AMERICAN MADE
What's it rated? R
What's it worth? Matinee
Where's it showing? Stadium 10
Doug Liman (Swingers, The Bourne Identity, Edge of Tomorrow) directs Tom Cruise as Barry Seal, a pilot contracted by the CIA to run guns and drugs in the late-'70s and '80s. The screenplay by Gary Spinelli is based on real events. (115 min.)
—Glen Starkey
A BAD MOMS CHRISTMAS
What's it rated? R
Where's it showing? Park
A Bad Moms Christmas follows our three under-appreciated and over-burdened women as they rebel against the challenges and expectations of the Super Bowl for moms: Christmas. And if creating
—STX Films
BLADE RUNNER 2049
What's it rated? R
What's it worth? Full Price
Where's it showing? Downtown Centre, Stadium 10, Galaxy
Director Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Enemy, Sicario, Arrival) takes up the reins of Ridley Scott's 1982 sci-fi classic Blade Runner in this sequel set 30 years after the original's year—2019. A new blade runner, Officer K (Ryan Gosling), discovers a long-buried secret and sets out to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), the blade runner from the original film.
The film's quiet dialog in conjunction with its industrial-strength soundtrack may make for difficult home viewing. This is one best seen in the theater. Fans of the original, don't miss it! For the rest of you, if you have even a passing interest, rent the original and get thee to a theater! It's worth it! (163 min.)
—Glen Starkey
THE FLORIDA PROJECT
What's it rated? R
Where's it showing? The Palm
The Florida Project tells the story of a precocious 6-year-old and her ragtag group of friends whose summer break is filled with childhood wonder, possibility, and a sense of adventure while the adults around them struggle with hard times. (115 min.)
—A24 Films
THE FOREIGNER
What's it rated? R
What's it worth? Full Price
Where's it showing? Sunset Drive-In
Jackie Chan vs. Pierce Brosnan! You may not have realized it, but this is the big screen, cross-cultural showdown you've been waiting for.
Setting aside its rather offensive title, The Foreigner, based on a 1992 novel The Chinaman by Stephen Leather, is an exciting, surprisingly layered British-Chinese action flick that puts Chan's renown talent for combat acting on full blast while delving into the Ireland/England political conflict.
Chan plays Ngoc Minh Quan, a retired Vietnam War special forces fighter who now runs a Chinese restaurant in London while raising his teenage daughter. Years prior, Quan watched his wife and two other daughters get killed in the fog of war. He cherishes his remaining daughter, but then she's suddenly killed in a roadside bombing in London. An Irish group called the "Authentic IRA [Irish Republican Army]" takes credit for the attack. Quan, beside himself with grief and rage, makes it his mission to track down those responsible.
Enter Brosnan as Liam Hennessy—today a top Irish government official, but formerly a prominent leader of the IRA revolution against England. Hennessy, an insulated, pompous politician, is somewhat caught between those two lives, and, following the bombing, soon realizes that the terrorist attack may have been abetted by his own office.
Determined to get revenge for his daughter's death and not taking "no"
Both Chan and Brosnan play great characters, and there are some solid supporting cast performances as well. I especially enjoyed Brosnan in this movie, who really acted his ass off as this angry, charismatic, psychologically troubled former revolutionary figure. Chan also managed to delve into deeper, more intense energy than the showoff-y roles of his younger years.
On its face, The Foreigner appears pretty far-fetched and silly. But director Martin Campbell (Legend of Zorro, Casino Royale) does a good job of making this thriller feel real, or at least very entertaining. (113 min.)
—Peter Johnson
GEOSTORM
What's it rated? PG-13
Where's it showing? Downtown Centre, Stadium 10, Park, Galaxy
After an unprecedented series of natural disasters threatened the planet, the world's leaders came together to create an intricate network of satellites to control the global climate and keep everyone safe. But now, something has gone wrong: the system built to protect Earth is attacking it, and it becomes a race against the clock to uncover the real threat before a worldwide
—Warner Bros. Pictures
HAPPY DEATH DAY
What's it rated? R
Where's it showing? Stadium 10, Park, Galaxy, Sunset Drive-In
A college student (Jessica Rothe, La La Land) relives the day of her murder with both its unexceptional details and terrifying end until she discovers her killer's identity. (96 min.)
—Universal Studios
IT
What's it rated? R
What's it worth? Matinee
Where's it showing? Downtown Centre
From director Andy Muschietti (Mama) comes the remake of the 1990 mini-series thriller IT, based on the hugely popular Stephen King novel of the same name, which has been terrifying readers for decades. When children begin to disappear in the town of Derry, Maine, a group of young kids are faced with their biggest fears when they square off against an evil clown named Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) whose history of murder and violence dates back for centuries. (135 min.)
—Ryah Cooley
JIGSAW
What's it rated? R
Where's it showing? Downtown Centre, Stadium 10, Park, Galaxy
After a series of murders bearing all the markings of the Jigsaw killer, law enforcement
—Lionsgate
LOVING VINCENT
What's it rated? PG-13
What's it worth? Full Price
Where's it showing? The Palm
Writers-directors Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman helm this story about impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh (Robert
The story—written by the co-directors and Jacek Dehnel—takes place a couple years after Van Gogh's death. When an undelivered letter is discovered from Vincent Van Gogh to his brother Theo, Vincent's friend and frequent subject Postman Roulin (Chris O'Dowd) enlists his son Armand (Douglas Booth) to carry the letter to Paris and search for Theo, since the forwarded letter had already been returned "undeliverable." Armand sets out on the train, and soon his task turns into a mystery story as he tries to find Theo, and barring him, his widow or someone else who should appropriately receive what was perhaps Van Gogh's last epistle.
The film is certainly not the definitive version or Van Gogh's death—it raises questions but doesn't offer certain answers, just more conjecture—but it's entertaining, poignant, and visually arresting. See this one in the theater! (94 min.)
—Glen Starkey
MARK FELT: THE MAN WHO BROUGHT DOWN THE WHITE HOUSE
What's it rated? NR
What's it worth? Streaming
Where's it showing? Downtown Centre
Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House provides interesting and intimate insight into the man better known as "Deep Throat," the key FBI source behind Bob Woodward's and Carl Bernstein's historic reporting of the Nixon Watergate scandal.
But the film's muddy, chaotic story structure leaves much to be desired.
Based on Felt's 2005 memoir, director (and journalist) Peter Landesman attempts to unravel the 1974 Watergate investigation from Felt's, and the FBI's, perspective, providing the context for why Felt became a confidential informant for The Washington Post.
It's a great idea for a screenplay. The movie-viewing public is well familiarized with the journalistic side of Watergate through All the President's Men, but portrayals of Felt, the mysterious, high-level leaker who made that reporting possible, are scarce.
Mark Felt picks up in 1972, the year the FBI's founder and director J. Edgar Hoover died. Felt (Liam Neeson), the associate director of the FBI at the time, is flummoxed when President Nixon decides to appoint an outsider and political ally, Patrick Gray (Marton Csokas), as its new director.
As a 30-year FBI veteran with resolute deference for the agency's integrity and autonomy, Felt is disturbed and slighted by the choice and is even further dismayed when Gray and the White House start coordinating to quash the FBI Watergate burglary investigation in 1974 and protect Nixon. In response, Felt begins to meet confidentially with news reporters.
The problem with how this plays out is Landesman tries to accomplish too many things at once, resulting in a confusing
Neeson delivers a solid, entertaining performance as Felt. But he's let down by those in charge of the movie's nuts and bolts. The pulse-pounding music, over-the-top dramatic exchanges, and chaos of the plot progression just add clutter and take away from what should be an excellent biopic. (103 minutes)
—Peter Johnson
THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN US
What's it rated? PG-13
What's it worth? Matinee
Where's it showing? Stadium 10, Park, Galaxy, Bay
The Mountain Between Us is a wonderful romantic-adventure film based on the novel by Charles Martin. Beautifully directed by Hany Abu-Assad, the entire plot is based on a growing romance. Alex Martin (Kate Winslet), a
The story begins in wintery late December, with Alex desperately trying to get a flight to New York to make it back in time for her wedding. The terrible weather in Idaho leaves her with no other option but to locate a private hangar in the hopes that a pilot will be willing to fly her anywhere
Alex meets a friendly pilot named Walter (Beau Bridges), who offers to help charter them to Denver for
The plane goes down violently and Ben is the first to wake up after the crash. The only survivors are Ben, Alex, and the dog. Ben buries Walter and wraps Alex's wounded leg while she is still unconscious. A few days go by and Alex finally wakes up, only to find out that they are all stranded on a mountainside with little food and quickly realizes that no one actually knows that they are missing—Walter never filed a flight plan before takeoff.
A stubborn Ben insists that they stay inside the plane wreckage for shelter and wait for rescuers to come, but Alex firmly believes that they must travel for help or they will never make it. After a few more days go by, things intensify between Alex and Ben. The strangers begin to realize that they need one another in order to survive, but can't seem to agree on much. Once they break into their first fight, a frustrated and fed-up Alex storms off with the dog, leaving Ben behind. He eventually goes after her, but because of Alex's leg
Weeks go by and while the two are figuring out how to survive, they stumble upon an abandoned cabin as they are running out of food and Alex's leg injury isn't getting any better. As Alex and Ben grow fonder of one another, they must figure out if they're going to make it out alive and whether they truly do love one another. (103 min).
—Rachelle Ramirez
ONLY THE BRAVE
What's it rated? PG-13
Where's it showing? Downtown Centre
See Split Screen.
SAME KIND OF DIFFERENT AS ME
What's it rated? PG-13
Where's it showing? Downtown Centre
Same Kind of Different as Me is based on the inspiring true story of international art dealer Ron Hall (Greg Kinnear), who befriends a homeless man (Djimon Hounsou) in hopes of saving his struggling marriage to Debbie (Renée Zellweger), a woman whose dreams will lead all three of them on the most remarkable journey of their lives. (119 min.)
—Paramount Pictures
THE SNOWMAN
What's it rated? R
What's it worth? Streaming
Where's it showing? Downtown Centre, Park, Galaxy
From director Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) comes this adaptation Jo Nesbo's crime novel The Snowman, the seventh book in his Harry Hole series (although this is the first time we've seen the character on the big screen). We follow Detective Hole (Michael Fassbender) as he investigates the disappearance of a woman on the first snow of winter. He discovers the calling card of an elusive serial killer at the woman's house—a snowman, of course. With the help of a new recruit (Rebecca Ferguson), Hole must connect decades-old cold cases to the new one to find out what brought the killer out of hibernation and what their next move will be before it's too late.
The real mystery of The Snowman isn't "Who did it?" It's "How did this happen?" I had already heard the negative buzz surrounding this film before seeing it, which was surprising given the amount of talent involved (both in front of and behind the camera). I knew going in that Martin Scorsese had a producing credit, but I was even more baffled when I saw Alfredson's name in the opening titles.
Alfredson's Let the Right One In and The Snowman have two big things in common— a lot of snow and a lot of
Although Fassbender is convincing as a hardened, veteran detective, it's difficult to care about his character when his journey is constantly interrupted by unconvincing and unnecessarily complex red herrings and lengthy flashbacks of supporting characters that could have been thrown out completely.
Even so, I believe Alfredson approached the script he was given in a graceful way. Despite a muddled story, he manages to capture a unique down-to-earth atmosphere, rare when compared to most crime thrillers nowadays. Alfredson could have played it safe with David Fincher-
—Caleb Wiseblood
SUBURBICON
What's it rated? R
Where's it showing? Downtown Centre, Stadium 10, Park, Galaxy
Suburbicon is a peaceful, idyllic suburban community with affordable homes and manicured lawns ... the perfect place to raise a family, and in the summer of 1959, the Lodge family is doing just that. But the tranquil surface masks a disturbing reality, as husband and father Gardner Lodge (Matt Damon) must navigate the town's dark underbelly of betrayal, deceit, and violence. This is a tale of very flawed people making very bad choices. (105 min.)
—Paramount Pictures
TAKE EVERY WAVE: THE LIFE OF LAIRD HAMILTON
What's it rated? NR
What's it worth? Matinee
Where's it showing? The Palm (Last showing on Oct. 26)
If you surf, are a fan of surfing, or have even the vaguest awareness of the sport then you've likely heard of the iconic American surfer Laird Hamilton, who transformed surfing by going after unimaginably huge waves and popularizing tow-in surfing and a
Hamilton is exceptional at what he does, but it's his backstory and personal motivations that make the documentary Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton a truly compelling film.
Similar to successful men like Barack Obama and Steve Jobs, Hamilton was raised by a young, single mom. His dad left when she was pregnant and so Hamilton's mom took off to Hawaii in search of a simpler life. This is where Hamilton became engulfed in surf culture, even meeting his future stepdad and surfer Bill Hamilton while body surfing as a young child.
The film toggles back and forth between interviews with Laird, family members, surf buddies, and editors from Surfer magazine as well as footage of the giant Laird surfing big waves. There's also a lot of period footage to set the scene for what Hawaii was like when Laird was growing up. There's probably a little too much of that for my taste, but it is interesting to see how much less populated Hawaii used to be.
While Hamilton is undeniably talented and ambitious (At 50-something he's still going strong in his sport), he doesn't seem to always have a lot of empathy for others if it gets in the way of his surfing goals. In one scene, we see his friends (some former) talk about Laird getting big and cutting them out of their production company that made videos about strapped-in surfing. When going after a particularly epic wave goes south real fast, Hamilton and his tow-in driver and friend are dragged under several times. When they finally resurface, it's revealed that his friend is bleeding profusely and may die. While (spoiler) Hamilton manages to get his friend to safety and into the hands of medical professionals, he doesn't ride along with him to the hospital, opting instead to head back into the water to conquer the wave. It's that kind of single-mindedness that's likely gotten the famous surfer to where he is today, but it left me feeling a tad dumbstruck and sad.
But then there's Hamilton being a great husband to his wife, Olympic volleyball player Gabrielle Reece, and helping one of his kids with her homework until every assignment is done. Hamilton is a complex individual. He admits that he could have done some things differently. But in the same breath, he also says that he might not do anything differently if it means he wouldn't get to live the life he has today. If nothing else, Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton is a refreshingly honest look into the making and mind of one of the greatest American big wave surfers. (118 min.)
—Ryah Cooley
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE
What's it rated? R
Where's it showing? Downtown Centre, Stadium 10, Park, Galaxy
Thank You for Your Service follows a group of U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq who
—Universal Studios
THOR: RAGNAROK
What's it rated? PG-13
Where's it showing? Park
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok—the destruction of his
—Walt Disney Pictures
TYLER PERRY'S B00 2! A MADEA HALLOWEEN
What's it rated? PG-13
Where's it showing? Stadium 10, Park
Madea and the gang are back
—Lionsgate
VICTORIA AND ABDUL
What's it rated? PG-13
What's it worth? Matinee
Where's it showing? The Palm, Fair Oaks
If you like movies with happy endings and no loose ends, then Victoria and Abdul is not the film for you. However, if you want to see a slice of life from a once lost part of history that's filled with charm and subtle humor, then you will adore this movie.
"Mostly" based on true events, Victoria and Abdul
It's hard to articulate what exactly makes this movie so delightful. There's just something very pure and very human about the way the titular characters have such fun together, completely ignoring all the reasons their friendship supposedly shouldn't blossom. Abdul's endearingly dorky sense of humor also plays well alongside the more deadpan, disgruntled attitude of his other friend and fellow Indian, Mohammed (Adeel Akhtar). Even when dealing with racism or classism from the antagonist characters—for most of the film such moments are played for laughs—making the antagonists appear more foolish than threatening.
For those who care about big names, Victoria and Abdul also
The only thing that really bothered me about this movie was the complete lack of resolutions. As the story progresses, the film's tone gradually gets more and more serious, but pretty much all of the problems that arise end up getting pushed aside instead of resolved. This is forgivable considering that the movie is based on true events and it's unlikely that any of those problems were resolved in real life either, but it can still be frustrating for a viewer. Though you'll definitely laugh for most of the film, you'll probably leave the theater feeling a bit sad.
All in all, Victoria and Abdul is worth seeing. It's not your typical anti-prejudice movie where good triumphs and all is overcome, but in this
—Katrina Borges
New Times movie reviews were compiled by Arts Editor Ryah Cooley and others. You can contact her at rcooley@newtimesslo.com.
Comments