Short Redhead Reel Reviews for the week of July 17 – ECM Publishers

Rating system: (4=Don't miss, 3=Good, 2=Worth a look, 1=Forget it)

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Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly (NR) (3.5) [Partially subtitled] [Plays in Virtual Cinema sponsored by MSP Film Society; for more information, log on to mspfilm.org.] Cheryl Hainess engaging, informative, inspirational, poignant, 76-minute, 2019 documentary that focuses on famous Chinese artist and outspoken human rights activist Ai Weiwei and his socially relevant 2014 art exhibition called @Large: Weiwei on Alcatraz, which was viewed by more than 900,000 visitors on Alcatraz Island penitentiary who penned more than 92,000 postcards to prisoners around the world, that pays homage to the many current and former prisoners, such as journalists, poets, and human rights activists, from twenty-two countries who have been unjustly imprisoned for disagreeing with those in power and consists of amazing Lego portraits, archival photographs and film footage, and commentary by Weiweis mother Gao Ying and brother Ai Dan, Amnesty International director Steven Hawkins, designer Wu Tun, dissident poet Ai Qing, former intelligence officer and whistleblower Chelsea Manning, ex-CIA officer John Kiriakou, and Guggenheim Museum curator Alexandre Munroe

Assassination of a High School President (R) (2) [Sexual content, some nudity, language, and drug and alcohol use - all involving teens.] [DVD only] When a popular basketball player (Patrick James Taylor) at a Catholic high school is seemingly framed for stealing SATs tests in this wacky, twisting film, a nerdy sophomore reporter (Reece Daniel Thompson), who is writing for his high school newspaper, begins to investigate and uncovers an insidious conspiracy that involves other students (Mischa Barton, Nick Blaemire, et al.) and the mentally disturbed principal (Bruce Willis).

Broken Embraces (R) (3.5) [Sexual content, language, and some drug material.] [Subtitled] [DVD only] Superb acting highlights Pedro Almodvars compelling, twisting, romantic thriller in which a blind Madrid screenwriter/director (Llus Homar), who is aided by a devoted, longtime production manager (Blanca Portillo) and her son (Tamar Novas), who reminiscences about his passionate love affair with his beautiful leading lady (Penlope Cruz) in his film Girls and Suitcases and her attempts to escape the bonds of her wealthy, aging, industrialist/financier boyfriend (Jos Luis Gmez) and his prying, homosexual son (Rubn Ochandiano).

Crazy Heart (R) (4) [Language and brief sexuality.] [DVD only] Entertaining honky tonk music highlights this compelling, critically acclaimed, bittersweet, well-acted film in which a scruffy, down-on-his luck, four-times-divorced, 57-year-old singer/songwriter (Jeff Bridges) finds escape in a bottle of whiskey, a longtime friendship with a bar Texas bar owner (Robert Duvall), respect from a successful country western singer (Colin Farrell), support from his manager (James Keane), and eventually hope for change from a divorced Santa Fe music scene journalist (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and her young son (Jack Nation).

Crazy on the Outside (PG-13) (2) [Sexual content and language.] After a good-hearted convict (Tim Allen) is released from a federal prison and moves in with his lying-prone sister (Sigourney Weaver) and her family (J. K. Simmons, Daniel Booko, and Karle Warren) in Santa Monica in this sporadically funny, run-of-the-mill comedy, he tries to reconnect with his former girlfriend (Julie Brown) who is now engaged to a wealthy businessman (Kelsey Grammer) and to connect with his man-leery probation officer (Jeanne Tripplehorn) and her son (Kenton Duty) while evading the illegal shenanigans of his former partner (Ray Liotta).

Daybreakers (R) (2.5) [Strong bloody violence, language, and brief nudity.] [DVD only] When humankind and vampires (Michael Dorman, Sahaj Dumpleton, et al.) are on the brink of extinction in 2019 in this futuristic, gory, violent, unpredictable, and engaging thriller, a chain-smoking hematologist (Ethan Hawke), who works for a greedy businessman (Sam Neill) estranged from his non-turned daughter (Isabel Lucas), searches for a blood substitute along with a trusted coworker (Vince Colosimo) and ultimately joins a group of humans (Willem Dafoe, Claudia Karvan, et al.) and empathetic bloodsuckers (Damien Garvey, et al.) to find cure for a plague that has decimated the living.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (PG-13) (2.5) [Violent images, some sensuality, language, and smoking.] [DVD only] While the distraught, aging ringleader (Christopher Plummer) of a traveling theater troupe (Andrew Garfield and Verne Troyer) tries to save his soon-to-be 16-year-old daughter (Lily Cole) from the hands of the devil (Tom Waits) after making a deal with him years earlier in Terry Gilliam'svisually stunning, highly imaginative, vibrantly colored, convoluted, fantasy adventure satire, a shady fundraiser (Heather Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell) in London has his own agenda when he steps behind the magical mirror and into the heart of the beautiful, redheaded teenager.

Leap Year (PG) (3) [Sensuality and language.] [DVD only] Lush, gorgeous scenery dominates this charming, syrupy sweet, predictable, romantic, chick-flick comedy in which a perfectionist, regimented, redheaded real estate stager (Amy Adams) in Boston follows her stick-in-the-mud cardiologist boyfriend (Adam Scott) of four years to the Emerald Isle to propose to him on lucky Feb. 29 and finds herself on a bumpy, soggy, sparks-flying journey to Dublin with a hunky, small-town, Irish bar owner (Matthew Goode) when she lands at his modest Dingle hotel and bar.

The Ramen Girl (PG-13) (3) [Some sexual content.] [Partially subtitled.] [DVD only] After her coldhearted boyfriend (Gabriel Mann) dumps her in this compelling, down-to-earth, heartwarming 2008 film, a downhearted, tenacious American (Brittany Murphy) begs a grumpy, no-nonsense Japanese cook (Toshiyuki Nishida) in Tokyo to teach her how to make great ramen noodle soup.

The Spy Next Door (PG) (3) [Sequences of action violence, and some mild rude humor.] [DVD only] An entertaining, family-oriented, wit-filled, fast-paced remake of the 2003 film in which a geeky, Argyle-sweater-wearing undercover CIA spy (Jackie Chan), who works with his longtime associates (Billy Ray Cyrus and George Lopez) to capture some bad guy Russians (Magns Scheving, Katherine Boecher, Lucas Till, Tony Brenna, Jeff Chase, Mark Kubr, et al.) trying to manipulate oil prices, decides to retire and marry his artistic, clueless girlfriend (Amber Valletta) next door by winning points with her three rambunctious, hard-to-please children (Madeline Carroll, Will Shadley, and Alina Foley) and their cat, pig, and turtle.

Youth in Revolt (R) (2.5) [Sexual content, language, and drug use.] [DVD only] When a geeky, Sinatra-loving, Oakland teenager (Michael Cera), who lives with his man-obsessed mother (Jean Smart) and her beer-guzzling boyfriend (Zach Galifianakis), meets a beautiful, edgy high school student (Portia Doubleday) who desperately wants to escape her religiously zealous parents (Mary Kay Place and M. Emmet Walsh) and live in France in this wacky, coming-of-age, lose-your-virginity, star-filled (Fred Willard, Justin Long, Steve Buscemi, and Ray Liotta) comedy, he creates a flamboyant, reckless alter ego to win the girl of his dreams from her hunky boyfriend (Jonathan B. Wright).

Wendy Schadewald is a Burnsville resident.

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Short Redhead Reel Reviews for the week of July 17 - ECM Publishers