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Stupid Fun

Comedy thriller delivers with inconsequential game night humor

As unmemorable as a game of checkers, as insubstantial as party charades, but as fun as a round of drunken Scattergories. Game Night, a new comedy thriller from the people behind Horrible Bosses and Vacation, will barely stay in your brain long enough for you to get to the car, but nevertheless, it’s good, stupid fun.

Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams play Max and Annie, a thoroughly cute yet fiercely competitive married couple. To exercise their love of competition (well, in truth, winning), the two have a standing weekly date with two other thoroughly cute couples for game night. Into this benign situation comes Max’s older brother, Brooks (Kyle Chandler), who has succeeded in the game of life to a degree that fosters sibling resentment in Max.

Brooks co-opts game night with a wild role-playing kidnapping adventure that quickly if predictably spins out of control. Add a priceless Faberge egg, a mobster called the Bulgarian, and a creepy cop as a next-door neighbor, and we have ourselves a raucous comedy.

Bateman and McAdams have just the right light touch for this kind of borderline comedy. They manage the ruder, darker elements with a grace that prevents the movie from becoming unredeemable (as The Hangover often did). Chandler approaches his caricature of a role with gusto and conviction. But the highlight of the cast is Jesse Plemons as the incredibly sinister-sad neighbor Gary. Recently divorced and desperate, excluded from the board-game fun, Gary longs to be a part of something, anything. Plemons brings the right blend of mania and melancholy to the part.

Directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, who have both cut their teeth as comedy writers, show the right blend of grounded and ridiculous to keep the action moving, and the dialogue is well-seeded with great toss-off jokes.

The banter is fast, the coincidences implausible, and the humor frequently unnecessarily coarse or morbid. But none of that really matters. In the era of The Hangover and Seth Rogen-Judd Apatow comedies, the goal is admirably simple: create a diverting, entertaining, somewhat risqué few hours in the cinema. The sights are set fairly low, but Game Night manages to achieve and even surpass them.

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Classic Films, Beer, Charities

Movies on Tap combines all three for a fun way to support good causes

In just two years, the monthly Movies on Tap event at Penn Cinema Riverfront has truly become a juggernaut of fun-filled philanthropy. The movies are classic gems, the brews exemplary in craft and flavor, and the scope of the cause continues to grow.

In April of 2016, Ryan Kennedy, marketing director for Harvey, Hanna & Associates, came up with the idea, which was to bring together local breweries and movie goers at a fun event aimed at raising funds for local charities. It has been an absolute success, with 99 percent of ticket proceeds from each showing being donated to that month’s charity.

“To date, Movies on Tap has raised $58,000, which has benefited 22 charitable organizations,” says Kennedy, adding that the December showing was the most successful of the 22 events. “Urban Bike Project received $8,820 from their event with Dogfish Head and screening of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” Kennedy says. “We’re so grateful for the generosity of Movies on Tap, Dogfish Head Brewery, and all of the enthusiastic moviegoers,” says Laura Wilburn, executive director of the Urban Bike Project.

“The funding we received through Movies on Tap is huge for us. It’s enough to cover a full year’s costs for our Free Bike program. The program gives bikes, locks and lights to Wilmington residents who are in need of transportation to get to work or job interviews, grocery stores and other necessary services.” Last year’s series raised nearly $45,000, according to Drew Sheaffer, director of Operations at Penn Cinema and coordinator of Movies on Tap. “That’s almost $10,000 above our original goal of $35,000,” he says.

“Overall, we’ve heard overwhelmingly positive feedback from all of the featured breweries and nonprofits. The breweries have expressed how much they love the opportunity to connect with the local community in a fun, interactive and impactful way.” The breweries’ enthusiasm for the 21-and-older series, in which Out & About is also a partner, is reflected in the lineup of repeat participants, including Yards, Mispillion River Brewing and Dogfish Head Brewery. “It’s something different, which is what people want, and a great way to raise money and awareness,” Kennedy says.

“It’s the easiest form of fundraising. If you pair a quality movie with quality beer and an inspirational mission—tickets will sell.”

Sales figures confirm that assessment. The average crowd per event increased from 97 in 2016 to 175 last year. Donations are up as well. The average donation per event of $1,413 in 2016 more than doubled last year, to $3,500. This year’s goal is to raise more than $40,000. With tickets priced at just $20, which covers a flight of beer, unlimited popcorn and the movie, that goal should be attainable.

For more information, check out the Movies on Tap Facebook page.

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Theatre N Revived

A partnership between The Mill, The Kitchen and The Grand brings fresh energy to the independent theater

Theatre N has new life and new management. The arthouse cinema, reopened in October, will feature independent films every weekend and classic cinema events throughout the year. For the first time since its founding in 2002, the theater, located in the Buccini/Pollin Group-owned Nemours Building in downtown Wilmington, is no longer managed by the mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs.

Early this year, concerns about the theater organization and its future led to action. Robert Herrera, founder of the community-driven workspace The Mill—and the theater’s upstairs neighbor in the Nemours Building—approached BPG and Zach Phillips, filmmaker and founder of The Kitchen, about possibilities for the theater’s future. From there, a new vision was developed.

Herrera and Phillips joined forces with members of The Grand. That included Beverly Zimmerman, the original theater manager during its most successful years—2002-2013—as well as Bob Weir, a seasoned projectionist and the technical director at The Playhouse on Rodney Square, and Mark Fields, executive director of The Grand and The Playhouse.

“If anybody can revive the theater, it’s the team we have now,” says Herrera. “This is the second coming of the Theatre N.”

The partnership focuses on targeting a young entrepreneurial demographic, expanding to special events, TED Talks and more. One feature of the new system is that the team will now have access to films from every independent studio, not just a limited subset, which was the case previously. Zimmerman will once again take over the film schedule.

The 221-seat theater is undergoing renovation, including a new, state-of-the art projector, and a custom-built concession area designed by Herrera.

“Neighborhood movie theaters are an important feature of any modern city, and as the film industry rapidly changes we think independent cinema will have a growing role,” says Phillips. “Our plan for Theatre N isn’t just to be Wilmington’s indie theater. We want to be a leader in the re-imagination of what an independent theater can be, and make Theatre N a cinema destination in the region.”

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Bridge of Spies

Steven Spielberg’s latest cinematic foray into history, Bridge of Spies, contains all the hallmarks of serious Spielberg: a taut if little-known piece of the past; exquisitely crafted set/art direction and cinematography that bring that past vibrantly alive on screen; an evocative score; confident directorial control; and invigorating lead performances, in this case, from Tom Hanks and English stage actor Mark Rylance.

The story involves the tense negotiation between Cold War superpowers, the Soviet Union and the U.S., for a pair of captured combatants: one a Soviet spy apprehended in America, and the other, Francis Gary Powers, the American U2 pilot famously shot down near the Ural Mountains. A private citizen attorney, Jim Donovan (Hanks), is pressed into service to exchange Powers against the backdrop of the escalating Cold War (we see the building of the Berlin Wall during the film).

Bridge of Spies is incredibly well-crafted and effective, as can be expected from the masterful Spielberg. But sadly, it also suffers from a recurring problem found with some of Spielberg’s more serious films: it conveys the powerful story on the surface without ever really finding a more resonant emotional core within its narrative and characters.

Often, the talented actors and complex characters that Spielberg showcases are able to transcend this detached quality. Certainly, that has been the case in Lincoln, Saving Private Ryan, and Schindler’s List (all historical dramas). But in others, such as War Horse, Munich, and Catch Me if You Can, we get a terrific, and often engrossing, surface without much depth. Such is the case with Bridge of Spies, so well-made that you can’t help feeling let down when you don’t come away with a deeper connection.