B+ The Bridge On the River Kwai, Castro, Friday through Thursday. The longer it’s been since you’ve seen David Lean’s World War II adventure, the better it gets in your memory. That’s because the brilliant story of an over-proud British 
POW (Alec Guinness) sticks in the mind. But to see the actual movie again is to be reminded that the Col. Nicholson story is just a subplot (Guinness received third billing). The bulk of Kwai is a very well made but conventional action movie with some uncomfortably Hollywoodish elements. Remember the Burmese porters who all happen to be beautiful young women? But when it’s good, it’s excellent, and when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good. Columbia Pictures recently completed a new 4K restoration of Kwai, and the Castro will screen the film digitally.
Flash Gordon (1980 version), Pacific Film Archive, Friday, 9:00. I saw this campy remake of the 1930’s serial theatrically, maybe two years after its original release. I remember it being a lot of silly fun, and just sexy enough to avoid an R rating at a time when there was no PG-13. Definitely turn-off-the-brain fare. That original series was based on a comic book, which explains why the PFA is screening it as part of its Drawn from Life: The Graphic Novel on Film series.
C Yang Bang Xi: The Eight Model Works, Pacific Film Archive, Saturday, 6:30. China’s 
Cultural Revolution was a bleak time of horrible oppression, but at least it was colorful. Or so it seems in Yan-Ting Yuen’s documentary on the stage-and-screen musical extravaganzas that met Madame Mao’s cultural and political requirements. To modern American eyes, the clips from actual Yang Bang Xi movies walk a strange line between stunning choreography and unintentional hilarity, like Agnes DeMille meets her Uncle Cecil. But the modern interview sequences are hit and miss, and a couple of modern dance sequences shot for the movie seem forced. Most of all, I found myself wanting more information. When did the government start making these shows? When did they stop? Why were only eight films produced? I also wanted more of those outrageous clips.
A Shall We Dance, Stanford, Friday. Along with Top Hat and Swingtime, Shall We Dance represents the best of what Astaire and Rogers had to offer. The story–¦well, who cares about the story. The only collaboration between Astaire, Rogers, and the two Gershwins gives us “They All Laughed,” “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,” dancing on shipboard, dancing on stage, dancing in roller skates, and the most romantic song ever written, “They Can’t Take That Away from Me.” When Fred and Ginger aren’t singing or dancing, Edward Everett Horton and Eric Blore provide plenty of comedy, with light satire aimed at celebrity scandals and the culture gap between ballet and popular music. On a double bill with The Sky’s the Limit,which I saw long ago and kind of liked.
Bayflicks 