Friday, December 22, 2017

Next Week in Tickets: Films playing Boston 22 December 2017 - 28 December 2017

It's Christmas, so stuff came out Wednesday, stuff comes out Friday, stuff comes out Monday.

  • Two movies came out Wednesday: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is the 3D family adventure that seems to be getting better reviews than you might expect, and it's playing at the Capitol (2D only), Fresh Pond (2D only), Boston Common, Fenway, Assembly Row, South Bay, Revere, and the SuperLux. The Greatest Showman also opened Wednesday, a would-be awards contender with Hugh Jackman in a musical biography of P.T. Barnum, but apparently not much besides him is very good; it's at Fresh Pond, West Newton, Boston Common, Fenway, Assembly Row, South Bay, and Revere.

    It's looking kind of rough on Friday, too. Pitch Perfect 3 brings the cast back for one last go-around, this time at a big European a cappella competition, since it appears they're about to finally graduate from college. It's at the Somerville, Fresh Pond, Boston Common, Fenway, Assembly Row, South Bay, Revere, and the SuperLux. There's also Father Figures, in which Owen Wilson and Ed Helms search for their real father, but it appears that Mom really got around, meaning it could be any of four people. That's at Fresh Pond, Boston Common, Fenway, Assembly Row, South Bay, and Revere.

    Monday, on the other hand, is Christmas, and that's when the good stuff seems to be coming. Somehow, Ridley Scott and company have managed to reshoot All the Money in the World to replace a disgraced star in ridiculous make-up with Christopher Plummer, in part because he's actually a relatively small part of this movie about the kidnapping of J. Paul Getty's grandson compared to Michelle Williams (as the mother) and Mark Wahlberg (as the fixer). It's at the Somerville, Fresh Pond, the Embassy, Boston Common, Assembly Row, and Revere. There's also Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut, Molly's Game, featuring Jessica Chastain as a former athlete who now runs a massive underground poker tournament. It's at Boston Common, Fenway, Assembly Row, South Bay and Revere. Maybe other spots, too.

    Fenway finishes Regal's Christmas series with Gremlins on Saturday afternoon, and also shows It's a Wonderful Life on Sunday. The Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time Christmas special gets some theatrical play, showing Wednesday and Thursday evening at Fenway and at Revere on Wednesday.
  • The Coolidge Corner Theatre is one of several places getting Call Me By Your Name (it also opens at West Newton and Boston Common), a coming-of-age film in which a 17-year-old American-Italian kid finds himself attracted to the grad student staying at the family villa.

    The After Midnite crew celebrates the holidays with midnight showings of Christmas Evil on Friday and Saturday, while the Kids' Show folks have The Muppet Christmas Carol on Saturday morning.
  • Kendall Square is also one of the spots for a couple movies which span mainstream and boutique houses. Downsizing has been getting rough reviews, but it at least has a neat idea, positing a future where people can be shrunken to 1/15 their height to use fewer resources and stretch their savings. It's directed by Alexander Payne and stars Matt Damon, Hong Chau, and Christoph Waltz, and also plays at Somerville (starting Monda), the Embassy, Boston Common, Fenway, Assembly Row, South Bay, and Revere. There's also I, Tonya, with Margot Robbie as Tonya Harding, center of one of the most bizarre incidents in Olympic History, which also plays at Boston Common
  • There's still some room for foreign films, with Boston Common keeping Youth around and also adding Bleeding Steel, the latest from Jackie Chan. It's a sci-fi thing, probably more tha martial-arts, but it's got room for him to fight someone on top of the Sydney Opera House.

    Apple Fresh Pond and Fenway both Bollywood adventure open Tiger Zinda Hai, a sequel to Ek Tha Tiger which reunites Indian and Pakistani spies played by Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif in a new mission. They've also got Tamil action/adventure Velaikkaran for late shows with Telugu action comedy Hello playing Saturday morning, with MCA playing Sunday morning.
  • The West Newton Cinema has Hungarian film 1945 running at least through Tuesday; it has a bride-to-be's former fiance returning after being held in a concentration camp, but that is apparently not the only mystery.
  • The Brattle Theatre is the latest local stop for Fred Wiseman's latest jumbo-sized documentary, Ex Libris - The New York Public Library, playing it at 6pm on Friday and Saturday. At 10pm those nights is the only "Alt X-Mas" program this year, Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, and Jamie Lee Curtis in Trading Places. They won't be showing films Christmas Eve, but are usually open in the afternoon for those looking to buy memberships, t-shirts, and their new Spade & Archer whiskey glasses as presents.

    Christmas Day, they start a tribute to The Queen of Seam: Edith Head in Hollywood with a series of double features. Those include The Nutty Professor & Road to Utopia (the latter in 35mm) on Christmas, Sullivan's Travels & The Lady Eve (both on film) Tuesday, the Blue Dahlia & Double Indemnity on Wednesday, and a 35mm double-bill of The Heiress and All About Eve on Thursday, with the series continuing through New Year's Eve.
  • The Museum of Fine Arts is all Harry Dean Stanton: Say Something True for the rest of 2017, with this week's selections including Death Watch (Friday/Saturday/Thursday on 35mm); Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (Friday); The Straight Story (Saturday/Sunday on 35mm); Paris, Texas (Sunday on 35mm), Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction (Wednesday), Lucky (Wednesday), and Christine (Thursday on 35mm).
  • The Regent Theatre has two Christmas Vacation sing-along movies this year, with Mary Poppins playing Christmas night and matinees from Tuesday to Friday the 29th and White Christmas Wednesday evening.
  • CinemaSalem's 18-seat screening room hosts Another WolfCop from Friday to Thursday. I missed that one at Fantasia this year, but I've heard it's better than the original.


Well, plenty of time to see Jumanji, Bleeding Steel, Molly's Game, All the Money in the World, and probably a few more, especially since next weekend generally has very few new releases.

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