. By Lisa Kennedy Film Movement 'Stranger Eyes' Review: Watching the Watchers When a young girl disappears, her parents' obsessive search may have a dark side in a thriller that poses questions about surveillance. By Ben Kenigsberg Music Box Films 'A Little Prayer' Review: A Family's Dysfunction David Strathairn plays a Vietnam veteran who wants to shield his daughter-in-law from hard truths about her husband in this melodrama set in North Carolina. By Natalia Winkelman NEWS & FEATURES Niko Tavernise/Columbia Pictures This Star Has the Moxie and Acting Chops for a Crime Drama. He's Also a Cat. For "Caught Stealing," Darren Aronofsky needed a feline that could manage a New York City set and hit the necessary marks. Enter Tonic, a seasoned pro. By Esther Zuckerman Yana Blajeva/Legendary Pictures In a New 'Toxic Avenger,' More Gore, More Goo and Peter Dinklage, Too A look at the making of Macon Blair's reboot, which arrives for a new generation of outcasts. By Erik Piepenburg Aldara Zarraoa/Getty Images Selling a George Clooney Movie Without George Clooney at the Venice Film Festival Castmates Adam Sandler and Laura Dern stepped in, but the star's absence had a meta quality: his movie "Jay Kelly" is about a star putting his career on hold. By Kyle Buchanan Utopia, via Associated Press Venice Film Festival: 'Megalopolis' Documentary Reveals Coppola's Biggest Conflict Cameras captured the director and his crew at work and at odds, as well as his fraught dynamic with cast member Shia LaBeouf. By Kyle Buchanan Ivy Meeropol E. Jean Carroll Is Telling Her Story in a Documentary, but Will It Find a Buyer? The film, from Ivy Meeropol, will play Telluride. But as distributors pull back from nonfiction titles, especially political ones, a release isn't certain. By Nicole Sperling Austria's Hills Are Still Alive, 60 Years Later In Salzburg, an anniversary of "The Sound of Music" looks grand through a child's eyes, even if the locals are gazing elsewhere. By Jim Tankersley and Laetitia Vançon via Criterion Pictures/Anuvu and the Museum of Modern Art, New York Critic's Notebook 20 Years After Katrina, a Film Series Reclaims New Orleans The Museum of Modern Art's When the World Broke Open: Katrina and Its Afterlives takes a cinematic look at the city and its people over the past century. By Beatrice Loayza STREAMING RECOMMENDATIONS CBS News Three Great Documentaries to Stream This month's picks look at organ donors, twins conversing in their own language and California wildfires. By Ben Kenigsberg RLJE Films Five Science Fiction Movies to Stream Now In this month's picks, original takes on zombies, time travel and fatherhood. By Elisabeth Vincentelli IFC Beyond the Algorithm 'Memoir of a Snail,' 'Eephus' and More Streaming Gems This month's out-of-the-box recommendations include an acclaimed ensemble dramedy and a pair of animated movies that are very much not for the kids. By Jason Bailey How are we doing? We'd love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to moviesupdate@nytimes.com. Like this email? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up here. If you received this newsletter from someone else, subscribe here. Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Movies Update from The New York Times. To stop receiving Movies Update, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. 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