arts & entertainment
Kam’s Kapsules: Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun
By kam Williams
Special To The Skanner
News
BiG BUdGeT filMS
extremely loud and
incredibly Close (PG-13
for profanity, disturbing
images and mature themes)
Post 9/11 drama about a 9
year-old boy’s (Thomas
Horn) desperate search for
the lock that matches the
mysterious key left behind
by his father (Tom Hanks)
who perished in the terrorist
attack on the World Trade
Center.
With
Sandra
Bullock, Viola Davis, John
Goodman and Jeffrey
Wright.
Haywire (R for violence)
Revenge thriller, directed by
Steven Soderbergh, about a
special ops agent (Gina
Carano) determined to track
down the traitor back in the
U.S. who double-crossed
her and left her for dead
while on a dangerous
assignment in Dublin,
Ireland. With Michael
Douglas, Antonio Banderas,
Ewan McGregor, Channing
Tatum,
Michael
Fassbender,
red Tails (PG-13 for vio-
lence) WWII saga, set in
Europe in 1944, recounting
the bravery of Tuskegee
Airmen grounded because
of their skin color who
make the most of an oppor-
tunity to fight for their
country when they are
grudgingly enlisted to save
the day. Ensemble cast
includes Terrence Howard,
Cuba Gooding, Jr., Ne-Yo,
Method Man and Gerald
McRaney.
Underworld: awakening
(R for profanity, gore and
graphic violence) Kate
Beckinsale reprises her role
in this sci-fi sequel as a war-
rior vampire who now
escapes from prison to lead
a confederation of were-
wolves and the undead in an
all-out war with humanity.
Featuring India Eisley,
Michael Ealy and Theo
James.
indePendenT
&
fOreiGn filMS
The City dark (Unrated)
Light pollution expose’
about the deleterious effect
on the quality of life exacted
by an increasingly bright
planet.
red Tails
Page 4 The Portland Skanner January 18, 2012
Coriolanus (R for graphic
violence) Ralph Fiennes
stars in the title role of this
modernistic reinterpretation
of Shakespeare’s classic
play about a banished
Roman general who enters
an unholy alliance with a
sworn enemy (Gerard
Butler). With Vanessa
Redgrave, Jessica Chastain
and Brian Cox.
Crazy Horse (Unrated)
Revealing
documentary
offering an eye-opening
peek inside the legendary
Crazy Horse, a classy strip
club which has been staging
choreographed, burlesque
shows in Paris since 1951.
(In French and English with
subtitles)
The flowers of War
(Unrated) Historical drama
based on the Geling Yan
novel about a mortician
(Christian Bale) who poses
as a priest in order to save
the lives of prostitutes and
parishioners during the
Japanese’s rape of Nanking.
With Shigeo Kobayashi, Bai
Xue and Paul Schneider. (In
English, Mandarin and
Japanese with subtitles)
Miss Bala (R for profani-
ty, sexuality and brutal vio-
lence) Dream deferred
drama about a beauty pag-
eant contestant (Stephanie
Sigman) forced to abandon
her pursuit of the Miss
Mexico title when she’s kid-
napped by a drug kingpin
(Noe Hernandez) after wit-
nessing a gangland-style
underworld: Awakening
massacre inside a seedy,
Tijuana disco. With Irene
Azuela, Jose Yenque and
James Russo. (In Spanish
and English with subtitles)
The Pruitt-igoe Myth
(Unrated) Urban renewal
documentary about a much-
ballyhooed St. Louis hous-
ing project which opened to
fanfare in 1954 only to be
deliberately detonated and
turned to rubble just 20
years later, due to vacan-
cies, vandalism and a host
of other inner-city mal-
adies.
Scalene
(Unrated)
Triangulated, psychological
thriller chronicling the quest
for vengeance of the mother
(Margo Martindale) of a
mentally-challenged mute
(Adam Scarimbolo) impris-
oned for raping his college-
age babysitter (Hanna Hall).
Support cast includes Jim
Dougherty,
LaDonna
Pettijohn and Raymond
Kester.
Ultrasuede: in Search of
Halston
(Unrated)
Reverential biopic celebrat-
ing the glamour and deca-
dence of the late fashion
designer Roy Halston
Frowick
(1932-1990).
Featuring reflections by
Liza Minelli, Diane von
Furstenberg, Billy Joel,
Andre Leon Talley and
Anjelica Huston.
Watching Tv with the
red Chinese (Unrated)
Cross-cultural comedy, set
in NYC in 1980, revolving
around a well-meaning
neighbor (Ryan O’Nan)
who decides to try to play
big brother to a trio of trans-
fer students (Leonard Nam,
James Chen and Keong
Sim) from the People’s
Republic. With Gillian
Jacobs, Constance Wu and
Idara Victor. (In English and
Chinese with subtitles)