Things to do in Los Angeles this Saturday

With his white-knuckle sci-fi thriller Gravity, Mexican auteur Alfonso Cuarón extracted an intimate character study from the vastness of outer space. Now he goes in reverse: In his deeply personal b&w marvel Roma, Cuarón—a director of erotic road-trips (Y Tu Mamá También), dystopian thrillers (Children of Men) and The Prisoner of Azkaban, the finest entry in the Harry Potter series—unhurriedly observes the smallest parts first, before expanding to gradually reveal the social and political canvas of 1970s Mexico City, where he grew up in a middle-class neighborhood called Roma. A sober and autobiographical elegy about his childhood and the women who raised him (one hardworking live-in maid in particular), Roma coalesces out of episodic recollections, digitally filmed with a crisp, grain-free appearance for unsentimental visual conviction. The domestic helper at the heart of the story is the gentle-natured Cleo (exceptionally talented newcomer Yalitza Aparicio), who works for the affectionate but occasionally livid Sofia (Marina de Tavira, terrific and understated) and the rest of her family. Through transfixing long takes that capture the monotony of Cleo’s chores, Cuarón dotingly honors Cleo’s unsung rituals (just as Chantal Akerman did in her 1975 feminist classic Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels): cleaning, looking after Sofia’s lively four children whom she loves like her own, interacting with her best friend and co-worker Adela (Nancy García García), going

Burnishing old-school, kite-flying, Cockney-cavorting nostalgia to a high gloss, Disney’s improbable sequel—coming a full 54 years after the original fantasy—is a risk that pays off, magically. Mary Poppins Returns is a defiantly backward-glancing musical, not only in its gaslit 1930s London (the days of the “Great Slump,” as we learn), but also via its orchestral sweep, supplied by ace composer-lyricists Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, who nail the retro mood. And still, even though this is a treat for audiences of a certain age, flashes of modernity sneak through in Emily Blunt’s side-eye wink of a starring turn, purring through her impeccable pronunciation. “One never discusses a woman’s age,” she snaps at the mystified now-grown-up family she all but re-adopts as her new personal project when, a generation later, her nannying is needed. Mary’s umbrella-assisted descent from the heavens is a stand-up-and-cheer moment (as is a fleet-footed cameo by 92-year-old Dick Van Dyke), but there’s a deeper satisfaction in the songcraft that gives a thirtysomething Michael Banks (Ben Whishaw) the quiet, McCartney–esque “A Conversation,” pitched amid his grief and loneliness. He's a widower. That is to say, there are kids in this update (a trio of relentlessly upbeat adorables) but they’re incidental to the real kids: lost adults who can’t get a handle on life’s realities. Like the 1964 landmark, the new movie vibrates with economic anxiety—this time, the threat comes from house repo

The opening credit sequence artfully mimics the reassuring tone of Disney does Rodgers and Hammerstein and introduces the diminutive heroes, third-graders Stan, Cartman, Kenny and Kyle. Their first port of call, however, is a movie house, where they bribe a bum to walk them into the R-rated comedy 'Asses of Fire', starring the scatological Canadian clowns Terrance and Philip. The boys emerge with a new vocabulary they can't wait to show off, and pressing questions about the nature of the clitoris. The first half hour aims low and rarely misses. A below-the-(Bible-)belt satiric assault on the pieties of the censorship brigade, this feature spinoff from the animated TV series takes no prisoners, and blows gratuitous raspberries at the Baldwin brothers, Saddam Hussein and Winona Ryder among others. Genuinely outrageous and sometimes hilarious - but size does eventually matter, and all-rounder Trey Parker just can't keep it up for the full 81 minutes.

NASA's next era will be its greatest yet. That is the clear "roadmap" painted by Journey To Space. The film showcases the exciting plans NASA and the space community are working on, and the challenges they must overcome to carry out audacious missions.

Pandas are beloved around the world, and now they are coming to the big screen in the IMAX® original film "Pandas," a breathtaking documentary adventure and amazing experience for the whole family. At Chengdu Panda Base in China, scientists are dedicated to protecting the species by breeding adult Giant Pandas in order to introduce cubs into the wild. This film follows one such researcher, whose passion leads her to initiate a new technique inspired by a black bear program in rural New Hampshire. What starts as a cross-culture collaboration becomes a life-changing journey for an American biologist who crosses an ocean to join her; a scientist from Inner Mongolia; and a very curious female cub named Qian Qian, born in captivity. Captured with IMAX® Cameras, join Qian Qian on an exciting new adventure in the mountains of Sichuan as she takes her first steps outside her protected habitat, discovering her true animal nature... even as she faces the challenges of the unknown.