Films This Week
Check out the movies playing around town.
With: Reviews
Movie Times click here.
Santa Cruz area movie theaters >
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New This Week
CINDERELLA The Disney studio continues to plumb the depths of its own backlist with live-action remakes of its cartoon classics. Kenneth Branagh directs a promising cast, including Lily James in the title role, Cate Blanchett as her scheming stepmother, Richard Madden as the prince, and Helena Bonham Carter as the beggar woman/godmother with a few magical tricks up her sleeve. (PG) 112 minutes. Starts Friday.
EVA This Spanish sci-fi drama, set 30 years in the future, concerns a cybernetic engineer (Daniel Brühl) designing a line of child robots, and the 10-year-old niece he’s just met who inspires him while unlocking a cache of family secrets. Kike Maíllo directs. (PG-13) 94 minutes. In Spanish with English subtitles. Starts Friday.
RUN ALL NIGHT Liam Neeson decides to get mad (as usual), and as a retired hit-man goes after his crime lord ex-boss (Ed Harris) to protect his estranged son (Joel Kinnaman). Common co-stars for director Jaume Collet-Serra (Non-Stop; Unknown). (R) 114 minutes. Starts Friday.
’71 Jack O’Connell (Unbroken) stars as a young British soldier accidentally left behind by his unit for one harrowing night in the streets of riot-torn Belfast during “The Troubles,” in this intense drama from director Yann Demange. (R) 99 minutes. Starts Friday.
WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, co-creators of HBO cult hit Flight of the Conchords, take on vampire-obsessed pop culture in this comedy about bloodsucking roommates trying to keep up with the times—trends, technology, fashion, their zombie and werewolf rivals, and their daily dose of nourishment. (Not rated) 86 minutes. Starts Friday.
WILD TALES Recently nominated for a Foreign Language Oscar, and produced by Pedro Almodovar, this dark satire from Argentina contains six related stories about the pressures, demands, and injustices of modern life and a cast of characters who gleefully give in to the temptation to lose control. (R) 122 minutes. In Spanish with English subtitles.
Film Events
SPECIAL EVENT THIS WEEK: FALL ITALIAN FILM SERIES The Dante Alighieri Society of Santa Cruz returns with its monthly series of Italian films (one Sunday a month) to promote Italian culture and language. The theme for the Winter/Spring 2015 season is “The Strength of Women.” This month: La siciliana ribelle (The Sicilian Girl) Marco Armenta’s award-winning 2010 drama tells the true story of a courageous 17-year-old girl who testified against the Mafia after her father and brother were murdered. Veronica D’Agostino stars. (Not rated) 115 minutes. In Italian with English subtitles. Logan Walker, film studies lecturer at SJSU, will introduce the film and conduct an after-film Q&A. At Cabrillo College, VAPA Art History Forum Room 1001, Sunday only (March 15 ), 7 p.m. Free.
CONTINUING SERIES: MIDNIGHTS @ THE DEL MAR Eclectic movies for wild and crazy tastes plus great prizes and buckets of fun for only $6.50. This week: SPIRITED AWAY From acclaimed Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki (Princess Mononoke) comes this 2001 story of a sullen young girl who learns the value of family when she has to rally to save her own family trapped in a magical world of spirits and monsters. (PG) 125 minutes. At the Del Mar, Fri-Sat, midnight only.
CONTINUING EVENT: LET’S TALK ABOUT THE MOVIES Film buffs are invited to join us Wednesday nights at 7 p.m. in downtown Santa Cruz, where each week we discuss a different current release. For our location and discussion topic, please visit our Google Groups webpage: groups.google.com/group/LTATM
Movie Times click here.
Now Playing
CHAPPIE Reviewed this issue. (R) 124 minutes. (**1/2)—Lisa Jensen.
LEVIATHAN Freshly nominated for a Foreign Language Oscar (it won the Golden Globe), this Russian drama is set on the rugged and glorious coast of the Barents Sea, where a humble auto mechanic battles a corrupt and powerful mayor to save his business, his land, and his family. Andrey Zvyagintsev (R) 140 minutes. In Russian with English subtitles.
THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL Most of the original cast members return as mature expat Brits getting a new lease on life in India when the ambitious young proprietor of their residential hotel (Dev Patel) tempts chaos by trying to expand his business and get married at the same time. Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton, and Celia Imrie head the cast, which also includes newcomers David Strathairn and Richard Gere. John Madden directs. (PG) 122 minutes.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS Vince Vaughn, Tom Wilkinson, and Dave Franco star in this comedy as a trio of Yanks on a business trip to Berlin where every possible thing that can go awry does. Ken Scott directs. (R) 91 minutes.
