Next Week in Tickets: Films playing Boston 15 August 2025 - 22 August 2024

Huh, I thought AMC and Apple got along, but now that I think about it, has any big Apple movie played the big 'plexes?

• I bring this up because Highest 2 Lowest opens this week, and while the obvious place to see Spike Lee transplant High and Low to contemporary Manhattan with Denzel Washington as a record producer being shaken down for a ransom is The Coolidge Corner Theatre, as they have been running both Spike & Denzel and Akira Kurosawa series lately, it's also playing at West Newton, Kendall Square, and the Seaport, but not the AMCs.
  
  Also opening at the Coolidge - and the Somerville, Kendall Square, Boston Common, and the Seaport (including Dolby Atmos) - is East of Wall, a film about a widowed rancher in South Dakota looking out for a number of teenagers including her daughter, a riding prodigy. The mother and daughter appear to be playing themselves, which means the scenes of her riding should be authentic.
  
  Midnights at the Coolidge this weekend are Bloody Birthday, a slasher with psycho kids, on Friday and Cronenberg's The Brood on Saturday. Tuesday's Swayze Days picture is Dirty Dancing from a 35mm print, and if you want extra Spike & Denzel, Inside Man runs on 35mm film with a seminar by Boston Globe critic Odie Henderson on Wednesday. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is the "Rewind!" show on Thursday.
• Nobody 2 reunites much of the cast of the first, with Bob Odenkirk once again playing a former assassin just trying to live the life of an average suburban dad, but this time crossing gangsters while on vacation. Timo Tjahjanto directs, and I'm mildly disappointed they didn't go the "Nobody Else", "Nobody Knows", "Nobody Cares", etc. route with sequel names. It's at the Capitol, Boston Common (including Dolby Cinema), Causeway Street, Kendall Square, the Seaport, South Bay (including Dolby Cinema), Assembly Row (including Dolby Cinema), Arsenal Yards (including CWX), and Chestnut Hill.
  
  August tends to feature movies that have sat around a while and maybe been renamed so a quick Google doesn't remind you they were at festivals two years ago. Last week North Star became My Mother's Wedding; this week National Anthem becomes Americana, with Sydney Sweeney, Paul Walter Hauser, Halsey, Eric Dane, and Simon Rex among those scrambling to steal (or retain) a priceless Native American Ghost Shirt. It's at the Lexington Venue, Boston Common, and Causeway Street.
  
  Eli Roth Presents: Jimmy and Stiggs has merely been kicking around festivals since last October or so; it actually the work of writer/director/star Joe Begos, whose Jimmy believes he has been abducted by aliens while his life spirals out of control (it's short, so Roth contributes a fake trailer). It's at Boston Common and the Seaport. The Knife (a year or so), with writer/director Nnamdi Asomugha playing the head of a family trying to stay one step ahead of a detective (Melissa Leo) after a tumultuous night, while Went Up the Hill (a little less than a year) has a woman's son and widow meet for the first time at her funeral, with each possessed by her ghost in turn. Both of those are at Boston Common.
  
  South Bay opens Hell House LLC: Lineage, which is apparently the fifth film in the Hell House LLC series, and the first to not be found-footage-style, on Wednesday.
  
  The original live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, produced by Golden Harvest and with costumes by Jim Henson, gets a 35th Anniversary re-release at Boston Common and South Bay.
  
  "Meet-up" shows of The Grateful Dead Movie continue at Jordan's Furniture (Imax Friday-Sunday), Boston Common (Imax Friday-Sunday), Kendall Square (Saturday). And Assembly Row (Imax Friday-Sunday). There's a mystery preview at Boston Common, Causeway Street, South Bay, and Assembly Row Monday. Monday also features "early access" Imax 3D screenings of the English-dubbed Ne Zha 2 at Boston Common, South Bay, and Assembly Row, plus "Texas Chain Saw Day" screenings of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre at Boston Common, South Bay, and Assembly Row. Concert film Yungblud: Are You Ready Boy? plays Boston Common on Wednesday, with another, The Warning Live from Auditorio Nacional, CDMX, starting a run at Boston Common on Thursday. Black Swan plays Imax screens at Jordan's, Boston Common, South Bay, Assembly Row on Thursday.
• Happy Indian Independence Day! As mentioned last week, there are two blockbusters this week: War 2 stars Hrithik Roshan as a deep-cover, potentially rogue spy at Apple Fresh Pond (Hindi/Telugu), Boston Common (Hindi/Telugu, occasional Imax), and Causeway Street (Hindi). Coolie stars Superstar Rajinikanth as a man who has been plotting vengeance since his youth, and plays at Fresh Pond (Tamil/Telugu/Hindi), Boston Common (Tamil), Causeway Street (Tamil/Telugu depending on the day) and South Bay (Tamil).
  
  Another blockbuster ($315M in China so far!) is Dead to Rights, a World War II thriller with Haoran Liu as a photograph developer who works for the occupying Japanese but is secretly documenting their atrocities. It's at Fresh Pond, Boston Common, and Causeway Street.
  
  This week's anime presentation is The Boy and the Beast at Boston Common, Kendall Square, and the Seaport for one day only on Monday. The new 4K transfer of A HREF="http://www.jaysmovieblog.com/2016/10/shin-godzilla.html">Shin Godzilla opens at CinemaSalem and continues at the Somerville, Boston Common, Causeway Street, the Seaport, South Bay, and Assembly Row.
• The Brattle Theatre a Friday Film Matinee of Modern Times, and then welcomes Vinegar Syndrome/Cinématographe's Justin LaLiberty to introduce some of their latest restorations - A New Leaf and Breathless '83 on Frdiay, Swimming To Cambodia (with a Q&A by Johnathan Demme biographer David M. Steward) and Mixed Blood on Saturday, and Jade on Sunday. LaLiberty will also be at The Video Underground on Sunday afternoon looking to unload both new releases and stuff listed as Out of Print on their site.
  
  The Brattle also has Saturday & Sunday matinees of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure for its 40th anniversary, as well as a special screening of Alex Ross Perry's big video store documentary Videoheaven (including a recorded intro) on Sunday afternoon.
  
  The week's Altmania! Is Thieves Like Us & Kansas City on Monday and Short Cuts on Tuesday. The "Summer of Satire" double feature on Wednesday is One, Two, Three in 35mm & Dr. Strangelove. Thursday's "Women in the Waves" double feature comes from Mai Zetterling, Loving Couples & The Girls.
• The Harvard Film Archive begins an extended series of screenings from prolific Korean art-house director Hong Sang-soo with In Another Country(35mm) and Yourself and Yours on Friday, Like You Know It All (35mm) Saturday night, and Walk Up Sunday evening. The Mikio Naruse series continues as well The Strange within a Woman Saturday evening, When a Woman Ascends the Stairs Sunday afternoon and Traveling Actors on Monday evening. All the Naruse films are on 35mm film.
• The Museum of Fine Arts has more of their French Film Festival with Souleymane's Story (sold out Friday), Visiting Hours (Saturday afternoon), and The Art of Nothing (Sunday afternoon).
• The Somerville Theatre kicks off the weekend with a 35mm double feature of The French Connection & Bullitt. The World of Wong Kar-Wai series includes Chungking Express on Saturday, Ashes of Time Redux on 35mm film Sunday, Fallen Angels on Tuesday, and Happy Together on Thursday; Monday's Great Remakes 35mm double feature is Cat People '42 & '82; Summer Camp on Wednesday is All About Eve.
  
  Their friends at The Capitol Theatre have a special "Celluloid Confidential" show on Thursday, a surprise "1980s Government Conspiracy/Cattle Mutilation Feature Film" from a 16mm print.
• The Seaport Alamo has Takashi Miike's 13 Assassins for Saturday Swordplay and the third Harry Potter movie (Prisoner of Azkaban) on Saturday/Sunday/Tuesday. The support Higher 2 Lower with Spike & Denzel joint Malcolm X on Saturday and Spike Lee's The Original Kings of Comedy on Tuesday. There's a Lurker preview with livestreamed Q&A on Monday.
• The Regent Theatre has It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley on Friday night, with a pre-recorded Q&A afterward. Independent coming of age film Rivers Edge plays Saturday, CatVideoFest and Nothing Solid on Sunday, and the Lonely Seal Festival begins on Wednesday with Hello, Beautiful, with star Tricia Helfer and director Ziad H. Hamzeh on hand; blocks anchored by features Growing Pains and The Full Fungus play Thursday, with the festival continuing through next Sunday.
• Landmark Kendall Square's Tuesday "Festival Cinema" show is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
• Outdoor movies at Joe's Free Films this week are Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit at MIT Open Space and Captain America: Brave New World at the Esplenade on Friday; Paddington in Peru at Assembly Row Tuesday; plus Captain America: BNW at Castle Island, Franky Five Star at Goethe-Institut (RSVP required), and hosting Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me at the Allston Speedway on Wednesday. The Harvard Art Museum also has a free screening of The Thief Collector on Saturday afternoon (RSVP recommended);.
The Lexington Venue is open all week with Americana and Weapons. Indie comedy Nothing Solid plays Monday, with ticket sales benefitting the Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome Association documentary Georgia O'Keeffe: The Brightness of Life plays Tuesday & Wednesday (and next Saturday); and documentary Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf plays Thursday.

The West Newton Cinema opens Highest 2 Lowest plus documentaries Rebel with a Clause and Sudan, Remember Us, keeping Freakier Friday, Weapons, The Last Class, and Bad Shabbos. The staff choice on Friday is I>The Devil and Daniel Johnston, while another doc, Other Side plays Sunday, with directors Carter Oakley & Heather Hogan on hand to discuss their documentary about death-with-dignity activist Lynda Bluestein.

Cinema Salem has Shin Godzilla, The Bad Guys 2, Weapons, Together, and Freakier Friday through Monday. Saturday afternoon features a Roman Holiday encore, with a VHS Rewind event featuring Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight during the afternoon and evening. There's also a Whodunit Watch Party on Sunday. Flying Leathernecks is the Wednesday Classic and Weirdo Wednesdays down the hall, while Thursday offers Batman Forever on one screen and Tremors on the other.

Out at the Liberty Tree Mall in Danvers, Witchboard is a reboot of the 1980s/1990 series directed by Chuck Rusell (which played Fantasia last year).

Might be testing my bladder this week, as Highest 2 Lowest, Dead to Rights, War 2, and Coolie would be ten hours and ten minutes between them for four films, making the 89-minute Nobody 2 look real good! Kind of also tempted by the 155-minute F1 back on Imax screens, but might catch one or two of the things that have been sitting around because they tend to be mercifully short.