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March 5-11, 2009
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Che
Steven Soderbergh’s two-part Che is a methodical if coolly romantic portrait of the most familiar 1960s T-shirt icon outside the peace symbol. Though not without its faults, this is Soderbergh’s most interesting film in years, defiantly eccentric and absorbing at its best. Both parts focus obsessively on guerrilla strategy and grassroots process. You don’t learn much about Ernesto “Che” Guevara, played by Benicio Del Toro, except how he may have interacted with his fellow rebels while struggling toward revolution. No MPAA rating (intense sequences of violence and action, and some sexual content). At Mayan. — Michael Phillips
The Class
This fantastic film takes place in a working-class, multi-ethnic Parisian middle school, where an unruly world of conflict, frustration and joy comes to life. Francois Begaudeau plays a version of himself; he taught in a Paris middle school and wrote a book about it, and The Class distills that book into a year in the life of a teacher and his combative, highly stimulating students. A documentary approach is the key to the film’s success, with real students playing characters, some based on themselves, some not. In French, with English subtitles. Rated PG-13 (language). At Esquire. — Michael Phillips
Confessions of a Shopaholic
This thin, largely unfunny comedy marries lazy filmmaking with bad timing — a recession probably isn’t the right time for a movie about a woman whose passion is shopping for high-end clothes. Star Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers) is charming enough, but this material is so predictable and leaden that she has no prayer of keeping it afloat. Rated PG (some mild language and thematic elements). At Century, Flatiron, Colony Square and Twin Peaks. — Jessica Reaves
 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
This is a tall tale of a man aging in reverse while bobbing serenely on life’s unpredictable seas. The colorful supporting characters spill their guts to the wonder of nature played by Brad Pitt, as he begins his life a very old man, ages into late-middle age, ripens into... well, Brad Pitt, then embarks on the big fade into childhood, infancy and check-out time. It’s worth seeing because the sights are truly something. As with his earlier Zodiac, director David Fincher applies the right technology in the right way. Rated PG-13 (brief war violence, sexual content, language and smoking). At Flatiron. — Michael Phillips
Coraline
An intelligent preteen (Dakota Fanning) discovers a tiny door in the wall of her immense home that leads to a parallel universe offering a brighter, more inviting version of the same house, and her same parents. Coraline may not be for all tastes, and it’s certainly not for all kids, given its macabre premise. But Henry Selick’s film advances the stop-motion animation genre through that most heartening of attributes: quality. It pulls audiences into a meticulously detailed universe, familiar in many respects, menacing in others. Rated PG (thematic elements, scary images, some language and suggestive humor). At Century, Colony Square, Flatiron and Twin Peaks. — Michael Phillips
Defiance
Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber portray two of the four Bielski brothers, Jewish farmers and smugglers who led more than 1,000 Jews to safety in a Belarusian forest during the Holocaust. It’s gripping true-life material, although director Edward Zwick and his writers tart things up with some dubious Hollywood-style mythmaking. Rated R (violence and language). At Flatiron. — Michael Phillips
Fired Up
Two teen hotshots (Nicholas D’Agosto, Eric Christian Olsen) duck football camp in order to join an overwhelmingly female cheerleading squad. Fired Up is Wedding Crashers with high school seniors and bras and panties, as opposed to Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson and copious toplessness. Now and then, though, somebody says something funny, and there are some effective micro-moments, but little here works for a full moment. Rated PG-13 (crude and sexual content throughout, partial nudity, language and teen partying). At Flatiron. — Michael Phillips
Gran Torino
Clint Eastwood plays a reclusive Korean War veteran toughing it out in a sketchy Detroit-area neighborhood. After the vet’s young neighbor (Bee Vang) breaks into his garage to steal the car for which this film is named, our hero sets out to teach the boy how to stand up to his venal gangsta cousins. Some of this is affecting and painful in the right way; a lot of it is just cheap. Rated R (language throughout and some violence). At Flatiron, Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks. — Michael Phillips
He’s Just Not That Into You
The film adaptation of Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo’s 2004 relationship-advice book is a sprawling, many-threaded series of stories, most of which contradict the book’s advice about moving on when facing a lack of commitment. Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connelly, Scarlett Johansson, Drew Barrymore and Ben Affleck head the cast of this romantic comedy, which has some fun with its bubble-gum tone until a rash of ridiculous happy endings takes all the bite out of the premise. Rated PG-13 (sexual content and brief strong language). At Century, Flatiron and Colony Square. — Tasha Robinson
High and Low (1963)
An executive mortgages all he owns to stage a coup and gain control of the National Shoe Company with the intent of keeping the company out of the hands of incompetent and greedy executives. He needs the same money to pay the ransom for what he thinks is his kidnapped son. His resolution of that dilemma in this film — the certain loss of the company versus the probable loss of a child — makes it a suspense drama combined with an elaborate police procedural. Kurasawa, though best known for his costume period epics, turned to contemporary life as the background of his philosophic pursuits after forming his own production company. Based on the novel King’s Ransom by Evan Hunter. In Japanese with subtitles. Not rated. At Boulder Public Library. — BPL Film Program
In the Mirror of Maya Deren (2002)
This documentary is a fascinating portrait of a groundbreaking and influential artist and a pitch-perfect introduction to her strikingly beautiful and poetic body of work. Crowned “Fellini and Bergman wrapped in one gloriously possessed body” by the L.A. Weekly, Maya Deren is arguably the most important and innovative avant-garde filmmaker in the history of American cinema. Using locations from the Hollywood Hills to Haiti, Deren made such mesmerizing films as At Land, Ritual in Transfigured Time and her masterpiece Meshes of the Afternoon. Interviews included are with Stan Brakhage, Alexander Hammid, Jonas Mekas and others. At Boulder Public Library. — BPL Film Program
The International
Director Tom Tykwer’s thriller is all over the place, both geographically and in terms of audience satisfaction. Clive Owen plays an Interpol agent working with his ally in the New York DA’s office (Naomi Watts) to bust a nefarious bank. Some of the set pieces are terrific, particularly the opening scene in Berlin and a shootout at the Guggenheim Museum, but getting in and out of such sequences is not the film’s strong suit. Tykwer (Run Lola Run) has a way with complex cinematic mayhem, but International is tripped up by klutzy, formulaic dialogue. Rated R (some sequences of violence and language). At Century, Flatiron and Colony Square. — Michael Phillips
Jonas Brothers 3-D Concert
See full screen review on page 45. At Century.
Man on Wire
A documentary that follows Philippe Petit’s 1974 high-wire routine performed between the World Trade Center’s twin towers in New York City. The act was hailed as the “artistic crime of the century.” Rated PG-13. At Starz.
Milk
The story of Harvey Milk is a tragedy, but not since Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High has Sean Penn played such a serenely happy individual. Penn is superb as the martyred San Francisco city supervisor, America’s first widely acknowledged openly gay elected official. He was killed by Milk’s former colleague, Dan White (Josh Brolin, also excellent), minutes after White’s fatal shooting of Mayor George Moscone in 1978. Rated R (language, some sexual content and brief violence). At Mayan. — Michael Phillips
Moscow, Belgium
Moscow, or “Moscou” in Flemish, is a densely populated working class neighborhood on the outskirts of Ghent, Belgium. That’s where Matty (Barbara Sarafian), an ordinary housewife with nothing but three kids to her name, works at the post office. Her art teacher husband Werner (Johan Heldenbergh) has run off to the bedroom of one of his students. At 43, life seems pretty hopeless. Then she gets in a fender-bender at the grocery store with 29-year-old truck driver Johnny (Jurgen Delnaet). After some harsh words, Johnny finds himself attracted to Matty, who finds that she likes being wanted. A romance ensues just as her wandering husband comes home. Now the center of attention, Matty must choose whether to settle back into the life she was leading or step into the unknown. A heartfelt dramatic comedy about a woman whose soul is full of dents and bruises, from award-winning director Christophe Van Rompaey. Not rated. At Starz. — Denver Film Society
Paprika
This jazzy Japanese sci-fi anime about a world where you can invade other peoples’ dreams, and where dreams invade reality springs from the fervid imaginations of two Japanese masters, filmmaker Satoshi Kon and original novelist Yasutaka Tsutsui, it’s about the adventures of Paprika (Megumi Hayashibara), a sexy teenage “dream detective,” who enters realms that suggest “Little Nemo” filtered through Philip K. Dick. In Japanese, with English subtitles. Rated R (violent and sexual images). At International Film Series. — Michael Wilmington.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Kevin James plays a mall security guard trying to stop a Black Friday robbery scheme. Underneath all the cartoonish mall mayhem and silly slapstick lies a comedy that aspires to be the sort of gentle crowd-pleaser John Hughes used to make, had the filmmakers been more willing to sacrifice some of James’ rolling-and-tumbling time. Rated PG (some violence, mild crude and suggestive humor and language). At Century, Flatiron and Twin Peaks. — Glenn Whipp
Pink Panther 2
This disposable Pink Panther sequel follows the 2006 remake and once again features Steve Martin as the bumbling Inspector Clouseau. The cast (which also includes Emily Mortimer, Andy Garcia, John Cleese and Lily Tomlin) sprints way out ahead of the material. Most of it would work twice as well if the filmmakers had eased up and allowed the performers to interact — to do their thing in medium shot, without a lot of pushy close-ups and overemphasis, so that their bodies might inform what their faces are up to. Rated PG (some suggestive humor, brief mild language and action). At Century and Flatiron. — Michael Phillips
The Pool
This lyrical and deceptively simple story follows a poor young man in Goa, India, who becomes intrigued with a swimming pool in an opulent suburb and pins his hopes for his future on the opportunities it represents. Not rated. At International Film Series. — IFS
Rachel Getting Married
Jonathan Demme’s most bracing narrative feature since The Silence of the Lambs combines a wedding with a tense family reunion, starring Anne Hathaway as a recovering addict returning home for her sister’s nuptials. A triumph of ambience, this is the first Demme film since the 1980s that feels like a party — bittersweet, but a party nonetheless. Rated R (language and brief sexuality). At Starz. — Michael Phillips
The Reader
Kate Winslet stars in the film version of Bernhard Schlink’s 1995 novel about a 15-year-old West German boy who, in 1958, embarks on an affair with a 36-year-old trolley conductor with more on her mind, and in her past, than she admits. The novel was hugely popular as well as controversial worldwide and an Oprah’s Book Club selection besides. However, it needed a different set of interpreters to make any emotional sense of it on screen. Even in the scenes dominated by Winslet, you never quite believe the way anything unfolds. Rated R (some scenes of sexuality and nudity). At Chez Artiste and Colony Square. — Michael Phillips
Revolutionary Road
However sterling the craftsmanship, the film adaptation of Richard Yates’ 1961 novel — an excoriating portrait of a mid-1950s marriage built on sticks, straw and delusion — inflates the meaning and buffs the atmospheric surfaces of the story, rather than digging into its guts. But when stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet unleash their character’s demons, Revolutionary Road loses its tight, controlled sense of composition and air of solemnity and, in human terms, matters. Rated R (language and for some sexual content/nudity). At Starz and Century. — Michael Phillips
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man
This first-ever documentary film about Scott Walker’s career and music traces his evolution from jobbing bass player on L.A.’s Sunset Strip to his meteoric rise to fame during London’s Swinging ‘60s as lead singer of The Walker Brothers and as a brooding, crooning solo artist, through to his current status as one of the most astonishing and important sound-makers of the last 30 years. Colleagues and collaborators from the ‘60s to the present weigh in on the evolution of Scott’s song writing and often unorthodox working methods and an impressive roster of fans (including David Bowie, Sting, Brian Eno, Radiohead, Jarvis Cocker, Marc Almond) line up to speak about the enormous impact he has had on their lives and music. Four years in the making, director Stephen Kijak’s film is a visually stunning and in-depth look at a man who turned his back on fame to follow a very singular and uncompromising artistic path. Not rated. At Starz. — Denver Film Society
Slumdog Millionaire
Slumdog Millionaire, winner of this year’s Academy Award for best picture and seven other Oscars, is a ruthlessly effective paean to destiny, leaving nothing to chance. Every arrow plucked from director Danny Boyle’s quiver takes aim at the same objective: to leave you exhausted but wowed. An 18-year-old (Dev Patel) in the former Bombay, India, is suspected of cheating his way to national fame on the Hindi version of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? Rated R (some violence, disturbing images and some language). At Century, Flatiron, Esquire, Colony Square and Chez Artiste. — Michael Phillips
Taken
Liam Neeson plays a former CIA spook whose clandestine career bled into his home and led to a divorce. After sex traffickers kidnap his daughter in Europe, our hero has 96 hours to save her, and he wastes no time karate-chopping his way through every mime and baguette peddler in France. The movie overheats quickly, but Neeson and the filmmakers manage to make the Charles Bronson-style simplicity work. Rated PG-13 (intense sequences of violence, disturbing thematic material, sexual content, some drug references and language). At Century, Flatiron, Colony Square and Twin Peaks. — Christopher Borrelli
Timecrimes
The hero of Time Crimes (Los Cronocrímenes) is Hector, early in the story chased by a scissors-wielding maniac. Hector escapes by submerging himself in a tank in the lab of a nearby scientist. When he emerges, he is astonished to find he has gone ninety minutes back in time, and the scientist instructs him to avoid interfering with his earlier self. From that point on, seeking out the seeds of the action to come is suspenseful enough, but it is character and plot that truly drive this low-budget Spanish sci-fi thriller toward its conclusion. The question remains whether that conclusion is inevitable or can still be altered. Rated R. At International Film Series. — IFS
Times and Winds
Reha Erdem’s narrative film addresses the pains that afflict everyone who must pass from one phase of life into another, whether young or old. Not rated. At International Film Series. — IFS
Two Lovers
See full screen review on page 45.
Waltz with Bashir
An extraordinary achievement and a true visual feast, Ari Folman’s animated Waltz With Bashir is a detective story as well as an moral inquiry into the specific horrors of one war (the 1982 Lebanon War), and one man’s buried memories of it. It’s personal filmmaking of the highest order, recognized with an Academy Award nomination for best foreign film. Rated R (some disturbing images of atrocities, strong violence, brief nudity and a scene of graphic sexual content). Rated R. At Colony Square. — Michael Phillips
The Wrestler
This film spends 105 minutes grappling at the edge of camp, cheap laughs and cliches. Yet the way it’s handled by director Darren Aronofsky and especially by Mickey Rourke — who really should have gotten an Oscar for his portrayal of Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a steroid-addled sweetie in tights — it stays honest and keeps on fighting. An aging, down-on-his luck pro grappler, The Ram has heart problems, but The Wrestler does not. It’s sincere, violent, sentimental, predictable and extremely effective. Rated R (violence, sexuality/nudity, language and some drug use). At Century and Mayan. — Michael Phillips
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