The Gallows R
Shot inexpensively using the found-footage concept in Fresno, Calif., The Gallows follows a group of high school kids who break into a condemned school on the anniversary of a tragic accident. Here they encounter a malicious entity that prevents them from leaving the building as it seeks revenge upon the living. The story behind making this film echoes that of Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead. Writer-director Travis Cluff got his friends to invest in the movie, which was then picked up for distribution by Warner Brothers. Here’s wishing Cluff gets his fairy tale box office ending. (Lisa Miller)
Minions PG
Whatever did the minions do with themselves before attaching themselves to Gru, Despicable Me’s loveable villain? This prequel finds the masterless little yellow Tic Tacs sending out a three-minion scouting party (consisting of Stuart, Kevin and Bob) to find a villain they can serve. The trio accidentally kills several promising candidates before they meet wicked Scarlet Overkill (voiced by Sandra Bullock). She and her inventor husband Herb (Jon Hamm) recruit the minions to help them steal the British queen’s Crown Jewels. Spouting their trademark gibberish, the minions take to London’s streets, bumbling their way into Her Majesty’s vicinity and further worming their way into our hapless hearts. (L.M.)
Self/Less PG-13
After wealthy businessman Damian Hale (Ben Kingsley) is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he pays a shadowy corporation to insert his consciousness into a lab-grown body (Ryan Reynolds). The transfer seems a success, until the new body exhibits memories of its own. As Hale’s consciousness fights to retain control, he learns that the corporation has a hidden agenda. Reynolds, whose acting abilities have grown, isn’t yet up to the task of emulating two distinct personalities. However, the film’s biggest downfall is that the action devolves into a typical run-for-your-life scenario and the story loses touch with the issues that made it interesting. (L.M.)
Testament of Youth PG-13
It’s a refreshing breeze that blows this time of year from England—a British period drama to provide an alternative to rampaging dinosaurs and other disasters. Testament of Youth has the advantage of being drawn from a true account, the memoir of writer Vera Brittain who abandoned her studies to become a war nurse. Alicia Vikander plays Vera as a fetching, innocent young rebel on the eve of World War I, a headstrong girl who shocks her family by insisting, “I don’t want a husband,” and going to Oxford at a time when few women pursued college. The war shatters her idyll as her brother, her friend and her lover volunteer for the front. Miranda Richardson plays Vera’s Oxford tutor in this tony, leisurely paced, well-acted production. (David Luhrssen)
Opens July 10, Downer Theatre.
