‘A Christmas Tale,’ ‘The Reader’ new this weekend
The cinematic pickings are traditionally slim the first week of each new year, although one of 2008’s most acclaimed films is premiering in the Dayton area this weekend.
The French import A Christmas Tale — recently voted the #2 movie of the year in indieWIRE’s annual critics’ poll — is playing exclusively at the Little Art Theatre in Yellow Springs this weekend. I should offer full disclosure by saying I sometimes work at the Little Art as a projectionist and event programmer. (It’s home to my soon-to-be-annual horror marathon, for example.)
That said, I think I can legitimately claim I’m not shilling for Tale, since I don’t really see what all the fuss is about. Though it’s certainly worth seeing — and with all the praise it’s garnered, what do I know? — after a genuinely exceptional first half, the movie slides awkwardly downhill as one cruel familial act begets another. (I dare not reveal the details, but the final trajectory of one subplot in particular really put me off the film.) Though it features an extraordinary ensemble cast — including Catherine Deneuve, Mathieu Amalric, Jean-Paul Roussillon and Melvil Poupaud — this is essentially the French equivalent of the heinous suburban horror show The Family Stone.
To be honest, I’m eager to revisit A Christmas Tale on the big screen, if only because I feel like I must be missing something. (My alternate hypothesis? Critics who indiscriminately deride overly accessible American movies tend to eagerly praise their foreign counterparts; for these disapproving hipsters, it’s as if subtitles give them the permission they require to be populist.) If I do see the film again, I’ll try to set aside some time and write a longer, more detailed review. If you make it out to Yellow Springs to see it, please share your thoughts — I’m eager to hear them.
Also new this week: The mildly lauded Holocaust drama, The Reader, starring Kate Winslet, goes wide this weekend, after an exclusive one-week run at Cincinnati’s Mariemont Theatre. I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m going to try to fit it in over the weeked.
Still in theaters: The best movie in Dayton-area theaters right now is Gus Van Sant’s Milk, which is currently playing at The Neon in Dayton. John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt, starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman, is also worth your time. And, to paraphrase Mike D’Angelo, some people like Slumdog Millionaire; if nothing else, it’s fun to argue about.
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