By Chip Chandler — Producer
In Amarillo theaters this week: Steven Spielberg's ode to nerd culture, an Oscar-winning trans drama and more.
New in theaters
A Fantastic Woman
Trans actress Daniela Vega stars as Marina in this Chilean film that won an Oscar this year for best foreign film. As I wrote in my Oscar marathon blog post, the film stands out not only because of Vega "but also because director/co-writer Sebastián Lelio focuses not on her transition or coming-out process, but on her actual life. As far as trans representation has come in media, it’s still unusual to see such a story play out thusly, just as it’s still unusual to see it being told by a non-cisgender actor. Vega stars as Marina, who’s in a loving relationship with an older, divorced man who takes ill suddenly and dies. That exposes Marina, who otherwise walks through life with great confidence, to no end of humiliation — from the police, who believe her to be a sex worker and hiding something about Orlando’s death, and most especially from Orlando’s ex-wife and son, who call their relationship a perversion and refuse her access to his funeral. Marina endures, despite long odds, and Vega gives a true star-is-born performance." (R for language, sexual content, nudity and a disturbing assault; click here for showtimes at Premiere Cinemas Westgate Mall 6, 7701 W. Interstate 40)
God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness
In the third installment of this faith-based series, Pastor Dave's (David A.R. White) university church burns down, and the school refuses to let him rebuild, claiming that church is no longer relevant. His atheist attorney brother (John Corbett) agrees to help him fight back. No reviews have been released yet. (PG for thematic elements including some violence and suggestive material; click here for showtimes at United Artists Amarillo Star 14, 8275 W. Amarillo Blvd., and Cinemark Hollywood 16, 9100 Canyon Drive)
Ready Player One
In the not-so-distant future, most folks have found refuge in a virtual reality universe populated with pop-culture avatars from the '70s, '80s and beyond in this Steven Spielberg film based on the popular Ernest Cline novel. Wade (Tye Sheridan) is our central character, who tries to win the fortune left behind by the VR universe's creator. Reviews have been pretty positive: "At its best, Ready Player One unfolds like unstructured free time for Hollywood’s biggest kid (Spielberg), unleashed in a playground he helped construct. ... What the film rarely does is challenge or interrogate the fan culture to which it plays uncritical tribute," writes The A.V. Club's A.A. Dowd. (PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action violence, bloody images, some suggestive material, partial nudity and language; click here for showtimes at Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16)
Tyler Perry's Acrimony
A faithful wife (Taraji P. Henson) goes off when she learns her lousy husand (Lyriq Bent) has betrayed her. No reviews have been released yet. (R for language, sexual content and some violence; click here for showtimes at Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16)
Special engagements
Best F(r)iends
The Room's Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero re-team for for this two-film comedy about a drifter (Sestero) who befriends a mortician (Wiseau), then betrays him and runs away. Vol. 1 will screen at 8 p.m. Friday and Monday, with Vol. 2 to follow on June 1 and 4, at the Amarillo Star 14.
Così fan tutte
The Met: Live in HD continues with a colorful staging of Mozart's light opera / battle of the sexes starring Broadway star Kelli O'Hara. It'll screen at 11:55 a.m. Saturday at the Hollywood 16.
Selena
The biopic about Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla will screen at 7:10 and 9:45 p.m. Saturday (the anniversary of her death) at Westgate Mall 6.
Eating You Alive
This advocacy film pitches a whole food / vegan lifestyle. It'll screen at 7 p.m. April 5 at Amarillo Star 14.
Upcoming
April 5: Advance tickets are on sale for Blockers, a prom-night raunchy comedy focusing on girls and their parents, and horror film A Quiet Place at the Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16.
April 6: Historical drama Chappaquiddick and sports drama The Miracle Season are scheduled to open (likely previewing one day earlier), but advance tickets are not yet on sale.
April 8 and 11: TCM's Big Screen Classics series will continue a 40th anniversary screening of the belovedly raunchy (or raunchily beloved) musical Grease. It'll screen at 2 and 7 p.m. both days at both Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16.
April 12: Advance tickets are on sale now for horror film Truth or Dare at both Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16, and advance tickets are on sale for video-game adaptation Rampage at Amarillo Star 14; Hollywood 16 is expected to be added later. Plus, inspirational drama The Amendment, which tells the story of Oklahoma legislator Brooks Douglass' championing of victims' rights laws, will screen at 7 p.m. at both Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16.
April 13: Advance tickets are on sale now for adult animated feature Isle of Dogs at Amarillo Star 14; Hollywood 16 could be added later. Sports biographical drama Borg vs. McEnroe and children's animated film Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero and are scheduled to open nationally, but advance tickets are not yet on sale. Release dates are subject to change.
April 14: The Met: Live in HD continues with Verdi's rarely performed Luisa Miller, starring Placido Domingo and Sonya Yoncheva. It'll screen at 11:30 a.m. at the Hollywood 16.
April 15: Zombie attack! The Walking Dead season finale and Fear the Walking Dead season premiere will screen back-to-back and commercial-free at 7:30 p.m. at both Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16.
April 16: Family drama Phoenix Wilder & The Great Elephant Adventure, about a 13-year-old orphan who moves to Africa and bonds with a bull elephant, will screen at 6 p.m. at both Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16.
April 17: Faith-based romance advice film The Dating Project will screen at 7 p.m. at the Amarillo Star 14.
April 19: Advance tickers are on sale now for cult comedy sequel Super Troopers 2 at Hollywood 16; Amarillo Star 14 is expected to follow.
April 20: Family animated comedy Duck Duck Goose, Amy Schumer's I Feel Pretty and thriller Traffik are scheduled to open nationally, but advance tickets are not yet on sale. Release dates are subject to change.
April 22 to 25: The Studio Ghibli Fest 2018 continues with the fantasy adventure The Cat Returns at both the Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16. An English-dubbed version will screen at 12:55 p.m. April 22 and 7 p.m. April 25, with a subtitled version screening at 7 p.m. April 23.
April 24: Faith-based special Fragments of Truth, featuring Craig Evans' attempts to prove historical foundations behind the New Testament, will screen at 7 p.m. at both Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16.
April 25: The Cobra Kai premiere event will feature a screening of the 1984 Karate Kid alongside the first two episodes of the new YouTube Red series, which picks up on the story of Daniel (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny (William Zabka) 34 years later. The event begins at 7 p.m. at both Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16.
April 26: Advance tickets are on sale for superhero smorgasbord Avengers: Infinity War at both Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16.
April 28: The Met: Live in HD continues with the company's first production of Massenet's Cendrillon, a Cinderella story starring Joyce DiDonato, Alice Coote and Kathleen Kim. It'll screen at 11:55 a.m. at the Hollywood 16.
April 29 to May 2: The fantasy classic Labyrinth, starring the late David Bowie as the Goblin King, will screen in a three-day celebration at 2 and 7 p.m. April 29 and 7 p.m. May 1 and 2 at Amarillo Star 14.
Listings at a glance
Click on titles for my reviews and on theaters for showtimes.
Black Panther (AS-14, H-16); Bomb City (WM-6); Coco (WM-6); Death Wish (WM-6); A Fantastic Woman (WM-6); Game Night (H-16); God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness (AS-14, H-16); Gringo (WM-6); I Can Only Imagine (AS-14, H-16); Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (WM-6); Love, Simon (AS-14, H-16); Maze Runner: The Death Cure (WM-6); Midnight Sun (AS-14, H-16); Pacific Rim Uprising (AS-14, H-16); Paul, Apostle of Christ (AS-14, H-16); Peter Rabbit (AS-14, H-16); Ready Player One (AS-14, H-16); Sherlock Gnomes (AS-14, H-16); Tomb Raider (AS-14, H-16); Tyler Perry's Acrimony (AS-14, H-16); Unsane (AS-14, H-16); and A Wrinkle in Time (H-16).
Chip Chandler is a producer for Panhandle PBS. He can be contacted at Chip.Chandler@actx.edu, at @chipchandler1 on Twitter and on Facebook.
