The summer’s final “Rooftop Cinema” program and more Laika Studios magic with Kubo and the Two Strings
Wednesday
Two-Lane Blacktop (7:00p — Bos Meadery)
Monte Hellman arrived at an awkward time. Sandwiched between the last gasps of counterculture and the onset of “New Hollywood,” his Two-Lane Blacktop has been praised by mentor Roger Corman and contemporary Sam Peckinpah despite being largely cast aside as an Easy Rider knock-off. It’s a narrative that, thankfully, is being rewritten for what might be “possibly the greatest road movie ever made” as James Taylor and the Beach Boys’ Dennis Wilson pick up a hitchhiker (Laurie Bird) and race Warren Oates along Route 66. (FREE admission.)
Thursday
R.O.T.O.R. (6:30p — Central Library, Rm 302)
With a name like “Robotic Officer Tactical Operation Research,” R.O.T.O.R. immediately telegraphs its inspiration. Bogged down by derivative elements and rubberized gore effects, this late 80s flop about a killer robot cop in Dallas rips off your favorite 80s franchises down to its artwork. (FREE admission.)
Friday
Inside Out (1:00p –Pinney Library)
Imaginatively realized as a kid-friendly Inception, the best Pixar movie in half a decade illustrates the inner turmoil of Riley, a young girl whose emotional center is disrupted when her father takes a job miles away from their Minnesota hockey pond, hauling the family out to foreign territory in the Bay Area. Riley’s emotions take center stage, distilled into sentient forms as Joy (Amy Poehler), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), and Sadness (Phyllis Smith). The sprightly music of Michael Giacchino accompanies their race from one charming concept to another. Madison Library’s afternoon matinee is intentionally kid-friendly but for the record, Inside Out is worth leaving the office early, too. (FREE admission.)
“Look Around You” (8:30p — MMoCA Rooftop)
Look around you. Look around you. Look around you. Have you worked out what we’re looking for? The answer is “Rooftop Cinema’s” final program of the summer, a four-episode sampling of Look Around You. The two-season series is a typical BBC production. Funny, dry, and short-lived. It’s also well pedigreed with involvement from Ash Atalla, Robert Popper, and Peter Serafinowicz and each absurdist module is delivered in the soothing, breathy accent of Nigel Lambert. Topics “covered” include Maths, wherein the largest number ever is estimated at around 45 billion, and Germs, which traces the origin of bacteria back to Germany. More a fun capper to the season than in keeping with arthouse rarities, the evening is sure to march to the beat of its own wonky drum. (Admission is $7 or FREE for MMoCA members.)
All freakin’ weekend
Kubo and the Two Strings (AMC Star, Marcus Point)
After an ancient curse is awakened, one-eyed musician Kubo (Game of Thrones‘ Art Parkinson) tracks down the legendary armor he sings about to destroy an eye-stealing Moon King (Ralph Fiennes). Matthew McConaughey as a warrior-turned-beetle. Rooney Mara as a pair of evil aunts. Charlize Theron as a monkey. Even with Coraline and ParaNorman under its belt, Laika Studios keeps reaching for stranger and stranger heights in their stop-motion conquests. The excellent music of Dario Marianelli (who killed it with his Boxtrolls score) is back, with first-time director (and Laika CEO) Travis Knight ready to talk about the importance of how we tell stories. (Showtimes and admission vary.)
Tuesday
Mad Max: Fury Road (7:30p — Majestic Theatre)
At a time when franchise after franchise is dug up, dusted off and stuck back in the multiplex, George Miller took his Mad Max sequel and left the dust on. Fury Road was an unexpected box office smash last year, with Tom Hardy filling in for Mel Gibson’s anti-hero by shaving off his too-long-for-2015 mane and plunging into an exposition-free two-hour chase across the Namibian desert. Miller updated his wasteland for the 21st century, a bleak vision that rises above the likes of The Purge and a horde of Walking Dead copycats with sumptuous world-building, a phenomenal Junkie XL soundscape, practical effects, and a post-gender approach to its post-apocalypse. (FREE admission. Doors at 7:00p.)