DCist’s highly selective, subjective, and partially recycled guide to some of the most interesting movies playing in town in the coming week.
—
Monica Vitti in Red Desert (Rizzoli/Springer/Photofest)The National Gallery’s tribute to Michelangelo Antonionio hits its stride this weekend with three of the director’s finest works, all of which feature his muse Monica Vitti. La Notte (1961) looks at a day in the life of a modern marriage and stars two of the icons of art cinema, Jean Moreau and Marcello Mastroianni. L’Eclisse (1962), which is probably the best film playing in the tri-state area this weekend, stars Vitti and Alain Delon and finishes off Antonioni’s great trilogy, with the stark montage of images that end the film a powerful summation of the alienation of modern life. Environmental issues come to play as Antonioni sheds the black and white frame for color in Red Desert (1964), which pairs Vitti with Richard Harris in a film that continues Antonioni’s exploration of industrial landscape as a metaphor for existential crisis. But don’t let that scare you away. Antonioni’s films of this period find a devastating beauty amid the visual bleakness, and great emotional power in his characters’ reticence.
View the trailer for L’Eclisse.
La Notte screens Saturday, September 1 at 2:30 pm. L’Eclisse screens Sunday, September 2 at 2:00 pm. Red Desert screens Monday, September 3 at 2:30 pm. At the National Gallery of Art. Free.
—
Bruce Boxleitner and Cindy Morgan in Tron. Viewmaster scan courtesy of Neatocoolville.This summer’s installment of the AFI’s popular 1980s series overlaps with their 70mm series with this dated but gorgeous entertainment. When I wrote about the screening last summer, I noted that the 70mm format in which Tron was shot is a higher-resolution format than the standard 35mm in which most theatrical films are shot and projected, but even a year ago film prints were on their way out, and now are the exception rather than the rule. All the more reason to check out the stunning 70mm print the AFI is showing this weekend. The film combines then-new computer technology with a visual style that recalls the silent era. Computer-world sequences were filmed in black and white and then selectively colored, giving the bland, deadpan face of Bruce Boxleitner a quality that almost recalls the stone puss of Buster Keaton. The effects may seem cheesy today — but it’s far more charming and visually elegant than the busy CGI of the reboot. Note to fans of high-resolution projection: due to rights issues, the AFI had to cancel this weekend’s planned screenings of Otto Preminger’s Porgy and Bess. But the theater will be showing Paul Thomas Anderson’s highly anticipated The Master in 70mm starting September 21st.
View the trailer.
Friday through Monday at the AFI.
—
Roger Moore and Richard Kiel.Roger Moore is not the best-loved Bond, but his third time out as 007 is as entertaining as any in the series, thanks to a vivacious KGB agent (Barbara Bach) and one of the iconic Bond villains, character actor Richard Kiel’s Jaws. The movie celebrates its 35th anniversary this year. Where are they now? Moore has dedicated much of his post-Bond career to UNICEF; Barbara Bach is still married to Ringo Starr; and Richard Kiel co-wrote a historical novel about plantation owner Cassius Clay, whose efforts to end slavery inspired Muhammad Ali. If you’re fortunate enough to see one of Richard Kiel’s personal appearances, he’ll be happy to pretend to crush your puny head with his giant paws.
View the trailer.
Saturday and Sunday at the AFI.
—
Khrustalyov, My Car! (Pyramide International)Aleksi Guerman: War and Remembrance
This weekend the National Gallery launches the first North American retrospective of a well-regarded Russian director who is barely known in the West. His 1998 film Khrustalyov, My Car!, is set in a bleak Moscow winter circa 1953. The film, ” constructs the narrative around a surgeon whose life is ruined by the so-called ‘doctors’ plot,’ in which predominantly Jewish Moscow doctors were accused of conspiring to assassinate Soviet leaders.”
View a clip from Khrustalyov, My Car!
Sunday, September 2 at 4:30 at the National Gallery of Art. Free.
—
Salman Khan and Katrina KaifWhile the AFI has spent the past month celebrating Spy Cinema, the Loehmann’s Twin in Falls Church offers espionage, Bollywood style with this romantic action thriller starring bad boy Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif. Both of the Loehmann’s screens are dedicated to recent fare from one of the world’s most prolific movie machines. Access Bollywood has little enthusiasm for the movie, lamenting that, “feels like something I’ve seen a dozen times before,” but most Western audiences probably haven’t seen any of them, so if you’ve seen all the action in town and feel like an unfamiliar adventure, why not check out the lastest from an actor who has been described as Indian Steven Seagal.
View the trailer.
Opens Friday at the Loehmann’s Twin, 7291 Arlington Blvd, Falls Church, VA
—
Also opening this week, comedian turned playwright turned director Mike Birbiglia’s autobiographical fiction, Sleepwalk with Me, produced by Ira Glass. We’ll have a full review tomorrow. Also stay tuned for DCist coverage of the DC Shorts Film Festival.
