New movies showing in Minneapolis
By Wendy Schadewald (Rating system: 4=Don’t miss, 3=Good, 2=Worth a look, 1=Forget it)
“Deepwater Horizon” (PG-13) (3.5)
[Prolonged intense disaster sequences and related disturbing images, and brief strong language.] — Phenomenal special effects dominate this riveting, intense, factually based, well-acted, 107-minute thriller in which a supervisor (Mark Wahlberg), who has a wife (Kate Hudson) and daughter (Stella Allen), tries to save other workers of the 126-member crew on the Deepwater Horizon (Kurt Russell, Gina Rodriguez, Dylan O’Brien, Ethan Suplee, Joe Chrest, et al.) along with a BP bigwig (John Malkovich) 41 miles off the Louisiana coast when the Transocean oil rig has a massive blowout and an explosive fire breaks out on April 10, 2010, after running a negative pressure test to evaluate the integrity of the oil rig that eventually spilled more than 210 million gallons into the Gulf of Mexico during the next 87 days.
“The Dressmaker” (R) (3.5)
[Brief language and a scene of violence.] — When a gorgeous, talented fashion designer (Kate Winslet) returns home to her disabled, feisty mother (Judy Davis), who lives in a tiny, rundown, rural town in Australia, in 1951 after being forced to leave as a 10-year-old girl (Darcey Wilson) following accusations that she killed a bullying student (Rory Potter) in this humorous, touching, well-written, bittersweet, entertaining, unpredictable, 118-minute, 2015 film dominated by superb acting and based on Rosalie Ham’s bestselling novel, she searches for answers, closure, and “just desserts” while catching the eye of a hunky, blue-eyed neighbor (Liam Hemsworth) and triggering the emotions of many quick-to-judge townsfolk (Kerry Fox, Shane Bourne, James Mackay, Gyton Grantley, Shane Jacobson, Barry Otto, et al.) and positively affecting the lives of the several women (Sarah Snook, Caroline Goodall, Rebecca Gibney, Alison Whyte, et al.) and the flamboyant, eccentric police sergeant (Hugh Weaving) with her haute couture fashions.
“The Hollars” (PG-13) (3)
[Brief language and some thematic material.] — When a commitment-shy, Florida artist (John Krasinski), who has a wealthy, 8-month pregnant girlfriend (Anna Kendrick), returns to Ohio after his mother (Margo Martindale) lands in the hospital in this down-to-earth, low-key, well-acted, star-dotted (Josh Groban, Mary Kay Place, Charley Day, and Randall Park), 88-minute film, he tries to help his traumatized father (Richard Jenkins) upon learning that he and his plumbing and heating business are on the verge of bankruptcy and his divorced brother (Sharlto Copley) who is obsessed with his ex-wife (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).
On DVD
“The Brothers Solomon” (R) (.5)
[Language and sexual content.] — After their father (Lee Majors) slips into a coma in this agonizingly unfunny, lame comedy, two idiotic, close-knit brothers (Will Forte and Will Arnett) with inept dating skills hire a surrogate (Kristen Wiig), who has just split up with her janitorial boyfriend (Chi McBride), to have their baby in an effort to honor their father’s dying wish to have a grandchild.
“Dans Paris” (NR) (2.5)
[Subtitled] — While a depressed and dysfunctional Frenchman (Romain Duris) moves back home to live with his father (Guy Marchand) in Paris after breaking up with his girlfriend (Joana Preiss) in this morose, poignant French film, his equally depressed, womanizing brother (Louis Garrell) seeks solace in bedding different women as he tries to get over the suicide of his teenage sister.
“Family Nest” (NR) (3.5)
[Subtitled] — Anger, resentment, frustrations, and bitterness escalate in this award-winning, somber, insightful, black-and-white, cinema verité style 1979 Béla Tarr film about a disillusioned Hungarian sausage factory worker (Lászlóne Horváth) whose life continues to unravel as she fights weekly with a local social services office to get a government-subsidized apartment for her suspicious husband (László Horváth), who just returned from the military, and her young daughter (Krisztina Horváth) while living with her verbally abusive, two-faced father-in-law (Gábor Kun) and other relatives in a cramped one-room apartment.
“The Hunting Party” (R) (3)
When a well-seasoned, boozing, reckless, fool-hearty war correspondent (Richard Gere) makes a career ending blunder on camera with a news anchor (James Brolin) in 1995 and is resigned to selling his war stories to second-rate media outlets in this gripping, gritty, intense, factually inspired, wry political film, he coaxes his longtime friend and former cameraman (Terrence Howard) and a tag-along, Harvard-educated, greenhorn journalist (Jesse Eisenberg) to help him search for a vile and ruthless war criminal (Ljubomir Kerekes) in Bosnia Herzegovina where a U.N. peacekeeping official (Mark Ivanir) and a revenge-driven daughter (Diane Kruger) mistake the three for CIA agents.
“Moving McCallister” (PG-13) (.5)
[Some drug content, sexual references, and crude humor.] — The road trip from hell begins in this inane, unfunny comedy when a regimented Miami law student (Ben Gourley) reluctantly agrees to drive the inconsiderate, immature, free-spirited niece (Mila Kunis) of his boss (Rutger Hauer) from Savannah to Malibu four days before he is scheduled to take the bar exam.
“Mr. Woodcock” (PG-13) (2.5)
[Crude and sexual content, thematic material, language, and a mild drug reference.] — A silly, wacky, but enjoyable comedy about a bestselling author (Seann William Scott) who freaks out when he returns to his hometown in Nebraska to find his widowed mother (Susan Sarandon) dating his former abusive, sarcastic gym teacher (Billy Bob Thornton) who taunted and bullied him when he was a student.
“The Outsider” (NR) (2.5)
[Subtitled] — A bleak, verité style 1981 Béla Tarr’s film about a hard-drinking, cynical, irresponsible, and talented Hungarian violinist (András Szabó) in Budapest who spends his days working at a boring cable factory job and his nights boozing with his adulterous, two-faced brother (Imre Donko) and equally lazy friends (Istvan Bolla) and performing as a disc jockey at a nightclub to the chagrin and disappointment of his unhappy, nagging wife (Joalan Fodor).
“Silk” (R) (3)
[Sexuality and nudity.] — Stunning cinematography dominates this bittersweet love story about an adventurous French silkworm merchant (Michael Pitt) who leaves his beautiful wife (Keira Knightley) in 1862 when he is hired by a savvy businessman (Alfred Molina) to make a dangerous trip to Japan to buy silkworms eggs and then finds himself infatuated with the enticing, gorgeous concubine (Sei Ashina) of the local baron (Kôji Yakusho).
“The Touch” (PG-13) (2.5)
[Violence.] — When her former boyfriend (Ben Chaplin) steals an ancient relic with alleged mystical powers from a greedy rich, power-hungry collector (Richard Roxburgh) and his thugs (Dane Cook, et al.) in this action-packed 2004 Hong Kong film loaded with high-flying martial art stunts, a beautiful Chinese acrobat (Michelle Yeoh) tries to protect her naïve brother (Brandon Chang) after he takes the artifact to learn more about its origin and powers.
©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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