Given their usual woeful programming record, for some reason, or other, this week Vancouver’s last remaining repertory cinema, the Hollywood Theatre on West Broadway, has programmed a great double-bill (ends Thursday), two films which made VanRamblings’ Top Films of 2008 list.
 |
Woody Allen’s strongest and most entertaining film in years, Vicky Cristina Barcelona proves to be the perfect antidote for this dreadful winter we’ve been having. Allen’s burlesque presents a blissful summer idyll and an inspired riff on the unique, unpredictable nature of romantic relationships, all wrapped up within a beguiling tragicomedy about two young Americans (Scarlett Johansson and a splendid Rebecca Hall) who spend a summer in Spain, and meet a flamboyant artist (Javier Bardem) and his beautiful but slightly deranged ex-wife (Penélope Cruz). Loopy, exhilarating, bittersweet. Wonderful performances abound, with much good cheer. Definitely a film not to miss. 7:30 p.m. nightly.
 |
You can all but feel the prairie dust the moment the theatre lights dim, and Appaloosa begins. A traditional genre western that sets itself apart with psychologically complex characters, an intriguing love triangle, as well as great performances and chemistry between the leads – Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, Renée Zellweger, Jeremy Irons – this laconic yet gripping story of frontier folks, tyrannical ranchers and no-nonsense lawmen, entertains and involves from start to finish. Everything feels true in this slightly offbeat movie about friendly devotion; no mean feat, that. Plays nightly at the Hollywood Theatre, at 9:15 p.m.
The Hollywood Theatre is located at 3123 West Broadway, in Vancouver.
VanRamblings has updated our Best Films of 2008 list, where we’re up to 10 films now (another 10 to come, as we see all of the 2008 releases yet to reach Vancouver screens). Be sure to check it out, by clicking right here.
