* The Kendall's one-week warning is for OSS 117: Rio ne repond plus; I write that rather than English title OSS 117: Lost in Rio because this was playing in Montreal when I was there for Fantasia last year, and I saw posters for it dozens of times. I'm pretty happy to see it playing in Boston for a week, as I half-suspected that a sequel to a foreign language comedy would be a tough sell, despite the fact that OSS 117 was really, really funny.
Also at Kendall, a chance to look wise for which films you chose to see at IFFBoston, as both Looking for Eric and Casino Jack and the United States of Money open this weekend. They've also got Princess Kaiulani opening.
* Guests of various quality are at both the Brattle and Coolidge this weekend: On Friday and Saturday, directors Josh and Benny Safdie will be at the Brattle to introduce and take questions at the 7pm shows of their new film Daddy Longlegs; other guests are also scheduled for these shows. Daddy Longlegs continues through Thursday (27 May 2010) at the Brattle.
The Coolidge, meanwhile, is giving the screening room over to two new films from hack Larry Blamire: The Lost Skeleton Returns Again and Dark and Stormy Night. Actor Bob Deveau will be present for the Friday evening shows; they're also playing midnights this weekend, alongside the persisten Human Centipede.
* Major openings are MacGruber, which is apparently ducking press screenings even though everyone I've talked to who saw it at SXSW loved it; and Shrek Forever After,which may spur me to check out the new IMAX-branded screen at Boston Common.
* More Cesar Monteiro at the Harvard Film Archive; the MFA spotlights Sidney Lumet in the 1970s, Boston Jewish Film Festival encores, and 759: Boy Scouts of Harlem, a documentary about city kids in the country
* The Bollywood opening at Fresh Pond is notable - it's Kites, which is getting a notable American push. This is the original version; there is also a "remix" being released in a week or two which adds a bit more skin in, tightens the editing, removes extraneous dance numbers, and generally makes it feel more like an American movie. It should be an interesting comparison.
Okay, that's not a lot. It was a beautiful weekend, the park that has been under construction outside the house ever since I moved here three or four years ago is finally open for relaxing in.
I took advantage of it to take a good chunk out of Donald Westlake's final novel, Memory. It's different from the usual Hard Case book, as it doesn't really have a specific mystery or thriller element to it (although there's a recurring image that suggests something), instead doing an intriguing look inside the head of a man whose memory is severely damaged. As much as Memento was a neat gimmick for a thriller, this seems much more real and scary.
I've got a couple other Westlake books in my "to-read" pile, both under his own name and his Richard Stark alias. It's a shame that there's no more coming from him, but I'm at least glad he's had a long, illustrious career, because I'm going to have a good time catching up.
And now, the final IFFBoston 2010 index, or at least until I get to the screeners I've got:
21 April 2010: The Extra Man
22 April 2010: Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam, Cracks
23 April 2010: Winter's Bone, Down Terrace, Machotaildrop
24 April 2010: Pelada, War Don Don, The Freebie, I Am Love, The Good, The Bad, the Weird
25 April 2010: The Parking Lot Movie, NY Export: Opus Jazz, Hipsters, The Killer Inside Me
26 April 2010: Tiny Furniture, Shorts 3: Animation
27 April 2010: Marwencol, Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child
28 April 2010: Micmacs
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