Film Shorts: Valley Cinemas, Streaming, the Worx, and Beyond

It must be a particularly galling fact to members of the political right that few humorists are conservative. For the lefties, there is a host of comedic news sources all week long that preach to their choir.

On most week nights at Comedy Central there is The Daily Show, recently taken over by a South African comic named Trevor Noah. He did all right his first week out.

Around 11:30 you can turn to CBS for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. While taking on the trappings of the moribund talk show, the program includes the equivalent amount of satire carried over from the old show.

On Fridays, HBO is host to Real Time with Bill Maher, with the libertarian comic mixing it up with both liberals and conservatives. And then on Sunday, HBO also has Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, arguably the best of these shows from the political angle because he does long segments on issues that surprise the hell out of you. These programs have one thing in common: they are biased. And that's a good thing. Journalism, even "fake" journalism, is stronger when it has a point, a thesis, an argument to make. Be it Donald Trump's psychedelic campaign, the pizza-toting subway rat, or the immigrant crisis in Europe, these comedians-turned-"America's most trusted news dispensers," can tell a rounded, sometimes cynical account of the news that lacks the spin that varnishes over the news on the mainstream news networks that are afraid to annoy viewers, much less challenge them, or – in short – tell them how the world really works.

The Valley Cinemas is holding over the two films from last week. People must like them.

Based on a surprise hit self-published novel, The Martian is a fun, suspenseful tale of a man left behind on Mars after the rest of his team jumps ship. There's a Kubrick-style feel to the machinery in space, but in this story there are no villains – except nature, which as we all know, is out to get us.

Hotel Transylvania 2's tired yet frenzied jokes won't get much better the second week. If you have kids to entertain, however, certain sacrifices must be made from time to time.

The Worx, at 700 1/2 1st Ave N (406-228-4474), is offering Magic Mike XXX, which has a good first half but a sluggish second half. And speaking of beekcake, the store will also be featuring The Anomoly, which has one of the Hemsworths, Luke, in a suspense tale with the gimmick of the protagonist having but nine minutes to avoid being killed by a secret organization.

And continuing the theme of free horror films on YouTube, there is the interesting chamber piece, The Upturned Glass with James Mason as a neurosurgeon who plans the elaborate murder of the person who killed his lover. Mason is icy as the man of passion, but the final sequences have a dreamlike, if not nightmare-like quality.

Editor's note: If you'd like to see full reviews of everything showing in Valley County each week, please let us know by dropping us a line at [email protected].