By Chip Chandler — Digital Content Producer
This week in Amarillo theaters: An American hero, unsettling thriller and horror flicks, and a sketchy-looking animated film. Enter at your own risk. (On the bright side? Labyrinth!)
The Disappointments Room
A woman (Kate Beckinsale) and her 5-year-old son move into a rural dream home, only to discover that some nightmares are locked away in the attic. The title may be prescient: Distributor Relativity Media has gone bankrupt, causing havoc in the movie's release schedule and any efforts to promote it. And, not surprisingly, it hasn't been screened for critics. (R for violent content, bloody images, some sexuality and language; United Artists Amarillo Star 14, 8275 W. Amarillo Blvd.)
Sully
Clint Eastwood directs this no-nonsense version of the 2009 "Miracle on the Hudson," in which pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger landed a jetliner in the Hudson River after its engines went out shortly after takeoff. Tom Hanks — "if Tom Hanks hadn’t existed to play the title role, Eastwood would have had to invent him," notes Moira Macdonald in her Seattle Times review — stars as the pilot in a film relives the crash — as well as the National Transportation Safety Board investigation afterwards that threatened his career. The film's getting quite solid reviews across the board. The AV Club's Ignatiy Vishnevetsky praises its "plainspoken and disarmingly delicate conception of heroics, which might be Eastwood’s best work since Million Dollar Baby." "(T)here is something compelling about someone who simply shows up for the job, day after day, carving out the remarkable from the unremarkable," Bill Goodykoontz writes for USA Today. "It’s the kind of thing at which both Eastwood ... and Hanks ... excel, so they are the perfect pair to tell Sullenberger’s story." (PG-13 for some peril and brief strong language; AS-14, Cinemark Hollywood 16, 9100 Canyon Drive)
When the Bough Breaks
When I saw a passing reference to this movie a few days ago, I just assumed it was a made-for-Lifetime affair, but no! It's a theatrical release (though not one screened in advance for critics). Who knew? Regina Hall and Morris Chestnut star as a married couple who, after exhausting their other options, hire a young woman (Jaz Sinclair) as a surrogate for their pregnancy. The young woman gets dangerously obsessed with the husband, as always happens in movies like this, but with a title like that, would you expect any less? (PG-13 for violence, sexuality/partial nudity, thematic elements, some disturbing images, and language; AS-14, H-16)
The Wild Life
This kids-friendly take on Robinson Crusoe finds the shipwrecked man tossed onto an island full of talking animals. Looks to be strictly for the young ones. (PG for mild action/peril and some rude humor; AS-14, H-16)
Special engagements
Labyrinth
The late David Bowie's star turn as the Goblin King is just one reason to see this Fathom Events screening of the 1986 fantasy classic — but it's a really good reason. The film will screen for its 30th anniversary at 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday and Wednesday at Amarillo Star 14. (PG)
Snowden Live
At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Fathom Events will offer a sneak peek of director Oliver Stone's Snowden, the based-on-a-true-story political thriller about Edward Snowden and his decision to leak classified information to the media about the National Security Agency's domestic spying program. Then, Stone will interview Snowden in a live Q&A session streamed from Moscow, where Snowden is living in exile. (NR; AS-14)
Digimon Adventure tri. — Chapter 1: Reunion
The English-dubbed version of this popular anime film gets a screening at 7 p.m. Sept. 15 at Amarillo Star 14. For more information, click here. (NR)
Still playing
Ben-Hur (AS-14); The BFG (Premiere Cinemas Westgate Mall 6, 7701 W. Interstate 40); Central Intelligence (WM-6); Don't Breathe (AS-14, H-16, Tascosa Drive-In, 1999 Dumas Drive); Hell or High Water (AS-14); Hunt for the Wilderpeople (WM-6); Ice Age: Collision Course (WM-6); Jason Bourne (AS-14); Kubo and the Two Strings (AS-14); The Legend of Tarzan (WM-6); The Light Between Oceans (AS-14); Lights Out (WM-6); Mechanic: Resurrection (AS-14); Morgan (AS-14); No Manches Frida (H-16); Pete's Dragon (AS-14, H-16); Sausage Party (H-16, TDI); Suicide Squad (AS-14, H-16); and War Dogs (H-16).
Chip Chandler is a digital content producer for Panhandle PBS. He can be contacted at Chip.Chandler@actx.edu, at @chipchandler1 on Twitter and at www.facebook.com/chipchandlerwriter on Facebook.
