now in theaters
CHEATIN’ Star-crossed lovers Jake and Ella meet cute in a bumper-car collision at a carnival in the Midwest in this surreal envisioning of life’s ups and downs. When Jake succumbs to the wiles of another woman, Ella seeks the help of a disgraced magician whose dangerous soul machine allows her spirit to enter into the bodies of Jake’s lovers in an effort to win him back. With no cast to credit, director Bill Plympton’s dialogue-free, animated tale of romance and deceit is a compelling comedy of horrors as Jake and Ella seek to find the magic of true love. The hand-drawn animation is a welcome sight in this Pixar-dominated age of animation. Cheatin’ is a psychedelic, mindbending, and enchanted look at jealousy, fidelity, and young love with a great soundtrack to boot. Not rated. 76 minutes. Jean Cocteau Cinema, Santa Fe. (Michael Abatemarco)
CHILD 44 Tom Hardy plays a disgraced MGB agent in Stalin-era Soviet Union who is tasked with solving a series of grisly child murders in an empire that doesn’t acknowledge such crimes exist. Gary Oldman and Noomi Rapace co-star. Given the setting and subject matter, it’s difficult to tell who this movie is for, but the cast is undeniably strong. Rated R. 137 minutes. Regal Stadium 14, Santa Fe. (Not reviewed)
CINDERELLA Director Kenneth Branagh tackles the famed fairy tale, shooting it as an all-ages costume drama devoid of singing mice. Lily James plays the title character, Richard Madden is Prince Charming, Cate Blanchett plays the wicked stepmother, and Helena Bonham Carter is the fairy godmother. Rated PG. 112 minutes. Regal Stadium 14, Santa Fe; DreamCatcher, Española. (Not reviewed)
DANNY COLLINS Al Pacino is the title character, an aging rock star who has been coasting by on his old material for years. When his manager (Christopher Plummer) discovers a never-seen letter of encouragement from John Lennon to Collins, the singer is inspired to write his own songs and tend to his personal life once more. Annette Bening co-stars. Inspired by folk singer Steve Tilston’s story. Rated R. 106 minutes. Regal DeVargas, Santa Fe. (Not reviewed)
FURIOUS 7 This long-running franchise began with fairly simple street racing as The Fast and the Furious and now includes a star-studded cast that travels the globe using wildly implausible methods to combat terrorists, shadow armies, elaborate hacking schemes, and more. The formula works, as each film seems more successful than the last. This entry is the first for Kurt Russell, Djimon Hounsou, and Jason Statham (discounting an uncredited cameo), but the last for Paul Walker, who died during filming and is given a touching send-off. The film is more of the same — revenge, family, bad jokes, and vroom vroom — but bigger than ever. It runs a bit long, and the series has always had third-act struggles (How do you go over the top of over the top?), but, as ever, fans get their money’s worth. Rated PG-13. 137 minutes. Regal Stadium 14, Santa Fe; DreamCatcher, Española. (Robert Ker)
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. Screens in 2-D only at DreamCatcher, Española. (Not reviewed)
INSURGENT The 2014 sci-fi film Divergent was a modest success, but it has enough fans for this sequel, released almost one year later. To the uninitiated, the plot may seem like nonsense, but admirers of the first film and the book series on which it is based will get it. Rated PG-13. 119 minutes. Screens in 2-D only at Regal Stadium 14, Santa Fe. (Not reviewed)
KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE The spy movie shifts away from the gritty realism of Jason Bourne and Daniel Craig’s James Bond and back to the spirit of the 1960s secret-agent men in this colorful, over-the-top caper by director Matthew Vaughn. Taron Egerton plays an aimless kid who is recruited into an elite spy organization by Harry Hart (Colin Firth) and soon finds himself trying to stop a harebrained scheme by billionaire mastermind Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson). This is a satisfying, energetic, irreverent romp that is full of ideas. The MVP award goes to costume designer Arianne Phillips. Rated R. 129 minutes. Regal Stadium 14, Santa Fe. (Robert Ker)
KUMIKO, THE TREASURE HUNTER Kumiko, a solitary dreamer, believing the stash of money Steve Buscemi’s character buries in the movie Fargo really exists, sets off on an adventure from her home in Tokyo to Minnesota to seek it out — but money troubles and language barriers threaten to disrupt her plans. Wrapped in a stolen blanket and armed only with her treasure map, compass, and a copy of Fargo, she braves the harsh winter snows on her quest. Loosely based on an urban legend surrounding Takako Konishi, a Tokyo office worker who committed suicide in 2001, David and Nathan Zellner’s fable is full of humor and laced with fantasy, a moving story about chasing one’s dreams. Not rated. 105 minutes. In English and Japanese with subtitles. Jean Cocteau Cinema, Santa Fe. (Michael Abatemarco)
THE LONGEST RIDE The latest romance based on a Nicholas Sparks book (The Notebook) is this weepie that intertwines two tales of potentially doomed love. Britt Robertson plays a young woman who, just before moving to New York, meets a strapping bull rider (Scott Eastwood) who teaches her how to buck a bronco (in scenes more suggestive than anything in Fifty Shades of Grey). They’re inspired by an old-timer (Alan Alda) who shares his own story of romance. Rated PG-13. 139 minutes. Regal Stadium 14, Santa Fe; Dream-Catcher, Española. (Not reviewed)
MONKEY KINGDOM The latest documentary from Disneynature follows a young monkey as it grows up and fights for survival in an elaborate simian society in the ancient ruins of Southeast Asia. Tina Fey narrates. Rated G. 81 minutes. Regal Stadium 14, Santa Fe. (Not reviewed)
PAUL BLART: MALL COP 2 The Oscar season begins early this year, when Kevin James once more grows out his mustache and hops aboard a Segway to regale us all with the adventures of Paul Blart, mall cop. This time, the action spills out of the food court and over to Las Vegas. Rated PG. 94 minutes. Regal Stadium 14, Santa Fe; DreamCatcher, Española. (Not reviewed)
THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL The whole gang is back — most notably Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, and Bill Nighy — for another stay in the hotel for retired Brits in India. This time, Richard Gere brings an American twist to the proceedings, getting a few of the women all atwitter. Rated PG. 122 minutes. Regal DeVargas, Santa Fe. (Not reviewed)
SEYMOUR: AN INTRODUCTION A chance meeting with the remarkable musician Seymour Bernstein inspired actor Ethan Hawke to direct this intimate and beguiling documentary. Bernstein withdrew from a serious career as a concert pianist when he decided that touring did not make him happy, and devoted himself instead to teaching, contemplating, and loving music. He strews nuggets of wisdom without being self-conscious or pompous about it. Bernstein is the sort of elder sage anyone would benefit from spending time with, and viewers cannot help but derive inspiration from their exposure to this kind, sensitive, compassionate soul. No music lover should miss the opportunity — nor should anyone else. Rated PG. 84 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe. ( James M. Keller)
THE TALES OF HOFFMANN This 1951 film reinterpretation of the Offenbach opera, created by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, the team responsible for the twisted classic ballet film The Red Shoes, has been newly restored. To call it the first lip-syncing music video (on film) is to do an injustice to the radical idea that dancers should be cast to play almost all the roles instead of singers. With silentmovie-style acting, an edited Offenbach score, and sets that flow like a dance, the result is a mindblower, as over-the-top and visually bizarre as movies come. The cast includes ballet luminaries Moira Shearer, Frederick Ashton, Léonide Massine, Robert Helpmann, and Ludmilla Tchérina. Not rated. 128 minutes. Jean Cocteau Cinema, Santa Fe. (Michael Wade Simpson)
TRUE STORY James Franco and Jonah Hill quit clowning around to play across from each other in this thriller, which is based on true events. Hill plays Michael Finkel, a New York Times writer who is disgraced when he is caught fabricating a story. Soon after, he finds himself in the kind of situation you can’t make up when a killer (Franco) assumes his identity. Rated R. 100 minutes. Regal DeVargas, Santa Fe. (Not reviewed)
UNFRIENDED Cyberbullying and teen suicide have been two big topics of conversation lately. This horror film tackles both issues by attempting to squeeze scares out of a story in which an online chat group is haunted by a friend who the members thought was dead. Rated R. 82 minutes. Regal Stadium 14, Santa Fe; DreamCatcher, Española. (Not reviewed)
WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS This mockumentary features the daily lives of vampires living together in Wellington, New Zealand. Viago (Taika Waititi), Deacon ( Jonathan Brugh), and Vladislav ( Jemaine Clement) argue over the standard of cleanliness in their vampire den and go out for nights on the town. At about 85 minutes, the film is nearly too long, but it maintains its appeal through absurdity and sheer charm. Written and directed by Waititi and Clement (the HBO series Flight of the Conchords), Shadows presents vampires bumbling along and doing their best. Not rated. 86 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe. (Adele Oliveira)
WHILE WE’RE YOUNG Ben Stiller and filmmaker Noah Baumbach, who collaborated so memorably on 2010’s Greenberg, re-team to explore the bittersweet complexity of middle age once more. This time, Stiller and Naomi Watts play a married couple whose lives are shaken up when they befriend a couple in their mid-twenties (Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried). Rated R. 97 minutes. Regal DeVargas, Santa Fe. (Not reviewed)
WOMAN IN GOLD Helen Mirren plays Maria Altmann in this art-world thriller, based on true events. More than 50 years after a 1907 portrait of Altmann’s aunt is taken from her husband by the Nazis during World War II, their niece teams with an American lawyer (Ryan Reynolds) to fight the Austrian government for her inheritance. The painting is Gustav Klimt’s iconic Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I. Rated PG-13. 109 minutes. Regal DeVargas, Santa Fe; DreamCatcher, Española. (Not reviewed)