By Chip Chandler — Producer
In Amarillo theaters this week: Children's fantasy A Wrinkle in Time alights, plus new seats are ready for audiences at the reopened Westgate Mall 6.
Up first: Premiere Cinemas Westgate Mall 6, 7701 W. Interstate 40, announced this week that it will reopen Friday after a two-week closure for the installation of about 1,200 leatherette rocker chairs in its six theaters.
As I previously reported, the remodel and temporary closure of the second-run theater was unrelated to false rumors of a bedbug infestation at the theater.
The reopening week's lineup will include Bomb City, which was drawing strong crowds before the closure, as well as Coco; I, Tonya; Maze Runner: The Death Cure; The Post; and Star Wars: The Last Jedi. (Click titles for my reviews.)
New in theaters
Gringo
This dark action comedy finds a pharmaceutical company manager (David Oyelowo) being sent to Mexico by his bosses (Charlize Theron and Joel Edgerton) to oversee the manufacture of their new version of medical marijuana condensed into pill form. He's kidnapped by a drug cartel, though, and has to rely on a mercenary (Sharlto Copley) to stay alive. No reviews are available yet. (R for language throughout, violence and sexual content; click here for showtimes at United Artists Amarillo Star 14, 8275 W. Amarillo Blvd., and Cinemark Hollywood 16, 9100 Canyon Drive)
The Hurricane Heist
A band of crooks attempt to pull off the ultimate crime: Stealing $600 million from a U.S. Mint facility as a Class 5 hurricane bears down on them. It's from director Rob Cohen (The Fast and the Furious, XXX). No reviews yet. (PG-13 for sequences of gun violence, action, destruction, language and some suggestive material; click here for showtimes at Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16)
Strangers: Prey at Night
A family (Christina Hendricks, Martin Henderson and Bailee Madison) stops at a mobile home park to stay with relatives, but they find it apparently deserted. But it's a horror movie, so you know darn well it's not empty and that blood is gonna flow. No reviews yet. (R for horror violence and terror throughout, and for language; click here for showtimes at Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16)
A Wrinkle in Time
Director Ava DuVernay (Selma) reshapes Madeleine L'Engle's children's classic into a colorful, diverse classic. Young Meg (newcomer Storm Reid), her brother Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe) and friend Calvin (Levi Miller) attempt to save her father (Chris Pine) from an encroaching darkness with the help of three powerful, mysterious forces: Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling), Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon) and Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey). Reviews thus far are a bit mixed. (PG for thematic elements and some peril; click here for showtimes at Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16)
Special engagements
Semiramide: The Met: Live in HD series screens this lesser-known Rossini opera, featuring Angela Meade as murderous Queen of Babylon, at 11:55 a.m. Saturday at the Hollywood 16.
Love, Simon: This new gay teen romance (think John Hughes, but with an out Ducky in the lead) gets a sneak previewat 7 p.m. Saturday at Amarillo Star 14 and 8:15 p.m. Saturday at Hollywood 16 before officially previewing March 15 and opening March 16.
Upcoming
March 16: Advance tickets are on sale now for Christian biopic I Can Only Imagine, which tells the story of MercyMe lead singer Bart Millard; gay teen romance Love, Simon; and action-adventure remake Tomb Raider with Alicia Vikander.
March 18 and 21: TCM's Big Screen Classics series will continue a 60th anniversary screening of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, starring Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak. It'll screen at 2 and 7 p.m. both days at both Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16.
March 19: Faith-based nature documentary The Riot and the Dance will screen at both Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16.
March 22: Amarillo Star 14 will screen the National Theatre Live's Julius Caesar starring David Calder, Game of Thrones' Michelle Fairley, Ben Whishaw and David Morrissey. Many NTL screenings aren't picked up by Amarillo theaters, so this is a rare opportunity.
March 23: Advance tickets are on sale for Pacific Rim Uprising and Paul, Apostle of Christ at the Hollywood 16; Amarillo Star 14 is likely to follow. Midnight Sun, Sherlock Gnomes and Unsane are all scheduled to open wide, but advance tickets are not yet on sale. Dates are subject to change.
March 24: Animated fantasy Ice Dragon: Legend of the Blue Daisies will screen at Amarillo Star 14 on March 24 and 26.
March 25: The Studio Ghibli Fest 2018 kicks off with the heartwarming adventure Ponyo at both the Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16. An English-dubbed version will screen March 25 and 28, with a subtitled version screening March 26. The nine-film series also will include The Cat Returns on April 22 to 25, Porco Rosso on May 20 to 23, Pom Poko on June 17 to 20, Princess Mononoke on July 22 to 25, Grave of the Fireflies on Aug. 12 to 15, My Neighbor Totoro on Sept. 30 to Oct. 3, Spirited Away on Oct. 28 to 30, and Castle in the Sky on Nov. 18 to 20.
March 29: Advance tickets are on sale for Ready Player One, the retro-infused sci-fi adventure from Steven Spielberg, at Hollywood 16; Amarillo Star 14 is likely to follow. Dates are subject to change.
March 30: The Room's Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero re-team for Best F(r)iends, a two-film comedy about a drifter (Sestero) who befriends a mortician (Wiseau), then betrays him and runs away. Part 1 will screen March 30 and April 2, with Part 2 to follow on June 1 and 4. Advance tickets are on sale now at Amarillo Star 14.
Listings at a glance
Click on titles for my reviews and on theaters for showtimes.
Annihilation (H-16); Black Panther (AS-14, H-16); Bomb City (WM-6); Call Me By Your Name (AS-14); Coco (WM-6); Death Wish (AS-14, H-16); Every Day (H-16); Fifty Shades Freed (H-16); Game Night (AS-14, H-16); The Greatest Showman (AS-14); Gringo (AS-14, H-16); The Hurricane Heist (AS-14, H-16); I, Tonya (WM-6); Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (AS-14, H-16); Maze Runner: The Death Cure (WM-6); Peter Rabbit (AS-14, H-16); The Post (WM-6); Red Sparrow (AS-14, H-16); The Shape of Water (AS-14, H-16); Star Wars: The Last Jedi (WM-6); Strangers: Prey at Night (AS-14, H-16); and A Wrinkle in Time (AS-14, 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.
