‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ among films opening in Bellingham this week
OPENING THIS WEEK
2015 Oscar Nominated Shorts: Live Action
PG-13, some language; 117 minutes. Films include “Parvaneh,” “Boogaloo and Graham,” “Aya,” “The Phone Call” and “Butter Lamp.”
No critical review available.
Playing: Limelight
Times: 12:45 (Sat-Sun)
Fifty Shades of Grey
R, strong sexual content, graphic nudity, language, unusual behavior; 125 minutes. A young college student falls for a weathly young man after an interview with him and finds herself drawn to his controlling, dominate lifestyle. Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Jennifer Ehle.
No critical review available.
Playing: Barkley Village
Times: 9:50 a.m. (Sat), 12, 12:40 (Sat), 1:10 (Fri, Sun), 3:10, 3:50 (Sat), 4:20, 6:20, 7, 7:40, 9:20, 10:10, 10:40
Julia och Romeo (Royal Swedish Opera House)
Not rated; 90 minutes. Mats Ek re-examines the ageless story of tragic love, setting his ballet in a city in crisis and looking at the subersive power of love, hate and jealously.
No critical review available
Playing: Pickford
Times: 4 (Sat)
Kingsman: The Secret Service
R, sequences of strong violence, strong language, some sexual content; 129 minutes. A secret spy agency in Britain enlists a young man whose father died in service of the agency to take down an Internet billionaire looking to dominate the world through his SIM cards. Colin Firth, Taron Egerton and Samuel L. Jackson
* * What is supposed to be both over-the-top and funny — such as in the movie’s most obnoxiously violent scene when Harry turns into a killing machine inside a fundamentalist church — ends up just wearying. — FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM
Playing: Barkley Village
Times: Friday, Sunday: 12:30, 3:40, 6:50, 9:55
Saturday: 12:30, 3:45, 6:40, 9”45
RPX: Friday, Sunday: 1, 4:10, 7:20, 10:25
Saturday: 10 a.m., 1:10, 4:10, 7:20, 10:25
Mr. Turner
R, some sexual content; 150 minutes. Director Mike Leigh recreates Victorian London in his film about one of Britain’s most famed painters, Joseph Mallord William Turner, a grumpy and gruff man who creates swirling scenes that prefigured the Impressionist period. Timothy Spall, Dorothy Atkinson, Ruth Sheen, Marion Bailey.
* * * 1/2 Mike Leigh, cinematic celebrator of the British working classes, delivers his second sumptious period biography in “Mr. Turner,” a lovely, lively and languorous biopic that’s almost as painterly as its subject. — MCCLATCHY
Playing: Pickford
Times: 12:45 (Sat), 3 (Fri, Sun), 3:15 (Mon-Thu), 6:15 (Fri-Wed), 8:30 (Thu), 9 (Fri-Wed)
The Muppet Movie
G; 95 minutes. Kermit the Frog is persuaded to head to Hollywood and pursue his dream of success in showbiz, along with Fozzie Bear, the Great Gonzo and Miss Pigg in this orginal muppet movie. Voices of Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Charles Durning, Milton Berle.
No critical review available.
Playing: Pickford
Times: 12:45 (Sun), 1:15 (Fri-Sat)
Old Fashioned
PG-13, some thematic material; 115 minutes. A former frat boy and a free-spirited woman attempt to recreate an “old-fashioned” courtship in contemporary America.
No critical review avaialable.
Playing: Barkley Village
Times: Friday, Sunday: 11 a.m., 1:50, 5:10, 6:50, 9:35
Saturday: 10:40 a.m., 12:10, 1:40, 3:20, 5:10, 7:10, 9:55
The Wisdom to Survive: Climate Change, Capitalism & Community
Not rated; 56 minutes. The film accepts the consensus of scientents that the climate is changing and asks what is keeping us from action and looks at the ways unlimited growth and greed are destroying the life support system on the planet.
No critical review available.
Playing: Pickford
Times: 6:30 (Thu), 9 (Thu)
ONGOING
American Sniper
R, strong and disturbing war violence, and language throughout including some sexual references; 134 minutes. Director Clint Eastwood and star Bradley Cooper combine to tell the story of the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history and focus on the destructive inner price that must be paid for inflicting violence.
* * * Too much of “American Sniper” is standard-issue military service movie, from the abusive training sequences to the standard operating procedure of house searches, dusty firefights and bodies dropped like a rising score in a first-person-shooter video game. No characters outside of Cooper and Miller make much of an impression. But Cooper, to his credit, rarely flinches, never chest-thumps and never loses his cool, even when Kyle is starting to lose his. It’s a masterful interpretation of a man with a lot more on his mind and blood on his hands than he was ever inclined to let on. And it’s a performance worthy of Eastwood himself — 50 years ago. — TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
Playing: Barkley Village
Times: 11:40 a.m., 2:40, 5:40, 6:30, 8:50, 9:30
Black or White
PG-13; 121 minutes. A widower raising his biracial granddaughter becomes embroiled in a bitter custody battle when the girl’s paternal grandmother turns up seeking custody. With Kevin Costner, Octavia Spencer and Gillian Jacobs. Written and directed by Mike Binder.
Playing: Barkley Village
Times: Friday, Sunday: 12:10, 3
Saturday: 1:35, 4:20
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
PG-13, fantasy action, violence and frightening images; 144 minutes. Peter Jackson’s final installment of the Hobbit saga finds Bilbo Baggins and his friends and allies at Laketown, battling the fire-breathing dragon Smaug and the legions of Orcs unleashed by Sauron. Martin Freeman, Orlando Bloom, Ian McKellen, Stephen Fry, Benedict Cumberbatch, Richard Armitage.
* * * * “The Battle of the Five Armies” is a roaring blockbuster of a war movie, that manages to be great thrills and totally ridiculous fun at the same time. — STAR TRIBUNE (MINNEAPOLIS)
Playing: Barkley Village
Times: Friday, Sunday: 2:30, 5:50
Saturday: 12:15, 7:05
The Imitation Game
PG-13, some sexual references, mature thematic material, historical smoking; 114 minutes. Film follows the work of Alan Turing during and after World War II, when his insight with computer-like devices help Great Britain win the war and when he arrested for acts stemming from his homosexuality. Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightly.
* * * * Every scene refocuses the film’s conversation, places a new code in front of the actors that we must crack along with them. Moore’s gripping script isn’t factually ideal, but dramatically, the film entirely lives up to Cumberbatch’s opening line: “Are you paying attention?” — STAR TRIBUNE (MINNEAPOLIS)
Playing: Pickford
Times: 12:45 (Mon), 3:30 (Mon-Thu), 3:45 (Fri-Sun), 6 (Thu), 6:30 (Fri-Wed), 9:30 (Fri-Wed)
Jupiter Ascending
PG-13; 125 minutes. Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum and Eddie Redmayne star in the latest mind-bending sci-fi fantasy from Matrix creators Lana and Andy Wachowski.
Playing: Barkley Village
Times: Friday, Sunday: 2:50, 6
Saturday: 10:50 a.m., 6:50
IMAX: Friday, Sunday: 2, 7:30
Saturday: 1:30, 7:30
3D: Friday, Sunday: 11:05 a.m., 4:50, 10:35
Saturday: 3, 8:40, 10:50
Oscar Nominated Animation Shorts, 2015
Not rated.
Playing: Limelight
Times: 8:35 (Fri-Thu)
Paddington
PG, mild action, rude humor; 95 minutes. A young Peruvian bear travels to the city in search of a home in this film based on Michael Bond’s children’s books. With Ben Whishaw, Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins.
* * * On the poster, Paddington the bear looks like the creepy British cousin of the Snuggle fabric softener bear. The CGI-version of Paddington (voice of Ben Whishaw) is neither robotic nor stiff, but instead comes off as a charming, delightful character. But even with all the bear’s charm, a plodding pace and a questionable plotline leave the 2015 film version less desirable to watch. — FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM
Playing: Barkley Village
Times: Friday, Sunday: 11:30 a.m., 2:10, 4:30, 8, 10:20
Saturday: 9:40 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 2:55, 4:40, 7:55, 10:15
Project Almanac
PG-13; 104 minutes. A brilliant high school student and his friends uncover blueprints for a time machine and build one, with potentially dire consequences. With Jonny Weston, Sofia Black-D’Elia and Sam Lerner. Written by Jason Harry Pagan and Andrew Deutschman. Directed by Dean Israelite.
Playing: Barkley Village
Times: Friday, Sunday: 1:40, 4:45, 8:10, 10:45
Saturday: 1, 4:20, 8:10, 10:45
Seventh Son
PG-13; 102 minutes. Jeff Bridges is a mystical warrior searching for a hero to vanquish an evil queen (Julianne Moore) and her army of supernatural warriors.
Playing: Barkley Village
Times: Fri, Sun: 12:20, 9
Sat: 1:50, 9:50
IMAX: Friday, Sunday: 11:20 a.m., 5, 10:30
Saturday: 11 a.m., 5, 10:30
3D: Friday, Sunday: 2:15, 7:50
Saturday: 12:20, 6
The Spongebob Movie: Spronge Out of Water
PG; 92 minutes. The beloved Nickelodeon character enters the live-action world, where he squares off against a pirate (Antonio Banderas).
Playing: Barkley Village
Times: Friday, Sunday: 11:10 a.m., 12:50, 1:30, 3:20, 4, 6:10, 8:30
Saturday: 10:20 a.m., 12:50, 2, 3:30, 4, 6:10, 8:30
3D: 11:50 a.m., 2:20, 4:40, 7:10, 9:40
Saturday: 11:50 a.m. 2:30, 4:50, 7:20, 9:40
The Theory of Everything
PG-13.
Playing: Limelight
Times: 3:30
Two Days, One Night
PG-13, some mature thematic elements; 95 minutes. A young woman has a weekend to convince her co-workers to forego a significant pay bomus so she can retain her job. Marion Cotillard, Fabrizon Rongione, Catherine Salee.
Playing: Limelight
Times: 6:20
The Wedding Ringer
R, language; 101 minutes.
* * 1/2 “The Wedding Ringer” is “Wedding Crashers Redux,” a “Hangover Lite” that softens manic funnyman Kevin Hart’s persona into someone almost as funny, but more sentimental than abrasive. That helps “Ringer” work as a bromantic comedy that feels like a romantic comedy. So there’s not much new here. But a savvy, sassy script, smart casting and genuine “I feel sorry for this white boy” chemistry between Hart and Gad make “Wedding Ringer” an R-rated bromance that will touch you as often as it tickles you. — TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
Playing: Barkley Village
Times: Friday, Sunday: 12:05, 9:10
Saturday: 11:10 a.m., 10:20
This story was originally published February 13, 2015 at 7:10 AM with the headline "‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ among films opening in Bellingham this week."