DCist’s highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week.
What it is: The story of one self-centered young slacker who is trying to win the heart of the manic pixie girl of his dreams by facing and defeating in battle her seven evil exes. You know. Standard rom-com fare.
Why you want to see it: Yes, I realize this came out less than a year ago and failed miserably, so why is E Street putting it back on a big screen, and why am I moving it right up to the top of this week’s column? Because E Street is savvy enough to suspect the same thing that many fans and critics (myself included) thought when this movie came out: it’s got cult hit written all over it, even if it was made with big-time studio money. The endless quotability, fast pace, off-kilter jokes that remain hilarious no matter how many times you see them (things like the bit with the infinity refrigerator magnet, and Scott’s horrified reaction to the dangers of carb-loading crack me up every time), and the geeky comic book/video game basis for the story and the storytelling style all make this exactly the kind of movie that, if you like it, you’ll want to watch it again and again. This is a perfect fit for a midnight movie, and I’m glad to see that E Street is putting it into that rotation so soon after its release.
If you want to check my more long-winded thoughts on the film, check out my review from last summer.
View the trailer.
Friday and Saturday night at midnight at E Street.
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Run if You Can (German Youth in Film Series)
What it is: A love triangle develops when both a wheelchair-bound young man and his male caregiver develop feelings for the same girl, an awkward cellist who becomes friends with them both.
Why you want to see it: The Goethe-Institut always does an excellent job at bringing German films that local audiences would otherwise never get a chance to see to D.C. Run if You Can kicks of the latest of those, “Growing Up: German Youth in Film,” which has four recent German films, two narrative features and two documentaries, that all address issues related to being a young adult in Germany today.
View the trailer.
Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the Goethe-Institut. $7. Films in the overall series continue each Monday for the next four weeks.
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What it is: A documentary about the last generation of Russians, now adults, to remember what it was like growing up in a Soviet Russia.
Why you want to see it: This was one of my favorite entries in last year’s Silverdocs festival, as director Robin Hessman provides a compelling blend of home movies and archival propaganda films to go along with the footage of these adults, many of whom have had difficulties making the transition from the country of their youth to what Russia is now. Their own difficulties mirror those of the country as a whole, and the film becomes a fascinating exercise in watching history unfold at the most basic, individual level.
View the trailer.
Sunday at 5 p.m. at the National Gallery of Art. Free. And if you can’t make it to that screening, it’ll have a theatrical run at West End starting May 13.
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What it is: Each year, small bands of soon-to-be-sleep-deprived filmmakers meet up, are given a a few parameters for a short film they’re to make, and then are turned loose to make their film — write it, cast it, shoot it, edit it — over the course of two frantic days.
Why you want to see it: The results are, as one might expect, fairly spotty. But going to the screenings can be fun for a few reasons. Seeing the film crews thrilled at their creations screening a place like the AFI is one. Catching the unexpected flashes of some really great moments in these films is another. There’s a rush being around all that manic creativity that often makes up for the less impressive pieces, and at the very least, the films are short, so there will be something new onscreen pretty soon if you catch a film you’re not so thrilled with.
Crews will be filming all over the area this weekend, and the results will screen at the AFI beginning on Tuesday and ending on Friday.
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What it is: Based on the true story of four combat photographers who formed the titular club, and who did most of their work shooting the conflicts that marked the end of apartheid in South Africa. Two of them won Pulitzers.
Why you want to see it: Honestly, the film itself is a little spotty (read my full review at NPR), and goes for easy archetypes in characterizing most of these four men, preferring to concentrate mostly on the story of Greg Marinovich (Ryan Phillippe), rather than making it more of an ensemble piece about the stories of all four. But, it does convey a very real sense of the danger and bravery (sometimes presented as adrenaline junkie addiction) that these photographers face. Given the recent deaths of photo journalists Chris Hondros and Tim Hetherington — the latter, the director of one of last year’s finest documentaries, Restrepo — it’s a unfortunately timely reminder of those dangers, even if one wishes the film itself could be better.
View the trailer.
Opens today at West End Cinema.
