a&e | FILM
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SB Independent
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WHEREFORE? Hailee Steinfeld and Douglas Booth play the star-crossed lovers in a rather tepid Romeo & Juliet.
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FIRST LOOKS ✯ Captain Phillips (134 mins.; PG-13: sustained intense sequences of menace, some violence with bloody images, substance use) Reviewed on page 145. Camino Real/ Paseo Nuevo
Machete Kills (107 mins.; R: strong bloody violence throughout, language, some sexual content) Reviewed on page 145. Fairview/ Fiesta 5
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146
THE INDEPENDENT
october 17, 2013
Edited by Aly Comingore
The following films are playing in Santa Barbara FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, THROUGH THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24. Descriptions followed by initials — DJP (D.J. Palladino), KS (Kit Steinkellner), JW (Josef Woodard) — have been taken from our critics’ reviews, which can be read in full at independent.com. The symbol ✯ indicates the film is recommended. Giamatti), Nurse (Lesley Manville), and Lord Capulet (Damian Lewis). Mercutio (Christian Cooke) barely registers. Benvolio (Kodi Smit-McPhee) looks all of 12. And Tybalt (Ed Westwick) just does a lot of sneering. The film wakes up once we get to our first double-death, and by the time we reach R and J’s back-to-back suicides, the film reverberates with passion and pathos. But where was all this passion and pathos earlier on? Sadly, Fellowes’ Romeo suffers from a case of too little too late. (KS) Metro 4
Romeo & Juliet (118 mins.; PG-13: some violence, thematic elements)
PREMIERES
Shakespeare planted clues in his characters’ names. With Romeo & Juliet, the title says it all; “Romeo” stands for romance, seduction, passion, and “Juliet” for July, the middle of summer, scorching and unbearable heat. In the last major film adaptation of Shakespeare’s beloved play, Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 cinematic fever dream Romeo +Juliet, there is so much heat it was a wonder there weren’t reports of projectors bursting into flames. It’s tough to follow on the heels of that fearless adaptation. The latest take on the timeless classic, adapted by Downton Abbey writer Julian Fellowes and directed by Carlo Carlei, could have taken a few pages from its predecessor’s book. This Romeo and Juliet is a polite and pretty interpretation. The problem is that this is a story best served raw and bloody. Like Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film adaptation, Carlei and Fellowes’ Romeo & Juliet keeps the story in its original locale: Renaissance-era Verona. The setting is one of the film’s strengths. Ancient ruins, expansive estates, cathedrals, and crypts all serve as a pitch-perfect backdrop for star-crossed love. The scenery is great, but the cast doesn’t chew it up nearly enough. In a story about young people driven to murder and suicide in the name of passion, our Romeo (Douglas Booth) and Juliet (Hailee Steinfeld) spend the majority of the film flirting with infatuation instead of drowning in their mutual obsession. For the bulk of their two-hour traffic on the screen, the two are out-acted by their elders, including Friar Laurence (Paul
Carrie (90 mins.; R: bloody violence, disturbing images, language, some sexual content)
Director Kimberly Peirce reimagines the classic story of Carrie White, the shy girl who unleashes a telekinetic terror on her small town and classmates. Camino Real/ Metro 4
Escape Plan (116 mins.; R: violence, language throughout)
A structural security expert is framed and incarcerated in the world’s most secure prison. Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger star. Camino Real/ Fiesta 5
The Fifth Estate (128 mins.; R: language, some violence)
Bill Condon (Dreamgirls) directs this truelife story about the corruption, danger, and debate surrounding WikiLeaks. Camino Real/Paseo Nuevo
The Summit (95 mins.; R: some language) This documentary attempts to recount the details of the deadliest day on the world’s most dangerous mountain, K. Riviera
SCREENINGS Blue Caprice (93 mins.; R) A young orphaned boy is lured to America and under the supervision of a dangerous father figure. Screens as part of SBIFF’s Showcase Film Series. Wed., Oct. 23, 7:30pm, Plaza de Oro