Friday, July 01, 2022

Next Week in Tickets: Films playing Boston 1 July 2022 - 7 July 2022

All right! Fourth of July Weekend! That means Jaws at…

Wait a second.

Look, it's cool that we'll be getting 3D/Imax releases later this year, but, c'mon, this messes with a couple Boston moviegoing traditions. And in return, Universal's giving us freaking Minions?
  • Although, about time, I guess - Minions: The Rise of Gru was originally scheduled for July 2020, but between Covid-19 delaying the last bits of animation and wanting to open to theaters at full capacity, it's opening two years later, but at least it's opening wide, at the Capitol, Fresh Pond, the Lexington Venue, West Newton, CinemaSalem, Boston Common (including RealD 3D/Imax Xenon/Dolby Cinema), Fenway (including RealD 3D), South Bay (including RealD 3D/Imax Xenon/Dolby Cinema), Assembly Row (including RealD 3D/Imax Xenon/Dolby Cinema), Arsenal Yards (including CWX), and Chestnut Hill.

    Top Gun: Maverick gets some late night showtimes where they figure Minions won't play at 10pm - Imax Xenon at Boston Common and South Bay, Dolby at Assembly Row, CWX at Arsenal Yards. There are 25th Anniversary screenings of Men in Black at Fenway and Assembly Row on Sunday and Monday and encores of The Thing at Fenway and Assembly Row on Wednesday. Boston Common has Fourth of July, the new film written and directed by Louis C.K. on Wednesday the 6th.
  • IFFBoston Closing Film Marcel the Shell with Shoes On opens locally this weekend, and it's a real delight, with writer Jenny Slate giving voice to Marcel, a one-inch tall guy who has been living alone with his grandmother (voice of Isabella Rossellini) in an empty house but makes friends with the new tenant. Slate will be at The Coolidge Corner Theatre for a Q&A on Saturday night, although that show is already listed as sold out. The Coolidge also has a masked matinee show on Sunday, and the film also opens at the Kendall and Boston Common.

    There's also Mr. Malcolm's List a Regency romantic comedy starring Frieda Pinto as a woman who seduces her jilted friend's former boyfriend (Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù), although perhaps some of it may be for real. It's mostly on the smaller screens at the Coolidge and also plays the Kendall, Boston Common, Assembly Row, the Embassy, and West Newton.

    July appears to be "Midnights on the Midway" month at the Coolidge, with late shows taking place in circuses, carnivals, amusement parks, and the like; it kicks off with Freaks on Friday and a 35mm print of Tobe Hooper's The Funhouse on Saturday. The Big Screen Classic on Monday is, fittingly, Independence Day, with a seminar presentation of Jackie Brown on Tuesday and a 35mm print of Casablanca on Thursday.
  • The Forgiven, the new film from John Michael McDonagh, has Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain as Londoners involved in a hit-and-run in Morocco, and in far over their heads as they attempt to cover it up. It's at Landmark Theatres Kendall Square and Boston Common.

    Kendall Square also has a couple shows a day of Apples, a Greek fantasy about a man who is attempting to build a new life as the survivor of an amnesia pandemic. Their Tuesday series switches up to "Hit the Road" with Pee-wee's Big Adventure. Their sister theater in Waltham, the Embassy, gets Official Competition a week behind the places closer to town.
  • Indian drama Rocketry: The Nambi Effect opens at Apple Fresh Pond, with shows in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu, and in at least Hindi at Boston Common. It stars Madhavan as Nambi Narayanan, an ISRO scientist accused of espionage but later cleared though still fighting for justice. There's also Telugu-language comedy Pakka Commercial at Fresh Pond, and Om - The Battle Within, a Hindi-language action flick set in Italy starring Aditya Roy Kapoor. Hindi comedy Jugjugg Jeeyo continues at Fresh Pond and Boston Common.

    Boston Common also opens Ode to the Spring, a Chinese film with five directors and an ensemble cast (including Zhou Dongyu and Song Jia) telling stories set in Wuhan during quarantine.

    Fenway opens Kira & El Gin, an action epic starring Karim Abdel Aziz and Ahmed Ezz as revolutionaries in 1919 Egypt. It's got the biggest budget in Egyptian cinema history and certainly looks like they're aiming for something like RRR by matching two of the country's biggest stars and dropping their real-life characters into a fictional adventure.
  • The Brattle Theatre may not have its July 4th usual, but they get the new 25th anniversary restoration of David Lynch's Lost Highway, playing fairly full schedules through the long weekend but starting to pare back on Monday.

    It also gives the theater a different twist on their July vacation-theme series; with "Lost in America" featuring a series of tales from the road with It Happened One Night (35mm Saturday/Sunday matinees), Pee-wee's Big Adventure (35mm Monday), Midnight Run (35mm Tuesday), and Queen & Slim (Thursday), with another week's worth after that.
  • The Somerville Theatre wraps their "70mm and Widescreen Fest" with new 70mm prints of Spartacus (from Friday to Sunday) and Airport (Saturday). Saturday's Midnite Special is Thrilling Bloody Sword, newly restored from the only known print of this bit of Taiwanese insanity (which I guess must have been the one I saw back in '04 and was apparently not prepared for). They're still showing repertory material after that, though, with a double feature of Meatballs & Camp (the latter on 35mm) Tuesday and Wednesday, plus Rain Man on Thursday.

    The "Feel Good Flick" at The Capitol this weekend is When Harry Met Sally, playing Friday evening and Saturday afternoon.
  • The Harvard Film Archive has more of The Complete Federico Fellini this weekend, with on 35mm film Friday and digital presentations of Rome, Open City on Saturday, and Juliet of the Spirits on Sunday.
  • The Regent Theatre once again breaks out 1776 for the Fourth, with shows Friday through Sunday, although no indication that they're sing-alongs as has often been the case.
  • The in-person portion of The Roxbury International Film Festival isover, but they still have a number of "ROXFILM@Home" presentations through Saturday night.
  • The Museum of Science continues to show Jurassic World: Dominion on the Omnimax dome on Friday and Saturday through July ninth.
  • The Lexington Venue has Elvis and Minions: The Rise of Gru from Friday to Monday.

    The West Newton Cinema also gets Minions and Mr. Malcolm's List to go with Elvis, Lightyear, Top Gun: Maverick, Downton Abbey: A New Era, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Saturday), and The Bad Guys (Friday/Sunday/Monday).

    The Luna Theater is closed for the holiday weekend, re-opening with Weirdo Wednesday and then Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story on Thursday.

    Cinema Salem Friday-Monday line-up is Top Gun: Maverick, Elvis, and Minions. The week's Summer Rewind presentation is Face/Off on Thursday.
  • For those still not ready to join random people in a room for two hours, theater rentals are available at Kendall Square, The Embassy, West Newton, the Capitol and Somerville, The Venue, CinemaSalem, and many of the multiplexes.
Wow, it's almost peaceful, having already seen Marcel and never being bitten by the Minions bug. Lost Highway, The Forgiven, and Mr. Malcolm's List are new-ish release priorities. I'll probably catch up with Jurassic World, The Black Phone, maybe Top Gun & Elvis, catch Airport and Thrilling Bloody Sword at the Somerville. Plus there's the big fireworks show and a Red Sox ticket.

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