Page 6 The Skanner December 20, 2017
Arts & Entertainment
Kam’s Kapsules: Movies Opening Friday, December 22
BIG BUDGET FILMS
Bright (Unrated) Sci-fi
thriller, set in an alter-
nate reality where hu-
mans coexist with fair-
ies, elves and orcs, and
revolving around an orc
(Joel Edgerton) and a
human cop (Will Smith)
who put aside their dif-
ferences to protect a
young elf (Lucy Fry) in
possession of a power-
ful magic wand coveted
by an evil elf (Noomi Ra-
pace). With Jay Hernan-
dez, Edgar Ramirez and
Veronica Ngo.
Downsizing (R for pro-
fanity, sexual referenc-
es, graphic nudity and
drug use) Sci-fi dramedy
revolving around a cou-
ple (Matt Damon and
Kristen Wiig) who agree
to move to a miniature
community after Norwe-
gian scientists discover a
process to shrink people
to 5” tall. Support cast
includes Jason Sudeikis,
Kam
Williams
Kam’s
Kapsules
Movie
Reviews
Christoph Waltz, Neil
PatrickHarris and Lau-
ra Dern. (In English and
sexual references) Road
comedy chronicling a
couple of fraternal twins’
(Owen Wilson and Ed
Helms) search for their
long-lost father after
learning that their pro-
miscuous mom (Glenn
Close) had lied about
his dying when they
were young. With Terry
Bradshaw, J.K. Simmons,
‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’
‘Bright’
Spanish with subtitles)
Father Figures (R for
pervasive profanity and
Christopher
Walken,
Ving Rhames, Katt Wil-
liams, June Squibb and
Harry Shearer.
The Greatest Show-
man (PG for a brawl and
mature themes) Musical
biopic about P.T. Barnum
(Hugh Jackman), the en-
tertainment visionary
who turned a modest
circus into a worldwide
spectacle based on the
belief that, “There’s a
sucker born every min-
ute.” Featuring Michelle
Williams, Zac Efron and
Zendaya.
Jumanji: Welcome to
the Jungle (PG-13 for ac-
tion, profanity and sug-
gestive content) Sci-fi
sequel revolving around
four teens’ (Morgan
Turner, Madison Ise-
man, Ser’Darius Blain
and Alex Wolff ) adven-
tures after turning into
video game avatars.
Principal cast includes
Dwayne Johnson, Jack
Black, Kevin Hart, Missi
Pyle and Nick Jonas.
Molly’s Game (R for
profanity, drug use and
some violence) Jessi-
SHOWTIMES
THE BREADWINNER (PG-13)
Fri-Sat, Tue-Thur: 2:15, 7:15
Sun: 2:15 / Mon: 7:15
ROMAN J. ISRAEL, ESQ. (PG-13)
Fri-Sat, Tue-Thur: 4:40, 9:35
Sun: 4:40 / Mon: 9:35
THE STAR (PG-13)
Sun: 12:15 / Mon: 5:15
BLADE RUNNER 2049 (R)
Fri-Sat, Tue-Thur: 1:35, 6:35
Sun: 1:35 / Mon: 6:35
The Week of
Friday, Dec. 22 through
Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017
BATTLE OF THE SEXES (PG-13)
Fri-Sat, Tue-Thur: 11:40, 9:20 / Mon: 9:20
LOVING VINCENT (PG-13)
Fri-Sun, Tue-Thur: 11:30, 4:50 / Mon: 4:50
HOME ALONE (PG)
Fri-Sat, Tue-Thur: 11:45, 4:20, 9:50
Sun: 11:45, 4:20 / Mon: 4:20, 9:50
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) (PG)
Fri-Sat, Tue-Thur: 2:00, 6:55 / Sun: 2:00
Mon: 6:55
$4.00 adults, $3.00 (65+), $3.00 (12 & under)
7818 SE Stark St, Portland, OR 97215
503-252-1707 • AcademyTheaterPdx.com
Babysitting: Children 2 to 8 years old. Fri: shows starting between 3:30 pm and 8 pm. Sat - Sun: shows starting
between 1 pm and 8 pm. $9.50 per child for the length of the movie. Call to reserve a spot, no drop ins.
ca Chastain plays the
title character in a bi-
opic chronicling the
rise and fall of Molly
Bloom, the Olympic ski-
er-turned-gambling op-
erator who ran a high-
stakes poker game for
a decade until the FBI
brought down the oper-
ation. A-list cast includes
Idris Elba, Kevin Cost-
ner, Michael Cera, Gra-
ham Greene and Chris
O’Dowd.
Pitch Perfect 3 (PG-13
for sexuality, profanity,
action and crude humor)
Final installment in the a
cappella trilogy finds the
Bellas reuniting to enter-
tain the troops during a
very eventful USO tour
overseas. Ensemble cast
includes Rebel Wilson,
Anna Kendrick, Hailee
Steinfeld, Brittany Snow,
Elizabeth Banks and John
Lithgow, with a cameo by
DJ Khaled.
INDEPENDENT &
FOREIGN FILMS
Crooked House (PG-13
for sexuality and mature
themes) Adaptation of
Agatha Christie’s classic
crime novel of the same
name about a private
eye (Max Irons) hired
by an ex-lover (Stefanie
Martini) to investigate
the mysterious murder
of her wealthy grandfa-
ther (Gino Picciano).on
the grounds of the fami-
ly patriarch’s sprawling
estate. With Glenn Close,
Christina Hendricks, Gil-
lian Anderson and Ter-
ence Stamp.
Hangman (R for vi-
olence, profanity and
graphic images) Murder
mystery about a deco-
rated homicide detective
(Al Pacino) who joins
forces with a criminal
profiler (Karl Urban) to
apprehend a serial killer
(Joe Anderson) playing
a twisted version of the
word game “Hangman.”
Featuring Brittany Snow,
Sarah Shahi and Chelle
Ramos.
Happy End (R for pro-
fanity and sexuality)
Skeletons-in-the-closet
drama uncovering the
secrets of members of a
rich French family bliss-
fully unaware of the suf-
fering in migrant camps
on the other side of Cal-
ais. Co-starring Isabelle
Huppert,
Jean-Louis
Trintignant and Mathieu
Kassovitz. (In French and
English with subtitles)
Hostiles (R for profan-
ity and graphic violence)
Panoramic Western, set
in 1892, about a veteran
calvalry Captain (Chris-
tian Bale) who reluctant-
ly agrees to escort a dy-
ing Cheyenne chief (Wes
Studi) from a fort in New
Mexico back to his tribe’s
ancestral lands in Mon-
tana. Supporting cast in-
cludes Rosamund Pike,
Adam Beach, Ben Foster
and Timothee Chalamet.
Tiger Zinda Hai (Unrat-
ed) Second installment in
the Tiger espionage se-
ries, set eight years after
the events in the original,
finds the international
spies (Salman Khan and
Katrina Kaif ) embark-
ing on another thrilling
international adventure.
With Anupriya Goenka,
Paresh Rawal and Angad
Bedi. (in Hindi with sub-
titles)
FILM REVIEW: Denzel Delivers Oscar-
Quality Performance as Attorney with
Asperger’s in ‘Roman J. Israel, Esq.’
by Kam Williams
For The Skanner News
R
oman J. Israel (Denzel Washing-
ton) is a high-functioning savant
on the autism spectrum who has
been practicing law in L.A. for the
past 36 years. The brilliant attorney
has spent most of his career under the
radar, writing legal briefs in a rear of-
fice for indigent criminal defendants,
while his partner, William Henry
Jackson, served as the face of the firm,
whether cultivating clients or arguing
their cases in the courtroom.
This
unorthodox
arrangement
worked well for Roman who, besides
his disorder, is a longtime political ac-
tivist dedicated to a progressive agen-
da, namely, to assist downtrodden in-
dividuals unfairly ensnared in the net
of the prison-industrial complex. And
because of that commitment, he’s been
willing to work for far less pay than
colleagues of his caliber. Consequently,
the highly-principled lawyer has had
to scrape by on a modest salary, living
in the same dive for decades, where he
subsisted on a steady diet of peanut
butter sandwiches and jazz classics
played on an old-fashioned turntable.
Everything changes the day William
Jackson suffers a heart attack and the
two-person firm is forced to dissolve.
Roman first applies for a position with
a public interest non-profit that shares
his values. But when the empathetic
director (Carmen Ejogo) explains that
she doesn’t have the money to hire an
attorney, he resigns himself to joining a
corporate firm where he’s soon teamed
with a young associate (Colin Farrell)
interested only in maximizing profits.
This leaves Roman sitting on the
See FILM on page 9