Couch Theater – Jan. 31, 2019

#Middlebury

“Boy Erased” (R) – Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe play small-town, religious parents whose world is rocked by the admission that their seemingly normal son (Lucas Hedges) is gay. The preacher and his wife send the boy to a Christian conversion camp, where he is to be reprogrammed out of his wayward feelings. It’s tragically hard to be a loving parent whose values are at odds with your child’s sexuality. It’s tragically hard to be happy and well-adjusted at the expense of being yourself. This film recognizes those realities while exposing the shameful practices and futility of so-called conversion programs. Based on the autobiographical account of Garrard Conley.

Keira Knightley, Mackenzie Foy in “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” (Laurie Sparham/Disney photo)

“The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” (PG-13) – At Christmas, a spirited young woman named Clara (Mackenzie Foy) receives an enigmatic gift from her late mother. The key to this gift is presented by her godfather (Morgan Freeman), who sends her on a quest across a fantastic land where she must battle as queen for the Fourth Realm against the Mouse King and the plucky and terrifying Mother Ginger (Helen Mirren). Delightful and fanciful but moderately hard to follow, the whole thing is a little too over-the-top, including Keira Knightly as an aggressively flighty Sugar Plum Fairy. But we loved relative unknown Jayden Fowora-Knight as the steadfast Nutcracker soldier Phillip.

“Hunter Killer” (R) – When a U.S. submarine goes missing in icy waters off Russia, intel determines that a coup d’etat is developing and a super-sinister rogue minister is looking to cause World War III. Sub commander Joe Glass (Gerard Butler) is called upon to check it out – because he’s not like those other by-the-book captains, obviously – while the Navy Seals go in to rescue the kidnapped Russian president. Glass brings his special brand of rule-breaking disaster management, enlisting the help of a salty Russian commander (the late Michael Nyqvist). “The Hunt for Red October,” it’s not. So batten down the hatches, because this cheese-action flick has no chill at all.

“Suspiria” (R) – Talented, ambitious American dancer Susie (Dakota Johnson) is accepted into a renowned German dance company, whose artistic director (Tilda Swinton) runs a decidedly immersive program. Another student, Patricia (Chloe Grace Moretz), goes missing after outing the dance company to her therapist as a coven of witches. Susie climbs the ranks, while violence and mayhem surround the ritualistic actions of the dance company. Swinton plays three parts in this film and one is an older German male psychotherapist. I still can’t tell if it’s supposed to be obvious that it’s her under all that latex. That about sums up how I feel about this art-house horror.

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“Ballers” Season 4
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“Dr. Who” Complete Eleventh Series
“Humans 3.0”
“Kidding” Season 1

© 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.