Film Focus: Week of March 21-27, 2025
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Film Focus: Week of March 21-27, 2025

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By M. Faust
(Image above: Robert De Niro in ‘The Alto Knights’)

OPENING THIS WEEK: 

THE ALTO KNIGHTS (R) Robert De Niro in a dual performance as gangsters Frank Costello and Vito Genovese in a film that looks an awful lot like something from Martin Scorsese, though it was actually directed by Barry Levinson (The Natural, Bugsy). With Debra Messing, Cosmo Jarvis, Katherine Narducci, Michael Rispoli, Anthony J. Gallo and Wallace Langham. AMC Maple Ridge, AMC Market Arcade, Dipson Amherst, Dipson Capitol, Dipson Flix, Dunkirk Multiplex, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

ASH (R) Sci-fi thriller starring Eiza González and Aaron Paul as astronauts on a distant planet unsure if they can rely on each other for survival. Directed by Flying Lotus (Kuso). Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

THE ASSESSMENT (R) Dystopian drama set in a future where a couple (Elizabeth Olsen, Himesh Patel) who want to have a child must seek official approval. With Alicia Vikander. Directed by Fleur Fortuné. Regal Quaker, Regal Walden Galleria

LOCKED (R) Bill Skarsgård as a car thief who makes the mistake of breaking into an SUV that has been specially booby trapped by its sadistic owner (Anthony Hopkins) for the likes of him. Directed by David Yarovesky (Brightburn). Dipson Capitol, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

MAGAZINE DREAMS (R) Jonathan Majors stars as a loner whose obsessive desire to become a famous fitness model takes on psychotic proportions. With Haley Bennett, Taylour Paige, and Michael O’Hearn. Directed by Elijah Bynum (Hot Summer Nights). AMC Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Walden Galleria

SNOW WHITE (PG) Another Disney live action remake of an animated feature. (Although in these days of CGI, “live action” doesn’t mean what it once did.) Starring Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot, and Andrew Burnap. Directed by Marc Webb (The Amazing Spider-Man 2). AMC Maple Ridge, AMC Market Arcade, Dipson Capitol, Dipson Flix, Dipson McKinley, Dunkirk Multiplex, Joylan, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria, Spotlight Theater of Warsaw

NOW PLAYING:

ANORA (R) Winner of multiple Oscars including Best Picture, Director and Actress, a boisterous comedy about a Brooklyn sex worker whose fairytale romance with a rich young Russian runs afoul of his family. Starring Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov, and Karren Karagulian. Directed by Sean Baker (Tangerine). Dipson Amherst Read M. Faust’s review here

BECOMING LED ZEPPELIN (PG-13) Documentary chronicling the early days of the band that was originally called the New Yardbirds. Directed by Bernard MacMahon. Regal Transit

CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD (PG-13) Captain America versus a giant, bellowing, incoherent mass of limitless anger colored red. Are we actually getting a political allegory from, of all places, Disney/Marvel? Starring Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Giancarlo Esposito and Carl Lumbly. Directed by Julius Onah (The Cloverfield Paradox). AMC Maple Ridge, AMC Market Arcade, Dipson Capitol, Dipson Flix, Dipson McKinley, Dunkirk Multiplex, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

DOG MAN (PG) In this animated adaptation of a series of graphic novels, an injured cop and his police dog are merged by a surgeon into one body. With the voices of Pete Davidson, Lil Rel Howery, Isla Fisher, Poppy Liu, Stephen Root, and Ricky Gervais. Directed by Peter Hastings (The Country Bears). AMC Maple Ridge, Dipson Capitol, Dipson Flix, Dipson McKinley, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

LAST BREATH (PG-13) True story about deep sea divers trying to rescue a trapped comrade with limited oxygen during a storm. Starring Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu, and Finn Cole. Directed by Alex Parkinson, who also directed the 2019 documentary about the real incident. Aurora, Regal Quaker

MICKEY 17 (R) From director Bong Joon Ho (Parasite, Snowpiercer), a science fiction comedy starring Robert Pattinson as a space traveler sent on dangerous missions because he can be cloned if he is killed. With Steven Yeun, Michael Monroe, Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette. AMC Maple Ridge, AMC Market Arcade, Dipson Capitol, Dunkirk Multiplex, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

THE MONKEY (R) Horror comedy adapted from a Stephen King short story. Starring Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Christian Convery, Adam Scott, and Elijah Wood. Directed by Oz Perkins (Longlegs). AMC Maple Ridge, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Walden Galleria

MUFASA THE LION KING (PG) Animated sequel, or prequel or whatever. With the voices of Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Tiffany Boone. Directed by Barry Jenkins (If Beale Street Could Talk). Regal Quaker, Regal Walden Galleria

PADDINGTON IN PERU (PG) The world’s politest bear and his adopted human family journey to Peru to help out his aunt. Starring Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Jessica Hynes, Antonio Banderas, Olivia Colman, Hayley Atwell, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, and the voices of Ben Whishaw and Imelda Staunton. Directed by Dougal Wilson. Dipson McKinley, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker

THE UNBREAKABLE BOY (PG) Feel-good drama about a boy born with autism and brittle bone disease whose positive attitude helps those who know him. Starring Zachary Levi, Jacob Laval and Meghann Fahy. Directed by Jon Gunn. Regal Quaker 

ETC.

THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935)—James Whale’s sequel to his 1931 Frankenstein adds a heightened sense of visual style (the sets and photography are both memorable) and dark humor to the proceedings. Boris Karloff’s performance as the monster is probably his finest moment, though Ernest Thesiger steals the film as the epicurean Dr. Pretorious. The program will also include the first filmed version of Mary Shelly’s story, a short produced by the Edison Company in 1910. Presented by local filmmaker/educator Gregory Lamberson. Fri March 28 7 pm. Screening Room

INLAND EMPIRE (2006)—David Lynch’s last theatrical feature was also the first one since Eraserhead in which, thanks to inexpensive video cameras and digital technology, he was able to exercise complete artistic control. If you’ve never seen a Lynch film, this is not the one to start with; fans who have been catching up with the rest of his work since his recent death will best be prepared to deal with what will strike the uninitiated as three hours of incomprehensible footage. With Laura Dern, Harry Dean Stanton, Jeremy Irons, Justin Theroux, Grace Zabriskie, Diane Ladd, Julia Ormond and Nastassja Kinski. Sat-Sun 11:30 am. North Park

METROPOLIS (Germany, 1927)—Newly restored version of Fritz Lang’s magnificent silent classic set in a future society where mankind is divided into two classes, the thinkers and the workers. Tues 7 pm. Screening Room

PURPLE RAIN (1984)—The plot is a hair above ridiculous, but who cares when you have Prince at his youthful best?. With Apollonia, Morris Day and Clarence Williams III. Fri 7:30 pm, Sat 8 pm (singalong edition). Screening Room

THEATER LOCATIONS AND WEBSITES

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