Movies This Week: December 14 - 20, 2012

The anxiously anticipated prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens today, and moviegoers have a choice of watching in standard 24 frames per second (fps) or 48fps and 3D at a few select theaters in Austin. The Hobbit is the first major studio release shot in 48fps. Supporters claim that the new technology adds sharpness and realism to the film, but I found the projection distracting. Characters with makeup and prosthetics are quite obvious and the movement appears jerky at time. I look forward to seeing the movie again soon at 24fps so I can focus on the epic story itself.

Austin Film Society Essential Cinema presents the 1962 film Only Two Can Play on Tuesday, December 18, 7 pm at Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar. Peter Sellers plays a henpecked Welsh librarian who is propositioned by the wife of a local councillor. I encourage fellow Sellers fans to check out this rare screening. Tickets are $5 for AFS members and students with ID, and $8 for general admission.

AFS also presents a special screening on Wednesday, December 19, 7 pm at the AFS Screening Room of the 1976 film Unmade Beds, starring Deborah Harry and Duncan Hannah (pictured above), described by director Amos Poe as an "European film made in New York City, a reinvention of the nouvelle vague in the context of New York." Poe will be available for a Q&A via Skype. Tickets are $5 for AFS Make and Watch members, free to AFS Love and Premiere members, and $8 general admission.

The University of Texas at Austin radio-television-film department is screening free student films through this week. Student filmmaker Crystal Zea presents her short film Paper Bag on Saturday, December 15, at 8:30 pm at the McCullough Theatre. This family drama set in rural Texas centers around Marley, a teenager who discovers that she is pregnant shortly after losing her boyfriend and must deal with her overbearing mother.

Movies We've Seen

• In Our Nature -- The feature directorial debut for writer Brian Savelson centers around an estranged father and son's relationship with one another as well as their respective girlfriends on a weekend getaway. Don says, "While the characters aren't terribly captivating, their abrasive interplay does create some dramatic tension, if not often enough" -- read more in his review. (Arbor)
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey -- The adventures of a young Bilbo Baggins as he meets the wizard Gandalf and dwarves with whom he must travel to the Lonely Mountain to reclaim their home and treasure stolen by the dragon Smaug. I enjoying seeing the familiar faces of Rivendell but the portrayal of the various dwarves is most impressive, especially Richard Armitage as Thorin. (wide; 48fps at Alamo South Lamar, Alamo Slaughter, Regal Gateway and Galaxy Moviehouse and Eatery)