Due to the ever-changing nature of the movie biz, showtimes as they appear in any and all newspapers should always be double-checked with the theaters before setting off for a night at the flicks. Please call theater for times.
Designates items highlighted in this week's issue.
Click here for movie theaters and showtimes
|
|
Babel
The accidental shooting of a tourist sparks an international uproar from Japan to Mexico. Director Alejandro González Iñárritu (
21 Grams
) explores how the difficulty people have
communicating affects the personal and political areas of our lives. With Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and Gael García Bernal.
UA DeVargas, R, 142 min.
Black Gold
While enjoying your latte this morning, it might interest you to know that the $80 billion coffee industry is second only to oil as the world's most valuable trading commodity. While large international companies prosper, coffee farmers struggle just to hold on to their land.
Black Gold
documents Tadesse Meskela as he fights for fair trade prices for the more than 75,000 Ethiopian coffee farmers he represents.
The Screen, NR, 78 min.
Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Sacha Baron Cohen, of Ali G fame, brings his outrageous character Borat to the big screen. A journalist for Kazakhstan's national television network, the impossibly offensive
Borat stumbles through the US, leaving a trail of hilarious disaster in his wake. The reason for
his adventure? To chronicle American culture; what could be funnier than that?
Dreamcatcher, R, 84 min.
Jesus Camp
Conservative Christians start their preachers out young.
Jesus Camp
documents the trials and tribulations of youth as they attend a summer camp in hopes of growing up to be the next Billy Graham.
UA DeVargas, PG-13, 84 min.
Shortbus
John Cameron Mitchell (
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
) returns with
Shortbus
, a graphic tale of sexual liberation. The real sex shown on-screen is shocking, but the story is real and alive, taking the erotic out of images and using them to add to a coming-of-age story for a group of New Yorkers desperate for change in their lives (see
).
CCA, NR (no one under 18 admitted), 101 min.
Stranger Than Fiction
Harold Crick has a British voice narrating his life and it's starting to annoy him. Crick (Will Ferrell) is even more upset when the voice decides it's time for him to die. Little does he know the fateful orator is just an author with writer's block played by Emma Thompson.
Dreamcatcher, PG-13, 113 min.
This Film is Not Yet Rated
Not surprisingly, this documentary on the American Ratings Board originally received an NC-17 rating. Filmmaker Kirby Dick surrendered his rating all together, refusing to cower to the censorship he seeks to expose.
The Screen, NR, 97 min.
Changing Times
A dreamy French love story set in Tangiers, this delicious film stars the incomparable Catherine Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu. Antoine (Depardieu) takes a job in Morocco in order to be reunited with his first love. Cécile (Deneuve) is unhappily married to an alcoholic and can't quite break free. Will Antoine be the key to her freedom? While waiting to find out, a host of zany family members parade their problems through the exotic streets of the casbah.
The Screen, NR, 90 min.
Fabulous Thursdays: The Sex Movie
Four old friends get together for a dinner party-turned slumber party-turned therapy session. Their party games give way to serious discussions regarding sexuality, body image and identity. Kissing helps the gang make up.
Santa Fe Film Center, NR, 84 min.
49 Up
If you've seen more than one of the films in Michael Apted's series, you're probably feeling a little old right now. The truth is that the man wasn't only chronicling the personal transformations of several people at seven-year intervals, he was capturing a phenomenon. Reality TV has nothing on Apted; his perceptive interviewing of the collective that has made up his case study for the past 42 years will blow you away.
The Screen, NR, 135 min.
Four Lane Highway
Last year the audience at the Santa Fe film festival fell a little bit in love with
Four Lane Highway
, giving it the honor of the Audience Award. The film follows a late-20s construction worker, Sean, on an adventure from Maine to New York City to reconnect with his old flame, Molly.
Santa Fe Film Center, NR, 109 min.
Heroic Grace II: Kung Fu Film Festival
Kung fu continues to rule the land with this week's offering,
Legendary Weapons of China
. The 1982 flick features Gordon Liu (
36 Chambers of Shaolin
and
Kill Bill: Vol. 2
) fighting his way through the world with the classic martial arts theme of disciple vs. master.
The Screen, NR, run times vary
Highway Courtesans
In a rural part of India, an old clan tradition forces the oldest daughters of poor families to submit to prostitution. This stunning documentary traces one such girl from the ages of 17 to 23 as she fights against her preordained future.
Santa Fe Film Center, NR, 71 min
Janet Gaynor Centennial Celebration
Not to be confused with the Judy Garland flick of the same name,
A Star is Born
features Janet Gaynor as a rural girl desperate to break into the Hollywood life.
A Small Town Girl
stars the innocent Gaynor as, well, a small-town girl with stars in her eyes for a rich and handsome man whom she'll have to steal away from his rich and beautiful fiancée.
The Screen, NR, 91 min.
Jimi Hendrix
In 1973, director Joe Boyd put together a documentary-style collage of concerts from the rock legend. Monterrey Pop, Woodstock and the Fillmore are featured, but the best part? It's about the music, not commentary on the artists or performances. After this, you will be experienced.
Santa Fe Film Center, NR, 98 min.
Kids First!: Hip Hop Harry
Harry, a cuddly little bear, uses hip-hop to educate kids at his after school Hip Hop Central camp. Old-school problem solving with a new-school rhyme scheme.
Santa Fe Film Center, NR
Opera Night: The Medium
A tragedy in two acts about a fraudulent medium scared witless when a real spirit shows up. Menotti's opera, in black and white, features the expatriate Marie Powers and took the Cannes award for best lyrical drama.
Santa Fe Film Center, NR, run times vary
Phil Lesh and Friends
Two nights at the legendary Warfield Theater in San Francisco, Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh pulled out all the stops and got it on tape. Lesh and his band-joined by Joan Osborne, Greg Osby and guitarist John Scofield-revisit the Grateful Dead songbook.
Santa Fe Film Center, NR, 135 min.
Stairways to Heaven: The Practical Magic of Sacred Spaces
A documentary exploring the space between the worlds: as in, ours and the next. Using ancient monuments (like Stonehenge, presumably actual size, not 18 inches tall or made of refrigerators), great Gothic cathedrals (with secret Templar messages hidden in them) and the fairly recent advent of crop circles, the "spiritual technology" of the ancients is revealed. We humbly predict this film will play in Santa Fe well into the next ice age.
Santa Fe Film Center, NR, 54 min.
Stealing America: Vote by Vote
A new, feature-length documentary on the 2004 national elections by Emmy-winning, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Dorothy Fadiman. Harvey Wasserman of the Free Press writes that
Stealing America
is "powerful, moving, infuriating, comprehensive and brilliant." The paper ballot lawsuit in New Mexico is an important aspect of this documentary on election.
CCA, NR
¡Viva Pedro!
The Pedro Almodóvar Festival wraps up with 1997's
Live Flesh
and 2004's
Bad Education
. Both films show the maturity that Almodóvar has found in recent years, paralleling tragedy with personal exploration. Spanish stars Penélope Cruz and Gael García Bernal crossed over into Hollywood shortly after appearing in these respective films.
CCA, both films rated R, run times vary
Catch a Fire
Tim Robbins and Derek Luke star in a political thriller about a South African family man stunned into action by a violent policeman. Wrongly accused of terrorist activities at his power plant, Patrick (Luke) is beaten and jailed, his wife receiving the same treatment. Colonel Nic Vos (Robbins) is behind the atrocities, an apartheid-driven mad man who doesn't know what he's in for. Patrick rises from the ashes of his disgrace and joins a rebel movement to avenge himself and his family.
UA North, PG-13, 101 min.
Conversations with God
If most people told their friends that God was speaking to them, their sanity might be in question. Author Neale Donald Walsch turned his dialogue with the divine into a multimillion-dollar bestseller. Now a very successful guru of sorts, Walsch shares his spiritual transformation through a film produced by Stephen Simon (
What Dreams May Come
).
UA DeVargas, UA South, PG, 109 min.
Death of a President
The real state of global politics is deconstructed in Gabriel Range's radical film about what would happen if George W Bush was assassinated. Through pictorial images and historically styled dialogue, Range explores uncharted territory and scares us into taking notice.
The Screen, R, 90 min.
The Departed
Martin Scorsese kicks the cop drama up a notch with his newest criminal masterpiece, filled with serious Hollywood acting machismo. Jack Nicholson (back to his classic
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
persona) plays a cunning and twisted crime boss. Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon star as talented undercover agents, but there is a mole in their midst. This psychological roller coaster ride packs a mean street punch.
UA DeVargas, UA North, R, 150 min.
Flags of Our Fathers
Clint Eastwood takes moviegoers to the battle of Iwo Jima in his latest attempt to add another Oscar to the shelf. Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford and Adam Beach star as the men whose heroism proved to the American public that WWII would end in victory.
UA North, R, 132 min.
Flicka
Starring Alison Lohman, Tim McGraw and Maria Bello, this adaptation of Mary O'Hara's beloved novel follows the dream of a 16-year-old girl and a wild mustang. Katy (Lohman) has no ambitions other than to live and work on her father's ranch in modern-day Wyoming. Her father, understandably, wants more for her, but enter an untamed thoroughbred and a penchant for the races, and all aspirations may change.
Dreamcatcher, UA North, UA South, PG, 94 min.
Flushed Away
A spoiled uptown pet rat named Roddy (Hugh Jackman) accidentally flushes himself down the toilet and into a wondrous metropolis where rodents and animals reign. In this new world, he meets Rita (Kate Winslet) and the two embark on a courageous mission to return Roddy home. But with a menacing henchman and the dreaded mercenary Le Frog on their tail, this animated team is in for a bumpy ride.
Dreamcatcher, UA North, PG, 86 min.
God Spoke
Comedian Al Franken takes on Ann Coulter and the rest of the right through his cynical brand of humor. With Sean Hannity and Michael Medved.
CCA, NR, 90 min.
The Grudge 2
See Sarah Michelle Gellar get killed by chalky Japanese children in this sequel to a mediocre remake. If you are trying to talk your girlfriend out of wanting kids, take her to see
The Grudge 2
, which follows evil spirits as they escape the house that held them and go on a murderous rampage. Hopefully this will follow
The Ring Two
to a fate of shelving before it can incur the label "trilogy."
Dreamcatcher, UA South, PG-13, 95 min.
Keeping Mum
If Mrs. Doubtfire was British and a female, she would be Grace (Dame Maggie Smith), the inspirational and no-nonsense housekeeper in
Keeping Mum
. In a small, rural parish, a vicar (Rowan Atkinson) becomes consumed with his work and ignores his increasingly volatile family life. His wife (Kristen Scott Thomas) shamelessly flirts with her golf instructor (Patrick Swayze), his daughter is boy-crazy and his son a punching bag for the local bullies. Enter Grace, a gift from heaven sent to whip the family back into shape.
CCA, NR, 103 min.
Man of the Year
In a nation where the intellect of comedian and activist Bill Maher often ranks higher then that of the president, hasn't the thought crossed some people's minds that a switch might be in order? Written and directed by Barry Levinson, this comeback vehicle for funny man Robin Williams employs the no-longer-improbable idea that an entertainer could be elected president. But it isn't all smiles and high fives in the oval office-sometimes the most terrible thing is to get what you wish for.
UA South, PG-13, 115 min.
Marie Antoinette
Sophia Coppola's indie rock fantasy about the life of Marie Antoinette stars Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman and was shot on location in Versaille. It's more than caviar dreams for the young queen. Steeped in
outré
fab garb and surrounded by sumptuous delicacies
à la Français
, the film-and its title character-blurs the line between fantasy and reality. Indulge anyway and see both sides of the notorious Marie Antoinette.
UA DeVargas, PG-13, 125 min.
The Marine
Ushering in a new exploitation genre is
The Marine
, a story about a He-Man-esque soldier who goes on a rampage to find his kidnapped wife. While perhaps not the hat-tipping homage the military deserves, it will raise a lot of pride in their ability to kick arse. Starring John Cena and Robert Patrick and directed by John Bonito.
Dreamcatcher, UA South, PG-13, 93 min.
One Night with the King
Ah, finally, a Biblical rags-to-riches story for the big screen. Hadassah, orphaned by the murder of her parents, becomes Esther in order to try to win the heart of Xerxes. She does, becoming the queen of Persia. A great cast, including John Rhys-Davies and the first collaboration for Omar Sharif and Peter O'Toole since
Lawrence of Arabia
.
UA North, PG, 122 min.
Open Season
Ever wonder what happens when captive animals are released into the wild? Well, here's your chance to find out. Martin Lawrence provides the voice of Boog, a 900-pound grizzly bear who finds himself in the wild three days before hunting season. Completely naive to the ways of the wild, he's forced to rely on a mule deer named Elliot, played by Ashton Kutcher. With hunters on their trail, the animals prepare to fight back in this hilarious animated adventure.
Dreamcatcher, UA South, PG, 99 min.
The Prestige
Two of Hollywood's hunkiest foreigners, Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale, play two exceptional magicians locked in a rivalry that could destroy them both. The question is, who will be famous and who will be left infamous? The answer isn't as interesting to discover as one from Christopher Nolan (
Batman
,
Memento
) should be. Scarlett Johansson does a repeat of her role in
The Black Dahlia
as the woman between them.
Dreamcatcher, UA DeVargas PG-13, 128 min.
The Queen
God save Helen Mirren, I mean the queen! An intimate portrait of the extremely private Queen Elizabeth II,
The Queen
focuses on the time surrounding the death of Princess Diana. With the country torn apart by confusion and grief, her royal highness looks to Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) for strength and strategy (see
).
UA DeVargas, PG-13, 97 min.
Running with Scissors
Augusten Burroughs' memoir
Running with Scissors
is one of those true-life tales that is so fantastical that it almost has to be true. The film adaptation shows the young Burroughs (Joseph Cross) sent by his philosophy professor father and poet mother to live with her psychiatrist's insane family. With Annette Bening, Alec Baldwin, Evan Rachel Wood and Brian Cox.
UA DeVargas, R, 116 min.
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
Tim Allen stars in his third film as Santa Claus. No one could have seen that coming. The ex-Tool Man has made quite a name for himself as the king of the North Pole, and this time the crafty Jack Frost (Martin Short) is out to take it all away. While the jolly man is busy planning an extended family Christmas (ex-wife and her new husband included), Frost schemes on how to knock old Santa off his throne. Head elf Curtis is on the case, watching his boss' back, and some help from Claus' ex-wife's daughter doesn't hurt either. Talk about a PC, modern family Christmas.
Dreamcatcher, UA South, G, 98 min.
Saw III
The vicious murderer Jigsaw has an apprentice, and she's as deranged as her master. In this bloody third installment, the new teacher's pet kidnaps a doctor in order to keep her master and their newest victim alive for selfish reasons. Bring a sick bag; you'll need it.
Dreamcatcher, UA South, R, 107 min.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
Before heading out to Vietnam, two young men and their girlfriends take a road trip through Texas. B-list actors get chopped up by maniacs. Jordanna Brewster, recognizable from such works of art as
The Fast and the Furious
and
Annapolis
, gets first billing, which means the longest life in horror movies.
UA North, R, 84 min.
