Category Archives: New In Theaters

Reviews of what’s out now

New In Theaters

Mighty Neighborly

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The Good Neighbor

by Hope Madden

Youngsters agitate an old hermit who has a padlocked basement. Things don’t go well.

Yes, this sounds strangely familiar, and comparisons to the far superior Don’t Breathe will haunt Kasra Farahani’s feature debut The Good Neighbor. The two films vary wildly, though, for a number of reasons.

One of those is the pop psychology fueling Good Neighbor. The film’s premise is slight – two high school knuckleheads wire up a neighbor’s house to make it seem haunted, with the goal of observing his behavior and somehow becoming famous. Undergirding the plot, though, are a handful of interesting if underdeveloped themes.

Social media celebrity and the lacking morality that seems to come with it is certainly a thematic influence at work here, although Farahani doesn’t know how to weave it into his story. Ethan (Logan Miller) sees himself as a budding filmmaker and believes this unconscionable tormenting of the elderly as his road to YouTube fame.

His bestie Sean (Keir Gilchrist) is in it for – what, exactly? Science? Hard to say, and when Ethan wants to push things beyond Sean’s comfort zone, Sean’s unclear motive is one reason the film begins to unravel.

James Caan plays grumpy old Harold Grainey, the mean geezer across the road that the boys subject to the “haunting.” His character is primarily viewed from a distance – he’s entirely alone and being watched via surveillance cameras. Still, Caan delivers a skilled and deeply lonesome performance.

Generation gaps, the slippery nature of privacy as well as perception, and “what the hell is wrong with kids these days?” are all concepts toyed with in the film – none of them very successfully.

The problem is not solely the fault of Mark Bianculli and Jeff Richard’s screenplay, although it does begin there. The film doesn’t boast nearly enough jumps to register as scary, and the bend toward drama is too obvious to be effective.

The larger issue, though, is Farahani’s shifting tone. From found footage horror to courtroom drama to melodramatic flashback sequences, the film spins in so many directions you’re never sure what you’re watching.

You should probably just be watching Don’t Breathe.

Verdict-2-5-Stars

New In Theaters

Math!

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31

by Hope Madden

Before heading to the screening of Rob Zombie’s new flick 31, I hopped on imdb to find out how long a film it was. I needed to know whether Chipotle would still be open when the movie got out. While on the site, I happened to notice that 31 possessed a metacritic score of 11.

For those of you new to metacritic, it’s a website that calculates a film’s ratings from major film critics across the globe and offers an aggregate score from 1 to 100. Now, I didn’t read those reviews – I like to go in clean – but still…

Eleven.

It’s Halloween night, 1976. A van full of what appear to be do-it-yourself carnies pulls into a dusty, woebegone Southern gas station and meets a couple of creepy characters.

You’ve seen at least one horror movie in your life. You know things cannot end well for everyone involved. But if you’re familiar with Zombie’s work, you’ll know that 31 is neither a spoof nor a ripoff. Every film in Zombie’s repertoire is a mishmash homage to everything from slashers to Blaxploitation flicks to grindhouse movies to the “savage cinema” of the Seventies. 31 is no different, except that the mishing and mashing don’t work especially well.

The homages continue with the cast. As is the director’s way, Zombie’s populated his overly familiar yet strangely mismatched world with similarly remembered yet out-of-place faces. Favorites Sheri Moon Zombie (natch), Jeff Daniel Phillips and Malcolm McDowell join Laurence Hilton-Jacobs (that’s right! Boom Boom Washington, people!), Meg Foster and Richard Brake in a game of death on Halloween night. (31 – get it?)

The writing is dreadful and the acting worse. While Zombie’s attempts at humor may make you recoil, the carnage itself is generally uninspired. He contrasts the grimy fight on the ground with a weirdly opulent games-masters celebration (powdered wigs and all). What I’ve learned is that you can bedeck Malcolm McDowell with all the frilly collars and broaches you like, he can’t deliver with a shitty script. And if he can’t manage, what’s a hack like Sheri Moon Zombie supposed to do with it?

“You want to know what’s in this head of mine? I’ll tell you what’s in this head of mine. What’s in this head of mine is…”

Do you know what that is?

That’s bad writing.

Is 31 an 11? No. It’s probably a 31 – not bad enough to be memorable, not good enough to pay to see.

The great news, though, is that Chipotle was still open.

Verdict-2-0-Stars

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gBCsqmvf3A

New In Theaters

Truth in Advertising

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The Disappointments Room

by Hope Madden

What’s in The Disappointments Room? Is it a monkey?

Nope. The room is as good as its name.

Kate Beckinsale is the damaged woman who may or may not be imagining ghosts in her new home – a rambling, crumbling old estate that has at least 70 rooms too many for her family of 3. But they moved from Brooklyn to this isolated, overgrown, creepy mansion for a fresh start.

And do you know why? Because that is the most clichéd way you could possibly begin a ghost story.

Beckinsale’s Dana begins to believe there’s something amiss in her new digs when she uncovers a secret room in the attic and the door slams behind her! Plus, a cat! And a dog!! Or are all these domesticated animals and secret rooms the fault of those prescription pills she keeps eyeballing in her medicine cabinet – but not taking! Those are prescription drugs. I bet she needs those.

Luckily there’s a woman in town working in some sort of historical society who happens to have a file handy on the old Blacker home because, you know, lazy writing.

Beckinsale struck gold earlier this year with Whit Stillman’s Love & Friendship. Blessed with maybe the best role of her career, she outshone an already impressive cast and displayed her wicked sense of humor we haven’t seen since Cold Comfort Farm.

You’ll see precious little of that here. On the whole she handles the film well, although the emotional climax is beyond her. It’s even farther beyond Mel Raido, who plays Dana’s well-meaning dumbass of a husband, David.

The film was co-written by Wenworth Miller, the Prison Break actor who also penned one of the most interesting inverted serial killer films in recent memory, Chan Wook-Park’s Stoker. Where is all that nuance, subversion, originality? It’s somewhere else. It is not here.

There’s nothing seriously wrong with The Disappointments Room, but there is not a single new idea or interesting twist on an old trope. No, this is exactly the same movie you’ve seen at least a dozen times, handled this time around with nothing to distinguish itself, no flair, no pizazz, and not nearly enough scares to keep your attention.

Disappointing.

Verdict-2-0-Stars

New In Theaters

New Kid in Town

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Complete Unknown

by George Wolf

If you’ve ever met someone whose grandiose stories didn’t always add up, you may think you know Alice (Rachel Weisz), a plus-one at an adult birthday celebration who charms the other party guests…until she doesn’t.

Alice is just the latest identity for a woman who is addicted to being a “blank slate,” abruptly leaving everything and everyone around her, traveling to a new locale, and becoming someone else. She might be a magician’s assistant in China, she might be researching frogs in Australia, or she might be making all of it up.

She’s finagled this party invite because she has quite a history with Tom, the birthday boy (Michael Shannon). “Alice” ghosted him some 15 years earlier, but now thinks she’d like to catch up, which isn’t quite the birthday surprise that Tom, or his wife, was expecting.

Director/co-writer Joshua Marston (Maria Full of Grace) sets a very intriguing premise with precision and occasional sleight of hand, then can’t quite capitalize on the expectations he so skillfully crafted.

Weisz and Shannon are both…take a wild guess…fantastic, as they slowly reveal parts of their characters’ histories that only make you more interested in digging deeper. She is cryptic but hypnotizing, while he is wounded but dangerously curious about the strange habits of his old friend.

Complete Unknown feels much like the latest stage play Roman Polanski might have brought to the screen, minus the biting insight. Once Tom confronts Alice about leaving him, the film meanders as much as they do. We get plenty of conversation, obvious metaphors such as mirror gazing and metamorphic amphibians, but truly salient points about identity and limitation seem just out of reach.

Well-crafted and impeccably performed, Complete Unknown is never less than watchable, even if it peaks much too early.

Verdict-3-0-Stars

 

 

 

 

 

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Wing and a Prayer

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Sully

by George Wolf

Carrying a true American icon both in front of the camera and behind it, Sully lands with a smooth craftsmanship as fitting as it is inevitable.

In January of 2009, Captain Chesley Sullenberger pulled off the Miracle on the Hudson, landing a commercial jet on the Hudson River after dual engine failure, saving the lives of all 155 souls on board. Based on Sullenberger’s own memoir, this tale of American heroism in the face of extreme circumstance probably had Clint Eastwood’s name on the director’s chair before the Captain even finished his book.

And really, who else is more suited for the helm of a vessel in peril than Tom Hanks?

Eastwood and screenwriter Todd Komarnicki rightly anchor the film with the miraculous landing, while highlighting the human drama of a conflicted hero and the lives that hung in the balance during 208  fateful seconds. We get a subtle overview of Sully’s four decades of flight experience, nicely balanced with glimpses into the lives of his passengers and the seemingly random events that brought them all together.

It’s a strange thing for an actor to reach the level Hanks has, where he is universally regarded as such a treasure that his startling performance three years ago in Captain Philips became some sort of jarring reminder that, oh yeah, he’s good. This title role bears obvious similarities, but Hanks is able to illustrate the differences with easy grace. From Sully’s nagging self-doubt, to a determined defense of his choice to bypass nearby runways, to the stifling effects of sudden fame, Hanks carves out layers that are unique and deeply felt.

Eastwood builds the tension quietly, maintaining a consistent tone of understatement that makes the spectacle of the water landing all the more breathtaking (and worth the extra dough for IMAX). Kudos, too, for the almost Rashoman-style approach to framing the tragedy, and the respectful acknowledgment to the painful memories rekindled by the image of a crippled plane in NYC.

Not every scene embraces subtlety and not every line finds its mark, but Sully does, because it approaches the story precisely the way Sully himself seemed to approach his job. It’s a film that is modest, prepared and professional, with important moments that rise to the occasion.

Verdict-3-5-Stars

 

 

New In Theaters

Quest Que C’est

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I Am Not a Serial Killer

by Hope Madden

To find a serial killer, you have to get inside his head. This is not a new concept in horror movies, thrillers, police procedurals. No, this is a tired conceit.

But Irish filmmaker Billy O’Brien (Isolation) finds a new vision for it with his wry, understated indie I Am Not a Serial Killer.

John (Max Records) is an outsider in a small Minnesota town. He works in his mom’s morgue, writes all his school papers on serial killers, and generally creeps out the whole of his high school. His preoccupations have landed him a therapist, the bird enthusiast Dr. Neblin (Karl Geary).

Turns out, John is a budding sociopath – that’s his official diagnosis. A good kid who lacks empathy, may not feel love, and obsesses over death and murder, he follows self-imposed rules and rituals to try to make himself normal and ensure the safety of those around him.

But when townsfolk start turning up in gory pieces, John turns his keen insights on the case.

Though O’Brien’s film may be too quiet an effort to command attention, his coming-of-age approach and indie sensibilities help him turn this outlandish and contrived effort into something touching, humorous and rewarding.

Records, who melted me as young Max in Spike Jonze’s 2009 masterpiece Where the Wild Things Are, serves up an extraordinarily confident, restrained performance. One scene, in particular – when he turns the tables on a bully at the school dance – is outstanding.

His onscreen chemistry with the nice old man across the street – Back to the Future’s Christopher Lloyd – generates thrills enough to offset the movie’s slow pace.

For his part, Lloyd is in turns tender, heartbreaking and terrifying.

The story cleverly inverts the age-old “catch a killer” cliché and toys with your expectations as it does. Robbie Ryan’s grainy cinematography gives the film a throwback looks that fits the image of a depressed Midwest town lost in time.

Bursts of driest humor keep the film engaging, while Records’s performance engenders the kind of empathy from the audience that the character himself could never muster.

It’s an effective twist on the serial killer formula, certainly, not to mention a coming-of-age tale that accepts its unpopular protagonist for who he is rather than how he could be made over to be happier in a way that makes us comfortable.

Verdict-3-0-Stars

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Mean Machine

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Morgan

by Hope Madden

The weekend of wasted talent rolls on with Morgan, a derivative AI adventure that boasts an impressive cast and a lot of borrowed material.

Luke Scott’s feature directorial debut finds trouble with the L7 – an unnamed corporation’s newest attempt at artificial intelligence. There’s been an injury, and we don’t want a repeat of Helsinki, (it’s always Helsinki!) so Corporate sends the risk analyst (Kate Mara) to assess the situation.

The cast offers loads of reason for optimism. Joining Mara are Brian Cox, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Toby Jones and the great Paul Giamatti. That is a stacked ensemble. And even if every single one of them is underused, each brings something genuine and human – you know, the kind of thing that comes from deep and true talent – to the proceedings.

Highest hopes, though, are hung on the potentially dangerous cyborg herself, played by Anya Taylor-Joy. Hot off a brilliant lead in The Witch, Taylor-Joy again takes on a role in which her innocence is in question.

Like Witch helmsman Robert Eggers, Scott employs full screen close ups of Taylor-Joy’s face – her enormous, wide-set eyes and round, innocent features – to exacerbate a struggle to determine whether the character is good or evil.

And Scott clearly knows a good idea when he sees it because he borrows, grabs and plunders with glee.

His film is a mish-mash of Ex Machina, The Silence of the Lambs, Blade Runner and Terminator buoyed with decent performances and one vaguely fresh notion.

Every major character – every hero, villain, person of authority and character pivotal to the plot – is female. Every good decision, poor decision, and bit of badassery is made by a woman. And – get this – even when two of those women are soaking wet, their shirts are neither clingy nor sheer.

Right?!

I’m not going to lie to you – any horror/action hybrid with a predominantly female cast that chooses not to stoop to titillation and exploitation gets an extra star.

There are subtle moments that toy with sexuality, and Scott wisely lets Taylor-Joy express these themes primarily through a nuanced physicality. That, decent pacing and performances better than the material demands elevate the film above the predictable off-season action vehicle that it is.

Verdict-3-0-Stars

New In Theaters

Drowning in Sap

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The Sea of Trees

by Hope Madden

In 2002, filmmaker Gus Van Sant released one of his more polarizing and thoughtful films. In Gerry, two guys named Gerry (Casey Affleck and Matt Damon) hike ill-prepared into the desert to find themselves fighting for survival.

A quick glance at The Sea of Trees suggests that perhaps Van Sant returned to these themes. Matthew McConaughey loses himself in a Japanese forest, befriends another wayward traveler (Ken Watanbe), their treacherous journey offering life lessons aplenty.

Because horror writer Chris Sparling penned The Sea of Trees, I was kind of hoping the film would be a cross between Gerry and The Blair Witch Project.

It is not.

No, it’s an overtly sentimental, culturally patronizing waste of one Oscar winner and two Oscar nominees.

We wander Aokigahara, Japan’s “suicide forest,” with McConaughey’s Arthur Brennan. Brennan’s a scientist, and you know that that means. That’s right – atheist.

Van Sant falls back on the crutch of the flashback to help us understand what this handsome scientist is doing in the suicide forest. It’s in these segments that we meet Naomi Watts’s Joan Brennan and begin to unravel the mystery behind Arthur’s trip into the woods.

Watts suffers most from Sparling’s hackneyed dialog. Her few scenes need to be pivotal and weighty – we know this because of her utterly unrealistic speeches as well as Mason Bates’s condescending score.

Van Sant is no stranger to schmaltz. As great a filmmaker as he has been, sentimentality tripped him up in Promised Land, Finding Forrester and others. His career is peppered with other writers’ projects, many of them with a point to make, and those statement films tend to be Van Sant’s weakest.

Perhaps it’s because, rather than finding his own language for the story via camerawork or score, he relies on an existing style. The Sea of Trees certainly suffers from a heavy handed score. Van Sant also misses opportunities to create a sense of foreboding, claustrophobia, isolation or even redemption with the forest itself, Kasper Tuxen’s photography instead offering irrelevant yet lovely images of windblown treetops.

Trees can definitely be sappy.

Verdict-2-5-Stars

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Baby Onboard

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The Light Between Oceans

by George Wolf

Can stellar performances, skilled direction, pristine cinematography and an evocative score elevate a story built on weepy schmaltz?

Well….yes.

The Light Between Oceans is definitely a melodramatic weeper, but one saved from outright embarrassment by the sheer force of the talent assembled to bring it to the screen. Writer/director Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine, The Place Beyond the Pines) adapts M.L. Stedman’s best-selling novel with a determined earnestness and a rock solid cast.

Michael Fassbender is Tom, a WWI veteran haunted by memories of combat who takes a job as lighthouse keeper off the coast of Australia in 1918. Before heading back out to his post, a picnic with Isabel (Alicia Vikander) leads to multiple letters full of romantic longing between the two, and then to marriage. Years at the island lighthouse go by without an addition to the family, when suddenly an old rowboat washes ashore…with a crying baby inside.

The child obviously needs them, and no one will ever be the wiser, right?

Waves of guilt begin crashing at the baby’s christening, when Tom learns about Hannah (Rachel Weisz), a wealthy town resident who still grieves for the husband and child who were lost at sea.

The plot turns that follow seem born from a unholy union of Sparks and Dickens, as contrived circumstance begets impossible choice, painful sacrifice, and a search for absolution through that far, far better thing to do.

Cianfrance wraps it all in the majestic, windswept landscapes necessary to recall classic period romances, with sharp instincts for knowing when to let Alexandre Desplat’s music swell with power, and when to let silence fuel the sense of isolation.

Fassbender and Weisz are customarily nuanced and splendid, while Vikander is simply wonderful, making Isabel’s arc from youthful naivete to world-weary grief feel as authentic as material this emotionally manipulative possibly could.

The Light Between Oceans amounts to a two-hour struggle between talent and substance. One side brought the varsity squad.

Verdict-2-5-Stars

 

 

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Docs Prosper This Week at Gateway

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Every year, the lineup of documentaries programmed by Gateway Film Center President Chris Hamel for Columbus Documentary Week (Sept. 1 to 8 this year) manages to include most – or all – of the Oscar-nominated documentaries months before they’re picked by the Academy.

How does he do it?

“It’s something I genuinely love, and sincerely want my neighbors to experience,” Hamel said. “I think a great documentary can change the course of your life. When you feel that passionately about something, I think it shows up in the work you do.”

The results of Hamel’s picks in the last 10 documentary weeks have demonstrated an uncanny eye for the films that will later be named the best docs in the world. Last year, Hamel choose every documentary eventually nominated for an Oscar, and played eventual winner Amy, about singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse, for a several-week run.

“It’s a major arts moment for Columbus,” said Jami Goldstein, VP Marketing, Communications and Events for the Greater Columbus Arts Council. “There is no other place in the world besides Columbus Documentary Week, not even Cannes, where you can see these films together in the same week. It’s really a tremendous gift to the city.”

This year’s program includes 22 documentaries from around the world.

Opening the event Sept. 1st is Tower, a unique exploration, using a combination of live action and animation, of the U.S.’s first mass shooting, the 1966 University of Texas clock tower sniper. Tower will be followed by a panel discussion on gun violence in America, including a Columbus Police officer and community members.

The closing night film on Thursday, Sept. 8 – on the 50th anniversary of Star Trek’s television premiere – is For the Love of Spock, a documentary by Leonard Nimoy’s son Adam about his father and the Spock character Leonard transformed into a worldwide icon.

Also scheduled is Just Desserts, a behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of horror anthology Creepshow, followed by a screening of Creepshow.

Screenings will include discussions, director introductions, question and answer sessions and pairings with themed food and drink specials.

“There’s nothing like it in the country,” said Hamel. “I am proud we’re bringing Columbus this experience, and I can’t wait to see people take in these films.”

Complete Columbus Documentary Week listing: Opening Night, 9/1:
6-6:45 p.m. Mixer in the Lounge
7 p.m. Showtime

9/5, 11 a.m.
9/7, 5 p.m. TOWER Combining archival footage with rotoscopic animation in a dynamic, never-before-seen way, Tower reveals the action-packed untold stories of the witnesses, heroes and survivors of America’s first mass school shooting, August 1, 1966’s University of Texas clock tower massacre.

9/2, 9 a.m.
9/4, 5 p.m.
9/6, 11 a.m. NDIAN POINT (2015) More than 50 million people live near Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, which looms just 35 miles from Times Square. Exploring the brewing fight for clean energy and the catastrophic possibilities of government complacency, director Ivy Meeropol presents a balanced argument about the issues surrounding nuclear energy and offers a startling reality check for our uncertain nuclear future.

9/2, 11 a.m. 
9/3, 9 a.m.
9/5, 7 p.m. THE OTHER SIDE (2015) In an invisible territory at the margins of society, abandoned veterans, lost adolescents and drug addicts trying to escape addiction through love. Renowned documentarian Roberto Minervini opens a window into this hidden pocket of humanity in today’s America.

9/2, 1 p.m
. 9/4, 9 p.m.
9/7, 9 a.m. A SPACE PROGRAM (2015) Internationally acclaimed artist Tom Sachs takes us on an intricately handmade journey to the Mars, providing audiences with an intimate, first-person look into his studio and methods. The film is both a piece of art in its own right and a recording of Sachs’ historic piece, Space Program 2.0: MARS, which opened at New York’s Park Avenue Armory in 2012.

9/2, 3 p.m. 
9/7 7 p.m. RICHARD LINKLATER: DREAM IS DESTINY A rare and unusual look at a fiercely independent style of filmmaking that arose from Austin, Texas in the ’80s and how Richard Linklater’s films — Slacker, Dazed and Confused, Waking Life and Boyhood — sparked a low-budget, in-your-own-backyard movement in this country and around the world.

9/2, 5 p.m.
9/4, 9 a.m.
9/6, 5 p.m. DON’T BLINK – ROBERT FRANK (2015) The sometimes harrowing story, told with unblinking honesty by the reclusive artist himself, of how Robert Frank revolutionized photography and independent film, documenting the Beats, Welsh coal miners, Peruvian Indians, The Stones, London bankers, and the Americans.

9/2, 7 p.m.
9/5, 1 p.m.
9/8, 11 a.m. ANTS ON A SHRIMP Charismatic Copenhagen-based chef René Redzepi, whose NOMA has been hailed as one of the world’s best restaurants, embarks on the thrilling, unprecedented challenge of relocating the restaurant and its entire staff from Denmark to Tokyo.

9/2, 9 p.m.
9/5, 5 p.m.
9/8, 9 a.m. BREAKING A MONSTER (2015) Follow along in the break-out year of Unlocking the Truth, a band composed of 13-year-old members Alec Atkins, Malcolm Brickhouse, and Jarad Dawkins, from playing weekends in Times Square to their first encounters with stardom and the music industry.

9/3, 11 a.m.
9/6, 9 p.m. DYING TO KNOW: RAM DASS & TIMOTHY LEARY (2014) A revealing, intimate portrait of Harvard psychology professors Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert, who in the ’60s began probing the edges of consciousness through their experiments with psychedelics. With interviews spanning 50 years, the film explores questions about life, drugs and the biggest mystery of all: death.

9/3, 1 p.m.
9/7, 3 p.m. AN ART THAT NATURE MAKES: THE WORK OF ROSAMOND PURCELL (2015) Finding beauty in sometimes disturbing visual studies of the natural world – from a mastodon tooth to a hydrocephalic skull – photographer Rosamond Purcell has developed a body of work that has garnered international acclaim, fruitful collaborations with writers such as Stephen Jay Gould and admirers like Errol Morris.

9/3, 3 p.m.
9/5 3 p.m.
9/7, 1 p.m. UNDER THE SUN “[A] revealing act of subversion that is arresting however you take it.” (Variety) Russian filmmaker Mansky smuggled footage from North Korea to create this documentary, which reveals for the first time at this depth the reality of day-to-day life in Pyongyang, North Korea.

9/3, 5 p.m.
9/6, 1 p.m. THE SEVENTH FIRE From executive producers Terrence Malick and Natalie Portman. When American Indian gang leader Rob Brown is sentenced to prison for a fifth time, he must confront his role in bringing violent drug culture into his beloved community — even as his young protégé dreams of becoming the most powerful and feared Native gangster on the reservation.

9/3, 7 p.m.
9/6, 3 p.m.
9/8, 1 p.m. KAMPAI! FOR THE LOVE OF SAKE (2015) A British sake brewer, an American journalist, and a young president of a century-old sake brewery in Japan join together to explore the fascinating origin and mysterious world of sake, or Japanese rice wine.

9 p.m., Double Feature JUST DESSERTS: THE MAKING OF CREEPSHOW (2007)
followed by
CREEPSHOW (1982) The ultimate behind-the-scenes look, warts and all, at the production of a horror anthology icon: Stephen King and George Romero’s 1982 classic, Creepshow. Followed immediately by the feature itself, Creepshow — five terrifying tales based on E.C. horror comics.

9/4, 11 a.m.
9/7, 9 p.m. WALL WRITERS Narrated by John Waters, Wall Writers provides unprecedented access to TAKI183, CORNBREAD, and other legendary graffiti artists, as well as footage and photos from the late 1960s and early 1970s where their art from was born.

9/4, 1 p.m.
9/6, 9 a.m.
9/8, 5 p.m. GERMANS AND JEWS Through personal stories, Germans and Jews explores the Germany’s profound transformation from silence about the Holocaust to facing it head on — and, unexpectedly, a nuanced story of reconciliation emerges.

9/4, 3 p.m.
9/5, 9 a.m.
9/7, 11 a.m. HOOLIGAN SPARROW A harrowing, inside acount of Chinese state surveillance. Harassment. Imprisonment. Human rights activist Ye Haiyan, AKA Sparrow, knew the risks when she went to Hainan Province to seek justice for six elementary school girls who were sexually abused by their principal. But the scale and intensity of the government’s reaction — chasing her ruthlessly from town to town — surprised even the most seasoned activists across China.

9/4, 7 p.m.
9/8, 3 p.m. SOUND OF REDEMPTION: THE FRANK MORGAN STORY (2014) At the late night jam sessions in LA, Jazz musicians used to dedicate their shows to the greatest alto sax player in the world, Frank Morgan, but if you wanted to hear him, you had to go to San Quentin. SOUND OF REDEMPTION is the late jazz saxophonist’s tale of redemption, from drug addict, conman, and convict to beloved elder statesman of jazz.

9 p.m. MADE IN VENICE MADE IN VENICE the movie takes you on a rippin’, shreddin ride with the sport and art of skateboarding, from its birthplace on the streets of Venice and Santa Monica – aka “Dogtown” – to the local skateboarders who’ve carried on its “tradition” from the early ‘70s through today, in the form of the now-iconic Venice Skatepark.

7 p.m. SEED: THE UNTOLD STORY Executive produced by Phil Fairclough (Grizzly Man, Cave of Forgotten Dreams). In the last century, 94% of our seed varieties have disappeared. In a harrowing and heartening story, reluctant heroes Vandana Shiva, Dr. Jane Goodall, Andrew Kimbell, and Winona LaDuke rekindle a lost connection to our most treasured resource and revive a culture connected to seeds.

Closing Night, 7:30 p.m. FOR THE LOVE OF SPOCK Presented on the 50th anniversary of Star Trek’s broadcast premiere. Adam Nimoy explores and honors the enduring legacy of his father Leonard Nimoy’s portrayal of Spock. Beginning with the original television series, Leonard Nimoy has appeared in Star Trek series and films over the course of six decades, including the 2009 reboot by J.J. Abrams.

Closing Night, 9 p.m. ONE MORE TIME WITH FEELING Screening for one night only, and #OnlyAtGFC: be the first to hear music from the new Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds album Skeleton Tree the night before its release in ONE MORE TIME WITH FEELING, a documentary of its production interwoven with live performance.

For more, visit gatewayfilmcenter.org