Popcorn & Candy is DCist’s selective and subjective guide to some of the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week.
(Oscilloscope)
Everybody loves cat videos—even Werner Herzog. Director Ceyda Torun ups the animal ante with this feature-length look at the street cats of Istanbul, following a series of feline characters that have established territories in various establishments around the city. You may think 90 minutes is too much cat video. Come for the cats, stay for the observation of an ancient city and its struggle with gentrification.
Watch the trailer.
Opens tomorrow at Landmark E Street Cinema
(The Criterion Collection)
This weekend, the Iranian Film Festival‘s Abbas Kiarostami retrospective wraps up at the National Gallery of Art with a 35mm print of the late director’s mid-career masterpiece. The film follows Mr. Badii (Homayoun Ershadi) in his search for someone who will promise to bury him after his planned suicide. Like much of Kiarostami’s best work, Taste of Cherry is simple yet provocative. This weekend the festival also offers a 35mm print of Certified Copy (February 25 at 1:15 p.m. at the AFI Silver), starring Juliette Binoche. The 2010 film, which we reviewed here, marked the first time that Kiarostami worked outside of Iran. Finally, the AFI will show a digital presentation package of Kiarostami’s final film, Like Someone in Love (February 25 at 3:30 pm) which we reviewed here.
Watch the trailer.
Saturday, February 25 at 4:30 p.m. at the National Gallery of Art. Free.
Harry Belafonte (Photofest)
The series Alternate Takes: Jazz and Film continues at the National Gallery of Art this weekend with a 35mm print of Robert Altman’s 1996 crime drama set amid a legendary jazz scene in the 1930s. Kansas City has never had a great reputation in Altman’s inconsistent oeuvre, but its soundtrack features lively performances from jazz all-stars James Carter, David Murray, and Don Byron, all of whom appear in the film.
Watch the trailer.
Friday, February 24 at 12:30 p.m. at the National Gallery of Art. Free.
(Wallpaper Abyss)
I’ll let the Washington Psychotronic Film Society describe this 1999 exploitation film: “Film school students go to New Orleans and spend the budget on alcohol. MacGuffin, a deranged occultist, rendered paraplegic by overzealous Mardi Gras revelers, performs an ancient Sumerian ritual that raises Zombie! from his grave. Zombie! embarks on a killing spree in New Orleans during the Mardi Gras festivities. In black-and-white, beads and human entrails look a lot alike. Galileo, recently pardoned by the Pope, arrives from Purgatory to help chase down the menace. Science!”
Monday, February 27 at 8 p.m. at Smoke and Barrel.
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Also opening this week, Jordan Peele’s directorial debut Get Out. We’ll have a full review tomorrow.
