“Stanley Kubrick Series”
Mondays at 7 p.m.
At the Michigan Theater
Just because you’ve seen “The Shining” four times, that doesn’t mean you know Stanley Kubrick. The director, who died in 1999, left behind a host of legendary movies.
This semester, The Michigan Theater, in conjunction with the Department of Screen Arts and Cultures, presents a series of screenings of his movies. Tonight at 7 p.m., the theater will show “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,” a dark comedy about post-World War II politics and the Cold War. Peter Sellers is at his bizarre best as a befuddled and pathetic Royal Air Force commander, the president of the United States and as an ex-Nazi scientist.
The series takes a week off for Fall Break and returns Oct. 22 with “Spartacus.” Each following Monday, a different Kubrick flick will screen. The cult touchstone “A Clockwork Orange” will play Nov. 12.
Whether you’re into Kubrick’s combinations of mainstream sci-fi with art-house avant-garde in “2001: A Space Odyssey,” his taste in ultra-vi in “A Clockwork Orange” or his grittier and more sadistic side in “Full Metal Jacket,” you should pencil in some visits to The Michigan Theater.
Elie Zwielbel
Nothing to see, hear or ‘Feel’
“Feel the Noise”
At the Quality 16 and Showcase
TriStar
At two separate points during my screening of “Feel the Noise,” the audience expressed its opinion of the movie aloud: “Oh my God, this movie is terrible” came first, and then “This is so horrible.”
To clarify, the movie is both terrible and horrible. It stars Omarion Grandberry (“You Got Served”) as Rob, an aspiring rapper from Harlem. Much to his dismay, he is shipped off to Puerto Rico in a New York minute to live with his estranged father. Connecting with his half-brother Javi (Victor Rasuk, “Lords of Dogtown”) and local mamacita C.C. (newcomer Zulay Henao), Rob finds Puerto Rican identity in reggaeton music and dance.
As Rob, Omarion (who apparently has a last name) gives a whole new meaning to both stoicism and bad acting in his attempt at emotional reserve. The film itself hits every stereotype of the urban struggle: petty crime, massively unjustified egos, troubled family relationships and music as a dream and means of escape. But then again, how much can we expect from a production company helmed by Jennifer Lopez?
Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
Noah Dean Stahl
Tainted ‘Love’
“Feast of Love” is a soap opera in movie form. There’s adultery, a wife leaving her husband for another woman, a porn movie used to pay the bills and the rewards and consequences of love. The only difference is there aren’t any commercials to interrupt the movie and give the audience a break from the plot.
Harry (Morgan Freeman, “Million Dollar Baby”) waxes poetic about the nature of love, charmingly going through the motions. Harry watches from a distance, observing the love troubles of Bradley (Greg Kinnear, “Little Miss Sunshine”) and his coffee-shop staff.
The audience may want Bradley to find love, but seeing him make mistake after mistake – always blind to what’s going on when we are the opposite – gets tiring. It just becomes melodramatic, and when the dialogue falls short, the film throws in a sex scene to try to pull the story along. There’s a lot of nudity for a romantic comedy, but after a while, another shot of breasts – and the movie itself – simply feels stale.
Sarah Schwartz
“Feast of Love”
At Quality 16 and Showcase
MGM
Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars