Dr. Strangelove, Cerrito, Thursday, 9:15. We like to look back at earlier decades as simpler, less fearful times, but Stanley Kubrick’s “nightmare comedy– reminds you just how scary things once were. Thank heaven we no longer have idiots like those running the country! It’s also very funny. A benefit for Theater Engage.
Notorious, Stanford, Friday through Sunday. One of Hitchcock’s best. In order to prove her patriotism, scandal-ridden Ingrid Bergman seduces, beds, and marries Claude Rains’ Nazi industrialist, while true love Cary Grant grimly watches. Sexy, romantic, thought-provoking, and scary enough to shorten your fingernails. On a double bill with The Philadelphia Story, a romantic comedy, also starring Grant, that I haven’t seen in a great many years.
The Magic of Georges Méliès, Pacific Film Archive, Saturday, 3:00. One could reasonably call this French magician the first artist of the cinema. His “trick” films certainly introduced the concept of what we now call special effects, and they’re amongst the earliest motion pictures to retain their intrinsic value as entertainment (as opposed to mere historical interest). The matinee will screen seven of his shorts, including his best-known movie, “A Trip to the Moon.” Part of the PFA’s ongoing series of Movie Matinees for All Ages.
The Violin, Roxie, Shattuck, ongoing. Francisco Vargas’ film of repression and rebellion opens with a brutal scene of torture and rape conducted by soldiers against their helples
s, bound victims. Don’t let the title deceive you; The Violin is not a musical. In telling us the story of an old farmer and violinist (Ãngel Tavira) secretly active in rebellion, Vargas denies us the comforts of conventional entertainment. The grainy black-and-white photography and the emphasis on motion and close-ups give The Violin an almost unbearable urgency. We don’t get to revel in the heroes’ victories, and laughter breaks the tension only once in this remarkable film. Click here for my full review.
Bayflicks 