Chase Whale
A Look At God Help the Girl And The Rest Of This Weekend's Wide And Special Releases.
God Help the Girl.
Director: Stuart Murdoch.
Writer: Stuart Murdoch.
Cast: Emily Browning, Olly Alexander, Hannah Murray.
Opening At: Texas Theatre.
Belle & Sebastian's frontman Stuart Murdoch wrote and directed this musical about a girl (Emily Browning) struggling with some emotional issues. Her emotional state changes, however, when she meets James and Cassie, two like-minded musicians dealing with the same shit, different toilet. — Chase Whale
Wetlands.
Director: David Wnendt.
Writer: Claus Falkenberg, David Wnendt (screenplay); Sabine Pochhammer (co-writer); Charlotte Roche (novel).
Cast: Carla Juri.
Opening At: Angelika Film Center (Dallas).
I've said this before, and I'll say it again: Wetlands is fucked up. Filthy. At times, degrading, but goddamn it's a great film with more humanity than those PG-13 rom-coms you watch on Netflix. You don't need a cast-iron stomach to get through the rough parts — maybe squint a little. Here's our full review, it's worth a read. — CW
Atlas Shrugged: Who Is John Galt?.
Director: James Manera.
Writer: James Manera, Harmon Kaslow, John Aglialoro (screenplay); Ayn Rand (novel).
Cast: Kristoffer Polaha, Laura Regan, Rob Morrow.
Opening At: Wide Release.
I don't know who John Galt is, but since there's a movie wanting to know about him he must be pretty interesting. We kid. Anyway, this is the third film in the Atlas Shrugged franchise that's based on the Ayn Rand book. Have you seen the first two yet? — CW
Dolphin Tale 2.
Director: Charles Martin Smith.
Writer: Charles Martin Smith.
Cast: Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Nathan Gamble, Kris Kristofferson.
Opening At: Wide Release.
Like dolphins? Like the first Dolphin Tale movie? Then you will want to see this. Don't like dolphins? Didn't see or like Dolphin Tale? Then you will not want to see this. — CW
The Drop.
Director: Michaël R. Roskam.
Writer: Dennis Lehane.
Cast: James Gandolfini, Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace.
Opening At: Angelika Film Center (Dallas and Plano).
The Drop is Tom Hardy's Show, from beginning to end.This is the film that shows how vulnerable and quiet and humble and nimble he can be, all at the same time. This is the last film James Gandolfini shot before his sudden and tragic death, and that's one imperative reason why you can't miss this film. — CW
A Five Star Life.
Director: Maria Sole Tognazzi.
Writers: Ivan Cotroneo, Francesca Marciano, Maria Sole Tognazzi.
Cast: Stefano Accorsi, Henry Arnold, Eirik Bar.
Opening At: Angelika Film Center (Dallas).
A Five Star Life asks questions that were answered in Jason Reitman's terrific story on loneliness, Up in the Air. Irene (Margherita Buy) is in her forties and makes a fortune off staying at, then reviewing five-star hotels. She realizes she's too old to be alone and longs for real companionship again. — CW
Frontera.
Director: Michael Berry.
Writers: Michael Berry, Louis Moulinet.
Cast: Ed Harris, Eva Longoria, Michael Peña.
Opening At: Inwood Theatre.
Set on the border of Arizona and Mexico, Frontera's plot — the wife of a Texas Sheriff (Harris) is accidentally murdered, an illegal immigrant (Peña) is wrongfully accused of the crime and his wife (Longoria), in turn, is kidnapped by some coyotes who hold her for ransom — isn't all that original. Instead, superb performances from the film's actors are meant to carry the thing to varying degrees of success, sometimes overshadowing the immigration issue the film's so obviously intended to highlight. — Cory Graves
No Good Deed .
Director: Sam Miller.
Writer: Aimee Lagos.
Cast: Taraji P. Henson, Idris Elba, Leslie Bibb.
Opening At: Wide Release.
We were going to review this until the studio behind the film sent out a mass emailing letting journalists know that they were canceling all advance screenings because “There is a plot twist in the film that we do not want to reveal as it will affect the audiences' experience when they see the film in theaters.” This is also referred to as “this movie is fucking awful and we want everyone to be miserable watching it together.” — CW
The Pirates.
Director: Seok-hoon Lee.
Writer: Seong-il Cheon.
Cast: KIM Nam-gil, SON Ye-jin, YOO Hae-jin, LEE Kyeong-yeong, KIM Tae-woo, PARK Chul-min, OH Dal-su.
Opening At: Cinemark Legacy, AMC Grapevine Mills.
Dallas film distribution outfit Well Go USA is releasing The Pirates, a Moby Dick-esque story about a whale that's swallowed something so priceless, every pirate, thief, killer and thug set sail to capture and gut the monstrous mammal to take the gold they've been waiting their dirty who lives for. — CW
Ghost in the Shell.
Director: Mamoru Oshii.
Writer: Kazunori Itô (screenplay), Masamune Shirow (comic).
Cast: Atsuko Tanaka, Iemasa Kayumi, Akio Ôtsuka.
Opening At: Inwood Theatre.
The live action version of Ghost in the Shell has been in development hell for years now, and at one point Keanu Reeves was attached to start. Now that he's 50 (I know, right!?), it's probably best to put this idea to rest. Thankfully the animated version will always be here to wow us, even thought it's 19 years old. — CW
Doctor Zhivago.
Director: David Lean.
Writer: Boris Pasternak (novel), Robert Bolt (screenplay).
Cast: Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Geraldine Chaplin.
Opening At: The Magnolia.
Starring Omar Sharif and the ever delicious Julie Christie, Doctor Zhivago is based on the popular novel of the same name. It's not only one of the most popular British films, it's the eighth highest-grossing film of all time (when adjusted to inflation). Its director, the late David Lean, also had an OK career, making movies you my have heard of called Great Expectations (1946), Oliver Twist The Bridge on the River Kwai and the seven-time Academy Awarding-winner (including Best Director), Lawrence of Arabia. — CW
