“Our Little Sister”
New movies showing in Minneapolis
By Wendy Schadewald (Rating system: 4=Don’t miss, 3=Good, 2=Worth a look, 1=Forget it)
“Gleason” (R) (3)
[Language.] — A heartbreaking, inspirational, gut-wrenching, insightful, 110-minute documentary that chronicles the courageous, ongoing battle of New Orleans Saints defensive line backer Stephen Michael “Steve” Gleason, who was raised in Spokane and retired as a nine-year veteran of the NFL in 2008, as he struggles with ALS diagnosed in 2011 at age 34 before the birth of his son Rivers and includes interview snippets with his artistic wife Michel Varisco-Gleason, his parents Mike and Gail, brother Kyle, caretaker Blair Cosby, teammate Mike McKenzie, cousin Brendan Weber, pastor Kevin Dedmon, friends Ryan Gootee and Drew Brees, and Pearl Jam members Mike McCready and Eddie Vedder.
“Kubo and the Two Strings” (PG) (4)
[Thematic elements, scary images, action and peril.] — After his scarred, widowed mother (voiceover by Charlize Theron) who has magical powers tries to protect her eye-patch-wearing son (voiceover by Art Parkinson) in a seaside village in feudal Japan from his two creepy, evil aunts (voiceover by Rooney Mara) and revenge-driven grandfather (voiceover by Ralph Fiennes) in this colorful, imaginative, family-oriented, stop-motion, star-dotted (voiceovers by George Takei, Brenda Vaccaro, and Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa), 3D, 101-minute animated film highlighted by amazing animation, the talented, storytelling, young Japanese boy uses his origami powers and playing a guitar to search for legendary, magical armor while being protected by his mother’s spirit in the body of a monkey (voiceover by Charlize Theron) and his father’s spirit embodied in a beetle-like samurai warrior (voiceover by Matthew McConaughey).
“Our Little Sister” (PG) (3)
[Thematic elements and brief language.] [Subtitled] — After three Japanese sisters, a 29-year-old nurse (Haruka Ayase), a moody 22-year-old financial consultant (Masami Nagasawa), and a 19-year-old shoe sales clerk (Kaho), meet their 15-year-old half-sister (Suzu Hirose) at the funeral of their estranged father in this low-key, charming, realistic, well-acted, 126-minute, 2015 film, they invite her to leave her widowed stepmother (Yûko Nakamura) and move in with them where she excels at her new school.
“Southside with You” (PG-13) (2.5)
[Brief strong language, smoking, a violent image, and a drug reference.] — A slow-paced, lightweight, romantic, 84-minute film that focuses on one day in the life of Harvard-educated Barack Obama (Parker Sawyers) and his no-nonsense coworker and mentor Michelle Robinson (Tika Sumpter) when the two corporate lawyers began their relationship on a supposed non-date going to the Chicago Art Institute, attending a Southside neighborhood meeting about building a community center, and seeing Spike Lee’s film “Do the Right Thing” in the summer of 1989.
On DVD
“Cut Sleeve Boys” (R) (2)
[Strong sexual content, drug use, and language.] — After a close college friend (Mark Hampton) dies unexpectedly in London in this uneven, wacky, 86-minute, 2006 British comedy, a gay, hair-piece-wearing Chinese cross-dresser (Chowee Leow) who yearns for love becomes unknowingly smitten with another cross-dressing Brit (Neil Collie) while his vain, fashion-savvy, gay Chinese roommate (Steven Lim) has second thoughts when he breaks up with a young stud (Gareth Rhys Davis), which causes both roommates to reevaluate their lives.
“The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters” (PG-13) (3)
[Brief sexual reference.] — Videogame aficionados will enjoy and appreciate this enlightening and satirical, 79-minute, 2007 documentary that delves into the positive and negative aspects of those obsessed with playing videogames, gives insight into the mind of Twin Galaxies founder and videogame referee Walter Clay, and follows the rivalry between arrogant, cocky, and self-absorbed “Gamer of the Century” Billy Mitchell who scored more than 874,300 points in the arcade classic Donkey Kong game in 1982 and his closest compassionate and fierce competitor Washington schoolteacher Steve Wiebe, who honestly and diligently challenged Mitchell’s live and videotaped world records by relentlessly practicing Donkey Kong in his garage.
“Mr. Bean’s Holiday” (PG) (2)
[Brief mild language.] — When a ditsy, klutzy, nitwit, selfish, and mumbling Londoner (Rowan Atkinson) wins a seaside trip to Cannes in this silly, slapstick, typical Bean-humor-infused, 90-minute, 2007 comedy, one mishap after another ensues all across France as he loses his suitcase on the train, misplaces his passport and money helping a young French boy (Max Baldry) who gets separated from his worried father (Philippe Spall), ticks off a film director (Willem Dafoe) shooting a yogurt commercial, and eventually accepts a ride to the French Riviera from an ingénue actress (Emma de Caunes).
“The Nanny Diaries” (PG-13) (2)
[Language.] — A predictable, contrived, stereotypical, and ultimately disappointing and unrealistic, 105-minute, 2007 satire about a recent college graduate (Scarlett Johansson) in New Jersey who keeps her mother (Donna Murphy) in the dark when she stumbles on a nanny position for a shallow, pretentious, and neglectful upper east side New York socialite (Laura Linney) and her absentee philandering husband (Paul Giamatti) who use their precocious son (Nicholas Art) as an accessory and try to control her burgeoning relationship with a down-to-earth Harvard grad (Chris Evans).
“Rory O’Shea Was Here” (R) (3)
[Language.] — When a rebellious, optimistic, and spirited Brit (James McAvoy) with muscular dystrophy moves into a residential center for the handicapped in England and stirs up trouble with the residents and staff (Brenda Fricker, et al.) in this poignant, uplifting, and bittersweet, 104-minute, 2004 film, he forever changes the life of another Englishman (Steven Robertson) who has cerebral palsy when they become best friends.
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©1986 through 2016 by Wendy Schadewald. The preceding films were reviewed by Wendy Schadewald, who has been a Twin Cities film critic since 1986. To see more of her film reviews, log on to 60-Second Film Reviews.
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