Chile Pages
AUTHOR: THE JT LEROY STORY
Rated R. 110 minutes. Jean Cocteau Cinema. See review, Page 46.
THE BIRTH OF A NATION
In a film that sparked a bidding war among studios when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, writer, director, and star Nate Parker takes on the story of Nat Turner (Parker), the slave who led a rebellion that killed more than 60 white people in 1831. With the movie’s loaded title (the same as D.W. Griffith’s famously racist 1915 silent film) and action-packed narrative, Parker aims to shed light on an important historical moment. Armie Hammer, Penelope Ann Miller, and Jackie Earle Haley also star. Rated R. 120 minutes. Regal DeVargas; Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown. (Not reviewed)
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN
Author Paula Hawkins’ thriller was one of the most popular books of 2015, and now the fast-tracked film adaptation asks director Tate Taylor( The Help) to tie together the sometimes unreliable point of view of the novel’ s alcoholic heroine. Emily Blunt stars as Rachel, a woman who divorced her husband after he had an affair. One day on the train, she spies Megan (Haley Bennett) kissing a man Rachel knows is not her husband. The next morning, Rachel wakes up covered in blood with no recollection of what happened — and Megan has gone missing. Rated R. 112 minutes. Regal DeVargas; Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown. (Not reviewed)
HARRY AND SNOWMAN
Not rated. 84 minutes. The Screen. See review, Page 45.
LONG WAY NORTH
Rated PG. 81 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts. See review, Page 47.
MIDDLE SCHOOL: THE WORST YEARS OF MY LIFE
Rafe (Griffin Gluck) is a tween who is stuck in a school with what could be the worst principal ever (Andrew Daly). Faced with an oppressive list of rules designed to stifle any semblance of creativity or expression, Rafe invents his own guidelines: Break every rule in the book. Rated PG.92 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
OVATION
In this ode to acting, Tanna Frederick plays Maggie, the star of a small stage production of The Rainmaker. When she strikes up a relationship with a TV star (James Denton) who tries to lure her into the glamorous world of television, she must decide between a risky path to potential fame and making sure her stage show goes on. Rated R. 102 minutes. Jean Cocteau Cinema. (Not reviewed)
ZOOM
Not rated. 100 minutes. In English and Portuguese with subtitles. The Screen. See review, Page 44.
NOW IN THEATERS THE BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK THE TOURING YEARS
Ron Howard lovingly directs this documentary, which focuses on the touring career of the Beatles between 1963 and 1966 through found concert footage (some of it too familiar, some of it seemingly fresh material), interviews, and press conferences (when the Fab Four were at their most refreshingly cheeky). The story is not new by any means, but it’s well told at a fast pace and particularly compelling in detailing the private hell of being a Beatle toward the end of their run of live shows. It may inspire fans or even casual appreciators to dig back into the Beatles catalog; after all, as Paul McCartney recently observed in Rolling Stone, “The thing about the Beatles — they were a damn hot little band.” Not rated. 137 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts. (Molly Boyle)
BRIDGET JONES’ BABY
Renée Zellweger returns to play author Helen Fielding’s beloved heroine Bridget Jones once more. This time, Jones finds herself in a new pickle: She’s pregnant and uncertain who the father is. Could it be the new man she has taken a fancy to (Patrick Dempsey) or the old flame who has re-entered her life (Colin Firth)? More to the point: who does she want it to be? Rated R. 122 minutes. Regal DeVargas. (Not reviewed)
DEEPWATER HORIZON
In 2010, the oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico known as Deepwater Horizon tapped into a massive bubble of methane gas that
caused a series of explosions and eventually polluted the gulf with petroleum for months on end. Of the 126 workers onboard, 11 were killed, and the rest had just minutes to escape the firestorm. In this action movie set around the ecological disaster, Mark Wahlberg plays a real-life hero who is determined to survive and save his coworkers. Rated PG-13. 107 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
DON’T BREATHE
When three friends break into the home of an elderly blind man (Stephen Lang), they think they’re on the way to a quick robbery and a massive, easy score. Their plans go awry when the man kills one of them and traps the others inside. From there, the chase is on, as the two remaining friends try to evade the man, who possesses both keen hearing and some dark secrets. The simple premise is engaging, and director Fede Alvarez is up to the challenge, swooping the camera around the house in such a way that viewers have a good sense of where everyone’s hiding and how immediate the danger is. Too bad we’re forced to endure a gross plot twist and numerous false endings that ruin the film’s early goodwill. Rated R. 88 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; DreamCatcher. (Robert Ker)
THE DRESSMAKER
Kate Winslet stars as Tilly Dunnage, a dressmaker who in the 1950s returns to her hometown in the Australian Outback. With her sophisticated haute-couture designs, she invigorates the rural town with new energy. However, she also harbors a secret and is looking to exact some sweet revenge. Based on the novel by Rosalie Ham. Rated R. 119 minutes. Regal DeVargas. (Not reviewed)
FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS
Meryl Streep crafts an odd but appealing character out of the New York socialite who in the 1930s and ’40s earned renown as the world’s worst concert singer. Directed by Stephen Frears, this highly fictionalized tale (ever so selectively “based on the inspiring true story”) also elicits a more sympathetic portrayal than you might think likely from Hugh Grant, who plays the husband who supports her unbounded aspirations and enforces unswerving devotion from those she seeks to impress. Simon Helberg, as her accompanist, helps glue the movie together; he actually plays the piano, and his reactions to the sounds emanating from “Lady Florence” exemplify stunned disbelief. Streep sings her own bits, conveying the diva’s distinctive style with élan. Rated PG-13. 110 minutes. Regal DeVargas. (James M. Keller)
HELL OR HIGH WATER
Two brothers (Chris Pine and Ben Foster) take to robbing banks while two experienced lawmen (Jeff Bridges and Gil Birmingham) doggedly pursue them. As a heist-action film, the story offers little that’s new, but Taylor Sheridan’s insightful script and David Mackenzie’s deft direction transform the tale into an involving drama about the bonds of love and loyalty and the lengths to which modern-day outlaws and lawmen will go to uphold their respective codes of the West. New Mexico doubles for Texas in the film. Rated R. 102 minutes. Regal DeVargas; Violet Crown. (Robert Nott)
IXCANUL
María (María Mercedes Coroy) is a seventeen-year-old Kaqchikel girl who lives on the side of an active volcano in Guatemala. Her parents have arranged a marriage for her, which means she must live in the uncomfortable alien environment of the city. When she becomes pregnant, and the pregnancy becomes complicated, she must rely on the modern world she shies from. Not rated. 93 minutes. In Maya and Spanish with subtitles. Center for Contemporary Arts. (Not reviewed)
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
After a promising start, Antoine Fuqua’s remake of the famous 1960 film about seven gunmen who defend an isolated town from Mexican bandits in order to preserve their place in the West turns into a standard shoot-’em-up with flying lead making up for the lack of smart dialogue. Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, and Ethan Hawke hold their own in the saddle, but some of the others sort of disappear into the bullet-fractured woodwork, and the villainy is played for one note bordering on the ludicrous. Rated PG-13. 132 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Robert Nott)
MASTERMINDS
Zach Galifianakis, Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon, Jason Sudeikis, Kristen Wiig, and Owen Wilson play a bunch of goofballs who pull off a massive bank robbery and abscond with 17 million dollars. That was the easy part — the hard part is trusting one another with the cash when every partner is a half-witted double-crosser. Rated PG-13. 94 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
MIA MADRE
Life and art collide in this touching, funny, dynamically complex film from director Nanni Moretti. His protagonist is Margherita (Margherita Buy), a filmmaker dealing with stars and extras and all the conflicts and details that plague a director’s world. Her mother, Ada (Giulia Lazzarini), is in the hospital with heart problems. Margherita rushes from the set to the ward, where her brother (Moretti) has quietly taken charge. Oh, and one more problem: her star, American actor Barry Huggins (John Turturro), turns out to be a king-sized headache. Margherita seems to be losing her grip, having nightmares that Moretti integrates so neatly that it’s not always evident which side of reality we’re on. Moretti has made an intriguingly wry, personal film about the merging of life and work, love and loss, and laughter and tears. Rated PG. 106 minutes. In Italian with subtitles. The Screen. (Jonathan Richards)
MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN
Just in time for Halloween, Tim Burton presents a haunted house of a movie containing children in creepy masks, walking skeletons, eyeball-eating villains, and many other ghastly and ghoulish delights. It comes in the form of an adaptation of Ransom Riggs’ whimsically Gothic young-adult novel, in which a boy named Jake (Asa Butterfield) follows a mystery to a secret institution where children with unusual powers are kept safe from society by the shape-shifting Miss Peregrine (Eva Green). The movie’s first half is too slow, and the premise eventually reveals itself to be more convoluted than necessary, but it’s a rare
family film (roughly for ages 9 and up) that’s spooky, silly, and
sometimes gross. Rated PG-13. 127 minutes. Screens in 3-D and 2-D at Regal Stadium 14. Screens in 2-D only at Regal DeVargas; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Robert Ker)
NO MANCHES FRIDA
In this comedy from Mexico, Omar Chaparro stars as Zequi, a bank robber who disguises himself as a substitute teacher at an unruly high school in order to access some money that he buried on the school grounds. As he whips the kids into shape using unorthodox methods, he discovers he has a knack for teaching. Rated PG-13. 100 minutes. In Spanish with subtitles. Regal Stadium 14; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
QUEEN OF KATWE
Disney’s latest feel-good sports movie tells the real-life story of Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwanga), a young Ugandan girl who learns to play chess, discovers her incredible ability at the game, and goes on to compete at the World Chess Olympiad. Lupita Nyong’o plays Mutesi’s mother, and David Oyelowo plays a missionary who teaches her how to play. Rated PG. 124 minutes. Violet Crown. (Not reviewed)
SAUSAGE PARTY
This profanity-laden animated feature stars a sausage named Frank (voiced by Seth Rogen, who also co-wrote the script) who lives in a grocery store. When he discovers the reality of his lot in life — that he exists to be gruesomely eaten by humans — he strives to alert his oblivious friends to the truth and to escape this fate. The plot is clever, but it’s buried beneath an avalanche of old and unfunny stereotypes — the box of grits hates “crackers,” the “fruits” listen to George Michael, and so on — and meant-to-shock moments of immaturity. A few good gags and some excellent voicework, such as Edward Norton’s Woody Allen impression as the voice of a bagel, can’t save this movie from the compost heap. Rated R. 89 minutes. Regal Stadium 14. (Robert Ker)
SNOWDEN
Edward Snowden, the man who blew the whistle on the NSA’s surveillance of American citizens, is still living in Russia. To some, he is a traitor. To others, he’s a hero. To most, he’s a cipher. Oliver Stone’s movie sets out to give a human dimension to this polarizing figure and to fill in the gaps in his pilgrim’s progress from staunch belief in his country’s intelligence mission to discomfort, doubt, disillusion, and finally an act of principled treason. It’s persuasive and riveting, but it’s delivered in a low-key way that eschews the standard pulse-pounding, palm-sweating devices of the international spy thriller. You won’t leave the theater with any doubts as to where Oliver Stone stands on the hero/traitor question, but you will leave with a much fuller sense of who Ed Snowden is and why he took the life-changing, world-changing path he did. Rated R. 134 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown. (Jonathan Richards)
STORKS
Once upon a time, storks delivered babies to new parents. After that became unprofitable, they switched to delivering packages. That’s the premise of this animated comedy, which centers on one stork (voiced by Andy Samberg) who, on the eve of a big promotion, accidentally activates the company’s old “baby making machine” and then attempts to deliver the little tykes before his boss finds out. Rated PG. 89 minutes. Screens in 2-D only at Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
SUICIDE SQUAD
This is a trashy (in mostly good ways) story of a bunch of dangerous criminals who are forced by the government to fight superpowered villains. It nails its casting — Will Smith as the sharpshooting Deadshot, Margot Robbie as nihilistic Harley Quinn, and Viola Davis as the no-nonsense bureaucrat Amanda Waller — all of whom are excellent. However, director David Ayer sends them on an unexciting mission, rendered in a murky visual palette, with a forgettable climax. He tries to usher things along by using dozens of popular rock and rap songs, but the result is a mess. Still, seeds are planted for a superior sequel. Rated PG-13. 130 minutes. Screens in 2-D only at Regal Stadium 14. (Robert Ker)
SULLY
Clint Eastwood takes one of the most publicized news stories of recent years and turns it into nailbiting suspense, with Tom Hanks comfortably filling the role of Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who coolly brought his disabled US Airways jet down on the Hudson River after losing both engines to a flock of geese moments after takeoff. All 155 on board (including Santa Fean David Sontag) survived with only a few minor injuries, and Sully was hailed as a hero. But Eastwood amps up the drama by heightening the confrontational aspect of the National Transportation Safety Board, whose investigators question whether the aquatic landing was necessary, suggesting Sully could and should have made it to an airport. Eastwood and screenwriter Todd Komarnicki jump around in time and in consciousness, interspersing Sully’s nightmares of what might have been. Good support comes from Aaron Eckhart as Jeff Skiles, Sully’s co-pilot, and Laura Linney in her familiar thankless role as the suffering wife. Rated PG-13. 96 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Jonathan Richards)