The Week in Film: Unrated edition

In Theaters

It’s a good week for movies if you don’t mind a few penises.  The two best new releases offer their share of male genitalia (and then some), and would have been the three best if the Fine Arts Theatre hadn’t dropped James Franco’s interesting, experimental Interior. Leather Bar (out April 15 on DVD).

First up is Nymphomaniac: Vol. I, the latest from Danish provocateur Lars von Trier (Dogville; Breaking the Waves).  Charlotte Gainsbourg (Melancholia) stars as Joe, who, after found sprawled in an alley and taken home to recuperate by Jude (Stellan Skarsgård, Good Will Hunting), recounts her many sexual exploits to him.  With her younger self played by stunning newcomer Stacy Martin, these encounters are frequent and graphic yet are accompanied by some interesting commentary and comparisons from Jude.  It’s one of the best films I’ve seen this year so far and has me looking forward to Vol. II (out April 11).

Not rated. Opens at the Carolina Asheville on Friday, April 4.

Just as sexually explicit is the French erotic thriller Stranger by the Lake.  Its action wholly confined to the titular location’s shore during summertime, a popular gay cruising spot, the film’s steady string of male nudity and sex may be a turn-off for some.  That’s too bad because surrounding the copious skin is a well made, finely acted and highly suspenseful work.  With the exception of an ending set in indecipherable (though arguably symbolic) darkness, the only thing keeping it from Nymphomaniac territory is the lack of topical commentary.  Still, if every unrated film asked the big questions, there’d be no room for a solid, straightforward work like this that manages to incorporate these daring images into a successful whole.  I’m not planning on writing a full review, but if I did, I’d give it a B+.

Not rated. Opens at the Fine Arts Theatre on Friday, April 4.

Beginning the nudity-free offerings is Tim’s Vermeer, a documentary from famed illusionist duo Penn and Teller.  The film follows their inventor friend Tim Jenison as he investigates whether 17th century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer may have used technology such as lenses to achieve the line-free clarity for which he’s known, an obsession that grows into Jenison using his hypothetical methods to recreate Vermeer’s “The Music Lesson.”  The subject is interesting and the artistic findings are pretty exceptional, but it’s also a bit repetitive and there’s not much to warrant it being seen on the big screen.

Rated PG-13. Opens at the Carolina Asheville on Friday, April 4.

Thought the doppelgänger trend ended with Muppets Most Wanted and The Enemy?  Think again!  Two Ed Harrises show up in The Face of Love, in which L.A. widow Nikki (Annette Bening) locates her late husband’s double (Harris) and proceeds to romance him…without revealing why, of course.  The two leads, co-starring for the first time, are a pleasant couple and the unusual circumstances of their relationship is interesting for a while, but frustration with Nikki’s resistance to tell the truth nearly kills it.  If you’re a fan of these actors, though, you’re in for a treat.

Rated PG-13. Opens at the Carolina Asheville on Friday, April 4.

The lone new film I haven’t seen this week is Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and I’ll take care of that on Thursday night. I don’t know if this counts as a summer release, especially since The Amazing Spider-Man 2 seems to have that season ready to go on May 2, but if not it seems a little odd to have a big Marvel film in a transition season.  (Thor: The Dark World was a November release, though…)  Chris Evans returns as ye olde red, white, and blue hero along with fellow Avenger Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and, if he counts as an Avenger, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson).  Robert Redford and Anthony Mackie join in on the fun, which involves the other titular character, a dangerous Soviet agent who, based on the trailers, is a more impressive fighting machine than the Captain himself.

Rated PG-13. Opens at Beaucatcher, Biltmore Grande, and Carolina Asheville on Friday, April 4.

Fleeing the Scene