Getting surreal — and saving the world
“Sorry to Bother You” is one of the year’s buzziest movies, and yet it’s set in the world of telemarketing. Go figure.
The movie follows an African-American telemarketer named Cassius (Lakeith Stanfield) who finds the key to success in the calling biz is using your “white voice.” But his success could have a price, from losing him his activist girlfriend (Tessa Thompson) to being on the wrong side of community protests.
Danny Glover plays Cassius’ mentor, while Armie Hammer is his high-octane boss. (David Cross supplies his “white voice.”)
“Sorry to Bother You” debuted to raves at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where critics and movie lovers were wowed by writer-director Boots Riley’s mix of stark-realistic and surreal.
“‘Sorry to Bother You’ is the gloriously bonkers, Oakland-style version of ‘Office Space’ you never knew you needed,” USA TODAY critic Brian Truitt wrote. “Sorry to Bother You” is rated R for pervasive language, some strong sexual content, nudity and drug use. It runs for 105 minutes.
‘Skyscraper’
With Dwayne Johnson, you just know he’s going to save the world. The question is, how?
In “Skyscraper,” his latest bit of over-the-top action, Johnson is a war veteran and former FBI hostage rescue-team leader whose new job, naturally, is skyscraper security. But while on a job in the world’s tallest, and supposedly safest, new skyscraper in China, he finds 1) the building is on fire, above the fire line; 2) he’s being framed for it; and 3) his family is on a floor above the fire.
That’s a heck of a to-do list, but, hey: This is the guy who rescued his family from an earthquake
a tsunami (”San Andreas”) ; battled a genetically modified giant wolf (”Rampage”); and raised an appropriate eyebrow to save the day in a video game (”Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle”).
In other words: He’s got this.
“Skyscraper” is rated PG-13 for violence and brief language. It runs for 102 minutes. ‘Leave No Trace’
In her breakthrough “Winter’s Bone,” director Debra Granik carved out a smart, less-is-more portrait of a young woman’s (Jennifer Lawrence, in her first Oscar-nominated performance) determination to survive and protect her family.
Her latest movie, “Leave No Trace,” is also about survival and family. Ben Foster and Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie play a father and daughter who have been living off the grid in the forests outside Portland, Ore., where father, a war vet battling post-traumatic stress, believes they’ll be
safest. Social-service agencies determine they’d be better off in “civilization,” but the pair — each taking care of the other — have other ideas.
“Leave No Trace,” which also premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, is one of this summer’s best-reviewed movies. “At its very best, it is an immensely moving portrait of a father and daughter who love each other, and who can’t bear to be apart,” Sheila O’Malley wrote in her 4-star review for RogerEbert.com.
‘Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation’
Even monsters need a vacation, apparently.
“Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation” sets sail on that premise, anyway. Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) and his friends, along with his daughter (Selena Gomez) and her nonvampire boyfriend (Andy Samberg) pack a cruise ship for a big getaway. But there’s a problem: The ship’s captain might have another destination in mind for all of them.
The animated sequel’s voice cast also includes Sandler’s usual suspects, including Kevin James and David Spade, with Keegan-Michael Key and Kathryn Hahn, among others, joining the proceedings.
The early reviews are mixed-positive, with an emphasis on the movie’s same-old-same-old familiarity. The Hollywood Reporter’s John DeFore said “Hotel Transylvania 3” “is exactly the kind of energetic, middlebrow ‘toontime-killer fans will expect.”
“Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation” is rated PG for some rude humor and scary images. It runs for 97 minutes. This week’s best off-the-grid options
“Do the Right Thing”: Spike Lee’s masterwork, about a hot summer day in Brooklyn that erupts in violence fueled by racial divides, is always rele-
vant, and always electric, with great performances, an outstanding soundtrack and Lee’s sure-handed direction. It gets a rare-of-late screening at 9 p.m. Friday at the Times Cinema, 5906 W. Vliet St., with a DJ spin starting at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5. Info: timescinema. com.
“The Pink Panther”: The 1963 movie that launched a thousand bumblings by one Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers) — in this instance while on the trail of a suave thief (David Niven) who’s after the title jewel — is showing at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Avalon Theater, 2473 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. Admission is $5. Info: avalonmke.com.
“Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter”: It’s not really the final chapter, but it is the fourth in the smarter-than-itlooks slasher series, and it does co-star Corey Feldman and Crispin Glover. The 1984 installment is showing at 11:59 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Downer Theatre, 2589 N. Downer Ave. Tickets are $8.50. Info: landmark theatres.com/milwaukee.
“Better Off Dead”: One of the offkilter offerings from John Cusack’s teenage-sex-comedy period, this 1985 comedy centers on Cusack’s pondering suicide while juggling family dramas, local bullies and being dumped by his ex. This different sort of time machine is showing at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Avalon Theater, 2473 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. Admission is $5. Info: avalonmke.
“The Lego Ninjago Movie”: “The Lego Batman Movie” got all the attention last year, but this “Lego” edition, in which a young ninja warrior must square off against a supervillain who just happens to be his father, has its charms — many of them possessed by Jackie Chan, who plays a curio shop owner and the voice of the young ninja’s mentor. It returns to the big screen at 10 a.m. Sunday, Monday and Wednesday at Marcus Theatres’ Hillside, Majestic, Menomonee Falls, North Shore, Ridge, Saukville, Southgate and South Shore cinemas. Tickets are $3. Info:
“Big”: Tom Hanks’ first Oscar nomination came for his performance as the boy who wishes to be a man in Penny Marshall’s 1988 comedy. Turner Classic Movies marks the movie’s 30th anniversary by bringing it back to theaters at 2 p.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. Wednesday at Marcus Theatres’ Majestic, Menomonee Falls, North Shore, Ridge and South Shore cinemas. Admission is $12.50. Info:
Free outdoor movies this week
“Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb”: This 1964 comedy about the end of the world — thanks to a glitch and America’s nuclear madness — ranks among critics’ and humans’ favorite movies of all time. Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece is showing at 8:45 p.m. Friday courtesy Paul’s Alley Cinema, the Walker’s Point series at 170 S. 2nd St. Info: Paul’s Alley Cinema Facebook page.
“Coco”: This year’s Oscar winner for best animated feature — and, for some, one of the best movies of 2017 — is showing twice under the stars in the Milwaukee area this week. It’s featured in Elm Grove’s Movies on Monday, beginning at dusk at the Village Park Gazebo, 13600 Juneau Blvd.; and it’s part of the Summer Family Movie Series at the Corners in Brookfield, 20111 W. Blue Mound Road, where the movie is showing Tuesday with family activities starting at 7:15 p.m. Info: elmgrovewi. organd thecornersofbrookfield.com.
“Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi”: Have a beer and a blaster, when the latest chapter in the saga shows at 9 p.m. Saturday in Whitnall Park, 8831 N. Root River Parkway, Greendale, right next to the park’s beer garden. Info: Whitnall Park Beer Garden Facebook page.