68 San Diego Reader January 7, 2016


MOVIES


promise of “a martial arts film like none made before” will no doubt be bored silly. Those familiar with the unmistakable triple-H brand will instantly recognize the director’s austere imprint and know what beauty lies ahead. Through painstaking research (and numerous takes to get it right), HHH catapults the material far beyond a series of historical maxims, leaving viewers dumbstruck by something as simple as the cut of a cloth or move- ment of a curtain in the breeze. There are moments when you’d swear the man knew how to harness wind to add texture to his frames. This is quite simply filmmak- ing at its finest. Subtitled. 2015. — S.M. ★★★★★ (DIGITAL GYM CINEMA)


The Big Short — The term “I don’t understand” is spoken numerous times throughout the film. That’s not counting audience members. Come equipped with a sophisticated understanding of the bank- ing collapse of the mid-2000s and you’ll be hanging on every word. For those who invest in cinema and wouldn’t know a housing bubble from a tub filled with Mr. Bubble, director and co-writer Adam McKay (The Other Guys) does little to ease the denseness. Sure, there’s the addition of celebrity cameos (Margot Robbie, Selena Gomez) to help walk us through some of the more complicated technical jargon, but they come off less funny and insight- ful than patronizing. Cinematographer Barry Ackroyd plays hacky sack with his camera in hopes of bringing documentary levels of urgency to every frame. I left in need of an aspirin. And for all that it “borrows” from Scorsese, they might just as well have called it The Whelp of Wall St. Good cast — Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt, Christian Bale — all acting under bad hairpieces. 2015. — S.M. ★ (IN WIDE RELEASE)


Bridge of Spies — Call it Mr. Donovan goes to East Berlin. Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks team up for a handsome piece of very pointed nostalgia (with help from the Coen Brothers and Matt


everything it means to be an American” (Will Smith, giving it his syllable-distend- ing Sidney Poitier best) effectively jerks what could have been a Super Bowl–win- ning punt out of the place-kicker’s path when he calls into play the scientific burden of evidence needed to bring the NFL to its knees. My gut reaction was to call it Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, but it’s impossible to dislike any film that casts professional sports in such a nega- tive light while providing Albert Brooks with a plum supporting role as Smith’s kvetchy boss. (“My balls are low” wins 2015’s best line of dialogue award, and I’m betting Albert had a hand in tweaking 90 percent of his lines.) A romantic subplot exists if for no other reason than to pin blame on the NFL for a miscarriage, an accusation even a staunch sportsophobe such as myself found hard to swallow. Written and directed by Peter Landesman 2015. — S.M. ★★ (IN WIDE RELEASE)


The Forest: Natalie Dormer takes a walk in the woods — of death!


Charman, who handled the script, and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, lens set to “stately.”). Hanks is private citizen and shrewd attorney James Donovan, a doughy guy with a spine of grade-A Bethlehem steel and a mind that cherishes pragmatism without yielding principle. He is America’s best self, ready to be deployed against her enemies — both within and without. Sure, the Russians are bad: it’s 1957, and kids are getting traumatized in school by cartoons about what to do in case of nuclear attack. Plus, they’ve riddled the country with spies, one of whom needs defending in a court of law if America’s gonna look like the good guy. (Hello, Mr. Donovan!) But there are other sorts of baddies as well: CIA spooks with no regard for privacy, judges with little use for due process, yahoos who prefer violence to justice. (That’s the pointy part.) Donovan handles them all with aplomb, and is rewarded with a trip behind the Iron Curtain to negotiate an


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extremely delicate prisoner exchange. (It seems we’re not above a little spying ourselves.) Feel-good heroism at its finest, with plenty of gentle yuks to ease the ten- sion. 2015. — M.L. ★★ (ARCLIGHT LA JOLLA; READING GASLAMP)


Brooklyn — Into a time when audiences are being bombarded with thinkfree technology or jiggled to death by indie indifference comes Brooklyn, a three Kleenex (boxes), straight-forwardly emotional little period melodrama about a timid (though not for long) young Irish immigrant (Saoirse Ronan) finding her way through 1950s New York. There are brief moments scattered all through Ronan’s magnetizing performance where director John Crowley wisely lets the camera run to capture the young actresses’ stunning array of sensitiveness. The relatively CG-free production design – Montreal proved a convincing alterna- tive to shooting in the cost-prohibitive titular borough – and exquisitely ersatz Technicolor hues heave audiences back to a time when storytelling was built into the price of a ticket. If there’s fault to be found, it rests in the last-ditch revival of a throwaway character, ostensibly salvaged


to uncover and make known our heroine’s one dark secret. 2015. — S.M. ★★★ (IN WIDE RELEASE)


Carol — The easy descriptors for Todd Haynes’s take on Patricia Highsmith’s tale of socially unacceptable female relation- ships during the early ’50s are words like “sumptuous,” “ravishing,” and maybe “entrancing” (that last thanks to a com- mand performance from Cate Blanchett as a failed wife, loving mother, and motherly lover). But the more important adjec- tives are “open,” “adult,” and best of all, “human.” The lesbian affair at its heart is rendered with intelligence and care, and if there are speeches to be made, they are happily few, and far more personal than political. Rooney Mara is appropriately wide-eyed as the Bright Young Thing, and Kyle Chandler manages to make his portrayal of the embittered ex both sour and sympathetic. Your take on the rather drawn-out denouement, however, may vary depending on what kind of story you thought you were watching. 2015. — M.L. ★★★ (IN WIDE RELEASE)


Concussion — A corpse-whispering sawbones from Nigeria who “exemplifies


FILM FESTIVALS


CITY OF CARLSBAD DOVE LIBRARY 1775 Dove Lane, Carlsbad 760-602-2049 Red Retired Extremely Dangerous (RED) member Frank (Bruce Willis) is forced into action with his old team when world safety is threatened and involves his new love interest Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker). They journey through his past to track down old adversaries and to find a missing portable nuclear device. Wednesday, January 20, 6:00pm


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Deadline to enter is Monday, January 11th at 1:00PM.


NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON is rated R for language throughout, strong sexuality/nudity, violence, and drug use


NOW AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL HD AND ON BLU-RAY™ & DVD JANUARY 19TH


SAN DIEGO READER


EL CAJON LIBRARY 201 E. Douglas Ave., El Cajon 619-588-3718 Chaldean Voices The screening of this documentary, made in El Cajon, includes filmmakers Peter Alkatib and Miguel Soria. Thursday, January 21, 5:00pm


GREEN STORE


4843 B Voltaire St., Ocean Beach 619-225-1083


Years of Living Dangerously Emmy award winning 2014 documentary focusing on global warming. January will feature episodes 5 and 6. Each episode features celebrity investiga- tors with a history of environmental activism and well-known journalists. They travel to areas around the world and throughout the U.S. affected by global warming to interview experts and ordinary people affected by and seeking solutions to the effects of global warming. Info: oceanbeachgreencenter@gmail.com. Thurs- day, January 14, 7:00pm


REMINGTON CLUB II


16916 Hierba Dr., Rancho Bernardo 858-673-6340


Film and Discussion: The Thomas Crown Affair Raplh DeLauro will be teaching a Film and Discussion Class I, featuring The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. Wednesday, January 20, 1:30pm


SCHULMAN AUDITORIUM AT CARLSBAD CITY LIBRARY


Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation Impossible Mission Force is disbanded, accused


VINTAGE VILLAGE THEATRE 820 Orange Ave., Coronado 619-437-6161 Coronado Island Film Festival Festival of 85 screenings includes narratives, documenta- ries, short films, workshops, discussions, ani- mation panel, and awards reception throughout various locations in Coronado. See coronadois- landfilmfest.com for venues and schedule. Friday, January 15, Saturday, January 16, Sunday, January 17, Monday, January 18.


of being too reckless. IMF member Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), in efforts to clear their good name, goes after the Syndicate, an international rogue organization. Wednesday, January 13, 6:00pm


Creed — The director (Ryan Coogler) and star (Michael B. Jordan, cut like an Abercrombie & Fitch model) of 2013’s Fruitvale Station re-team for a Rocky remake retooled for Generation Affirma- tion. Their first collaboration had a real-life tragedy to ground it. This one, unfortunately, has an increasingly fantasti- cal franchise to give it wings. It seems that retired boxing champ Rocky Balboa’s old friend Apollo Creed (RIP) had an affair and a son. His widow graciously rescues the boy from juvie and gives him a good life, but he chucks it to climb into the ring where Daddy died. Why o why? The answer, long in coming, makes little sense but sounds cool, so just go with it. There’s a lot of that sort of thing. Sylvester Stallone low-keys it and still overshadows his protégé, mostly because he’s playing a person and not the living embodi- ment of Doing It My Way and Believing I Can Do It. But not even Rocky can deliver a line like, “It’s you against you; he’s just in the way” without sounding ridiculous. Coogler and cinematographer Maryse Alberti do manage some nice close camerawork during the Big Fight, so there’s that. 2015. — M.L. ★ (IN WIDE RELEASE)


Daddy’s Home — Will Ferrell plays his standard issue wide-eyed naif, an ami- able simp who can find the good in just about any situation, save one: the sudden reappearance of his wife’s guilt-stricken greaser ex (Mark Wahlberg), eager to reheat a dead romantic soufflé. Two


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