CTRS IS CONDUCTING CLINICAL TRIALS FOR:
FILM CAPSULES CP
= CITY PAPER APPROVED
CONSTIPATION ALZHEIMER DISEASE Mild to Moderate
BIRTH CONTROL PATCH POST-MENOPAUSAL HOT FLASHES VAGINAL DRYNESS GOUT WOMEN WITH LOW SEX DESIRE HIGH CHOLESTEROL With Heart Attack or Stroke
HEAVY MENSTRUAL BLEEDING/ UTERINE FIBROIDS
CLINICAL TRIALS RESEARCH SERVICES, LLC 412-363-1900 WWW.CTRSLLC.COM - INVESTIGATORS DR. S. BERG, DR. KATZ, DR. L. DOBKIN, DR. G. WALKER, DR. KASDAN, DR. SOFFRONOFF OUR STUDIES CHANGE REGULARLY. CALL US TO SEE IF WE HAVE A STUDY THAT’S RIGHT FOR YOU.
For the Tree to Drop By Lissa Brennan Directed by Alan Stanford
February 19-28 Downtown Series Peirce Studio Trust Arts Education Center 805 Liberty Avenue
A World Premiere, Pertinent to Black History Month This piece is a vivid and shocking reminder of the injustices of slavery. In a world where ownership of the body does not include ownership of the soul, Estella exercises one of her “little freedoms” and holds a vigil for the sake of her brother’s dignity. Set in the antebellum Old South, this compact piece tells the story of a young African-American woman who is both slave and sister. Limited run. Limited seating.
PICTTheatre.org/Tree | 412.561.6000 | Discount CP5OFF* *Some restrictions apply
34
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 02.18/02.25.2015
NEW THIS WEEK THE DUFF. Ari Sandel directs this comedy about a high school girl who fights back after being labeled a “DUFF,” or “Designated Ugly Fat Friend.” Starts Fri., Feb. 20. HOT TUB TIME MACHINE 2. After their buddy is assassinated, most of the gang from Hot Tub Time Machine fire up the tub to go back in time and prevent the crime. Adam Scott, Craig Robinson and Rob Coddry star in this comedy sequel; Steve Pink directs. Starts Fri., Feb. 20. KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE. Matthew Vaughan’s spy caper, adapted from the popular comic book, is a rather delirious send-up of oh-so-classy spies such as James Bond and those who trailed in his bespoke wake. Turns out there is a super-secret spy service hidden within a Saville Row tailor shop, and there’s a fresh wave of recruiting. So we get the Hogwartslike elimination of candidates through various tasks, though it’s clear our working-class hero, Eggsy (Taron Egerton), is the next man for the pinstripe. Counseling him is the ever-dapper, ever-droll Galahad (Colin Firth), and bedeviling them both is a naturally ridiculous super-villain (Samuel L. Jackson). It’s mostly good fun, if too long and choppy. Vaughan gave us the 2010’s super-hero re-do Kick-Ass, and once again delivers that same over-the-top, cartoonish ultraviolence. But there’s also a puppy! (Aww…) That has to be assassinated. (What?!) Kingsman would be a better film if it took the time to sort out its issues — geopolitics, class, the “gentlemanly” art of violence — in a more coherent manner. But for a bit of candy-colored “edgy” humor in the gloom of mid-winter, it does provide some mindless respite. (Al Hoff) MCFARLAND, USA. Disney + real-life story + sports + underprivileged and underestimated kids + gruff, dedicated coach = that movie you probably already saw. This latest, directed by Niki Caro, has some new paint: It’s set in the chiefly Hispanic, central California agricultural town of McFarland, and the competition is cross-country running in the 1980s. Kevin Costner plays the new coach, and a handful of unknowns play the high schoolers, who mostly escape definition. What unique thing we learn about the teens is presented in a rather sunny manner — they spend half their day picking fruits and vegetables to support their families. This hardship gives them “bigger heart” than competitors from wealthier schools, but the film fails to ever raise the obvious, and more troubling, question amid all the flag-waving: What kind of country is OK with children picking our cheap produce? A kid that goes to school, runs competitive crosscountry and works picking cabbages shouldn’t be glossed over without comment. We can cheer for this group who literally run out of the fields, but what of those who don’t? Starts Fri., Feb. 20 (AH) TURNER. British filmmaker Mike Leigh CP MR. is perhaps best known for his ensemble domestic dramedies that double as explorations of contemporary social and political issues. So devoting nearly three hours to recounting the days of one man in 19th-century England is something of a shift. But Leigh’s profile of painter J.M.W. Turner, depicted here in his later years, finds room for some cultural critique amid the biographical. Turner (Timothy Spall) is not wholly sympathetic — he can be prickly, cowardly,
Kingsman: The Secret Service obtuse, even exploitive — but he is often droll in his grunting, dyspeptic way, and his ill manners can be a welcome counter to the stuffy manners found within his circle of country manors and London art societies. But Turner also finds respite living semi-incognito in the modest home of a welcoming widow in Margate. What viewers won’t find is much plot, nor is this a bio-pic; when we meet Turner, he is an established artist, already plying his distinctive “modern” style. The tensions here are between art and commerce, beauty and ugliness, tradition and newness. The more one knows about British art history and Victorian mores, the more delight will be found in the work’s jabs, roundabout conversations and secondary characters (including other painters and Queen Victoria).
Mr. Turner What viewers will find is an immersive performance by Leigh regular Spall, and a beautiful production that is, as befits its subject, acutely aware of space and light. The attention to period detail seems quite extravagant, perfectly balancing, say, the richness of a garment with the inevitable grime it surely acquired. Starts Fri., Feb. 20. Regent Square (AH)
REPERTORY ROW HOUSE CINEMA. Romantic Classics: Breakfast at Tiffany’s (the 1961 Audrey Hepburn classic), Feb. 18-19. Harold and Maude (off-beat 1971 comedy about the romance between a teen and a senior), Feb. 18-19. Steven Spielberg Films: Jaws (the 1975 classic about a man-eating shark terrorizing a tourist beach), Feb. 20-25. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Indiana Jones chases adventure and a lost ark, in this 1981 favorite), Feb. 20-22 and Feb. 24-26. Saving Private Ryan (1998 drama set on the battlefield in World War II), Feb. 20-24 and Feb. 26. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (aliens visit Earth and send out weird