Santa Cruz Good Times

Films This Week
Check out the movies playing around town.
With reviews and trailers.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
New This Week


HORRIBLE BOSSES Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day star in this homicidal comedy as disgruntled workers who plot against their dysfunctional employers because they can't afford to quit their jobs. Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston, and Colin Farrell are on board as the Bosses from Hell. Seth Gordon directs. (R) 93 minutes. Starts Friday. Watch film trailer >>>

THE WARD Veteran fright-meister John Carpenter returns to the big screen with this horror chiller about a new inmate (Amber Heard) in a women's psychiatric hospital menaced by a ghostly presence that might be all in her mind—until other inmates start disappearing. Mamie Gummer and Danielle Panabaker co-star. (R) 88 minutes. Starts Friday. Watch film trailer >>>

---

Film Events

CONTINUING SERIES: WEEKEND MATINEE CLASSICS AT APTOS CINEMA If you've only ever seen them on TV, don't miss this series of classic movie matinees unspooling each weekend at Aptos Cinema. This week: A NIGHT AT THE OPERA It's Marx Madness as usual in this classic 1935 comedy, the first the Marx Brothers made for Irving Thalberg at MGM, using all the lavish resources at the studio's disposal. Groucho romances the redoubtable Margaret Dumont and scams her into financing an opera in New York City, but the film's highlight is the notorious "stateroom scene," where the three Marxes, a couple of sexy dames, and apparently the entire staff of a luxury cruise liner cram into one tiny stateroom. Sam Wood directs. (Not rated) 96 minutes. (★★★)—Lisa Jensen. Sat-Sun matinee only. Admission $6. At Aptos Cinema. 

CONTINUING SERIES: FLASHBACK FEATURES Oldies and goodies on Thursday nights at the Cinema 9, presented by your genial host, Joe Ferrara. $5 gets you in. This week: SABRINA the ever-winsome Audrey Hepburn stars in this fizzy 1954 romantic comedy about a chauffeur's daughter pursued by her father's employers—the hard-working head of the family business (Humphrey Bogart) and his fun-loving playboy brother (William Holden). Billy Wilder directs. (Not rated) 113 minutes. (★★★)—Lisa Jensen. Tonight (Thursday, July 7) only, 8 p.m., at the Cinema 9.

CONTINUING EVENT: LET'S TALK ABOUT THE MOVIES This informal movie discussion group meets at the Del Mar mezzanine in downtown Santa Cruz. Movie junkies are invited to join in on Wednesday nights to discuss current flicks with a rotating series of guest moderators. Discussion begins at 7 pm and admission is free. For more information visit www.ltatm.org.

---

MOVIE TIMES 7/8–7/14

Del Mar Theatre    469-3220
Midnight In Paris  2:50, 5, 7:20, 9:40  + Sat, Sun 12:45
Cars 2 in 3D   2, 4:30, 7, 9:30  + Sat, Sun 11:40am
Cars 2   1:40, 4, 6:15, 8:30  + Sat, Sun 11:20am
Midnight in Paris “Baby Friendly Show” 7/13  11am $6.50

Nickelodeon    426-7500
The Tree of Life  1:15, 4, 6:45, 9:30   
Submarine  5:10, 9:10 
Midnight in Paris  1:50, 4:10, 6:20, 8:30  Sat, Sun 11:40am
Beginners  2:20, 4:40, 7, 9:20 + Sat, Sun noon 
Cave of Forgotten Dreams 3:10, 7:10 + Sat, Sun 1

Aptos Cinema    426-7500
Larry Crowne   2:40, 4:50, 7, 9:10  + Sat, Sun  12:40
Horrible Bosses  2:50, 5, 7:10, 9:20, + Sat, Sun 12:30
A Night At The Opera  Classic on the Big Screen Saturday, Sunday, Matinee 11am 

Green Valley Cinema 8    761-8200
Transformers: Dark of the Moon 3D  2:45, 6:15, 9:45 + Fri-Sun 11:30am
Transformers: Dark of the Moon 35mm  3:15, 6:45, 10:15 + Fri-Sun noon
Larry Crowne  1:20, 4, 6:45, 9:25  + Fri-Sun 11am
Cars 2 3D  4
Cars 2 Digital  1:30, 6:45, 9:15, Fri-Sun 11am
Bad Teacher  1, 3, 5:05, 7:10, 9:30  + Fri-Sun 11am
Zookeeper  1:20, 4, 7, 9:30  + Fri-Sun 11am
Horrible Bosses  1, 3, 5:05, 7:10, 9:35  Fri-Sun 11am
Midnight in Paris  1, 3, 5:05, 7:10, 9:30  Fri-Sun 11am

Cinelux Scotts Valley Cinema    438-3260
Super 8  11:45am, 2:30, 5:10, 7:45, 10:15
Midnight In Paris  11:55am, 2:10, 4:20, 7:10, 9:20
Horrible Bosses  12:45, 3, 5:15, 7:30, 9:45
Monte Carlo  11:10am, 1:40, 4, 6:30, 9
Larry Crowne  11:55am, 2:20, 4:45, 7:20, 9:40
Cars 2  11am, 1:30, 4:10, 6:45, 9:20
Zookeeper  11:30am, 2, 4:30, 7, 9:30
Transformers: Dark of the Moon  12:20, 1:15, 3:40, 4:55, 7, 8:15, 10:15
Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader $1 Family Film 10am
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1  7/14  8:30
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2  7/14  11:59

Cinelux 41st Avenue Cinema    479-3504
Transformers: Dark of the Moon  3D  12:20, 3:40, 7, 10:15
Cars 2  11am, 1:40, 4:20, 7, 9:40
Super 8  11:30, 2, 4:30, 7:15, 10
Despicable Me  $1  Family Film  07/07  10am
Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader 7/14 $1 Family Film  10am
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1  7/14 8:30
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2  7/14 11:59

Santa Cruz Cinema 9    (800) 326-3264 #1700

Please Call for Show times

Riverfront    (800) 326-3264 #1701

Please Call for Show times

---

Now Playing

BAD TEACHER Cameron Diaz stars in this salty comedy as the high school teacher from hell, a foul-mouthed slacker who sets her romantic sights on a fellow teacher after her boyfriend (and meal ticket) dumps her. Lucy Punch, Jason Segel, and Justin Timberlake co-star for director Jake Kasdan. (R) 92 minutes.

BEGINNERS Coming of age is not just for kids any more in Mike Mills' winsome, yet sneakily affecting comedy-drama. Ewan McGregor is wonderful as a 38-year-old graphic designer in Los Angeles trying to jumpstart his own romantic life. But Christopher Plummer is the centerpiece as his widowed father who comes out as a gay man at age 75, embracing his new identity with gusto as their offbeat, yet tender father-son dynamic plays out. Mary Page Keller is absolutely terrific in flashback as McGregor's wistful, yet deliciously subversive mom. (R) 105 minutes. (★★★)—Lisa Jensen.

BRIDESMAIDS One the best comedies of the year. Clever. Well written. Wonderfully executed. Kristen Wiig, who also cowrotes this comedy, plays a romantically-challenged woman suddenly caught in her best friend’s (Maya Rudolph) wedding arrangements.. Determined to be the best maid of honor, she, naturally, screws up. All that ensues is hilarious. But the film actually sports some real heart and, quite smoothly, delivers a sobering look at what women go through in relationships—of all kinds. This has to be one of the best supporting casts to hit the screen in a long tims. Beyond Rudolph, the typically tepid Rose Byrne outdoes herself. There’s Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper and an amazing Melissa McCarthy—watch out for this one! The late Jill Clayburgh also co-stars. Wiig co-Paul Feig directs. (R)  (★★★) —Greg Archer

CARS 2 Owen Wilson returns as the voice of racing car Lightning McQueen, in this sequel to the Disney Pixar animated hit from 2006. this time, Lightning and his pit crew of pals are off to an international race that takes them to Paris and Tokyo. Larry the Cable Guy, Bonnie Hunt, Michael Caine, Cheech Marin, and Emily Mortimer provide additional voices. Original director John Lassiter teams up with co-helmer Brad Lewis for the sequel. (G)

CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS Werner Herzog explores two of his favorite themes—human obsessions, and the forbidding grandeur of Nature—in his stunning new doc, a tour of Chauvet Cave. This  recently discovered, 32,000-year-old cave buried under a massive rockslide in rural France contains the earliest known wall paintings made by human hands. The filmmaking stumbles abit; some crucial details don't interest Herzog enough to include them (like the media in which the artwork was produced), and we have to slog through some of the director's more bewildering ruminations. But the cave interiors are stunning. Shooting in 3D allows Herzog to capture the depth and mystery of images glimpsed in shadowy recesses or sprawling across unevewn surfaces. Sequences outside can be disorienting, but 3D captures the cave interiors with breathtaking fidelity. (Not rated) 90 minutes. (★★★) —Lisa Jensen.

THE GREEN LANTERN Ryan Reynolds does well in this suprisingly watchable outing from the DC comics. Ryan plays Hal Jordan, the “chosen” to be part of an intergalactic peace-keeping brotherhood. Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, and Mark Strong co-star for veteran action director Martin Campbell. (PG-13).  (★★1/2) —Greg Archer

THE HANGOVER PART II This is what you should know: Stay home and drink. There is no real reason for anybody to venture out for this embarassing rehash of the same jokes you’d find in the first movie. Some fun moments exist here but there’s nothing new brought to the bar. Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, and Justin Bartha return for another wedding and another unexpected night of mayhem—this time in Bangkok, Thailand. If you like smoking monkeys, small penises and hermaphrodites, climb on board. Othewise, meet me at the lounge. Todd Phillips directs. (R) (★1/2) —Greg Archer

KUNG FU PANDA 2: KABOOM OF DOOM The bears are back in town; Jack Black returns as the voice of Po, cuddly Chinese panda-turned-mystic warrior, whose happy life guarding the Valley of Peace is threatened when he and his cohorts  must rally to stop a new villain. Jennifer Yuh directs this sequel to the hit animated family comedy. Jackie Chan, Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogan, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dustin Hoffman join the large supporting voice cast. (PG)

LARRY CROWNE Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts team up again in this dramatic comedy about a guy who loses his job and goes to community college to find himself, where he meets a woman who might be able to kickstart his new life. Hanks directs, from a script he wrote with Nia Vardalos. (PG-13) 99 minutes.

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS There's nothing not to love in Woody Allen's irresistible romantic comedy. The poster image of star Owen Wilson sauntering alongside the river Seine at night under Van Gogh's sprawling "Starry Night" says everything about the art, history, enduring fantasy, and cultural allure of Paris, issues Allen addresses with savvy brio in this marvelously inventive film. Wilson is great fun as a Hollywood screenwriter longing to writer serious fiction who's transported back to the era he idolizes, Pais in the 1920s, in this endlessly sharp and funny riff on our collective desire to embrace a past "Golden Age" we think we've missed when the present gets too complicated. Rachel McAdams and Marion Cotillard co-star, along with Corey Stoll (Ernest Hemingway), Kathy Bates (Gertrude Stein), and a great cameo by Adrien Brody as Salvador Dali. (PG-13) 100 minutes. (★★★★) —Lisa Jensen.

MONTE CARLO In this tween-oriented family comedy, three young women on a disappointing holiday in Paris are whisked off for a wild weekend in Monte Carlo when one of them is mistaken for a British heiress on vacation. Selena Gomez, Leighton Meister, and Katie Cassidy star. Thomas Bezucha (The Family Stone) directs. (PG)
MR.POPPER'S PENGUINS Jim Carrey stars in this family comedy as a businessman whose life starts to go a little nuts when he becomes the caretaker for six rambunctious penguins.  (PG)

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES Johnny Depp's reeling and raucous Captain Jack Sparrow is having a blast here. Penelope Cruz is on board as the daughter of Blackbeard—played with dark, ferocious brio by Ian McShane. Geoffrey Rush is back, stomping around on a peg leg as pirate Barbarossa-turned-privateer, and the action is more focused: everyone is searching for the Fountain of Youth. But scriptwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio don't so much craft a narrative plot as string a bunch of gigantic comedy set-pieces together; when it comes to basics, like character motivation, they're clueless.. (PG-13) 137 minutes. (★★1/2)—Lisa Jensen.

SUBMARINE Adapted from the Joe Dunthorne novel by writer-director Richard Ayoade, this is a slyly deadpan teen comedy from the chilly seacoast of Swansea, Wales, laced with wit and sarcasm. Craig Roberts plays the wary, lovestruck 15-year-old protagonist the film takes almost as seriously as he takes himself (although served up with a slice of wry). But while the film gets off to a smart start, it never really gets anywhere, so blinkered by the character's self-absorption that the whole narrative begins to feel claustrophobic. To fall into the coming-of-age category, a story's protagonist should actually evolve in some way, and move on. Sadly, this does not happen here. (R) 97 minutes. (★★1/2)—Lisa Jensen.

SUPER 8 One of the summer’s best surprises. Steven Spielberg sets this sci-fi thriller set in 1979.The premise: Midwestern kids shoot a home movie on Super 8 film and inadvertantly capture something dangerous at the site of a train wreck. A phenom young in cast.  J. J. Abrams directs to winning ends. (PG-13) (★★★1/2)—Lisa Jensen.

THE TREE OF LIFE Terence Malick plunges us into seemingly familiar terrain—growing up in suburban Middle America in the1950s—and turns it into something strange and mysterious, a metaphor for the eternal search for grace and meaning in life. Brad Pitt is a formidable presence as a conflicted father striving to teach his three sons the ways of the world in lessons that are often harsh. Jessica Chastain is their loving mother; Sean Penn is one troubled son as an adult. Young actors Hunter McCracken and Laramie Eppler are extraordinary. Malick's mesmerising, impressionistic storytelling hits a few snags, like an overly stage-managed finale. But mostly this is a questing, non-denominational, truly visionary tone poem on the pure wonder of being. (PG-13) 138 minutes. (★★★1/2) —Lisa Jensen.

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS After the disappointing goulash that was the first X-Men"origins" movie, Wolverine, this entertaining prequel steers the franchise back on track. Helmed by incoming director Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake), the character-driven plot is more focused (with new young mutants given more time to establish their personalities), and the moral dilemma between rising above vengeance and giving in to it more acute. James McAvoy brings warmth and humor to young Charles Xavier, son of privilege, on a mission to provide support and acceptance to outcast genetic mutants and teach them to harness their often scary powers. Michael Fassbender is a terrific young Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto), concentration camp survivor, on a mission to kill the ex-Nazi, Schultze, now Shaw (Kevin Bacon), who killed his mother and experimented on him. One big plot problem is it's never explained how Shaw himself becomes an uber-mutant, but when he brings the world to the brink of WWIII via the Cuban Missile Crisis (after which only mutants will survive), Xavier and Erik gather a team of young mutants to stop him—only to split into opposite factions over how to deal with humans who fear and oppress them. Jennifer Lawrence makes a sassy, yet vulnerable Mystique, January Jones a chilly Emma Frost; Nicholas Hoult (Beast) and Lucas Till (Havok) also have their moments.There's plenty of destruction, as usual, but Vaughn keeps character and relationships in the forefront throughout. (PG-13). 132 minutes. (★★★)—Lisa Jensen.

< Prev		Next >