Weekend Film Agenda: November 14
Climates, part of SIFF's Zeitgeist series
- Zeitgeist Films is an independent film distributor that for 20 years has been presenting the best of world cinema, reviving the movies of established master filmmakers like Jacques Demy and Derek Jarman, as well as providing a launching pad for current creative artists like Todd Haynes and one of my favorites, Guy Maddin. SIFF Cinema pays tribute to Zeitgeist with two weeks of their films, starting this Friday with the lovely Umbrellas of Cherbourg, the complicated romantic musical that established a young Catherine Deneuve as an international star for her turn as a young woman whose seemingly simple love affair creates complications for everyone in her orbit. Saturday sees screening of Guy Maddin’s deliriously fun Careful along with two of his short films, The Heart of the World and My Dad is 100 Years Old. Naturalistic documentary Into Great Silence, about an austere monastery in the French Alps, and film-within-a-film satire on French cinema Irma Vep play Sunday and Monday. Tuesday is Manufacturing Consent, an examination of the ideas of Noam Chomsky, Wednesday is Climates, a film about loneliness, loss, and love gone awry on the beautiful Aegean coast, and Thursday brings Francois Orzon’s nailbiting thriller, See the Sea, particularly recommended to anyone who enjoyed his Swimming Pool and Under the Sand.
- SIFF’s Films4Families series continues Saturday morning with To Kill a Mockingbird, the classic film rendering of Harper Lee’s classic novel, starring Gregory Peck in a masterful performance as a man driven to do the right thing no matter the cost. This is an exceptionally good movie choice for parents of kids in the upper years of grade school or the early years of junior high who will find the film an excellent springboard for discussions about morality and manners.
- NWFF kicks off their own excellent film series on Friday night with a reception for their Festival of New Cinema from Spain. In recent years, Spain has become a true hotbed of cinematic creativity with a host of artists pursuing a wide variety visions and challenges. An eclectic selection of films includes opening night feature Under the Stars which combines family drama with a depiction of the surprising friendship between two completely different people. Other films in the series include a surreal exploration of the self in Me, a struggle to dust off the relics of the past and transform them into a brighter future with Seven Billiard Tables, a collection of refreshingly original shorts, the ineffable joy of falling in love In the City of Sylvia, and more.
- Halloween’s been over for a while now, but horror fans can still get some thrills at The Grand Illusion with a pair of Stuart Gordon flicks from the 80s: The Re-Animator and From Beyond, both adapted from HP Lovecraft stories and best appreciated by those with a strong stomach for gore.
- Swing by the Grand Illusion late nights this weekend for 1976 “blaxploitation” shocker Dr. Black & Mr. Hyde, both cheesy and creepy.
- Who you gonna call late night at the Egyptian this weekend? Ghostbusters, of course. Oh, sure, the special effects that seemed so nifty at the time of its original release look majorly schlocky now but the goofy charm remains as strong as ever in this movie where every character is perfectly played.
To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the few films where I read the book first and then the movie was exactly as I had imagined it from the book. Both are excellent.