Popcorn & Candy is DCist’s selective and subjective guide to some of the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week.
Peter Simonischek (Komplizen Film/Sony Pictures Classics)
My favorite movie of 2016 finally opens in Washington this weekend. As I wrote when it played in last fall’s European Union Showcase, “Mischievous retired teacher Winfried (Peter Simonischek) pays a surprise visit to his daughter Ines (Sandra Hüller), a businesswoman working in Romania. While dad’s antics seem to do little to endear him to his seemingly humorless daughter, he keeps trying. The notion of a nearly three-hour German comedy may not seem especially promising, but director Maren Ade’s film is unexpectedly hilarious and touching film…brace yourself for what is sure to be an inferior American remake starring Bill Murray.” Read LAist’s full review here.
Watch the trailer.
Opens tomorrow at Landmark Bethesda Row.
Richard Roundtree (Photofest)
This month, the intimate Mary Pickford Theatre at the Library of Congress showcases new 35mm prints of classic films that have been selected for the National Film Registry. Next week’s screening is this 1971 Blaxploitation classic that features Richard Roundtree and the iconic theme song by Isaac Hayes. The relatively low-budget film was a box office smash that rejuvenated MGM and inspired sequels and imitations throughout the ’70s and, in 2000, a remake starring Samuel L. Jackson. Disclosure: I work at the Library of Conrgess, but did not work on this program.
Watch the trailer.
Thursday, February 2 at 7 p.m. at the Mary Pickford Theatre, third floor of the Madison Building, Library of Congress. Free. Seating is on a first-come first-serve basis. Doors open at 6:30 pm.
(The Criterion Collection)
In conjunction with the National Gallery of Art exhibition Los Angeles to New York: Dwan Gallery, 1959-1971, the gallery continues its series of films selected by gallerist Virginia Dwan with a 35mm print of director Hiroshi Teshigahara’s minimalist masterpiece from 1964. Adapted from the novel by Kobo Abe, the film observes an entomologist (Eiji Okada) who takes shelter with a woman (Kyoko Kishida) who lives at the bottom of a sandpit.
Watch the trailer.
Sunday, January 29 at 4 p.m. at the National Gallery of Art, East Building Auditorium. Free.
Mohsen Namjoo (Reel Suspects)
Reseeing Iran: The 21st Annual Iranian Film Festival continues with this 2016 comedy starring Mohsen Namjoo, the musician dubbed “Iran’s Bob Dylan.” Namjoo stars as the program director of a Persian-language radio station in San Francisco. His daily programming is shaken by promises that the Afghan rock band Kabul Dreams (appearing as themselves) jamming on air with members of Metallica. Variety writes that the film is a “quietly satisfying gem” that treats “the subject of integration with such an enjoyably light touch.”
Watch the trailer.
Sunday, January 29 at 7:15 p.m. at the AFI Silver.
Gene Wilder (20th Century Fox)
Dick Dysel, aka television host Count Gore DeVol, returns to the AFI Silver this weekend to host a screening of Mel Brooks 1974 comedy about a mad scientist (Gene Wilder) and his horrible, tap-dancing creation (Peter Boyle). The program will include interactive games, prizes, and more!
Watch the trailer.
Saturday, January 28 at 7 p.m. at the AFi Silver.
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Also opening this week, The Red Turtle, an Oscar-nominated animated feature from Japan’s legendary Studio Ghibli. We’ll have a full review tomorrow.
