Angelina and Brad Star in ‘By the Sea’; ”Sunset Baby’ Continues Run at City (Tues., 11/24/15)

1) By the Sea – Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt star in this romantic drama … written and directed by Jolie. The two haven’t appeared together in a movie since 2005’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith – it was on that shoot they met and fell in love. This time they’re playing a married couple in the 1970’s. She’s a former dancer and he’s a writer and the two have been going through a few rough patches. As a last-ditch attempt to save their marriage they take a vacation in out-of-the-way European towns where in one they encounter eccentric villagers. Don’t know if it’ll be any good, but they’re beautiful and it was filmed in Malta, which is also beautiful, so if nothing else it’ll be a good-looking movie. Check Fandango for screens and times. (TH)

2) To get in the mood for Sunset Baby, try listening to Gil Scott-Heron’s 1970 anthem “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” As it turned out, many aspects of that era’s black liberation movement were in fact televised, media-analyzed, and, ultimately, marginalized. Dominique Morisseau’s 2013 play explores the failures and unfinished business that have resulted. Set in the present, Sunset Baby concerns a former activist who pays a visit to the now-grown daughter he once abandoned. She’s living a low life that appalls him; he tries to preach the ideology that had inspired him; she lashes back. Amid the fireworks, the play digs into the personal issues that can’t be separated from social issues—specifically, those arising between a parent and child, both of whom are flawed, as we humans tend to be. 7 p.m. Performances through December 13. City Theatre is presenting Sunset Baby in the Hamburg Studio Theatre adjacent to 1300 Bingham St., South Side. (MV)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYDGecOfkj0

3) Miss You Already – A throwback to what used to be called a “woman’s picture”, this looks like a Beaches for a new millennium. Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette star as two women who’ve been friends from childhood. Inseparable since, their friendship is severely tested as the two hit middle age and life gets in the way. Jess (Barrymore) and her husband Kit, played by Dominic Cooper, finally conceive a much longed-for child at the same time that Milly (Collette) is diagnosed with cancer. Paddy Considine also stars, along with a rare appearance by Jacqueline Bisset. Catherine Hardwicke directs this four-hankie weeper. Check Fandango for screens and times.

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