Column By JIM O’DONNELL This week we are opening the much anticipated and controversial Noah. Muppets Most Wanted, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, and Divergent will hold for another week. Non-Stop ends Thursday.
Movie poster for ‘Noah.’ Courtesy/Reel Deal Theater
The following is an excerpt from Kathleen Parker’s review of Noah for the Washington Post:
“I recently viewed the film and can confidently report the following: If you liked Braveheart, Gladiator, Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones or Titanic, you will like Noah. If you liked two or more of the above, you will love Noah. Your enjoyment increases exponentially with each movie checked above, though I should warn that Titanic made the cut for only one reason, the major difference between it and Noah being obvious. Noah also includes the essential love story or two, without which no story floats.
“Noah, in other words, is a big movie. There’s plenty of action and enough gore and guts to leave young children at home. It’s a morality play/spiritual journey without being preachy, except occasionally by the protagonist. Noah the man can be a tad over the top at times, but this is an obvious plus when you’re being instructed by the Creator to build an ark and fill it with snakes, among other creatures.
“And, let’s face it, Noah is Russell Crowe, from whom one wouldn’t mind hearing: ‘Would you like to see my ark?’ We’ve come a long way, baby, from Charlton Heston as Moses in Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments. Add to the cast Anthony Hopkins playing Methuselah, Yoda-esque in his ancient wisdom; Jennifer Connelly, who plays Noah’s wife; and Emma Watson as his adopted daughter.
There are also Noah’s three heart-stopping sons, whom we witness evolving from innocence to self-knowledge as they question their father’s authority (sound familiar?) and try to resist Oedipal urges that surge to the surface with the terrifying brutality of a serpent’s strike.
Poor Noah, alienated from a world consumed by evil, aspires to goodness and justice even as he questions his qualifications to the task. Moviegoers are treated to a short course in original sin, magically presented with zoom lenses, a pulsating apple and, shall we say, reptilian dispatch. (Anaconda probably deserves an honorable mention on the list.)
This is all to say, the film is art, neither executed nor to be taken literally. And who are these experts who know precisely what the Bible’s authors intended? Among other criticisms are the implications that evolution and creation might be mutually inclusive and that man and beast are equal in the eyes of the Creator. Noah and his family are vegetarian and demonstrate respect for the Earth’s fragile balance.”
Coinciding with Los Alamos Public Schools Spring Break we will open Captain America: The Winter Soldier on April 4 and Rio 2 on April 11.
Coming attractions include: Madagascar, Rio 2, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Legends of OZ: Dorothy’s Return, Bears, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, X-men: Days of Future Past, and Maleficent.
Note: Do not trust other websites for Reel Deal Theater movie times as they are often incorrect and we’ve been getting a lot of confused patrons lately who use these random sites including Google. For correct show times visit www.reeldealtheater.com or use the Los Alamos Daily Post listings for show times. If you have any requests, email me at odonnell455@gmail.com and I will respond when I know something.
Don’t forget, if it’s your birthday, the movie of your choice is free!
You can see our full schedule, show times and trailers at www.reeldealtheater.com.
