Popcorn & Candy is DCist’s selective and subjective guide to some of the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week.
(GKIDS)
After accidentally killing his alcoholic single mother, Icare (or “Zucchini,” as mom called him) is sent to an orphanage, where he keeps a beer can as a memento of his abuser. His fellow orphans each have a bleak story and form a tenuous bond that is shaken when new girl Camille shows up at the door. An Oscar also-ran in the Animated Feature category, Zucchini boasts well-designed puppets, effective stop-motion animation, and a score that avoids the usual pitfalls of cloying children’s movies (props to whoever dug out Swiss Wave obscurity “Eisbar“). Yet if this sounds like grim fare for kids, it is, and the film’s happy ending is conflicted. Still, the animation is more distinct and impressive than any of its fellow nominees. Note: the French-language original will be screened for evening shows, while matinees will feature the English dubbed version, with voice talent by Will Forte, Nick Offerman, Ellen Page, and Amy Sedaris).
Watch the trailer.
Opens tomorrow at Landmark E Street Cinema.
(Chicago Irish Film Festival)
The trapped-in-an-elevator trope is a time-honored device for television shows that need to put together an episode on the quick and cheap. Irish director Conor Armstrong Sanfey takes the premise for his feature debut, a comic thriller set in motion after a man attacks a security guard in a high-rise office building. The movie is part of the Capital Irish Film Festival, presented by Solas Nua. The four-day program, which opens tonight, features new documentaries and feature films from Ireland, including an encore presentation of last year’s sleeper hit Sing Street.
Watch the trailer for Lift.
Friday, March 3 at 7:15 at the AFI Silver. Producer/screenwriter/star Kealan Ryan will be at the screening for a Q&A.
Jackie MacLean (Alchetron)
The National Gallery of Art’s jazz film series continues with a 35mm print of director Shirley Clarke’s 1962 film about addicts anxiously waiting for their West Village dealer. Adapted from Jack Gelber’s Living Theater play, the film stars pianist-composer Freddie Redd and alto sax great Jackie McLean. Banned on its release, presumably due to its strong language, the movie has been lovingly restored.
Watch the trailer.
Sunday, March 4 at 3 p.m. at the National Gallery of Art, East Building Auditorium.
Courtesy of the Freer
WINDOW HORSES: THE POETIC PERSIAN EPIPHANY OF ROSIE MING
As part of its celebration of Nowruz, the Persian New Year, the S. Dillon Ripley Center screens Asian-Canadian director Anne Marie Fleming’s animated film about a struggling writer who attends a poetry festival in Iran. With the voice talents of Sandra Oh, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Ellen Page, and others.
Watch the trailer.
Sunday, March 5 at 3 p.m. at the S. Dillon Ripley Center, 1100 Jefferson Dr SW. Free.
Elke Sommer and Michael York (Toutlecine)
In anticipation of a Library of Congress exhibit commemorating the centenary of World War I, The Mary Pickford Theatre screens a pair of lesser-known movies that address the Great War. In this 1971 adventure film directed by Etienne Perier, a British spy (Michael York) tries to foil German plans to use a new kind of airship. With Elke Sommer as the British spy’s German love interest, and a special effects team that had worked on 2001: A Space Odyssey three years earlier.
Watch the trailer.
Thursday, March 9 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.
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Also opening this week, Hugh Jackman stars in the Marvel Comics entertainment Logan. We’ll have a full review tomorrow.
