By JIM O’DONNELLThis Friday we are opening Everest, Hotel Transylvania 2, and The Intern. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials will hold for another week. Jurassic World, Phoenix, and Far from the Madding Crowd will end Thursday.
The Martian opens at the Reel Deal next Friday on Oct. 2. This film is getting 90 plus favorable reviews and took the Toronto Film Festival by storm. I think we’ll see it competing for an Oscar this season. The film is based on Andy Weir’s 2011 novel The Martian, which was adapted into a screenplay by Drew Goddard, who grew up in Los Alamos and is the son of Colleen Mary (Hogan), and Dr. Laurence Woodbury Goddard. We have not nailed down the date yet but Drew will be at the Reel Deal Theater one evening to present his film. I’ll keep you posted!
The Martian, Pan, Bridge of Spies, Goosebumps, Spectre 007, Peanut Movie, Hunger Games: Mockingjay part 2, and Star Wars: Episode VII- The Force Awakens are all on our short list.
Movie poster for ‘Everest.’ Courtesy/Reel Deal Theater
Everest: “2 Guns helmer” Baltasar Kormakur directs Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, Jason Clarke, and John Hawkes in this adventure docudrama set in 1996, when a number of simultaneous expeditions up Mount Everest resulted in the deaths of eight climbers. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi Rating: PG-13 (for intense peril and disturbing images) Genre: Drama, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense
Movie poster for ‘Hotel Transylvania.’ Courtesy/Reel Deal Theater
Hotel Transylvania 2: Now that Dracula (Adam Sandler) has opened the Hotel Transylvania’s doors to humans, things are changing for the better; however, Drac is secretly worried that his half-human grandson, Dennis, isn’t showing his vampire side. So, while Mavis and Johnny are away, Drac enlists his friends to help him put the boy through a “monster-in-training” boot camp. But things really get batty when Drac’s cantankerous, old-school dad (Mel Brooks) pays an unexpected visit.~ Sony The hit CG-animated family comedy Hotel Transylvania gets a follow-up with this Sony Pictures Animation production. Rating: PG (some scary images, action and rude humor) Genre: Animation~RT
Movie poster for ‘The Intern.’ Courtesy/Reel Deal Theater
The Intern: Ben Whitaker (De Niro) is a Brooklyn-based widower who’s too antsy to accept the reduced schedule that comes with old age. Seeking daily inspiration, Ben applies for an experimental internship at About The Fit, an on-the-rise fashion outlet run by innovative but overworked Jules Ostin (Hathaway). Jules balks at the idea of senior interns at first. But Ben’s such a welcome addition to the About The Fit team – bestowing hard-earned wisdom on the know-little twenty-somethings – that Jules eventually accepts him as a colleague and, later, a friend. Before the credits roll, Ben will have Mary Poppins-ed virtually everyone’s personal and professional lives, serving as the spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine (and the movie’s formula) go down. Make no mistake: The Intern never once deviates from its expected path. Let’s be real. The comedy is engineered, in every frame, to appeal to a specific audience – the kind that likes its laughs telegraphed, its obstacles easily surmounted, and its happy endings all but guaranteed. Every edge has been buffed. Every possible spice in Meyers’ screenplay has been diluted for mass consumption. Brooklyn looks like a polished postcard in the director’s beautifully-lit shots. And fashion start-up companies somehow can afford more office space than Apple… as well as an in-house masseuse. A masseuse! At the same time, that’s OK. For the most part.
The Intern predominantly delivers the movie you figured out that it would be from the two-minute trailer. Meyers’ movies tend to do that. And you can nitpick a movie like The Intern to death if you so choose. But why are you even here (or in the theater showing the latest Nancy Meyers joint) if you have the knives out, ready to attack? This wasn’t meant for you. Meyers, in her own way, understands what her audience is looking for in a two-hour big-screen escape, and she pushes the right buttons along her chosen path. Sometime, The Intern gets a little too slapsticky (a “heist” scene struck me as non-essential, but it played extremely well with our preview audience). And there’s a late-game conflict afflicting Jules that struck me as off-key and heavy-handed. But I’m hard-pressed to slap the wrist of a mainstream studio production that finds roles for the likes of Linda Lavin and Rene Russo – even if the one scene they share takes place at a funeral! Ultimately, The Intern does enough right that it’s an easy recommendation to those who know what they are getting into. Hathaway and De Niro have good chemistry, playing out the pseudo father-daughter dynamic that Meyers writes between Ben and Jules. And the screenplay saves some of its best jabs for the generation gap that exists between Boomers and Millennials. Take your parents to see The Intern. It speaks directly to them. I mean that as a compliment. Reviewed By: Sean O’Connell
Movie poster for ‘Maze Runner: Scorch Trials.’ Courtesy/Reel Deal Theater
The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials: In this next chapter of the epic “Maze Runner” saga, Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and his fellow Gladers face their greatest challenge yet: searching for clues about the mysterious and powerful organization known as WCKD. Their journey takes them to the Scorch, a desolate landscape filled with unimaginable obstacles. Teaming up with resistance fighters, the Gladers take on WCKD’s vastly superior forces and uncover its shocking plans for them all. (C) Fox Rating:PG-13 (for extended sequences of violence and action, some thematic elements, substance use and language) Genre: Action & Adventure
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 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.
