MOViES
Due to this week’s exceptionally early holiday deadline, movie showtimes were unavailable as we went to press. Please visit cinemark.com or fandango.com for schedule updates.
F R I D AY N O V E M B E R 2 8 — T H U R S D AY D E C E M B E R 4 Movie summaries by M at t hew St af fo r d Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (1:21) Disney version of Judith Viorst’s classic children’s tale about a singularly crappy day in the life of an 11-year-old boy stars Dick Van Dyke, Jennifer Garner, Steve Carell and young Ed Oxenbould. l Antarctica: A Year on Ice (1:31) Dazzling documentary focuses on the world’s most brutal continent and the scientists and researchers who call it home. l Awake: The Life of Yogananda (1:27) Biodoc of Paramahansa Yogananda, the Indian yogi who brought meditation and yoga to the West in the 1920s; Krishna Das and Deepak Chopra share insights. l The Better Angels (1:34) Poetic evocation of the forces that shaped and nurtured young Abe Lincoln in rural Indiana circa 1817. l Beyond the Lights (1:56) Belle star Gugu MbathaRaw as a burgeoning pop-music icon who falls truly, madly and deeply for her hunky yet sensitive bodyguard (Nate Parker); Danny Glover co-stars. l Big Hero 6 (1:30) Disney cartoon concerns a boy, his posse and their repurposed crime-fighting robot, but the real star is a dazzlingly reimagined mashup of Tokyo and San Francisco complete with skateboarding geishas and a torii-turreted Golden Gate Bridge. l Birdman (1:59) Offbeat comedy from 21 Grams director Alejandro González Iñárritu about a onetime movie superhero (Michael Keaton) trying to get himself some thespian cred by starring in a Broadway play. l The Book of Life (1:25) Dazzlingly colorful Latinaccented, Day of the Dead-themed animated musical features vocals from Zoe Saldana, Hector Elizondo, Cheech Marin, Plácido Domingo and other luminaries. l Citizenfour (1:54) Documentary follows investigative filmmaker Laura Poitras across the globe in search of budding whistleblower Edward Snowden. l Dumb and Dumber To (1:49) Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels are back and more idiotic than ever, searching the world for offspring and a new kidney; the Farrelly boys direct, of course. l
Food Chains (1:22) Hard-hitting documentary looks at the beleaguered and abused farmworkers who stock the trillion-dollar supermarket industry in virtual slavery. l Force Majeure (2:00) Cannes Film Fest fave about a perfect alpine family vacation torn asunder by an unexpected avalanche. l Foxcatcher (2:10) True story of Olympic wrestlers Mark and Dave Schultz (Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo) and their edgy, intense relationship with their deeply obsessed heir-to-a-fortune sponsor, John du Pont (Steve Carell). l Fury (2:14) WWII action flick about a Sherman tank, its five-man crew and their impossible mission behind the German lines; Brad Pitt leads the charge. l Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me (1:45) Documentary looks at the life and career of the country music icon and his struggles with Alzheimer’s; Bill Clinton, Paul McCartney, Steve Martin and many others share insights. l Gone Girl (2:28) David Fincher filmization of Gillian Flynn’s best-seller stars Ben Affleck as a seemingly stable family man who becomes a murder suspect when his wife goes missing. l Goodbye to Language 3D (1:10) Jean-Luc Godard enters three-dimensional cinema with customary bravado and a proudly non-narrative strikingly visual outlook. l The Homesman (2:02) Tommy Lee Jones directs and stars as a Wild West drifter hired by Hilary Swank to guide three unstable women (Meryl Streep among them) across the rugged Nebraska Territories. l Horrible Bosses 2 (1:48) When their brand-new business is hijacked by smooth operator Christoph Waltz, working stiffs Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day kidnap son Chris Pine in retaliation; Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Spacey and Jamie Foxx add to the hilarity. l The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 (2:05) Jennifer Lawrence is back as Games top dawg Katniss l
Everdeen, leading the charge against her nation’s wicked past; Julianne Moore co-stars. l The Imitation Game (1:54) Benedict Cumberbatch as ace cryptologist Alan Turing, leader of Britain’s top code-breakers, who raced against time to crack the Nazis’ Enigma Code during World War II. l Interstellar (2:49) Spacey Christopher Nolan sci-fi drama follows a troupe of hungry astronauts through a newly discovered wormhole to the far reaches of the galaxy; Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine and Matthew McConaughey are among the crew. l The Judge (1:42) Courtroom dramedy finds used-up lawyer Robert Downey Jr. defending smalltown judge/estranged father Robert Duvall against a murder charge; Billy Bob Thornton co-stars. l Laggies (1:40) Loose-limbed Lynn Shelton comedy stars Keira Knightley as a pushing-thirty slacker who dodges a marriage proposal by hiding out with a teenager buddy and her wiseass dad (Sam Rockwell). l The Last Ocean (1:28) Documentary about ecocolgist David Ainley and his fight to protect Antarctica’s pristine Ross Sea and its whales, seals and penguins from rapacious fisherfolk. l Nightcrawler (1:57) Lean and hungry Jake Gyllenhaal stars as a Weegee-type tabloid photographer specializing in crime and catastrophe; Rene Russo co-stars as a seen-it-all TV newshound. l Pelican Dreams (1:20) Documentary follows a brown pelican from capture on the Golden Gate Bridge to rehab at San Rafael’s WildCare; Judy Irving (The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill) directs. l The Penguins of Madagascar (1:32) Cartoon caper comedy about a waddle of penguin superspies on a mission to save the world from John Malkovich. l Pride (1:59) Feel-good true story about a group of gay and lesbian London activists who supported a tiny Welsh chapter of the National Union of Mineworkers during a nationwide strike. l Reach Me (1:35) Kyra Sedgwick, Cary Elwes, Sylvester Stallone and a host of others star as a group
of disparate people transformed by a popular motivational author. l RiffTrax Live: Santa Claus (2:00) The interstellar wiseguys of Mystery Science Theater 3000 take on K. Gordon Murray’s bizarre 1959 showdown between Santa Claus, the Devil and (why not?) Merlin the Magician. l Rosewater (1:43) Jon Stewart of The Daily Show writes and directs a no-holds-barred docudrama about the real-life imprisonment and torture of Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari. l St. Vincent (1:42) Unwitting single mom Melissa McCarthy leaves her 12-year-old son in the questionable day-care of neighbor Bill Murray, who mentors the kid in the art and science of playing the horses, tipping the strippers and shooting the whiskey. l The Theory of Everything (2:03) Biopic focuses on the young and healthy yet degenerating Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) as he woos his future wife (Felicity Jones) and races against time to break new ground in physics and medicine. l This Is Where I Leave You (1:43) Tina Fey, Jason Bateman, Jane Fonda and a host of others star in an ensemble dramedy about a dysfunctional family that reunites for a week of communal living after their patriarch dies. l Touch the Wall (1:54) Documentary follows two champion swimmers, novice Missy Franklin and veteran Kara Lynn Joyce, on their bumpy road to the 2012 London Olympics. l V/H/S: Viral (1:37) Social-networking teens armed with camera phones little suspect that they’ll be the gruesome subjects of the next viral video. l Whiplash (1:46) Indie sleeper about the edgy, ferocious mentor-pupil relationship between a gifted young jazz drummer and his exacting taskmaster. l Women Who Flirt (1:37) Chinese rom-com about a frustrated young woman who masters the art of flirting to get her man.
›› TRiViA CAFÉ ANSWERS From page 8
1. Four years—from January of 1933 to April of 1937 2. Egg-layers: Chickens, ducks, geese, etc... also ... caviar? 3. Cyber Monday 4. Red Sea 5a. Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables, 2013 5b. Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls, 2006 5c. Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chicago, 2003 6. Mississippi, Jackson / Missouri, Jefferson City 7. Good Morning Vietnam / Night at the Museum (I or II) / One Hour Photo 8. 2,520 = (2^3 * 3^2 * 5 * 7) as in 2 to the third power, and 3 squared, if you can write that ... etc. 9a. E.E. Cummings 9b. H.G. Wells 9c. A.A. Milne 10. Miami Dolphins / Tampa Bay Buccaneers/ Seattle Seahawks / Minnesota Vikings / New York Jets / Philadelphia Eagles BONUS ANSWER: Helium, to keep the floats afloat NOVEMBER 28 - DECEMBER 4, 2014 PACIFIC SUN 21