New in Theaters
The Back Space Theatre, 1120 Main Ave., 259-7940, www.thebackspacetheatre.org)
Running Wild: The Life of Dayton O. Hyde
From cattle drives, rodeos and conservation battles, to wild horse rescues, personal heartbreak and new-found love, this is the self-told tale of a colorful 6-foot-5-inch cowboy, paralleling both the old West and America’s growing awareness of the importance of protecting our natural resources. A testament for anyone who needs motivation on their own personal journey – and reassurance that each of us can truly make a difference if we try.
Durango Stadium 9
Gravity. (In standard format and digital 3-D with surcharge)
In an age when we’re able to consume content so many different ways – and that’s a good thing, mostly – let’s declare right now that there’s only one truly correct way to experience “Gravity,” Alfonso Cuaron’s thrilling new space film.
In a theater. On a huge screen. And in 3-D. Yes, even for all you 3-D naysayers – we hear you, but this is the movie you HAVE to see in 3-D.
And please, no matter how many months or years pass, don’t watch this film on your little smartphone.
If you’ve seen the heart-pounding trailer, you’ll know that Sandra Bullock and George Clooney play astronauts who experience a traumatic accident in space. You may also know about the extraordinary special effects used to create this weightless cinematic world – so extraordinary that many are calling the film a landmark of the sci-fi genre.
But what you can’t know, until you’re in the theater, is just how much you’ll feel like you’re up there in space, feeling its vastness, perhaps even feeling cold. And how you might let yourself forget, momentarily, that this movie wasn’t shot on location. And how you’ll ask yourself, how did they DO this? And how you’ll then forget the question, because you’ll be caught up once again in this 90-minute thrill ride.
Cuaron’s filmmaking prowess is no secret. His 2007 “Children of Men” was a masterful evocation of a bleak futuristic world where women can no longer conceive, and warring gangs struggle for control of the dying human race.
But while that film teemed with people, “Gravity” has but a few. It aims to evoke the full terror of true solitude – indeed, Bullock is alone much of the time.
And though it doesn’t take place on Earth, “Gravity” is in a way closer to our reality – not a futuristic world, but one that exists today, though you’d have to be on a space mission to get there.
If you were, you’d want to be with Matt Kowalski (Clooney), the experienced mission commander, cocky and totally in charge. He jokes easily with Mission Control (voiced by Ed Harris, in a nice nod to “Apollo 13” and “The Right Stuff”) while spacewalking with a new jet pack, but when disaster strikes, he’s the guy you want nearby.
Bullock is Ryan Stone, a medical engineer installing a new system on the Hubble telescope. She’s on her first mission, and feeling rather queasy, when suddenly a massive field of debris comes hurtling by, sending Stone spiraling out of control.
All this and more is established in a single, stunning, 13-minute opening shot. And Cuaron is just getting started.
While we’ll reveal no more plot, it’s worth noting that the film’s one flaw stems from an effort to give Bullock’s character more of a backstory than necessary, perhaps an overly sentimental one. But overall, the actress finds that difficult balance between frailty and tenacity. And Bullock’s grounded presence – pun intended – is a huge plus here.
The script is by Cuaron and his son, Jonas, but kudos are also due cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and visual effects supervisor Tim Webber, for their seamless blend of live action, animation and CGI. As for the 3-D, never once does it feel anything less than totally integrated with the film’s purpose.
As the credits roll, you may find yourself thinking about real space launches you’ve watched, or watching man walk on the moon, and remembering that feeling of awe at how man ever developed the technology to explore space in the first place.
But save a bit of movie-lover’s awe, too, for Cuaron, who has many of us feeling closer to space than we’ve ever felt before.
“Gravity,” a Warner Bros. release, is rated PG-13 for “intense perilous sequences, some disturbing images and brief strong language.” Running time: 90 minutes. HHHH.
JOCELYN NOVECK, AP National Writer
Runner Runner.
A story like that at the heart of “Runner Runner,” about a young American gambler who gets sucked way above his head into the criminal doings of a big-time offshore operator, would have found its ideal life as a tough, punchy, black-and-white programmer back in the 1950s. Today, it would have been most viable as a grandiose character study done on an operatic scale by a filmmaker like Martin Scorsese or Michael Mann. What’s actually up onscreen in this vaguely ambitious but tawdry melodrama falls into an in-between no man’s land that endows it with no distinction whatsoever, a work lacking both style and insight into the netherworld it seeks to reveal. Despite an intriguing setup and Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake heading the cast, this Fox release holds a losing box-office hand.
The opening of the script by Brian Koppelman and David Levien (“Solitary Man,” “Oceans 13”) combines with Timberlake’s presence to suggest a somewhat less exceptional variation on “The Social Network’s” focus on maverick entrepreneurialism in the Ivy League. Threatened with expulsion from Princeton unless he shuts down his online gambling site, finance grad student Richie Furst (Timberlake), with nothing now to lose, heads for Costa Rica determined to stick it to the undisputed king of computer gambling, Ivan Black (Affleck).
Arriving during the boss’s annual blowout, the Midnight Black Expo, Richie cleverly scores an audience with the bodyguard-festooned Ivan. Lounging on his hero’s yacht, Richie brazenly accuses his relaxed host of cheating him on his site ... and Ivan readily admits it. In the film’s best-written scene, the older man affably agrees to reimburse the kid for his losses and then some. But, then again, Ivan can always use a smart, ballsy guy in his operation, so maybe Richie would like to come work for him. Seven, maybe even eight figures a year beckon.
With Puerto Rican locations doubling for Costa Rica, the allure of Ivan’s world looks pretty tacky no matter how doused in money it is. With the help of a couple of other Yankee college boys who are given no character dimension whatsoever, Richie quickly learns the ropes and gets mixed signals from Ivan’s glamorous factotum Rebecca (Gemma Arterton), who may or may not be on exclusive reserve for the boss. All goes swimmingly until, a third of the way in, Richie is kidnapped by none other than the FBI, whose local agent Shavers (Anthony Mackie) tries to coerce the kid into informing on Ivan’s business.
When Richie tells his boss what happened, Ivan waves it off, claiming it happens to everyone who works for him. But Ivan has a little unpleasantness of his own in store for his eager acolyte, as he forces him to blackmail a top client into a continued business relationship, then starts using him as a bagman to pay off local authorities.
The overriding problem with the direction by Brad Furman (“The Lincoln Lawyer,” “The Take”) is that it lacks a real pulse, a throb of excitement that pulls you into this unsavory world and will accept no resistance. Furman stuffs the screen with luxurious digs, fancy cars, cool boats, private jets and parties loaded with scantily clad women, but there’s no undercurrent, no intoxicating hook used to snare the audience, along with Richie, for the ride.
Beyond that, the drama’s final stretch, in which Richie must desperately try to turn the tables on his boss if he has a chance of escaping with his hide intact, charts arcane financial and strategic moves in such a rapid and superficial way that it’s impossible to know how, in any semblance of a real world, he can pull this off in almost no time at all. To whatever marginal extent one might be invested in the film up to this point, the impulse is to just throw in the towel.
“Runner Runner,” a 20th Century Fox release, is rated R for “language and some sexual content.” Running time: 91 minutes.
TODD McCARTHY, The Hollywood Reporter
Gaslight Cinema
Haute Cuisine. Hortense Laborie (Catherine Frot), a renowned chef from Perigord, is astonished when the President of the Republic (Jean d’Ormesson) appoints her his personal cook, responsible for creating all his meals at the Elysée Palace.
Despite jealous resentment from the other kitchen staff, Hortense quickly establishes herself, thanks to her indomitable spirit. The authenticity of her cooking soon seduces the President, but the corridors of power are littered with traps...Rated PG-13.
Populaire. Spring, 1958. 21-year-old Rose Pamphyle lives with her grouchy widower father who runs the village store. Engaged to the son of the local mechanic, she seems destined for the quiet, drudgery-filled life of a housewife. But that’s not the life Rose longs for.
When she travels to Lisieux in Normandy, where charismatic insurance agency boss Louis Echard is advertising for a secretary, the ensuing interview is a disaster. But Rose reveals a special gift - she can type at extraordinary speed.
Unwittingly, the young woman awakens the dormant sports fan in Louis. If she wants the job she’ll have to compete in a speed typing competition. Whatever sacrifices Rose must make to reach the top, Louis declares himself her trainer. He’ll turn her into the fastest girl not only in the country, but in the world! But a love of sport doesn’t always mix well with love itself ...(in French with English subtitles). Rated R.
Still Showing
Durango Stadium 9
(Next to Durango Mall, 247-9799, www.allentheatresinc.com)
La Camioneta: The Journey of One American School Bus. (Wednesday only.) Every day dozens of decommissioned school buses leave the United States on a southward migration that carries them to Guatemala, where they are repaired, repainted, and resurrected as the brightly colored camionetas that bring the vast majority of Guatemalans to work each day. This film follows one such bus on its journey between North and South, between life and death, and through an unfolding collection of moments, people and places that serve to quietly remind us of the interconnected worlds in which we live.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. (In standard format and digital 3-D with surcharge.) Chester V’s evil machine is still creating animal-food hybrids, much to the chagrin of Flint Lockwood. It’s a sequel – hopefully someone understands what all that means. Rated
Don Jon. A “player” (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) finds that all of his conquests can’t compare to the simple pleasures of internet porn. Rated R.
Rush. Ron Howard does a smashing job of capturing life on the Formula 1 circuit. Rated R.
Prisoners. Hugh Jackman and Terrence Howard play fathers whose daughters go missing after a holiday dinner. A riveting search ensues. Rated R.
Insidious Chapter 2. If you know what happened to the Lambert family the first time around, then understanding how it happened probably makes sense to you. If not, it’s still just really scary. Rated PG-13.
We’re the Millers. Jason Sudeikis creates a family from a bunch of derelicts to cover his drug-running activities. Rated R.
Gaslight Cinema
(102 Fifth St. Next to the railroad depot, 247-8133, www.allentheatresinc.com)
Lee Daniels’ The Butler. Forest Whitaker plays the butler who served presidents for three decades at the White House. Oh, the stories he could tell ... Rated PG-13.
Animas City Theatre (128 E. College Drive 799-2281, www.animascitytheatre.com)
Short Term 12. A counselor in a care facility finds that she’s not too different than those in her charge. Rated R.
Ted Holteen and Associated PresS
