This Week at the Movies

At the Movies: Finally, a 3D Chinese erotic film on Austin screens

Competing for your time this weekend are a few wildly different films. You have your choice between an Irish comedy, a 3D erotic film from Hong Kong, a romantic drama and several unique one-time screenings. Let's take a tour of what Austin screens have to offer this weekend and the week beyond.

This Weekend at Violent Crown

Opening Friday at Violet Crown is the debut film from Irish filmmaker John Michael McDonagh, The Guard. This fish-out-of-water story joins the lives of a crass small Irish village cop, Sergeant Gary Boyle (Brendan Gleeson), and no-nonsense, by-the-book FBI agent Wendell Everett when a murder in the sleepy town is linked to a drug trafficking operation. On paper, The Guard, reads like many other crime comedies of its type, but the film is actually a hilarious deconstruction of those very clichés. (The Guard also opens Friday at Regal Arbor Cinemas.)

This Weekend at the Drafthouse

Starting Friday, the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar location will be running one screening a day of a film that attracted attention with headlines like '3-D Porn Film Beats Hong Kong Box Office Record Set By Avatar'. By all accounts, 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy isn't so much porn as it is an outrageous erotic comedy. The trailer hints at every 3D gimmick imaginable with hands, bullets, and knives flying towards the audience. Still, the movie is risqué enough to justify an NC-17 rating so leave the kids at home for this adults only night of foreign cinema.

Also opening at South Lamar is One Day, the latest from An Education director Lone Scherfig. In it, Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess play Emma and Dexter who share their college graduation night together. Through the course of the film the same date is shown year to year as the pair drift in and out of each other's lives, their relationship evolving and changing. Combining the romantic directing style of Scherfig, her ability to draw out performances that subtly define characters, and a screenplay from David Nicholls based on his own best-selling book, this looks to be the winner for couples this weekend.

On Sunday at the Alamo Drafthouse's Ritz location, a pair of signature series screenings are worth your consideration. At Cinema Club, guest speaker author and Texas film professor Dr. Thomas Schatz will be introducing and leading a post film discussion of Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt, about a girl's obsession with her uncle who may not be as squeaky-clean as he appears. Then, at Video Hate Squad, the bi-monthly tribute to the pioneering home video format at which films only ever available on VHS are shown on the big screen using a VCR on stage, the pop-action "classic" Nasty Hero will be unleashed.

This Weekend at Regal Arbor Cinemas

In Canadian director Larysa Kondracki's new film The Whistleblower, Rachel Weisz plays Kathryn Bolkovac, a Nebraska cop offered the chance to work for the U.N. in Bosnia. She is assigned to head the Gender Office which handles rape, abuse, and sex trafficking cases. As part of her investigations, she learns that the U.N. employees are engaging in and profiting from the trade. Bolkovac begins the task of exposing the corruption and runs into trouble in the form of resistance from those not wanting to be caught and from inept U.N. officials. This fact-based thriller is being praised by critics for its unflinching and intense look into a secretive and dirty world.

Beyond the Weekend

On Wednesday, at the Alamo Drafthouse's Weird Wednesday series, the sleazy 1983 thriller Julie Darling (from the director of Chained Heat) screens in 35mm for only $1. In it, relatively unknown actress Isabelle Mejias puts in a wild performance as the titular Julie, a girl with a less-than-healthy obsession with her father. After being indirectly and conveniently involved in her mother's death, she sets her sights on her new stepmother (grindhouse queen Sybil Danning) and stepbrother.

Movie Review

Amazing graphics do lion's share of the work in Mufasa: The Lion King

Sarabi, Mufasa, and Rafiki in Mufasa: The Lion King

Photo courtesy of Disney

Sarabi, Mufasa, and Rafiki in Mufasa: The Lion King.

The 2019 “live action” remake of The Lion King had two big things going for it: People’s love for the original 1994 animated film and a filmmaking style that made the completely CGI film appear photorealistic. The new prequel, Mufasa: The Lion King, has the second element to lean on, but it must win moviegoers over with some familiar characters in a whole new story.

The origin story of Mufasa (voiced by Aaron Pierre) is broached by having it be told to Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter), the daughter of Simba (Donald Glover) and Nala (Beyoncé), by Rafiki (John Kani), Timon (Billy Eichner), and Pumbaa (Seth Rogen), the first of a series of unnecessary decisions in the film.

As the film tells it, a young Mufasa is on his way to a new home with his parents when he’s washed away by a flash flood. Lost and alone, he’s discovered by Taka (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.), who convinces his mom, Eshe (Thandie Newton), to take Mufasa into their pride, although Taka’s dad, Obasi (Lennie James), is less welcoming.

Mufasa, who proves himself to be brave and daring, and Taka, who's loyal but somewhat weak-willed, grow from cubs into young lions, and their adventures together eventually grow to include a young Rafiki (Kagiso Ledika), as well as Sarabi (Tiffany Boone) and her hornbill companion, Zazu (Preston Nyman). They’re also menaced by a pride of white lions led by Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen), who waste no opportunity to threaten the other lions’ way of life.

Directed by Barry Jenkins and written by Jeff Nathanson, the film — like its 2019 predecessor — has absolutely gorgeous visuals. Using a mixture of real locations and computer generated imagery, Jenkins and his team created a world that feels fully immersive. Everything from the water to the grass to the animals looks like it actually exists, which is an amazing accomplishment and should be celebrated as such.

But the level of detail on that side of the film only increases the level of disappointment with the story. Given the chance to create something new, the filmmakers instead seem to treat the film as just a way to introduce every significant symbol from the original story. You would have thought having young versions of familiar characters would be enough, but instead they go overboard with references, including the creation of a certain location that is patently ridiculous.

Nathanson also overloads the plot with characters and twists. Mufasa’s rise from a nobody to king is faced with multiple obstacles, way too many for what should have been a much simpler story. And Lin-Manuel Miranda’s streak of great music in Disney films ends here, as none of the four songs he contributed work very well. Some are undone by odd phrasing by the performers, and others look strange coming out of the mouths of the characters, but either way, the songs just don’t connect.

The voice performances neither elevate the film nor take away from it. Pierre (Rebel Ridge) and Harrison (Waves) are rising stars in actual live action films, but their appearances here are negligible to the impact of their characters. Mikkelsen (Rogue One) is known for playing great bad guys, and he’s okay here, but nothing to write home about. The rest of the performers don't offer anything special to their roles, including Beyoncé and her daughter, Blue Ivy.

For those who are only looking for “Oh, that’s where that came from!” moments, Mufasa: The Lion King may fit the bill. But for anyone who may want something more than a version of nostalgia, especially from a visionary director like Jenkins, it serves as nothing more than two hours of pretty vistas.

---

Mufasa: The Lion King opens in theaters on December 20.

Loading...