Chile Pages
THE ANGRY BIRDS MOVIE
It might seem as if there is little movie material in the Angry Birds mobile app and video game, which allows users to catapult cartoon birds into various structures in order to eliminate pigs. Don’t underestimate Hollywood’s ability to make a movie out of anything that’s been on a T-shirt at Target. This adaptation centers on three misfit birds (voiced by Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, and Danny McBride) who must stop the pigs that have taken over their island. The trailer features jokes about vomit and drinking urine, and Sean Penn voices one of the birds, so all bets are off as to what you can expect. Rated PG. 97 minutes. Screens in 3-D and 2-D at Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
BELLADONNA OF SADNESS
This animated film from 1973 Japan screens in a new restoration. The story features a woman named Jeanne who, shortly after her wedding, is raped by a local lord. From there, her life only gets worse until she becomes a powerful, revenge-seeking witch. With a look that calls to mind the paintings of Gustav Klimt and 1970s children’s books, the film often isn’t “animated” as much as it pans slowly over still watercolor depictions of the drama. While frequently lovely, it is very much a product of a different culture and era, featuring psychedelic music and surreal imagery that reflect long-ago tastes. The erotic imagery gives it some cachet in cult-film circles, but the conflation of horror and titillation in the (many) sexual scenes never feels right in what is presented as a fairy tale, and all of the attempts to shock quickly grow tiresome. Not rated. 93 minutes. In Japanese with subtitles. Jean Cocteau Cinema. (Robert Ker)
HOCKNEY
David Hockney is a seminal figure in Pop art and a major figure in 20th-century art, but his influence and significance is understated in director Randall Wright’s documentary, which explores its subject through incidents, anecdotes, and the personal recollections of those who know him. While this approach offers Hockney fans a full plate of biographical details, we never really get a sense of why we should care. The film traces Hockney’s beginnings, his exploration of sexual identity in his art during a time when homosexuality was still illegal in England, the loss of many friends during the AIDS epidemic, and his multifaceted, continuing career as a printmaker, painter, photographer, and stage designer. He comes off as outspoken, sometimes cantankerous, and always charismatic, but in lacking a critical voice to temper the praise, the portrait feels incomplete. Not rated. 112 minutes. The Screen. (Michael Abatemarco)
THE MEDDLER
This movie fits into the genre of mainstream comedies for women, but its subject matter — a widowed mother (Susan Sarandon) and her strained relationship with her daughter (Rose Byrne) — isn’t very funny. Brooklyn-born Marnie has moved to L.A. to be closer to her adult daughter — and is driving her crazy. Sarandon’s cringe-inducing faux-ethnic shtick makes her an object of ridicule and pity rather than empathy. Though Byrne plays the heartbroken Lori as deeply and convincingly troubled, the movie prefers silliness and overt emotional manipulation to a darker approach that might have better served the story. Rated PG-13. 100 minutes. Regal DeVargas. (Jennifer Levin)
NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING
In the 2014 hit Neighbors, Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne played a couple of new parents who had to contend with an obnoxious fraternity moving in next door to them. They ended up befriending Teddy (Zac Efron), the head frat boy, and achieving some peace and quiet — until now. In this sequel, a sorority moves in next door (led by Chloë Grace Moretz), and proves to be even more rowdy than the dudes were. Rated R. 92 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
NEON BULL
Not rated. 101 minutes. In Portuguese with subtitles. The Screen. See review, Page 40.
THE NICE GUYS
Shane Black returns to the buddy-comedy genre that made him famous with movies including Lethal Weapon (which he wrote) and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (which he directed). The new movie pairs Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling as rough-and-tumble private dicks in 1970s Los Angeles. In the course of investigating the apparent suicide of a porn star, they uncover a plot much deeper than they were expecting. Rated R. 116 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
NOTFILM
Samuel Beckett undertook his first and only stab at moviemaking with Film (1965), an exploration of the roles of the observer and the observed, and their effect on one another. It starred the great Buster Keaton, who later confessed, “I was confused when we shot it, and I’m still confused.” Keaton’s friend, the actor James Karen, who appeared in Film, muses angrily over the neophyte filmmaker’s arrogant failure to consult with Keaton, one of the masters of the medium, for advice. Ross Lipman has set out to make sense of Film, which was more panned than celebrated on its release, and by and large, he does a remarkable job. Much of this assemblage of interviews with participants (including legendary Grove Press founder Barney Rosset), outtakes, and excerpts from Film is fascinating, even thrilling. There are even snippets of Beckett production conversations, despite the playwright’s aversion to being captured on film or audiotape. But in his enthusiasm, Lipman can’t seem to leave anything out, and the two-hour-plus running time feels padded and digressive. Still, this is not to be missed by Beckett fans. 7 p.m. Thursday, May 26 only, with Karen in conversation with author Kirk Ellis. Not rated. 128 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts. (Jonathan Richards)
OUR LAST TANGO
This documentary tells the story of Argentine tango dancers María Nieves Rego and Juan Carlos Copes, a pair who achieved considerable fame, got married, and had a very unhappy divorce. The dancers, now in their eighties, were interviewed for the film and even dance together one last time. The film also contains dramatic recreations of early moments in their lives. Not rated. 85 minutes. In Spanish with subtitles. Jean Cocteau Cinema. (Not reviewed)
TIM’S VERMEER
Inventor Tim Jenison is on hand to meet the public and participate in aQ & A about Tim’s Vermeer, the 2013 documentary about his attempts to figure out how Dutch master Johannes Vermeer was able to paint the way he did. The screening benefits the Drug Policy Alliance of New Mexico. 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 24 only. Rated PG-13. 80 minutes. Jean Cocteau Cinema. (Not reviewed)
VIVA
Rated R. 100 minutes. in Spanish with subtitles. Center for Contemporary Arts. See review, Page 41.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR
There’s a crowd-pleasing centerpiece in the latest Marvel Studios extravaganza, in which a number of its heroes — Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), War Machine (Don Cheadle), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), and more — engage in a giant rumble. This roughly 40-minute scene is full of the jokes, action, and special effects that fans have come to associate with the franchise. That set piece is fun, but it’s surrounded by a ponderous, unpleasant plot in which Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Captain America (Chris Evans) square off over whether or not superheroes should be regulated by the United Nations. This part of the film boasts dead children, torture, suicide, terrorism, people being punched to death, and a real viciousness from the lead heroes. The mix of grim violence with yuks from Spider-Man (new to the Marvel movies, played by Tom Holland) is uneasy, but Civil War is partly rescued by the introduction of Chadwick Boseman’s dignified, captivating Black Panther. Rated PG-13. 146 minutes. Screens in 3-D and 2-D at Regal Stadium 14. Screens in 2-D only at Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Robert Ker)
THE DARKNESS
A family on a Grand Canyon vacation discover a cave once inhabited by indigenous people. The boy (David Mazouz) brings home a stone he finds there, only to discover that it contains angry spirits which possess him. He leaves black handprints everywhere, but something much scarier is lurking. Kevin Bacon plays the dad. Rated PG-13. 93 minutes. Regal Stadium 14. (Not reviewed)
EVA HESSE
Director Marcie Begleiter’s new documentary is an engaging and moving biography of German-born sculptor Eva Hesse, who died in 1970 at the age of thirty-four. Relying on the accounts of contemporaries including artists Richard Serra, Carl Andre, Nancy Holt, and others, Begleiter reveals Hesse to be an influential artist and an alluring figure who, in a short life marked by tragedy, helped usher in Post-Minimalism and touched the lives of many. The documentary covers her family’s flight from Nazi Germany to New York, her schooling at Pratt Institute, Cooper Union, and Yale, her failed marriage to artist Tom Doyle, her artistic successes, and her struggle with brain cancer, which ended her life just when her light was burning brightest. Eva Hesse isa thorough, insightful, and emotionally rich portrait enlivened by its ‘60s-era music and countless views of Hesse’s phenomenal art. Not rated. 105 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts. (Michael Abatemarco)
EVERYBODY WANTS SOME!!
In 1993, Richard Linklater took us back to the 1970s with Dazed and Confused, an ensemble story about high-school students passing time and partying in 1976 Texas. Now, he revisits the 1980s with a similar approach. Training his lens on the members of a baseball team during the first weekend of college in 1980, he meanders through their hazy days of keggers, ping-pong, and smoking weed, without fussing too much about plot. The movie suffers from not having the gender and age diversity of Dazed and Confused, stranding us with a bunch of jocks of roughly the same age. As their individual personalities emerge, however, the movie settles into an agreeable groove, gently nudged along by the freshman Jake (Blake Jenner) and the easygoing Finnegan (Glen Powell). It’s enjoyable, sometimes Robert Altman-esque fun, and the surprisingly philosophical moments add some nutritional content to the endless bottles of beer. Rated R. 116 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts. (Robert Ker)
EYE IN THE SKY
Helen Mirren plays Katherine Powell, an Army colonel leading a drone mission against a terrorist cell in Kenya. When an innocent nine-year-old girl enters the target area, she must make a difficult decision about whether to proceed or not. Alan Rickman co-stars in one of his final roles. Rated R. 102 minutes. Regal DeVargas. (Not reviewed)
HELLO, MY NAME IS DORIS
The spunky, capable Sally Field lifts this by-thenumbers romantic comedy with a May-November twist. Doris (Field) is an eccentric sixty-something office worker who is smitten with her company’s new young art director, the handsome if slightly dorky John (Max Greenfield). Inspired by a self-help guru (Peter Gallagher), she sheds her mousy ways and blossoms into a music hipster, with internet advice from the teenage daughter of her best friend Roz (the great Tyne Daly). Director Michael Showalter puts us through some excruciating bits of comic awkwardness, and gives a nod to the survival of the sex drive in the social security-generation. Sometimes it’s very funny, sometimes it’s moving, but ultimately the movie plays it safe along the generation gap. Rated R. 95 minutes. Regal DeVargas. (Jonathan Richards)
HIGHRISE
Tom Hiddleston stars in an adaptation of the 1975 book by J. G. Ballard. This dystopian allegory for economic disparity centers on a doctor (Hiddleston) who moves into a top floor of a large apartment building, where the rich people on the higher floors live outrageously lavish lives while the poor suffer on the lower floors. Eventually, there is an uprising. Jeremy Irons and Sienna Miller co-star. Rated R. 119 minutes. Jean Cocteau Cinema. (Not reviewed)
A HOLOGRAM FOR THE KING
Tom Tykwer’s jokey adaptation of the Dave Eggers novel about the decline and outsourcing of the American dream puts to rest the notion that Tom Hanks can save whatever you put him in. As Alan Clay, a salesman trying to peddle holographic teleconferencing software to the king of Saudi Arabia, Hanks soldiers as best he can through this dreary, desert-bound tale of frustration, oversleeping, overdrinking, sweating, and regularly emptying sand from his shoes. He manifests his frustration with a lump on his back that requires surgical removal, which ushers in a sad-eyed, soulful doctor (Sarita Choudhury) for a little romance. There’s a bit of bromance as well, with Alan’s Arab driver (Dhaffer L’Abidine). But there are precious few oases in these vast desert sands. Rated R. 97 minutes. Violet Crown. (Jonathan Richards)
THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER’S WAR
The 2012 fantasy adventure Snow White and the Huntsman was a minor success, and this sequel ditches Snow White to focus on the hunky huntsman, with Chris Hemsworth (Thor) once more wielding the axe in the role. Even without Snow White, the movie offers Charlize Theron and Emily Blunt as sisters who are rival queens. Rated PG-13. 114 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
THE JUNGLE BOOK
This adventure film is not so much an adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s 1894 original as it is a live-action take on Disney’s 1967 animated version of the story — with a darker tone and more action. Neel Sethi (a little hit and miss) plays young Mowgli, the human raised by wolves who must escape the deadly tiger Shere Khan (voiced by Idris Elba). On his journey, Mowgli is guided by the panther Bagheera (Ben Kingsley), befriends the bear Baloo (Bill Murray), and faces off against both the monkey King Louie (Christopher Walken) and the snake Kaa (Scarlett Johansson). Some themes get repetitive, and the tiger is too scary for the littlest ones, but Jon Favreau directs with a sure hand; the film is gorgeous, and the animals are wonderfully animated and voiced. Rated PG. 105 minutes. Screens in 3-D and 2-D at Regal Stadium 14. Screens in 2-D only at Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Robert Ker)
KEANU
The popular comic duo Key and Peele (Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele) make their film debut as a headliners with this caper about a cat named Keanu. Rell (Peele) finds the kitten on his doorstep, which cheers him up after a bad breakup. When Keanu is kitty-napped, however, the milquetoast Rell and his cousin Clarence (Key) must pose as ruthless drug dealers to get it back. Rated R. 98 minutes. Regal Stadium 14. (Robert Ker)
THE MAN WHO KNEW INFINITY
This mannered, if clichéd, drama tells the true story of Srinivasa Ramanujan (Dev Patel), a brilliant mathematician from Madras, India, who is admitted to Cambridge University in 1914. Thanks in part to the mentorship and friendship of Prof. G.H. Hardy (Jeremy Irons), he overcomes cultural barriers and his lack of formal mathematical training to grow famous from his theories. Patel imbues his role with pride and a dogged determination, and Irons embodies a man who is firm yet sympathetic. The story centers on their relationship, and its pleasant moments are drawn out by the actors. It all falls along a well-worn path, however, and there’s nothing particularly cinematic about how it is staged. Rated PG-13. 108 minutes. Regal DeVargas. (Robert Ker)
THE MERMAID
The latest film by director Stephen Chow (Kung-Fu Hustle )is the highest-grossing film in China’s history. Deng Chao plays Liu Xuan, a businessman who aims to destroy all of the sea life in a recently purchased gulf. Lin Yun plays a mermaid from the gulf who is sent to assassinate him. When they end up falling for each other, it leads them both on a comic adventure. Rated R. 94 minutes. In Mandarin with subtitles. Jean Cocteau Cinema. (Not reviewed)
MILES AHEAD
The great Don Cheadle produced, co-wrote, and directed this walk on the wild side of jazz legend Miles Davis — and he plays the title role. One of the film’s few downers is the shoehorning in of a white character (Ewan McGregor), without whom Cheadle couldn’t get financing. The movie comes laced with plenty of Miles Davis music, but Cheadle steers clear of an overview of a life arc with stops at his musical milestones. Instead, he has set the story in the lost years in the ‘70s — when Davis became a recluse — with flashes back to the younger Miles. Cheadle’s approach is to let his imagination rip, creating a wild story with bullets flying and car chases.
If you’re wondering, none of that ever happened. But somehow it feels right. Rated R. 100 minutes. Violet Crown. (Jonathan Richards)
MONEY MONSTER
George Clooney and Julia Roberts team up once again in this story about a television financial advisor named Lee Gates (Clooney). The studio is taken hostage by an armed man (Jack O’Connell) who lost all of his money based on bad advice from the show. Gates and his producer (Roberts) must figure out how to defuse the situation. Jodie Foster directs. Rated R. 98 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
MOTHER’S DAY
Every holiday seems to have its own feel-good movie, so it’s a wonder that Mother’s Day never really had one — until now. Enter director Garry Marshall, who has already given us Valentine’s Day (2010) and New Year’s Eve (2011), to fill this critical gap in our film canon. He casts Julia Roberts, Kate Hudson, Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis, and many others in this ensemble dramedy that examines the ups and downs of motherhood from a variety of angles. Rated PG-13. 118 minutes. Regal DeVargas; Regal Stadium 14; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
PAPA: HEMINGWAY IN CUBA
Giovanni Ribisi plays Ed Myers, a journalist who travels to Cuba to interview his hero, Ernest Hemingway (Adrian Sparks). The two men become friends as the Cuban revolution erupts around them. This film, by Bob Yari, is the first Hollywood movie to be shot in Cuba since 1959. Rated R. 109 minutes. Regal DeVargas. (Not reviewed)
SING STREET
Writer and director John Carney made a big splash with 2007’s Once, and now he offers another movie about music and romance on the cobblestone streets of Dublin. This time, he takes viewers back to the 1980s for a coming-of-age film about a boy (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) who joins a new school, where he starts a band to impress a girl (Lucy Boynton). Rated PG-13. 106 minutes. Regal DeVargas. (Not reviewed)
ZOOTOPIA
Disney’s latest animated comedy takes place in the town of its title — an impressively realized and visually clever city full of talking animals. A rabbit police officer (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin), fresh from the country on her first day on the job, learns that certain animals are disappearing. She forms an unlikely alliance with a fox (Jason Bateman), a small-time con man, to blow the lid off the conspiracy. The trail perhaps takes them on one plot turn too many. However, the mystery is satisfying, the animation is extraordinary, the jokes are cute and funny, and the moral — about trust, understanding, and not judging others or letting yourself be judged based on race (in this case, animal species) — is touching and timely. Rated PG. 108 minutes. Screens in 2-D only at Regal Stadium 14. (Robert Ker)