Chile Pages
ALIVE AND KICKING Not rated. 88 minutes. Jean Cocteau Cinema. See review, Page 39. THE CASE FOR CHRIST
Timed for release around Easter, this movie based on the 2013 inspirational book The Case for Christ: A Journalist’s
Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus essentially does what the tome’s title says. It stars MIke Vogel as a journalist who searches for proof of Jesus’ existence after his wife (Erika Christensen) converts. Rated PG. 112 minutes. Regal Stadium 14. (Not reviewed) GOING IN STYLE Alan Arkin, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine star as three old codgers who struggle to pay their bills and don’t have a lot of options for making ends meet, given the fact that the big banks have stolen their retirement savings. They decide the only solution is to steal the money back, so they embark on a series of bank robberies. Zach Braff (Garden State) directs this remake of the 1979 comedy starring Art Carney, George Burns, and Lee Strasberg. Ann-Margret also appears. Rated PG-13. 96 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed) HAPPY HOUR Not rated. 317 min. In Japanese with subtitles. Center for Contemporary Arts. See review, Page 41. I CALLED HIM MORGAN Not rated. 90 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts. See review, Page 37. SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE Anyone who has ever watched The Smurfs — either the 1980s cartoon series or the most recent films — has probably wondered why there is only one female in the village, the heels-wearing Smurfette (voiced here by Demi Lovato). This movie seeks to answer that question by sending a handful of Smurfs to a lost village, which is presumably where Smurfette came from. Julia Roberts, Rainn Wilson, and Mandy Patinkin also supply voicework. Rated PG. 89 minutes. Screens in 3-D and 2-D at Regal Stadium 14. Screens in 2-D only at Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed) NOW IN THEATERS AFTER THE STORM Ryota (Hiroshi Abe), an inveterate gambler, is divorced from Kyoko (Yoko Maki), and only rarely sees his son Shingo (Taiyo Yoshizawa). He was once a promising writer, but it’s been 15 years since his prize-winning debut novel. He’s working as a sleazy private eye, ostensibly gathering material for a new book. When a typhoon hits, the principals — Ryota, Kyoko, and Shingo — have ended up for dinner at his mother’s place and are forced to spend the night there together. The lanky, disheveled, handsome Ryota and the beautiful, controlled Kyoko obviously once loved each other. Maybe still do, but the chasm inflicted by his bad habits is probably unbreachable. Director Hirokazu Kore-eda (Still Walking) has created a mood of sweet melancholy over this family drama, but also a bright and irresistible humor. Not rated. 117 minutes. In Japanese with subtitles. The Screen. (Jonathan Richards) BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Director Bill Condon seems to call on his collective experience directing Gods and Monsters, Dreamgirls, and some Twilight films to effectively imagine Disney’s 1991 animated fairy tale as a Gothic musical horror-romance. Emma Watson steps into the role of the bookworm Belle, who is imprisoned by the Beast (Dan Stevens) in his castle. Unbeknownst to her, if she falls in love with him, she will release him and his friends from a curse. Luke Evans cuts a delicious villain as Gaston, and Emma Thompson, Ewan McGregor, and Ian McKellen voice some of the Beast’s magical knick-knacks. The story hews so closely to the animated original — which is more charming and concise — that this remake doesn’t fully validate its existence, aside from serving as a license for Disney to print money. This won’t matter to the core audience, however, who will adore the classic-Hollywood extravagance and the crowdpleasing finale. There are some 2-D “singalong” screenings at Regal Stadium 14. Rated PG. 129 minutes. Screens in 2-D only at Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Robert Ker) THE BOSS BABY In this animated comedy, Alec Baldwin voices the title character, who is also the cutthroat CEO of the Baby Corporation. Boss Baby forms a reluctant alliance with his jealous older brother (Miles Christopher Bakshi) when they uncover a dastardly plot by Francis E. Francis (Steve Buscemi), the CEO of Puppy Co., to destabilize the balance of love in the world. Rated PG. 97 minutes. Screens in 3-D and 2-D at Regal Stadium 14. Screens in 2-D only at Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed) CHIPS Dax Shepard wrote, directed, and co-stars in this comedic adaptation of the popular TV show of the same name, which ran from 1977 to 1983. For people under thirty, the title stands for California Highway Patrol, and the concept centers around
a pair of motorcycle cops (played in the film by Shepard and Michael Peña) who scour the freeways and get into adventures. This one finds them facing off against a rogue ex-cop (Vincent D’Onofrio) and his mercenaries. Rated R. 100 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Dream-Catcher. (Not reviewed)
GET OUT
The first directorial effort by Jordan Peele, of the comic duo Key and Peele, is a horror movie about a black man named Chris (a perfect Daniel Kaluuya) who travels to the hometown of his girlfriend (Allison Williams) to meet her parents (Catherine Keener and Bradley Whitford, both terrific). Once there, he learns that African-Americans have been disappearing from the affluent white community, only to reappear as subservient and docile — and he could be the next to go. The cultural commentary in this new take on The Stepford Wives is rich and thought-provoking, as fans of Peele’s comedy might expect. However, Peele’s directorial sense is a surprise, as his use of foreground and background and his visual and musical clues draw you in, deepen the mystery, and creep you out, recalling (and sometimes paying direct homage to) such slow-burning classics as Rosemary’s Baby. Expect a jarringly violent turn in the third act, but the film is still an engaging delight. Rated R. 103 minutes. Violet Crown. (Robert Ker)
GHOST IN THE SHELL
This live-action remake of the 1995 science-fiction anime — itself based on a manga series that began in 1989 — courted controversy by casting Scarlett Johansson in the starring role of a story with deep Japanese origins. As a cyborg tasked with leading a counter-cyberterrorism organization, she faces her greatest challenge yet when a shadowy villain (Michael Pitt) appears. Rated PG-13. 120 minutes. Screens in 3-D and 2-D at Regal Stadium 14. Screens in 2-D only at Violet Crown. (Not reviewed)
HUMAN
French filmmaker Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s monumental testament to humanity in its current state is a moving look at people from all walks of life and from all continents. With a team of 16 journalists, Arthus-Bertrand traveled the globe, visiting 60 countries and conducting countless interviews. He has one story to tell and allows it to be told through many voices: Syrian refugees, soldiers, survivors of the Khmer Rouge and the Rwandan genocide, people eking out a meager existence among mountains of trash in the despoiled regions of third world nations, nomads, and veterans, to name a few. They share their accounts of personal experience without added context or reporting; they don’t give their names; and the film combines these poignant interviews with poetic images of aerial and slow-motion photography. What emerges is a portrait of humanity that is diverse but shares in universal suffering, the search for a meaning to existence, and expressions of love. It’s a compelling and beautiful film with the power to move you to tears of sorrow and of joy. Not rated. 143 minutes. In multiple languages with subtitles. The Screen. (Michael Abatemarco)
KEDI
Director Ceyda Torun grew up surrounded by the street cats of Istanbul. “They were my friends and confidants, “she wrote, “and I missed their presence in all the other cities I ever lived in.” This warmhearted film, shot partly from human perspective and partly from cat height, is a love letter to the felines and the people who share her native city. “People who don’t love animals can’t love people either — I know that much,” observes one matter-of-fact fishmonger. Yet the film is not sappy, just generous and wise. By the end, you’ll feel as if a cat has been purring on your lap for 80 minutes. Not rated. 80 minutes. In Turkish with subtitles. Center for Contemporary Arts. (James Keller)
KONG: SKULL ISLAND
It’s 1973, and a disparate group led by Vietnam veteran Preston Packard (Samuel L. Jackson) and monster-hunter Bill Randa (John Goodman) blindly blunder into an uncharted island ruled over by a giant ape and many other creatures that are at least as big as he is — all of which like to eat people. This intriguing premise seems to have everything you would want out of a B-level action-adventure, but then it overplays its hand as it turns into a series of sequences in which the actors run, shoot, and get eaten up. The climatic battle between Kong and a reptilian adversary also goes on way too long. For all that, this may be the perfect fodder for thirteen-year-olds, and a few of the actors — including John C. Reilly as a World War II pilot who has been stuck on the isle for 30 years — actually give well-shaded performances. The giant water buffalo is pretty cool, too. Rated PG-13. 120 minutes. Screens in 2-D only at Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Robert Nott)
LIFE
There’s a new Alien movie coming out on May 19, but if you can’t wait that long, this science-fiction horror flick should tide you over. The story centers on a mission to Mars to explore what appears to be the first evidence of life on the planet. Unfortunately for the crew (Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds, and others), the life is quite hostile. Rated R. 103 minutes. Violet Crown. (Not reviewed)
LOGAN
At one point in Hugh Jackman’s swan song as the X-Man Wolverine, the characters relax in a hotel room watching the 1953 classic Shane. It’s a nod to the kind of Western this film aspires to be, with Wolverine as an autumnal hero in a near-futuristic desert landscape (which includes memorable New Mexico locations), helping Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) protect a young mutant (Dafne Keen) who offers mutant-kind new hope. It’s an unusual and emotionally affecting approach to the superhero genre, brought to life by reliably superb acting from Jackman and Stewart along with nice science-fiction world-building by director James Mangold. Don’t bring the kids to this one, however — it earns its R rating with plenty of dismemberments and profanity, and the plot travels to much darker places than necessary. It’s a superhero story as if written by Cormac McCarthy, although McCarthy would have kept the third act on its rails. Rated R. 137 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Robert Ker)
PERSONAL SHOPPER
French director Olivier Assayas has dipped his toes in a number of waters, including large-scale biopics, personal coming-of-age dramas, and noirish thrillers. Here he takes his own stylish spin on the ghost story, unfurling a spellbinding tale of a young American in Paris named Maureen (Kristen Stewart), who is desperate to communicate with the spirit of her recently deceased twin brother. As an expatriate without a permanent home, who earns her keep by buying expensive clothes for a supermodel too famous to venture into public, Maureen herself seems to be a spirit drifting between worlds. This sense of displacement is handled deftly by Assayas, who plants mysteries within mysteries and blends supernatural spooks with existential crises in an unsettling, and unpredictable, fashion. Rated R. 105 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts. (Robert Ker)
POWER RANGERS
Children of the 1990s are now getting their own nostalgia-fueled cinema, as the after-school TV staple Mighty Morphin Power Rangers gets a new feature-film adaptation that hopes to jump-start the franchise. The five colorful superheroes, now embodied by a young unknown cast, are tasked with fighting a witch named Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks). Bryan Cranston plays Zordon, the Rangers’ mentor. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
THE SHACK
William P. Young’s 2007 self-published faith-based novel, which has sold millions of copies and dominated bestseller lists, comes to the big screen. Sam Worthington plays a man whose daughter is murdered in a shack on a camping trip. Struggling with grief, he returns to the shack and meets a woman named Papa (Octavia Spencer) and two other strangers, who ease him into a spiritual world where he reconnects with God and heals himself. Rated PG-13. 132 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
THE ZOOKEEPER’S WIFE
In this drama based on Diane Ackerman’s nonfiction book, Jessica Chastain and Johan Heldenbergh play Antonina and Jan Żabiński, the keepers of the Warsaw Zoo in 1939. Antonina in particular holds all life in high regard, caring for the animals in an almost maternal way. When the Nazis invade Poland, she takes the lead in using the zoo grounds and resources to help save hundreds of Jewish people. Rated PG-13. 124 minutes. Violet Crown. (Not reviewed)