Local & Repertory
Days of My Youth Is it too soon to start thinking about ski season? Not according to the filmmakers of this roving, snowy travelogue, which visits Alaska, Peru, and other white locales. (NR)
The Moore, 1932 Second Ave., 877-784-4849, stgpresents.com. $17.50. 8 p.m. Thurs., Sept. 25.
Earth Girls Are Easy Julien Temple’s 1988 comedy, with Geena Davis, Jeff Goldblum, and Jim Carrey, is a lot of fun, mixing romance with some infectious ’80s music. (PG)
Central Cinema, 1411 21st Ave., 686-6684, central-cinema.com. $6-$8. 7 p.m. Fri.-Tues. & 3:30 p.m. Sat.-Sun.
Palo Alto Watching Gia Coppola’s humdrum high-school teen angst movie, I couldn’t help but wish she’d followed the route of her grandfather (Francis Ford Coppola) and chosen to cut her teeth on something less pretentious and meaningful—you know, like a down-’n’-dirty horror picture. Palo Alto is adapted from a book of short stories by the apparently inexhaustible James Franco, who also plays a supporting role in a handful of scenes as a sleepily lecherous soccer coach whose focus of attention is a confused 16-year-old named April (Emma Roberts). Along with April’s issues, there are also promiscuous Emily (Zoe Levin) and diffident Teddy (Jack Kilmer, son of Val Kilmer—who cameos, daffily). This is California ennui born of an overabundance of privilege and living space, captured in a manner that seems weirdly pedestrian. If it weren’t for the excellence of Roberts (another scion: daughter of Eric, niece of Julia), Palo Alto would have an eerie lack of distinguishing features. (NR) ROBERT HORTON SIFF Film Center (Seattle Center), 324-9996, siff.net. $6-$12. 7 p.m. Mon.
Patema Inverted This new Japanese anime, a sci-fi teen romance, is presented in both dubbed and subtitled prints. (NR)
SIFF Cinema Egyptian, 801 E. Pine St., 324-9996, siff.net. $6-$12. Runs Fri.-Thurs.
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Scarface One of the most influential films of the ’80s, Brian De Palma’s Scarface made Cuban immigrant coke dealer Tony Montana (Al Pacino) an icon of the VHS era. Its nothing-to-everything theme had great resonance for the young Snoop Dogg, Method Man, Ghostface Killah, Capone, Scarface (who adapted his nom de rap from you know who), Russell Simmons, and others. According to no less an authority than P. Diddy, Montana “was an upstanding gangster, which is a rare thing.” Certainly these fans are right on target about Scarface as a parable of unfettered American capitalism. All point not to the film’s violence but to its moral: Montana becomes a monster who deserves to be destroyed; he’s undone by his own excess. (R) BRIAN MILLER Central Cinema, $6-$8. 9:30 p.m. Fri.-Tues.
Valley Uprising Peter Sarsgaard narrates this new rock-climbing doc about the history of big-wall ascents in the Yosemite Valley. (NR)
Oak Tree, 10006 Aurora Ave. N., reelrocktour.com. $20. 7 p.m. Weds. & Thurs.
Ongoing
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Boyhood Richard Linklater’s Boyhood was shot in the director’s native Texas over a 12-year period—Linklater knew the shape of the film, but would tweak its script as time marched on, incorporating topical issues and reacting to his performers. This means that unlike most movies, which remake the world and impose an order on it, Boyhood reacts to the world. Protagonist Mason (Ellar Coltrane), tracked from first grade to high-school graduation, is learning that life does not fit into the pleasing rise and fall of a three-act structure. Linklater doesn’t reject melodrama so much as politely declines it, opting instead for little grace notes and revealing encounters. (Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke are terrific as the parents.) As we reach the final stages, there’s definitely a sense of rounding off the story—the movie’s not as shapeless as it might seem. (R) R.H. Sundance, SIFF Cinema Uptown
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them Eleanor (Jessica Chastain) walks across a New York City bridge on a pleasant day, and at one point abruptly dodges out of frame. The rest of the movie is an attempt by Eleanor—and her family, friends, and husband Conor (James McAvoy)—to figure out what happens after she survives her fall. After her suicide attempt, El goes to live with the folks, so we see how she’s been shaped by her distracted father (William Hurt), a psychiatrist, and her wine-swigging mother (Isabelle Huppert), who likes reminding Eleanor what she sacrificed for family. Conor has more life: he’s managing a restaurant that is quietly failing, leading to charged encounters with his best pal/head chef (SNL stalwart Bill Hader). Director Ned Benson’s Benson’s project bowed at the Toronto Film Festival last fall as two separate features: The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her and Him. This film is a 122-minute compilation of the two, though the intriguing point of the original project was how the twin movies reflected on each other from contrasting perspectives. Them is a less-than-convincing in-betweener. (R) R.H. Guild 45th, Pacific Place, Lincoln Square
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Flamenco, Flamenco Carlos Saura’s 2010 dance doc is a series of individual performances reflecting the state of the art form today, from the traditional to the avant-garde. The structure of the film is quite simple—it’s just a series of numbers, some featuring only musicians or dancers, some more elaborate. Apart from section titles, there’s no description or explanation; the dancing simply speaks for itself. Instead of filming in a studio or a club, Saura built a platform in a soundstage and filled it with portraits of dancers—some from the past, others a figment of his imagination. Vittorio Storaro’s hyper-mobile camera slides through that gallery and around the performers. We rarely get the feeling that we’re watching from a theater seat. Instead we’re right next to the dancers, sometimes the direct focus of their attention. Traditional flamenco is performed in small quarters; Storaro and Saura have found a way to match that intimate feeling. (NR) SANDRA KURTZ Varsity
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Love Is Strange Meet Ben (John Lithgow) and George (Alfred Molina), whose cohabitation stretches back long before same-sex marriage was a realistic goal. Their new legal bond means that music teacher George is fired by the Catholic school where he has long worked—everybody there likes him, but they have to obey their bylaws. Manhattan is sufficiently expensive that Ben and George have to give up their place, and financial complications dictate a few months of couch-surfing before they can settle. George moves in with tiresomely younger, hard-partying friends; Ben takes a bunk bed in the home of relatives Kate and Eliot (Marisa Tomei and Darren E. Burrows), who already have their hands full with an awkward teen son (Charlie Tahan). It’s one of those sad situations in which everybody generally means well, but things just aren’t working out. Yet director Ira Sachs (Keep the Lights On), who has charted an intriguing course for himself through the indie world, is confident enough to leave out the expected big scenes and allow us to fill in the blanks. (R) R.H. Harvard Exit
The Skeleton Twins Maggie and Milo are fraternal twins who are estranged (for 10 years), living on opposite coasts, and seriously depressed for reasons that seem dissimilar but boil down to past family trauma. That Maggie and Milo are played by Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader will get this mediocre dramedy more attention than it deserves. That their performances are good oughtn’t be surprising (the two SNL pros have plenty of experience with the comedy of awkwardness). That their script is so tonally sad-happy yet familiar, one has to attribute to the inexperienced writers (Mark Heyman and Craig Johnson; the latter is a Bellingham native and UW grad who directed the film). Maggie and Milo are catty, sardonic misanthropes, angry at the world because they haven’t lived up to their youthful potential. A failed actor, Milo returns home to New Jersey, where Maggie’s a dental hygienist married to a doofus (Luke Wilson) whom she treats with gentle contempt. There’s also a sex scandal lurking in the past, but the snark bogs down in melodrama; and no amount of ’80s pop montages can really change the film’s predictable trajectory. (R) B.R.M. Harvard Exit
This Is Where I Leave You The fractious Altman clan gathers for an awkward and altogether irreverent weeklong mourning period (sitting shiva) for its deceased patriarch, at the command of an imperious new widow (Jane Fonda). Among her four grown children, Corey Stoll is the son who stayed to run the family business; Adam Driver is the ne’er-do-well youngest son who fled to the West Coast; Tina Fey is the unhappily married wife and mother, also visiting; and Jason Bateman is the New York radio producer whose marriage just imploded (not that he’s telling anyone, not just now, not on this trip, no way). There’s a lot of ground to cover in this cluttered adaptation of Jonathan Tropper’s 2009 novel, directed with no great subtlety by Shawn Levy, who helmed all those Night at the Museum movies. There are moments that work well here, but Levy is fatally wed to a formula of tears, outbursts, wise counsel, and reconciliation—repeated often. (R) B.R.M. SIFF Cinema Uptown, Guild 45th, Cinebarre, Ark Lodge, Lincoln Square, Bainbridge
