Movies about the everlasting love of vampires and the troubled life of a nymphomaniac open June 6 at the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center. Also showing for a second week if Jim Mickle’s “Cold in July.”
Jim Jarmusch’s “Only Lovers Left Alive” is about two fragile and sensitive vampires, Adam (played by Tom Hiddleston) and Eve (Tilda Swinton), who have been lovers all their lives.
Adam, a reclusive underground musician hiding out in the ruins of contemporary Detroit, despairs about human civilization’s decline and worries about future survival. Eve, takes a longer view of history and is more optimistic. She leaves her home in the ancient city of Tangier to come to his side. The two are eventually threatened by the uninvited arrival of Eve’s carefree and uncontrollable little sister Ava, played by Mia Wasikowska, who hasn’t yet learned to tame her wilder instincts.
Director Lars Von Trier’s “Nymphomaniac” is divided into two movies, both featuring Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourgh), a self-diagnosed sex addict.
In volume one, Joe is discovered badly beaten in an alley by an older bachelor, Seligman (Stellan Skarsgård). Seligman takes Joe into his home. As he tends to her wounds, she recounts the erotic story of her adolescence and young-adulthood.
The second volume of “Nymphomaniac” picks up with the story of Joe’s adulthood, where her journey of self-discovery leads to darker complications.
Mickle’s film “Cold In July” is about an unlikely vigilante trio played by film stars Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard and Don Johnson.
After accidentally killing an unarmed intruder, Richard Dane, played by Hall, must contend with the man’s angry father, Ben Russell, played by Shepard. Dane, however, begins to suspect that cop Ray Price may be hiding information from him that would indicate that he was involved in something much more complicated.
Twists and turns continue to pile up as the film reaches inevitable conclusion – a gore-soaked dead end.
All four movies play through June 19.
“Only Lovers Left Alive” is rated R. The first two volumes of “Nymphomaniac” are not rated but contain explicit sexual and violent content. “Cold in July” is also not rated.
For more information on films at the Ross, go to http://www.theross.org or call 402-472-5353.
