‘I, Tonya’ skates strongly into quiet new-movie weekend
'I, Tonya'
Twenty-four years ago this Saturday was the Knee Clubbing Heard 'Round the World.
Well, the world as defined by the tabloid feeding frenzy that followed anyway.
For those who missed it, that was the day that Nancy Kerrigan, one of the top contenders for the U.S. figure skating team for that year's Winter Games, was hit in the back of the knee after practice by an unknown male assailant.
The evidence eventually led to people paid by the ex-husband of one of Kerrigan's chief rivals, Tonya Harding. The ensuing media firestorm engulfed the skaters, both of whom wound up going to Norway for the Games in Lillehammer. (Harding later pleaded guilty to hindering the prosecution of Kerrigan's attackers, although she said she didn't know about the attack ahead of time.)
"I, Tonya" is a darkly comic take on the story from Harding's perspective, with Margot Robbie as the title skater, Sebastian Stan as her ex, Jeff Gillooly, and Allison Janney as Harding's harddriving mother.
Directed by Craig Gillespie, "I, Tonya" is turning up on a lot of critics' Top 10 lists for 2017, and is earning serious awards-season buzz for Robbie and Janney.
USA TODAY critic Brian Truitt gave the movie 31⁄2 stars, calling "I, Tonya" an often genius, always subversive film about an outsider who isn't easy to love yet at the same time hard to hate." "I, Tonya" is rated R for pervasive language, violence, and some sexual content and nudity. It runs for 119 minutes.
'Insidious: The Last Key'
Elise Rainier haunts the ghost-busting "Insidious" movies.
The parapsychologist extraordinaire, played by Lin Shaye, was killed off by a man possessed in the first "Insidious" movie, released in 2011. The quest for whatever killed her dominates "Insidious: Chapter 2." "Chapter 3" is, despite its title, a prequel to both, following Rainier as she comes out of retirement to take on another demon.
"Insidious: The Last Key" is the fourth movie but the second prequel. In this one, Rainier steps deeper into the "Further" to take on demons in the most fraught destination yet: her family home.
Leigh Whannell, who directed "Chapter 3" and wrote the first three movies, wrote this one. the Blumhouse horror squad, including Jason Blum, Oren Peli and James Wan, is back as producers, with "Insidious" newbie Adam Robitel directing.
"Insidious: The Last Key" is reated PG-13 for disturbing thematic content, violence and brief language. It runs for 103 minutes.