a&e | FILM
LEND YOUR TEARS: Shailene Woodley (right) and Ansel Elgort play two teens who fall in love at a cancer support group in The Fault in Our Stars.
MOVIE GUIDE
Edited by Aly Comingore
The following films are playing in Santa Barbara FRIDAY, JULY 18, THROUGH THURSDAY, JULY 24. Descriptions followed by initials — DJP (D.J. Palladino) and KS (Kit Steinkellner) — have been taken from our critics’ reviews, which can be read in full at independent.com. The symbol ✯ indicates the film is recommended.
FIRST LOOKS ✯ Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (130 mins.; PG-13: intense scenes of sci-fi violence and action, brief strong language) Reviewed on page 55. Arlington (2D)/ Camino Real (2D)/Metro 4 (2D and 3D)
Earth to Echo (91 mins.; PG: some action and peril, mild language)
110 DAYS # i ne e d mydodger s
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Director Dave Green pitched this story before it was written and had roughly three months to create a script with screenwriting partner Henry Gayden and start shooting. The result is a terribly obvious mash-up of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Goonies, and The Explorers shot in doit-yourself digital formats with cameras, phones, and spyglasses. It’s surprisingly affecting at times. But it’s also boring, padded, and unbearably derivative. The story begins with a group of friends whose neighborhood is about to be demolished to make room for a freeway. They start getting signals from an alien life-form and then have a wild adventure trying to connect the cute critter with his craft so he can go home. See what I mean? On one hand, a lot of this is unbelievable, and not with respect to flying saucer activity. Nobody tears up huge new suburbs for massive highways without a fight. On the other hand, the kids who act out this recycled child-empowerment-inthe-cosmos fable are convincing and even moving. It’s just sad that the generation that has so much technical independence at its fingertips doesn’t know how to write original material. If we’re happy to recycle old-school plots in a high-tech format, then it’s proof positive there’s nothing new under that thing that furnishes heat and light to our planet. (DJP) Fairview/Metro 4 Third Person (137 mins.; R: language, some sexuality/nudity)
Reviewed on page 55.
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PREMIERES
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/SBIndependent 56
THE INDEPENDENT
july 17, 2014
Hercules (99 mins.; PG-13: epic battle sequences, violence, suggestive comments, brief strong language, partial nudity)
After completing the legendary 12 labors, Hercules helps the King of Thrace defeat
his tyrannical enemies. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson stars as the demigod.
Camino Real (2D)/Fiesta 5 (2D) (Opens Thu., July 24)
Lucy (90 mins.; R: strong violence, disturbing images, sexuality)
Scarlett Johansson stars as a woman who turns on her captors to become a highly evolved killing machine. Luc Besson writes and directs. Fiesta 5/ Camino Real/Metro 4 (Opens Thu., July 24)
Planes: Fire & Rescue (83 mins.; PG: action and some peril)
A famous air-racing plane learns that his engine is damaged and that he may never race again, so he enters the world of aerial firefighting.
Fairview (2D)/Fiesta 5 (2D and 3D)
The Purge: Anarchy (103 mins.; R: strong disturbing violence, language)
A young couple is thrown onto the streets after their car breaks down in the midst of an annual purge. Camino Real/Metro 4 Sex Tape (90 mins.; R: strong sexual content, nudity, language, some drug use)
A married couple (Jason Segel, Cameron Diaz) scramble to uncover their sex tape after it goes missing.
Camino Real/Paseo Nuevo
SCREENINGS Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (87 mins.; G) During a cruise, the Chipmunks and Chipettes accidentally fall overboard and wind up marooned on a tropical island. Screens as part of the Summer Kids Series. (DJP) Tue., July 22, 10am, Paseo Nuevo
✯ Belle (104 mins.; PG: thematic elements, some language, brief smoking images) The illegitimate, mixed-race daughter of a Royal Navy admiral is taken in by her aristocratic great-uncle. After a while, you stop caring whether this “based on true incidents” story is even accurately conveyed by costume, script, and camera. It’s touching and eloquent, and you would be a churl if it didn’t mist you up a bit. (DJP)
Sun., July 20, 4:30pm, Ojai Playhouse, 145 E. Ojai Ave., Ojai