Reel to reel | Week of August 8, 2013

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Elysium

20 Feet From Stardom

Director Morgan Neville shines a spotlight on the untold true story of the backup singers behind some of the greatest musical legends of the 21st century. At Mayan. — Landmark Theatres

2 Guns

It has the acting. Mark Wahlberg, Denzel Washington and Bill Paxton star in this “dirty cops out to screw each other” saga of drugs and money. Many a plot twist and lots of action in this one. Rated R. At Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century.

The Attack

Israeli Palestinian surgeon Amin Jaafari’s picture-perfect life is turned upside down when a suicide bombing in a restaurant leaves 19 dead, and the Israeli police inform him that his wife Sihem, who also died in the explosion, was responsible. At Chez Artiste.— Landmark Theatres

Before Midnight

Jesse and Celine first met in their 20s in Before Sunrise, reunited in their 30s in Before Sunset and now, in director/co-writer Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight, they face the past, present and future. Rated R. At Century, Mayan, Esquire and Boedecker.

Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me

Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me is a feature-length documentary about legendary Memphis band Big Star. At SIE FilmCenter. — Denver Film Society

Blue Jasmine

After everything in her life falls to pieces, including her marriage to wealthy businessman Hal, elegant New York socialite Jasmine moves into her sister Ginger’s modest apartment in San Francisco to try to pull herself back together again. Rated PG. At Esquire and Century.— Landmark Theatres

The Conjuring

When disturbing things start happening at the Perron family’s farmhouse, paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine must step in to help the family. At Twin Peaks, Century and Colony Square.

DCI 2013: Big Loud & Live 10

If you like marching bands and drum corps, then don’t miss this film that celebrates the world’s most elite marching music ensembles. At Century.

Dealin’ With Idiots

Faced with the absurd competitiveness surrounding his son’s youth league baseball team, Max Morris, a famous comedian, decides to get to know the colorful parents and coaches of the team better in an attempt to find the inspiration for his next movie. At SIE FilmCenter. — Denver Film Society

Despicable Me 2

It’s time for more Minion madness as this animated sequel starring the voices of Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Russell Brand and others is sure to be a family favorite. Rated PG. At Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century.

Elysium

In the future, only two classes of people exist: the very rich who live a beautiful life on a space station called Elysium, and the very poor who carry on a dreadful existence down on Earth. This is one man’s quest to get from here to there and make things right. Rated R. At Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century.

Fruitvale Station

Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident, wakes up on the morning of Dec. 31, 2008 and feels something in the air. Not sure what it is, he takes it as a sign to get a head start on his resolutions. At Esquire and Century. — Landmark Theatres

Grabbers

At SIE FilmCenter. — Denver Film Society

Greatful Dead Meet Up: Sunshine Daydream

This Deadhead meet up features Sunshine Daydream, the band’s single most requested release. NR. At Century.

Grown Ups 2

This sequel to Grown Ups features Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock and David Spade learning lessons from their kids on the last day of school. At Twin Peaks.

The Heat

A foul-mouthed, dirty methods cop (played by Melissa McCarthy) is forced to team up with a suit-wearing, micro-managing FBI agent (Sandra Bullock) to go after a drug lord. Rated R. At Twin Peaks, Century and Colony Square.

The Hunt

This film is a disturbing depiction of how a lie becomes the truth when gossip, doubt and malice are allowed to flourish. At SIE FilmCenter. — Denver Film Society

I’m So Excited

Passengers are put in a precarious situation aboard a plane flying from Spain to Mexico City when a landing gear failure endangers their lives. At Mayan. — Landmark Theatres

The Lone Ranger

There is much action and killing as the Lone Ranger (Armie Hammer) and Tonto (Johnny Depp) take to the Western landscape in this TV-to-cinema redo. Rated PG- 13. A Colony Square.

Monsters University

This prequel to Monsters, Inc. follows Mike and Sulley through their scare training and their attempts to join the best fraternity. Rated G. At Colony Square.

Museum Hours

Jem Cohen’s quietly amazing, sneakily sublime new film is rigorously and intensely lifelike, which is to say that it’s also a strange and moving work of art. When a Vienna museum guard befriends an enigmatic visitor, the grand Kunsthistorisches Art Museum becomes a mysterious crossroads which sparks explorations of their lives, the city and the ways artworks reflect and shape the world. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater

Off Label

Doctors today are liberally writing prescriptions for psychotropic drugs such as Adderall, Ambien, Zoloft and Prozac (to name but a very few). In Off Label, Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher (October Country) examine our runaway pharma-culture by weaving together the stories of drug-testing subjects, Big Pharma representatives and many others touched by the rampant use of pharmaceuticals. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater

Only God Forgives

Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn and star Ryan Gosling reunite for this intense crime drama set in Thailand, following a powerful crime boss seeking bitter vengeance for the murder of her son. At SIE FilmCenter. — Denver Film Society

Opera de Paris: Falstaff

Verdi’s final opera is a raucous comedy about the penniless, portly old knight Falstaff who gets tricked — time and again — by the young ladies who rebuff his romantic overtures. Starring Ambrogio Maestri, Artur Rucinski and Paolo Fanale. Daniel Oren conducts. Sung in Italian with English subtitles. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater

Pacific Rim

When giant monsters rise from the Pacific Ocean, mankind turns to massive robots piloted by soldiers to defeat them. The robots aren’t enough, however, and an unlikely team must find a way to save mankind. At Twin Peaks and Century.

Planes

Kids will love this Disney spinoff of the company’s animated classic, Cars. Just add wings and you know what to expect. Rated PG. At Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century.

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

In this sequel, Percy teams up with his other-worldly friends to go after the Golden Fleece. Rated PG. At Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century.

RED 2

While trying to clear his name, Frank must defuse a Cold War project involving an activated nuclear weapon in Russia. At Twin Peaks, Century and Colony Square.

R.I.PD.

Detective Nick Walker is recruited into the Rest in Peace Department, which is tasked with protecting the living from evil spirits, after a fatal accident. At Twin Peaks, Century and Colony Square.

The Room

This film centers on Johnny, a man who has it all: great friends, a good job and a gorgeous fiancée named Lisa. But Lisa’s innocent act masks the fact that she’s looking to bring Johnny down, and her manipulations are tearing Johnny apart. At Esquire — Landmark Theatres

The Smurfs 2

The Smurfs turn to their human friends for help rescuing Smurfette from an evil wizard. At Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century.

Star Trek Into Darkness

When the crew of the Enterprise returns to Earth they find the whole place in chaos. Captain Kirk takes his merry band of space pals to a forbidding prison planet to restore order and exact revenge. Rated PG-13. At Colony Square.

Stories We Tell

In this inspired, genre-twisting new film, Oscar-nominated writer/director Sarah Polley discovers that the truth depends on who’s telling it. Polley is both filmmaker and detective as she investigates the secrets kept by a family of storytellers. She playfully interviews and interrogates a cast of characters of varying reliability, eliciting refreshingly candid, yet mostly contradictory, answers to the same questions. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater

Still Mine

In his first lead role after decades of playing supporting characters, James Cromwell (The Artist, L.A. Confidential) gives a tour de force performance in Still Mine, an exquisitely crafted and deeply affecting love story about a couple in their twilight years. Based on true events and laced with wry humor, Still Mine tells the heartfelt tale of independent farmer Craig Morrison (Cromwell), who sets out to build a more suitable house for his ailing wife Irene (Geneviève Bujold). Rated PG-13 At Esquire and Chez Artiste — Landmark Theatres

The To Do List

Determined to lose her virginity before starting college, Brandy makes a summer to do list of all the things she missed out on in high school. At Century.

Turbo

Theo the garden snail’s racing dreams come true when an accident with nitrous oxide gives him the power of incredible speed. His newfound talent inspires him to try to win the Indianapolis 500. At Twin Peaks, Century and Colony Square.

Unfinished Song

Unfinished Song is a funny and inspiring comedic drama about curmudgeonly pensioner Arthur, who is reluctantly inspired by his beloved wife Marion to join a highly unconventional local seniors choir. At Chez Artiste. — Landmark Theatres

Wasteland

After being released from prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Harvey Miller (Attack The Block’s Luke Treadaway) has revenge on his mind. He recruits his three best friends to help him rob the local drug kingpin whose betrayal put him away in the first place. At At SIE FilmCenter and Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater

The Way, Way Back

A lonely and awkward yet intelligent teenage boy begins his transition into adulthood during one transformative summer. At Century and Mayan. — Landmark Theatres

We’re the Millers

Everything that can go wrong does in this comedy when a small-time pot dealer to the soccer mom world decides to help out some local kids. He ends up in debt to his dealer and it all goes to pot from there. Rated R. At Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century.

When Comedy Went to School

Why are there so many Jewish comedians? When Comedy Went to School answers this question with an entertaining portrait of this country’s greatest generation of comics — the generation that includes Jerry Lewis, Sid Caesar, Jackie Mason, Mort Sahl and Jerry Stiller, all of whom make appearances in the film, delivering jokes and telling their personal stories. Chez Artiste. — Landmark Theatres

The Wolverine

Logan must travel to Japan to battle an old acquaintance while stripped of his immortality. At Twin Peaks, Century and Colony Square.

World War Z

As the zombie apocalypse hits, a retired UN worker must find a way to stop the pandemic and save the world. Rated PG-13. At Century.