Chile Pages
AGNES MARTIN: BEFORE THE GRID
Artist and filmmaker Kathleen Brennan explores the early years of painter Agnes Martin through a series of interviews with friends and colleagues. Martin spent time in Taos in the 1950s creating figurative compositions and biomorphic abstractions before moving to the minimalist grid paintings she’s known for. Co-produced by Brennan and Jina Brenneman, former director of exhibitions at the Harwood Museum of Art in Taos, Agnes Martin: Before the Grid looks at circumstances surrounding her drive to make art despite a lifelong struggle with schizophrenia, her long-term relationship with artist Mildred Pierce, and the challenging relationship with her own work, some of which she destroyed. It’s an informative film that offers some insights into her need for order and precision but follows a staid, talkingheads format that drags it down. 1:15 p.m. Sunday, June 25, only. Not rated. 55 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts. (Michael Abatemarco)
BABY DRIVER
Writer-director Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) returns with his latest stylish high-energy movie, which this time centers on bank robbers, fast cars, and snappy music. Ansel Elgort (The Fault in Our Stars) plays the title character, an ace getaway driver who is coerced by a crime boss (Kevin Spacey) to take part in an outrageous heist. Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm, and Lily James also star. Opens Wednesday, June 28. Rated R. 113 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed) BEATRIZ AT DINNER In this comedy written by Mike White (School of Rock), Salma Hayek plays Beatriz, a Mexican-American holistic healer who becomes the out-of-place firebrand at a dinner party thrown by her wealthy clients. The similarities of Doug Strutt (John Lithgow) — an abrasive, xenophobic owner of a hotel chain — to Donald Trump may or may not be intentional (the movie was shot before the election), but if viewers dislike the current president, they might find the confrontation between the two characters cathartic. Rated R. 83 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown. (Not reviewed)
CHASING TRANE: THE JOHN COLTRANE DOCUMENTARY
This functional if unspectacular documentary about the life and music of John Coltrane does the job it sets out to do, and little more — but at least you get some great music. Coltrane aficionados will be familiar with everything this film contains, and the completely uninitiated may not be interested at all. For archival purposes though, it’s important to create films like this while several of Coltrane’s peers are still alive. The talking heads include a number of them, along with a hodgepodge of other praise-gushing guests, among them Cornel West, Carlos Santana, and Bill Clinton. Not rated. 99 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts. (Robert Ker)
THE HIPPOPOTAMUS
Stephen Fry’s 1994 novel is given the film treatment courtesy of director John Jencks, and much of the script is as wry and witty as one might expect from a story that first flowed from Fry’s pen. Veteran actor Roger Allam serves as an excellent vehicle for Fry’s words, playing a washed-up poet, now an alcoholic theater critic, who is sacked from his job and finds himself traveling to the country house of an old friend (Matthew Modine) to suss out whether or not his godson (Tommy Knight) possesses supernatural healing abilities. The cast and set-up promise a good time, but problems lie in the tone of the movie, which shifts from cinematic to sitcom, charmingly cynical to just plain mean, and subtly satirical to broadly humorous. This inconsistency is handled with little grace and is heightened by a musical score that is all over the map. You’re better off reading the book. Not rated. 89 minutes. Jean Cocteau Cinema. (Robert Ker)
ICAROS: A VISION
Not rated. 91 minutes. The Screen. Q&A with producer Abou Farman at the 7:20 p.m. screening on Friday, June 23, and Saturday, June 24. The 7:20 p.m. screening on Thursday, June 29, benefits SAR. See review, Page 45.
STEFAN ZWEIG: FAREWELL TO EUROPE
Not rated. 106 minutes. In German, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and English with subtitles. Center for Contemporary Arts. See review, Page 43.
TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT
The latest entry in the Transformers franchise inexplicably features King Arthur (Liam Garrigan) and the Knights of the Round Table, who are among the first to come into a Transformers-made talisman that now spells doom for planet Earth — unless Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) can save the day. The supporting cast is a veritable Sundance Film Festival of talent, including Anthony Hopkins, Stanley Tucci, and John Turturro as well as the voices of Steve Buscemi, John Goodman, and Ken Watanabe — none of whom seem to be enjoying themselves all that much. By the time the credits roll, exhausted audiences might feel the same way. Rated PG-13. 149 minutes. Screens in 3-D and 2-D at Regal Stadium 14, Violet Crown. Screens in 2-D only DreamCatcher. (Robert Ker)
UGETSU
This 16th-century morality tale and ghost story from Japanese master Kenji Mizoguchi was, in 1953, among the first imports to open the West to the beauties of Eastern cinema. It plays with a fairy-tale simplicity, telling the story of two brothers driven by greed and glory to pursue their dreams while neglecting their wives. Genjuro (Masayuki Mori) is a potter who braves a war-torn landscape to sell his wares in town, where he falls into the clutches of a mysterious noblewoman (Machiko Kyo). Tobei (Eitaro Ozawa), a farmer, longs to be a samurai. Mizoguchi’s graceful long takes and beautifully crafted aura of mystery make this an enduring classic of world cinema. Screens as part of the Auteurs series. Not rated. 96 minutes. In Japanese with subtitles. Center for Contemporary Arts. (Jonathan Richards)
NOW IN THEATERS AFTERIMAGE
The year is 1948, and Wladyslaw Strzemin´ ski (Bogusław Linda), an accomplished artist and
disabled veteran of the Great War, is teaching his adoring students at the Łódz´ School of Fine Arts when the Communist party’s minister of culture arrives to announce new guidelines for artists. The message boils down to this: You are here to help us promote our brand. Strzemin´ ski is not on board, and it ruins him. This biographical drama is the last feature from a titan of Polish cinema, the prolific director Andrzej Wajda, who died last October. It’s a powerful and affecting tale, but not a happy one. 1 p.m. Saturday, June 24, only. Not rated. 99 minutes. In Polish with subtitles. The Screen. (Jeff Acker)
ALL EYEZ ON ME
Straight Outta Compton, a film that tells the story of rap group NWA, was a runaway success last summer. This biopic about another West Coast rap legend, Tupac Shakur (Demetrius Shipp Jr.), hopes to repeat that success. Shakur’s life certainly offers grist for the mill: Raised by a single mother (Danai Gurira) who was an activist with the Black Panthers, the young boy showed prodigious talent across all performing arts before settling on hip-hop. He rose to prominence, courted controversy, and became a martyr figure when he was murdered in a feud with, among others, New York City rapper Biggie Smalls (Jamal Woolard). Rated R. 140 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
THE BABUSHKAS OF CHERNOBYL
After the meltdown of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986, a radioactive dead zone was established and it became illegal for people to return to their homes. In defiance of this, about 1,200 people went back. Over the years the men have died off, and now just a few hundred people, mostly women, are left to farm, eating fish and game that have been declared deadly by the Ukrainian government. Co-directed by Holly Morris and Anne Bogart, this documentary about the women subsisting in the region is sad yet uplifting. It is illegal to live in the Exclusion Zone, but the Ukrainian government still sends in doctors, scientists, and aid workers to provide the women with medical care, pension funds, and other services. The women, as isolated as they are in the forest, have been friends since childhood. Though one woman lacks a thyroid due to radiation-induced cancer and another complains of body pain, they are active and basically happy — attitudes that seem to be keeping them alive. The film also follows the ongoing efforts to contain the radioactive dust that has been blowing around Chernobyl for almost 30 years. Not rated. 72 minutes. Jean Cocteau Cinema. (Jennifer Levin)
THE BOOK OF HENRY
Between shooting Jurassic World films and his upcoming Star
Wars gig, director Colin Trevorrow takes a breather with this small movie about a single mother (Naomi Watts) trying to raise two boys. One of them, named Henry (Jaeden Lieberher), is a genius who befriends Christina (Maddie Ziegler), the girl next door. When Henry finds out this girl is being abused by her stepfather (Dean Norris), he enlists his mom to help her. Rated PG-13. 105 minutes. Violet Crown. (Not reviewed)
CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS: THE FIRST EPIC MOVIE
So many big-budget animated movies look and feel like second- or third-rate Pixar films that it’s refreshing when a studio takes a different path. This time, DreamWorks Animation follows its muse straight into the bathroom, faithfully adapting the visual style, scatological humor, and breakneck pace of the Captain Underpants books with a surprising amount of heart. The story centers on two fourthgrade friends (voiced by Kevin Hart and Thomas Middleditch) who make their own comics. When Principal Krupp (Ed Helms) puts them into different classes to curb their incessant clowning, they hypnotize him into believing he’s Captain Underpants, a hero who wears nothing but a cape and a pair of white briefs. When he gets real powers, Captain Underpants must then fight the villainous Prof. Poopypants (Nick Kroll). This isn’t Masterpiece Theatre, except perhaps to those young enough to remember being potty trained. It’s also brisk, brief, and clever enough that their parents won’t mind. Rated PG. 89 minutes. Screens in 2-D only at Regal Stadium 14; DreamCatcher. (Robert Ker)
CARS 3
Pixar’s Cars franchise is now officially running on fumes, as Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson), now with his odometer getting up there in numbers, sets out for a comeback against a new breed of racecar that is capable of going much faster than he can. This plot is old hat for Pixar Animation, which has featured characters being made obsolete by new technology since 1995’s Toy Story. As McQueen gradually shifts gears from denial to anger to acceptance with the help of a younger trainer voiced by Cristela Alonzo, his whole arc isn’t unpleasant — it’s just boring and about 20 minutes too long. Larry the Cable Guy’s tow truck Mater remains an acquired taste, the look of the characters still feels off, and the world itself remains weird — why do these talking cars live in a world designed for humans? For the tykes who wear Lightning McQueen pajamas to bed, this installment will likely be a passable new addition to their DVD shelf. For the rest of us, the movie offers an actionpacked scene in a demolition derby and not much else. Rated G. 109 minutes. Screens in 3-D and 2-D at Regal Stadium 14. Screens in 2-D at Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Robert Ker)
THE COLORADO
This 2016 documentary about the Colorado River boasts a score of stunning vocal music with cinematography that is alternately awe-inspiring (the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and the Grand Canyon) and depressing (the dams, the Salton Sea, and the dried-up delta in Mexico). Mark Rylance narrates text written by Santa Fe author William deBuys and director Murat Eyuboglu. The film’s multidimensional portrait of the river includes spotlights on a 17th-century Jesuit mapmaker, a 19th-century explorer, and a 20th-century farmworker. The documentary offers an educational immersion in ecology and regional history, and it’s a joy of an experience. Not rated. 91 minutes. Jean Cocteau Cinema. (Paul Weideman)
47 METERS DOWN
The latest shark-attack movie stars Mandy Moore and Claire Holt as two sisters vacationing and adventure-seeking in Mexico. While on a boat, they are talked into getting into a metal cage that is then lowered into the ocean, where they can experience what it’s like to swim with the great whites. It’s good, scary fun at first, but then the cable snaps, sending the cage and their limited oxygen supply down to the ocean floor. Rated PG-13. 89 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2
The gang from the 2014 space opera returns: Chris Pratt as Star Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, and Dave Bautista as Drax, with Vin Diesel voicing the treelike Groot (in adorably miniaturized form this time around) and Bradley Cooper voicing the snarky raccoon Rocket. The plot is thoroughly uninvolving, but you won’t notice amid all the intergalactic fireworks and dazzling action sequences choreographed to the sounds of Fleetwood Mac, ELO, and Cheap Trick. The highlight is the rapid-fire zinger-laden dialogue, especially as delivered by Bautista, whose comic timing is impeccable. All the explosions get tiresome, and the violence can be troubling, but at moments the movie plays like Seinfeld in space. Rated PG-13. 136 minutes. Screens in 2-D only at Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown. (Jeff Acker)
I, DANIEL BLAKE
Daniel Blake (veteran standup comic Dave Johns) is a sixtyish Newcastle carpenter who has suffered a heart attack. His doctor tells him he can’t yet return to work. The bureaucracy says he’s fit for employment and denies him benefits. His baffled helplessness is compounded by the fact that Daniel is a stranger to the computer technology that has taken over the system. There are no paper forms for appeal; you have to do that online. This story becomes one in which ordinary people have to help each other, because in postThatcher Britain, the state is not there for the little guy. Legendary British director Ken Loach brings a sympathetic understanding of his characters, beautifully evoked by these actors, to give this little movie a big wallop. It won the 2016 Palme d’Or at Cannes. Not rated. 100 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts. (Jonathan Richards)
IT COMES AT NIGHT
In this small horror film, a family takes refuge from an apocalyptic event by boarding themselves up in a house and remaining relatively calm and sane through the ordeal. When another family shows up, this upsets the balance of the shelter — just as whatever is outside creeps closer. Rated R. 97 minutes. Regal Stadium 14. (Not reviewed)
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)
LOWRIDERS
Set in East LA, this drama focuses on Danny (Gabriel Chavarria), a teenage graffiti artist who is encouraged by his father (Demián Bichir) to become a mechanic and join the family business. When his no-good brother (Theo Rossi) returns from prison and seeks to compete with their father at a lowrider competition, Danny must choose his allegiances. Rated PG-13. 99 minutes. DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
THE MCMASTERS
This 1970 Western, filmed entirely in New Mexico, may seem dated to today’s audiences. Yet it still packs a punch, remaining a powerful tale about racism. Featuring Burl Ives, Brock Peters, David Carradine, Nancy Kwan, and Jack Palance, the movie recounts the gruesome
reception a black Union veteran faces after coming home at the end of the Civil War, as white citizens conspire to put an end to his dream of a idyllic postwar life spent ranching. Instead of the cavalry, a tribe of mistreated Native Americans comes to his rescue, reminding moviegoers about the better angels of our nature. The dialogue may at times be stilted, the monologues a bit preachy, but the film’s gutsy approach to racism at a time when moviemakers ignored the topic, along with its unfortunate contemporary relevance, make this one worth watching. Not rated. 89 minutes. Jean Cocteau Cinema. (James McGrath Morris)
MEGAN LEAVEY
Based on a true story, this film traces the relationship between a Marine named Megan Leavey (Kate Mara) stationed in Iraq, and Rex, her combat dog. Rex is difficult at first, but Megan trains him to the point where he is able to save many lives. When they are both injured, she fights for the opportunity to adopt Rex. Rated PG-13. 116 minutes. Regal Stadium 14. (Not reviewed)
THE MUMMY
Universal Studios once had a royal flush of monster movies starring the fearsome likes of the Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolfman, and more. Now they’re bringing the monsters back, attempting to weave them into a shared universe like the Marvel superheroes. It all kicks off in the desert, where a fortune hunter (Tom Cruise) trying to retrieve a treasure winds up awakening the Mummy (Sofia Boutella). Rated PG-13. 110 minutes. Screens in 2-D only at Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
MY COUSIN RACHEL
Here is an epic about a mysterious woman who accomplishes extraordinary things with the force of her feminine power — and no, it’s not Wonder Woman. Rachel (Rachel Weisz) arrives at the Cornwall estate of her late husband Ambrose under a cloud of suspicion. They had met and married while Ambrose was wintering in Italy, and his letters to his cousin and heir Philip (Sam Claflin) raise the specter of murder. But she soon has Philip eating out of her hand and prepared to give her everything. Then things take a darker turn. In the capable hands of Roger Michell and with superb camerawork by Mike Eley, this 1951 Daphne du Maurier tale makes an entertaining summer diversion. It’s Weisz’s picture, and she delivers a fascinating, layered, ambiguous character that will leave you wondering, as you leave the theater, just what she’s been up to for the past hour and three-quarters. Rated PG-13. 106 minutes. Violet Crown. (Jonathan Richards)
PARIS CAN WAIT
Think of Paris Can Wait as a modern Doris Day-Rock Hudson romance without the wit and snappy repartee. It’s also a road movie, a travelogue, and a gastronomic sampler with a little autobiography. It’s based on a page from the life of its writer/director, Eleanor Coppola (wife of Francis Ford Coppola), making her narrative feature debut at 80. Anne (Diane Lane) is at Cannes with her producer husband, Michael (Alec Baldwin), and accepts a ride to Paris with his business associate Jacques (Arnaud Viard). Jacques has scarcely cleared Cannes and pointed his Peugeot north when he pulls off for lunch at a Michelin-rated joint. Anne protests, but not too much, and allows herself to be seduced — by wine, gourmet food, and scenery — into slowing down and smelling the roses. The big question, of course, is whether she will allow herself to be seduced into anything more — how do you say — French? Rated PG. 92 minutes. Violet Crown. (Jonathan Richards)
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES
Johnny Depp applies Jack Sparrow’s eyeliner for one more turn at the helm of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, this time as he seeks out the trident of Poseidon. Unfortunately for Sparrow, an old enemy (Javier Bardem) has escaped from the Devil’s Triangle and is hot in pursuit with revenge in mind. Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley also return. Keith Richards once played Sparrow’s father; in this film, Paul McCartney plays his uncle. Rated PG-13. 129 minutes. Screens in 2-D at Regal Stadium 14. (Not reviewed)
ROUGH NIGHT
Scarlett Johansson tries her hand at mainstream comedy in this movie by Lucia Aniello, best known for her work on the TV series
Broad City. She plays one of several women at a bachelorette party in Miami who find themselves in a madcap caper when the stripper they’ve hired dies unexpectedly. Kate McKinnon, Ilana Glazer, and Zoë Kravitz co-star. Rated R. 101 minutes. Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Not reviewed)
WONDER WOMAN
The box-office success of Wonder Woman is cause to celebrate beyond the girl power of the film itself. With the pairing of charismatic star Gal Gadot and savvy director Patty Jenkins, Hollywood has finally produced a superhero franchise to root for and not groan over. The thrilling first act details the origin story of Diana, the superpowered princess of an admirable race of strong, capable Amazons created by the gods to protect humankind against the wrath of Ares, the god of war. When Allied spy Steve Trevor (Chris Pine, in fine form) crash-lands on Diana’s remote island, German soldiers (led by a roguish Danny Huston) in hot pursuit, he convinces the young warrior to help him halt the development of a deadly mustard gas. Diana — who considers it her destiny to stop Ares, whom she believes to be the mastermind of World Warm I — leaves the Amazonian outpost to seek her fortune in the ordinary world, where plenty of fish-out-of-water feminist hijinks occur. The sweet chemistry between Trevor and the princess is palpable, the movie’s plot sallies forth at a good clip, and Gadot proves as formidable a fighter as she is a beauty. The last third may be overlong and draggy, but the film is nonetheless a cut above the monotony of Marvel and other caped-crusader crap. Rated PG-13. 141 minutes. Screens in 2-D only at Regal Stadium 14; Violet Crown; DreamCatcher. (Molly Boyle)