The Lovings
PICKS OF THE WEEK
“Dark Skies” (PG-13) — A nice young family moves into a pleasant suburban home, only to be harassed by the creepy whims of supernatural forces. There’s a mom and dad (Keri Russell and Josh Hamilton) and two young boys who just can’t get the message when super-spooky stuff happens to them — mysterious marks and wounds appearing on their bodies, moments of amnesia, temporarily losing control of their bodies. You know, the usual.
This movie doesn’t really break from the “Paranormal Activity” pack, except that it looks more at the family than the (rather lame) mythos behind the haunting. Mom wants to sell the house, but the market isn’t favorable. Dad isn’t happy being unemployed. The boys are going through kid stuff — on top of being haunted.
“Lore” (R) — Before Lore’s parents — devout and high-ranking Nazis — are taken by American forces, they tell their children to flee north and avoid soldiers. Lore (pronounced like “Laura”) must care for her four younger siblings as they travel through Germany in the immediate aftermath of World War II. Along the way, they are helped by Thomas, a young man who survived the concentration camps. Though they must depend on this strange man, Lore still remembers all of the things her SS father told her about Jewish people.
The largest part of her journey is going through the ashes of her upbringing. That’s the most haunting part — how do you know where you are when you’re forced to question everything you’ve ever known?
“The Loving Story” (NR) — In the case of Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court ruled that interracial marriages could not be restricted by law. Richard Loving married Mildred Jeter in Washington D.C. in 1958, but their marriage was not recognized in their home state of Virginia — interracial marriage was illegal there and in more than 20 other states. Richard was a white man, and Mildred was half-black, half-Native American. This award-winning HBO documentary features old home footage of the family, as well as photographs and interviews.
“The Numbers Station” (PG-13) — John Cusack is a CIA agent who gets assigned to what’s supposed to be an uneventful post: protecting a secret bunker where encrypted messages are sent and received. So, from the beginning we’re promised a dull affair, and that’s what we get — even after the bad guys breach the compound. Cusack has to protect the pretty blond cryptologist at all costs. This job apparently demands that any romance that might occur between the two agents be as brief and unconvincing as possible. A pleasant surprise is Cusack’s performance as an action lead; he’s a good at gunplay and portrays a good veteran of espionage.
TV RELEASES
“Doctor Who: Series Seven — Part Two”
“Covert Affairs: Season Three”
“Longmire: The Complete First Season”
“Suits: Season Two”
“George Gently, Series 5”
“Red Widow: The Complete First Season”
© 2013 King Features Synd., Inc.