Popcorn & Candy is DCist’s selective and subjective guide to some of the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week.
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Freida Pinto and Reece Ritchie (Relativity)A young boy comes home from school, his palm red from a beating. His concerned mother asks, “What did you do?” “I danced in class.” This real-life Footloose is based on the true story of Iranian dancer Afshin Ghaffarian, who in 2009 formed a secret dance troupe in defiance of an oppressive government that to this day bans dancing. I wasn’t able to preview the film, and the buzz is not good (Variety leads its review with, “no one has the time of their lives”), but this kind of cheesy inspirational dance movie has me written all over it. And Variety also explains that in one scene, a brave music teacher plays for his students, ““music from a faraway land written by an incredible artist.” It’s “Louie, Louie.” I MUST SEE THIS.
Watch the trailer.
Opens tomorrow at Landmark E Street Cinema, AMC Georgetown, Landmark Bethesda Row, AMC Shirlington, and Angelika Mosaic.
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Simon Pegg (Magnet Releasing)When we meet assassin Charlie Wolfe (Simon Pegg), he’s in the middle of the desert chasing down a target when he stops to answer his cellphone to take his next assignment. This is what Quentin Tarantino hath wrought: another stylish uber-gory thriller with a plot that’s fragmented for no good reason, has a slick rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack, and isn’t even that stylish. Director Kriv Stenders makes it worse than it has to be; screenwriter James McFarland doesn’t have Tarantino’s gift for dialogue but the plot’s turns are entertaining enough, and Pegg is watchable enough. Still, the movie Tries. Too. Hard. The title conceit, which requires that we watch three different murder attempts on the same character, scrambles a narrative that doesn’t bear scrambling and barely bears watching. A more appealing supporting cast, a properly curated soundtrack, and direction that wasn’t one big ironic wink could have made a difference, but nothing can wash out that unpleasant smell of day-old cinema. With Alice Braga, Luke Hemsworth and, as a reminder of better B-movies, Bryan Brown.
Watch the trailer.
Opens tomorrow at Landmark E Street Cinema.
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Alicia (Lucía Pollán) is dying of leukemia. Her father Luis (Luis Bermejo) wants to grant her one last wish: the elusive “Magical Girl Yukiko” dress from her favorite Japanese cartoon. Despite friends’ insistence that he should just spend time with his dying child, Luis enlists the help of mentally ill Barbara (Bárbara Lennie), and things do not go well.
Director Carlos Vermut’s thriller Magical Girl screens this weekend as part of the AFI’s annual Festival of New Spanish Cinema, which also features Open Windows (Sunday, April 12 at the AFI), a cyber-thriller from horror director Nacho Vigalondo (The ABCs of Death) starring Elijah Wood and Sasha Grey. See the complete festival schedule here.
Watch the trailer.
Magical Girl screens Saturday, April 11 at the AFI Silver.
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Director Lina Yang spent two years documenting the retirees that gathered on the curbside of the Qing Ta district of Beijing. According to the Freer, the film “observes the physical and psychological aches that accompany old age and the solace that can be found in tradition and companionship. Thoughtful and introspective, Old Men is a moving meditation on what it means to grow old in today’s China.” Val Wang, author of Beijing Bastard: Into the Wilds of a Changing China, worked with Yang on the film’s subtitles and writes about the director in her book. The author will introduce the screening and sign copies of her book afterward.
Sunday, April 12 at 2 p.m. at the Freer. Free.
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A mild-mannered librarian (Yoshio Tsuchiya) becomes a hardened criminal when he is given the ability to become vapor, a soft power he uses to rob banks for his dancer girlfriend (Kaoru Yachigusa). Director Ishirō Honda is best known for Godzilla. Thanks to the Washington Psychotronic Film Society for bringing this lesser-known film, also known as The First Gas Human, to Columbia Heights.
Watch the trailer.
Monday, April 13 at ACRE 121, 1400 Irving Street NW #109
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Also opening this week, dogs roam free in the Hungarian drama White God. We’ll have a full review tomorrow.
