58 San Diego Reader December 15, 2016


MOVIES


to tell its story from the ground up, and so imagines a God who is neither all good nor all powerful; he’s just a grumpy Dad in a ratty bathrobe sitting at a particularly powerful computer. It’s bad enough that he utterly oppresses his poor wife, but when he takes the belt to his precocious 10-year-old daughter Ea, the tyke decides to follow her big brother JC’s lead and head to Earth to round up some disciples. The twist: her Gospel will be all about them — or rather, their sorrows and sufferings and serpentine searches for salvific love. Her contribution involves listening to the (mostly classical) music in their hearts and playing matchmaker. The more exciting part: before she sets off, she screws up God’s game by telling everyone their date of death. (Even so, no one seems to consider repenting, because this is modern Europe: even when He exists, God is dead, or at least irrelevant.) He follows her to Earth, only to find himself oddly powerless and utterly disrespected. And while He may be a petty bastard, he makes a compelling character. (And from a storyteller’s perspective, a more compelling world.) 2015 — M.L.★★ (LANDMARK KEN)


Camino a la paz — If the goal is to reheat a chestnut, the least a director can do is hold the material to the flame. That’s precisely how Francisco Varone’s debut feature manages to keep fresh this timeworn two-hander about a pair of mismatched souls placed in close confines and sent on a spiritual journey. Fate and a series of wrong numbers to a defunct car-rental service bring together hustling slacker Sebastian (Rodrigo De la Serna) and Jalil (Ernesto Suarez), a frail septuagenarian asking to be driven 1800 miles from Argentina to Bolivia so that he and his brother can embark on a journey to Mecca. Sebastian’s gradual exposure to and understanding of the Muslim culture is never forced, and the pitfalls that generally lurk below the surface


of this type of road picture — notably, cheap sentiment — are mostly side-stepped. Known primarily for his work as stage actor, this is 75-year-old Suarez’s first foray into film. His performance was worth the wait. 2015. — S.M.★★★ (DIGITAL GYM CINEMA)


Collateral Beauty— Will Smith stars in David Frankel’s tale of a sad man who strikes up a conversation with Love, Death, and Time. Profundities and epiphanies ensue. 2016 (IN WIDE RELEASE)


Coming Through The Rye — Like a great many troubled American teenagers, prep-school outcast Jamie Schwartz (Alex Wolff) sees something of himself in Holden Caulfield, the troubled teen protagonist of J.D. Salinger’s landmark novel The Catcher in the Rye. Unlike many troubled American teenagers, he decides to do something about it. Not actually fixing his troubles, mind you — at the film’s outset, he’s too callow for that. (He also has a tendency to address the audience — an annoying echo of you-know-who.) Instead, he sets out to become Holden, writing a play based on the novel (he’ll star, natch) and running off to New Hampshire to find the reclusive author and get his permission. He scores a ride from admirer Deedee (an utterly winning Stefania Owen), and their ramble through the Kodachrome-drenched New England countryside gives Jamie a chance to explore his attachment to Holden — and in a superb illustration of the best effects of literature, to become more distinctly himself in the process. It’s not quite coming of age, but it’s definitely growing up a bit. An unobtrusively lovely soundtrack and an absolutely nailed-it performance from Chris Cooper help things to roll smoothly toward a sweet final shot. Written and directed by James Steven Sadwith. 2015. — M.L. ★★★ (DIGITAL GYM CINEMA)


Denial — The lead Holocaust contender in this year’s awards derby is more stallion than nag. When a denier levels a lawsuit against her publisher, it’s up to author and historian Deborah Lipstadt (Rachel Weisz) to prove the existence of the Holocaust.


The first film in 14 years from director Mick Jackson (L.A. Story, The Bodyguard) is bolstered by a fact-based story that long ago slipped from the public consciousness, and dialogue by playwright and screenwriter David Hare (Plenty, The Reader). An evidential visit to the gas chambers by Lipstadt and her legal team packs a wallop, as does Weisz’s struggle not to fall victim to a defense team that refuses to let her testify. But it’s the ever-spellbinding Timothy Spall who will make audiences squirm. His knotty-pouted advocate for the myth of the six million displays all the seductiveness and in-built logic of a pedophile luring a kindergartner into the back seat of a Buick. With outstanding supporting work by Tom Wilkinson and Andrew Scott. 2016. — S.M. ★★★ (DIGITAL GYM CINEMA)


Doctor Strange — As a Christian allegory, director Scott Derrickson’s entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe is impressively thorough. Proud and worldly neurosurgeon Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch, cockily joking even as he fumbles with his accent) is cast down from his throne, seeks healing from a keeper of ancient spiritual wisdom and power, comes to believe in a world beyond his senses, learns that strength comes from humility, and finally finds that he’s been subtly recruited into a titanic struggle between good and evil. (The bad guy promises nothing less than eternal life.) There’s even tension between natural law and personal conscience! As amovie, it’s silly (jump scares for laffs, etc.), sloppy (lots of talking about mystical realities that turn out to be largely arbitrary) and spectacular (as in spectacle, as in trippy, kaleidoscopic, reality-bending special effects). The silliness and sloppiness don’t detract from the ultimate goal, however, because the ultimate goal is a certain sort of dazzling, feel-good entertainment — and the addition of one more chapter to the continuing saga. 2016. — M.L.★★ (IN WIDE RELEASE)


The Eagle Huntress — Documentarian Otto Bell’s titular huntress — a 13-year-old Kazakh named Aisholpan who hails from a family boasting generations of champion


FILM FESTIVALS


CATAMARAN RESORT 3999 Mission Bl., Mission Beach 858-539-8635 Beach-In Date Night Oceana Coastal Kitchen presents Beach-In Date Night, a bayside showing of classic and modern movies free for diners every Tuesday at 6pm Enjoy movies projected on a large 12-foot screen on the lawn next to our outdoor dining patio. Combine your dinner and a movie into a relaxing evening out. Just like a drive-in, moviegoers are given a personal audio speaker to place on their din- ing table. Complimentary specialty popcorn. Tuesday, December 20, 6:00pm, Tuesday, December 27, 6:00pm


HILTON SAN DIEGO BAYFRONT 1 Park Bl., Downtown San Diego 619-564-3333 Holiday Movies By the Bay: The Santa Clause The Santa Clause will screen on the Promenade Plaza. Saturday, December 17, 7:00pm Holiday Movies By the Bay: The Polar Express The Polar Express will screen on the Promenade Plaza. Saturday, December 24, 7:00pm


LAFAYETTE HOTEL, SWIM CLUB & BUNGALOWS


2223 El Cajon Bl., University Heights 619-296-2101


CinemArt: Star Wars Edition Art and crafts show with “The Force Awakens” screen- ing, Christmas carolers, and drink specials. Thursday, December 15, 6:00pm


LIBERTY HALL THEATER AT PARADISE VILLAGE


2700 E. 4th St., National City Film Discussion Class: Charade Cary


Grant and Audrey Hepburn light up the screen in Stanley Donen’s glossy comic thriller. Hepburn is pursued through the streets of Paris by four men in search of the fortune her late husband stole from them. Co-starring Walter Matthau and James Coburn. (1963. 113 min- utes.) With instructor Ralph DeLauro. Liberty Hall is on the second floor of Paradise Village. Wednesday, December 28, 7:00pm


MISSION VALLEY LIBRARY 2123 Fenton Parkway, Mission Valley 858-573-5007


becomes smitten with the young assistant (Kris- ten Stewart) and mistress of his powerhouse talent agent uncle (Steve Carell). 2016. 96 min- utes. Continuing Education Center at Rancho Bernardo. Info: 858-487-0464. Wednesday, January 4, 1:30pm


ROSE 2219 30th St., South Park 619-280-1815 Grand Budapest Hotel: Grand Tasting We will be watching The Grand Budapest Hotel. Before the movie begins we will enjoy a pour of a dry red sparkling Lambrusco. During a break in the film we will have an imperial red by Thorn Street Brewing, followed by an Imperial cider by 2 Towns Cider, and then ending the night with a night cap of an herbal vermouth. There will be bites along with the tastes. Sun- day, December 18, 6:30pm


Amour An older couple: one has a series of strokes, the other tries to be caregiver. Cannes Palme d’Or Academy Award Best Foreign Lan- guage Film in 2012 and many other film awards. French with subtitles. Part of the Hemlock Society’s Right to Die Film Series. Hemlock chat afterwards. Sunday, December 18, 1:30pm


REMINGTON CLUB II 16916 Hierba Dr., Rancho Bernardo 858-673-6340 Film Discussion Class: Cafe Society Woody Allen’s latest romantic roundelay is a luminous lament to Old Hollywood and lost love. A naive kid from the Bronx (Jesse Eisenberg) seeks his fortune in Hollywood and


SAN YSIDRO TROLLEY STATION 700 E. San Ysidro Bl., San Ysidro Unlimited Tacos + Rogue One in 4D Join Wild Foodie Tours for all-you-can eat tacos at the original Tacos el Gordo in Tijuana followed by the premiere of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in 4D at Cinépolis. Immerse yourself in the story with special features such as scents, wind, fog, lighting, and motion seats for “the ultimate movie-going experience.” The total trip length is five hours, with a walking distance of one mile. Includes 4D movie reserved seat, dinner with one non-alcoholic beverage, and all transportation in Tijuana. Register online. Saturday, December 17, 4:30pm


SCHULMAN AUDITORIUM AT CARLSBAD CITY LIBRARY


1775 Dove Lane, Carlsbad 760-602-2049


Carlsbad Film Series: Ghostbusters A ghost invasion of Manhattan brings paranormal enthusiast Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy), physicist Erin Gilbert, nuclear engineer Jillian Holtzmannm, and subway worker Patty Tolan together to stop a supernatural threat. Armed with proton packs and plenty of attitude, these four women prepare for an epic battle and provide plenty of laughs along the way. Movie special features begin at 5:30pm Wednesday, December 28, 6:00pm


TEMPLE EMANU-EL 6299 Capri Dr., Del Cerro


(male) eagle hunters — is impossible not to like and/or root for. She’s cheerful, natural, diligent, sweet, and full of dreams about following in her father’s footsteps. So Dad consults with Grandpa and then helps his daughter to capture and train her own eagle in preparation for competition. If Bell had stuck with that story, we might know more about how Dad found that secluded eagle’s nest, or how Aisholpan managed to excel the way she did, or what makes one eagle or hunter better than another. Something fascinating to go along with the breathtaking landscapes and thrilling avian action. But then there might not have been time for the girl-power narrative, featuring tut-tutting old-timers running through the standard traditional objections: girls aren’t strong enough, girls belong at home, it’s always been men, etc. (Not that these grumps present any real obstacles: our heroine registers at the contest with nary a bleat raised in protest.) And what good is personal triumph unless it’s also a political one? In Kazakh with English subtitles. 2016. — M.L.★★ (ANGELIKA FILM CENTER; LANDMARK HILLCREST)


The Edge of Seventeen — Writer- director-producer Kelly Fremon Craig’s The Edge of Seventeen offers a verbally frank take on the horrors of adolescence — difficult parents, difficult siblings, difficult romantic interests, and even difficult best friends — gentled just enough to provide solid entertainment. (Especially if you liked John Hughes’ teen oeuvre.) An illustration: when star Hailee Steinfeld breaks in on her favorite teacher (an appealing Woody Harrelson) during his lunch hour and declares her intention to kill herself over her mountainous pile of woes, it isn’t quite played for laughs, but it’s also clear that he doesn’t take her threat seriously, and so neither should we. The story is also largely purged of the unreal/hyperreal realm of social media; we get a hint of cyberlonging here and an accidentally sent text there, but Screenworld is no kind of dominant, omnipresent force. So it’s no surprise when the protagonist refers to herself as an old soul, recalls her best friend being dressed like an old


man when they first met, and declares to a would-be suitor that when she looks at him, she sees an old man. It’s a snapshot of the kids of today, overlaid with the filter of a somewhat more grownup sensibility. 2016. — M.L.★★ (IN WIDE RELEASE)


Evolution — Director and co-writer Lucile Hadzihalilovic serves up a spooky tale of a town populated by women, boys, and that’s it. In French with English subtitles. Review forthcoming at sandiegoreader.com. 2015 (DIGITAL GYM)


The Eyes of My Mother — Writer- director Nicolas Pesce’s debut feels unnervingly like a Diane Arbus photo that’s been stretched into a film. Which is to say, it’s unnerving — a shadowy black-and- white (well, black-and-gray) image of an older, less homogenized, more frequently grotesque world, where even beauty and innocence may serve to heighten a sense of overwhelming dread and/or impending doom. Viz:Why is that pretty little girl so calm about picking shards of glass from the mangled face of the wounded man chained up in her barn – the same man who murdered her mother just hours before? And don’t tell me it’s because Mom, a former surgeon before she became a former person, taught her daughter all about bodies and dissection. No, the real reason is the lack of Facebook — or at least, the sense of community and connection that Facebook purports to provide, even to people living in rural isolation. People who must otherwise rely on their families, their silent fathers and (Blessed) mothers. And when those fail…it isn’t pretty, no matter how artfully shot. Pesce seems intent on overwhelming the part of the brain that asks critical questions by creating a distracting tension between gruesome events and the elegant depiction of same. It mostly works, certainly enough to draw out, slowly and steadily, the requisite pity and horror. 2016. — M.L. ★★★ (DIGITAL GYM CINEMA)


Film Discussion Class: Out of the Past A man without a future! A woman with too much past! Double crosses! Shocking revela- tions! Robert Mitchum, Kirk Douglas, Jane Greer and Rhonda Fleming star on this beguil- ing and bewildering voyage into pulp fiction. An former private eye makes a rendezvous with his own past when he becomes enthralled by a mysterious, danger-courting dame. (1947. 97 Minutes) With instructor Ralph DeLauro. Members are free, all others $2. Sponsored by Jewish Family Service. Information: 858-637- 3270. Thursday, December 15, 1:00pm


Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them — Poor Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne, sensitive bordering on priggish): all this English wizard wants to do is protect the world’s magical animals from “the most vicious creature on earth: humans.” But doing so means traveling to America, where even the wizards are against him — right off the boat, he’s picked up for possession of contraband critters. Further, the Yanks have “backwards relations with no-majs” (“no-maj” being the local term for the non-magical): for one thing, no intermarriage. To make matters worse, a bunch of anti-magic crusaders are at work, righteously rousing the rabble. They’ve got some reason to be afraid, what with the strange and violent goings on of late, and as we’re reminded, “when no-maj’s are afraid, they attack.” (It’s the reason the wizards have gone underground.) But what the pious monsters don’t realize is that Freud was right: the greatest evil arises from denying your magic identity in early childhood. And finally, there’s a dark wizard about, one who would like nothing more than to have it out with the portion of the population that can’t control minds and manipulate matter at will. Set against all these thunderous themes are the antics of a bunch of uninspired imaginary animals — sorry, fantastic beasts — and an astonishingly winning supporting cast that very nearly atones for everything else. 2016. — M.L.★ (IN WIDE RELEASE)


Jackie — Reviewed this issue. 2016 — S.M.★★★★ (IN WIDE RELEASE)


La La Land — Billed as a movie-lover’s dream for a reason: the eye hasn’t seen this much color on screen since Vincente Minnelli passed. The songs and musical numbers are lively, the cast attractive, all attempts to transform city streets into


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