Chile Pages
ALOFT Jennifer Connelly plays a single mother with two sons. After one of them dies, she and her other son (played as an adult by Cillian Murphy) struggle for their entire lives to get over the incident. This tale of tragedy is told with more than a touch of woo-woo along with scenes of training hawks. Rated R. 112 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts. (Not reviewed) ANTMAN Marvel Entertainment superhero movies seem to get bigger and bigger, but here is the debut of its smallest hero: Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), a thief who comes into the technology to shrink himself and communicate with ants. Together with the original Ant-Man, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), he has to save the world. Rated PG-13. 117 minutes. Screens in 3-D and 2-D at Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed) BLESS ME, ULTIMA In lesser hands, the film adaptation of Rudolfo Anaya’s classic novel could have been cloyingly precious magical realism. But 2013’s Bless Me, Ultima, directed by Carl Franklin, was shot in and around Santa Fe, which imbues the story of murder and witches in World War II-era Northern New Mexico with authenticity. Antonio (Luke Ganalon) is six years old when his grandmother Ultima (Miriam Colon), a curandera, comes to stay with his family. Performances are mostly strong, and the dialogue moves quickly, as does the action. Rated PG-13. 105 minutes. In English and Spanish without subtitles. Jean Cocteau Cinema. (Jennifer Levin) A BORROWED IDENTITY This drama from Israel tells the story of a Palestinian boy named Eyad (Tawfeek Barhom), who moves to Jerusalem to attend school. There he befriends a boy with muscular dystrophy (Michael Moshonov), falls in love with a Jewish girl (Daniel Kitsis), struggles with the challenges of these two relationships, and makes decisions that change his life. Not rated. 104 minutes. In English, Arabic, and Hebrew with subtitles. Center for Contemporary Arts. (Not reviewed) CARTEL LAND Filmmaker Matthew Heineman embeds himself in the incredibly dangerous world of Mexico’s drug cartel wars to give viewers a gripping inside look. His documentary, executive produced by Kathryn Bigelow, director of The Hurt Locker, mainly shows us this fight between cartels and citizens through the eyes of people on the frontlines — particularly the citizen militias on both sides of the border, who have taken matters into their own hands in the face of government indifference. The Mexican side, where the charismatic Dr. Mireles leads the AutoDefensas group, is more engaging, and Heineman wisely spends more time there. The results are powerful, immediate, and important but be warned: Some images and stories are harrowing. Rated R. 98 minutes. In English and Spanish with subtitles. Regal DeVargas. (Robert Ker) GEMMA BOVERY Rated R. 99 minutes. In English and French with subtitles. The Screen. See review, Page 52. MANGLEHORN Filmmaker David Gordon Green continues his delightfully unpredictable career with a character study about a locksmith (Al Pacino) who struggles to get over the love of his life and shuts out the whole world as a result. The film never totally works, and there’s no faulting Pacino or his co-star Holly Hunter, who flesh out their characters with tenderness and the right mix of subtle eccentricities to make them memorable. Green effectively continues his penchant for overlapping sound and visuals, and the movie is evocatively lit. The problem is the script, which veers uncomfortably between exposition, heavy-handed symbolism, and saccharine sentiment. Pacino and Hunter could have carried the film on their own, but they never got the chance. Rated PG-13. 97 minutes.
Violet Crown. (Robert Ker) MR. HOLMES Rated PG. 103 minutes. Regal DeVargas. See review, Page 54. NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE IN HD: MAN AND SUPERMAN Ralph Fiennes stars in this staging of George Bernard Shaw’s play about a bachelor who panics in the face of impending marriage and flees to Spain, where he engages in a debate between good and evil. 7 p.m. Friday, July 17. Lensic Performing Arts Center. (Not reviewed) PERFORMANCE AT THE SCREEN The series of high-definition screenings continues with a showing of Strauss’ Capriccio from the Vienna State Opera House. Renée Fleming and Marco Arturo Marelli star. 11:15 a.m. Sunday, July 19, only. Not rated. 168 minutes. The Screen. (Not reviewed) REAR WINDOW This 1954 movie is probably near the top of everyone’s list of favorite Hitchcock films. A superb Jimmy Stewart plays a man who is laid up with a broken leg and occupies himself by spying on his neighbors with a telescope. When he thinks he sees a man murder his wife, he becomes obsessed with proving his guilt. Voyeurism was a favorite theme of Hitchcock’s, and nowhere is this mined deeper than in this film. The movie never loses an ounce of its suspense,
whether you’re seeing it for the first time or the hundredth. Grace Kelly co-stars. Part of the Auteurs series. Not rated. 112 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts. (Robert Ker) TRAINWRECK Director Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin) returns with another comedy about people who have a hard time growing up. Here, instead of focusing on an overgrown man-child, he looks at an overgrown woman-child, played by Amy Schumer (who also wrote the script). Her character can’t get her act together — until, perhaps, she meets the right guy (Bill Hader). Rated R. 125 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
NOW IN THEATERS
AMY Amy Winehouse was a talent too big for her small body, a body she was hellbent on destroying with drugs and booze. Using interviews, home movies, and news footage, director Asif Kapadia has documented the rise, fall, and early exit (at twenty-seven) of this tragic diva, a North London Jewish girl with a big voice and tiny self-esteem. Even if you weren’t a fan, you’ll be impressed by her talent, though her intensely personal numbers sound less like songs than sung journal entries. As this fresh, appealing girl gets sucked into the terrifying maelstrom of fame and paparazzi, surrounded by parasites that include her father and her husband, you watch in fascinated horror. It’s an agonizingly slow trainwreck, a good half hour too long, but still unsettling and memorable.
Not rated. 128 minutes. Regal DeVargas. (Jonathan Richards) EX MACHINA Novelist and screenwriter Alex Garland tries his hand at directing with this sci-fi thriller about a computer coder (Domhnall Gleeson) who is chosen by his billionaire boss (Oscar Isaac) to test the AI of a prototype for a humanlike android. Garland shows a keen visual eye with minimalist coolness, and the intimacy of the small cast lets the big questions hang in the air nicely. His story steers clear of convention, thanks in part to the sturdy acting. Rated R.
108 minutes. Regal DeVargas. (Robert Ker) THE GALLOWS This year’s horror counterprogramming to the July parade of blockbusters comes in the form of a story about a high school play that is derailed when tragedy strikes. Two decades later, the students try to revive the show and discover that their idea is so bad, it’s downright scary. Rated R. 81 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed) INSIDE OUT In the latest animated picture by Pixar, the interior of the human mind is portrayed as a control room operated by various emotions. When a girl named Riley (voiced by Kaitlyn Dias) moves to a new city and both Joy (Amy Poehler) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith) go missing from the control room, it sets off an adventure through the mental landscape that is full of imagination and ingenuity. The movie aims to jerk tears — sometimes getting too goopy in pursuit of this goal — but it’s a thoughtful, original film that all ages will enjoy. Rated PG. 94 minutes. Screens in 2-D only at Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Robert Ker)
IRIS
Less is definitely not more if you’re Iris Apfel — the focus of this slight, mostly lighthearted documentary from one of the masters of the genre, Albert Maysles. Apfel is a self-described “geriatric starlet” (she’s ninetythree) and a champion of wildly colorful outfits and oversized accessories. After a highly successful career in interior design, she has settled into a new role as a fashion icon and designer’s muse. It’s a pleasure to spend 80-something minutes listening to her thoughts on everything from personal style to aging, and while she doesn’t dispense financial advice, when Iris Apfel talks, people should listen. Rated PG-13. 83 minutes. The Screen.
(Laurel Gladden) JURASSIC WORLD The theme park from the first Jurassic Park film is up and running. To maintain revenue, its creators must constantly genetically engineer bigger, deadlier dinosaurs. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard play characters who must try to survive mankind’s latest attempt to play God. There are just enough Spielbergisms in this film, from the perfectly cast kids to the sense of wonder and dread in the first hour, to offer some solid entertainment. Unfortunately, the movie is stretched too thin between plots that it isn’t even clear who the main character is. If you’re there to watch roaring and chomping, however, you’ll get that and then some. Rated PG-13. 124 minutes. Screens in 3-D and 2-D at Regal Stadium 14. Screens in 2-D only at Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Robert Ker) LA SAPIENZA Director Eugène Green, an expatriate American living in France, takes us on a gorgeous tour of the work of the 17th-century Italian Baroque architect Francesco Borromini. The principals are Alexandre Schmidt (Fabrizio Rongione), a successful Swiss architect, and his wife, Aliénor (Christelle Prot Landman), a psychologist and social scientist. During a crisis in his career and life, they go to Italy. There they meet Goffredo (Ludovico Succio), a young architecture student, and his sister Lavinia (Arianna Nastro) and learn some important life lessons from them. The movie is styled with rigid formalism, but it works by drawing us into the emotional lives of the characters. Not rated. 101 minutes. In French and Italian with subtitles. The Screen. (Jonathan Richards) A LITTLE CHAOS For his second directorial effort, Alan Rickman has taken as his subject matter the construction of the elegant gardens at Versailles and, tucked away within that extravagance, the little fantasy setting of an outdoor ballroom. An opening title card tells us, “In what follows, that much at least is true.” Sabine De Barra (Kate Winslet) is the unlikely winner of a design competition for the subcontracting of that ballroom from King Louis XIV’s great landscape architect, André Le Nôtre (Matthias Schoenaerts). There’s romance, sabotage, skullduggery, wit, struggle, and eventual triumph for De Barra. Rickman, who makes up a part of his own excellent cast as Louis, takes great pleasure in the material and lets us share that pleasure. Rated R. 118 minutes. Violet Crown. (Jonathan
Richards) MAGIC MIKE XXL Director Steven Soderbergh’s 2012 Magic Mike was a left-field hit that delighted viewers of both genders and helped revitalize Matthew McConaughey’s career. Neither Soderbergh nor McConaughey is back for the sequel, but star Channing Tatum is, and there should be enough beefcake and humor to enjoy an encore. Rated R. 115 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed) MAX This movie looks at the unsung heroes of America’s war on terror abroad: the dogs. The title character is one such canine, who returns from Afghanistan traumatized by his handler’s death. He is adopted by members of the fallen Marine’s family, and they all help each other heal. Thomas Haden Church is the lead human. Rated PG. 111 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed) ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL With the success of The Fault in Our Stars barely a year behind us, the time seems ripe for a quirky, indie teenage comedy about cancer. Thomas Mann plays Greg, a self-absorbed boy who is made to hang out with Rachel (Olivia Cooke), a girl with leukemia. As time passes, they become friends, and he begins to truly care for her. Rated PG-13. 105 minutes. Regal DeVargas. (Not reviewed) MINIONS The jibberish-spouting pill-shaped yellow thingies from the Despicable Me movies get their own spinoff, and if you’re wondering if the characters are interesting enough to warrant their own movie, the answer is no. The setting is the 1960s, and the Minions, trying to find their way in the world, join up with Scarlet Overkill (voiced by Sandra Bullock) to help her conquer England. The animation is nice but the movie never survives the fact that its protagonists don’t actually talk. Without the benefit of language, the filmmakers rely on tepid visual humor and tired comic beats. The Minions are never as cute as the film’s massive marketing campaign insists they are, and by the time we hit the third-rate action of the climax, they’ve really overstayed their welcome. Rated PG. 91 minutes. Screens in 3-D and 2-D at Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown. Screens in 2-D only at DreamCatcher. (Robert Ker)
THE NEW RIJKSMUSEUM
Oeke Hoogendijk’s two-part documentary completes a trifecta that began with Frederick Wiseman’s National Gallery and continued with Johannes Holzhausen’s The Great Museum. Hoogendijk’s feature is the most accessible and deals with the restoration of Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, a building that houses masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and other Dutch Masters. Its narrative structure follows the political and financial pitfalls that plagued the project and staff, including inflating costs and a change of leadership. It’s a dramatic telling that entertains and inspires. Not rated. 110 minutes. In Dutch, French, and English with subtitles, Center for Contemporary Arts. (Michael Abatemarco)
A PIGEON SAT ON A BRANCH REFLECTING ON EXISTENCE
This odd collection of 39 vignettes functions something like a long, multipart poem that is very conscious of its status as poetry, as an art film, and as a send-up of art films. The humor of tedium and the specter of death combine in wry interactions linked by a pair of sad-sack salesmen hawking novelty items — as well as a mysterious war and a little bit of time travel. If Steven Soderbergh and Terry Gilliam made a film together while they were both depressed, it might turn out something like this. Rated PG-13. 101 minutes. In Swedish with subtitles. Center for Contemporary Arts. (Jennifer Levin)
SELF/LESS The latest film by Tarsem Singh (The Fall) is a straightforward science-fiction picture about a wealthy man (Ben Kingsley) who, faced with terminal cancer, transfers his consciousness into the body of a younger man (Ryan Reynolds). From there, it’s all fun and games until he decides to look into where the young man’s body came from. Rated PG-13. 116 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed) SPY The indomitable Melissa McCarthy launches a franchise with this fast-paced, hilarious send-up of the Bond template. She plays Susan Cooper, a CIA desk jockey working the computers at Langley and piping instructions into the ear of dashing agent Bradley Fine (Jude Law). When things go awry, Susan is sent into the field to prevent a nuclear device from falling into the hands of terrorists. Writer-director Paul Feig keeps things lively and hits the feminist and overweight notes with wit and compassion. The acting is crisp, the action is explosive, and the dialogue is funny, though it undercuts itself by leaning harder on the scatological than necessary. Rated R.
120 minutes. Violet Crown. (Jonathan Richards) STRANGERLAND Kim Farrant’s first feature film revisits that familiar Aussie theme, people lost in the outback. Volatile Matthew Parker (Joseph Fiennes) has moved his wife Catherine (Nicole Kidman) and family to a remote village after trouble in their former town brought on by his fifteen-year-old sexpot daughter Lily (Maddison Brown). One night Lily and her younger brother Tom (Nicholas Hamilton) disappear. The frantic parents and much of the town search the desert for them. Farrant shows promise in building character and suspense, but the story is disjointed, as if the screenwriters never got together to compare notes. Kidman bares everything, emotionally and physically; the other actors are solid; and there’s some striking (if repetitive) outback scenery and appropriately atmospheric music. Not rated. 112 minutes. Jean Cocteau Cinema. (Jonathan Richards) TED 2 The foul-mouthed teddy bear (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) and his dopey owner (Mark Wahlberg) are back for another go-round. This time, Ted aims to get married and have kids, but before he does the former, he must legally prove he’s a person, and to do the latter, he must find a surrogate. If you are hoping to watch a stuffed animal make many jokes about masturbation and bodily fluids, then you’ll get your money’s worth here.
Rated R. 115 minutes. Regal Stadium 14. (Not reviewed) TERMINATOR GENISYS The year is 2029 and John Connor (Jason Clarke) is fighting a losing war against the robots. Connor sends a lieutenant named Kyle (Jai Courtney) back to 1984 to prevent the robots from stopping the human resistance before it begins. Alas, the 1984 Kyle returns to is not the one we know but some kind of alternate reality. But who cares? Old man Schwarzenegger faces off against a CGI-rendered young Schwarzenegger, and that’s all that matters. Rated PG-13. 125 minutes. Screens in 2-D only at Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed) TESTAMENT OF YOUTH Vera Brittain’s World War I memoir, published 15 years after the end of the conflict, became a classic of anti-war literature. Director James Kent handles the familiar material with sensitivity and emotional power. There’s very little that is groundbreaking here but much that is heartbreaking. You will be reminded of other war movies, like Gone With the Wind, with eager young men rushing off to war with stars in their eyes and returning with bullets in their chests, leaving arms and legs and illusions behind on the battlefield, if they return at all. Alicia Vikander, a new star who is suddenly everywhere, dominates the movie, and with her Audrey Hepburn-like beauty, she makes us feel every moment of the deepening horrors of war. Rated PG-13. 129 minutes. Regal DeVargas. (Jonathan Richards) THE THIRD MAN With a screenplay by Graham Greene; directed by the great, underrated Carol Reed; and with a cast that includes Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Trevor Howard, and Alida Valli, this is one of the absolute classics of film noir. The angular black-and-white cinematography of Robert Krasker is an object lesson in noir lighting, with lamps glistening off Vienna’s cobblestoned streets, and huge, ominous shadows stretching across buildings. The music by Anton Karas provides one of the most memorable themes in film history. Not rated. 104 minutes. Jean Cocteau Cinema. (Jonathan Richards) THE WOLFPACK The children of the Angulo family grew up in an apartment on New York’s Lower East Side, sheltered from nearly all contact with the outside world, home schooled by their mother, fearing their father, and watching lots and lots of movies. As the family’s six boys, who dub themselves “the Wolfpack,” transition into young men, they find the courage to step outside and, with movies as their frame of reference, embrace the life they were taught to fear. Crystal Moselle’s documentary tackles a fascinating subject but leaves too many stones unturned. There’s another story in there somewhere, waiting to be told. Rated R. 80 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts. (Michael Abatemarco)
OTHER SCREENINGS
CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS, 5059821338 Sunday July 19: The Santa Fe Opera Presents “Exploring Salome” with Al Pacino, Barry Navidi, and Merlin Holland. This event is sold out.
JEAN COCTEAU CINEMA, 5054665528
The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985).
REGAL STADIUM 14, 5054246296
Dolphin Tale 2; Madagascar 3; Paper Towns; Pixels in 3-D and 2-D. SANTA FE RAILYARD PARK Corner of Cerrillos Road and South Guadalupe Street. Friday, July 17: 101 Dalmations (1961). No charge. Screening begins after sunset. VIOLET CROWN, 5052165678 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 21, and Thursday, July 23; 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, July 22: the Free Family Film series presents Jumanji (1995). 7:10 p.m. Thursday: Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989). 8:50 p.m. and 9:40 p.m. Thursday, July 23: Pixels.