Movies

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This article was published 11/06/2015 (4135 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Recommended

SPY

Grant Park, Kildonan Place, McGillivray, McGillivray VIP, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. 14A. 120 minutes.

Melissa McCarthy is a CIA analyst who must go undercover when her fellow agents are compromised on a mission to stop a deadly arms dealer (Rose Byrne). The spy spoof featuring an unlikely secret agent is practically a genre unto itself, but in that crowded field, writer-director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) wisely deploys McCarthy as a real, original and occasionally hilarious Bond wannabe. *** 1/2

 

STARTING FRIDAY

ALOFT

Grant Park. 14A. 113 minutes.

This shot-in-Manitoba drama bounces in time between an embittered falconer (Cillian Murphy) enlisted by a journalist (Mélanie Laurent) on a search for his long-absent mother (Jennifer Connelly) and the decades-earlier story showing how mother and son became separated in the first place. Directed by Claudia Llosa.

 

JURASSIC WORLD

Grant Park, Kildonan Place, McGillivray, McGillivray VIP, Polo Park, Polo Park Imax, St. Vital, Towne. PG. 125 minutes.

Set 22 years after the events of Jurassic Park, the theme park is now a 10-year-old success story, until corporate suits force the park’s operations manager (Bryce Dallas Howard) to create a genetic hybrid monster, to the consternation of a raptor trainer (Chris Pratt) obliged to try to save the day.

 

LIVE FROM NEW YORK

Bandwidth. PG. 82 minutes.

This documentary examines the far-flung impact the show Saturday Night Live has had on western culture in its 40-year history.

 

LOST SOUL: THE DOOMED JOURNEY OF RICHARD STANLEY’S THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU

Cinematheque. Subject to classification. 98 minutes.

This doc examines how hotshot young director Richard Stanley (Hardware) attempted to make a radical version of The Island of Dr. Moreau in 1996, only to be fired when the film was hijacked by its two misbehaving stars, Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer.

 

STARTING SATURDAY

THE SALT OF THE EARTH

Cinematheque. Subject to classification. 110 minutes.

A documentary portrait of photographer Sebastião Salgado, who spent 40 years travelling the world and bearing witness to some of the major events of our recent history. Co-directors Wim Wenders and Sebastião’s son, Julio Salgado, follow him on his latest project, a tribute to the planet’s beauty.

 

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The following movies have been previously reviewed by Free Press movie critic Randall King, unless otherwise noted.

 

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

McGillivray, Polo Park, St. Vital. PG. 141 minutes.

The gang — Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye — re-assembles to face an unstoppable, artificially intelligent nemesis in this sequel to the 2012 Marvel blockbuster. Director Joss Whedon ticks off all the right boxes, but in this second go-round, the thrill is diminished. Befitting the robot of the title, this feels more like a machine than a movie, with an Iron Man battery where its heart should be, especially coming in the wake of last year’s Marvel blockbuster The Guardians of the Galaxy, which proved a superhero movie could possess a sense of freewheeling fun. ***

 

FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD

Grant Park. PG. 119 minutes.

This new adaptation of the Thomas Hardy novel stars a radiant Carey Mulligan as Bathsheba Everdene, a woman who strives for independence in Victorian England, even as she is pursued by three suitors, a farmer (Matthias Schoenaerts), a respected landowner (Michael Sheen) and a volatile soldier (Tom Sturridge). Hardy’s source material could have facilitated an overheated costume melodrama but director Thomas Vinterberg opts for a cool, classic, contemporary rendition anchored by Mulligan’s subtle performance. *** 1/2

 

HOME

Polo Park, St. Vital. G. 94 minutes.

This animated comedy follows the adventures of a lonely alien named Oh (voiced by Jim Parsons) who finds himself on Earth helping a young girl (Rihanna) on a quest of her own. The bright-colour palette and bubble motifs are appealing, but without the magic of superior animated films, the candy colours start to have a numbing effect by the end. Home has a good heart, and yet, much like Oh, its valiant efforts to be fun just fizzle. ** 1/2 (Reviewed by Lindsay Bahr)

 

I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS

Grant Park. PG. 97 minutes.

A former songstress (Blythe Danner) decides to change her life, a plan that includes romancing a new man (Sam Elliott) and befriending a pool cleaner (Martin Starr). It’s got a dream cast and a dreamy plot, but it hangs on a screenplay as random as a dream. ** 1/2 (Reviewed by Roger Moore)

 

INSIDIOUS CHAPTER 3

McGillivray, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. 14A. 98 minutes.

This prequel toggles between the supernatural crisis of a teen (Stefanie Scott) haunted by a malevolent spirit after trying to contact her dead mother, and a seasoned psychic Elise (Lin Shaye) as she attempts to abandon the spirit-world business after one too many terrifying encounters. The chief spectre is referred to as “the man who can’t breathe” and the whole film is a little wheezy when it comes to trotting out the elements that enlivened past Insidious entries, such as startling, aged, scary faces and figures popping in and out of the frame with physics-defying impunity. ** 1/2

 

LOVE & MERCY

Polo Park. 14A. 122 minutes.

This bold approach to the celebrity biopic tells the bifurcated story of Beach Boy Brian Wilson, who is portrayed by Paul Dano in the half detailing his mental collapse at the height of his fame, and by John Cusack as an older Brian attempting to come back to living while under the thumb of a dubious therapist (Paul Giamatti). Dano is excellent and the use of music is especially effective, relentlessly charting Wilson’s journey from pop prince to burned-out madman. *** 1/2

 

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

Grant Park, Kildonan Place, McGillivray, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. 14A. 121 minutes.

In this reboot from director George Miller, Tom Hardy assumes the role of Max Rockatansky, the post-apocalyptic road warrior originally played by Mel Gibson. Max finds himself aligned with a warrior woman (Charlize Theron) on a mission to fight her way through hordes of bloodthirsty scavengers to return to her homeland. This is the third mega-franchise entry to come down the pike this year, but demonstrating his mastery of screen action, 70-year-old Miller shows ’em how it’s done. ****

 

PITCH PERFECT 2

McGillivray, Polo Park. PG. 115 minutes.

A cappella competitors the Barden Bellas suffer a humiliation at the Lincoln Center and resolve to fight their way back by winning an international competition hitherto denied any American teams. All the news is good about this sequel which is, if anything, funnier than the original. It brings back all your favourite folks, most notably the sweetly geeky and adorable Anna Kendrick and the bawdy, nothing-is-sacred Rebel Wilson, whose Fat Amy gets more screen time and makes the most of it. *** 1/2 (Reviewed by Jocelyn Noveck)

 

POLTERGEIST

Polo Park, Towne. 14A. 93 minutes.

This remake of the 1982 film by Tobe Hooper again offers up a family in a nice suburban home finding itself under siege by malevolent ghosts which succeed in taking the youngest daughter into their spectral dimension. Director Gil Kenan not only delivers on the promise of Hooper’s original, but significantly raises the stakes. *** 1/2 (Reviewed by Justin Lowe)

 

SAN ANDREAS

Grant Park, Kildonan Place, McGillivray, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. PG. 115 minutes.

Dwayne Johnson is a Los Angeles Fire Department chopper pilot obliged to rescue his womenfolk (Carla Gugino as his estranged wife and Alexandra Daddario as his daughter) when a massive earthquake tears California apart. Notwithstanding all the digital mayhem, San Andreas has a soothing subtextual message in this age of global warming and ongoing toxic pollution, telling audiences that no matter how horrific the disaster may be, humans aren’t to blame for the environmental chaos herein. A more appropriate title might have been San Andreas: It’s Not Our Fault. **

 

TOMORROWLAND

Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. PG. 130 minutes.

A teenage science geek (Britt Robertson) discovers a conduit to a fantastic future world, but needs to enlist a disillusioned scientist (George Clooney) to help her unlock its mysteries in this Disney adventure from director Brad Bird (The Incredibles, The Iron Giant). Narratively awkward, Tomorrowland practically jumps the rails before it has properly begun. But when it gets back on track, it not only delivers the fun ride we expects from a summer-proximity Disney fantasy, but also a rare piece of family entertainment that warrants a discussion afterwards. *** 1/2