What’s Screening: June 3 – 9

Festival-wise, Another Hole In the Head continues through this week and beyond.

Otherwise, the Castro’s 70mm series dominates the week.

A Playtime, Castro, Monday and Tuesday. Presented in 70mm.  An American tourist, Monsieur Hulot, and assorted other specimens of humanity adrift and befuddled in a very modern Paris. That’s all there is of plot in Jacques Tati’s large-scale comedy, and that’s all that’s needed. On one level, Tati is commenting on modern architecture. On another, he’s just making us laugh in his odd, almost meditative way. And even when you’re not laughing, you’re fascinated by the little details of Tati’s city-sized universe. Tati spent (and lost) a fortune on Playtime, building a giant set and shooting the movie in 65mm for 70mm release, and the result is ours to enjoy…immensely.

Charlie Chaplin Days, Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum, Saturday and Sunday. Actually, the event is all around Niles, not just in the Museum. It includes impersonators, look-a-like contests, games, and, of course, movies (those will be at the Museum). These include Chaplin shorts, of course, but also a documentary about a Chaplin birthday celebration in India, and the theatrical premiere of Google’s Chaplin Doodle. His first feature, The Kid, will screen Saturday night at 7:30. This isn’t among his best; there are times when you can feel him stretching to fill six reels, and others where the sentimentality overwhelms. But it has some great routines, most of them built around his very young co-star, Jackie Coogan.

A- West Side Story, Castro, Saturday and Sunday. Presented in 70mm. West Side Story swings erratically from glorious brilliance to astonishing ineptitude. The songs and dances–especially the Jerome Robbins-choreographed dances–create a world of violent intensity and eroticism that both carry the story and shine in their own right. I’d be hard-pressed to think of a better choreographed widescreen musical. It also contains magnificent supporting performances by Russ Tamblyn, George Chakiris, and especially Rita Moreno. But the dialog is often stilted and stage-bound, and juvenile lead Richard Beymer is so bad he sinks every scene he’s in. The 70mm presentation pops this up in my mind from a B to a A-. Read my report from its last local 70mm screening.

A Star is Born, Stanford, Saturday through Monday. I’m not grading this one because I haven’t seen it in over a decade, but I suspect I’d give it an A if I did. The third version of this story (the second titled A Star is Born) surpasses the two that came before and the one that followed, proving that remakes aren’t all bad. Judy Garland gave the performance of her lifetime as a rising star in love with an alcoholic at the end of his career (James Mason). Few dramas are as musical, and few musicals are this dramatic. This is also the first great film made in Cinemascope.

A Taxi Driver, UA Berkeley, Thursday, 8:00. When I think of the 1970s as a golden age of Hollywood-financed serious cinema, I think of Robert De Niro walking the dark, mean streets of New York, slowly turning into a psychopath. Writer Paul Schrader and director Martin Scorsese put together  this perfect study of loneliness as a disease. Travis Bickle isn’t lonely because he hasn’t found the right companion, or because society has failed him, or because he doesn’t want intimacy. He’s lonely because he’s mentally incapable of relating to other human beings. This is a sad and pathetic man, with a rage that will inevitably turn violent. Columbia Pictures has recently restored Taxi Driver, and if the Blu-ray release (see my review) is any indication, the new 35mm print should look fantastic.

The Love Bug, Castro, Saturday, 12:00 noon. I’ve never seen this 1968 Disney comedy. I have no desire to see it. But the 75-cent ticket price for this bargain matinee is worth noting.

D Vertigo, Castro, Wednesday through next Friday. Presented in 70mm. What? I’m not recommending Vertigo?  Everyone else thinks it’s a masterpiece, but it tops my short list of the Most Overrated Films of All Time. Vertigo isn’t like any other Alfred Hitchcock movie; it’s slow, uninvolving, and self-consciously arty.

B 42nd Street, Stanford, Friday. This isn’t just a backstage musical; it’s the backstage musical, complete with the chorus girl ingénue whose big chance comes when the star breaks her ankle. A close second to Gold Diggers of 1933, with good humor and spectacular Busby Berkeley dance numbers that could never happen on a real Broadway stage. Co-staring Ginger Rogers as Anytime Annie, who “only said no once, and then she didn’t hear the question.” The Stanford is screening it on a double bill with Babes in Arms.