Your Weekend in Film
Ingrid Goes West, Logan Lucky open in Austin
By The Screens Staff, 8:00AM, Fri. Aug. 18, 2017
No FOMO: We've got the rundown on which new films are worth watching, including a social media satire and Steven Soderbergh's return to moviemaking.
This Week’s Pick: Ingrid Goes West
The incomparable Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) stars in this black comic tale about stalking in the age of social media. Josh Kupecki writes: “Ingrid is all of us, obsessing and rearranging our personalities and pivoting our stances at a moment’s notice when our worldview becomes scrutinized by others. Farmers’ market jokes and “desert vibes” hashtags aside, Ingrid Goes West cuts to the quick, ultimately revealing a toxic, yet oh-so-appealing demeanor that has come to define our current existence.” 3.5 stars
Also Reviewed
Brigsby Bear. SNL’s Kyle Mooney plays a man-child raised in an underground fallout shelter with only a single pop culture companion – a bizarre children’s educational program starring a giant blond bear named Brigsby. Steve Davis: “Those who like things sentimental and sweet – and there’s nothing wrong with that – will find comfort in the notion of leaving the past behind to allow the future to go forward.” 3 stars
Good Time. A crime goes from terribly wrong to ridiculously worse in this Safdie brothers’ picture starring Robert Pattinson. Marjorie Baumgarten: “The Safdies are totally in their wheelhouse of scuzzy love stories with the ironically titled Good Time.” 2.5 stars
The Hitman’s Bodyguard. Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson star in this action movie from the Expendables 3 director. Marjorie Baumgarten: “Bullets spray, cars and buildings explode, a good portion of the Netherlands is obliterated, and our likable rogue heroes banter between lethal rounds. … The only thing missing is ingenuity.” 2.5 stars
Logan Lucky. After a self-imposed hiatus from film, Steven Soderbergh eases back in with this swaggering heist picture set in the Deep South. Kimberley Jones: “Logan Lucky comfortably settles under the same umbrella of popular-slash-populist entertainments as Soderbergh’s most famous franchise. The film even connects the dots for you, dubbing its rural gang of robbers ‘Ocean’s 7-11.’” 3.5 stars
Shot Caller. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (aka Jaime Lannister from Game of Thrones) stars in this brutal look at the penal system. Marc Savlov: “Intense is a word that, like awesome, has become borderline meaningless over the past three or so decades, but ‘visceral,”’now that still packs a wallop. Shot Caller, a real life-meets-prison, life drama-cum-actioner fits the latter adjective to a bloody, razor-wielding tee. 3 stars (See Richard Whittaker’s interview with Austin-based director Ric Roman Waugh.)
Special Screenings
“A major triumph in the Eighties low-budget universe.” Zack Carlson has got it bad for Blonde Death: “Pizza. Solo dance parties. Humping. These are the building blocks of existence, according to teenage Southern Baptist Tammy. Her uptight parents have an opposing stance on the subject, but find it impossible to control Tammy's rampaging desires following the family's relocation from Mississippi to the L.A. suburbs.” Blonde Death screens Friday & Saturday at AFS Cinema.
Master Pancake riffs on Interstellar. Humans' last-ditch attempt to find a habitable planet in another galaxy is an easy mark for the movie mockers. Friday-Saturday.
“My god, it’s full of stars.” The Paramount screens 2001 the way Kubrick's groundbreaking monument was meant to be seen: in mind-boggling 70mm. Friday.
It’s showtime! AFS Cinema’s Dark Musicals of Bob Fosse series concludes with the dazzling All That Jazz. Friday and Sunday.
PBS KIDS at the Alamo. Three episodes from the new PBS show for kids Ready Jet Go! – about earth science and astronomy – will screen Saturday-Saturday at Alamo Drafthouse Slaughter Lane and Alamo Drafthouse Lakeline.
UT Pop-up Dino Museum. Texas Memorial Museum staff will be bringing dinosaur fossils and kid-friendly games to the Blue Starlite Drive-in’s Jurassic Park and Jaws double feature. Saturday.
World Cinema Classics. As Proust had his madeleine, so too Rohmer has Claire's Knee. Sunday.
Check out the Chronicle's Film Listings for daily showtimes, reviews, and Special Screenings.
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Richard Whittaker, June 7, 2018
Chronicle Film Staff, May 3, 2018
Dec. 23, 2023
Feb. 17, 2023
Film, Ingrid Goes West, Brigsby Bear, Good Time, Hitman's Bodyguard, Shot Caller, Logan Lucky, Blonde Death