Frederick Wiseman’s CRAZY HORSE zeroes in on legendary Paris nude cabaret!
A movie about a nude nightclub in Paris by America’s foremost documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman? Yes! In his new film CRAZY HORSE  the celebrated director of TITICUT FOLLIES, HIGH SCHOOL, and HOSPITAL, now in his 80s, takes his cameras to France, where he zeroes in on the legendary Crazy Horse cabaret, home of perhaps the best and most sophisticated erotic dancing in the world. Wiseman, who focused on French ballet artists in LA DANSE, now captures a very different set of performers, directors, and choreographer as they rehearse a rigorous new revue, “Désir.” Adults can saddle up Saturday or Sunday. CRAZY HORSE has an overall metacritic.com rating of 72 out of 100 , making it one of the best reviewed movies the year!


Young girl passes herself off as young boy in touching French drama TOMBOY
Céline Sciamma’s 2011 French film TOMBOY  was one of the very best films at this year’s Cleveland Int’l Film Festival. It’s a fresh, tender account of an androgynous 10-year-old girl who wants to pass herself off as a boy. And for one summer, after moving with her family to a different town, she does just that. But will her little sister, parents, and new playmates (including a girlfriend) discover her ruse? This perfectly cast, impeccably acted, beautifully observed movie (which has an overall metacritic.com score of 74 out of 100 ) is a new classic. Don’t miss it on Friday or Saturday.


Charles Laughton stars in 1935 Leo McCarey comedy RUGGLES OF RED GAP
Leo McCarey’s RUGGLES OF RED GAP  (1935) is a great but now little-known classic comedy from the director of DUCK SOUP, THE AWFUL TRUTH, and GOING MY WAY. In the movie, two uncouth nouveau riche Americans (Charlie Ruggles and Mary Boland) win an English butler, Marmaduke Ruggles (Charles Laughton), in a poker game. They take this eminently proper gent to their remote western boomtown of Red Gap, Washington, where he grows to appreciate America. RUGGLES OF RED GAP was revived theatrically in April in NYC, where it received rave reviews. It also has a 100% “fresh” rating (unanimous favorable reviews) on RottenTomatoes.com . Don’t miss it in a 35mm studio archive print on Saturday or Sunday!


CIRKUS COLUMBIA is new movie by Oscar-winning Bosnian director
Danis Tanović
CIRKUS COLUMBIA  is a new black comedy from Danis Tanović, the Bosnian director of the Oscar-winning NO MAN’S LAND. Set in the former Yugoslavia shortly before the outbreak of the Bosnian War, the film features Balkan superstar Miki Manojlovic (UNDERGROUND) as a dissident who returns to his small town in southern Herzegovina after years in Germany. Flashing wads of cash and driving a Mercedes, with a sexy girlfriend in tow, he pays the cops to evict his ex-wife and teenage son from his old house. But he soon learns that greasing palms goes only so far… See CIRKUS COLUMBIA in a 35mm color & scope print on Thursday or Friday. Here’s the trailer.


Asghar Farhadi series continues with his second film BEAUTIFUL CITY
The 2004 Iranian drama BEAUTIFUL CITY  is the second feature by Oscar-winning filmmaker Asghar Farhadi (A SEPARATION). It focuses on a young man accused of murder at age 16 and sentenced to death. Now 18 (the youngest age at which a prisoner can be executed), the man hopes that his ex-con friend on the outside can successfully lobby those involved in the case to stop the execution. See it in an imported 35mm print on Thursday or Sunday. Click here  to read Joanna Connors’ 5/12 article about our Farhadi retrospective.


THIS WEEKEND
Denis Tanovic’s
CIRKUS COLUMBIA
Thu., May 10, at 6:45 pm
Fri., May 11, at 9:15 pm

Asghar Farhadi’s
BEAUTIFUL CITY
Thu., May 10, at 9:00 pm
Sun., May 13, at 6:30 pm

Cleveland International
Film Festival Hit!
TOMBOY
Fri., May 11, at 7:30 pm
Sat., May 12, at 9:45 pm

Charles Laughton in
Leo McCarey’s
RUGGLES OF RED GAP
Sat., May 12, at 5:15 pm
Sun., May 13, at 4:15 pm

Frederick Wiseman’s
CRAZY HORSE
Sat., May 12, at 7:10 pm
Sun., May 13, at 8:30 pm

NEXT WEEK
THE UNINVITED
Thu., May 17, at 6:45 pm
Fri., May 18, at 5:30 pm

FIREWORKS WEDNESDAY
Thu., May 17, at 8:45 pm
Fri., May 18, at 7:30 pm

THE YELLOW SEA
Fri., May 18, at 9:30 pm
Sat., May 19, at 9:50 pm

LE HAVRE
Sat., May 19, at 8:00 pm

John Ewing introduces and discusses his all-time favorite movie SHANE!
SHANE  comes back! On Thursday the all-time favorite film of Cinematheque Director John Ewing will be shown in a rare, vintage, dye-transfer Technicolor print to open our 10-film centenary salute to Paramount Pictures. Ewing will introduce the movie and lead a post-film discussion. George Stevens’ 1953 classic is one of the greatest and most archetypal westerns ever made—a stirring (and beautifully filmed) account of settlers vs. cattlemen, and of a mysterious, dangerous stranger (Alan Ladd) who sides with a family of “sodbusters.” Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Brandon De Wilde, and Jack Palance co-star. It’s based on the terrific novel by Jack Schaefer, who was born in Cleveland in 1907 and graduated from Oberlin College. No passes will be accepted. Here’s the film’s original trailer , but don’t watch it if you’ve never seen SHANE; it contains spoilers!

Turkish police drama ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA is a must-see masterpiece
Co-winner of the Grand Prix at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival (and one of the most acclaimed movies of the past year), ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA is the new masterpiece by Turkey’s foremost filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan. It’s a moody police procedural in which an accused killer spends a night with law enforcement officials combing the Anatolian countryside for the body of his victim. The NY Times designated it a “Critics’ Pick,” calling it “a metaphysical road movie about life, death and the limits of knowledge.” It has an impressive overall metacritic.com score of 81 (out of 100) . Don’t miss it Friday or Saturday. Note that the second-film discount price for this movie will be $7, members $5.

Iranian drama DANCING IN THE DUST opens Asghar Farhadi retrospective
The 2003 Iranian drama DANCING IN THE DUST was the first feature by Oscar-winning filmmaker Asghar Farhadi (A SEPARATION). It tells of an Iranian man who is forced to divorce his beloved, blameless wife when it is discovered that her mother is a prostitute. The payment of restitution to his ex forces him to work in the desert with an unsociable old man who collects snake venom. See it Thursday or Sunday in a 35mm print from Iran.

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with Will Ferrell Spanish-language spoof CASA DE MI PADRE
Will Ferrell and the two male stars of Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN, Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, star in Matt Piedmont’s new Spanish-language comedy CASA DE MI PADRE , a spoof of both soap and horse operas. Farrell plays the “black sheep” son of a Mexican ranchero who tries to save the family farm and win his brother’s beautiful fiancée while also battling the country’s most ruthless drug lord. According to USA Today, “this very funny spoof of telenovelas and classic Mexican westerns is decidedly offbeat and absurdly daffy.” Come to our casa to see it in a 35mm color & scope print on Cinco de Mayo (Saturday) or Sunday.

DeMille’s 1915 silent melodrama THE CHEAT is oldest film in Paramount centenary series
Cecil B. DeMille’s scandalous 1915 silent film THE CHEAT tells of a society woman who gambles away funds raised for the Red Cross. When she tries to make amends by borrowing money from a wealthy Japanese man (Sessue Hayakawa), he demands that she become his mistress. Banned in many states (though a hit in Paris), this lurid melodrama was a huge box office hit. Please note that KSU music professor Sebastian Birch will not provide live piano accompaniment for the film, as announced in our May-June calendar. Birch just won a teaching award (congratulations, Sebastian) and the awards ceremony is that same night! So alternative music will be provided. See THE CHEAT in a color-tinted print on Friday night only.

Madonna directs W.E., about legendary lovers Wallis and Edward
Madonna’s incredibly lush 2011 period piece W.E.  recounts the love story of American socialite Wallis Simpson (“W”) and England’s King Edward VIII (“E”). In 1936, Edward shocked with world by abdicating the throne rather than break up with Simpson, a divorcée then married to another man. Andrea Riseborough and James D’Arcy play the famous couple; Abbie Cornish is an unhappy Manhattan wife in a parallel contemporary story. Don’t miss the exclusive Cleveland theatrical premiere of this Oscar-nominated movie on Saturday or Sunday.

Schedule distributor needed for Lakewood
We’re looking for a person to distribute Cinematheque calendars in Lakewood. Distributor would get four free passes every two months. If interested, call Tim Harry at (216) 421-7450.

THIS WEEKEND

100 Years of Paramount Pictures
35mm IB Technicolor print!
George Stevens’
SHANE
Thu., May 3, at 6:45 pm
Introduced by John Ewing

Asghar Farhadi’s
DANCING IN THE DUST
Thu., May 3, at 9:15 pm
Sun., May 6, at 6:30 pm

100 Years of Paramount Pictures
Cecil B. DeMille’s
THE CHEAT
Fri., May 4, at 7:00 pm

Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s
ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA
Fri., May 4, at 8:15 pm
Sat., May 5, at 9:05 pm

Madonna’s
W.E.
Sat., May 5, at 5:00 pm
Sun., May 6, at 3:45 pm

Will Ferrell in
CASA DE MI PADRE
Sat., May 5, at 7:20 pm
Sun., May 6, at 8:35 pm

NEXT WEEK

CIRKUS COLUMBIA
Thu., May 10, at 6:45 pm
Fri., May 11, at 9:15 pm

BEAUTIFUL CITY
Thu., May 10, at 9:00 pm
Sun., May 13, at 6:30 pm

TOMBOY
Fri., May 11, at 7:30 pm
Sat., May 12, at 9:45 pm

RUGGLES OF RED GAP
Sat., May 12, at 5:15 pm
Sun., May 13, at 4:15 pm

CRAZY HORSE
Sat., May 12, at 7:10 pm
Sun., May 13, at 8:30 pm

Singing film scholar Rick Altman brings THE LIVING NICKELODEON to Cleveland!
Rick Altman is a professor of cinema and comparative literature at the University of Iowa and one of the world’s foremost experts on early film sound. He is also a performer who, for many years, has toured internationally presenting THE LIVING NICKELODEON, a multimedia performance in which he recreates a night at the movies during the first decade of the 20th century. This was the era when cinema was brand new, and full-length films had yet to take hold. From the mid-1890s until about 1913, silent short films were shown in makeshift, storefront movie theatres called nickelodeons (admission was five cents). Movies shared the screen with hand-colored slides, many of them humorous, many containing song lyrics, and a pianist accompanied the show, schmoozing and leading the audience in sing-alongs. A century later, this is what Altman still does, using song slides from the Marnan Collection in Minneapolis and short films from the Library of Congress. The result is both educational and good clean fun. Altman has performed THE LIVING NICKELODEON all over the world—from Canada to Australia, and at such prestigious venues as the Museum of Modern Art and the Louvre. This is the first time he has presented it in Cleveland, and since he is retiring this spring and moving to France, it may also be his last. Special admission is $12; Cinematheque members $9; ages 25 & under $7. No passes, twofers, or radio winners will be honored for this special event.

Joanna Connors wrote an interesting article about THE LIVING NICKELODEON  in the Arts Section of this past Sunday’s Plain Dealer.

Also, Rick Altman will deliver a lecture entitled “Establishing Sound” on Friday, April 27, at 4:00 pm in CWRU’s Harkness Classroom (inside Harkness Chapel) on Bellflower Road. Altman will analyze two early films, Warners’ 1927 THE FIRST AUTO and Columbia’s 1934 IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, to demonstrate the early development of synchronized film sound. The talk is free and open to the public.

SNOWTOWN re-creates Australia’s worst case of serial killings
Nominated for nine Australian Academy Awards (and winner of five, including Best Direction and Best Lead Actor), Justin Kurzel’s 2011 Aussie film SNOWTOWN  is a grim, powerful drama about Australia’s worst case of serial murders. (In 1999 police discovered barrels containing rotting, dismembered bodies in a depressed rural town north of Adelaide.) The film, which has been re-titled THE SNOWTOWN MURDERS for U.S. release, tells of a single mother with three sons who believes that her charismatic new boyfriend John will lend security and stability to her home. But she couldn’t be more wrong—especially when John takes her impressionable oldest son under his wing. No one under 18 will be admitted to this acclaimed but “profoundly disturbing” (Film Comment ) movie that premieres on Thursday and Saturday. Here’s the trailer.

Dominique Sanda plays “gentle woman” in Robert Bresson’s UNE FEMME DOUCE
Dominique Sanda made her screen debut in Robert Bresson’s 1969 French film UNE FEMME DOUCE, the director’s first color movie. It’s a mysterious and sensuous tale of a young woman trapped in a marriage to a sadistic pawnbroker. Death seems the only escape—but will it be her death or his? Bresson shuns psychology in favor of ambiguous flashbacks, constructing a coolly modern mosaic of lucid surfaces, precise framing, and flat acting. From a Dostoevsky story. See it in a new 35mm print on Friday or Sunday.

LUNACY concludes Švankmajer series
Jan Švankmajer’s 2005 Czech feature LUNACY  is a “philosophical horror film” inspired by Edgar Allan Poe and the Marquis de Sade. Set in 19th-century France, the movie mixes live action and stop motion (including lots of animated meat) to tell the darkly comic tale of a young man, plagued by nightmares of being locked away in a mental institution, who spends a disturbing night in a castle. There he witnesses an orgy, a black mass, and bizarre burial rites, among other things guaranteed to keep him awake. Critic J. Hoberman calls it “dark, scary, and yucky—even by the Czech animator’s own standards.” Adults can see it Thursday or Sunday in a 35mm color print! Here’s the trailer.

Ultra-rare FOUR NIGHTS OF A DREAMER concludes Robert Bresson retrospective
Robert Bresson’s 1971 movie FOUR NIGHTS OF A DREAMER  is the rarest of the director’s features. Based on Dostoevsky’s White Nights, it’s a seductive nocturne—set in a ravishing, romantic, nighttime Paris—about a reclusive young painter who intervenes when a bereft young woman is about to commit suicide. They spend a few nights together before going their separate ways. It concludes our two-month Bresson series on Sunday in a 35mm color print. Please note that the second-film discount price for this movie is $7.

Austrian MICHAEL fills Friday “TBA” slot
Acclaimed at the Cannes, Toronto, and Cleveland Int’l Film Festivals, Markus Schleinzer’s 2011 Austrian film MICHAEL  is a clinical account of a buttoned-down, thirtysomething single man who works in a nondescript insurance office, maintains a spotless suburban home, and secretly keeps a 10-year-old boy locked in his basement. This dispassionate portrait of a pedophile has the rigor, reserve, and briskness of Bresson—and the chilly horror of Haneke. The NY Times designated it a “Critics’ Pick,” calling it “coldly compelling.” Variety says MICHAEL illustrates “the banality of evil in an impressively controlled and sometimes darkly humorous fashion.” Adults can see it Friday when it fills the “to be announced” slot. Here’s the trailer.

THIS WEEKEND

Jan Svankmajer’s
LUNACY
Thu., April 26, at 6:45 pm
Sun., April 29, at 8:25 pm

Aussie serial killer drama
SNOWTOWN
Thu., April 26, at 9:00 pm
Sat., April 28, at 9:20 pm

Robert Bresson’s
UNE FEMME DOUCE
Fri., April 27, at 7:30 pm
Sun., April 29, at 4:15 pm

Added film!
Direct from 2012
Cleveland Int’l Film Fest!
MICHAEL
Fri., April 27, at 9:20 pm

A Special Event!
Live music/film
performance!
Rick Altman presents
THE LIVING NICKELODEON
Sat., April 28, at 7:00 pm
Tickets $12/$8/$6

Robert Bresson’s
FOUR NIGHTS OF A DREAMER
Sun., April 29, at 6:30 pm
“Second Film” discount price $7

NEXT WEEK

John Ewing introduces
SHANE
Thu., May 3, at 6:45 pm

DANCING IN THE DUST
Thu., May 3, at 9:15 pm
Sun., May 6, at 6:30 pm

THE CHEAT
Fri., May 4, at 7:00 pm
Note: Sebastian Birch will not
provide live piano accompaniment as announced

ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA
Fri., May 4, at 8:15 pm
Sat., May 5, at 9:05 pm

W.E.
Sat., May 5, at 5:00 pm
Sun., May 6, at 3:45 pm

CASA DE MI PADRE
Sat., May 5, at 7:20 pm
Sun., May 6, at 8:35 pm