Friday, August 19, 2022

Next Week in Tickets: Films playing Boston 19 August 2022 - 25 August 2022

You can sort of see what sort of doldrums late summer/early fall is this year from just how random a lot of what's playing on the deluxe screens is. You expect something off-kilter on Labor Day weekend, but theaters are booking lots of things besides new big studio tentpoles there.
  • The biggest American studio film opening this weekend is Beast, starring Idris Elba as a man returning to the African game preserve where he and his late wife first met with their daughters, only to find themselves besieged by wild animals and vicious humans. It's at Fresh Pond, CinemaSalem, Boston Common (including Dolby Cinema), Fenway, Kendall Square, South Bay, Assembly Row (including Dolby Cinema), Arsenal Yards (including CWX), the Embassy, and Chestnut Hill.

    Boston Common also opens Delia's Gone, a crime drama featuring Stephen James as an ex-con trying to solve his sister's murder and Marisa Tomei as the cop handling the official investigation. There's also Orphan: First Kill, a prequel to the 2009 horror film with Isabelle Fuhrman returning as Esther, because even though it takes before a movie she made when she was 9… Well, Orphan was nuts and we'll leave it at that. It's at Boston Common and on Paramount+.

    Grease plays Boston Common as a tribute to Olivia Newton-John, while the E.T. re-release continues at Boston Common (Imax Xenon on Friday) and opens at Fenway. Dr. No plays Fenway and Assembly Row on Sunday to celebrate its 60th anniversary. Fire of Love returns to Boston Common for one night on Wednesday.
  • Arguably the biggest new release this weekend is anime feature Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, the latest iteration of the Dragon Ball saga, which seems to be wearing the influence of western superhero material on its sleeve more than was previously the case. It's at the Arlington Capitol, Fresh Pond, Boston Common (including Imax Xenon), Fenway, Kendall Square, South Bay (including Dolby Cinema), Assembly Row (including Imax Xenon), Arsenal Yards (including CWX), and Chestnut Hill; it's mostly dubbed, but there are some subtitled screenings. For more anime, Bleach the Movie: Hell Verse plays Fenway, South Bay, and Assembly Row on Thursday; Inu-Oh sticks around at Boston Common.

    Apple Fresh Pond has three new films from India. Hindi-language sci-fi flick Dobaaraa played Fantasia and is a kind of interesting time-twister in the vein of Frequency with a likable lead. There's also Malayalam crime drama Nna Thaan Case Kodu and Tamil-language comedy Thiruchitrambalam. Marathi family drama Ekda Kaay Zala and Tamil drama Methagu 2 play Saturday, with Tamil drama Gaalipata 2 on Sunday. Boxing movie Liger, starring Vijay Deverakonda as the title character and featuring Mike Tyson, opens Wednesday at Arsenal Yards (including CWX). Laal Singh Chaddha (HindI) sticks around Fresh Pond, Boston Common, and Fenway; Fresh Pond keeps Raksha Bandhan (Hindi), Karthikeya 2, and Sita Ramam (Telugu).

    Egyptian comedy-thriller Tasleem Ahaly, in which a couple finds themselves beset by a stalker, plays at Fenway.
  • Landmark Theatres Kendall Square has the new restoration of Going Places, which made Gerard Depardieu a star and features a killer cast up and down, in limited showtimes. They also continue the Hitchcock Retro Replays with Shadow of a Doubt on Tuesday.
  • The Brattle Theatre has a 40th Anniversary double feature of Blade Runner & The Thing, two films which premiered the same day and sort of flopped in 1982 but became known as classics later, on Friday and Sunday. Blade Runner is the Final Cut; The Thing is on 35mm. There's a live concert on Saturday, and a special RPM screening with Brittany Gravely presenting seven of her 16mm short films with Q&A.

    The week's Judy Garland movies are Judgment at Nurenberg on Monday and A Child Is Waiting on Tuesday, both on 35mm. Grease plays Wednesday evening on 35mm, and Thursday's classic midnighters are a 35mm print of Freaks, plus Rock 'n' Roll High School.
  • The Coolidge Corner Theatre picks up IFFBoston opener Emily the Criminal, although its shows all seem to be in the small rooms upstairs. Kevin Smith's first two films play on 35mm at midnight this weekend, with Clerks on Friday and Mallrats on Saturday. Labyrinth is the Big Screen Classic playing on 35mm Monday, while Samurai Summer II features Onibaba on 35mm Tuesday and a double feature of Kill Bill Volumes I & II on Wednesday.
  • The Somerville Theatre has the new 4K restoration of Robocop at 9:45pm on Friday and Saturday, plus The Terminator at midnight Saturday. Monday and Tuesday have a 35mm double feature of Dirty Dancing & Now and Then, while Wednesday and Thursday have two from Spike Lee - Do the Right Thing (in 4K) & Crooklyn. The Capitol finishes their "Feel Good Flicks" series with Parenthood on Friday night and Saturday afternoon.
  • The Museum of Fine Arts presents the Boston French Film Festival this weekend, with Quentin Dupieux's Incredible but True and Antoine Barraud's Madeleine Collins on Friday, Xavier Giannoli's Lost Illusions and a 35mm screening of Ma Vie en Rose on Saturday, and Robust and Closing film Hold Me Tight on Sunday.
  • The New England Aquarium, in addition to their regular rotation of made-for-Imax documentaries, is doing a monthly series of aquatic-themed features on Saturday nights, with Waterworld this weekend.
  • The Lexington Venue has Bullet Train and Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris from Friday to Sunday.

    The West Newton Cinema is closed Friday, but reopens Saturday with Bodies Bodies Bodies, Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen A Journey, A Song, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, Where the Crawdads Sing, Minions, Downton Abbey: A New Era (no show Saturday), Everything Everywhere All at Once (no show Saturday), and Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.

    The Luna Theater has Marcel the Shell with Shoes On Friday and Saturday, Fire of Love Saturday afternoon, House on Haunted Hill on Sunday, and a Weirdo Wednesday show.

    Cinema Salem Friday-Monday line-up is Beast, Bodies Bodies Bodies, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, and Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris. There's a Saturday night show of The Rocky Horror Picture Show with Teseracte Players doing a pre-show, a Sunday matinee of Grease, and a Thursday Summer Rewind presentation of Clueless.
  • Joe's Free Films has a lot of the usual suspects for the outdoor movies (lots of Sing 2), but also shows Captain Phillips on the deck of the U.S.S. Constitution on and All About Me at the Goethe-Institut 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.
I've got to work this weekend, so I kind of don't know what I'm up to

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