Sex, Drugs and Rock ’n’ Roll

This Friday, Jan. 9, the historic El Rey Theater (622 Central SW) will host its monthly Movies and Music party. Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda’s New Mexico-shot counterculture classic Easy Rider (1969) will be screened starting at 8 p.m. Following the film, local jam bands Liquid Gypsy and The Goatheads will perform live. Tickets are $7 at the door. This is a 21-and-over event.

Chilly French drama leaves viewers waiting for the thaw

It’s British actress Kristin Scott Thomas’ face that haunts the Gallic export I’ve Loved You So Long (Il y a longtemps que je t’aime). The film’s poster is a close-framed shot of Thomas’ face, classically beautiful as always, but pale of skin and drained of fathomable emotion. What’s going on in the bottomless well of those eyes? It’s a question that lingers past the movie theater lobby and well into the film at hand.

Lovely and confusing art film fights its way back into theaters

Back in 1994, Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai took a stab at creating a new wave wuxia film, a classic martial arts chivalry pic reimagined as abstract art. Wong had just come off a career-defining run of As Tears Go By, Days of Being Wild and Chungking Express (which was actually written, cast, shot and released during a break in Ashes’ lengthy editing process). Nonetheless, Ashes of Time ended up a mostly misunderstood and largely ignored curiosity piece. Wong went on to helm more successful films like Fallen Angels, Happy Together and In the Mood for Love. But something about Ashes of Time stuck with the filmmaker. Now, 15 years after its initial release, Wong has returned to contemplate his noble failure with Ashes of Time Redux.

Televised tidbits from around the dial

Doctor Who?—Producers of the BBC’s revitalized “Doctor Who” series have announced their replacement for current star David Tennant. The 11th actor to take on the role of the time-traveling Doctor is 26-year-old unknown Matt Smith. The gangly, tousle-haired Smith looks like he’s in an emo band, and his hiring could be seen as a rather blatant move to court today’s tween-age Twilight crowd. Producers claim he’s the right man for the job, though, and the strength of the new “Doctor Who” has rested mostly on its clever, up-to-date writing. Unfortunately, the show’s executive producer, Russell Davies, will be leaving the show along with Tennant. Taking over is new head man Steven Moffat (who gave us BBC hits “Coupling” and “Jekyll”). Tennant and Davies took it pretty easy in their last season, delivering a handful of seasonal “specials,” which are expected to air stateside in 2009. The Smith-centric season of “Doctor Who” should hit our airwaves in 2010.

Week in Sloth

The Week in Sloth