Arts
Split Screen
PHOTOS COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. PICTURES
SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS Officer K (Ryan Gosling) is a replicant designed to hunt other replicants, but he finds himself at the center of a mystery that may profoundly affect both humans and his own kind.
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on a protein farm, Officer K encounters Sapper Morton (Dave Bautista), a Nexus-6 replicant who’s protecting the very secret Wallace needs to further his replicant work. Soon K finds himself being squeezed between his police boss Lieutenant Joshi (Robin Wright) and Wallace’s assassin replicant Luv (Sylvia Hoeks) as he searches for Deckard and the truth. Los Angeles is once again depicted as a dystopian melting pot populated by desperate characters, Glen This sequel is too long and too loud. crime, and the sex trade. As the secret OK, that’s the end of my complaints. unfolds, the very future of humanity Otherwise, Blade Runner 2049 is a notehangs in the balance. perfect follow-up to the original. The Anna I’d never watched the original film’s secrets are too delicious to reveal, Blade Runner. Between missing the boat but the gist of it revolves around greedy age-wise and it not falling into my go-to corporate industrialist Niander Wallace genre choice, until now it fell squarely (Jared Leto), who’s in search of the secret in the “I’ll see it someday, maybe” movie to establishing the next generation category for me. When I knew we’d be of replicants, genetically designed reviewing 2049, I found it on demand and humanlike androids. If you’ll recall from hunkered down to watch its predecessor. the original, Nexus-6 replicants became So glad I did, by the way, because rebellious, and with their superior otherwise Blade Runner strength, they were 2049 would have been hard to “retire.” Newer BLADE RUNNER 2049 a confusing journey in Nexus-7 and -8 models overstimulation. I’m a are designed to obey. What’s it rated? R big fan of Villeneuve. Officer K is such a What’s it worth, Anna? Full Price His films are model, and he spends What’s it worth, Glen? Full Price riveting and visually his time hunting Where’s it showing? Downtown fascinating, and 2049 down older replicants Centre, Galaxy Park, Stadium 10 continues his legacy before retreating to in those regards. The his apartment that issues I’ve got with the film are the same he shares with Joi (Ana de Armas), his as yours—at 2 hours and 44 minutes, holographic girlfriend—a product of the this film was just too long. Coupled with ubiquitous Wallace Corporation, which varied moments of really intense and has insidiously infested every corner of loud sound, I came out of the theater a people’s lives. During an investigation irector Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Enemy, Sicario, Arrival) takes up the reins of Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi classic Blade Runner in this sequel set 30 years after the original’s year—2019. A new blade runner, Officer K (Ryan Gosling), discovers a long-buried secret and sets out to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), the blade runner from the original film. (163 min.)
At the
What’s it rated? R What’s it worth? Matinee Where’s it showing? Downtown Centre, Sunset Drive In, Stadium 10, Park, Galaxy Doug Liman (Swingers, The Bourne Identity, Edge of Tomorrow) directs Tom Cruise as Barry Seal, a pilot contracted by the CIA to run guns and drugs in the late-’70s and ’80s. The screenplay by Gary Spinelli is based on real events. I’m sure this film skips over a lot of Seal’s travails in the name of entertainment, but the film works as an exploration of American hubris. We all too often believe we’re smart enough and cunning enough to control uncontrollable situations, and in the end, both Seal and
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little dazed. To be fair, I did watch the first film immediately before heading to the theater, so perhaps five hours of newto-me Blade Runner action was just too much for me to handle. I do think it could have been tightened up time-wise, but the atmospheric and intense storyline also needed to take its time, and I get that. Glen Despite solid reviews (an 88 percent Rotten Tomatoes critic rating) and its predecessor’s cult status, Blade Runner 2049 had a very soft opening weekend (only $30.5 million on a film that cost about $150 million to make), and it mainly attracted older white males. Maybe it’s the long running time, maybe our current world filled with nuclear brinksmanship, mass shootings, and acrimonious race relations is already dystopian enough, but whatever the case the film didn’t bring in the crowds. Well, you know what? The original Blade Runner didn’t immediately connect with audiences Split Screen is written by Senior Staff either. Time will tell, but I think this Writer Glen Starkey and his wife, Anna. film explores important topics—ideas Comment at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com. such as a caste society of the haves and have-nots, GREED Niander the future of technology and Wallace (Jared its replacement of authentic Leto) runs human relationships, the Wallace Corporation, artificial intelligence and which the danger it represents manufactures to humankind, as well humanlike environmental destruction replicants, and the future of the planet. and Wallace is It’s a visually arresting film searching for with cinematography by the secret that Roger A. Deakins (1984, Sid will allow him to and Nancy, Baron Fink, The create more.
Movies
AMERICAN MADE
the CIA proved to be inept fools who only made things worse. Maybe that’s the American way. (115 min.) —Glen Starkey
BATTLE OF THE SEXES What’s it rated? PG-13 What’s it worth? Full Price Where’s it showing? Downtown Centre, Galaxy Battle of Sexes, the retelling of the 1973 sociopolitical tennis showdown between Billy Jean King (Emma Stone, La La Land) and Bobby Riggs (Steve Carrell, The Office), is by no means a cinematic masterpiece, but it is a well-executed and enjoyable portrayal of the true story of a match that became an iconic battlefront in the American feminist movement. As the movie starts we’re dropped into
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the chaotic life of King, who’s regarded as the top women’s player in the world. We see how she and the other female players face tremendous sexism from the male ringleaders of the tennis industry, always taking a back seat to the men’s game and earning significantly less money. King’s fiery nature is on display from the outset when she refuses to accept less money than the men in an upcoming tournament, and then she mobilizes all the female players to quit the Association of Tennis Professionals. The women start their own tennis tour, with the help of World Tennis magazine’s Gladys Heldman (a great Sarah Silverman), and begin to speak out strongly against gender discrimination. This all infuriates 55-year-old Riggs, a retired men’s tennis icon played excellently by Carrell. In an obnoxiously jovial and condescending manner, he complains that women’s tennis
40 • New Times • October 12 - October 19, 2017 • www.newtimesslo.com
Shawshank Redemption, No Country For Old Men). Painted in shimmering gold, dusty saffron, and graying umbers, it’s glorious to watch. The music by Benjamin Wallfisch and Hans Zimmer takes up perfectly from the original’s synthdriven Vangelis soundtrack, only more thunderous. The film’s quiet dialogue in conjunction with its industrial-strength soundtrack may make for difficult home viewing. This is one best seen in the theater. Fans of the original, don’t miss it! For the rest of you, if you have even a passing interest, rent the original and get thee to a theater! It’s worth it! Anna I agree, it will lose a lot jumping from the big screen to home theater, even with a badass home setup. Though it’s easier to get up and stretch your legs, take a break, or grab a snack at home, this movie is meant to be an immersive experience, and the varying volumes could leave you chained to your remote making adjustments between dialogue and the soundtrack/special effects. It was well acted and had plenty of twists and turns; just when I thought I had a solid grasp on what was going to happen, the story would shift. Do I want to sit through another three hours in the theater to watch it again? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t warrant a second viewing for many; it just means my attention span and ability to process the stream of overstimulation most likely puts me outside of Blade Runner 2049’s target audience. If you’re a first time viewer like me, absolutely watch the first film before you head to the theater, just give yourself a day or so in between to avoid the post movie daze that five hours of any storyline will leave you with. While I can tell I didn’t love it as much as my sweetheart, it’s an epic movie experience meant for the theater—as long as you have no problem parking your butt in a chair for almost three hours. Δ
REVIEW SCORING FULL PRICE .... It’s worth the price of an evening show MATINEE ........ Save a few bucks, catch an afternoon show RENTAL .......... Rent it STREAMING.... Wait ’til Netflix has it NOTHING ........ Don’t waste your time is just naturally inferior to men’s tennis, and that the ladies are being unreasonable. Having just separated from his wife because of his gambling problem, Riggs starts calling up King and other players on the tour challenging them to a match, a “battle of the sexes.” King initially turns down his offer, but after Riggs easily defeats Margaret Smith, one of the top female players, King feels obligated to take him on. Stone plays a fantastic King throughout. The beginningto-end tension between her unshakable conviction for respect and equality and society’s unwillingness to shed chauvinistic views is really well depicted. Not without its flaws, Battle of the Sexes is entertaining and definitely gives you insight into why this match snowballed into the national spectacle that it was. Not only that, but it’s an interesting biography
of King herself, her heroic ability to thrive under pressure as well as her grappling with her sexual identity behind the scenes. My main issue with movie was that it spent a little too much time profiling Riggs, who really isn’t sympathetic or that important and is a symbol of the sexism of the time. The film moves at a fast pace, which leaves you wanting more contexts for the events. But the pace also facilitates a nice, breezy viewing experience, and one that’ll likely make repeated ones very enjoyable. (121 min.) —Peter Johnson
BLADE RUNNER 2049 What’s it rated? R Where’s it showing? Downtown Centre, Stadium 10, Park, Galaxy See Split Screen.
THE FOREIGNER
What’s it rated? R Where’s it showing? Downtown Centre, Sunset Drive In, Stadium 10, Park, Galaxy The film tells the story of humble London businessman Quan (Jackie Chan), whose long-buried past erupts in a revenge-fueled vendetta when the only person left for him to love—his teenage daughter—is taken from him in a senseless act of politically-motivated terrorism. In his relentless search for the identity of the terrorists, Quan is forced into a cat-and-mouse conflict with a British government official (Pierce Brosnan), whose own past may hold clues to the identities of the elusive killers. (113 min.) —STX Films
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