Arts & Entertainment
Kam’s Capsules: Movies Opening Friday, Jan. 23
By Kam Williams
For The Skanner News
BIG BUDGET FILMS
The Boy Next Door (R
for profanity, sexuality,
nudity and violence) Psy-
chological thriller about a
young man (Ryan Guzman)
who becomes obsessed with
his recently-divorced neigh-
bor (Jennifer Lopez) after
they share a one-night
stand. Cast includes John
Corbett,
Kristen
Chenoweth, Hill Harper and
Ian Nelson.
Mortdecai (R for profani-
ty and sexuality) Screen
adaptation of the Kyril Bon-
figlioli best-seller of the
same name about a globe-
trotting art dealer’s (Johnny
Depp) search for a stolen
painting containing clues
leading to a missing Nazi
gold fortune. With Olivia
Munn, Ewan McGregor,
Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Bet-
tany and Jeff Goldblum.
Strange Magic (PG for
action and scary images)
Animated musical, inspired
by A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, revolving around a
battle among elves, goblins,
fairies and imps over a pow-
erful potion. Voice cast
includes Meredith Anne
Bull, Kristen Chenoweth,
Alan Cumming, Alfred
Molina and Maya Rudolph.
INDEPENDENT &
FOREIGN FILMS
Against the Sun (PG for
mature themes and mild epi-
thets) World War II survival
saga recounting a trio of air-
men’s (Tom Felton, Jake
Abel and Garret Dillahunt)
real-life ordeal in a lifeboat
after ditching their plane
over the Pacific Ocean. Fea-
turing Nadia Parra.
Big Muddy (R for vio-
lence, profanity, sexuality
and some nudity) Nadia Litz
and Justin Kelly co-star as
mother and son operating on
the wrong side of the law in
this remarkable neo noir
reminiscent of Red Rock
West from debut director
Jefferson Moneo. Cast
includes David La Haye,
Stephen McHattie and
James Le Gros.
Black Sea (R for vio-
lence, graphic images and
pervasive profanity) Buried
treasure adventure starring
Jude Law as a submarine
captain who goes rogue to
search for a sunken ship
supposedly loaded with
gold. With Scoot McNairy,
Ben Mendelsohn and Jodie
Whittaker.
Cake (R for profanity,
substance abuse and brief
sexuality) Poignant charac-
ter portrait starring Jennifer
Aniston as a woman who
befriends the just-widowed
husband (Sam Worthington)
of a suicidal member of her
chronic pain support group
(Anna Kendrick). Ensemble
cast includes Adriana Bar-
razza, William H. Macy,
Felicity Huffman, Lucy
Punch, Mamie Gummer and
Chris Messina. (In English
and Spanish with subtitles)
The Duke of Burgundy
(Unrated) Romance drama
revolving around a lesbian
couple’s (Sidse Babett
Knudsen and Chiara D’An-
na)
sadomasochistic
relationship. With Eugenia
Caruso, Fatma Mohamed
and Monica Swinn.
The Humbling (R for
Jericho Rosales as the title role in Manny
profanity, sexuality and
brief violence) Oscar-win-
ner Barry Levinson (for
Rain Man) directed this
adaptation of the Philip
Roth best-seller of the same
name about an aging actor
(Al Pacino) whose life is
turned upside-down when
he embarks on an ill-
advised affair with a
considerably-younger les-
bian
(Greta
Gerwig).
Support cast includes
Dianne Wiest, Charles
Grodin, Mandy Patinkin
and Kyra Sedgwick.
Manny (PG-13 for vio-
lence and bloody images)
Pugilism biopic, narrated by
Liam Neeson, about Fil-
ipino boxing sensation
Manny Pacquiao. Featuring
commentary by Mark
Wahlberg, Jeremy Piven
and Jimmy Kimmel.
Miss
Hill:
Making
Dance Matter (Unrated)
Reverential biopic about
Martha Hill (1900-1995),
the visionary founding
director of Juilliard’s Dance
Division.
Mommy (R for violence,
sexual references and perva-
sive profanity) ADHD
drama chronicling a griev-
ing widow’s (Anne Dorval)
Page 8 The Portland and Seattle Skanner January 21, 2015
frustrations while raising
her violent, teenage son
(Antoine-Olivier
Pilon)
alone.
With
Suzanne
Clement, Patrick Huard and
Alexandre Goyette. (In
French and English with
subtitles)
gay teen’s (Said Mrini)
search for identity in a soci-
ety in denial about the
existence of homosexuality.
With Amine Ennaji, Karim
Ait M’Hand and Frederic
Landenberg. (In French and
Arabic with subtitles)
Strange Magic
Red Army (PG for mild
epithets and mature themes)
Cold War documentary
highlighting the exploits of
the Soviet Army’s hockey
team, the most successful
sports dynasty in history. (In
English and Russian with
subtitles)
Salvation Army (Unrat-
ed) Coming-of-age drama,
set in Casablanca, about a
Son of a Gun (Unrated)
Cat-and-mouse crime caper,
set in Perth, about a 19 year-
old petty thief (Brenton
Thwaites) who, against his
better judgment, becomes
the protégé of Australia’s
Public Enemy #1 (Ewan
McGregor) after the two
stage a daring jailbreak.
With Alicia Vikander, Matt
Nable, Tammie West and
Jacek Koman.