Ant-Man - Everywhere
Ant-Man, the (partially) SF-shot film on the set of which a homeless guy may or may not have taken a dump, is the "big" Marvel movie of the summer, which is funny to say because ants are small! Bay Area native Carman Tse, who writes for LAist during the week and SFist on the weekends, says it's "fun, loose and not overbearing." You can read his full review here.
Trainwreck - Everywhere
It's not quite They Came Together, but it's no Maid in Manhattan (or whatever) either: director Judd Apatow bucks his trend of casting size-zero women in favor of still-very-attractive-but-looks-like-she-could-manage-a-sandwich Amy Schumer as the female half of what is a very funny but still fairly standard romantic comedy. Not that there's anything wrong with that! Tropes gotta trope. Bill Heder plays the other half of the duo, iconic alien Tilda Swinton plays Schumer's boss, and LeBron James (yes, that LeBron James) plays the requisite black best friend.
Boulevard - Opera Plaza
As it contains Robin Williams' final on-screen role, it's difficult to approach Boulevard in a critical vacuum. The late actor and comedian plays a 60-year-old closeted gay man who's married to a woman, and who realizes late-in-life that he doesn't have to closeted after all. There are probably some critics who can look past the tragic end to Williams life and not look for portents in this performance. Not that Williams was gay (he wasn't)! But he, too, was engaged in a lifelong struggle to hide something — his desperate, crushing unhappiness. Viewed without the knowledge of Williams' life and death, it's a fine, not great, movie that probably would have been released straight to On Demand. But with that knowledge, the film is a bit of a heartbreaker.
Tangerine - Embarcadero Center Cinema
Tangerine first played in the city back during the International Film Fest, now it's finally been released in theaters across the country. A LA-set micro-indie about two transgender sex workers, the film is set within one day and shot entirely on the iPhone 5s. Carman says that it's "a zany buddy comedy at heart...littered with irreverent punchlines and questionably-P.C. zingers." You can read his interview with the film's director here.
Mr Holmes - Stonestown, Metreon, Clay
No, it's not about the Tenderloin bakery responsible for the cruffin and the doughgroni, sorry. This is yet another property attempting to cash in on the enduring legacy of Sherlock Holmes. This time, the now-retired detective is played by Ian McKellen, and the case is "what happens when a brilliant man starts going senile." It's a great, albeit depressing meditation on mortality, though I can't help but wonder if Mitchell and Webb didn't provide at least a kernel of inspiration for the film.
A Wolf at the Door - Roxie
Based on actual events, this story of a kidnapped child is terrifying, twisty, and a step above the usual kid-in-danger film. The more cosmopolitan of you might have seen it a while ago, as it was released in Brazil in 2013. The rest of us can catch it (yes, there are subtitles) at the Little Roxie all this week.
Ardor - Four Star
Here's the thing about Ardor: it looks gooooregous, has epic levels of bloody violence, and stars heavy-hitters like Gael García Bernal and Alice Braga. But it's also dangerously preachy, to the point where I was groaning "uuuugh I knoooow" as I watched my screener (I was at home, don't worry). A revenge tale set in the Argentinian rain forest, the underlying message is that the jungle's inhabitants are being mistreated by asshole city dwellers, Not arguing that that isn't a sucky scenario, just saying that if you want to tell me that, don't also have me also watch Bernal fuck a chick in the forest right after she escaped from rapists and watched her dad get hacked to death. Or vice versa.
Jurassic Park - Clay
Wash the shittiness of the most recent installment in the Jurassic franchise out of your mouth with Friday and Saturday's midnight screenings of the OG JP. When that T. Rex eats that toilet lawyer, how can you not feel better about everything?
