Friday, April 28, 2023

Next Week in Tickets: Films playing Boston 28 April 2023 - 4 May 2023

It's festival week, so pick your poison. Which may happen to be "what can maybe do something for a week or two before the big Marvel movie wipes things out".
  • Independent Film Festival 2023 keeps going on, having all three screens at the Somerville plus the Brattle through Tuesday, and then closing at the Coolidge with Past Lives on Wednesday. Some of the scheduling is a bit unusual - slots where there's just one movie, early starts on Monday and Tuesday - so check the schedule carefully and remember that the T is probably still making the Red Line slower than usual if a day includes getting from Davis to Harvard or back.
  • Perhaps the biggest opening of the week is Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret., an adaptation of Judy Blume's young-adult novel - maybe the first YA novel to really attain "classic" status? - from director Kelly Fremon Craig, with Abby Ryder Fortson as Margaret and Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, and Benny Safdie in the grown-up roles. It's at Coolidge Corner, the Capitol, Fresh Pond, West Newton, Boston Common, South Bay, Assembly Row, Arsenal Yards, and Chestnut Hill.

    Also opening is Big George Foreman, a religious-skewing biography with Khris Davis as the legendary boxer, Forest Whitaker as his trainer, and George Tillman Jr. directing. It's at Fresh Pond, Boston Common, South Bay, Arsenal Yards, and Assembly Row.

    Sisu gets a pretty big opening for a Finnish film, but it's an over-the-top action flick about a veteran who strikes gold during the Lapland War and has to fight his way through a ton of Nazis to get it to town. It's at Boston Common (Dolby Cinema), Kendall Square, South Bay (including Dolby Cinema), and Assembly Row (Dolby Cinema).

    Return of the Jedi returns to theaters for a 40th anniversary run leading into May the Fourth, playing at Boston Common, South Bay, Assembly Row. Flashdance also celebrates its 40th, playing South Bay, Assembly Row, and Arsenal Yards on Sunday. Documentary Nuclear Now, an advocacy thing directed by Oliver Stone, plays Boston Common on Monday; mental-health/disability doc plays Boston Common Wednesday & Thursday. Boston Common and South Bay have an Imax Guardians of the Galaxy Marathon, featuring all three films but probably not the Christmas special from the runtime, on Wednesday.
  • The Coolidge Corner Theatre and Boston Common pick up Polite Society, in which a Desi London teen who dreams of being a stuntwoman decides to rescue her older sister from the family she's marrying into by proving they are up to no good.

    Midnights at the Coolidge this weekend, come from Stan Winston, with a 35mm print of Pumpkinhead with an intro-via-Zoom from Winston's son Matt on Friday and A Gnome Named Gnorm on Saturday. They start May's Jim Jarmusch rep series on Tuesday with a 35mm print of Stranger Than Paradise, while Thursday's Big Screen Classic is a new restoration of A Place in the Sun.
  • The weekend's big opening from India is Ponniyin Selvan: Part Two (aka PS-2), the second part of a historical epic whose first entry came out about six months ago. Apple Fresh Pond has both Tamil and Telugu showtimes, while Boston Common's Tamil showtimes include Imax screenings. Fresh Pond also opens Agent, a Telugu-language spy thriller, and Pacachuvum Albhuthavilakkum, a Malayalam road-trip comedy. Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan and Virupaksha also continue at Fresh Pond.

    Born to Fly his Boston Common the same day it opens in China; it features Wang Yibo and Zhou Dongyu and was originally meant to come out six months ago as a response to Top Gun: Maverick, but got pulled back to have its effects work upgraded once folks actually saw Maverick.

    Anime Suzume continues at the Coolidge, Boston Common, South Bay, Assembly Row, and Arsenal Yards. It's subtitled-only, by and large, so check before reserving tickets. The Ghibli-fest selection this week is Spirited Away, playing Boston Common Tuesday (subtitled).
  • Landmark Theatres Kendall Square has the new(ish) film from François Ozon, Everything Went Fine, featuring Sophie Marceau as a woman whose father has recently had a stroke and asks her to help and his life. Ozon has had two more films released in France since this one, but apparently French art-house films still take their time crossing the Atlantic.

    The Tuesday Retro Replay is Taxi Driver, the first of a Scorsese/De Niro series for May.
  • Jordan's Furniture has Avatar: The Way of Water back on the giant Imax screens in Reading & Natick for the weekend, and will be open Thursday for Guardians 3.
  • The Somerville Theatre is all IFFBoston, all the time through Tuesday, but hosts the Fly Fishing Film Tour on Thursday. One of the films features local fly-fishers, who will be there along with a local guide service for a meet-and-greet.

    The Capitol teams with "Monstahxpo" and The Spooky Picture Show for an anniversary screening of Night of the Demons on Friday night, with star/horror icon Linnea Quigley on hand.
  • The Brattle Theatre is hosting IFFBoston until Tuesday, but has Rogue One on Wednesday and Thursday for "May the Fourth".
  • The Harvard Film Archive is taking a break this weekend, but has two programs of student films at 7pm Friday and noon Saturday.
  • Belmont World Film streams Chile '76 through Sunday, with an in-person screening at Arsenal Yards on Monday (including guest speaker Juan Mandelbaum). French/Spanish thriller The Beasts begins streaming on Tuesday, ahead of its in-person show next week.
  • Joe's Free Films shows an early outdoor screening with Ten Things I Hate About You on the lawn at Tufts Friday night; the school is also showing student films Monday to Thursday.
  • Wicked Queer continues to stream some encores through Sunday night.
  • The Lexington Venue is open through Sunday with Air and Chevalier.

    The West Newton Cinema opens Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret and Beau Is Afraid, otherwise slimming down to Chevalier, Air, Super Mario Brothers, and Everything Everywhere All at Once. Closed Monday.

    The Luna Theater appears quiet, with John Carpenter's original Halloween on Sunday (halfway there!) and a free UMass Lowell "Philosophy and Film" presentation of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button on Thursday the only things on the website.

    Cinema Salem is primarily hosting the Salem Horror Fest from Friday to Sunday, but also has How to Blow Up a Pipeline and Super Mario Bros. through Monday. They're "May the Fourth" presentation is Mel Brooks's Spaceballs on Thursday.
The festival is eating all my time through Wednesday, and then I probably won't have a chance to catch a matinee before heading on on vacation on Thursday.

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