Film Clips: This weekend’s movie openings January 07 2011

It’s Ryan Gosling day, with the young star headlining both ‘All Good Things’ and ‘Blue Valentine.’

Image

OPENING FRIDAY
ALL GOOD THINGS (R ) Capturing the Friedmans director Andrew Jarecki helms this drama inspired by a real-life missing persons case, starring Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst and Frank Langella.
BLUE VALENTINE 3 stars (R ) Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams play a young couple in this downbeat drama that chronologically criss-crosses between their budding romance and the dissolution of their marriage. The MPAA initially and inexplicably gave the film an NC-17 rating for its non-explicit but uncomfortably realistic scenes of missed sexual connections. The two leads give raw, sympathetic performances throughout, but the film ends more on a note of emotional release than character insight. — Holman
COUNTRY STRONG (PG-13) Tron Legacy’s Garrett Hedlund plays a rising country star who goes on tour with an emotionally unstable singer (Gwyneth Paltrow) and her manager/husband (Tim McGraw). Expect musical numbers and backstage histrionics.
SEASON OF THE WITCH (PG-13) Nicolas Cage plays a medieval knight who returns from the Crusades to escort an accused witch across a plague-ravaged kingdom. Reportedly, Dominic Sena’s action flick is replete with references to Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal. No, really.

DULY NOTED
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971) 4 stars (R ) In Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of the Anthony Burgess novel, Malcolm McDowell plays Alex, a charismatic young psychopath who commits horrible crimes in a lousy future when bowler hats are all the rage and pubcrawlers drink drug-laced milk. An experimental treatment “cures” Alex of his violent ways, and he gets a taste of his own medicine. You’ll never hear “Singing in the Rain” the same way again. Fri., Jan. 7, 9:30 p.m. and midnight. $8. Plaza Theatre, 1049 Ponce de Leon Ave. 404-873-1939. www.plazaatlanta.com.
HIERAN (2009) (NR) A lovelorn high school girl falls for a handsome bicyclist who happens to be an illegal Afghan immigrant. Iranian Film Today. Free-$7. Sat., Jan. 8, 8 p.m. Rich Theatre, High Museum, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. 404-733-5000. www.high.org.
PAYBACK (2010) (NR) In this combination of gender politics and caper film, a paroled female ex-con teams with other women to pose as prostitutes and rob their wealthy clients. Iranian Film Today. Free-$7. Fri. Jan. 7, 8 p.m. Rich Theatre, High Museum, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. 404-733-5000. www.high.org.
RABID (1977) (R ) Porn star Marilyn Chambers plays the leads in this early David Cronenberg film about a woman who becomes infected with a disease that turns other people in to rabid zombies. Splatter Cinema. Tue., Jan 14, 9:30 p.m. $8. Plaza Theatre, 1049 Ponce de Leon Ave. 404-873-1939. www.plazaatlanta.com.