New Releases for the Week of September 20, 2019

AD ASTRA

(20^th Century Fox) Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Liv Tyler, Donald Sutherland, Loren Dean, LisaGay Hamilton. Directed by James Gray

An astronaut whose father disappeared on a mission thirty years before must travel to the edges of the solar system to confront the mystery of that disappearance and take on an event that threatens all life on our planet but may fundamentally change our understanding of our place in the scheme of things.

See the trailer, clips and a video featurette here
For more on the movie this is the website
Genre: Science Fiction
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG-13 (for some violence and bloody images, and for brief strong language)

Downton Abbey

(Focus) Hugh Bonneville, Matthew Goode, Maggie Smith, Tuppence Middleton. This Crawleys and their intrepid staff face a royal visit that will uncover scandal and intrigue in this motion picture continuation of the beloved PBS/BBC series.

See the trailer, clips and a video featurette here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Historical Drama
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG (for thematic elements, some suggestive material, and language)

Prassthanam

(Pack Your Bag) Sanjay Dutt, Manisha Koirala, Jackie Shroff, Chunky Pandey.. A Shakespearean tale of a politically connected family whose patriarch favors his stepson over his birth son which leads to a bitter rivalry between the two.

See the trailer here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Suspense
Now Playing: Touchstar Southchase
Rating: NR

Rambo: Last Blood

(Lionsgate) Sylvester Stallone, Paz Vega, Adrianna Barraza, Sergio Peris Mencheta. John Rambo must unearth his rusty combat skills and undertake one final mission in the last chapter of this action franchise.

See the trailer, interviews, clips and a video featurette here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Action
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: R (for strong graphic violence, grisly images, drug use and language)

Villains

(Gunpowder & Sky) Bill Skarsgǻrd, Maika Monroe, Jeffrey Donovan, Kyra Sedgewick. A pair of amateur criminals attempt to rob a suburban home, only to discover that the house holds a much darker secret that the homeowners would do anything to keep that way.

See the trailer and a video featurette here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Dramedy
Now Playing: Regal Pointe Orlando, Regal The Loop, Regal Waterford Lakes, Regal Winter Park Village
Rating: R (for language throughout, some violence, drug use and sexual content)

The Wedding Year

(Entertainment Studios) Sarah Hyland, Tyler James Williams, Jenna Dewan, Anna Camp.  Mara and Jake have just started dating, but they seem to be behind the curve when it comes to their friends who are getting married left and right. All these weddings begin to put a strain on the nascent relationship.

See the trailer and clips here
For more on the movie this is the website  
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Now Playing: Touchstar Southchase
Rating: R (for language, some sexual content and drug/alcohol use)

ALSO OPENING IN ORLANDO/DAYTONA:

Bandobast
El Equipito
Kaapaan
Love, Action, Drama
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
Promare
Running With the Devil
Trauma is a Time Machine
Valmiki

ALSO OPENING IN MIAMI/FT. LAUDERDALE/KEY WEST:

Bandobast
Bloodline
El Equipito
Kaapaan
Love, Action, Drama
Talk to Her
Under the Same Roof
Valmiki
The Zoya Factor

ALSO OPENING IN TAMPA/ST. PETERSBURG/SARASOTA:

Ambition
Love, Action, Drama
Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas
Promare
Running With the Devil’
Valmiki

ALSO OPENING IN JACKSONVILLE/ST. AUGUSTINE:

Bandobast
Kaapaan
Sword of Trust
Valmiki
The Zoya Factor

SCHEDULED FOR REVIEW:

Ad Astra
Downton Abbey
Miles Davis: The Birth of Cool
Rambo: Last Blood

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Tea With the Dames (Nothing Like a Dame)

What could be more English than old friends having tea on the lawn on an overcast day.

(2018) Documentary (Sundance Selects) Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Joan Plowright, Eileen Atkins. Directed by Roger Michell

 

Four mature English ladies get together for tea and gossip – four ladies who happen to be some of the most beloved and respected actresses in the history of the British theater. Two of them = Dench and Smith – are fairly well-known in the States due largely to their movie work which the ladies in question are almost dismissive of. Clearly, the theater is the first love for all these ladies, three of them who were born in 1934 whereas Plowright, the eldest of the quartet was born in 1930.

Apparently they gather annually at the country cottage of Plowright which she shared with her late husband Laurence Olivier. There, the four gather at the kitchen table and in the living room with tea and champagne to gossip and take a stroll down memory lane, augmented by a fair amount of archival footage and stills of the girls in their youth.

Michell, a veteran narrative feature director with such films as Notting Hill and Venus to his credit, is often heard directing questions at the ladies although he is not seen onscreen. That isn’t to say that we don’t have meta moments here; often the crew is seen setting up shots, while one taking still pictures off-camera clearly distracts Smith who chuckles “We would never actually sit like this, you know.” In fact, it is Smith who comes off as the most down-to-earth and delightfully droll as she discusses an occasion when she was acting onstage with Olivier and he actually delivered a real slap to her face. Not to be put off, she delivers the best line of the show “It’s the only time I saw stars at the National Theatre.”

While the movie doesn’t have many bon mots quite as clear as that one, it does have plenty of laugh out loud moments as the girls discuss their careers, their own foibles (Dench comes under much jovial fire as the others complain that they can’t get movie roles because Dench has nabbed them all) and quite a bit of gossip. Talking about her time in the Harry Potter films, Smith says that she and the late Alan Rickman had a great deal of difficulty coming up with original facial expressions for the innumerable reaction shots both of these decorated actors were forced to give at the antics of the children, which Smith is quick to point out “as was proper.”

Although the ladies rib the director for artificially setting up what is supposed to come off as an informal and natural conversation, in fact at the end of the day it feels exactly like that – as if we as viewers were sitting at the kitchen table with these extraordinary ladies and getting the benefit of their recollections, their humor and their honesty. As old friends are, the four are completely comfortable with one another.

Although all the actresses here are in their 80s, mortality isn’t discussed much other than Dench dismissing an inquiry from Miriam Margolyes about whether she had her funeral arrangements made with a curt but affectionate “I’m not going to die.” Plowright, who is retired now, has severe vision issues and is nearly blind but is still as regal as she ever was. In fact, the vitality of these ladies in their sunset years is impressive in itself; I hope that I’m as vital in my 80s as these marvelous ladies are now.

The thing about a movie like this is that it rises and falls on how the conversation goes. Not to worry on that account; clearly most viewers who see this will be wishing for more when the credits unspool. The thing is though, not everyone is going to be impressed with a film of this nature and that’s okay. It will appeal to cinemaphiles, theater lovers and particularly those of a certain age. It’s impossible not to like these ladies after spending a too-short hour and a half with them however. I’d be absolutely over the moon to share a cuppa with any of these magnificent women. To be in on a conversation between all four is something like manna from heaven.

REASONS TO GO: The conversation is fascinating throughout. This is very much like sitting around the kitchen with a bunch of old friends.
REASONS TO STAY: Sometimes the wealth of archival footage feels a bit busy.
FAMILY VALUES: There are some brief sexual references
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Despite the film title, none of the four actresses are ever seen in the film actually drinking their tea.
BEYOND THE THEATER: Amazon, Fios, Google Play, iTunes, Microsoft, Optimum, Vudu, YouTube
CRITICAL MASS: As of 10/7/18: Rotten Tomatoes: 100% positive reviews: Metacritic: 85/100.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: My Dinner with Andre
FINAL RATING: 7.5/10
NEXT: Mandy

New Releases for the Week of February 12, 2016

DEADPOOL

(20^th Century Fox) Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller, Gina Carano, Ed Skrein, Lesley Uggams, Greg LaSalle, Taylor Hickson. Directed by Tim Miller

This is not your daddy’s superhero movie – although it might just end up being your daddy. Wade Wilson is a mercenary with a particular set of skills…oh, not that tired old movie again. But Wade has a big problem – it’s cancer and it’s everywhere in his body. Things don’t look good for our good ol’ buddy Wade – until a mysterious man recruiting for a mysterious agency makes a proposal that Wade might not be able to turn down. One of the hotly anticipated movies of the year.

See the trailer, clips, interviews and promos here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard (3D, IMAX 3D)
Genre: Superhero
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: R (for strong violence and language throughout, sexual content and graphic nudity)

Fitoor

(UTV) Katrina Kaif, Tabu, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Aditi Rao Hydari. A Bollywood take on the Charles Dickens classic Great Expectations. A young street boy in Kashmir falls in love with an upper class girl but the girl’s mother conspires to keep the young lovebirds apart.

See the trailer here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Romance
Now Playing: AMC Loew’s Universal Cineplex, AMC West Oaks, Touchstar Southchase
Rating: PG-13 (for sexual content and some thematic issues)

How to Be Single

(New Line/MGM) Dakota Johnson, Rebel Wilson, Damon Wayans Jr., Leslie Mann. A group of young unmarrieds in the Big Apple cope with the vagaries of the dating scene in a digital world as well as the sometimes confusing rules of behavior between the sexes.

See the trailer, clips, interviews and B-roll video here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Comedy
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: R (for sexual content and strong language throughout)

The Lady in the Van

(TriStar) Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Jim Broadbent, Roger Allam. Playwright and television presenter Alan Bennett is annoyed to discover an elderly woman living in her van in his driveway. Grudgingly, he allows her to stay, a decision that will change both their lives.

See the trailer and clips here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard, 3D, IMAX 3D
Genre: True Life Drama
Now Playing: Regal Winter Park Village
Rating: PG-13 (for a brief unsettling image)

Tumbledown

(Starz Digital Media) Jason Sudeikis, Rebecca Hall, Dianna Agron, Blythe Danner. The widow of an iconic folksinger finds it hard to move on and retreats to the woods of Maine. When a brash New York writer approaches her with the proposal of writing his biography, she is at first cool to the idea but the more she allows him to write his story, the more she heals.

See the trailer here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Now Playing: AMC Loew’s Universal Cineplex
Rating: R (for a sex scene)

Where to Invade Next

(Drafthouse) Michael Moore, Tim Walker, Kirsta Kiuru. Professional gadfly and documentarian Moore turns his eye to the American dream and how it seems to be alive and well – and living in other places around the globe. He comes up with ways that dream is being pursued, and how the ideas that other countries have used can work here.

See the trailer here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Documentary
Now Playing: Enzian Theater
Rating: R (for language, some violent images, drug use and brief graphic nudity)

Zoolander 2

(Paramount) Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Penelope Cruz, Will Ferrell. Down on his heels and irrelevant, supermodel Derek Zoolander gets back in the game in more way than one when a mysterious Interpol agent discloses that the world’s most beautiful celebrities are turning up dead – with Zoolander’s famous “blue steel” look on their faces. Lucky bastards

See the trailer and a clip here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Comedy
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG-13 (for crude and sexual content, a scene of exaggerated violence, and brief strong language)

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

It’s a Bollywood world and we’re just living in it.

(2015) Dramedy (Fox Searchlight) Dev Patel, Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Ronald Pickup, Celia Imrie, Diana Hardcastle, Tina Desai, Richard Gere, Lillete Dubey, Tamsin Grieg, Fiona Mollison, David Strathairn, Shazad Latif, Avijit Dutt, Denzil Smith, Ashok Pathak, Poppy Miller, Neeraj Kadela, Vikram Singh, Rajesh Tailoring, Penelope Wilton, Claire Price, Christy Meyer. Directed by John Madden

In many ways, we’ve lost sight of the respect that is due to the elderly population. Sure, I can get aggravated with them when they chat loudly in movie theaters, or drive slowly on city streets. I don’t, however, agree with the current mindset of sticking them in sterile nursing homes where they wait to die. There should be some dignity in the process.

In Jaipur, the residents of the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel have settled into a routine of life. Muriel (Smith) has become co-manager of the establishment, while Evelyn (Dench) has become a fabric buyer for a company which now wants to hire her full-time even though she’s in her late 70s. This puts a crimp in the already awkward relationship with Douglas (Nighy) who is running sightseeing tours but because he is having memory issues is relying on a young local boy to read facts and figures over a radio that broadcasts to a receiver in his ear. He’d very much like to take his relationship with Evelyn further but the two are talking at cross-purposes and Evelyn, a widow, isn’t quite ready to resume romance. And of course, Douglas is still technically married even though his wife Jean (Wilton) has left him and returned to England.

The other residents are also dealing with their own issues. Madge (Imrie) is trying to decide between two wealthy suitors and yet is spending much time with her driver Babul (Tailang) and his niece, trying to make up her mind. Norman (Pickup) who is working at the Viceroy Club, believes he’s inadvertently hired a hitman to take out his girlfriend Carol (Hardcastle).

Sonny (Patel), the owner and co-manager of the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, has a lot on his plate. He is preparing for his upcoming wedding to his sweetheart Sunaina (Desai). He also realizes that his hotel is a victim of its own success; there are no rooms at the inn. The only thing he can do is expand and in order to do that, he needs money. A lot of it…and soon. He reaches out to an American hotel chain magnate (Strathairn) who tells Sonny that he’s intrigued by Sonny’s vision and will send an inspector to evaluate his existing property and whose recommendation would be crucial in making his decision.

He has his eye on a property nearby but into the picture steps Kushal (Latif), Sunaina’s ex-boyfriend and a wealthy and handsome young man who seems destined to be better at everything than Sonny.  Sonny becomes uncontrollably and unjustifiably jealous, feeling that Kushal is there to steal everything Sonny has away from him. In the meantime, a new resident named Guy (Gere) from the States is there to write a novel – although Sonny believes him to be the hotel inspector – and falls for Sonny’s mom (Dubey) as a matter of course.

The first Best Exotic Marigold Hotel took me a bit by surprise in that I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did. The sequel doesn’t get the advantage of surprise that the first one got, but it still nevertheless connected with me. While in some ways being easily digestible and unsurprising like a bowl of cream of wheat, it does carry with it a flavor of India so that that bowl of cream of wheat has tandoori spices to be sure.

Of course, when you have a cast like this one, it’s really hard to go wrong. Smith and Dench are two of the greatest actresses alive today and both know how to deliver an acerbic line with the best of them. Nighy is likewise delightful, stealing the movie in many ways with his somewhat droll yet hip demeanor.

The script by Ol Parker, who also wrote the first one, doesn’t give short shrift to the backing characters either. Imrie in particular has some truly poignant moments to work with and while Pickup’s Norman is a bit of a one-dimensional bumbling lothario unused to the whole monogamy thing, even he has some depth as you can tell by that sentence alone. There is also a Bollywood-like dance sequence, something that the first film didn’t provide, which is utterly charming.

While a bit pedestrian, the lovely scenery of Jaipur and Mumbai where the film primarily takes place help keep the movie from ever getting boring visually and the performance of the aforementioned cast keep it from getting boring in any other way. While not quite as good as the first, the second visit to Sonny’s home for the elderly and beautiful is an enjoyable feast that reinforces a previously unknown desire to visit the sub-continent one day. If this movie teaches you anything, is that nothing is impossible nor unattainable no matter how old you are.

REASONS TO GO: Dench, Smith and Nighy are wonderful. Delightful Bollywood elements. Nice visuals.
REASONS TO STAY: A little bit bland and predictable.
FAMILY VALUES: A bit of foul language and suggestive comments.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Evelyn claims that Muriel is 19 days older than she is, but in reality Judi Dench is 19 days older than Maggie Smith.
CRITICAL MASS: As of 3/17/15: Rotten Tomatoes: 63% positive reviews. Metacritic: 51/100.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Unfinished Song
FINAL RATING: 8/10
NEXT: The Life and Mind of Mark DeFriest

New Releases for the Week of March 6, 2015

CHAPPIE

(Columbia) Hugh Jackman, Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Sigourney Weaver, Yo-Landi Visser, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Ninja, Brandon Auret. Directed by Neill Blomkamp

In a future in which crime is fought by mechanized police forces, a robot is stolen and reprogrammed, given the ability to learn, grow and feel. Renamed Chappie, this is the first truly artificial intelligence with the potential to be a lifeform which makes a lot of people nervous. These people will stop at nothing to make sure that Chappie is eliminated and none like him ever emerge. Not. Ever.

See the trailer, clips, interviews and B-roll video here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard, IMAX (opens Thursday)
Genre: Science Fiction
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: R (for violence, language and brief nudity)

Hayride 2

(Freestyle) Sherri Eakin, Jeremy Sande, Jeremy Ivy, Corlandos Scott. When the serial killer Pitchfork escapes from custody, a manhunt ensues with the killer taking refuge in a hospital. There the bloodthirsty killer has all sorts of opportunities to work on his craft even further.

See the trailer here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Horror
Now Playing: Touchstar Southchase
Rating: R (for bloody horror violence throughout and language)

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

(Fox Searchlight) Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Richard Gere, Judi Dench. The success of the hotel has left only one room available, which poses a dilemma for new arrivals of the opposite sex. Expanding with a second hotel takes a lot more of the ambitious manager’s time, considering he is about to get married. Meanwhile the residents continue to adjust to their new lives in India not always as smoothly as they’d like.

See the trailer, clips and featurettes here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard (opens Thursday)
Genre: Dramedy
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: PG (for some language and suggestive comments)

Unfinished Business

(20th Century Fox) Vince Vaughn, James Marsden, Sienna Miller, Tom Wilkinson. After leaving a large corporate entity to start his own small business, a hard-working savvy entrepreneur travels to Europe with his other two employees to close the deal that will establish his business and take them from sure bankruptcy. However he must overcome nearly every obstacle imaginable – including competing against his old business to win the bid that will save his company.

See the trailer, clips, interviews and B-roll video here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard (opens Thursday)
Genre: Comedy
Now Playing: Wide Release
Rating: R (for some strong risqué sexual content/graphic nudity, and for language and drug use)

What We Do in the Shadows

(Unison/Paladin) Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Jackie van Beek, Jonny Brugh. A documentary film crew follows a group of four vampires sharing a flat together which isn’t always as easy as it sounds when you’re the egotistical undead. From the New Zealand lunatics who brought you Flight of the Conchords.

See the trailer and clips here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release Formats: Standard
Genre: Horror Comedy
Now Playing: Enzian Theater
Rating: NR

My Old Lady

That moment when you realize your drinking buddy is a boar.

(2014) Dramedy (Cohen Media Group) Kevin Kline, Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott Thomas, Dominique Pinon, Stephane De Groodt, Noemie Lvovsky, Sophie Touitou, Christian Rauth, Jean-Christophe Allais, Stephane Freiss, Nathalie Newman, Alexandra Chandler, Jocelyne Bernas, Delphine Lanson, Elie Wajeman, Michael Burstin. Directed by Israel Horovitz

Before seeing this film, I’d never heard of the French term “viager.” Chances are, you haven’t either. It is an actual thing, although I can’t imagine who thought this thing up. A viager is a French real estate transaction in which the seller remains on the property until they die and only then does the seller take possession. In the meantime, the buyer pays the seller a monthly fee. In some cases, the seller outlives the buyer.

Matthias Gold (Kline) is a penniless New Yorker in his 50s who has only three failed marriages and three unpublished novels to show for his life. That and a parade of empty bottles although he is on the wagon at present. He has inherited a gorgeous apartment in Paris (the La Marais district) with a lovely garden and enormous space from his estranged father. That and a gold watch. The apartment however has Matthias’ interest; it could be the key to his financial solvency. With every penny to his name, he purchases an airline ticket to Paris.  When he meets realtor Lefebvre (Pinon) he finds out he could make as much as $12 million on the open market.

Sadly for him, however 92-year-old Mathilde Girard (Smith) is comfortably ensconced in the apartment and has – yes, that’s right – a viager contract with Matthias’ father. Which means that he hasn’t inherited an apartment, he’s inherited a debt. One that he can’t afford to pay. Madame Girard offers to let Matthias stay in a spare room until he can figure out a way to sell the viager. Madame Girard’s daughter Chloe (Thomas) however is not so sanguine about having Matthias there, particularly as she will be thrown out on her ass the second her mother shuffles this mortal coil.

Matthias though has a French developer (Freiss) lined up to buy the apartment – in fact, he’s already bought up all the other units in the building. His plans are to put in a luxury hotel or condominiums on the location and make a killing. Either way, there goes the neighborhood.

However, Matthias and Chloe – who detest each other – turn out to be much more closely linked than Matthias could have imagined and an old family secret resurfaces. Matthias is devastated by revelations made by Madame Girard and as his money dwindles down to nothing and time begins to run out, he finds himself in a quandary in which the right choice may be impossible to make.

Horovitz is in his 70s and has written almost 75 different plays and screenplays; this one is based on a 2002 play of his. There is a bit of a theatrical feel to it – there are really only three essential characters and most of the action takes place in the apartment. Horovitz does take us out into the streets of Paris occasionally and it is clear he has a love for the city – for example, Matthias while walking alongside the Seine discovers a female opera singer practicing by the waters. That adds the kind of charm that makes the city come to life for us.

He also casts this perfectly. All three of the main actors are among the best there are; Kline can be charming even when he’s an utter bastard (remember A Fish Called Wanda?) and Matthias often is, yet thanks to Kline we end up identifying with him anyway. Smith is beguiling as the occasionally befuddled but iron at the core Mathilde while Thomas, who has essentially become a French actress, makes Chloe very much her mother’s child.

Pinon  may be best known to American audiences as Vriess in Alien: Resurrection but he has appeared in more than a hundred films and is better-known in France for his comedic acting but he is marvelous pretty much in everything he does. He’s one of those actors who enhances every movie he’s in.

There are some cliche moves here – the old saw of two people detesting each other so much that you know eventually they are going to fall in love – but for the most part this is compelling fare. There are some pretty rough moments here, particularly when Matthias tells Chloe about a horrible childhood incident, and the message is that the consequences of our actions can be far-reaching and devastating to those closest to us. It does take the plot awhile to unfold and some might not be patient enough for it. Still, I found this to be highly enjoyable and one of those lovely unexpected treasures that surface from time to time that come at you without warning. This is likely not playing anywhere near you for now but do catch it on home video when you can.

REASONS TO GO: A reminder of what a lovely place Paris is. Kline, Smith, Thomas and Pinon are always strong performers.
REASONS TO STAY: Might be a little slow. Utilizes the hoary “I-hate-you-no-I-love-you” cliche.
FAMILY VALUES:  The themes are very adult, and there are some frank sexual moments.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: This is the first film as a director for playwright and screenwriter Israel Horovitz.
CRITICAL MASS: As of 10/4/14: Rotten Tomatoes: 56% positive reviews. Metacritic: 54/100.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: A Good Year
FINAL RATING: 7/10
NEXT: Gone Girl

New Releases for the Week of September 19, 2014

THE MAZE RUNNER

(20th Century Fox) Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ami Ameen, Will Poulter, Patricia Clarkson, Ki Hong Lee. Directed by Wes Ball

A young boy awakens in a glade surrounded by an incredible and seemingly near-endless maze with no memory of who he is or how he got there. He finds himself in the same boat as a large number of other boys. Some very bad things lurk in the maze and despite the best efforts of those glade-dwellers to navigate the maze, no exit has yet been found but the boy’s arrival seems to trigger a change in things. For one thing, the appearance of a girl who seems to know who the boy is. But just as it seems the glade dwellers are on the verge of solving the maze, it becomes clear that there are those who don’t want the maze solved and will stop at nothing to keep the boys – and girl – right where they are.

See the trailer and a featurette here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Release formats: Standard (opens Thursday)

Genre: Young Adult Sci-Fi

Rating: PG-13 (for thematic elements and intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, including some disturbing images)

A Walk Among the Tombstones

(Universal) Liam Neeson, Dan Stevens, David Harbour, Adam David Thompson. An ex-cop with a tragic past now works as an outside-the-law private investigator who is engaged by a drug lord to find the man who kidnapped and murdered his wife after the ransom was paid. What the detective finds is a team of serial murders so ruthless and sadistic that they go beyond anything he’s ever encountered – and now that they are aware of his investigation, he may end up being next on their list.

See the trailer, clips, interviews and B-roll video here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Release formats: Standard (opens Thursday)

Genre: Thriller

Rating: R (for strong violence, disturbing images, language and brief nudity)

Aagadu

(Eros International) Mahesh Babu, Tamannah Bhatia, Sonu Sood, Rajendra Prasad. Typically, very little plot detail has been released in advance of the film. All we know is that it is a police actioner with two police officers on a dangerous case together becoming romantically involved. I think.

See the trailer here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Release formats: Standard

Genre: Bollywood

Rating: NR

Daawat-E-Ishq

(Yash Raj) Aditya Roy Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra, Anupam Kher, Sunny Deol. A shoe sales girl from Hyderabad disillusioned with love due to all the dowry-seeking men who don’t give a fig for her one way or the other discovers the alluring charm of a young Lucknawi chef who becomes besotted with her. With two very dissimilar cultures in their way, the two will have to come up with their own powerful recipe for love.

See the trailer here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Release formats: Standard

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Rating: NR

Life After Beth

(A24) Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, John C. Reilly, Anna Kendrick. A teen boy’s life is destroyed when his girlfriend dies unexpectedly. When she miraculously returns, he determines to do and share all the things he failed to do before the close call. When she begins acting a bit oddly, he thinks nothing of it but soon she develops some unhealthy appetites and he slowly reaches the realization that his girlfriend is a zombie.

See the trailer and clips here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Release formats: Standard

Genre: Zom-Com

Rating: R (for pervasive language, some horror violence, sexual content, nudity and brief drug use)

My Old Lady

(Cohen Media Group) Kevin Kline, Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott Thomas, Dominique Pinon. A down on his luck American seems to have his luck change when he inherits a Parisian apartment. When he arrives in France he discovers that there is an elderly woman already living there and due to the labyrinthine real estate laws, he is unable to sell the apartment for the money he so desperately needs. Worse yet, he is required to pay her a fee until she dies. With no more money left, he is forced to move in with her and her daughter and in doing so, a strange bond begins to develop between the three.

See the trailer here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Release formats: Standard

Genre: Dramedy

Rating: PG-13 (for thematic material and some sexual references)

This is Where I Leave You

(Warner Brothers) Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Jane Fonda, Adam Driver. Four siblings, estranged from their parents, are brought together following their father’s death. His last wish is for them to live under the same roof for a week and so they do, never dreaming that this week will help them to heal old wounds, establish better relationships and help them find their best possible selves.

See the trailer, clips, interviews and B-roll video here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Release formats: Standard (opens Thursday)

Genre: Ensemble Comedy

Rating: R (for language, sexual content and some drug use)

Tusk

(A24) Justin Long, Michael Parks, Haley Joel Osment, Genesis Rodriguez. An ambitious blog reporter has stumbled on the scoop of a lifetime. Reclusive adventurer Howe is willing to give him an interview but as the reporter finds Howe’s obsession with walruses disturbing, he has no idea just how obsessed Howe is – and what plans he has for the reporter.

See the trailer and a clip here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Release formats: Standard (opens Thursday)

Genre: Horror

Rating: R (for some disturbing violence/gore, language and sexual content)

Quartet (2012)

Professor McGonagall at the Hogwart’s 50th Class Reunion.

(2013) Dramedy (Weinstein) Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Billy Connolly, Pauline Collins, Michael Gambon, Sheridan Smith, Andrew Sachs, Dame Gwyneth Jones, Trevor Peacock, Michael Byrne, Ronnie Fox, Patricia Loveland, Eline Powell. Directed by Dustin Hoffman

Going from the spotlight to obscurity must be an incredibly hard situation to accept, particularly when it is age that has relegated you thus. Even the most beautiful and bucolic of environments may pale when compared to the limelight.

Beecham House in the English countryside is certainly a beautiful environment. Named for the noted British conductor Sir Thomas Beecham, it is now a retirement home for professional musicians – opera singers, popular vocalists, chamber musicians and the like. Like many such institutions, it faces economic difficulties and relies on benefit concerts staged by its residents, many of whom still have names that resonate on the English music scene.

The upcoming concert marking the birthday of Giusseppe Verdi is the occasion for a kind of organized panic overseen by Cedric Livingston (Gambon) – who pronounces his first name See-dric, not Seh-dric as he reminds Wilf Bond (Connolly) regularly to his great exasperation.

Otherwise, things are pretty much as normal at Beecham House where friends and colleagues Wilf, Reggie Paget (Courtenay) and Cissy Robson (Collins) live a quiet life of looking back. Wilf though is just as concerned with chasing skirt as his libido remains in full flower even if the bloom has withered a bit on the rose. Cissy is growing increasingly forgetful but it is just a part of the indignities of old age. The somewhat courtly Reggie gives lectures to opera to schoolchildren who are more interested in rap. Everything is more or less peaceful.

But things are turned upside down on themselves and into an uproar when the pretty but harried Dr. Lucy Cogan (S. Smith) introduces the newest resident – the diva Jean Horton (M. Smith), one of the most famous and beloved opera singers of her day. However, she had a tumultuous marriage to Reginald that ended with her infidelity. They haven’t spoken in decades.

But worse still Cedric wants a reunion between Jean, Reggie, Wilf and Cissy whose quartet of Rigoletto‘s “Bella figlia dell’amore” was one of opera’s greatest moments ever and has recently been re-released on compact disc – which in itself is a bit anachronistic. Jean however wants no part of it and Reggie while understanding that the revenue such a reunion would generate might well save their home is understandably unenthusiastic for such a grouping. However, he’s game and sets out to change the mind of the diva.

Cissy for some reason seems particularly motivated to see it happen and she befriends Jean who seems somewhat lost and soon the reason for Jean’s reluctance becomes clear – she’s terrified that her voice is gone, that in doing this performance her fans will always remember her for a last debacle instead of the great career she enjoyed. And as the time draws nigh for the performance, it appears certain that there may not be a home for her to live in for much longer.

This is Hoffman’s directorial debut (technically he directed Straight Time for a few days back in 1978 but withdrew after he found it too difficult to direct and act simultaneously – he doesn’t appear hear as an actor for that reason) and he chose his material wisely. As a director he’s smart enough to keep things fairly simple; there aren’t a lot of camera tricks here, the storytelling is simple and elegant. While he doesn’t show anything extraordinary neither does he make any mistakes.

This is based on a play by screenwriter Ronald Harwood, a Hollywood veteran whose résumé includes The Dresser, The Pianist and Being Julia. Like many of his works, Quartet shows Harwood’s fascination for performers and their venues. This shows performers in the twilight of their careers which you’d almost expect from Harwood who is himself a septuagenarian.

The material here holds some interest but it is the actors who really elevate the work. Connolly, one of Scotland’s great treasures, is at his very best here – a charming Lothario who has no problem expressing his sexuality, seemingly fascinated that he still has any. Wilf claims that a stroke left him without any sort of filter so he says what’s on his mind which the others seemingly forgive him for, although the wily Scot may well be just saying that so he doesn’t have to waste time and energy prevaricating.

But Courtenay will be the one I remember here. His quiet gentility has a timeless quality to it. When I think of English gentlemen, it is Reginald Paget that will come to mind. He’s polite and gentle, but also shows fits of outrage and wounded pride from time to time. More than the others he’s accepted who he is and his place in the universe. His mind is still active and seeks to learn more about the world around him but he isn’t especially eager to seek out the world in general. He wants a “dignified senility,” he tells Wilf and you can imagine nothing but for him. Courtenay is one of those actors who has appeared onscreen only periodically over the years but every time he does you find yourself wishing he would appear more often.

Maggie Smith, who received a Golden Globe nomination for her work here, delivers a haunting performance as a diva who is terrified of a future of anonymity and decay. “I used to be someone, you know” she says and it is perfectly clear how important that status was to her, to be someone. Her harsh exterior hides that insecurity that she’ll be forgotten in the end, a fate worse than death for someone like Jean. Smith, who last year performed in Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which some have (quite erroneously I think) compared this to, shows once again her extraordinary range as an actress. There are a lot of layers to the character and she nails them all, never hitting a single false note.

Veterans Gambon and Collins also deliver in their roles. Hoffman in a showing of finesse, fills much of the cast with actual retired British musicians and in a bit of a grace note during the end credits shows the mostly elderly cast with their stage credits along with pictures of them from their glory days. Hoffman shows some promise as a director if this acting thing doesn’t work out for him.

I found myself really liking this movie early on from the absolutely magnificent gardens and spaces in Beecham House and environs to the charm of the actors. While there were a few spots which seemed to be a bit on the too-sweet side, for the most part this is a really good movie that has to do with aging gracefully which I suppose anyone could do if they had a place like Beecham House to do it in – a place filled with music in all hours and in all corners. I could certainly retire happily to a place like that.

REASONS TO GO: Connolly is a gem. Courtenay, Smith and Collins are very much underrated who make the most out of every opportunity. Gambon is marvelous. Beautifully shot.

REASONS TO STAY: Can get treacly in places.

FAMILY VALUES:  There are a few bad words here and there and some mildly sexual suggestive dialogue.

TRIVIAL PURSUIT: This is the second movie of the same title that Maggie Smith has been in; the first Quartet came out in 1981 and is completely unrelated to this one.

CRITICAL MASS: As of 3/5/13: Rotten Tomatoes: 79% positive reviews. Metacritic: 64/100; solid reviews here.

COMPARISON SHOPPING: How About You?

FINAL RATING: 8.5/10

NEXT: Intermedio

New Releases for the Week of January 25, 2013

HANSEL AND GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS

(Paramount/MGM) Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Famke Janssen, Peter Stormare, Derek Mears, Thomas Mann, Rainer Bock, Thomas Scharff, Zoe Bell. Directed by Tommy Wirkola

Fifteen years after nearly being cooked alive at the hands of a naughty witch, brother and sister Hansel and Gretel have taken up the mantle of witch hunters, using ingenious weapons to battle the evil creatures. However, their success has made them a target and their past is about to catch up with them in a malevolent way. This is most certainly not your mom and dad’s fairy tale.

See the trailer and promos here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Release formats: Standard, 3D, IMAX 3D

Genre: Fantasy Horror

Rating: R (for strong fantasy violence and gore, brief sexuality/nudity and language)

Holy Motors

(Indomina) Denis Lavant, Edith Scob, Eva Green, Kylie Minogue. A man steps into a limousine and heads out into Paris for a series of appointments. The man changes with each appointment from a captain of industry to a gypsy crone, to an assassin to the melancholy father of a teenage daughter. The movie changes to from drama to action film to science fiction to melodrama. Experimental French cinema at its finest.

See the trailer here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Release formats: Standard

Genre: Drama

Rating: NR

Movie 43

(Universal) Halle Berry, Gerard Butler, Richard Gere, Emma Stone. An ambitious ensemble piece from some of the most deliciously twisted minds in comedy, including the Farrelly Brothers, Steven Brill and…Brett Ratner. Okay, the last was sarcastic but there really are some talented guys here. Just ask them. But don’t ask them what happened to Movies 1 through 42, okay?

See the trailer and a promo here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Release formats: Standard

Genre: Comedy

Rating: R (for strong pervasive crude and sexual content including dialogue, graphic nudity, language, some violence and drug use)

Parker

(FilmDistrict) Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez, Michael Chiklis, Nick Nolte. Parker is one of the best thieves in the world. He can afford to live by a code of ethics that he sticks to no matter what. He’s not the sort of fellow you want to cross. So when a group of fellow thieves do just that, Parker aims to get his own sort of justice. Even if he has to use Jennifer Lopez to help him get it.

See the trailer here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Release formats: Standard

Genre: Crime Action

Rating: R (for strong violence throughout)

Quartet

(Weinstein) Maggie Smith, Billy Connolly, Michael Gambon, Tom Courtenay. At a retirement home for opera singers, an annual concert commemorating Verdi’s birthday has been a major source for fundraising, which this year is particularly crucial because the home is in hot financial water. When a diva joins the home and refuses to sing in the concert even though her presence might mean the difference between the home surviving and all its residents being thrown out into the street, an uproar ensues. This is Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut, by the way.

See the trailer and a featurette here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Release formats: Standard

Genre: Comedy

Rating: PG-13 (for brief strong language and suggestive humor)

Race 2

(UTV) Saif Ali Khan, Anil Kapoor, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone. After his partner and lover dies in a car bomb explosion, Ranveer vows to bring her killer to justice. To do that he’ll have to navigate through the criminal underworld of India and through the corrupt corridors of power where betrayal is always an option.

See the trailer here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Release formats: Standard

Genre: Bollywood

Rating: NR

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Dev Patel toasts his participation in an early favorite for the best movie of 2012.

(2011) Comedy (Fox Searchlight) Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Maggie Smith, Penelope Wilton, Celia Imrie, Ronald Pickup, Dev Patel, Tena Desae, Lillette Dubey, Sid Makkar, Seema Azmi, Diana Hardcastle, Lucy Robinson, Paul Bhattacharjee. Directed by John Madden

 

Everybody ages. Not everybody gets to grow old and it’s for damn sure that not everybody grows as they age period.

A group of seven British retirees find themselves on a bus for the airport taking them to India. They’re not on a holiday or a tour – they are moving to the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, a budget-priced retirement facility which claims in their advertisements that they have all the amenities needed so that they might spend their golden years in comfort and luxury.

Their interest is that the Hotel is inexpensive enough that they can all afford to live, as they all (with a couple of exceptions) have some sort of financial difficulty. Evelyn Greenslade (Dench) discovered when her husband passed away that he was deeply in debt and she was forced to sell her home in order to pay them off. Douglas (Nighy) and Jean (Wilton) Ainslie lost their life savings when their daughter’s internet company which they had invested in failed. Muriel Donnelly (Smith), a retired domestic, is going to India for a hip replacement surgery which is the only place where she can afford one. Madge Hardcastle (Imrie) is out to find herself a rich husband who can support her needs. Norman Cousins (Pickup), a ladies’ man, wants one last one-night-stand to tide him over. Finally Graham Dashwood (Wilkinson) who is a retired high court judge, grew up in India and seeks to find a lost love.

The hotel that they arrive at is far from what the advertisements claimed; it is ramshackle, without working phones and is old, decrepit and in need of much repair. Sonny (Patel), the manager, is highly enthusiastic and likable but lacks business know-how. He is desperately trying to get a local businessman to invest in the hotel in order to get it solvent; his mother (Dubey) wants him to come back to Delhi so that she can arrange a proper marriage for him. Sonny however only has eyes for Sunaina (Desae), a call center employee.

The new residents all react in different ways to their environments. Evelyn takes a job at the call center as a consultant to help the employees, including Sunaina whom she forms a friendship with, how to speak to elderly British sorts. She needs the work in order to afford to live at the hotel.

Graham disappears most of the day, rarely talking about where he’s been and what he’s done. He recommends places for the others to explore, which Douglas takes him up on. Jean prefers to stay in her room and read, complaining about everything and everyone. Muriel, whose racially insensitive views made some uncomfortable, begins to come around after her successful surgery and befriends a maid of the Untouchable class. When she gives her some advice on how to better sweep the pavement, the maid is very grateful, despite Muriel’s discomfort.

In fact, all of the residents are being profoundly touched by their surroundings and by each other. Some will find exactly what they’re looking for; others will be disappointed and others will be surprised. All will be confronted by their own mortality and their own shortcomings – and all will be changed by their experiences, and by India.

Madden, best known for directing Shakespeare in Love, assembled a tremendous cast and wisely lets each of them get their moment to shine. The movie is not so much about aging but about living – about never being too old to change and grow. It’s kind of a cross between Bollywood (without the songs and dance), Ealing Studios comedies, and On Golden Pond. While the movie certainly is aimed at an older audience, there is plenty in it for non-seniors to enjoy. It doesn’t hurt that the script (by Ol Parker) is well-written and full of some wonderful lines not to mention a great deal of wisdom.

Each character gets at least a few scenes to shine in; most remarkable are Dench, Wilkinson, Nighy, Smith and Wilton. Imrie and Pickup also fare well in their moments. Dench does a voiceover (which is the vocalization of the blog she’s writing) that is actually non-intrusive and well-written rather than a lot of Hollywood voice-overs which tend to be the writers showing off how well they can turn a phrase. Wilkinson and Nighy are two of the most consistent actors in Hollywood; Nighy often gets parts that are kind of far-out, but here his character is a decent man, worn down from years of living with a shrew. Wilkinson’s characters tend to run the gamut from amoral executives to care-worn fathers but here he is a lonely man, haunted by his past and the repercussions of his decision not to protest an obvious injustice. The inner decency of Graham shows through at every moment; he’s a judge that I would want hearing my case, a man who wins the respect of pretty much all of his compatriots.

This is a movie that you can fall in love with. It allows Indian culture to shine through without over-romanticizing it; you get the sense of the drawbacks of Indian culture as well (the congestion, the poor infrastructure and yes, the smell). However it counterbalances that nicely with the overall accepting nature of the Indian people, the beauty of the temples, palaces and countryside and yes, the people themselves – Patel and Desae make a magnificent couple.

I went in expecting to like this movie but not to love it but I wound up appreciating every moment of it. None of this rings false and to my way of thinking, you get to view the world through the eyes of people who have largely been discarded and marginalized by the world at large. Some of them do indulge in a heaping helping of self-pity but for the most part they find their niche in the world and inhabit it, much like anybody of any age. I know younger people might find the subject matter of seniors trying to fit into the world uninteresting to them but for those who don’t reject the subjects of India and the elderly out of hand, this is a movie you’ll find tremendously rewarding.

REASONS TO GO: Amazing performances. An unsentimental but affectionate look at India. Great one-liners.

REASONS TO STAY: Younger people might find the pace boring and the subject uninteresting.

FAMILY VALUES: There are a few bad words scattered here and there, and some of the content is a bit sexual in nature.

TRIVIAL PURSUIT: The novel that Jean is reading is Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach, who also wrote These Foolish Things on which this movie is based.

CRITICAL MASS: As of 5/15/12: Rotten Tomatoes: 75% positive reviews. Metacritic: 62/100. The reviews are pretty much positive.

COMPARISON SHOPPING: Young @ Heart

INDIA LOVERS: The area around Jaipur is shown with equal parts crumbling, decaying poverty and ancient beauty. The countryside is equally inviting and for those who haven’t considered visiting India, this acts as a pretty compelling reason to go.

FINAL RATING: 10/10

NEXT: Wild Grass