Movies This Week: November 21-25, 2014

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The Theory Of Everything

This is an abbreviated version of our Movies This Week roundup because there will be some turnover at area theaters on as we head into the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. I'll be back with an early post on Wednesday to let you know about what will be changing. In the meantime, here's a quick look at what is on tap for this weekend and early next week.

At Alamo Drafthouse Ritz, they are continuing on with 70mm screenings of Interstellar, but those are currently only confirmed through Tuesday night. It's possible that it will keep playing, but if you've been meaning to catch it there on film, you may want to squeeze it in this weekend. The Ritz has added a Saturday afternoon matinee of Florian Habicht's outstanding documentary Pulp: A Film About Life, Death and Supermarkets. They've also got a Mad Max trilogy marathon on Sunday and Monday night will feature a 35mm screening of Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut for the "1999" series as well as the Sichel Sisters' 1997 lesbian romance All Over Me. Originally released by Fine Line Features and never available on dvd, this is a rare chance to see this remarkable queer classic. 

The Alamo South Lamar is presenting Evolution Of A Criminal for its only Austin-area theatrical screening on Sunday. The documentary about a teenage bank robber made its world premiere at SXSW earlier this year and the director (who is also the subject of the film), Darius Clark Monroe, is going to be there for a post-screening Q&A. The "1999" series also stops by Lamar on Tuesday night for Scorsese's outstanding drama Bringing Out The Dead in 35mm. The Alamo Lakeline serves up the seductive Dangerous Liaisons again this weekend for Afternoon Tea while The Fifth Element plays there on Sunday evening. 

On Tuesday night, the Austin Film Society is screening Graceland, a thriller from the Phillipines directed by Ron Morales, as part of this month's "Essential Cinema" series on Contemporary Filipino Films. I reviewed it for Paste early last year and called it "a volatile, edge-of-your-seat thriller that will linger in one's memory long after the final scene has ended." If you missed this one on the big screen when it was released by Drafthouse Films, it's well worth your time.  

Movies We've Seen

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 - The final book in the young adult trilogy by Suzanne Collins is, of course, following the new standard of splitting up the finale of a series into two movies for maximum profit. We won't get Part 2 until next year, but you can head back into the games with Katniss and Peeta with Mockingjay - Part 1, which will likely crush everything else in release for the forseeable future. Mike has our review and says that the film "continues the...series, taking it into darker, more adult territory. Fans of the books will not be disappointed." He also notes that Part 1 is "both faithful to the source and also timely commentary on the use of media to influence a revolution." (wide)

The Theory of Everything - A prime piece of Oscar bait for the fall, this biopic finds Eddie Redmayne as the legendary British physicist Stephen Hawking. Based on his ex-wife Jane's memoir Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen, Felicity Jones stars as Jane, who begins a college relationship with Stephen before the ALS diagnosis that changed his life forever. It hovers just slightly above a made-for-television for most of the picture, but there's no question that Redmayne gives a dynamic performance. Don has our review and while he also commends the acting, he says "The Theory of Everything could have been an intriguing look at the interplay between the rationality of science and the irrationality of love; instead, it's just a superficial story about overcoming adversity." (Alamo South Lamar, Regal Arbor, Violet Crown Cinema - expands next week)

Also Opening In Austin

Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me - After being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, country music legend Glen Campbell set out on his final tour of America in 2011. He eventually performed 151 sold-out shows to fans from coast to coast. This documentary follows the tour and the difficulties presented as the disease began to take hold. The film features interviews from the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Steve Martin, Bill Clinton and more. (Regal Metropolitan)