Movie Blog: This Week's Best Bets
The Internet Cat Video Festival has come and gone, and so has summer, it seems.
The forecast this week looks like it's straight out of October, so it's probably a good time to catch a movie, or watch something new on Netflix.
Tuesday, Aug. 18: Do I Sound Gay? (Lagoon Theatre)
This docu-essay from first-time filmmaker David Thorpe is part pop anthropology and part self-help film. Thorpe, a gay man and writer, seeks to change the way he talks after having something of a mid-life crisis. But as he learns about his speech patterns and habits, he also examines gay voices in popular culture. In one segment, it's suggested that Disney villains like Jafar, Scar and Shere Khan were all cunning and evil homosexuals – a trope, the film argues, that's existed in western filmmaking for some time. While Thorpe does have some trouble tying all the ends of his film together, the project is nevertheless interesting. After all, who doesn't have anxiety about the way they talk?
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All Week: Straight Outta Compton (Everywhere)
What a summer for movies about music! We've had two pretty strong documentaries in recent weeks, one on Amy Winehouse and another on Kurt Cobain. Now we've got a biopic on the hip-hop group N.W.A. While I haven't seen the film, which took home an impressive $60 million in its opening weekend, early reviews seem positive. The story follows the group's rise to prominence in the '80s and their struggles with the music business and the burdens of success. Some have criticized the film for sugarcoating the group's story and the misogyny of their lyrics and actions. Still, there are those who contend that the movie is important in the context of the current national conversation on what it means to be black in America.
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Wednesday, Aug. 19: The Big Lebowski (Walker Art Center)
This Coen brothers classic is the last installment in the Walker's Summer Nights/Cool Cinema series, so why not say farewell to the season with The Dude?
The screening starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Walker Cinema. Tickets are $6.
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All Week: Jurassic World (Riverview Theater)
If you could use a Chriss Pratt-with-velociraptors extravaganza in your life, now's your chance to experience it on the cheap.
On a similar note, the excellent "Mad Max" is still playing at the Riverview.
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New On Netflix: Two Days, One Night
When the rain gets you down, Marion Cotillard is there to pick you up. Well, at least here she is.
This movie has a simple plot wherein a working mom (Cotillard) tries to save her factory job by convincing all her co-workers over the course of a weekend to give up their yearly bonuses. The film is weirdly thrilling and powerfully human.
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