Page 6 The Skanner November 22, 2017
Arts & Entertainment
Kam’s Kapsules: Movies Opening Friday, November 24
BIG BUDGET FILMS
Coco (PG for mature
themes) Animated mu-
sical fantasy revolving
around a 12-year-old
wannabe mariachi mu-
sician (Anthony Gonza-
lez) who runs away from
home accompanied by a
trash-talking trickster
(Gael Garcia Bernal) af-
ter his disapproving par-
ents deliberately destroy
his beloved guitar. Voice
cast includes Benjamin
Britt, Edward James Ol-
mos and Renee Victor.
(In English and Spanish
with subtitles)
Molly’s Game (R for
profanity, drug use and
some violence) Jessi-
ca Chastain plays the
title character in a bi-
opic chronicling the
rise and fall of Molly
Bloom, the Olympic ski-
er-turned-gambler who
ran a high-stakes poker
game for a decade until
the FBI brought down the
operation. A-list cast in-
cludes Idris Elba, Kevin
Costner, Michael Cera,
Graham Greene and
Chris O’Dowd.
INDEPENDENT &
FOREIGN FILMS
Bombshell: The Hedy
Kam
Williams
Kam’s
Kapsules
Movie
Reviews
Lamarr Story (Unrated)
Revealing retrospective
about the Jewish mati-
nee idol-turned-inven-
tor (1914-2000) who fled
Austria and helped the
Allies defeat the Nazis by
developing a deadly-ac-
curate, radio guidance
Brimstone & Glory
(Unrated) Visually-cap-
tivating documentary,
shot in Tultepec, Mexico,
celebrating the compel-
ling appeal and beauty of
elaborate fireworks dis-
plays. (In Spanish with
subtitles)
Call Me by Your Name
(R for sexuality, nudity
and some profanity) Ho-
moerotic, coming-of-age
tale, set in Italy in 1983,
about a 17 year-old (Tim-
othee Chalamet) who
develops a crush on his
dad’s (Michael Stuhl-
‘What Happened in Vegas’
and Victoire Du Bois. (In
English, Italian, French
and German with subti-
tles)
‘Coco’
system for torpedoes.
Featuring commentary
by Mel Brooks, Diane
Kruger and Peter Bog-
danovich.
barg) doctoral student
(Armie Hammer) spend-
ing the summer at the
family’s villa. With Ami-
ra Casar, Esther Garrel
Darkest Hour (PG-
13 for mature themes)
World War II docudra-
ma, set during the ear-
ly days of the conflict,
recounting how British
Prime Minster Winston
Churchill (Gary Oldman)
rallied the nation to pre-
pare for an invasion as
the Nazis rolled across
the rest of Europe. With
Lily James, Ben Mendel-
sohn and Kristin Scott
Thomas.
Eric Clapton: A Live in
12 Bars (Unrated) Rev-
erential rocktrospective
featuring commentary
about the blues guitar
legend by late colleagues
like B.B. King, George
Harrison and Jimi Hen-
drix, courtesy of archi-
val footage.
The Man Who Invent-
ed Christmas (PG for
mature themes and mild
epithets) Adaptation off
Lee Standiford’s best
seller of the same name
crediting Charles Dick-
ens’ (Dan Stevens) “A
Christmas Carol” for the
cultural shift that turned
a religious holiday into
a gift-giving season.
Featuring Christopher
Plummer as Ebenezer
Scrooge.
Mr. Roosevelt (Unrat-
ed) Offbeat comedy about
a fledgling comedienne
(Noel Wells) who moves
back to Austin from Hol-
lywood to care for her
cat when informed by
her ex-boyfriend (Nick
Thune) that it has fallen
seriously ill. With Britt
Lower, Daniella Pineda
and Andre Hyland.
What Happened in Ve-
gas (Unrated) Eye-open-
ing documentary expos-
ing the Las Vegas Police
Department’s
wide-
spread practice of cov-
ering up corruption and
police brutality.
FILM REVIEW: Cory Hardrict Stars as Both
a Gangsta and an Architect in ‘Destined’
By Kam Williams
For The Skanner News
S
heed Smith (Cory
Hardrict) is a drug
dealer roaming De-
troit’s mean streets
in a bloody turf war be-
ing waged in the ‘hood
where he was raised.
Meanwhile, his doppel-
ganger, Rasheed Smith
(also Cory Hardrict), is
an idealistic architect
overseeing an urban re-
newal project designed
to revitalize the same
ghetto.
However,
the
two
look-a-likes’ paths nev-
er cross. That’s because
they exist in parallel uni-
verses. You see, Destined
is one of those “What if?”
affairs set in a couple of
alternate realities. Thus,
we are able to compare
bad boy Sheed’s fate to
that of his straitlaced al-
ter ego.
The picture was writ-
ten and directed by Qa-
sim Basir who made a
spectacular directorial
debut in 2010 with the
relatively-moving Mooz-
lum. This disappoint-
ing sophomore offering
earns an A for ambition,
if only a C for execution.
Cory Hardrict stars
as both Sheed and Rash-
eed in a split screen saga
that flits back and forth
between storylines that
never intersect. Unfor-
tunately, neither plot is
well enough developed
to fully engage the view-
er.
I suppose Basir was too
in love with his bifurcat-
ed, sci-fi script to consid-
See DESTINED on page 7