Chile Pages
GAME OF THRONES Enjoy one of the perks of living in a town where George R.R. Martin owns a movie theater when the Jean Cocteau Cinema hosts a sneak peek of the first episode of the fifth season of the HBO adaptation of his A Song of Ice and Fire book saga. There is a 10 a.m. screening with Spanish subtitles and a 1:30 p.m. screening without them. Saturday, March 28, only. Jean Cocteau Cinema , Santa Fe. (Not reviewed)
GET HARD One of the hottest comics of the 2000s (Will Ferrell) teams up with one of the hottest comics of the 2010s (Kevin Hart) for this prison film. Ferrell plays a white-collar criminal who finds himself in the big house, where he forms an unlikely friendship with an inmate (Hart) who helps him get by, with often-wacky results. Rated R. 100 minutes. Regal Stadium 14 , Santa Fe; DreamCatcher , Española. (Not reviewed)
HOME An alien named Oh (voiced by Jim Parsons) arrives on Earth and meets a human named Tip (Rihanna). He turns her set of wheels into a hover car, and they go on a road trip around the world. This comedy from DreamWorks Animation looks vaguely like Lilo & Stitch , only with fart jokes and Steve Martin as an alien who delivers lines like “Give daddy some sugar.” Rated PG. 94 minutes. Screens in 3-D and 2-D at Regal Stadium 14 , Santa Fe; DreamCatcher , Española. (Not reviewed)
THE HUNTING GROUND The prevalence of college sexual assaults and higher education’s mishandling of sexual-assault claims are at the heart of this documentary directed by Kirby Dick. The film gives particular emphasis to the “bro” culture of fraternities and elite athletic teams, which are disproportionately associated with sexual-assault accusations, and examines why administrative responses to rape allegations are so poor. Most affecting is the testimony of the survivors, two of whom went on to found a nonprofit organization called End Rape on Campus, which guides other sexual-assault survivors through the process of suing their schools for failing to uphold Title IX, the gender equity law. In an educational system where rape culture is normalized, this work is nothing short of radical. Rated PG-13. 90 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts , Santa Fe. (Adele Oliveira) See review, Page 42.
IT FOLLOWS Director David Robert Mitchell’s creep-fest is an unnerving film that plays its cards too soon and loses tension just when it should be amping up. Set to a 1980s-style synth soundtrack à la John Carpenter, It Follows is the story of Jay (Maika Monroe), a young, attractive student who sleeps with Hugh (Jake Weary) on their first date and subsequently becomes the victim of a supernatural stalker that follows her — on foot — wherever she goes. If “It” catches her, she’s dead, unless she can pass the creature to another person by having sex with them. While its role as a morality tale is questionable, the film works when it explores the nature of death, despite having a relatively low body count for the genre. The beautifully composed shots invite viewers to question what they’re really seeing, while the almost-gotcha moments become tiresome and expected, despite some genuine scares early on. Rated R. 100 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts , Santa Fe. (Michael Abatemarco) See review, Page 44.
ON THE WAY TO SCHOOL The title card at the beginning of Pascal Plisson’s documentary clearly defines the film’s stakes. It reads, “Too often we forget how lucky we are to go to school.” The documentary follows children in Kenya, India, Morocco, and Argentina as they make their way to the classroom, over rough terrain and for distances of several miles. The idea is a noble one, and the film is beautifully shot: for instance, Carlos, an elevenyear-old from Patagonia, is dwarfed by Andean peaks as he and his little sister gallop on horseback across the plain below. But the action plods along, hung up by conversations between children and elders about the value of education that seem staged; a sweeping soundtrack that’s intrusive and cloying; and no acknowledgment that the presence of cameras and a film crew fundamentally changes the nature of the students’ journeys. Not rated. 77 minutes. In Arabic, Spanish, and various other languages with subtitles. The Screen , Santa Fe. (Adele Oliveira)
SERENA Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, who made audiences swoon with Silver Linings Playbook , play a couple of lovers in Depression-era North Carolina in this film, which had a somewhat troubled process going from script to screen. Rated R. 109 minutes. Jean Cocteau Cinema , Santa Fe. (Not reviewed)
STILL DREAMING Two theater directors inspire a troupe of residents at a retirement home for actors to put on a production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer
Night’s Dream . Rather than settle for being a feel-good movie about triumphing over obstacles, this documentary from filmmakers Hank Rogerson and Jilann Spitzmiller presents the experience as a combination of triumph and failure — a collision of idealism with reality. Impediments do not magically disappear, but small successes count for a lot among this crowd, and viewers are bound to appreciate them as much in their pride as in their sorrows. The screenings on Friday and Saturday, March 27 and 28, include an introduction by Rogerson and Spitzmiller and a post-film Q & A. After the screening on Sunday, March 29, the Shakespeare Guild’s John Andrews joins the filmmakers for a panel discussion. Not rated. 93 minutes. The Screen , Santa Fe. ( James M. Keller) See review, Page 45.
SWEET GEORGIA BROWN Lawrence E. Walker’s documentary tells the little-known story of African-American women serving in the military in World War II. The telling is hampered by what appears to be a paucity of available visual material, and even at a modest one-hour running time, the documentary sags under the burden of repeated images, both still and film clips. What is compelling is the subject matter — the corps of dedicated, patriotic women who served a country that treated them like second-class citizens, discriminating against them because of their race and gender. Sunday, March 29, only. Not rated. 67 minutes. New Mexico History Museum , 113 Lincoln Ave., Santa Fe. Call 505-4765152 for reservations. (Jonathan Richards) See review, Page 46.
WILD TALES Writer/director Damián Szifron dissects and cauterizes modern Argentine society with this Oscarnominated black comedy anthology of six stories connected by a common theme: revenge. Some of the episodes make their point with economy and an almost surgical precision. Others drag on. The tales grow increasingly darker in mood, until sometimes it’s hard to see the comedy through the pessimism, and some of the material is not for the faint of heart. Cinematic revenge, served cold or hot, is always satisfying, and Szifron takes us through a wild assortment of flavors and seasonings. Rated R. 122 minutes. In Spanish with subtitles. Regal DeVargas , Santa Fe. ( Jonathan Richards) See review, Page 47.