Communication frustration

Wretches and Jabberers

Now, wait, you’re saying. We’re all facing an autism epidemic? All of us? Yes, absolutely. These days, one in 110 or so children is diagnosed with the condition. Sure, it’s toughest for the immediate families and usually even tougher for the kids themselves, who are often isolated and lonely. But these are our neighbors and our kids’ classmates, and whether or not our lives are directly impacted by autism, these kids are going to grow up. If we don’t come to terms with that reality soon, it’s going to be an expensive wake-up call.

The thing is, at least in my experience, most people who don’t communicate in conventional ways are still aching to communicate. It’s up to all of us to integrate them—and anyone else who has a condition that makes them different—into mainstream society.

A small way to start the process and understand the situation might be to catch Wretches and Jabberers, a documentary from Gerardine Wurzburg, who’s made a number of films about people with disabilities and who earned an Oscar in 1992 for the short doc Educating Peter. Her new movie is about Tracy Thresher and Larry Bissonnette, two adult men with autism who travel the globe, trying to change attitudes. Neither man can use speech as his primary mode of communication, but both are able to converse fairly eloquently via computer.

It wasn’t long ago that people like Thresher and Bissonnette were institutionalized (indeed, that’s how Larry spent some of his formative years), primarily because no one believed they could be functioning members of society. But when you hear these men speak, as challenging as it might be for them, you understand that not only are they intelligent people, but, also, that to not value them as human beings impoverishes all of us.

Wretches and Jabberers (wretchesandjabberers.org), which screens at noon on Saturday, April 2, at AMC Mission Valley, is a moving and eyeopening portrait of people bucking social norms, but anyone who’s around people with disabilities regularly understands that the social norms desperately need to be bucked. This screening is just a start. But we have to start somewhere.

Catch Me… I’m in Love: The latest entry in UA Horton Plaza’s ongoing Filipino film series.

Desert Flower: A Somali fashion model recounts her own circumcision to a magazine reporter who finally gets her to open up.

Hop: Russell Brand voices E.B., the Easter Bunny’s teenage son, who packs up the truck and heads to Hollywood in hopes of becoming a rock star. Along the way, he becomes buddies with slacker Fred O’Hare (James Marsden). Lessons are probably learned.

Insidious: Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne try to save their kid from demons in the new one from James Wan, who cut his teeth on the Saw franchise. Not, you know, literally.

The King’s Speech: The film that won the Best Picture Oscar was rated R. This new cut is PG-13.

Miral: Pajama-wearing-painterturned-filmmaker Julian Schnabel is catching all kinds of flak for this look at the life of a Palestinian girl—played by Slumdog Millionaire’s Frida Pinto— growing up in the West Bank.

The Music Never Stopped: Based on the book by Oliver Sacks, JK Simmons stars as a father who uses music to connect with his son, who’s suffering from a brain tumor that prevents him from forming new memories.

Mysteries of Egypt: Like, why are the pyramids triangular, anyway? This IMAX movie screens at 8 p.m. Fridays at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park.

Nora’s Will: A woman designs a Machiavellian plot to force her ex-husband to take care of her funeral arrangements after her suicide.

Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune: Documentary about the legendary folk singer, whose antiwar songs united a generation and spawned his depression and suicide.

The Salvation Poem: Mother and son collide when the kid takes an interest in rock ’n’ roll. It’s a family-friendly, religiously themed picture, so we’re guessing he’s way into Stryper.

Source Code: Duncan Jones follows up his terrific Moon with this timebending trip. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as an Air Force captain who wakes up in the body of a man on a train that’s about to blow up. He returns again and again, trying to sort out who planted the bomb and wondering if he can save the other passengers in an alternate reality.

Under the Sea: IMAX film takes you into all kinds of ecosystems that we’re gradually destroying. Screens Fridays at 7 p.m. at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park.

Win Win: The latest one from Thomas McCarthy stars Paul Giamatti as a lawyer who puts an old man in a home to collect a monthly fee and then has to deal with the consequences when the man’s grandson shows up. It’s sweet and good-natured, an interesting take on our post-economic-meltdown world. See our review on Page 19.

Winter in Wartime: Late in WWII, a 14-year-old German boy comes to the aid of a British soldier without understanding the ramifications of his actions.

ONE TIME ONLY

La Mama: An American Nun’s Life in a Mexican Prison: Susan Sarandon narrates this documentary that’s part of USD’s Border Film Week. Director Jody Hammond will be on hand after the movie. Screens at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 30, at Warren Auditorium on the USD campus.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: Steve Martin just wants to get home for Thanksgiving. In his way are delayed flights, broken-down trains, burning cars and John Candy, the best role of his career. The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma wraps up its John Hughes Tribute Month at 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 30.

On the Edge: Filmmaker Steev Hise will be around to discuss his documentary about the murders of young women in Ciudad Juarez that have been going on unabated for years. As part of USD’s Border Film Week, the movie screens at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 31, at Warren Auditorium on the USD campus. Free.

American Astronaut: A vintagelooking black-and-white cowboy space musical written, directed and starring Cory McAbee of The Billy Nayer Show fame? Hell yeah. Screens at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 31, at Art Produce Gallery in North Park.

My Run: Documentary about Terry Hitchcock, a 57-year-old man who ran 75 marathons in 75 days to raise awareness about breast cancer. Narrated by Billy Bob Thornton, it screens at several area theaters at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 31. Visit fathomevents.com for locations and tickets.

The Legend of the Pale Male: Documentary about a young Belgian who spends two decades documenting the life of a rare NYC hawk. It includes just as much triumph, disappointment and heartbreak as any human being’s life. Screens at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 1, at the Sierra Club office, 8304 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. in Kearny Mesa. Free.

To Catch a Dollar: This documentary looks at efforts to bring Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus’ microloan program to the United States. Screens at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 31, at Reading Gaslamp Cinemas.

Tangled: Disney’s take on Rapunzel is surprisingly terrific. Mandy Moore is the singing princess, Zachary Levi the dashing thief, and they’re both upstaged by an animated horse. Screens at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 1 and 2, at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills.

Harvey: James Stewart has a friend— an enormous invisible rabbit. Is he crazy, or is the rest of the world nuts? Screens at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 2, at Reading Gaslamp Cinemas.

Enter the Void: In Japan, a murdered drug dealer watches over his stripper sister in the uncut, no-oneunder-18-admitted version of Gaspar Noé’s serious mindbender. Screens, appropriately, at midnight, Saturday, April 2, at the Ken Cinema.

Catfish: When a New York City photographer visits a Michigan family he’s gotten to know via Facebook, he finds something entirely different than what he expected. This documentary about internet deception has some viewers wondering if the entire movie is a faade—the filmmakers, however, insist it’s all true. Screens at 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 4, at the Central Library, Downtown. Free.

Office Space: Sounds like someone’s got a case of the Mondays. Er, Wednesdays. Mike Judge’s look at cubicle hell is still painfully hilarious. Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

NOW PLAYING

Certified Copy: In Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami’s first feature made outside of Iran, Juliette Binoche plays a gallery owner who spends the day with a British intellectual, arguing over the value of original art versus reproductions.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules: The wimpy kid returns. This time, it’s his older brother he has to watch out for.

Happythankyoumoreplease: How I Met Your Mother’s Josh Radnor pulls a Zach Braff, writing, directing and starring in a film about young people trying to find themselves. Ends March 31 at the Hillcrest Cinemas.

A Somewhat Gentle Man: Stellan Skarsgrd tries to pull his life together after spending a long stretch behind bars. Consider it a dark comedy. Ends March 31 at the Ken Cinema.

Sucker Punch: The new one from Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) features a whole lot of skimpily clad young things beating the hell out of the bad guys in an effort to bust out of the loony bin.

Jane Eyre: Director Cary Fukunaga’s new take on Charlotte Bronte’s proto-feminist classic is dark and gothic, featuring terrific performances from Mia Wasikowsla and Michael Fassbender as Jane and Rochester, respectively.

Limitless: Bradley Cooper takes a drug that allows him to use 100 percent of his brain. Basically, he becomes Charlie Sheen.

The Lincoln Lawyer: Matthew McConaughey is a sleazy lawyer whose office is the back of his town car.
Lord of the Dance 3-D: Not a joke.

Paul: Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s new ode to Spielberg doesn’t have the same energy as their collaborations with Edgar Wright, but it’s packed full of jokes and references the sci-fi faithful will treasure.

Tornado Alley: This new IMAX film, which travels into twisters with some professional storm chasers, has to be better than Twister, the movie.

Battle: Los Angeles: Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez and Ne-Yo fight off an alien invasion. That’s not meant to be an immigration allegory.

The Last Lions: New National Geographic documentary about the plight of the jungle kings, whose population has dwindled from the half-million who lived in Africa 50 years ago to just over 20,000 today. Ends March 31 at the Hillcrest and La Jolla Village cinemas.

Mars Needs Moms: It takes an alien abduction to make this kid finally appreciate his mother. Of course, it’s animated, and, of course, it’s in 3-D.

Of Gods and Men: Based on the actual events, Xavier Beauvois’ film about eight French monks serving in Algeria during the rise of Islamic extremism is an extraordinarily insightful and moving examination into the nature of faith, shot through a secular lens.

Red Riding Hood: Catherine Hardwicke’s first film since Twilight is a re-imagining of the classic fairy tale. Amanda Seyfried is Valerie, a girl whose medieval village is stalked by a werewolf.

The Adjustment Bureau: Matt Damon is an aspiring politician who unwittingly discovers the difference between free will and predestination. The adaptation of the Phillip K. Dick short story doesn’t always work, but the chemistry between Damon and Emily Blunt is nice.

Beastly: Alex Pettyfer is a nasty, good-looking high-schooler who torments goth-y Mary-Kate Olsen. turns out she’s a witch. Bad move, dude.

Rango: Johnny Depp voices an animated lizard forced to save a western town from bandits. Directed by Gore Verbinski, who catapulted Depp’s asking price with the first two Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Take Me Home Tonight: A soundtrack in search of a movie. Topher Grace is an MIT grad working in a video store who lies about his job when he runs into his high-school crush. It totally works—until she finds out the truth.

Even the Rain: A crew of filmmakers, including Gael Garcia Bernal and Luis Tosar, is making a movie in Bolivia about Christopher Columbus. Getting in their way is a local uprising about water rights, which just happens to parallel the Indians’ struggle against the Spanish 500 years prior. Ends March 31 at Hillcrest Cinemas.

Hall Pass: Best friends Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis are given one week off from their marriages, no questions asked, in the new Farrelly brothers movie.

Cedar Rapids: Yes, it’s another raunchy, R-rated film, but Ed Helms brings a lot of heart to his first leading role. It’s occasionally predicable, but this story of an insurance salesman who’s finally leaving his small town for the bright lights of Cedar Rapids, isn’t stupid. John C. Reilly shines as a dirty-joke factory.

Gnomeo & Juliet: If it sounds like a CGI-animated cartoon, that’s because it is one. James McAvoy and Emily Blunt voice garden gnomes who have the hots for each other.

Just Go with It: It had to happen. Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston make a romantic comedy.

True Grit: The Coen brothers adapt Clinton Portis’ novel, with Jeff Bridges playing Rooster Cogburn, the part that earned John Wayne his only Oscar.

The Fighter: For some, the acting of Christian Bale and Melissa Leo in David O. Russell’s working-class boxing movie is authentic and real. For others, it’s scenery-chewing.

The King’s Speech: Though he should have taken a walk to the podium this year, Colin Firth will probably win an Oscar for playing King George VI, the monarch who led his people into WWII despite his almost-crippling stammer. Geoffrey Rush is great as his speech therapist.

Black Swan: Natalie Portman has to find both sides of herself as a ballerina obsessed with playing the lead in Swan Lake in the new one from Darren Aronofsky. Well-directed, beautifully shot, completely bonkers. Ends March 24 at Hillcrest Cinemas.

Galapagos: An IMAX look at the islands and the animals that made Charles Darwin famous. We’re most fond of the blue-footed boobie. At the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park.

Hubble: Leonardo DiCaprio lends his pipes to this IMAX film, which uses CGI and real footage to take a close look at saturn’s rings. Just stay away from Uranus. At the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show: The camp classic continues its ongoing run, Fridays at midnight at La Paloma Theatre in Encinitas.