By Chip Chandler — Producer
In Amarillo theaters this week: Jackass's low-rent Six Flags, Shailene Woodley gets lost at sea, and an acclaimed, intimate drama about a rodeo star.
New in theaters
Action Point
Actor/daredevil/actual(?) insane man Johnny Knoxville (Jackass, Bad Grandpa) stars as a man determined to save his janky amusement park in the face of stiff competition from a new, slick (and presumably much safer) park. No reviews yet, but c'mon: You know what you're gonna get. (R for crude sexual content, language, drug use, teen drinking, and brief graphic nudity; click here for showtimes at United Artists Amarillo Star 14, 8275 W. Amarillo Blvd., and Cinemark Hollywood 16, 9100 Canyon Drive)
Adrift
Two sailors (Shailene Woodley, The Fault in Our Stars, and Sam Claflin, The Hunger Games) plan to sail from Tahiti to San Diego, little knowing that they're heading into one of the worst hurricanes imaginable. It's based on a true story, so don't go googling to see if they survived. No reviews have been released. (PG-13 for injury images, peril, language, brief drug use, partial nudity and thematic elements; click here for showtimes at Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16)
The Rider
Real-life cowboy Brady Jandreau stars in this somewhat fictionalized drama about what happened in his own life when a bucking horse stepped on his head in a rodeo competition — and how difficult he found leaving behind the dangerous rodeo lifestyle behind. Writer-director Chloe Zhao met Jandreau while making her 2015 film Songs My Brother Taught Me and, as explained in a Los Angeles Times feature, was so taken with him and his perseverence that she built the film around him, despite the fact he had no training as an actor. She also cast his father, his autistic younger sister and another former rodeo star who was paralyzed in a car crash. The film won the Art Cinema Award at the 2017 Cannes' Directors Fortnight, scored four Independent Spirit Award nominations and has played to rave reviews at Telluride and Sundance. "The Rider has no plot, per se. Rather, it’s a vista-worshipping, socially observant, and altogether moving exploration of how difficult it is to be wise even when the alternative is statistically guaranteed death. I found it sometimes hard rooting for Brady, knowing all that’s stacked against him. I wanted to protect my own heart," writes Slate's Inkoo Kang. (R for language and drug use; click here for showtimes at Amarillo Star 14)
Upgrade
Grey (Logan Marshall Green, Prometheus) is paralyzed during a mugging that also leaves his wife dead. When a billionaire inventor (Harrison Gilbertson, Picnic at Hanging Rock) offers to repair his body with an AI implant called STEM, Grey suddenly finds himself with unexpected physical abilities, a killer-robot inner voice and the opportunity to claim bloody vengeance. Reviews for the sophomore directorial effort by screenwriter Leigh Whannel (Insidious, Saw) are quite solid so far. "What rescues Upgrade from fading into the static of an overstuffed genre market is not only the comedic dynamic between Grey and STEM, but also some seriously impressive special effects—including a thrilling highway car chase that looks like it came from a film 10 times this one’s budget—and Whannell’s eye for dynamic, Wachowski-influenced action," writes The A.V. Club's Katie Rife. (R for strong violence, grisly images, and language; click here for showtimes at 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 screened back in March, and Vol. 2 will screen at 8 p.m. Friday and Monday at Amarillo Star 14.
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
This classic Humphrey Bogart adventure will screen at 9:30 p.m. Friday at the Fritch Fortress Amphitheater at Lake Meredith National Recreation Area, located 50 miles northeast of Amarillo near Fritch. Future screenings in the Movies on the Lake series include I Can Only Imagine on July 1, Coco on Aug. 1 and Avengers: Infinity War on Sept. 1. Admission is free, but donations are accepted. Call 806-857-3151.
The Producers
The uproarious Mel Brooks comedy wil screen at 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday and Wednesday as part of the TCM Big Screen Classics series at both Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16.
Kids' movie specials
All three Amarillo movie theaters are offering summer-long specials on family films. Click here for the full schedule.
This week's offerings:
- Regal Summer Movie Express: Animated features The Iron Giant and Curious George will screen at approximately 10 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at Amarillo Star 14. Admission is $1.
- Cinemark Summer Movie Clubhouse: The tyrranical tot feature The Boss Baby will screen at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Hollywood 16. Admission is $1.
- Premiere Cinemas Summer Kids Fest: Animated feature The Boss Baby will screen at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Premiere Cinemas Westgate Mall 6, 7701 W. Interstate 40. Admission is free.
Upcoming
June 8: Action thriller Hotel Artemis and are scheduled to open nationally, but advance tickets are not yet on sale.
June 10 and 11: Enjoy a double feature of the original 1995 Jumanji and the 2017 hit Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle in special screenings at 2 p.m. June 10 and 6:30 p.m. June 11 at both Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16.
June 11: The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) learns the origins of his deadliest foes in Doctor Who: Genesis of the Daleks, a cinema-length director's cut of one of the most popular Doctor Who serials ever made. It'll screen at 7 p.m. June 11 at both Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16.
June 12: A National Theatre Live screening of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, a theatrical adaptation of the acclaimed book (which itself is part of PBS's The Great American Read) will screen at 7 p.m. June 12 at Amarillo Star 14.
June 13: Watch the original The Incredibles and sequel The Incredibles 2 in a special double-feature event at 6 p.m. June 13 at Amarillo Star 14. Plus, the inspirational drama One Last Thing, presented by Chicken Soup for the Soul, finds a dentist (Wendell Pierce) being encouraged by his assistant (Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey) to reconnect with his estranged daughter (Jurnee Smollett-Bell). It'll screen at 7 p.m. June 13 at both Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16.
June 14: Advance tickets are on sale now for Pixar superhero sequel The Incredibles 2 at Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16.
June 14 and 19: The original Mystery Science Theater 3000 guys are back to poke fun at a notoriously cheeseball '80s sci-fi film in RiffTrax Live: Space Mutiny. It'll stream live at 7 p.m. June 14 and encore at 7:30 p.m. June 19 at Amarillo Star 14.
June 15: Action thriller Superfly and action comedy Tag also are scheduled to open nationally, but advance tickets are not yet on sale.
June 17 to 20: The Studio Ghibli Fest 2018 continues with ecological fable Pom Poko at both the Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16. An English-dubbed version will screen at 12:55 p.m. June 17 and 7 p.m. June 20, with a subtitled version screening at 7 p.m. June 18.
June 21: Advance tickets are on sale for action-adventure sequel Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom at Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16. Also, top drum corps Blue Stars, Bluecoats, Boston Crusaders, Carolina Crown, The Cavaliers and Phantom Regiment will show off their new shows at 2018 DCI Tour Premiere, screening live at 7:30 p.m. June 21 at Hollywood 16.
June 24 and 27: The TCM Big Screen Classics series continues with beloved musical West Side Story, screening at 2 and 7 p.m. June 24 and 27 at both Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16.
June 25 and 28: Broadway show Bandstand, a swing musical about a group of soldiers adapting to life on the homefront following World War II, will screen at 7 p.m. June 25 and 28 at both Amarillo Star 14 and Hollywood 16.
June 29: Comedies The Hustle and Uncle Drew and action thriller Sicario: Day of the Soldado are scheduled to open nationally, but advance tickets are not yet on sale.
Listings at a glance
Click on titles for my reviews and on theaters for showtimes.
Action Point(AS-14, H-16); Adrift (AS-14, H-16); Avengers: Infinity War (AS-14, H-16); Black Panther (WM-6); Blockers (WM-6); Book Club (AS-14, H-16 and Tascosa Drive-In, 1999 Dumas Drive); Breaking In (AS-14, H-16); Deadpool 2 (AS-14, H-16); I Can Only Imagine (WM-6); I Feel Pretty (WM-6); Life of the Party (AS-14, H-16 and Tascosa); Overboard (AS-14, H-16); A Quiet Place (AS-14, H-16); Rampage (WM-6); Ready Player One (WM-6); The Rider (AS-14); Show Dogs (H-16); Solo: A Star Wars Story (AS-14, H-16); Truth or Dare (WM-6); and Upgrade (H-16).
Chip Chandler is a producer for Panhandle PBS and a member of GALECA. He can be contacted at Chip.Chandler@actx.edu, at @chipchandler1 on Twitter and on Facebook.
