Deserts, monkeys, dynamite, Dior and the Dead Lands

Beyond the Reach Starring Michael Douglas and Jeremy Irvine. Directed by Jean-Baptiste Léonetti. 94 minutes. Opens Friday at the Carlton. VOD same day. PG

The best part of Beyond the Reach, French director Jean-Baptiste Léonetti’s pleasing homage to ’70s made-for-small-screen dramas, comes when a furious Michael Douglas starts lobbing lit sticks of dynamite around the dark New Mexico desert at his quarry.

Douglas’s Madec (think Gordon Gekko with hunting rifles) is an entitled corporate raider bent on adding a bighorn sheep trophy — out of season, of course — to his collection. He can afford to grease the appropriate palms to get whatever he wants, hiring down-on-his-luck local tracker Ben (British actor Jeremy Irvine of War Horse) to facilitate things.

The third player in this drama is Madec’s $500,000 (plus tax) BMW luxury hybrid, a half vehicle-half rolling luxury oasis, complete with martini bar and espresso machine. Ben chafes at Madec’s swaggering moneyed macho act but holds his tongue. It gets much worse when his triggerhappy client accidentally kills a desert-dwelling recluse. Horrified, Ben wants to go for help but Madec, fearing his error could sink a huge offshore deal has other plans. Suddenly there’s new prey to stalk in the parched desert.

Based on Robb White’s young adult novel Deathwatch, Douglas is in his element and the throwback, stylized look of the production makes Beyond the Reach a hit of escapist fun.

Michael Douglas talks to the Star about Beyond the Reach, E4. Linda Barnard

Desert Dancer Starring Freida Pinto, Reece Ritchie, Tom Cullen and Makram J. Khoury. Directed by Richard Raymond. 104 minutes. Opens Friday at Cineplex Yonge and Dundas. 14A

Based on true story of Iranian dancer Afshin Ghaffarian (Reece Ritchie of The Lovely Bones), who forms an underground dance troupe despite risks of imprisonment — or worse — from the arts-banning regime, uneven Desert Dancer strays too frequently into melodrama to have much sticking power.

The dancing is suitably passionate, although occasionally a tad silly. Slumdog Millionaire’s Freida Pinto acquits herself surprisingly well in dance scenes, although less so in her dramatic portrayal of sullen Elaheh, a young woman with a chip on her shoulder and a bad habit.

Set primarily during the lead-up to the 2009 presidential elections where the Green Movement’s hopes of fighting oppression via the ballot box were dashed, Desert Dancer is devoted to its cause and often lovely to look at. That’s especially true in the climactic allegorical desert performance by the fledgling troupe, whose members required a secluded location far from the disapproving thugs who would stop them.

Downton Abbey’s Tom Cullen (Lord Anthony Gillingham) shows he has some slick moves, too, as a Green activist who joins the dancers after helping introduce Afshin to the joys of forbidden culture, including YouTube. Linda Barnard

Monkey Kingdom Narrated by Tina Fey. Directed by Mark Linfield and Alastair Fothergill. 82 minutes. Opens Friday at major theatres. G

Members of the resourceful, mischievous (and devious) Sri Lanka macaque clan in Disney’s eighth Disneynature film, Monkey Kingdom, are able to nimbly scale anything — except not all can make it up the social ladder.

We instantly side with one of the have-nots, Maya, the aspirational, single mother star of the film narrated with the right mix of tenderness, humour and occasional sarcasm by Tina Fey.

Maya is an outsider in her Castle Rock home, with the good stuff going to battle-scarred alpha male Raja and the red-faced females — straight out of Mean Girls — who run things.

Things look up for Maya with the arrival of Kumar, a “hunky monkey” who woos her until he’s run off by Raja. But not before Kumar and Maya manage some alone time and she’s soon raising baby Kip.

Exceptional camerawork captures the monkeys as they face enemies, invade vendors’ stalls in town with hilarious cheek and go on a daring school kitchen raid. Seeing leaping monkeys picking off flying termites (think of them as airborne potato chips, Fey suggests) is magical.

Stick around for the credits to find out how pivotal scenes were shot for this worthy addition to Disney’s long tradition of nature family films.

Jane Goodall crusades for chimpanzees, E4. Linda Barnard

Dior and I Written and directed by Frederic Tcheng. 90 minutes. Opens Friday at Cineplex Yonge and Dundas. STC

It’s difficult for us non-haute couture types to give a rat’s patootie about the world of high fashion.

But filmmaker Frederic Tcheng mostly succeeds in making Dior and I an interesting behind-the-scenes look at one of the world’s best-known fashion houses.

There’s a frisson of suspense from the get-go as Belgian designer Raf Simons is pegged to design and present his first women’s couture collection for the summer of 2012 and has all of eight weeks to do it.

Simons is far from the obvious choice, regarded as a “minimalist” in a world of excess whose previous work has been in ready-to-wear menswear design. He isn’t even fluent in French.

So it does seem a bit of a long shot and that’s what makes the experience energizing and even moving as we see the show come together and Simons’ emotional reaction.

Tcheng adds a secondary storyline featuring footage and words from the long-deceased Dior. Intended to provide context, as a device it’s more irritating than illuminating.

One does come away with a grudging admiration for the toil and ingenuity of the many players who bring it all together. Bruce DeMara

The Dead Lands Starring James Rolleston, Lawrence Makoare, Te Kohe Tuhaka. 107 minutes. Opens Friday at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. STC

It’s difficult to know what to make of The Dead Lands, New Zealand’s entry as best foreign language film in last year’s Oscar race. (It didn’t get far.)

There’s admirable authenticity in terms of the weapons and costumes on display in this tale of mysticism, murder and revenge and it’s fascinating to see Maori warriors demonstrate their fierceness with protruding tongues and bulging eyes.

On the other hand, it’s pretty grim stuff with lots of fighting and the occasional depiction of cannibalism.

James Rolleston plays young Hongi, whose tribe is almost wiped up by a well-muscled group of rival Maori warriors led by Wirepa (Te Kohe Tuhaka).

On the way home, the warriors decide to take a short cut through the Dead Lands, a place allegedly cursed by a monster who slaughters those who dare enter. He’s actually a warrior (Lawrence Makoare) haunted by his own sins who’s persuaded to help Hongi in his quest for vengeance.

Rolleston is a brooding and charismatic protagonist, Makoare is larger than life and Tuhaka is a worthy villain. Action fans will enjoy the fight scenes while the rest of us may find the film perversely interesting from a socio-anthropological perspective. Bruce DeMara