Artsies
The First Monday in May (PG-13) 1 HR 30 MIN – 2.5 Stars
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRFCVG85X_s&w=560&h=315]
The First Monday in May follows the creation of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s most attended fashion exhibition in history, “China: Through The Looking Glass,” an exploration of Chinese-inspired Western fashions by Costume Institute curator Andrew Bolton. With unprecedented access, filmmaker Andrew Rossi captures the collusion of high fashion and celebrity at the Met Gala, one of the biggest global fashion events chaired every year by Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour. Featuring a cast of renowned artists in many fields (including filmmaker Wong Kar Wai and fashion designers Karl Lagerfeld, Jean Paul Gaultier and John Galliano) as well as a host of contemporary pop icons like Rihanna, the movie dives into the debate about whether fashion should be viewed as art.
Director: Andrew Rossi
Starring: Anna Wintour, Andrew Bolton, Kar-Wai Wong
Blue Velvet (R) 2 HR 1 MIN – 4 Stars
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWr4JvAWF20&w=420&h=315]
Director David Lynch crafted this hallucinogenic mystery-thriller that probes beneath the cheerful surface of suburban America to discover sadomasochistic violence, corruption, drug abuse, crime and perversion. Kyle Maclachlan stars as Jeffrey Beaumont, a square-jawed young man who returns to his picture-perfect small town when his father suffers a stroke. Walking through a field near his home, Jeff discovers a severed human ear, which he immediately brings to the police. Their disinterest sparks Jeff’s curiosity, and he is soon drawn into a dangerous drama that’s being played out by a lounge singer, Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini) and the ether-addicted Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper). The sociopathic Booth has kidnapped Dorothy’s young son and is using the child as a bargaining chip to repeatedly beat, humiliate and rape Dorothy. Though he’s drawn to the virginal, wholesome Sandy Williams (Laura Dern), Jeff is also aroused by Dorothy and in trying to aid her, he discovers his dark side. As the film nears its conclusion, our hero learns that many more indivduals are tacitly involved with Frank, including a suave, lip-synching singer, Ben (Dean Stockwell), who is minding the kidnapped boy. Director Lynch explored many similar themes of the “disease” lying just under the surface of the small town, all-American faade in his later television series Twin Peaks (1990-91).
Director: David Lynch
Starring: Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Isabella Rossellini, Laura Dern
Fartsies:
Keanu (R) 1 HR 40 MIN – Not Screened
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE0Sw7CvI0k&w=560&h=315]
Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele star in this comedy as two friends posing as drug dealers to get back a stolen cat. Peter Atencio directed.
Director: Peter Atencio
Starring: Jordan Peele, Keegan-Michael Key
Papa: Hemingway In Cuba (R) 1 HR 49 MIN – Not Screened
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC130UBgtfk&w=560&h=315]
The first Hollywood film to shoot on location in Cuba since the 1959 revolution, PAPA: Hemingway in Cuba is the true-life story of a young journalist who finds a father figure in legendary author Ernest Hemingway. Their relationship began in the late 1950’s when Ed Myers, then a junior reporter at The Miami Herald, wrote a fan letter to his idol. Myers thought he was being pranked when the larger than life Hemingway phoned the newsroom a week later, inviting him to Havana. “Good letter, kid,” the famous voice growled. “You like to fish?” Hidden away at his private estate with his wife Mary, the elusive author mentors Myers in fishing, drinking, and finding his voice while the Cuban Revolution boils up around them. In this turbulent landscape, observing an icon in his twilight years, Myers discovers his strength while recognizing that all of our heroes are human.
Director: Bob Yari
Starring: Giovanni Ribisi, Adrian Sparks, Joely Richardson
Mother’s Day (PG-13) 1 HR 58 MIN – 1 Star
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BPr217zLps&w=560&h=315]
“Mother’s Day” is the latest star studded ensemble comedy from director Garry Marshall (“Pretty Woman,” “Valentine’s Day”). Bringing together Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson and Julia Roberts along with Jason Sudeikis, it’s a celebration of mothers everywhere. This big-hearted comedy invites us all to enjoy the laughter, tears and love as three generations come together in the week leading up to Mother’s Day.
Director: Gary Marshall
Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson, Julia Roberts
Ratchet and Clank (PG) 1 HR 34 MIN – 1 Star
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1ZYdhBm-Kw&w=560&h=315]
Ratchet and Clank tells the story of two unlikely heroes as they struggle to stop a vile alien named Chairman Drek from destroying every planet in the Solana Galaxy. When the two stumble upon a dangerous weapon capable of destroying entire planets, they must join forces with a team of colorful heroes called The Galactic Rangers in order to save the galaxy. Along the way they’ll learn about heroism, friendship, and the importance of discovering one’s own identity.
Director: Kevin Munroe, Jericca Cleland
Starring: Paul Giamatti. John Goodman, Rosario Dawson
Green Room (R) 1 HR 34 MIN – 3.5 Stars
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DF-7rHKsu4&w=560&h=315]
GREEN ROOM is a brilliantly crafted and wickedly fun horror-thriller starring Patrick Stewart as a diabolical club owner who squares off against an unsuspecting but resilient young punk band. Down on their luck punk rockers The Ain’t Rights are finishing up a long and unsuccessful tour, and are about to call it quits when they get an unexpected booking at an isolated, run-down club deep in the backwoods of Oregon. What seems merely to be a third-rate gig escalates into something much more sinister when they witness an act of violence backstage that they weren’t meant to see. Now trapped backstage, they must face off against the club’s depraved owner, Darcy Banker (Stewart), a man who will do anything to protect the secrets of his nefarious enterprise. But while Darcy and his henchmen think the band will be easy to get rid of, The Ain’t Rights prove themselves much more cunning and capable than anyone expected, turning the tables on their unsuspecting captors and setting the stage for the ultimate life-or-death showdown. Intense, emotional, and ingeniously twisted, Green Room is genre filmmaking at its best and most original. Saulnier continues to build his reputation as one of the most exciting and distinctive directors working today, with a movie that’s completely different from his previous, highly acclaimed Blue Ruin, but which is just as risk-taking and even more full of twists. The entire cast deliver first-rate performances, but Patrick Stewart gives a transformative and brilliantly devious turn as Darcy-elegant yet lethal, droll yet terrifying, Stewart makes the film simply unforgettable.
Director: Jeremy Saulnier
Starring: Anton Yelchin, Imogene Poots, Patrick Stewart
