HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS. It’s back to Hogwarts for Harry and his magical compatriots, despite a warning that terrible things are going to happen. Chris Columbus directs this 2002 film, starring Daniel Radcliffe. Feb. 22-25 and Feb. 27. Row House Cinema
FILM CAPSULES CP
= CITY PAPER APPROVED
NEW
HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN. Harry Potter is ready to return to school with his wizard pals, but learns that the dangerous wizard Sirius Black has escaped from prison and is probably coming after him. Alfonso Cuarón directs this 2004 outing. Feb. 22-23, Feb. 25 and Feb. 27-28. Row House Cinema
BITTER HARVEST. George Mendeluk’s film is an old-fashioned melodrama set amid a tumultuous historical time, the Holodomor, in 1930s Ukraine. Under Stalin’s direction, the region is being forcefully brought into the Soviet fold. Family farms are collectivized, religion is being stamped out (though valuable icons are happily seized) and most of the local produce is confiscated. Resistance brings further hardship, or even death. One family of notable fighters is caught in the struggle — the lionized grandfather (Terence Stamp) fumes and plots in the increasingly desperate village, while his artistic grandson (Max Irons) looks for work in Kiev and pines for the village beauty (Samantha Barks) he left behind. Eventually he gets woke to the terrible situation (a stay in a gulag is quite convincing), and returns home to fight for Ukraine. It’s the sort of historical melodrama that is often well served by the epic treatment — such as A-list actors, spectacular cinematography and a meaty script that takes the time to create emotional involvement. None of that happens here, so while Mendeluk’s film is well intentioned and mildly intriguing, it falls well short of grandness. Starts Fri., Feb. 24. AMC Loews Waterfront (Al Hoff) FIST FIGHT. The education system is something of a metaphorical punching bag these days, and there is the potential to mine some sharp comedy out of its oft-beleaguered state. Say, a couple of teachers in a failing, underfunded public school grow so fearful of losing their jobs that each would resort to any crazy scheme to not be the one laid off. Why, it could end in a giant fist fight in the parking lot, the time-honored solution of misbehaving high schoolers. Well, this isn’t that movie. Sure, that’s the basic plot of Richie Keen’s comedy, but it suffers from being pretty witless, with half-hearted performances, few jokes and a mind-deadening barrage of profanity. (Speaking of school, somebody should teach a class in Hollywood called “The F-Word Is Not a Punchline.”) Charlie Day and Ice Cube play the feuding teachers; Dean Norris is the grumpy principal; Tracy Morgan portrays the school’s disconnected sports coach; Jillian Bell is the inappropriately sex-and-drugsobsessed guidance counselor; and Christina Hendricks just floats through in a skin-tight dress. It’s all a waste, and at best, I hope these actors learned to pick better films in the future, lest they lose their jobs. (AH) GET OUT. Jordan Peele directs this horror film in which a black man visits his white girlfriend’s family, and finds their home to be not-so-welcoming to folks of color. Lakeith Stanfield and Allison Williams star. Starts Fri., Feb. 24 THE RED TURTLE. A castaway washes up on the shore of a small tropical island in Michael Dudok de Wit’s lyrical and dialoguefree animated feature. The man explores the island; he is alone but for curious sand crabs, but finds fruit and water. He makes several attempts to leave on bamboo rafts, but is thwarted just offshore by a large sea turtle. Enraged, he later confronts the turtle on land, but in a bit of unexplained magic, the turtle transforms into a woman. Thus does the story shift, focusing not on the man escaping the island, but on how now, with companionship, he embraces his new life on it. There is not a lot of plot — lest we forget that simply living is its own story — with the film instead growing increasingly existential and
CP
NEWS
+
The Red Turtle
HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE. In Mike Newell’s 2005 film, Harry and the gang compete in the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and the wizarding world expands to track events beyond Hogwarts. Feb. 22-23, Feb. 25, Feb. 27-28 and March 1. Row House Cinema HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX. In David Yates’ 2007 film, Harry’s lifelong nemesis — the evil wizard Lord Voldemort — has been restored to his corporeal form. It’s all hands on deck. Feb. 23, Feb. 25-26, Feb. 28 and March 1-2. Row House Cinema
Bitter Harvest
Fist Fight
even experiential (the exquisite animation and sound design is quite transporting). It’s a short work, at less than 80 minutes, and it should hold kids who can sit through a slower-paced film (though it is probably best for older children who can manage some sad parts and scenes of peril). The Dutch director’s film is the first non-Japanese work to be produced by the renowned Studio Ghibli; it has also been nominated for Best Animated Feature in this year’s Academy Awards. Starts Fri., Feb. 24 (AH)
Vito, while another thread flashes back to trace Vito’s (Robert DeNiro) journey to America and the start of his gangster career in New York’s Little Italy. Critics hailed Part II as a deeper film and a more insightful look at the corruption of the myths of family and the American Dream than its 1972 predecessor. 6:15 p.m. Wed., Feb. 22. AMC Loews Waterfront. $10 for double feature
ROCK DOG. Ash Brannon directs this animated comedy in which a Tibetan mastiff leaves home to pursue his dreams of being a rock star. Luke Wilson and Eddie Izzard are among those who lend their voices. Starts Fri., Feb. 24
ONGOING OSCAR-NOMINATED SHORT FILMS. There is still time to catch the Oscar-nominated short films. The Live Action and Animated shorts play daily at Regent Square Theater, through Thu., March 2. Among the live-action works is a Spanish charmer about two people working in a parking garage; other films tackle refugees, conformity, racial prejudice and growing old. A 35-minute nourish tale of a frustrating friendship, “Pear Cider and Cigarettes,” heads up the animated program (five nominated films, plus three bonus shorts). Also on the slate is the winsome Pixar short about a young sandpiper. The Documentary program, screening at Melwood, offers two films about refugees, another about rescuers working in the Syrian city of Aleppo, a look at life-or-death hospital decisions and one uplifting piece about a violin that finds a new home. (Docs: 7 p.m. Fri., Feb. 24; 7 p.m. Sat., Feb. 25; and 2 p.m. Sun., Feb. 26.)
REPERTORY THE GODFATHER, PARTS I AND II. Catch this double feature of two of the most enduring and influential American films of the late 20th century on the big screen, where Francis Ford Coppola’s multigenerational mafia family drama and perversion of the American Dream writ large belongs. Coppola continues the saga of the Corleone family in 1974’s Part II. One thread follows Michael Corleone’s (Al Pacino) rise to power after the death of his father,
MUSIC
+
ARTS
+
EVENTS
+
HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE. A young boy learns he’s a wizard and heads off to Hogwarts School. Chris Columbus’ 2001 film is the start of an epic magical journey. Feb. 22 and Feb. 24-25. Row House Cinema
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 1. In David Yates’ broody 2010 adaptation of the seventh Potter book, Harry frets about his upcoming and inevitable one-on-one showdown with evil wizard Voldemort. Feb. 24, Feb. 26 and March 1-2. Row House Cinema HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2. “The boy who lived, come to die.” Fourteen years, more than 4,000 pages and nearly 20 hours of movie all boil down to this critical meeting, when Harry goes wand to wand with his sneering nemesis, Lord Voldemort, in David Yates’ 2012 film. Feb. 24, Feb. 26 and March 2. Row House Cinema HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE. Harry, Hermione and Ron strengthen the bonds of their friendship — and work to prevent real catastrophe — in David Yates’ 2009 adaptation of the penultimate book in the series. Feb. 26, Feb. 28 and March 1-2. Row House Cinema
BLACK BOTTOM FILM FESTIVAL The festival’s inaugural season focuses on African-American film, with screenings, discussions and an award presentation for longtime filmmaker Michael Schultz (Car Wash, Krush Groove). Feature-length films, to be screened at the August Wilson Center, include:
Chapter & Verse. In this 2015 drama, a man returns to Harlem from prison and finds work and meaning delivering meals for a food bank. Jamal Joseph directs. 8 p.m. Fri., Feb. 24
Like Cotton Twines. Leila Djansi’s recent documentary profiles a young African-American who takes a teaching job in a remote Ghanaian village, and must reconcile modern education with religious traditions. 4 p.m. Sat., Feb. 25
Cooley High. Michael Schultz’s 1975 ensemble film is a coming-of-age story set among a group of high school friends on the North Side of Chicago in 1964. Includes reception and award ceremony for Schultz. 6:30 p.m. Sat., Feb. 25
Which Way Is Up? Richard Pryor, playing three roles, stars in Michael Schultz’s 1977 comedy about a laid-off worker who moves to Los Angeles, juggling women and jobs. 10 p.m. Sat., Feb. 25
Spirits of Rebellion: Black Cinema from UCLA. Zeinabu Irene Davis’ new documentary profiles several filmmakers (including herself) associated with the “L.A. Rebellion,” a group that from the late 1960s through the late 1980s created alternative black cinema. 1 p.m. Sun., Feb. 26
Destination Planet Negro! In this 2013 satire from Kevin Willmott (CSA), W.E.B. DuBois and George Washington Carver hatch a plan to go to Mars, but wind up in a modern-day Midwestern city. 2:15 p.m. Sun., Feb. 26
Two Trains Runnin’. The search for two forgotten blues singers in Mississippi during the civil-rights era forms the heart of Sam Pollard’s new documentary. 5:30 p.m. Sun., Feb. 26 There are also two programs of short films (6:15 p.m. Fri., Feb. 24, and 11 a.m. Sat., Feb. 25). Fri., Feb. 24, through Sun., Feb. 26. August Wilson Center, 980 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $15 for single-day pass; $35 for festival. 412-456-6666 or www.trustarts.org
TASTE
+
SCREEN
+
SPORTS
+
CLASSIFIEDS
39