Movie Reviews

The Asheville Film Society will screen The Night of the Hunter Tuesday, Feb. 8, at 8 p.m. in the Cinema Lounge of the Carolina Asheville and will be hosted by Xpress movie critics Ken Hanke and Justin Souther.

The Thursday Horror Picture Show will screen The Brood Thursday, Feb. 3, at 8 p.m. in the Cinema Lounge of the Carolina Asheville and will be hosted by Xpress movie critics Ken Hanke and Justin Souther.

The Story A year in the lives of an aging, but devoted, middle class British couple and their circle of friends. The Lowdown: Penetrating character study on the nature of happiness, marked by fine performances and a deep sense of compassion and humanity.

The Story Grim study of a dying man in search of redemption -- and a secure future for the children he's going to leave behind. The Lowdown: Part realistic grit, part mystical wondering, and all unrelentingly downbeat, yet it's hard to ignore the quality of the filmmaking and impossible to ignore the power of Javier…

The Story A young seminary student gets a lesson in faith from a stint in exorcism school. The Lowdown: A good cast can't save a tepid exorcist yarn and a weak leading man from being possessed by a case of humdrummery.

The Story: A hitman begins training the son of his best friend. The Lowdown: Your standard actioner that's fine while onscreen, but is ultimately pointless and never as clever as it thinks it is.

Classic World Cinema by Courtyard Gallery will present High and Low at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 28, (at Phil Mechanic Studios, 109 Roberts St., River Arts District, upstairs in the Railroad Library). Info: 273-3332, www.ashevillecourtyard.com

The Thursday Horror Picture Show will screen A Nightmare on Elm Street Thursday, January 27, at 8 p.m. in the Cinema Lounge of the Carolina Asheville and will be hosted by Xpress movie critics Ken Hanke and Justin Souther.

The Asheville Film Society will screen Unfaithfully Yours Tuesday, Feb. 1, at 8 p.m. in the Cinema Lounge of the Carolina Asheville and will be hosted by Xpress movie critics Ken Hanke and Justin Souther.http://www.mountainx.com/movies/review/unfaithfully_yours1

The Hendersonville Film Society will show The Night They Raided Minsky's at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 30, in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community (behind Epic Cinemas), 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville.

The Story: Survival tale of a group of men who escape from a Soviet labor camp in Siberia during the early years of WWII and attempt to make their way to freedom -- 4,000 miles away. The Lowdown: Easily the best film to hit town since the big Christmas releases and a return to something…

The Story: A college grad heads home from Ohio to Manhattan and tries to acclimate herself to adult life. The Lowdown: An occasionally funny, vaguely astute pseudo-coming-of-age tale that suffers from a meandering plot and static direction.

The Story: Two platonic friends who have arranged to use each other solely for sex begin to complicate things as they start developing feelings for one another. The Lowdown: An occasionally funny (and surprisingly so, considering its pedigree) and sort-of-sweet romcom that never quite works due to its predictability and too-long running time.

The Story: A look at the ending -- and the beginning -- of a young couple's marriage. The Lowdown: I wouldn't call it anything like the masterpiece that's it's been claimed, but this is a worthwhile, albeit flawed, attempt at observing the workings of a relationship.

Classic Cinema From Around the World will present The Conformist at 8 p.m. Friday, January 21, at Courtyard Gallery (109 Roberts St. in the Phil Mechanic Building, River Arts District, one floor down). Info: 273-3332.

I haven’t seen Nowhere in Africa (2003) since I reviewed it at the time of its release. And since no screener was available to me for this screening of the Oscar-winning drama, I must rely on my original review, in which I wrote: “Link’s film, based on the partly autobiographical novel by Stefanie Zweig, details […]

The Story: A man catches his best friend's wife cheating on him, but must figure out a way to tell his buddy. The Lowdown: A comedy -- built around Vince Vaughn's obnoxious screen persona -- with bits of drama thrown in, but never in a way that's effective.

The Story: A spoiled rich kid and his late father's mechanic decide to become vigilante heroes posing as criminals. The Lowdown: Better than you might expect, with more evidence of director Michel Gondry than seemed likely, but the film only sporadically rings the gong.

The Asheville Film Society will screen First Love Tuesday, January 25, at 8 p.m. in the Cinema Lounge of the Carolina Asheville and will be hosted by Xpress movie critics Ken Hanke and Justin Souther.

The Hendersonville Film Society will show The Name of the Rose at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 16, in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community (behind Epic Cinemas), 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville.