Every week, we find you five movies for you to check out over the coming week or weekend, from the latest wide release to weird local screenings to timely classics you can watch on your couch. Did we miss something? Let readers know in the comments.
Mud Opens Friday at the Dallas and Plano Angelika Director Jeff Nichols has a solid track record so far with two acclaimed films -- 2007's Shotgun Stories and 2011's Take Shelter -- under his belt. With Mud, it looks like a third is on the way. The film, which debuted at last year's Cannes Film Festival, stars Texas actor Matthew McConaughey as a fugitive who turns to two boys for help evading the law and finding the woman he loves (played by Reese Witherspoon). Mud played in town recently as part of the Dallas International Film Festival and it opens at the Dallas and Plano Angelikas this Friday.
The Central Park Five Now on DVD and Blu-Ray Regular viewers of PBS are familiar with Ken Burns and his penchant for exploring large-scale historical topics, like the Civil War, World War II and baseball. Last year, Burns, together with his daughter Sarah and collaborator David McMahon, took on the big screen with a project that, at first glance, seems smaller, until you consider what it has to say about race and America's troubled judicial system. The film centers on the wrongful conviction of five men accused of raping a young woman in Central Park in 1989, and examines how choices made during the initial investigation could've led to far more accurate results. Burns' film recently aired on PBS and is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray.
Rio Bravo Screens Tuesday and Thursday at select DFW Movie Taverns If you know even a little bit of film history, you already know John Wayne made a lot of Westerns. Of those, Rio Bravo, directed by Howard Hawks, is considered one of his best. In it, Wayne leads a small group of badly outnumbered men in a fight against a wealthy landowner bent on breaking his brother, a murderer, out of jail. This was the second time Wayne and Hawks worked together. The first was in 1948 on a movie called Red River, which is -- bingo! -- another Western. You can catch Rio Bravo this week at area Movie Taverns.
The Wizard of Oz Screens Friday at Grapevine's Palace Arts Center Not only does The Wizard of Oz contain some of the most memorable music and quotes from Hollywood's long history, there's also the Pink Floyd connection and that freaky urban legend about a munchkin suicide, making this simple children's story anything but. If you've never seen it on the big screen, or you've been waiting for just the right moment to introduce your kid to it (not to mention give him nightmares of a green, cackling Margaret Hamilton), the MGM classic will be screening at Grapevine's Palace Arts Center this Friday.
Days of Heaven Screens Thursday through Sunday at the Texas Theatre For 20 years, Texas director Terrence Malick only had two movies to his name, 1973's Badlands and 1978's Days of Heaven. The latter stars Richard Gere, Brooke Adams and Sam Shepard in a love triangle set in the Texas Panhandle. It bears a strong resemblance to Malick's most recent movies, but like Badlands, is more straightforward in terms of plot. That doesn't mean it's any less complex, though. Philosophical and charged with biblical allusions, Days of Heaven is a larger-than-life movie that made the wait for all of Malick's subsequent work well worth it.
