"Babyteeth"
directed by Shannon Murphy
(MA-17, 1 hour, 58 minutes)
An Australian coming-of-age film about a dying girl that features some strong actors in service to one of those dreamy, wispy stories that make hard things seem pretty. Murphy is also a writer and actor whose previous work has mostly been in TV (she directed two episodes of the most recent season of "Killing Eve"). "Babyteeth" is her feature debut, based on the 2012 play of the same name by Rita Kalnejais, who wrote the screenplay. Upon seeing the film, it is a little difficult to imagine it as a play. Murphy's vision is so singular and specific that it's hard to imagine attending to anything other than what the camera directs us toward.
Along with director of photography Andrew Commis, she constructs a world from scraps of images that have a homemade, found feel, a luminous and textured world freighted with the unexpressible poignancy of a teenage crush. "Babyteeth" tries, and sometimes succeeds, to communicate in a register beyond language, to show us what it is like to be young and beautiful and doomed. Some people will find it overly arty, but its aspirations are admirable.
With Eliza Scanlen, Ben Mendelsohn, Essie Davis, Andrea Demetriades, Toby Wallace.
"Roman Holiday" (Not rated, 1 hour, 58 minutes) -- William Wyler's classic 1953 film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including best picture (and won three, including best actress Audrey Hepburn and blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo)-- came out in a Blu-ray package Sept. 15 that includes a digital download. The new, digitally restored 4K transfer is stunning.
With Gregory Peck, Eddir Albert, Hartley Power.
"Whiplash" (R, 1 hour, 46 minutes), Damian Chazelle's brutal 2014 drama of the conflict between a talented young jazz drummer (Miles Teller) and his brilliant, abusive instructor (Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons).
With Melissa Benoist, Chris Milkey, Paul Reiser, Austin Stowell.
"Pulp Fiction" (R, 2 hours, 34 minutes), Quentin Tarantino's fearsomely violent and gorgeously scripted 1994 film noir wrapped around two hitmen (Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta,) with very different philosophies toward their specialized line of work.
With Bruce Willis, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel, Rosanna Arquette, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Ving Rhames, Eric Stoltz, Christopher Walken, Steve Buscemi.
"Gangs of New York" (R, 2 hours, 47 minutes), Martin Scorsese's memorable 2002 portrayal of New York's Five Points neighborhood in 1846 when Irish immigrants showed up. With Daniel Day-Lewis as Bill the Butcher, along with Leonardo DiCaprio, Liam Neeson, Cameron Diaz, Jim Broadbent and Henry Thomas.
"Bad Santa" (R, 1 hour, 32 minutes), a cheerfully crude and offensive black comedy from 2003 features Malvern's own Billy Bob Thornton as a grinchy shopping-mall Santa who uses his position to rob the retailers surrounding him.
With Bernie Mac, Lauren Graham, John Ritter, Alex Borstein, Cloris Leachman.
"All Roads to Pearla" (not rated, 1 hour, 48 minutes) A small-town Texas high school wrestler gets entangled with a drifter and her psychopathic lover. With Addison Timlin, Corin Nemec, Dash Mihok; written and directed by Van Ditthavong.
"Odd Man Rush" (not rated, 1 hour, 25 minutes) A dramatic comedy that just misses its mark in which Harvard hockey player Bobby Sanders lands in Sweden's minor leagues, forcing him to confront the reality of his childhood professional hockey-playing dreams because of his relationship with a young woman at a local market. With Jack Mulhern, Elektra Kilbey, Trevor Gretzky; co-written and directed by Doug Dearth.
"Murder Death Koreatown" (not rated, 1 hour, 20 minutes) An unsettling if repetitive journey into paranoia that concerns an unemployed Los Angeles Koreatown resident's obsessive amateur investigation of what he envisions as a conspiracy following the discovery of found footage of his neighbor's murder. The director and cast isn't identified.
"Baba Yaga: Terror of the Dark Forest" (not rated, 1 hour, 53 minutes) Based on a Slavic folktale, this creepy, uneven horror effort concerns a young family that hires a nanny, who begins scaring their young daughter and older son at night. Then the little sister disappears. So does the nanny. Is there a demon at work? With Aleksey Rozin, Maryana Spivak, Svetlana Ustinova, Igor Khripunov, Oleg Chugunov; co-written and co-directed by Svyatoslav Podgaevskiy and Nathalia Hencker. Subtitled.
"Babysplitters" (not rated, 1 hour, 59 minutes) Witty, clever, and scripted well enough to take charge of its one-note premise, this modern comedy involves two couples, each ambivalent about becoming parents, who decide to conceive and share one baby between them. With Danny Pudi, Emily C. Chang, Maiara Walsh, Eddie Alfano; written and directed by Sam Friedlander.
"A Feral World" (not rated, 1 hour, 44 minutes) A too-obvious and predictable sci-fi drama set in yet another post-apocalyptic world (where so many movies currently occupy space) where a scrappy orphan meets a woman who, along with her dog, is searching for her lost daughter. With Caleb Liban, Danielle Prall; written and directed by David Liban.