March 27, 2009 - The Austin Chronicle

C ALE N D AR ( COMMUNITY SPORTS ARTS FILM MUSIC) L I STI NGSStrangers When We MeetStrangers When We Meet (1960) D: Richard Quine;with Kirk Douglas, Kim Novak, Ernie Kovacs, Barbara Rush, WalterMatthau. (NR, 117 min.) Blanton Museum of Art and Austin FilmSociety: Birth of the Cool. In this Fifties epoch-ender, Douglasplays a married architect who’s lost the passion in his workand marriage, then has a steamy affair with a married neighbor(Novak). These sympathetic adulterers, of course, threatensuburban values but also provide an uncommon glimpse of theAmerica that was to come. @Alamo Ritz, Wednesday, 7pm.for salvation in the wrong places and withthe wrong men. As the more troubled andirresponsible of the two, Blunt, in particular,is a whirlwind. The protective walls she’sbuilt for herself – the eye shadow, the ironicsense of humor, the loveless sex – comecrumbling down at a moment’s notice andoften in the company of complete strangers;she may be a loose cannon, but she’s onlycapable of injuring herself. Watching her, Iwanted to believe she was going to grantme some insight into the souls of damagedpeople. But Sunshine Cleaning doesn’t existin relation to the outside world but only toother movies. Its characters aren’t humanbeings but cultural signifiers and indie-moviestereotypes created to survive in the laboratorysafety of the festival circuit but nevermeant to actually walk the streets or talk tostrangers. And Norah, though full of passionand contradiction, is just a conglomerationof tics, gestures, and reactions that will berecognizable to anyone who’s spent anytimewatching IFC but irrelevant to anyone interestedin the emotional complications ofreal life.– Josh Rosenblatt★★★■Alamo Drafthouse South, ArborNot reviewed at press time. WWE superstarwrestler Cena teams with once-excit-12 ROUNDS D: Renny Harlin; with Johning action director Harlin (Cliffhanger) forCena, Aidan Gillen, Ashley Scott, Steve Harris, Brian J.White. (PG-13, 108 min.)this New Orleans-set story about a detectivewho has to undergo 12 challengesin order to secure the safe release of hiskidnapped girlfriend. – Marjorie BaumgartenAlamo Drafthouse South, Barton Creek Square,CM Cedar Park, Hill Country Galleria, CMRound Rock, Southpark Meadows, Highland,Gateway, Lakeline, Metropolitan, TinseltownNorth, Westgatefirst runs*Full-length reviews available online ataustinchronicle.com. Dates at end of reviewsindicate original publication date.wTHE CLASS D: Laurent Cantet; with FrançoisBégaudeau, Rachel Régulier, Esméralda Ouertani,Franck Keita, Wei Huang. (PG-13, 128 min., subtitled)The gulf that sometimes emerges betweenmeaning well and doing well is just one of thesharply observed human experiences illuminatedin this French classroom drama. Whenthe best-laid lesson plans fail, liberal-mindedteachers faced with insolent-by-nature adolescentscan find themselves choking on theirpedagogical ideals, while students can findtheir hopes for academic progress derailed bydistractibility, inattention, self-disciplinary deficiencies,and lowered expectations. The kineticand perceptive realism of The Class forges abare narrative that seeks no winners or losers.Winner of the Palme d’Or last year at Cannes,the film depicts a French-language class in aParisian junior high school in which virtually allthe students are of African, Caribbean, Asian,and Arab backgrounds. The Class is based onFrançois Bégaudeau’s 2006 novel, Entre lesMurs, which encapsulates the teacher’s year inthe classroom. Bégaudeau also stars in the filmas the teacher, and all the students who appearin his French class are also nonprofessionals.(03/06/2009) – Marjorie Baumgarten★★★★ Arbor“! ONE HELL OF A JOLT!A FIRST-RATE FILM ABOUT ORGANIZED CRIME. ”Michael Phillips, CHICAGO TRIBUNE“BRILLIANT. ’’A.O. Scott,THE NEW YORK TIMES“GRADE A. ’’Lisa Schwarzbaum,ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLYUnder the BombsUnder the Bombs (2007) D: Philippe Aractingi;with Nada Abou Farhat, Georges Khabbaz. (NR, 98min.) Austin Film Society: Children of Abraham/Ibrahim – Films of the Middle East and North Africa.Shot on location in the summer of 2006 during acease-fire in the Lebanon-Israel conflict, this narrativefeature tells the story of a Christian cabdriver anda Shiite woman who develop a bond while searchingthrough the rubble of southern Lebanon lookingfor the woman’s son. @Alamo Drafthouse South,Tuesday, 7pm; $4, AFS members free.MARTIN SCORSESE PRESENTSA FILM BY MATTEO GARRONE©2009 IFC IN THEATERS LLCBASED ON THE BEST SELLING EXPOSÉ BYROBERTO SAVIANO ABOUT THE NAPLES MAFIASTARTS FRIDAY, MARCH 27 th !VIEW THE TRAILER AT WWW.IFCFILMS.COMMONSTERS VS. ALIENS 3D (PG)Fri. & Sat. 12:10 12:30 12:402:25 2:45 3:00 4:40 5:00 5:20 7:00 7:20 7:40 9:20 9:40 10:00 11:50 11:59Sun. - Thu. 12:10 12:30 12:40 2:25 2:45 3:00 4:40 5:00 5:20 7:00 7:20 7:40 9:209:40 10:0012 ROUNDS (PG–13) Fri. & Sat. 12:10 2:30 4:50 7:15 9:45 11:59Sun. - Thu. 12:10 2:30 4:50 7:15 9:45THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT (PG–13)Fri. & Sat. 12:302:35 4:40 7:05 9:10 11:35Sun. - Thu. 12:30 2:35 4:40 7:05 9:10I LOVE YOU, MAN (R) Fri. & Sat. 12:30 2:45 5:00 7:20 9:40 11:50Sun. - Thu. 12:30 2:45 5:00 7:20 9:40KNOWING (PG–13) Fri. & Sat. 1:45 4:30 7:15 10:00 11:45Sun. - Thu. 1:45 4:30 7:15 10:00DUPLICITY (PG–13) Fri. & Sat. 1:20 4:10 7:00 9:35 11:59Sun. - Thu. 1:20 4:10 7:00 9:35RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN (PG) Fri. - Thu. 12:15 2:35 4:55 7:15 9:35WATCHMEN (R) Fri. & Sat. 1:00 4:30 8:00 11:30Sun. - Thu. 1:00 4:30 8:00a u s t i n c h r o n i c l e . c o m MARCH 27, 2009 T H E A U S T I N C H R O N I C L E 81