Home Culture Films Films – January 2020

Films – January 2020

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Languages

English

Korean

Farsi

Spanish

French

Japanese

 

English

63 UP

Directed by Michael Apted

(U.K., 2019, 180 min.)

Director Michael Apted returns with the latest installment of his groundbreaking documentary series, unmatched in the history of cinema for its astonishing and revelatory longevity. The original “7 UP” was broadcast in 1964 and featured 14 British children talking about their hopes and dreams for the future. Subsequent visits every seven years over six decades have documented the group as they grew up, became adults and entered middle age, dealing with everything life has thrown at them in between.

Landmark’s E Street Cinema

 

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Directed by Marielle Heller

(China/U.S., 2019)

Tom Hanks portrays Mister Rogers in this timely story of kindness triumphing over cynicism, based on the true story of the real-life friendship between Fred Rogers and journalist Tom Junod.

Angelika Mosaic

Atlantic Plumbing Cinema

The Avalon Theatre

Landmark’s Bethesda Row Cinema

 

Bombshell

Directed by Jay Roach

(Canada/U.S., 2019, 108 min.)

A group of women decide to take on Fox News head Roger Ailes and the toxic atmosphere he presided over at the network.

AFI Silver Theatre

Angelika Mosaic

Opens Fri., Dec. 20

 

Cunningham

Directed by Alla Kovgan

(Germany/France/U.S., 2019, 93 min.)

The iconic Merce Cunningham and the last generation of his dance company is stunningly profiled in Alla Kovgan’s 3D documentary, through recreations of his landmark works and archival footage of Cunningham, John Cage and Robert Rauschenberg.

Landmark’s Theatres

Opens Fri., Jan. 3

 

The Curious World of Hieronymous Bosch

Directed by David Bickerstaff

(U.K., 2016, 87 min.)

Who was Hieronymus Bosch? Why do his strange and fantastical paintings resonate with people now more than ever? How does he bridge the medieval and Renaissance worlds? Where did his unconventional and timeless creations come from? Discover the answers to these questions and more with this remarkable film directed by David Bickerstaff.

The Avalon Theatre

Sun., Jan. 12, 10:30 a.m.,

Tue., Jan. 14, 10:30 a.m.

 

Dark Waters

Directed by Todd Haynes

(U.S., 2019, 126 min.)

Inspired by a shocking true story, a tenacious attorney uncovers a dark secret that connects a growing number of unexplained deaths due to one of the world’s largest corporations. In the process, he risks everything — his future, his family and his own life — to expose the truth.

Angelika Mosaic

Landmark’s Bethesda Row Cinema

Landmark’s E Street Cinema

 

A Hidden Life

Directed by Terrence Malick

(Germany/U.S., 2019, 173 min.)

Based on real events, Franz Jägerstätter refuses to fight for the Nazis in World War II. When the Austrian peasant farmer is faced with the threat of execution for treason, it is his unwavering faith and his love for his wife and children that keeps his spirit alive (English, German and Italian).

AFI Silver Theatre

Angelika Mosaic

Landmark’s Bethesda Row Cinema

Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Opens Fri., Dec. 20

 

The Irishman

Directed by Martin Scorsese

(U.S., 2019, 209 min.)

Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci star in Martin Scorsese saga of organized crime in post-war America told through the eyes of World War II veteran Frank Sheeran, a hustler and hitman who worked alongside some of the most notorious figures of the 20th century.

Landmark’s Bethesda Row Cinema

Landmark’s E Street Cinema

 

Jojo Rabbit

Directed by Taika Waititi

(Germany/U.S., 2019, 108 min.)

This World War II satire follows a lonely German boy named Jojo whose worldview is turned upside down when he discovers his single mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a young Jewish girl in their attic.

Landmark’s Bethesda Row Cinema

Landmark’s E Street Cinema

 

The Kingmaker

Directed by Lauren Greenfield

(Denmark/U.S., 2019, 101 min.)

Centered on the indomitable character of Imelda Marcos, “The Kingmaker” examines, with intimate access, the Marcos family’s improbable return to power in the Philippines. The film explores the disturbing legacy of the Marcos regime and chronicles Imelda’s present-day push to help her son, Bongbong, win the vice presidency.

Landmark’s E Street Cinema

 

Knives Out

Directed by Rian Johnson

(U.S., 2019, 130 min.)

When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is mysteriously enlisted to investigate (English and Spanish).

Angelika Mosaic

Atlantic Plumbing Cinema

Landmark’s Bethesda Row Cinema

 

The Lighthouse

Directed by Robert Eggers

(U.S./Brazil, 2019, 109 min.)

This is the hypnotic and hallucinatory tale of two lighthouse keepers on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.

West End Cinema

 

Little Women

Directed by Greta Gerwig

(U.S., 2019, 134 min.)

Four sisters come of age in America in the aftermath of the Civil War.

AFI Silver Theatre

Angelika Mosaic

The Avalon Theatre

Landmark’s Theatres

Opens Wed., Dec. 25

 

Richard Jewell

Directed by Clint Eastwood

(U.S., 2019, 129 min.)

American security guard Richard Jewell saves thousands of lives from an exploding bomb at the 1996 Olympics, but is vilified by journalists and the press who falsely report that he was a terrorist.

Angelika Mosaic

Landmark’s Bethesda Row Cinema

 

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Directed by J.J. Abrams

(U.S., 2019, 142 min.)

The surviving Resistance faces the First Order once more in the final chapter of the Skywalker saga.

Angelika Mosaic

Atlantic Plumbing Cinema

Opens Fri., Dec. 20

 

The Song of Names

Directed by François Girard

(Canada/Hungary, 2019, 113 min.)

Tim Roth and Clive Owen star in an emotional detective story spread over two continents and a half century. Beneath the film’s stunning and pulsing musical revelations burn the horror of a war and the lost souls extinguished from history.

Angelika Mosaic

Opens Fri., Jan. 3

 

The Two Popes

Directed by Fernando Meirelles

(U.K./Italy/Argentina/U.S., 2019, 125 min.)

Behind Vatican walls, the conservative Pope Benedict and the liberal future Pope Francis must find common ground to forge a new path for the Catholic Church (English, Latin, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese and German).

The Avalon Theatre

Landmark’s E Street Cinema

 

Uncut Gems

Directed by Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie

(U.S., 2019, 135 min.)

A charismatic New York City jeweler, always on the lookout for the next big score, makes a series of high-stakes bets that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime.

The Avalon Theatre

Angelika Mosaic

Landmark’s Theatres

Opens Wed., Dec. 25

 

When Lambs Become Lions

Directed by Jon Kasbe

(U.S., 2018, 79 min.)

In the Kenyan bush, a small-time ivory dealer fights to stay on top while forces mobilize to destroy his trade. When he turns to his younger cousin, a conflicted wildlife ranger who hasn’t been paid in months, they both see a possible lifeline.

West End Cinema

 

Farsi

Filmfarsi

Directed by Ehsan Khoshbakht

(Iran/U.K., 2019, 84 min.)

Before the 1979 revolution, Iran was home to a thriving popular film industry packed with violence and melodrama, and populated with sexy starlets and macho action stars. Most of these films are now lost, but for a few surviving underground VHS tapes. Taking as its starting point the 1978 arson attack the Cinema Rex movie theater in Abadan, which killed over 400 people, Ehsan Khoshbakht’s exhaustively-researched documentary reconstructs this lively era of Iranian cinema history — one which few outside of Iran were aware of until now.

Freer Gallery of Art

Sun., Jan. 19, 1:30 p.m.

 

Gholam

Directed by Mitra Tabrizian

(U.K., 2018, 94 min.)

Set in London’s Iranian exile community during the 2011 Arab Spring, this film features a mesmerizing performance by Shahab Hosseini as a taxi driver with a mysterious past. He is drawn into Iran’s political turmoil, no matter how hard he tries to resist (Farsi and English).

Freer Gallery of Art

Fri., Jan. 31, 7 p.m.

 

Old Men Never Die

Directed by Reza Jamali

(Iran, 2019, 85 min.)

This dark comic fable takes place in a rugged mountain village where, for forty-five years, no one has died, but not for lack of trying. Crotchety old men, some over a century old, spend their days smoking, bickering, soaking in the bathhouse, and trying to figure out how to commit suicide without being stopped by the detachment of exasperated soldiers in charge of keeping them alive.

Freer Gallery of Art

Sun., Jan. 19, 3:30 p.m.

 

The Warden

Directed by Nima Javidi

(Iran, 2019, 100 min.)

On the day that a prison is being emptied so it can be demolished to make way for an airport runway, its vain, authoritarian warden discovers a prisoner is missing. With time running down, the warden struggles to find the fugitive before his superiors discover his mistake.

Freer Gallery of Art

Sun., Jan. 12, 2 p.m.

 

When the Moon Was Full

Directed by Narges Abyar

(Iran, 2019, 137 min.)

The winner of four major awards at Iran’s Fajr Film Festival, Narges Abyar weaves a spellbinding, harrowing drama based on the true story of a woman who unwittingly married into a family of terrorists (Farsi and Baluchi).

Freer Gallery of Art

Sun., Jan. 5, 2 p.m.

 

French

Les Misérables

(France, 2019, 102 min.)

A cop from the provinces moves Paris to join the Anti-Crime Brigade of Montfermeil, discovering an underworld where the tensions between different groups mark the rhythm.

Angelika Mosaic

Opens Fri., Jan. 17

 

Japanese

The Sword of Doom

Directed by Kihachi Okamoto

(Japan, 1966, 121 min.)

Tatsuya Nakadai and Toshiro Mifune star in the story of a wandering samurai who exists in a maelstrom of violence. A gifted swordsman plying his craft during the turbulent final days of shogunate rule in Japan, Nakadai kills without remorse or mercy — a way of life that ultimately leads to madness.

Freer Gallery of Art

Wed., Jan. 8, 2 p.m.

 

Korean

Parasite

Directed by Joon-ho Bong

(South Korea, 2019, 132 min.)

Meet the Park Family: the picture of aspirational wealth. And the Kim Family, rich in street smarts but not much else. Masterminded by college-aged Ki-woo, the Kim children expediently install themselves as tutor and art therapist to the Parks. Soon, a symbiotic relationship forms between the two families. But when a parasitic interloper threatens the Kims’ newfound comfort, a savage, underhanded battle for dominance breaks out.

Angelika Mosaic

Landmark’s Bethesda Row Cinema

Landmark’s E Street Cinema

 

Spanish

Pain & Glory

Directed by Pedro Almodóvar

(Spain, 2019, 113 min.)

Antonio Banderas plays Salvador Mallo, a film director in physical decline who reflects on his past as his present comes crashing down around him.

Landmark’s Bethesda Row Cinema

West End Cinema

Cari