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Dunkirk (PG-13) — Christopher Nolan’s take on the mass evacuation of Allied troops from the Dunkirk beach during World War II. Clearview, Elmwood, West Bank, Kenner, Slidell, Prytania, Canal Place Girls Trip (R) — Galpals reunite in New Orleans for one last bacchanal. Clearview, Elmwood, West Bank, Broad, Chalmette, Kenner, Slidell, Regal, Canal Place Endless Poetry — Alejandro Jodorowsky’s autobiographical film is immersed in the Chilean poetry scene. Zeitgeist Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (PG-13) — Luc Besson’s latest futuristic experiment, with Clive Owen and Cara Delevingne. Elmwood, West Bank, Kenner, Slidell, Regal
NOW SHOWING
REVIEW Endless Poetry
INSPIRATION COMES IN UNPREDICTABLE FORMS. At 88 years old, legendary surrealist filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky is enjoying a • Opens July 21 late-career surge unique in the history of film, • Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary but it’s a renewal largely born of frustration. Unable to find financial backers for his decidArts Center, 1618 Oretha Castle edly noncommercial work, the auteur behind Haley Blvd., (504) 352-1150; early-’70s arthouse classics including El Topo www.zeitgeistnola.org and The Holy Mountain went 23 years without making a film before the release of 2013’s autoCOURTESY ABKCO FILMS biographical The Dance of Reality. Jodorowsky wrote innovative graphic novels (among other projects) during his decades away from film. As demonstrated by The Dance of Reality and its sequel of sorts, Endless Poetry, Jodorowsky seems to have elevated his artistry by developing all those movie projects he never got to finish. His films as an octogenarian writer-director are the most sophisticated and relatable in his entire body of work. No filmmaker has ever caught a second wind so late in a celebrated career. As Endless Poetry begins, a teenage Jodorowsky and his parents (who were the primary focus of Dance of Reality, with the director depicted as a young boy) depart the small Chilean coastal town of Tocopilla for the capital city of Santiago. To the endless displeasure of his father Jaime, the young Jodorowsky connects with a bohemian crowd and finds his calling as a poet. The film portrays his formative years as an artist through his personal relationships with famed Chilean writers including Enrique Lihn, Stella Diaz Varin and Nicanor Parra, along with his ongoing family drama. It was shot in the neighborhoods in which Jodorowsky grew up and covers his life until he moved to Paris in his early 20s. For his late-career films, Jodorowsky has developed a style he calls “psychomagic.” The jarring images and rough-hewn quality of his early films have been replaced with something more akin to literary magical realism. Surprising visual elements are well-integrated into individual scenes and enhance their meanings. It’s a heightened version of reality in which, for example, Jodorowsky’s mother Sara (Pamela Flores) is the only character to sing her dialogue, as if she lives in a musical only she can see and hear. This seems perfectly normal in the larger context of the film. The director’s sharp sense of humor and satirical bent are on full display even as he depicts his own early life. Jodorowsky adds depth to his examination of a dysfunctional family and its effects on his life as an artist by casting two of his sons (both accomplished actors) as his young-adult self (Adan Jodorowsky) and his father (Brontis Jodorowsky). Calling upon his sons to help explore the broken bonds with his long-dead father may seem a carnivalesque hall of mirrors, but it is a warm and gratifying one. The real Jodorowsky pops up periodically to counsel his younger self and exhort him to action. The message is simple: Break free of the chains that bind you and live life to the fullest. In recent interviews, the director has revealed plans to extend his cinematic autobiography with three additional films. Even at his advanced age, the vigor and imagination of Jodorowsky’s recent work puts much younger filmmakers to shame. Don’t bet against him. — KEN KORMAN
47 Meters Down (PG-13) — Sisters plunge into shark-infested waters. Elmwood, West Bank, Slidell, Regal Baby Driver (R) — A getaway driver with an earbud addiction goes for one last score. Clearview, Elmwood, West Bank, Broad, Chalmette, Kenner, Slidell, Regal, Canal Place The Beguiled (R) — A clan of Civil War-era women seek revenge in Sofia Coppola’s latest. Elmwood, Prytania, Regal, Canal Place The Big Sick (R) — A Pakistani comic gets involved with an American grad student just before she falls into a coma. Elmwood, West Bank, Broad, Kenner, Slidell, Regal, Canal Place Cars 3 (G) — Pixar goes for the threequel, I guess. Elmwood, Kenner, Slidell, Regal Despicable Me 3 (PG) — The franchise’s third installment features the voice of Trey Parker (South Park). Clearview, Elmwood, West Bank, Broad, Chalmette, Kenner, Slidell, Regal, Canal Place The House (R) — Saturday Night Live alums Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler run a speakeasy casino. Elmwood, Kenner, Slidell, Regal Jagga Jasoos — An Indian teen detective looks for his missing father. In Hindi with English subtitles. Elmwood Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (PG-13) — All Johnny Depp knows how to do anymore, it seems. Regal Spider-Man: Homecoming (PG-13) — The franchise is trapped in a web of its own reboots. Clearview, Elmwood, West Bank, Broad, Chalmette, Kenner, Slidell, Regal, Canal Place Transformers: The Last Knight (PG-13) — God knows why, but Anthony Hopkins called director Michael Bay a “genius” and “savant” as they made this film. Elmwood, West Bank, Chalmette, Kenner, Slidell War for the Planet of the Apes (PG-13) — The Guardian: “The Godfather, but with chimpanzees.” (Probably not.) Clearview, Elmwood, West Bank, Chalmette, Kenner, Slidell, Regal, Canal Place Wish Upon (PG-13) — A twist on the story of the monkey’s paw, featuring a spooky haunted music box and Ryan Phillippe. Elmwood, West Bank, Chalmette, Kenner, Slidell, Regal Wonder Woman (PG-13) — An Amazon princess in a corset saves the world. Clearview, Elmwood, West Bank, Kenner, Slidell, Regal, Canal Place Wu Kong — Wukong defies the gods in this Chinese action-fantasy. Elmwood