Schedule June 21-27, 2013

Hi all,

We are kicking it up a notch with two highly rated movies this week. Both of our new movies have Rotten Tomatoes ratings above 96%. So unless the vast majority of critics in the US have taken leave of their senses (unlikely) or have been bought off (more likely) it is a pretty safe bet that you are going to enjoy this week's movies. If you hate either of them, the Parkway will issue a full refund. But you have to pass a polygraph to prove your hatred.

Mud

Matthew McConaughey (I misspelled this a few times- and then misspelled misspelling) is undergoing a career renaissance right now. Previously I thought he was genuinely simple but lately his glorious master plan has been revealed. The plan involved being in as many bad romantic comedies as humanly possible within an 8 year time period so that the public saw him as a good looking buffoon with a Texas drawl who could barely provide enough charisma to make you sit through a lot of banal crap. When his stock hit rock bottom, he started to choose better roles and actually act again. The Lincoln Lawyer, Bernie, Killer Joe, Magic Mike and now Mud. Not only do we know what a good actor he is now but he made us feel guilty for under-estimating him. 

Mud is an adventure about two boys, Ellis and his friend Neckbone, who find a man named Mud hiding out on an island in the Mississippi, who describes fantastic scenarios about how he killed a man in Texas and vengeful bounty hunters are coming to get him. . It features wonderful performances from everyone involved. It is taut and very well paced. It is worth every minute of your time. 

Stories We Tell

Disclaimer: this is a documentary made by a Canadian (the most inoffensive people on the face of the earth). Must be boring, right? That would be a big, fat no. In this inspired, genre-twisting new film, writer/director Sarah Polley discovers that the truth depends on who's telling it. Polley is both filmmaker and detective as she investigates the secrets kept by a family of storytellers.

It is a marvel in narrative structure and story-telling. It is a brilliant, thought-provoking documentary. Because it happens so rarely, I will highlight the New Yorker's positive review: Sarah Polley's documentary is a startling mixture of private memoir, public inquiry, and conjuring trick (Anthony Lane). Don't miss it. You will be talking about it long after it is finished. 

42

Apparently my wife does not appreciate it when I make up lies about her to write reviews. When writing last week's '42' review I mentioned she would have no idea who I was talking about when I mentioned the movie '42'. It turns out she knew exactly who I was talking about (in fairness she is a U.S. history teacher and probably knew the social history as opposed to the baseball). I just wasn't listening to her. I usually ask someone a question and lose interest in the answer before they start speaking. But to me, the name 'Jackie Robinson' rang a bell but a very small one. I might have been able to say he was a baseball player but would not have been able to name the decade if required by Trivial Pursuit. 

"42" tells the story of two men-the great Jackie Robinson and legendary Brooklyn Dodgers GM Branch Rickey-whose brave stand against prejudice forever changed the world by changing the game of baseball. Solid and heartfelt, '42' is less the story of Jackie Robinson than the story of how those around him reacted to the man who broke the color barrier for Major League baseball.Thoroughly entertaining. 

The Source Family

Plot stolen from Rotten Tomatoes: It's 1971 and communes and new religions are on the rise. The Source Family are an "Aquarian tribe," a secretive but outlandish group of 140 beautiful young people who stroll Los Angeles in colorful robes, devotees of "Father Yod," a controversial restaurateur-turned-spiritual leader with fourteen wives and his own psychedelic rock band. The Family lives in a mansion and operates a popular restaurant on the Sunset Strip, serving vegetarian cuisine to musicians and movie stars, pioneering a national trend. But their radical lifestyle instigates the authorities.

Sounds fascinating. It sounds like this will appeal to a certain type of documentary watcher. My father-in-law springs to mind. The documentary know-it-all type who seeks out documentaries that very few people will ever see, just so he can pull it out as a random support point for an argument/debate that may happen at some point in the near future. If you see an overweight older man who shows signs of recent weight loss (but is probably drinking a beer) at a screening, say hello for me.


-Adam

Week of Friday, June 21, 2013 through Thursday, June 27, 2013

Stories We Tell (PG-13) Digital Presentation

Fri: 5:00 PM

Sat: 6:45 PM

Sun: 3:30 PM

Mon: 4:30 PM

Wed: 7:00 PM

Thu: 9:00 PM

The Source Family (NR) Digital Presentation

Sat: 9:30 PM

Tue - Thu: 9:30 PM

Mud (PG-13) Digital Presentation

Fri: 7:30 PM

Sat: 7:40 PM

Sun: 6:30, 9:30

Tue: 9:15 PM

Wed: 6:30, 9:15

Thu: 6:45 PM

42 (PG-13) Digital Presentation

Sat: 5:00 PM

Sun: 12:30 PM

Burn: One Year on the Frontlines of the Battle to Save Detroit (NR) Digital Presentation

Fri: 7:00 PM

Donnie Darko (R) Digital Presentation

Fri & Sat: 10:30 PM

The Fifth Element (PG-13) Digital Presentation

Sun: 9:00 PM

Death Race 2000 (NR) Digital Presentation

Sun: 6:00 PM

Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp (R) Digital Presentation

Tue: 7:00 PM

Love Free or Die (NR) Digital Presentation

Sat: 2:00 PM

Stud Life (NR) Digital Presentation

Sun: 3:00 PM

Willow (NR) Digital Presentation

Fri: 4:00, 9:30

Sat: 12:30 PM