Santa Cruz Good Times

Friday
Feb 10th
Text size
  • Increase font size
  • Default font size
  • Decrease font size

Movies & Film Events: Week of June 16

film_guide_icon

Films This Week
Check out the movies playing around town.
With reviews and trailers.

 

.

.

...

.

NEW THIS WEEK

film_jonah_hexJONAH HEX Josh Brolin stars as the scarred, bad-boy bounty hunter first introduced in the crossover horror-western comics series "Weird Western Tales." John Malkovich plays the arch-villain Hex has to take down before his minions can rampage cross the earth. Megan Fox co-stars in a script concocted by Neveldine & Taylor (Crank). Jimmy Hayward directs. (PG-13) 81 minutes. Starts Friday. Watch film trailer >>>











film_micmacsMICMACS Reviewed this issue. (R) 105 minutes. In French with English subtitles. (★★★1/2) Starts Friday.















film_ondineONDINE
Reviewed this issue. (PG-13) 111 minutes. (★★★★) Starts Friday.















film_toy_story_threeTOY STORY 3-D In this third (and 3-D) installment of the venerable Pixar franchise, Andy goes off to college, and his mom packs up Woody, Buzz, and the gang and recycles them to a day care center. To protect lives and limbs from the terrible tots, the toys must band together to plot their escape. Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, and all the usual voice talents reprise their famous roles. Michael Keaton, Ned Beatty, and Timothy Dalton join the voice cast. Series veteran Lee Unkrich directs from a script by Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine). (G) Starts Friday. Watch film trailer >>>










Film Events

CONTINUING SERIES: MIDNIGHTS @ THE DEL MAR Eclectic movies for wild & crazy tastes plus great prizes and buckets of fun for only $6.50. This week: SLITHER Nathan Fillion (of Firefly and Serenity) stars in this cheerfully gross-out 2006 horror comedy about an alien plague that turns a town of ordinary Middle Americans into zombie mutants. Elizabeth Banks, Michael Rooker and Gregg Henry co-star. James Gunn is the auteur. (R) 96 minutes. Friday-Saturday midnight only. At the Del Mar.

CONTINUING SERIES: WEEKEND  MATINEE CLASSICS AT APTOS CINEMA If you've only ever seen them on TV, don't miss this series of classic movie matinees unspooling each weekend at Aptos Cinema. This week: 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY Open the pod bay door, HAL, and re-enter Stanley Kubrick's visually stunning 1968 sci-fi epic. It traces the evolution of humankind from ape to reborn space embryo in a future when machines clearly have the upper hand. Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood struggle to make their presence felt amid all the hardware and mind-blowing effects. (G) 151 minutes. (★★★)—Lisa Jensen. Fri-Sat-Sun matinee only, 11 a.m. Admission $6. At Aptos Cinema.

CONTINUING SERIES: FLASHBACK FEATURES Oldies and goodies on Thursday nights at the Cinema 9. $5 gets you in. This week: STAND BY ME River Phoenix, Wil Wheaton and Corey Feldman star as best pals who stumble over their small town's guilty secret and have to grow up fast during one life-altering weekend in 1959. Rob Reiner directs this 1986 drama from one of Stephen King's non-horror short stories. (R) 97 minutes. (★★1/2)—Lisa Jensen. Thursday only, 8 p.m., at the Cinema 9.

CONTINUING SERIES: THE MET: LIVE IN HD Digital broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera's Summer Encore series projected onscreen Wednesday evenings through June and July at the Cinema 9. This week: ROMÉO ET JULIETTE Placido Domingo conducts the orchestra in this production of the Gounod opera based on Shakespeare's romantic tragedy. Soprano Anna Netrebko and tenor Roberto Alagna sing the tile roles; Nathan Gunn co-stars as Mercutio. Wednesday only (June 23), 6:30 p.m., at the Cinema 9.

CONTINUING EVENT: LET'S TALK ABOUT THE MOVIES This informal movie discussion group meets at the Del Mar mezzanine in downtown Santa Cruz. Movie junkies are invited to join in on Wednesday nights to discuss current flicks with a rotating series of guest moderators. Discussion begins at 7 pm and admission is free. For more information visit .ltatm.org.


Now Playing

THE A-TEAM This month's award for Remake-of-a-TV-Series-We-Wish-We-Could-Forget goes to this designated blockbuster about renegade ops pursuing their brand of kick-ass justice in an unjust world. Liam Neeson stars as the cigar-chomping team leader, a buff Bradley Cooper is pretty-boy "Face," and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson plays Bosco "B. A." Baracus, the role that made Mr. T a household name. Series alumni Dirk Benedict and Dwight Schultz show up in cameos; Sharlito Copley, Jessica Biel, and Patrick Wilson co-star for director Joe Carnahan (Smokin' Aces). (PG-13)

BABIES It’s all about the koochie koo here as the doc chronicles the first year in the lives of four infants from around the world. Filmmaker Thomas Balmès manages to create a fine bundle of joy here. (PG) 79 minutes. (★★★1/2) Greg Archer

CITY ISLAND This one’s a gem—Moonstruck meets Mystic Pizza. But here, the life-pondering protagonist is Andy Garcia. He morphs into a Bronx prison guard with a big secret—he wants to act so he takes acting classes. This won’t sit well with this overbearing wife, Julianna Margulies. If you enjoy touching comedies about nutty families, you’ll dig this. Julianna Margulies, Emily Mortimer, Alan Arkin, Dominik Garcia-Lorido, and Steven Strait co-star. (PG-13) 100 minutes. (HHH1/2) Greg Archer

THE CITY OF YOUR FINAL DESTINATION  Veteran director James Ivory brings his deft, classical touch to this tale of a graduate student in Uruguay seeking the rights to a literary biograohy from a family of eccentric expat artistes. The characters are more effective as thematic ideas, but the marvelous Laura Linney is a pleasure to watch, even in a film more impeccable than heartfelt. (PG-13) 114 minutes. (HH1/2)

Lisa Jensen

EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP Is art a joke? The answer is yes and no in this savvy, invigorating and wickedly entertaining doc. Video-obsessed  Frenchman Thierry Guetta sets out to record the street art movement of the last decade, but when the result is unwatchable, one of his subjects, the notorious and elusive  Banksy, takes over the footage. His insider's viewpoint captures the evolution of art, culture, and politics in one sly, deft, subversive package. (R) 87 minutes. (★★★1/2) Lisa Jensen

GET HIM TO THE GREEK One of the most refreshing surprises of the summer movie season. This smart, sassy endeavor features Jonah Hill as a befuddled record company intern who must bring a British rock idol (Russell Brand offering a fine turn) to a concert at L.A.’s Greek Theater. A fun, engaging comedy that works from beginning to end.(R) 109 minutes. (★★★) Greg Archer

IRON MAN 2 A fine outing, one that stumbles here and there, but the end result leaves you feeling as if you’ve just had some fun at the movies—and that’s just what this film is supposed to do. Robert Downey Jr. returns as billionaire inventor Tony Stark / Iron Man. This round has a new foe in Mickey Rourke, who creates similar Iron Man equipment. Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, and Scarlett Johansson co-star. (PG-13) 124 minutes. (★★★) Greg Archer

THE KARATE KID Jaden Smith gets lessons in discipline and self-esteem from humble janitor/king fu master Jackie Chan in this redux. (PG)

KILLERS Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher star in this romantic action comedy. Think True Lies—add 15 years and stir. (PG-13)

LOOKING FOR ERIC British director Ken Loach, best known for his gritty, realistic dramas, lightens up with this sly urban comedy. Steve Evets turns in a solid performance, crackling with nervy energy, as a sad-sack, midlife postal worker who conjures up the spirit of legendary soccer great Eric Cantona (playing himself in a very droll turn) as a life coach. There's a dark side to the story, and plenty of raucous profanity, but mostly, this is a funny, upbeat film about conquering one's inner loser and going for the goal. But be warned: the Brits' North Country dialect and Cantona's French accent are all but impenetrable. (Not rated) 116 minutes. (★★★) Lisa Jensen.

MARMADUKE Really? Is this movie necessary? For kids, perhaps. The kiddie comedy features Owen Wilson as the voice of the Great Dane. Tom Dey directs. (PG)

MOTHER AND CHILD The lives of three women entwine and intersect in modern Los Angeles in this elliptical ensemble drama from Colombian-born filmmaker Rodrigo Garcia. Annette Bening is a woman who had to give up her child as a pregnant teenager. Naomi Watts is the daughter she never knew, a morally adrift, fast-track lawyer, and Kerry Washington is  a wife unable to conceive who's hoping to adopt a child. Jimmy Smits and Samuel L. Jackson co-star. (R) 126 minutes. Starts Friday.

PLEASE GIVE Nicole Holofcener is becoming the bard of upper middle-class, white ineffectuality. Her angsty new comedy considers liberal guilt in New York City among clueless, privileged characters whose behavior ranges from merely baffling to downright unpleasant. Holofcener coaxes some nice performances out of her players (Catherine Keener, Rebecca Hall, Oliver Platt), but she never digs deeply enough into her themes or characters; she settles for wistfulness over insight. (R) 90 minutes. (★★) Lisa Jensen

PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME Jake Gyllenhaal goes the action blockbuster route as the swashbuckling hero of this adventure fantasy based on a popular video game. (PG-13) 116 minutes.

PRINCESS KA'IULANI Q'orianka Kilcher brings regal bearing and multicultural integrity to the title role, the last princess of the royal line fighting to preserve Hawaiian independence, in Marc Forby's lukewarm historical drama. Shot on lush locations in Honolulu (including interiors inside the royal Iolani Palace), and in Britain, Forby's film aims for historical grandeur and righteous moral fervor. But while he offers a cogent depiction of how American business interests hijacked the Kingdom of Hawaii and stole the islands from their people in the name of "democracy," Forby's pedestrian storytelling never quite lives up to the story being told.  (PG) 100 minutes. (★★1/2)

Lisa Jensen

ROBIN HOOD Ridley Scott unites with Russell Crowe in this wry, thoughtful integrity and his formidable presence to this Robin, an archer in the army of Richard Lionheart fighting the war against tyranny at home. Cate Blanchett is a piquant and feisty Marion. (PG-13) 140 minutes. (★★★)

Lisa Jensen

THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES (EL SECRETO DE  SUS OJOS) This Oscar-winner for 2010 Best Foreign Language film is a fascinating, unforgettable mystery that grabs you in the beginning and doesn’t let go—not so much because of its “thrills” but more because of the emotionally rich landscape filmmaker Juan Jose Campanella allowa us to move through with a rarely felt grace and dignity. There were times I simply forgot I was watching a movie. It’s a testament to superb storytelling if not a brutal reminder of how watered-down typicaly Hollywood films tend to be. But this isn’t “typically” and nor does it come from Hollywood. The Argentinean mystery-drama, based on the novel by Edouardo Sacheri, takes place in 1999 and revolves around a befuddled police detective who decides to reopen a savage murder case that took place in a Buenos Aires suburb back in 1974. He soon finds himself embroiled in a trail of conspiracy, cover-up and corruption. Take note of the beautiful nuanaces found in the acting of Ricardo Darin, Soledad Villamil and Pablo Rago. This is one film you’ll relish. In Spanish with English subtitles..  (★★★★) Greg Archer

SEX AND THE CITY 2 It's more like Sex in the Sand when Carrie and the girls travel to Morocco. (★★) (R) 146 minutes.

SHREK FOREVER AFTER It's a wonderful life for everybody's favorite green ogre—until he screws things up and sees what life would have been like for his loved ones if he'd never been born—in this fourth installment of the fractured fairy tale franchise. Directed by Mike Mitchell. (PG) 93 minutes. (★★★) Lisa Jensen.

SPLICE Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley star in this sci-fi thriller as a pair of genetic research scientists whose secret gene-splicing experiments create a mysterious humanoid being with strange powers. Delphine Chanéac co-stars for director Vincenzo Natali. (R) 104 minutes.

 

Comments (0)Add Comment

Write comment
smaller | bigger

busy
 

Share this on your social networks

Bookmark and Share

More Good Times

 

Heart Surgery For UC

Regents spare classes—for now—and drain staff healthcare surpluses instead Gov. Jerry Brown announced a $100 million mid-year cut to the 10-campus University of California system in December, just as UC Santa Cruz staff and students left for winter break. UCSC's share of the cut is $6.5 million, but no classes will be affected through the end of the current school year.

 

Hometown Glory

Chris Rene welcomed back to Santa Cruz with open arms at ‘Love Life’ event On Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012—a day that Mayor Don Lane announced would officially be referred to as Chris Rene Day in Santa Cruz—the local hero took the stage of the sold-out Civic Auditorium to celebrate his homecoming and give something back to the drug and alcohol rehabilitation center that made his recent success possible. The rapper/songwriter and Santa Cruz native is coming off a year that saw him finish in the top three on the first season of FOX’s The X Factor, and enthusiasm for his return was evident in the line of fans that stretched around the block of the auditorium, hours before its doors opened. Many fans carried signs and wore homemade T-shirts featuring words of solidarity for the artist, including his catch phrase, “Love Life.”

 

Meter Moratorium Continues

Board of Supervisors votes to continue opposition of SmartMeter installations Late last year, the already loud local outcry over SmartMeters rang out even louder, as some residents took matters into their own hands and removed meters from their homes. The action led to Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) shutting off several of these residents’ power. Following a flood of public concern at its Dec. 13 meeting, the County Board of Supervisors directed the county’s public health officer, Poki Stewart Namkung, to return on Jan. 24 with an analysis of one month’s research on the health effects of the wireless meters.

 

Pushing the Envelope

‘What Is Erotic?’ makes its seventh run at The 418 ll through history, artists have been pushing us to examine our views of what is and isn’t erotic, with subjects ranging from the relatively tame (Francisco Goya’s “La Maja Desnuda”) to the extremely challenging (Mapplethorpe’s photography, Rod Stewart’s “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?”). Santa Cruz keeps this tradition alive via “What Is Erotic?”a festive and daring fundraiser for The 418 Project. Themed “In the Boudoir,” this year’s event—the seventh overall—hits The 418 on the weekends before and after Valentine’s Day. The fun, bawdy character of “What Is Erotic?” will be evident right from the Pre-Show Erotic Salon: Staying in character, the actors will playfully interact with audience members. Moondance O’Brien, one of this year’s performers, reveals that the show’s cast and crew refers to the members of this “welcoming committee” as “fluffers.” “Some people might be feather ticklers; some people might be reciting poetry; some people might be offering spankings,” she explains. Other performers will hand-feed chocolate-dipped strawberries to audience members. All such interaction is consent-oriented, but O’Brien ventures that “the majority of people who come to this show have a sense of what they’re going to experience. They’re pretty eager.”

 

Katie Ekin

It’s hard to believe that 20-year-old folk pop singer-songwriter Katie Ekin’s years in the music industry can be counted on a single hand. She picked up acoustic guitar five years ago, played her first show three years ago, and debuted her seven-track, self-titled EP in December 2010. Inspired by music of the ’50s and ’60s, Ekin—whose vocal range is naturally as melodious as a songbird (see track three, “Cuckoo”)—has a keen understanding of love, astutely arranged in the lyrics of her songs. “I love oldies … the fun, pop-feeling, sock hop,” confesses Ekin. Aside from Carole King and Lesley Gore, singer of “It’s My Party,” her influences include Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, The Beatles and The Beach Boys, whose music was regularly played by her father throughout her childhood. “My dad is just such a fun person, and every time I’d see him perform when I was little, he had the best stage presence,” remembers Ekin. “I gain confidence from being on stage and I relate that back to my dad.” It is onstage that Ekin feels most comfortable expressing herself. “My main thing has always been love,” she says. “In high school, I wouldn’t really tell people how I felt—I put it in a song.” Her vulnerability is especially evident in “Underneath the Christmas Tree,” a song in which she asks her crush, “Won’t you be my present, baby?” The feel-good track is so irresistible, with Ekin’s sweet and sultry voice, that Zooey Deschanel herself would be proud to own the copyrights. Head to The Abbey two days before Valentine’s Day to hear Ekin belt out several original love songs, while accompanying herself on ukulele and guitar. Given the holiday, Ekin is planning an upbeat set that is, in her own words, “not so heartbreaking—I’ll try to keep it on a happy theme.”  INFO: 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12. The Abbey, 350 Mission St., Santa Cruz. No cover. 429-1058.

 

Metamorphosis

Bill Veltrop—social visionary, leading architect of organizational design and the revered local who believes the next big thing isn’t a ‘thing’ Every morning Bill Veltrop rises at 4 a.m. and enters into a meditation and conversation with the Universe. By mid-morning, he’s either working on a project or holding a workshop. It’s 10 a.m. now, but before Veltrop proceeds with our interview he clangs together two golden meditation chimes and the three people in the room with him breathe in unison. Slowly the resonance fades to silence. The group is invited to recap their thoughts, hopes and stresses in a ritual Veltrop calls “stringing the beads.”

 

Inside Occupy Santa Cruz

Public nuisance or radical experiment in direct democracy? The mood at Occupy Santa Cruz (OSC) General Assembly meetings was angry and defiant early last month, especially after protesters heard eyewitness accounts of the violence in Oakland and Berkeley. But the atmosphere became noticeably calmer and less defensive after the City of Santa Cruz’s injunction to shut down OSC was appealed to federal court on Nov. 15. The decision by U.S. District Judge Howard R. Lloyd whether or not to hear the case, and the arguments relating to federal jurisdiction, principally the First Amendment, is scheduled for Jan. 3, 2012 in San Jose. The appeal delayed a State Superior Court hearing scheduled for Nov. 16 in the Santa Cruz County Court House, which seem to cool down the militant rhetoric of preparing for an eminent, forcible eviction of the Occupiers of San Lorenzo Park. The appeal to federal court of what Santa Cruz City Attorney John Barisone described as a “routine public nuisance suit” has also gained the web-based attention of Occupy movements across the country. It is a big question, after all: Does the First Amendment’s protection of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly include OSC?   

 

Our World, Under Water?

New and improved Climate Action Plan gets community and city support, but still has some critics A bicycle-drawn rowboat glided down Pacific Avenue on Tuesday, Jan. 24, with a school of human jellyfish, anemones and a sea turtle dancing along behind. The aquatic parade, which snaked along the canals of Downtown Santa Cruz, was an “Underwater Tour” that depicted what the city may look like someday if the city does not take all possible actions to mitigate climate change and its impacts.  

 

There’s a Path From Me to You…

We begin the week on Thursday, with Venus joining Uranus in Aries. Venus represents money, resources and values. Uranus “creates the revolution” and needed new archetypes. And Aries initiates “all things new.” The energies are building for a showdown (breakdown) in March. The keynote at this time is preparation.

 

Miss Lonely Hearts

“I feel like modern country—it’s just a f*cking mess. No doubt,” says Wyatt Hesemeyer, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Miss Lonely Hearts. “A lot of people that are trying to play ... ’50s country do it by making it as over the top as they can,” he adds, “they’re yodeling and wearing oversized cowboy hats, they try to make it cute, but it wasn’t supposed to be cute. It was supposed to heartfelt or interesting or funny.” Hesemeyer, whose warm, raw vocals intoxicate the listener like a glass of Bulleit Rye Whiskey—his favorite brand—has a characteristic bluntness that imbues his music with honesty instead of camp. Backed by a full band—Patrick O’Connor (drums), Keith Cary (lap steel), Mischa Gasch (upright bass), and Parker McDonald (lead guitar)—Miss Lonely Hearts cranks out pure country with a splash of  shufflin’ 1950s rock and roll. And according to Hesemeyer, their unadulterated sound has a big draw.
Sign up for our weekly events newsletter
you can unsubscribe any time.
  • Login
    Login with registered email or username + password
  • Create an account
    Registration
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    REGISTER_REQUIRED
  • Search Good Times

  • Search
  • More Good Times

     

    Lighted Boat Parade 2011

    Photo slideshow.  Judging cetegories: Sailing, Power, People Powered, Commercial/Sponsored Vessels, Best of Theme and Best Music. Enchanted Harbor at Santa Cruz Dec. 3, 2011 Sponsored by the Santa Cruz Harbor Yacht Club. . . . . . . ..

     

    Losing Baggage

    Pam Houston’s genre-breaking book takes readers on adventures far and deep within You could say it was prescient that Pam Houston began writing her latest book on an airplane. But then, the award-winning short-story writer and novelist often writes on airplanes—and when she started writing these vignettes she had no idea they’d morph into a novel. “I was invited to an evening called ‘Unveiled’ at the Wisconsin Book Festival in Madison, where a group of us was going to read new, untested work,” said Houston. “I took the assignment so literally that I wrote the first 12 chapters on the plane and in the hotel the night before. After I read, Richard Bausch said, ‘Write 100 of them, and that’s your next book.’”

     

    Hamadi Organics

    Hamadi Organic’s tagline, “Tested on Actresses, Never on Animals,” says two important things about the hair care line off the bat: one, it’s ethical and, two, it’s good enough for the stars. Indeed, the likes of Scarlett Johansson, James Franco and Eva Mendes rely on Hamadi creator Jamal Hammadi to tame and style their tresses with his eco-friendly concoctions. (And, yes, the creator's name has two m's and the company's name only has one.)

     

    What is your idea of a romantic date in Santa Cruz?

     

    Burgers Your Way

     

    Loma Prieta Winery

    Last week I wrote about a red blend for Valentine’s Day, but as the year’s most romantic day approaches and you’re still looking for something downright voluptuous, then Loma Prieta’s Petit Sirah fits the bill.

     

    Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweethearts

    Camper Van Beethoven returns to Santa Cruz for two intimate Crepe Place shows Long before the Simon Cowell era, the members of the alternative rock band Camper Van Beethoven were the Santa Cruz musicians who had “made it.” Adorning their lively, all-over-the-map sound with an endearing sense of wit, they wooed the populace with a charmingly nonsensical ditty called “Take the Skinheads Bowling” (after all, isn’t it the angriest people who need a little constructive fun?) and a cover of Status Quo’s “Pictures of Matchstick Men,” from their most commercially successful album, 1989’s Key Lime Pie. With CVB’s 30th anniversary coming up next year, the band is playing a short run of smaller gigs—including two shows at The Crepe Place on Saturday, Feb. 11—to get warmed up for the release of its forthcoming record. The group recently began mixing down this as-yet-untitled album, the first we’ve heard from CVB since 2004’s New Roman Times. According to guitarist Greg Lisher, the band tried out a new approach to writing this time: “Back in the day, [vocalist/guitarist] David [Lowery] would bring his songs to us at rehearsal, and we would write our respective parts. So it was always pretty democratic in that sense, but it was all based on what David was bringing to the table.” For the new album, the band simply got together and came up with ideas on the fly: “Someone would throw something out, someone else would respond and someone else would play off of that.”

     

    Karaoke in Santa Cruz

    Let your star shine with karaoke in Santa Cruz Boardwalk BowlBocci’s CellarBritannia ArmsFog BankHenfling’s Tavern & GrillHindquarter Bar and GrillI Love SushiMalone’s GrilleMichael’s on MainSir Froggy’s PubTrout Farm Inn

     

    Behind the Break-up

    Authors Maira Kalman and Daniel Handler open up On a Bookshop Santa Cruz wall, notes are taped above a pile of books whose covers depict a luminous white coffee mug suspended against a red backdrop. “We broke up because I’m not a gorgeous Australian who lives in China. Accents, right?” reads one note. The words, “We broke up because...” are printed on pages of a notepad near the shop’s display, prompting book shop visitors to share their break up stories. The notes correspond directly with the title of the books piled below: “Why We Broke Up,” by Daniel Handler (a.k.a. popular children’s author Lemony Snicket).

     

    Soquel Vineyards

    Looking for a smooth and sexy number for Valentine’s Day? A hot little item that’s not going to empty your wallet? And I’m talking about wine here! We all need something sensuous for Valentine’s—and if you’re planning a home-cooked meal by candlelight, then you’re going to need an interesting wine to go with it. And here’s where Soquel Vineyards’ Trinity comes in.

    RSS Feed Burner

     Subscribe in a reader