$7. Tickets at web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/926740
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CRY BABY. John Waters’ 1990 spoof of ’50s juveniledelinquent films features Johnny Depp as Cry-Baby Walker, a not-so-bad boy who falls for the good girl (Amy Locane). This gleefully anarchic musical features a rousing soundtrack and too many oddball celebrities to list. OK, here’s two: Traci Lords and Joey Heatherton. With shadowcasting by the Junior Chamber of Commerce Players. 7 p.m. Sat., Aug. 17. Hollywood
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NEW THE CRYSTAL FAIRY. Sebastián Silva’s loosely plotted road-trip dramedy charts a few days in the life of Jamie (Michael Cera), an abrasive, self-centered American freewheeling in Chile. Jamie’s goal is to acquire an hallucinogenic cactus and retreat to an isolated beach to take the trip. He’s accompanied by three local dudes — and unexpectedly, at the last minute, by a funky, hippy-dippy American woman calling herself Crystal Fairy (Gaby Hoffman). Not much happens — there’s some humor around the pursuit of the cactus, and the guys’ ongoing bemusement at Crystal’s eccentric behavior — and the fabled drug trip is mostly a McGuffin. The real journey is what happens when these random people are thrown together and begin challenging each other’s behaviors and dropping various masks. Silva’s handheld cameras and the cast’s improvisation work to put the viewer in the mix. Thus, your enjoyment of the film may depend on much you enjoy just hanging out with people while they squabble, talk nonsense and occasionally say something interesting. In English, and some Spanish, with subtitles. Starts Fri., Aug. 16. Harris (Al Hoff) FILL THE VOID. Getting married is both straightforward and complex, in this lowkey drama set among Tel Aviv’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. Eighteen-year-old Shira (Hadas Yaron) is eager to be matched with a young man — the marriages are arranged within tight-knit families and approved by the rabbi. But when her older sister dies, leaving behind a widower and a baby, things become quietly complicated for all. Should Shira marry her brother-in-law, Yochay (Yiftach Klein), thereby keeping the family intact, and ensuring both are paired? And what of Shira’s concerns and her desires for a “new” marriage? Writer-director Rama Burshtein is Orthodox herself, so such interpersonal dynamics intertwined with religion in this insular world are handled with sensitivity. Her beautifully shot film explores the tension between the cloistered nature of the community, particularly for the women, and the expanding of Shira’s life as she becomes an adult. Fill the Void is a meditatively paced but emotionally resonant character study — not just of Shira, but of her immediate family and that of her larger community, whose strictures define much of these people’s emotional lives. In Hebrew, with subtitles. Starts Fri., Aug. 16. Manor (AH)
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KICK-ASS 2. The amateur crime-fighters — masks, capes and funny nicknames — are at it again, in this sequel to the 2010 action comedy. Chloe Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Aaron Taylor-Johnson star. Starts Fri., Aug. 16. THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES. A New York City teenager (Lily Collins) discovers that she comes from a bloodline of half-angel warriors tasked with rooting out demons. Harald Zwart directs this film adapted from Cassandra Clare’s book series. Starts Wed., Aug. 21. PARANOIA. Liam Hemsworth, Harrison Ford and Gary Oldham star in this thriller about corporate espionage. Robert Luketic directs. Starts Fri., Aug. 16. PLANES. Dusty is a crop-dusting farm-boy plane with dreams of becoming a champion racer. The
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SUNSET BOULEVARD. There’s much to recommend Billy Wilder’s noir-ish 1950 drama about faded silent-screen star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) and the much younger screenwriter, Joe Gillis (William Holden), who moves into her creepy Hollywood mansion as a kept man. The opening scene is a cracker, as we realize the dead guy floating in the pool is narrating the story; the tale, a searing look at the brutal studio machine, the vagaries of fame and assorted pathetic souls that live in halflight of reflected glory, only grows darker. 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Sun., Aug. 18; and 2 p.m. Thu., Aug. 22. Hollywood (AH)
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The Crystal Fairy digitally animated family film from Disney, directed by Klay Hall, uses the voices of Dane Cook, Stacy Keach, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and others to tell this classic underdog tale. It is fun to watch the writers transform a human-centered view of the world into a vehicle-centered one. The kids at the screening laughed at most of the jokes, and there were a few moments of humor tucked into the script for mom and dad. The plot takes viewers to several countries around the world, from Iceland to India, from Germany to China, and the sweeping (and at times cringe-inducing) cultural stereotypes do keep things interesting. And all the country-hopping will likely grip kid-sized attention spans. In 3-D, in select theaters (Olivia Lammel)
depending whether your appreciation skews toward her acting or her abs.) Best reason to see it: Parks and Rec vets Nick Offerman and Kathryn Hahn, as a clean-cut couple who bring the funny without the f-bombs. (AH)
REPERTORY CINEMA IN THE PARK. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2, Wed., Aug. 14 (Schenley). Jumanji, Thu., Aug. 15 (Brookline); Fri., Aug. 16 (Arsenal); Sat., Aug. 17 (Grandview); and Sun., Aug. 18 (Schenley). Casablanca, Sat., Aug. 17 (Riverview). Jack the Giant Slayer, Mon., Aug. 19 (Highland Park); Tue., Aug. 20 (West End/Elliott Overlook); and Thu., Aug. 22 (Brookline). Skyfall, Wed., Aug. 21 (Schenley). Films begin at dusk. 412-422-6426 or www.citiparks.net. Free
RAGING BULL. Robert DeNiro stars in Martin Scorsese’s 1980 bio-pic about boxer Jake LaMotta, as his life takes a complicated path: The bullheadness and anger that serve LaMotta well in the ring prove destructive in his personal life. Beautifully shot in black and white, and filled with raw energy and great performances, this film has held up as one of the best for both Scorsese and DeNiro. The film continues a Sunday-night, month-long series of films featuring directors and their actor muses. 8 p.m. Sun., Aug. 18. Regent Square (AH)
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EASY RIDER. Dennis Hopper’s wildly influential 1969 road flick depicts two motorcycle-riding drop-outs (Hopper and Peter Fonda) as they head out on the highway, checking out America in all its groovy and ungroovy forms. Both a celebration of iconoclastic freedom and a mordant reflection on its limits, Easy Rider became an instant classic, as well as becoming a touchstone for a new generation of audiences and filmmakers who demanded Hollywood dig their scene and the grave social concerns within it. 7:30 p.m. Wed., Aug. 14; 10 p.m. Fri., Aug. 16; 10 p.m. Sat., Aug. 17; and 7 p.m. Sun., Aug. 18. Hollywood. (AH)
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THE TRIALS OF MUHAMMAD ALI. This new documentary from Bill Siegel covers one of the internationally famous boxer’s biggest fights: not in the ring, but in the courts, when Ali faced charges for refusing to be drafted during the Vietnam War. 7:30 p.m. Thu., Aug. 15. Hollywood
Baseball’s Last Hero: 21 Clemente Stories WE’RE THE MILLERS. A pot dealer (Jason Sudekis), a stripper (Jennifer Aniston), a nerdy kid (Will Poulter) and a teenage runaway (Emma Roberts) team up to pretend to be an all-American family in order to transport a huge quantity of weed north across the U.S.-Mexican border. (This plot device put me in mind of the 1978 weed-transport classic Up in Smoke, and the realization that after a couple decades of antidrug hysteria, we’re back to rooting for the success of drug-smugglers.) Rawson Marshall Thurber’s comedy doesn’t break much new ground, providing all the “hits” of an R-rated comedy: awkward sexual encounters, prosthetic genitals, profanity in place of wit and a tacked-on, family-positive ending marginally designed to mitigate the preceding vulgarity. (There’s also a strip-tease from Aniston, which is either a new low or high for the actress,
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 08.14/08.21.2013
VACATION. Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) wants to take his family to Wally World, but the trip turns into a nightmare. Harold Ramis directs this 1983 comedy adapted from John Hughes’ National Lampoon short story. This film concludes the 2013 Moonlit Matinee series. 10 p.m. Fri., Aug. 16, and 10 p.m. Sat., Aug. 17. Oaks LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. The classic 1962 epic about British adventurer T.E. Lawrence (Peter O’Toole), who joined the Arabs to fight the Turks in the World War I era. Directed by David Lean. With Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Omar Sharif. 1 p.m. Sat., Aug. 17, and 1 p.m. Sun., Aug. 18. Oaks BASEBALL’S LAST HERO: 21 CLEMENTE STORIES. This is the local premiere of a bio-doc of Roberto Clemente tracing the former Pirate’s life, from his achievements on the baseball field to his humanitarian work. The film is directed by former Pittsburgher Richard Rossi. 2 p.m. Sat., Aug. 17, and 7:30 p.m. Sun., Aug. 18. Strand Theater, 119 N. Main St., Zelienople. 724-742-0400 or information@thestrandtheater.org.
Fill the Void BOY IN THE PLASTIC BUBBLE. John Travolta stars in this earnest 1976 TV movie about a bright, sensitive teenager born without immunities, who must live in protective bubbles or spacesuits. Though sentimental in a low-key way, the movie has a few groaners — including the shot of a spacesuited Travolta running along a beach hand-in-hand with a girl. For this So Bad It’s Good Screening, there will be live heckling by the Ink & Paint Club. 7 p.m. Wed., Aug. 21. Hollywood. $10 DIABOLIQUE. A boarding-school principal’s mistress (Simone Signoret) enlists his put-upon, fragile wife (Vera Clouzot) in a plot to kill her lover, the other woman’s husband. The plan goes well … until the body disappears. Henri-Georges Clouzot’s stylish 1954 psychological thriller is an exercise in sexual intrigue, moody mise-en-scène and palpable tension. Time has rendered Diabolique less frightening, though it’s still a worthy and intriguing drama. If its plot twists seem familiar and much imitated, recall that many originated with this film. In French, with subtitles. 8 p.m. Wed., Aug. 21. Melwood. $2 (AH)
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