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Meru, directed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
Meru, directed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi

Meru, directed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi

(R, 87 minutes)

This breathtaking, harrowing and beautiful documentary combines the stark drama of climbing the vertical Shark's Fin rock wall on Mount Meru in northern India with an intriguing personal narrative of the athletes who take on such a daunting challenge.

In 2008, climbers Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk attempted to scale Meru, a daunting 21,850-foot Himalayan mountain. Their planned seven-day trip quickly devolved into a 20-day slog in subzero temperatures with dwindling food rations. Within 100 meters of the elusive summit, their journey -- like all previous attempts -- fell short of the goal. The defeated trio returned to their everyday lives.

But by September 2011, Anker persuaded his team to reunite and attack the Shark's Fin once more, under even more extraordinary circumstances. This is the story of their return.

The Blu-ray and DVD include commentaries by Anker, Chin and co-director Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, interviews with the filmmakers and additional footage captured on Mount Meru.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (PG-13, 116 minutes) A charmless, unappealing and unnecessary revisiting of the well-regarded Man From U.N.C.L.E. TV series from 1964-1968. Here we have Henry Cavill as smart-alecky CIA agent Napoleon Solo, who must work with arrogant and uncooperative KGB agent Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) along with Gaby (Alicia Vikander), the cheeky daughter of a vanished German scientist, to stop an international criminal organization bent on worldwide devastation. Yawn. With Hugh Grant, Jared Harris; directed by Guy Ritchie.

Jimmy's Hall (PG-13, 106 minutes) Another depressing, dreary Irish historical drama from Ken Loach in which mover-and-shaker Jimmy Gralton (Barry Ward), who builds a rural dance hall and community gathering place for young people in 1921, is made by politicians and clergy to atone for his socialist and free-spirited ways. With Simone Kirby, Andrew Scott.

Trash (R, 112 minutes) A violent and energetic coming-of-age mystery thriller in which three kids, exploring the contents of a Brazilian slum's garbage dump, end up running from the law and trying to right a devastating wrong. With Rooney Mara, Martin Sheen; directed by Stephen Daldry. Based on the young adult novel by Andy Mulligan.

Pay the Ghost (unrated, 94 minutes) An unthrilling, mucky and predictable attempt at terror, Pay the Ghost concerns the young son of English professor Mike Cole (Nicolas Cage) who is abducted from a Halloween parade in New York. Haunted by memories and recurring visions after the horrific event, Cole joins forces with his estranged wife, Kristen (Sarah Wayne Callies), to find their missing child. A vengeful spirit may be at fault. With Lyriq Bent, Erin Boyes, Sofia Wells; directed by Uli Edel.

The Final Girls (PG-13, 88 minutes) An entertainingly modern horror satire that respects classic slasher conventions in which teenage Max (Taissa Farmiga), who's trying to get over the accidental death of her mother Amanda (Malin Akerman), an often struggling star of cheesy horror films in the 1980s, is dragged into the world of Camp Bloodbath, her mother's most notorious movie. With Nina Dobrev, Malin Akerman, Adam DeVine; directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson.

MovieStyle on 11/20/2015

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