Popcorn & Candy is DCist’s selective and subjective guide to some of the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week.
Taron Edgerton (Giles Keyte/Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation)
When we last saw agent Eggsy (Taron Edgerton) in Kingmsan: The Secret Service, he was mourning the death of a friend and mentor—and was promised sexual favors from a Swedish princess in exchange for saving the world. In this sequel from director Matthew Vaughan (Kick Ass), that Swedish princess has shacked up with Eggsy, who inherited the code name Galahad and continues to preserve such Old World values as honor, sacrifice, and misogyny. Still, this cruder, faster Bond franchise launches its new installment with a visceral needle-drop thrill, choreographing a whirling fight scene in a moving car set to Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy.” The Golden Circle is strong on slow-mo set pieces and features a ginger villain (Julianne Moore) who favors a mid-century modern aesthetic for her remote lair amidst Cambodian ruins, and as with the last film one wonders if such plot points as viruses and drones were meant as an indictment of contemporary society—that is, if the film wasn’t so busy reveling in it.
Watch the trailer.
Opens tonight at area theaters.
Buddy Guy (Abramorama)
One of the musical highlights from this year’s AFI Docs starts a commercial run this weekend. Back in April, I wrote, “In 1964, a number of young white blues fans (including Takoma-born guitarist John Fahey) journeyed to Mississippi in search of lost blues legends. But their difficult musical journeys coincided with the “Freedom Summer” that electrified the Civil Rights movement. Director Sam Pollard weaves together animated reenactments of the musical journey along with news footage of the Civil Rights movement along with interviews with both blues fans and musicians like Buddy Guy, Lucinda Williams, and Gary Clark, Jr.”
Watch the trailer.
Opens tomorrow at Landmark E Street Cinema.
(Zipporah Films)
EX LIBRIS: NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
The latest from master documentarian Frederick Wiseman (Titicut Follies, In Jackson Heights) focuses on the New York Public Library, from the institution’s Fifth Avenue flagship to small branches that serve communities in the outer boroughs. IndieWire’s David Erlich writes, “This might be the nerdiest sentence ever written in a movie review, but there’s a little jolt of excitement each time Wiseman cuts to a new library branch—over time, the value Ex Libris helps us to see in the New York Public Library melts into a visceral appreciation for the intrinsic value of all libraries.”
Watch the trailer.
Opens tomorrow at the AFI Silver.
(The Orchard)
Dina and Scott are in love and are planning to move in with each other, but their romance faces real life issues—her autism and abusive previous marriage, and his Asperger’s syndrome. This documentary by Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles gently observes this couple and their struggles. Variety writes that, “The rapport between the filmmakers and their principal characters is so comfortable, it occasionally feels as if we are watching a scripted film.” The film, which was a hit at AFI Docs this year, gets a commercial release starting October 20, and the Washington Jewish Film Festival offers a chance to see it next week.
Watch the trailer.
Monday, September 25 at 7:30 p.m. at Edlavitch DCJCC, 1529 16th Street NW.
(Academy Film Archive)
The National Gallery of Art’s series From Vault to Screen: Recent Restorations from the Academy Film Archive continues with a 35mm print of this pre-code comedy produced by businessman Howard Hughes and starring his one-time love interest Billie Dove. The film ran afoul of censors when it was released in 1932, and a scene involving, as the Los Angeles Times reported at the time, “a suit of armor and a can opener,” was cut from early prints. This restored version allows 21st century audiences to fully enjoy its risque humor. It’s directed by Tom Buckingham and co-written by Robert E. Sherwood (The Best Years of Our Lives) and Charles Lederer (His Girl Friday). The screening will be introduced by archivist Heather Linville.
Saturday, September 23 at 2 p.m. at the National Gallery of Art, East Building Auditorium. Free.
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Also opening this week, Karen Allen reclaims her life in Year by the Sea. We’ll have a full review tomorrow. And don’t miss our preview of the film festival, Riding the Waves: Chinese Cinema from the 80s & 90s, which starts tonight.
