Reel to reel | Week of November 28, 2013

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Where did I put that sweater?

AKA Doc Pomus

Paralyzed with polio as a child, Brooklyn-born Jerome Felder reinvented himself first as a blues singer, renaming himself Doc Pomus, then emerged as one of the most brilliant songwriters of the early rock and roll era, writing “Save the Last Dance for Me,” “This Magic Moment,” “A Teenager in Love,” “Viva Las Vegas” and dozens of other hits. For most of his life Doc was confined to crutches and a wheelchair, but he lived more during his 65 years than others could experience in several lifetimes. At Boedecker. —Boedecker Theater

All Is Lost

Deep into a solo voyage in the Indian Ocean, an unnamed man wakes to find his 39-foot yacht taking on water. Robert Redford is superb in this film. Rated PG-13. At Chez Artiste. — Landmark Theatres

Blue Is the Warmest Color (La vie d’Adèle)

This film was the sensation of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival even before it was awarded the coveted Palme d’Or. Adèle (Adèle Exarchopoulos) is a young woman whose longings and ecstasies and losses are charted across a span of several years. At 15, she is approaching adulthood and dreams of experiencing her first love. A handsome male classmate falls hard for her, but an unsettling erotic reverie upsets the romance before it begins. Adèle imagines that the mysterious, blue-haired girl she encountered in the street slips into her bed and possesses her with overwhelming pleasure. That blue-haired girl is a confident older art student named Emma (Léa Seydoux), who will soon enter Adèle’s life for real, making way for an intense and complicated love story that is touchingly universal in its depiction. Rated NC-17. At Mayan. — Landmark Theatres

The Book Thief

This film tells the story of a spirited and courageous young girl who transforms the lives of everyone around her when she is sent to live with a new family in World War II Germany. The film is narrated by Death — at a place and time when, as the narrator notes, he was extremely busy. Young Liesel (Sophie Nélisse) embarks upon a journey marked by discovery, courage, friendship — and the power to triumph over the most daunting obstacles. Rated PG-13. At Century and Chez Artiste. — Landmark Theatres

Captain Phillips

This film is director Paul Greengrass’ interpretation of the real-life hijacking of the cargo ship Maersk Alabama in 2009 by Somali pirates. Rated PG-13. At Colony Square.

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2

If you and the kids liked the first version, then you’ll no doubt like the second. Rated PG. At Twin Peaks.

Dallas Buyers Club

Matthew McConaughey stars in Dallas Buyers Club as real-life Texas cowboy Ron Woodroof, whose free-wheeling life was overturned in 1985 when he was diagnosed as HIV-positive and given 30 days to live. Rated R. At Esquire, Colony Square and Century. — Landmark Theatres

Delivery Man

Loser David Wozniak (Vince Vaughn) is quietly going about his life when he finds out that the sperm he donated 20 years earlier has created 533 kids. He’s in debt to the mob and his pregnant girlfried finds no humor in his situation. Rated PG-13. At Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century.

Direct from Broadway: Jekyll and Hyde

This musical brings new life to Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic story of the epic battle between good and evil. David Hasselhoff made his Broadway debut in the dual title role, bringing his performing talent off the television screen to the musical theatre stage. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater

Ender’s Game

When aliens attack Earth, International Fleet Commander Mazer Rackham and Col. Hyrum Graff turn to a young boy, Ender Wiggin, to help them save the planet. Much action transpires. Rated PG-13. At Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century.

Enough Said

Eva (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is a divorced, single parent masseuse who meets Albert (James Gandolfini), a nice guy in the same boat. Love and laughs follow. Rated PG-13. At SIE Film Center.

Free Birds

Two “odd couple” turkeys overcome their many differences to get turkey off of the Thanksgiving menu forever. Rated PG. At Twin Peaks, Colony Square.

Frozen

When the snow queen traps a tiny kingdom in eternal winter, Anna and Kristoff, accompanied by Sven the reindeer and a comical snowman that has trouble keeping his head, set out to end the spell. Rated PG. At Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century.

Gravity

Sandra Bullock and George Clooney star in this visually stunning film that strands two astronauts in space. Rated PG-13. At Century, Twin Peaks and Colony Square.

The Great Beauty

Gorgeously photographed in Rome and Tuscany, The Great Beauty (La Grande Bellezza) is a dazzling, lyrical and at times surreal dramatic comedy, like a modern day La Dolce Vita. The magnetic Toni Servillo (Il Divo, Gomorrah) plays dapper journalist Jep Gambardella, slick and soulful, who has been a permanent fixture in Rome’s literary and social circles since the legendary success of his one and only novel. Armed with a roguish charm, he has seduced his way through the city’s lavish night life for decades, but when his 65th birthday coincides with a shock from the past, Jep finds himself unexpectedly taking stock of his life. At Chez Artiste. — Landmark Theatres

Homefront

After losing his wife, an ex-DEA agent moves with his 10-year-old daughter to a small town to offer her a better way of life, but he picked the wrong town. Let the action begin. Rated R. At Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century.

How I Live Now

American teenager Daisy has attitude to burn. She’s away for the summer to live with her aunt and cousins in the English countryside. Defiant and unhappy, she refuses at first to warm to her bucolic new surroundings. Slowly, however, Daisy begins to thaw. Plus, there’s something about quiet, watchful 17-year-old Eddie that not only intrigues Daisy, but stirs something deep inside. Before she knows it, she’s falling madly in love with Eddie, and he with her. Their perfect summer is blown apart by the sudden outbreak of a 21st century world war, leaving them isolated and forced to fend for themselves. Rated R. At Mayan. — Landmark Theatres.

Hunger Games: Catching Fire

See full review on page 49. Rated PG-13. At Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century.

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa

Johnny Knoxville as 86-year-old Irving Zisman, goes road-tripping with Billy, his 8-year-old grandson. Rated R. At Twin Peaks.

Kill Your Darlings

A true story of friendship, love and murder, Kill Your Darlings recounts the pivotal year that changed Allen Ginsberg’s (Daniel Radcliffe) life forever, bringing him together with William S. Burroughs (Ben Foster) and Jack Kerouac (Jack Huston) at Columbia University in 1944, providing the spark that would lead to their Beat Revolution. Rated R. At Mayan. — Landmark Theatres.

Last Vegas

An aging group of friends heads to Vegas to throw a party for the last of their single crew. Rated PG-13. At Twin Peaks and Colony Square.

Muscle Shoals

Located alongside the Tennessee River, Muscle Shoals, Ala., is the unlikely breeding ground for some of America’s most creative and defiant music. At SIE Film Center.

Nebraska

Alexander Payne (The Descendants, Sideways) directs Nebraska, a bittersweet dramatic comedy about a fatherand-son road trip through an emotionally and economically parched homeland. After receiving a sweepstakes letter in the mail, a cantankerous father (Bruce Dern) thinks he’s struck it rich, and wrangles his son (Will Forte) into taking a road trip to claim the fortune. Shot in black and white across four states, Nebraska tells the stories of family life in the heartland of America. Rated R. At Chez Artiste. — Landmark Theatres

Oldboy

This Spike Lee film is a provocative thriller about a man who is suddenly kidnapped and held in isolation for 20 years. He doesn’t know why he has been taken and then, just as mysteriously, he is released. That’s when the real mystery begins. Rated R. At Century.

Philomena

This dramatic comedy tells the incredible true story of one mother’s search for her lost son. After becoming pregnant as a teenager in Ireland in 1952, Philomena was sent to a convent to be looked after as a “fallen woman.” When her baby was only a toddler, he was taken away by the nuns for adoption in America. Philomena (Judi Dench) spent the next 50 years searching for him in vain. Then she met Martin Sixsmith (co-writer Steve Coogan), a worldweary political journalist who happened to be intrigued by her story. Together they set off for America on a journey that would not only reveal the extraordinary story of Philomena’s son, but also create an unexpectedly close bond between them. Rated PG-13. At Century and Esquire. — Landmark Theatres

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

In this cult classic, newly engaged Brad and Janet are initiated into the world of “Transsexual Transylvanians” after their car breaks down. Rated OF (odd and fun). At Esquire.

Science on Screen: Chaos Theory and “Jurassic Park”

Professor Elizabeth Bradley will discuss the surprising world of dynamic chaotic systems, how they are described in the movie Jurassic Park, and how they can work for us, followed by a screening of the movie. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater

Steven Sondheim’s Company, with the New York Philharmonic

The plot revolves around Bobby (a single man unable to commit fully to a steady relationship, let alone marriage), the five married couples who are his best friends, and his three girlfriends. It’s a concept musical composed of short vignettes, presented in no particular chronological order, linked by a celebration for Bobby’s 35th birthday. Neil Patrick Harris leads a star-studded cast that includes Patti LuPone, Stephen Colbert, Jon Cryer, Christina Hendricks, Craig Bierko and Martha Plimpton. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater

The Spectacular Now

With sly humor and an intensity of feeling, this film (directed by James Ponsoldt) creates a vivid, three-dimensional portrait of youth confronting the funny, thrilling and perilous business of modern love and adulthood. This is the tale of Sutter Keely (Miles Teller), a high school senior and effortless charmer, and of how he unexpectedly falls in love with “the good girl” Aimee Finecky (Shailene Woodley). What starts as an unlikely romance becomes a sharp-eyed, straight-up snapshot of the heady confusion and haunting passion of youth — one that doesn’t look for tidy truths. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater

Still Mine

This film is 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 Craig Morrison, who comes up against the system when he sets out to build a more suitable house for his ailing wife, Irene. He quickly gets blindsided by local building codes and bureaucratic officials. Hauled into court and facing jail, Craig takes a final stance against all odds in a truly inspirational story. Rated PG-13. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater

Thor: The Dark World

Thor battles to save Earth from really bad, evil things … again. It is a sequel after all. Rated PG-13. At Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century.

Twelve Years a Slave

In the pre-Civil War U.S., Solomon Northup, a free black man, is abducted and sold into slavery. Rated R. At Century, Colony Square and Mayan. — Landmark Theatres

20 Feet from Stardom

Millions know their voices, but no one knows their names. In his compelling new film 20 Feet From Stardom, awardwinning 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. Triumphant and heartbreaking in equal measure, the film is both a tribute to the unsung voices who brought shape and style to popular music and a reflection on the conflicts, sacrifices and rewards of a career spent harmonizing with others. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater

Additional films showing at SIE Film Center include: Diana; The Motel Life; British Arrow Awards; Mile High Sci-Fi take Eagle; My Life as a Dog. The SIE Film Center will be closed on Thursday, Nov. 28.