Reel to reel | Week of October 11

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Here Comes the Boom: A biology teacher turns into an unlikely hero.

3,2,1…FRANKIE GO BOOM

3,2,1…Frankie Go Boom is a comedy about a boy, a girl, their sex tape, the transgender hacker who can take it offline, the psychotic movie star father of the girl, and his pet pig. At Denver FilmCenter/Colfax. –– Denver Film Society

17 GIRLS

Inspired by a true story that took place in Massachusetts, a young girl accidentally becomes pregnant and encourages her friends and classmates to follow suit. It’s only a matter of time before 17 girls in the high school are pregnant and the town is thrown into a world of chaos. At Denver FilmCenter/Colfax. –– Denver Film Society

ARGO

Ben Affleck’s latest directing project (in which he also stars) is based on true events from the Iranian revolution in 1979. Militants storm the U.S. embassy and take 52 Americans hostage; six Americans escape to the home of a Canadian ambassador. A CIA agent comes forward to get them out of the country before they’re found. Rated R. At Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks.

ATLAS SHRUGGED: PART 2

In the continuation of the film adaptation of the Ayn Rand book, the global economy is on the brink of collapse and brilliant creators are disappearing mysteriously. A woman discovers a motor that appears to be capable of powering the world, but it’s dead, resulting in a race against the clock. Rated PG-13. At Century.

BALSEROS (DOCUMENTARY)

This even-handed yet heartbreaking film depicts the plight of Cuban refugees who risked their lives in homemade rafts to reach the United States. The film follows a group of “rafters” on their perilous 90-mile journey to an unknown fate. At Boedecker. –– Boedecker Theater

BEAUTY IS EMBARRASSING

Raised in the mountains of Tennessee, Wayne White started his career as a cartoonist in New York City. He quickly found success as one of the creators of TV’s Pee-wee’s Playhouse, which led to more work designing some of the most arresting and iconic images in pop culture. The film chronicles the vaulted highs and the crushing lows of a commercial artist struggling to find peace and balance between his work and his art. At Boedecker. –– Boedecker Theater

BUTTER

See full review. At Denver FilmCenter/Colfax. –– Denver Film Society

DECODING DEEPAK

Filmmaker and journalist Gotham Chopra spends a year following his father and spiritual icon Deepak Chopra, separating the man from the myth with a raw honesty only a son can have. At Denver Film Center/Colfax. –– Denver Film Society

END OF WATCH

Two young police officers patrol the dangerous streets of south central Los Angeles and capture the action through handheld HD cameras. Rated R. At Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks.

EVIL DEAD 2: DEAD BY DAWN

The sole survivor of Evil Dead’s fateful camping trip returns to the remote cabin in the woods to once again battle with sadistic warriors of the spirit world. At Esquire. –– Landmark Theatres

FILMS BY JAY ROSENBLATT

Jay Rosenblatt of San Francisco is an internationally recognized artist who has been working as an independent filmmaker since 1980. He explores the emotional and psychological core of human experience in films, both personal in their content and universal in their appeal. At Denver FilmCenter/Colfax. –– Denver Film Society

FINDING NEMO 3D

A re-release in 3D of the 2003 film about a clown fish on a mission to save his son from a life of captivity. Rated G. At Colony Square, Century and Twin Peaks.

FRANKENWEENIE 3D

Tim Burton applies his brilliant and grim creative palette to the story of a young boy who brings his dog back to life. Rated PG. At Colony Square, Century and Twin Peaks.

GRAVE ENCOUNTERS 2

Grave Encounters was a found-footage horror phenomenon that many people believed was just a movie. Film student Alex Wright is out to prove them wrong in Grave Encounters 2. At Denver Film Center/Colfax. –– Denver Film Society

HERE COMES THE BOOM

A high school biology teacher turns to mixed martial arts to save his failing school’s soon-to-be-closed music program. Rated PG. At Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks.

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 3D

Dracula invites some of the world’s most famous monsters to celebrate his daughter’s 118th birthday at Hotel Transylvania, a lavish resort where humans will not be able to bother them. Rated PG. At Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks.

HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET

A divorced woman and her daughter move into a house in a small, upscale, rural town. Soon, they learn of the town’s chilling secret. Rated PG-13. At Twin Peaks.

HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE

This is the untold story of the efforts that turned AIDS into a mostly manageable condition — and the improbable group of young men and women who, with no scientific training, infiltrated government agencies and the pharmaceutical industry, and helped identify promising new compounds, moving them through trials and into drugstores in record time. At Denver Film Center/Colfax –– Denver Film Society

J’ADORE CINE CLUB: LOUISE-MICHEL

Louise and Michel are assassins on a mission to track down and kill the factory owner who’s left a disgruntled mob of sweatshop employees high and dry. But in classic everything-will-go-wrong fashion, the pair end up carrying out the plan with their own aplomb. At Denver Film Center/ Colfax –– Denver Film Society

LIBERAL ARTS

Uninspired and 35, Jesse Fisher meets a beautiful young girl when he is given the chance to speak at his favorite college professor’s retirement dinner. At Denver Film Center/Colfax. –– Denver Film Society

LOOPER

This time-travel tale features Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a young Bruce Willis. In the future, the mob sends victims back in time to be killed by special assassins, called loopers. But when “old Joe” (Willis) is sent back to be killed by “young Joe” (Gordon-Levitt), all hell breaks loose. Chock full of drugs you put in your eyes and telekinetic kids, this mostly clever sci-fi tale is another solid base hit for writer/ director Rian Johnson, who could really use a home run. At Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks. Rated R. — The Reader of Omaha, Neb.

THE MASTER

Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest challenging character sketch is set against a backdrop of pseudo-Scientology, as Joaquin Phoenix plays a troubled soldier fresh from service in WW2, and Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a quasi-L Ron Hubbard religious leader. Depressing, challenging and muted, it’s guaranteed to spark discussion and mainstream teeth-gnashing. Rated R. At Century and Esquire. — The Reader of Omaha, Neb.

MORE THAN FRYBREAD

Contestants from 22 Native American tribes compete in the first Arizona Frybread Championship. IFS at Muenzinger Auditorium.

THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN

A young couple learns to expect the unexpected when it comes to children in this frolicky romp of a story. Rated PG. At Colony Square.

OPERA: L’ITALIANA IN ALGERI

Giacomo Rossini wrote L’Italiana in Algeri in 18 days when he was 21 years old. Now, almost 200 years later, audiences still thrill at both the manic energy and elegant melodies that make it a masterpiece. At Boedecker. –– Boedecker Theater.

THE ORANGES

The Oranges is a comedy about two families who have been lifelong friends, and the hilarity that ensues when a rebellious daughter returns home for the holidays and causes a scandal. Rated R. At Esquire. –– Landmark Theatres

PARANORMAN 3D

Norman sees dead people, which comes in handy when a witch haunts his hometown. Rated PG. At Colony Square. — The Reader of Omaha, Neb.

THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER

A funny and touching coming-of-age story, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a modern classic that captures the dizzying highs and crushing lows of growing up. Rated PG-13. At Century and Mayan. — Landmark Theatres

PITCH PERFECT

Itty-bitty pretty Anna Kendrick stars as a college freshman sucked into
the world of competitive college singing. With the aid of a group of
misfits, an all-female group hopes to make it to the final bout and
gain redemption and respect. And along the way ladies make snow angels
in pools of vomit and talk a lot about sex. So it’s Glee and anti-Glee all at the same time. Rated PG-13. At Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks. —The Reader of Omaha, Neb.

RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION 3D

Alice returns to battle the Umbrella Corporation, and more zombies. Rated R. At Colony Square.

ROBOCOP

Detroit cops are losing control of the streets while a corporation develops a private haven for the 1 percenters (yep, they knew about those decades ago) defended by droids. Then a newbie cop gets his hands on the cybernetic technology and puts it to crime-fighting use. IFS at VAC Basement Auditorium.

SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED

An unusual classified ad leads three Seattle Magazine employees to discover Kenneth, a likable but paranoid store clerk. At Denver FilmCenter/Colfax. — Denver Film Society

SAMSARA

“Samsara”
is a Sanskrit word that means “the ever-turning wheel of life,” and it
is the point of departure for filmmakers Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson
(Baraka, Chronos). At Century and Mayan. — Landmark Theatres

SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS

An ensemble cast that includes Colin Farrell, Christopher Walken, Woody Harrelson and Tom Waits plays a writer and his friends working on the screenplay “Seven Psychopaths.” Rated R. At Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks.

SINISTER

A
true crime novelist moves his wife and kids into the home of a
murdered family hoping to find clues on the whereabouts of the family’s
missing daughter. Instead, he finds a box of home movies in the attic
that calls a supernatural horror back into the house. Rated R. At
Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks.

SLEEPWALK WITH ME

PRI’s Ira Glass and comedian Mike Birbiglia worked together on this autobiographically inspired, fictional feature debut. We are thrust into the tale of a burgeoning standup comedian struggling with the stress of a stalled career, a stale relationship threatening to race out of his control, and the wild spurts of severe sleepwalking he is desperate to ignore. At Mayan and Boedecker Theater. –– Boedecker Theater

STARS IN SHORTS

This
new program features stars like Colin Firth, Keira Knightley and
Kenneth Branagh in their smallest roles yet. At Denver FilmCenter/Colfax
–– Denver Film Society

TAKEN 2

In this sequel, Liam Neeson returns as Bryan Mills. He and his wife are being captured in Istanbul by the father of one of the kidnappers he’d killed back in Europe while saving his daughter. Rated PG-13. At Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks.

TO ROME WITH LOVE

This comedy brings us into contact with a well-known American architect reliving his youth, an average middle-class Roman who suddenly becomes Rome’s biggest celebrity, a young couple drawn into separate romantic encounters and an American opera director tryng to put a singing mortician on stage. At Boedecker. –– Boedecker Theater

TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE

An aging baseball scout refuses to quit and accepts help from his daughter to check a hot batting prospect. Rated PG-13. At Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks.

VERTIGO

Alfred Hitchcock’s stylized film noir thriller about a retired cop working as a private investigator whose latest gig is to follow the potentially suicidal wife of a college friend. IFS at Muenzinger Auditorium.

V/H/S

A group of criminals has to sift through an endless number of horrifying videos from a rundown house in the middle of nowhere to retrieve a rare piece for a mysterious party that hired them. At Denver Film Society and Esquire. –– Landmark Theaters

WON’T BACK DOWN

Two mothers are unwavering in their efforts to transform their children’s failing school. Rated PG. At Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks.