Kip Mooney
On Tomorrowland and The Rest Of This Weekend's New Releases.
Tomorrowland.
Director: Brad Bird.
Writers: Damon Lindelof, Brad Bird, Jeff Jensen.
Cast: George Clooney, Hugh Laurie, Britt Robertson, Tim McGraw.
Playing At: Wide.
Brad Bird has directed some of the most entertaining movies of all time, in both animation (The Incredibles) and live-action (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol). Tomorrowland looks to be no exception, even if the script has been criticized for being a little thin. Still, summer is the perfect time for style over substance. And awe-inspiring special effects and star George Clooney have style to spare. Here, Clooney's a reclusive genius who teams with a young woman to reclaim the titular lost world.
Poltergeist.
Director: Gil Kenan.
Writer: David Lindsay-Abaire.
Cast: Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jared Harris, Jane Adams.
Playing At: Wide.
Look, we all know there's absolutely no reason to remake Poltergeist. The original, directed by Tobe Hooper — although some claim Steven Spielberg himself actually directed it — is a master-class in real horror. Plus, we basically already got a remake with Insidious and it's not like there's a lot of difference in haunted house movies. But with such talent involved, it's a shame this is just an exercise in futility. Gil Kenan already has some experience with spooky domiciles having directed the vastly underrated Monster House, but where that had originality, this has well-duplicated, easy scares. For my full review, head here.
Felix and Meira.
Director: Maxime Giroux.
Writers: Maxime Giroux, Alexandre Laferriere.
Cast: Martin Dubreuil, Hadas Yaron, Luzer Twersky, Anne-Elisabeth Bosse.
Playing At: Angelika Dallas.
Director Maxime Giroux takes a leisurely pace in telling this tale of a romance that quietly strikes up between a married woman and an artist. Married to an Orthodox Jew with an infant son, Meira is unsure about her strict faith and her marriage. Felix, meanwhile, represents all the freedom missing from her life. But with the life Meira's built, Meira must decide if the cost is worth it.
I'll See You in My Dreams.
Director: Brett Haley.
Writer: Marc Basch, Brett Haley.
Cast: Blythe Danner, Martin Starr, Sam Elliott, Malin Akerman.
Playing At: The Magnolia, Angelika Plano.
Once upon a time — let's call it the 1990s — nice comedies starring senior citizens weren't such a rare sight. The Cemetery Club, Grumpy Old Men, As Good As It Gets? They're all delightful movies, but they went out of vogue when everything had to be a based on a comic book or a movie from the '80s. Lucky us, then, that Brett Haley is here to give people who like nice movies about nice people (which should be all of us) something to enjoy. Blythe Danner is the widow who finds romance and rejuvenation with Sam Elliott.
Saint Laurent.
Director: Bertrand Bonello.
Writer: Thomas Bidegain, Bertrand Bonello.
Cast: Gaspard Ulliel, Jeremie Renier, Louie Garrel, Lea Seydoux.
Playing At: The Magnolia, Angelika Plano.
Yves Saint Laurent was exactly kind of the genius and wild man you'd expect one of the world's most famous fashion designers to be, and this French film follows his roller-coaster life. Not to be confused with last year's glossy Yves Saint Laurent, this is the more candy-colored, drugs-and-sex depiction.
Good Kill.
Director: Andrew Niccol.
Writer: Andrew Niccol.
Cast: Ethan Hawke, January Jones, Bruce Greenwood, Zoe Kravitz.
Playing At: LOOK Cinemas.
Andrew Niccol wrote two of my favorite films of the '90s in Gattaca and The Truman Show. Honestly, that's one of the best back-to-backs any screenwriter has ever had. But he’s had a rough go of it lately, with his adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's The Host representing a nadir not just for him personally, but for almost all of cinema. Yes, it's that bad. But it looks like he's back on track with this drama about a drone pilot (Hawke) who starts to feel a little bad about his job. Gee, I wonder why? Check out our own Angela Jones' full take on this modern warfare film right here.
Slow West.
Director: John Maclean.
Writer: John Maclean.
Cast: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Michael Fassbender, Caren Pistorius, Ben Mendelsohn.
Playing At: Texas Theatre.
Other than Mad Max: Fury Road, this is probably my favorite movie I've seen so far this year. Though it's reminiscent of True Grit, this quirky Western has its own rhythm and tone that sets it apart from just about everything else you'll see all year. Kodi Smit-McPhee is the young immigrant searching for his love (Caren Pistorius), whom he doesn't know has a sizable bounty on her head. Michael Fassbender is his mentor and protector but also a bounty hunter, too. The film is filled with gorgeous cinematography and beautiful symbolism. I promise you won't be disappointed you took this journey. Javier Fuentes, in his review for us, backs up my claims.
Dark Star: H.R. Giger's World.
Director: Belinda Sallin.
Cast: Leslie Barany, Sandra Beretta, H.R. Giger, Stanislav Grof.
Playing At: Texas Theatre.
A visionary in every sense of the word, H.R. Giger was an artist whose work was profoundly messed up. He designed the iconic alien from Alien, but created lots of other nightmare-inducing art until his death last May. This German documentary focuses on the end of his life, but also tours his home and his museum in Switzerland.
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.
Director: Bruce Timm.
Writer: Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Martin Pasko, Michael Reaves.
Cast: Kevin Conroy, Dana Delaney, Stacy Keach, Mark Hamill.
Playing At: Alamo Drafthouse.
Showing: Wednesday, May 27.
With Poltergeist coming out this weekend, now's the perfect time to talk about movies that scared the shit out of us as kids. Batman: The Animated Series was appointment viewing for me, so of course I was crazy excited for this movie when it came out. But, looking back, I honestly don't know how my parents let me watch it. I mean, this is a movie where someone falls into an open grave and gets crushed by a headstone. And where the Joker's victim dies with a permanent grin. Yeah, I had trouble sleeping afterward. But I still loved it. Not counting Christopher Nolan's trilogy, you could make a strong case that this is the strongest Batman film ever made.
