Movies This Week: March 23-29, 2012
It's time to stop recuperating from SXSW and venture back into the world of Austin moviegoing. Fortunately, plenty of options are available. The Austin Jewish Film Festival starts tomorrow night -- read Chale's preview for details. And one of my favorite movies is screening at Alamo Drafthouse Ritz this week: catch Harold and Maude nightly Saturday through Tuesday. Or you could head over to the Blue Starlite Drive-In on Saturday night for a double feature of Back to the Future and The Goonies.
This is also a good week for indie film-watching. Boston-to-Austin filmmaker Andrew Bujalski will be at Alamo Ritz on Sunday night for a 10th anniversary screening of his film Funny Ha Ha. And on Tuesday night, the Texas Independent Film Network hosts a "beer and bbq" documentary double-feature at Violet Crown Cinema: Chris Elley's Barbecue: A Texas Love Story (narrated by Ann Richards) and Mike Woolf's Something's Brewin' in Shiner. You could walk right over to Lambert's afterward ...
Movies We've Seen:
Being Flynn -- Rod says in his review that this movie starring Robert De Niro and Paul Dano "shines a light on many facets of the human condition: the relationship between fathers and sons, the problem of self-medication in the form of substance abuse, and finally how quickly you can go from being fully employed with a roof over your head to sleeping on a park bench." (Arbor)
The Hunger Games -- Mike, take it away: "Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson run an all-star cast through the gauntlet in Gary Ross' adaptation of the Suzanne Collins young-adult novel The Hunger Games. Fans of the series will enjoy this vivid if somewhat bland adventure. Those new to the story may be left scratching their heads wondering why many characters do what they do, as Ross foregoes any peripheral character-building." Look for his review on Saturday. (wide)
Sound of Noise (pictured at top) -- The Fantastic Fest 2010 award winner returns to Austin for a weeklong run. Mike says in his review that it's "fun, but not GREAT fun." Mike is wrong. (Sorry, dude.) This noir-ish comedy about "musical terrorism" is great fun and I encourage everyone to see it. (Alamo Ritz, Alamo Slaughter)
Other Movies Opening in Austin:
Jiro Dreams of Sushi -- This documentary focuses on Jiro Ono, considered one of the world's great sushi masters, and his two sons. Look for my review this weekend; in the meantime, you can check out Marc Savlov's review at the Austin Chronicle. (Violet Crown, Alamo Lamar)