66 San Diego Reader January 7, 2016
Papa bear
Revenant, frontiersman Hugh Glass (played with almost frightening com- mitment by Leonardo DiCaprio) learns the hard way that if you get too near a mother bear’s cubs, she will have at you. And even if — through some astonishing combination of luck, pluck, superior firepower, and emergency medicine — you manage to survive the attack, you will be scarred by the experience. This is, quite literally, nature red in tooth and claw. (Nature in the rest of the film is mostly white in ice and snow, perhaps less deadly but just as hostile, and rendered with impassive majesty by cinematographer Emman- uel Lubezki.) It isn’t long before Glass finds
E
himself in the role of the bear, fiercely stalking the skulking sonofabitch Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) who got too near to his own boy — even as he struggles to survive. The journey is long and painstaking, the better to
arly on in director and co- writer Alejandro González Iñárritu’s small-scale epic The
MOVIES
give you a sense of just what is being opposed to what. As Glass heals, he progresses from a moaning, crawling beast to a cunning horseman: man rising to mastery over nature by wits and will. But eventu- ally, a man comes up against his humanity: his power to choose,
to plunge into the savage world of urge and instinct, or to step outside and dwell — however briefly, how- ever painfully — in some more rar- efied realm.
— Matthew Lickona
2015 FROM TOP TO BOTTOM In a good year, I’ve been known to publish a top 20. This year’s standouts were as obvious as they were few and far between. As such, more thought went into selecting the bottom ten. I could just as easily have called it quits with three by Kevin James, three by Adam Sandler (they both share in the blame for Pixels), and four Apatow factory byproducts, but that would have been too easy. Note that four of the ten honor-
The Revenant: Leonardo DiCaprio suffers (and suffers) for his art. Also, revenge.
ees held their local premiers at the Digital Gym, where the booking of late (give or take fanboy frights and the occasional telenovela) is the finest to hit town since this reporter parted company with MoPA. Would some beneficent, deep-pocketed cinematic soul brothers and/or sisters out there
please pony up the funds needed to fit the booth with a Sony 4K projector? The addition would catapult the Gym into the ranks of the big boys, a hall where artistic champs would be proud to showcase their might. Onward to 2016. In fear of repeat- ing a line that’s been called into play
for almost two decades’ worth of ten- best lists, I’ll refrain from noting next year can’t get much worse. For more on 2015 in film, including a lovingly assembled video tribute to this year’s saddest passing, be sure and visit The Big Screen at
sandiegoreader.com.
ENTER TO WIN TICKETS TO AN ADVANCE SCREENING OF
TO ENTER, VISIT
SDREADER.COM AND CLICK ON “CONTESTS.” DEADLINE TO ENTER IS FRIDAY, JANUARY 8 AT 1:00PM.
RIDE ALONG 2 HAS BEEN RATED PG-13 (PARENTS STRONGLY CAUTIONED – SOME MATERIAL MAY BE INAPPROPRIATE FOR CHILDREN UNDER 13) FOR SEQUENCES OF VIOLENCE, SEXUAL CONTENT, LANGUAGE AND SOME DRUG MATERIAL.
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. SEATING IS FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVED AND CANNOT BE GUARANTEED. THEATER IS OVERBOOKED TO ENSURE A FULL HOUSE.
IN THEATERS JANUARY 15
RideAlong.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108