Saturday Night Live’s Kyle Mooney stars as James, a man who loves a kid’s TV show called Brigsby Bear, and loves his parents (Mark Hamill, Jane Adams). As it turns out, he’s also a kidnapping victim, his parents aren’t his real parents, and the TV show was produced by his fake dad for him only. When authorities rescue him and he’s returned to his real parents (Matt Walsh and Michaela Watkins), James understandably has a few emotional and social issues, having never really been outside a small dwelling his entire life. His obsession with the fake TV show continues, and he aspires to continue the story of Brigsby Bear, even if it was a byproduct of his captivity.

Director Dave McCary, working from a script co-written by Mooney, delivers a surprisingly heartwarming, funny sleeper with this movie, a film that pays tribute to geek fandom (Hey…Mark Hamill!), the importance of family, new friendships, and forgiveness.

Mooney is essentially playing one of his spacey SNL characters here, and he fits in perfectly. Greg Kinnear, as a helpful policeman with acting aspirations, lends to a terrific supporting cast. Yes, it is a little weird how James remains somewhat cool headed and affectionate for his fake captor dad but, hey, it’s Mark Hamill! (there’s a nice touch involving voiceovers that just makes total sense).

This is actually one of the better films starring and SNL alumni to come out in the last few years, and shows Mooney to have a promising movie career.

Director Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty) directs this uneven yet powerful at times account of the infamous 1967 Algiers Motel incident, part of a race riot that put the city of Detroit under siege.

When a man fires off a starter pistol from his hotel window during intense riots, the police and National Guard converge on the Algiers, and a terrible night ensues. It results in three men shot to death, others psychologically and physically tortured, and the sort of judicial rulings in the aftermath that have been all too commonplace.

John Boyega plays Dismuke’s, a security guard who finds himself entangled in the bloody events perpetrated by racist policemen led by Krauss (a legitimately scary Will Pouter). The men and women held captive at the Algiers are played by a strong ensemble cast including Jason Mitchell, Anthony Mackie, Hannah Murray, Kaitlyn Dever, Nathan Davis, Jr. and Algee Smith. The film feels a bit too fictional in spots. In an odd move, Bigelow incorporates real stock footage along with scenes meant to look like stock footage, much in the same way Oliver Stone did in J.F.K., further confusing fact from fiction. She’s going for a documentary feel, but the script sometimes calls for cartoon caricatures with its bad policemen.

No doubt, most of the policemen at the hotel that night were a bunch of monsters, but the portrayals of them (beyond Poulter’s) feel too cliché and, in some cases, aren’t well acted. There are enough strong performances to make it worth your while, and while some of the details seem manufactured, this is a true story that needed to be told, even if it seems tainted by fiction at times.

A young woman (Abby Quinn) discovers that her dad, Alan (John Turturro), might be having an affair after spying some strange poetry on their desktop in the mid-nineties.

Director Gillian Robespierre also reunites with her Obvious Child star Jenny Slate who plays Turturro’s older daughter, having relationship problems of her own with Ben (Jay Duplass). Edie Falco rounds out the family dynamic as Pat, Alan’s generally annoyed (and very entertaining) wife.

Robespierre might be working with some Hollywood clichés here within the realm of fidelity and teen angst, but she and the cast make it all seem fresh. The film uses its nineties setting in a subtle way that qualifies it as a period piece (floppy discs, trench coats) without hitting you over the head with details.

All of the cast is good, but it’s Slate that really shines, continuing showing the world that Saturday Night Live made a big mistake dismissing her after one season due to that single curse word during her series debut. She’s an actress of great range, and Robespierre has now gotten two terrific performances out of her. Turturro and Falco are the old pros, and they make for a convincing, troubled yet in love couple. Relative newcomer Quinn holds her own with the group, playing a teen intelligent beyond her years, yet pretty stupid at the same time.

When the movie ends, you find yourself missing the characters, the mark of a truly good ensemble piece.

Writer-director Damien Power manages to tell a nightmarish, horrific story in a way that eschews exploitation and gratuitous violence, while still being somewhat violent and really, really scary.

A young couple (Harriet Dyer and Ian Meadows) goes on a camping trip in a remote Australian location. They notice other campers nearby when setting up their tent, and Power shows us that family in a separate timeline, enjoying nature and taking strolls. Then, slowly, the true situation the young couple has gotten themselves into begins to unfold, and we are talking major levels of dread and terror.

Power is presenting the ultimate in family horror here, but he does it in a way that generates genuine sympathy for all involved. The people going through terrible things in this movie are fleshed out, complete characters, and the movie generates pain and anguish for their predicaments. Nothing feels schlocky or like horror porn—it’s a bare knuckled, nightmare fuel endeavor.

The cast, which also includes Aaron Pedersen and Aaron Glenane as inhuman locals and toddler Liam Parkes in an incredibly moving performance (this kid will break your heart) are all first rate.

You will have a terrible time watching this movie, as well you should. It’s about terrible things, and Power, a new director with some major talent, knows how to show terrible events without being cheap. This movie is the real deal.

Available for download on iTunes and Amazon.com during a limited theatrical release.

The last two Spidey adventures were a bummer.

Things get back on track in a fun way with Spider-Man: Homecoming, a complete overhaul of the Peter Parker character thanks to the effervescent casting of Tom Holland, a fine actor and an impressive athlete (he does most of his own acrobatic stunts).

The film gets a great villain in Vulture, played with snarling glee by Michael Keaton. Director Jon Watts and an admittedly ridiculous number of writers give Vulture an interesting origin. He’s Adrian Toones, a construction salvage worker who had a city contract to clean up the mess in New York City after the events of The Avengers. Some government types take over and kick him off the gig, leaving him pissed and with a bunch of high-tech alien junk in his possession.

Toones constructs some weapons, including an elaborate winged suit, with the alien technology and, voila, Vulture. Parker is a younger incarnation this time out, dealing with typical high school traumas that seem a little trivial after the events of Captain America: Civil War, where he sort of saved the day. He’s gone from stealing Captain America’s shield to worrying about girls, and he’s just a little bored. Enter Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) who has given Parker his Spidey suit with some conditions, like that he can only be a “friendly neighborhood Spider-Man,” concentrating on local problems rather than the really big, worldly ones.

The film is basically one half kick-ass Marvel movie—Watts is no slouch with an action sequence—and one half enjoyable and frothy high school comedy that would make John Hughes proud.

The enthralling, modern Planet of the Apes trilogy comes to a close with its best chapter yet.

Caesar (motion capture Andy Serkis) is holding his own in the forest with his band of ape soldiers when a crazed Colonel (Woody Harrelson) finds him and delivers a painful blow. Caesar finds himself on a revenge quest, with the likes of Rocket (Terry Notary), Maurice (Karin Konoval) and a new character named Bad Ape (a funny Steve Zahn) in tow. It all leads to a man vs. ape showdown for the ages, and the special effects that were great in the first movie are ten times better in the third.

For fans of the original Apes films, this movie is a virtual love letter to the series. It even has a mute girl named Nova (Amiah Miller), the same name as the girl who saw the Statue of Liberty with Charlton Heston in the original. Matt Reeves, directing his second Ape film, has managed to imbibe his special effects laden adventure with genuine emotion.

This is a big budget blockbuster with heart and soul. While this concludes a trilogy, it’s a safe bet it won’t be the last for the Apes. If you recall, astronauts went missing in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Events in this film seem to be leading up to the events of the original movie.

We might be getting a new dude in a loin cloth barking at Lady Liberty in our cinematic future.

The monsoons finally made an appearance this week, cooling things down and taking the edge off our desert heat. Take advantage of these two-digit degree days by blocking off time to work in your garden, walk your dog and play in the (hopefully continuing?) rain.

Then, when the humidity gets to be just a little too much, curl up with a glass of iced tea and a movie you never quite managed to see in theaters.

Here's your look at the Top 10 most popular flicks this week at Casa Video:

1. Life

2. John Wick: Chapter 2

3. The Autopsy of Jane Doe

This is a nice car chase movie antidote to The Fate of the Furious, a car chase movie that made me never want to see a car chase movie again, let alone Vin Diesel’s mushy mug.

The soundtrack is one of the year’s best, and the guy in the title role is a major star in the making. Ansel Elgort plays Baby, who we see in the film’s opening sequence driving the getaway car for a robbery, a kinetic chase choreographed to the great Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s “Bellbottoms.” The scene snaps with a colorful energy that’s been missing from car chases of late.

The best car chase movie in years, Drive, also featured a lonely driver and great vroom-vroom, but the soundtrack and look for that film were more meditative and hazy—not complaining; it worked beautifully. Baby Driver opts for a more clear-eyed, zippy approach, and it pays off.

Edgar Wright writes and directs for this, a project he took up after his failed dalliance with Ant-Man. The chases go off with precision editing, filmed in a way that makes you feel like you are in the car. And the soundtrack, featuring music ranging from Simon and Garfunkel to Hocus Pocus to Queen, perfectly complements them.

As we find ourselves amid monsoon season, treat yourself to a summertime blockbuster to beat the midafternoon, pre-monsoon heat.

The Loft
Cult Classic Series (every Friday and Saturday at 10 p.m.): On Friday, July 14, and Saturday, July 15, The Loft will show neo-noir thriller Lost Highway. This film is a classically David Lynch flick, rich with hallucinatory imagery, delightfully bewildering plot twists and profound analysis of the human psyche—Lost Highway bends the rules of conventional storytelling and challenges the convention of time and logic.

Social Justice Summer (every Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.): This series aims to pair hard-hitting social justice issues with cinema, as audiences are invited to explore important issues through film. Leading community experts will be present after every showing to hold community talkbacks. This Wednesday, July 19, the Global Justice Center will air a free screening of I Am Not Your Negro. This must-see documentary examines the Civil Rights movement, connecting African American history with the contemporary #BlackLivesMatter movement. This movie delivers a gripping confrontation of black representation in mainstream culture, and journies into the lives and deaths of three Civil Rights legends: Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X.

Mondo Mondays (every Monday at 8 p.m.): Diving directly into the strange, wonderful and unorthodox realms of mondo movies, this series is sure to deliver a weekly dose of weird. This Monday, July 19, enjoy Cheerleader Camp, an iconic piece of 80s slasher cinema. At Camp Hurrah, something possesses the contestants, coaches, judges and grounds staff to K-I-L-L. Rife with bloody pom poms, bad rap, sleazy boyfriends and graphic violence, Cheerleader Camp is a premiere piece of 80s slasher sex comedy.
National Theatre Live: This Loft series presents the best of live British theatre on the silver screen. On Tuesday, July 18 at 7:30 p.m. and Thursday, July 20 at 11 a.m. enjoy a showing of Saint Joan. Watch as history's charismatic Joan of Arc is depicted by actress Gemma Arterson in this classic George Bernard Shaw play.

More details on all of above at loftcinema.org.

Cactus Drive-In Theatre
Cactus Drive-In Summer Showings (every Thursday in July at 8 p.m.): Indulge in the iconic drive-in experience at the Tanque Verde Swap Meet this Thursday, July 20. The Cactus Drive-In Theatre Foundation welcomes audiences to watch the timeless and beloved 80s flick: The Princess Bride. This isn't your run of the mill fairy tale—nay, with Rodents of Unusual Size, Pits of Despair, and Cliffs of Insanity, this movie is a comfortable classic, fit for children of all ages. Will love conquer all? Will good prevail against evil? Or is it simply inconceivable?

More info at cactusdriveintheatre.com.

Cinema La Placita
Cinema La Placita Summer Series (every Thursday at 7:30 p.m.): Take a trip downtown and enjoy the Cinema La Placita's continuing outdoor summer film series. This Thursday, July 13, enjoy a legendary piece of resistance cinema. Do the Right Thing, is a groundbreaking examination of race relations in America. Directed by the iconic Spike Lee, this movie spans the length of a day and examines the whole spectrum of life and culture in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. By the end of the movie, Lee challenges audiences to decide whether anyone truly does the "right thing" when it comes to race. In addition to the showing, audiences are invited to enjoy the cash bar and food truck on site.

More info at cinemalaplacita.com

The Fox
Classic Film Series: At 7:30 this Saturday, July 15, head on down to the Fox Theatre and view the latest flick in their continuing Classic Film Series: There's No Business Like Show Business. This 1954, black and white musical-comedy-drama depicts the trials of the Donahue family and their time in the showbiz.

More info at foxtucson.com

According to director Sofia Coppola, this is not a remake of the 1971 film of the same name starring Clint Eastwood; it’s a new adaptation of the novel both films are based on.

Nicole Kidman stars as the leader of a southern school for girls, shut off from the rest of the world during the Civil War. While out searching for mushrooms, young Amy (Oona Laurence) finds a wounded Union soldier (Colin Farrell) and leads him back to the school. As the man heals, the young students and teachers each have interactions with the soldier and things eventually get, well, complicated.

Everybody in the movie delivers good work, especially Kidman as Miss Martha, a strict leader with risky compassion for the enemy soldier. Longtime Coppola collaborator Kirsten Dunst is on hand as a teacher who gets some extra attention from the stranger, and she’s strong in her role, as usual. Other cast members include Elle Fanning, Angourie Rice and Addison Riecke.

The film eschews the usual Coppola soundtrack exuberance for something very quiet and slowly paced. As the film works up to a boil, leading to a shocking climax, Coppola creates a true sense of claustrophobia and high tension.

This isn’t her best work, but it is good work, with excellent cinematography and art direction.