Kip Mooney
A Look At Love Is Strange And The Rest Of This Week's Wide And Special Releases.
Love is Strange.
Director: Ira Sachs.
Writers: Ira Sachs, Mauricio Zacharias.
Cast: John Lithgow, Alfred Molina, Tatyana Zbirovskaya.
Where it's playing: Angelika Film Center (both locations)
Love is great, love is strange and, sometimes, love is devastating. In Ira Sachs' Love is Strange, it's all of the above. The film follows Ben and George (played by John Lithgow and Alfred Molina, respectively), freshly married and deeply in love. Their kinship is put to the test, however, when George is fired from his job (for the unspeakable crime of loving another man), and the two have no choice but to live apart until they can afford cheaper rent. Love is Strange premiered this year at the Sundance to a standing ovation and rave reviews, and it's currently at 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. If you're looking something to shake and move you this weekend, stop reading. This is it.
But Always.
Director: Snow Zou.
Writer: Snow Zou.
Cast: Yuanyuan Gao, Nicholas Tse .
Where it's playing: Cinemark Legacy.
But Always is Snow Zou's first film. It's about two school friends in the 1970s who lose touch and reunite as grown-ups in New York. A new kind of love flairs.
The Identical.
Director: Dustin Marcellino.
Writer: Howard Klausner.
Cast: Blake Rayne, Ray Liotta, Ashley Judd.
Where it's playing: Everywhere.
Any movie starring Ashley Judd kind of gets a red flag now — she's kind of given up on pursing great cinema these days — so it's not a shock that this fictionalized, humdrum rock story about Elvis Presley's twin comes with almost no marketing behind it. No, things aren't looking good for The Identical Two: Twinsies.
Innocence.
Director: Hilary Brougher.
Writers: Hilary Brougher, Tristine Skyler, Jane Mendelsohn.
Cast: Sophie Curtis, Kelly Reilly, Graham Phillips.
Where it's playing: Everywhere.
In Innocence, a young girl learns that her fancy prep school has some dark secrets that they don't want to tell. Dum, dum, dum! This film is based on the novel (of the same name) by Jane Mendelsohn, who gained must-deserved attention for her debut novel, I Was Amelia Earhart. I haven't read Innocence, but based on the film's shitty poster, not a lot of time was spent on it. The only reason why you should know this movie exists is because Kelly Reilly (Flight, Calvary) co-stars in it, and she's one to watch this year. Probably except for this movie. Hey, we all need to pay rent.
Life After Beth.
Director: Jeff Baena.
Writer: Jeff Baena.
Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, John C. Reilly.
Where it's playing: Texas Theatre.
The sassiest and perhaps most confident film company to spit out some of the most eclectic films this year is A24. Some of the films this company's responsible for? Obvious Child, The Rover, Locke, Enemy and Under the Skin. A24's latest outing is Life After Beth, a zom-com starring Parks and Rec.'s Aubrey Plaza.
The Longest Week.
Director: Peter Glanz.
Writer: Peter Glanz.
Cast: Olivia Wilde, Jason Bateman, Billy Crudup.
Where it's playing: Angelika Film Center (Dallas).
There's a reason why a film starring Olivia Wilde, Jason Bateman, Billy Crudup and Jenny Slate has slipped way under the radar: It's not very good! And by saying “not very good,” I'm being very polite. Here's hoping Bateman soon hits the brakes on stories about falling in love at the wrong time.
No No: A Dockumentary.
Director: Jeff Radice.
Cast: Doc Ellis.
Where it's playing: Texas Theatre.
No No was a hit (pun intended) at this year's Sundance Film Festival. It focuses on Dock Ellis, who, in the '70s, famously pitched a no-hitter on LSD. The film focuses on the controversy surrounding this epic event, and his years helping others stay clean.
Taxi Driver.
Director: Martin Scorsese.
Writer: Paul Schrader.
Cast: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd.
Where it's playing: Inwood Theatre.
Listen, you fuckers, you screwheads: Yes, I am talking to you. Martin Scorsese's magnum opus on fighting crime in a mohawk is back in theaters this weekend only. Come fist-pump as a young Robert De Niro takes out a hotel full of New York scum. Kick-Ass and all of those other silly vigilante-esque flicks ain't got shit on this.
