Winnipeg Free Press Newspaper Archives May 28 2015, Page 33

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 28, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE C10 DOCUMENTARY what’s up hotticket THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2015 10 RANDALL KING movies œ STARTING TOMORROW ALOHA Grant Park, McGillivray, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. PG. 105 minutes. Bradley Cooper plays a military contractor whose return to Hawaii initiates a reckoning with a lost love ( Rachel McAdams) and the possibility of a new relationship with the major ( Emma Stone) assigned to watchdog him. SAN ANDREAS Grant Park, Kildonan Place, McGillivray, McGillivray VIP, 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. œ RECOMMENDED BROWN TOWN MUDDY WATER š š š Cinematheque. Subject to classification. 52 minutes. The heyday of Winnipeg’s live music scene in the ’ 70s and ’ 80s is examined with a particular spotlight on aboriginal entertainers, such as Errol Ranville, Billy Joe Green and the late, great Percy Tuesday in this illuminating MTS Stories from Home doc by Jesse Green. It screens Thursday, May 28, at 9 p. m. in the opening night kickoff of the Gimme Some Truth Documentary Festival. now playing The following movies have been previously reviewed by Free Press movie critic Randall King, unless otherwise noted. up town AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON Grant Park, Kildonan Place, McGillivray, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. 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. š š š 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. š š š 1 . 2 FURIOUS 7 Polo Park, Towne. PG. 138 minutes. Dom ( Vin Diesel) and Brian ( Paul Walker) get the band together to fight the vengeful brother ( Jason Statham) of the vanquished villain from the last movie. Horror director James Wan makes the big jump into action/ event movie savvy to its requirements, particularly having his camera gloat over cars and semi- nude women with pornographic abandon. But the fast- car fantasy this franchise churns out — the notion that no car crash is so bad that the good guy can’t walk away from it — casts a decided chill given the circumstances of Walker’s real- world death. š š 1 . 2 HOME McGillivray, 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 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. š š 1 . 2 ( Reviewed by Lindsay Bahr ) HOT PURSUIT McGillivray, Polo Park. PG. 88 minutes. An over- her- head cop ( Reese Witherspoon) gamely tries to protect the widow ( Sofia Vergara) of a drug- cartel lieutenant against assassins in this comedy directed by Anne Fletcher ( The Proposal ). Between them, Witherspoon and Vergara have decent comic chops, which makes it doubly disappointing that this comedy yields so few laughs, partly because both actresses are as much at cross- purposes as their characters. š 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. š š š š PITCH PERFECT 2 Grant Park, Kildonan Place, McGillivray, McGillivray VIP, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne. 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. š š š 1 . 2 ( Reviewed by Jocelyn Noveck ) POLTERGEIST Grant Park, Kildonan Place, McGillivray, Polo Park, St. Vital, 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. š š š 1 . 2 ( Reviewed by Justin Lowe ) TOMORROWLAND Grant Park, Kildonan Place, McGillivray, Polo Park, Polo Park Imax, 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 Disney fantasy, but also a rare piece of family entertainment that warrants a discussion afterwards. š š š 1 . 2 PITCH PERFECT 2 HOT PURSUIT C_ 10_ May- 28- 15_ FP_ 01. indd C10 5/ 27/ 15 5: 15: 57 PM