Cantonese | French | Sotho | ||
Czech | German | |||
English | Silent |
Cantonese
La Comédie Humaine
(Yan gaan hei kat)
Directed by Chan Hing-kai and Janet Chun
(Hong Kong, 2010, 100 min.)
This high-energy buddy comedy stars Chapman To as Spring, a hit man from the mainland who falls ill while on assignment in Hong Kong and is nursed back to health by geeky screenwriter Soya.
Freer Gallery of Art
Fri., Aug. 5, 7 p.m.,
Sun., Aug. 7, 2 p.m.
Drunken Master
(Jui kuen)
Directed by Yuen Wo-ping
(Hong Kong, 1978, 110 min.)
The aimless Wong Fei-hung joins a fearsome martial arts master to learn the mysterious “drunken boxing” technique in the film that established Jackie Chan’s career and serves as a perfect example of the martial arts movies that influenced hip-hop’s pioneers.
Freer Gallery of Art
Fri., Aug. 19, 7 p.m.,
Sun., Aug. 21, 2 p.m.
Echoes of the Rainbow
(Sui yuet san tau)
Directed by Alex Law
(Hong Kong, 2009, 117 min.)
Working-class Hong Kong in the 1960s is seen through the eyes of 8-year-old “Big Ears,” who witnesses the everyday trials and triumphs of a poor family.
Freer Gallery of Art
Fri., Aug. 12, 7 p.m.,
Sun., Aug. 14, 2 p.m.
Super Ninjas
Directed by Cheh Chang
(Hong Kong, 1982, 107 min.)
Watch as a Chinese kung fu family faces off against a squad of deadly ninjas — accompanied by the hard-hitting sounds of DJ IXL and DJ Excess of the Kolabz Crew, also known as Hop Fu, which take the hip-hop/kung fu connection to a whole new level.
Freer Gallery of Art
Sat., Aug. 20, 2 p.m.
Czech
Three Seasons in Hell
(Tri Sezóny v Pekle)
Directed by Tomás Masín
(Czech Republic/Germany/Slovakia, 2009, 110 min.)
A 19-year-old nonconformist poet living in 1947 Prague is blind to the Communist behemoth looking over him, and instead lives a bohemian life with sexually liberated girls writing lyrics for underground rock bands.
The Avalon Theatre
Wed., Aug. 10, 8 p.m.
English
5 Days of War
Directed by Renny Harlin
(U.S., 2011, 113 min.)
An American journalist, his cameraman and a Georgian native become caught in the crossfire of the five-day war between Russia and Georgia.
Theater TBA
Opens Fri., Aug. 19
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Directed by Terry Gilliam
(U.K./W. Germany, 1989, 126 min.)
Somewhere in the middle of Europe, circa 1740, an eccentric old man interrupts a performance of “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” in the town square, claiming to be the real Baron Munchausen, the inveterate teller of tall tales and tide-turner of the Turkish invasion — and to prove it, he tells the story himself.
AFI Silver Theatre
Thu., Aug. 4, 7:30 p.m.
The Age of Stupid
Directed by Franny Armstrong
(U.K., 2009, 92 min.)
This unsparing look at the development of humanity against the background of global catastrophe poses the question: Why did we not prevent our doom while we still had the chance to do so? (Screens with other shorts as part of “Climate.Culture.Change” series.)
Goethe-Institut
Mon., Aug. 8, 6:30 p.m.
Another Earth
Directed by Mike Cahill
(U.S., 2011, 92 min.)
On the night of the discovery of a duplicate planet in the solar system, an ambitious young student and an accomplished composer cross paths in a tragic accident.
AFI Silver Theatre
Through Aug. 18
Attack the Block
Directed by Joe Cornish
(U.K., 2011, 88 min.)
A teen gang in South London defends its block from an alien invasion.
Theater TBA
Opens Fri., Aug. 19
A Better Life
Directed by Chris Weitz
(U.S., 2011, 97 min.)
A gardener in East L.A. struggles to keep his son away from gangs and immigration agents while trying to give his son the opportunities he never had. (English and Spanish)
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
O Brother Where Art Thou?
Directed by Joel Coen
(U.K./France/U.S., 2000, 107 min.)
George Clooney mugs and charms his way through the Depression-era South, escaping from a chain gang with two fellow cons and circuitously making his way back to wife in a winking parody of Homer’s “The Odyssey.”
AFI Silver Theatre
Aug. 19 to 25
To Catch a Thief
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
(U.S., 1955, 106 min.)
As jewel robberies proliferate in the South of France, police start to grow suspicious of former cat burglar Cary Grant’s supposed “retirement,” but he’s more interested in fireworks over Cannes with fire-and-ice Grace Kelly.
AFI Silver Theatre
Fri. Aug. 5, 7:20 p.m.,
Sat., Aug. 6, 7:20 p.m.,
Sun., Aug. 7, 2:45 p.m.
Colombiana
Directed by Olivier Megaton
(U.S./France, 2011)
A young woman, after witnessing her parents’ murder as a child in Bogota, grows up to be a stone-cold assassin. (English and Spanish)
Theater TBA
Opens Fri., Aug. 26
The Debt
Directed by John Madden
(U.S., 2010, 100 min.)
Three former Mossad agents are famous for the 1965 death of war criminal Max Rainer but 35 years later, a local European paper publishes an article that the criminal is alive and the agents, now in their late 60s, decide to complete the assignment they never did. (English, German and Hebrew)
The Avalon Theatre
Wed., Aug. 24, 8 p.m.
The Devil’s Double
Directed by Lee Tamahori
In 1987 Baghdad, an Iraqi army lieutenant is thrust into the highest echelons of the “royal family” when he’s ordered to become the body double to Saddam Hussein’s son, the notorious “Black Prince” Uday Hussein, a reckless, sadistic party boy with a rabid hunger for sex and brutality.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., Aug. 5
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark
Directed by Troy Nixey
(U.S./Australia/Mexico, 2010, 100 min.)
A young girl sent to live with her father and his new girlfriend discovers creatures in her new home who want to claim her as one of their own.
Theater TBA
Opens Fri., Aug. 26
Frenzy
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
(U.K., 1972, 116 min.)
A down-on-his-luck ex-RAF pilot is on the run from accusations of being the Necktie Killer, while the chief inspector must contend with his wife’s “gourmet” cooking during discussions of the case.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., Aug. 27, 2:45 p.m.,
Tue., Aug. 30, 7 p.m.
The Future
Directed by Miranda July
(Germany/U.S., 2011, 91 min.)
When a couple decides to adopt a stray cat, their perspective on life radically changes, literally altering the course of time and space and testing their faith in each other and themselves.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., Aug. 5
The Guard
Directed by John Michael McDonagh
(Ireland, 2011, 96 min.)
An unorthodox Irish policeman with a confrontational personality is teamed up with an uptight FBI agent to investigate an international drug-smuggling ring.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., Aug. 12
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Directed by David Yates
(U.S./U.K., 2011, 130 min.)
In the epic finale, the battle between the good and evil forces of the wizarding world escalates into an all-out war. But it is Harry Potter who may be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice as he draws closer to the climactic showdown with Lord Voldemort.
Area theaters
Highlander
Directed by Russell Mulcahy
(U.S./U.K., 1986, 116 min.)
Dealt a deadly blow while defending his Scottish clan from the marauding, unkillable Kurgan, Connor MacLeod miraculously returns to life, wandering the heath until he encounters a centuries-old Spanish swordsman (Sean Connery), who, like MacLeod, is a born immortal.
AFI Silver Theatre
Aug. 27 to Sept. 1
How to Live Forever
Directed by Mark Wexler
(U.S., 2009, 94 min.)
Baby boomer Mark Wexler travels the world from Okinawa to Iceland to Las Vegas searching for the secrets of long life.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Lifeforce
Directed by Tobe Hooper
(U.K., 1985, 116 min.)
A space shuttle’s rendezvous with Halley’s Comet reveals an alien spacecraft containing hundreds of humanoid creatures who come to life on Earth and begin draining the life force of human victims, turning them into vampire zombies, in this big-budget bomb — and camp masterpiece.
AFI Silver Theatre
Fri., Aug. 26, 11 p.m.,
Sat., Aug. 27, 11 p.m.
The Man Who Fell to Earth
Directed by Nicolas Roeg
(U.K., 1976, 139 min.)
In this uncut 35th anniversary release, space oddity David Bowie lands on 20th-century Earth seeking water for his drought-stricken planet but instead uses his highly advanced technology to become a wealthy industrialist who succumbs to American decadence in the form of TV, booze, sex and stock issues.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Midnight in Paris
Directed by Woody Allen
(Spain/U.S., 2011, 94 min.)
Traveling to the French capital for business with their family, a young engaged couple is forced to confront the illusion that a life different from their own is better.
AFI Silver Theatre
Through Aug. 18
Miller’s Crossing
Directed by Joel Coen
(U.S., 1990, 115 min.)
In the Coen brothers’ ripping yarn of 1930s gang warfare, Italian mob boss Jon Polito wants to rub out Jewish gambler John Turturro, but he’s protected by Irish godfather Albert Finney, who’s sweet on Turturro’s sister.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., Aug. 6, 5 p.m.,
Sun., Aug. 7, 5 p.m.
The Pink Panther Strikes Again
Directed by Blake Edwards
(U.S., 1976, 103 min.)
Inspector Dreyfus has recovered from the Clouseau-induced psychosis of the previous film, until he’s informed that the bumbling French inspector has replaced him as head inspector, driving Dreyfus over the edge.
AFI Silver Theatre
Fri., Aug. 5, 5:10 p.m.,
Sat., Aug. 6, 12:40 p.m.,
Sun., Aug. 7, 12:30 p.m.
Project Nim
Directed by James Marsh
(U.K., 2011, 93 min.)
In the 1970s, Nim the chimpanzee becomes the focus of a landmark experiment to show that an ape could learn to communicate with language if raised and nurtured like a human child. What we learn about his true nature, and our own, is comic, revealing and profoundly unsettling.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Secret Ceremony
Directed by Joseph Losey
(U.K., 1968, 109 min.)
Prostitute Elizabeth Taylor forms a surrogate mother-daughter bond with strangely childlike Mia Farrow, who resembles her dead daughter.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., Aug. 21, 5:15 p.m.,
Mon., Aug. 22, 7 p.m.
A Shot in the Dark
Directed by Blake Edwards
(U.S./U.K., 1964, 102 min.)
The bumbling Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers) investigates a series of murders in which every clue points to the maid, but ever oblivious, Clouseau distrusts everyone except the obvious suspect.
AFI Silver Theatre
Mon., Aug. 1, 7 p.m.,
Thu., Aug. 4, 5:30 p.m.
The Smurfs
Directed by Raja Gosnell
(U.S., 2011, 86 min.)
When the evil wizard Gargamel chases the tiny blue Smurfs out of their village, they tumble from their magical world and into ours — smack dab in the middle of Central Park.
Area theaters
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Directed by Wayne Wang
(U.S./China, 2011, 104 min.)
In 19th-century China, 7-year-old girls Snow Flower and Lily are matched as laotong — or “old sames” — bound together for eternity. In present-day Shanghai, the laotongs’ descendants, Nina and Sophia, struggle to maintain the intimacy of their own childhood friendship in the face of modern demands. What unfolds are two stories, generations apart, united by the everlasting notion of love, hope and friendship.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Tabloid
Directed by Errol Morris
(U.S., 2010, 87 min.)
Thirty years before the antics of Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears were gossip fodder, Miss Wyoming Joyce McKinney made her mark as a tabloid staple with her single-minded devotion to the man of her dreams, which led her on a surreal global journey all the way to a cloning laboratory in Seoul, South Korea.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
The Taming of the Shrew
Directed by Franco Zeffirelli
(Italy/U.S., 1967, 122 min.)
The splashy star casting of real-life husband and wife Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor as Shakespeare’s famously bickering couple Petruchio and Kate made Franco Zeffirelli’s debut film a major international hit.
AFI Silver Theater
Sun., Aug. 14, 12:20 p.m.,
Wed., Aug. 17, 6:30 p.m.
Topaz
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
(U.S., 1969, 127 min.)
Informed by a Soviet defector of secret shipments to Cuba, CIA man John Forsythe asks French agent Frederick Stafford to be his man in Havana.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., Aug. 21, 12:20 p.m.,
Tue., Aug. 23, 6:45 p.m.
Torn Curtain
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
(U.S., 1966, 128 min.)
In this Cold War thriller from Alfred Hitchcock, Paul Newman plays a rocket scientist on assignment in East Germany, while his fiancée Julie Andrews, shedding her Mary Poppins image, is inadvertently drawn into the web of intrigue and danger.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., Aug. 20, 12:20 p.m.,
Mon., Aug. 22, 4:30 p.m.
The Tree
Directed by Julie Bertucelli
(France/Australia/Germany/Italy, 2010, 100 min.)
Blindsided with anguish after her husband’s sudden death, Dawn — along with her four young children — struggles to make sense of life without him against the mystical backdrop of the Australian countryside.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Directed by Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
(U.S./U.K., 2011, 85 min.)
Part coming-of-age tale, part cops-and-robbers thriller, this film offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at the Earth Liberation Front, the radical environmental group that the FBI calls America’s “number-one domestic terrorist threat.”
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., Aug. 12
The Whistleblower
Directed by Larysa Kondracki
(Germany/Canada, 2010, 118 min.)
In this political thriller inspired by actual events, an American police officer who becomes a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia uncovers a dangerous web of corruption and cover-up in a world of private contractors and multinational diplomatic doubletalk.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., Aug. 5
French
L’Arpète
Directed by Donatien for Franco-Film
(France, 1929, 97 min.)
To save her boss (the couturier Pommier), Jacqueline dupes a rich patron (the visiting American art lover Rochedufer) into placing a huge order, but Rochedufer trumps her by asking for a rendezvous, which leads to surprising revelations. (Screens with “Le Chapeau de Madame” (France, 1907, 7 min.))
National Gallery of Art
Sat., Aug. 6, 2 p.m.
Le Manoir de la Peur
Directed by Alfred Machin and Henry Wulschleger
(France, 1927, 72 min.)
Fear strikes Provençal villagers when a crime wave ensues just after a mysterious stranger and his valet move into a nearby country home. (Screens with “La Main” (France, 1920, 19 min.))
National Gallery of Art
Sun., Aug. 7, 4:30 p.m.
The Names of Love
(Le Nom des Gens)
Directed by Michel Leclerc
(France, 2010, 102 min.)
A young, extroverted left-wing activist who sleeps with her political opponents to convert them to her cause is successful until she meets her match in a Jewish, middle-age, middle-of-the road scientist. (French, English, Greek and Arabic)
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., Aug. 12
Point Blank
(À Bout Portant)
Directed by Fred Cavayé
(France, 2010, 90 min.)
Samuel Pierret is a nurse who saves the wrong guy — a thief whose henchmen take Samuel’s pregnant wife hostage to force him to spring their boss from the hospital.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., Aug. 5
Sarah’s Key
(Elle S’Appelait Sarah)
Directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner
(France, 2010, 101 min.)
In modern-day Paris, a journalist finds her life becoming entwined with a young girl whose family was torn apart during the Nazi’s notorious Vel’d’Hiv Roundup in 1942. (French, English, Italian and German)
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
German
Above Water
(Über Wasser)
Directed by Udo Maurer
(Austria/Luxembourg, 2007, 82 min.)
From different parts of earth, the film reports on the existential significance of water, demonstrating that climate change will dramatically affect regions that contributed little to the problem. (Screens with other shorts as part of “Climate.Culture.Change” series.)
Goethe-Institut
Mon., Aug. 29, 6:30 p.m.
Das Boot
Directed by Wolfgang Petersen
(W. Germany, 1981, 149 min.)
At the height of World War II, a young submarine crew heads out to sea on a top-secret mission that all but ensures most will never make it home alive, as they attempt impossible wartime feats while also trying to understand the ideology of the government they serve. (German, English and French)
The Avalon Theatre
Sun., Aug. 28, time TBA
People – Dreams – Actions
(Menschen – Träume – Taten)
Directed by Andreas Stiglmayr
(Germany, 2007, 90 min.)
An ecological model settlement called “Seven Linden Trees” in Altmark, Germany, becomes a microcosm that vividly reflects the problems of society at large. (Screens with other shorts as part of “Climate.Culture.Change” series.)
Goethe-Institut
Mon., Aug. 22, 6:30 p.m.
Silent
Algol – Tragedy of Power
(Algol – Tragödie der Macht)
Directed by Hans Wreckmeister
(Germany, 1920, 120 min.)
A human who is given a prototype machine by an inhabitant of the planet Algol that if used, would allow him to rule the earth. The protagonist’s faith in progress expresses a fundamental cause of climate change. (Screens with “The Bill – Die Rechnung” (Germany, 2009, 4 min.) as part of “Climate.Culture.Change” series.)
Goethe-Institut
Mon., Aug. 15, 6:30 p.m.
Sotho
Life, Above All
Directed by Oliver Schmitz
(South Africa/Germany, 2010, 106 min.)
A daughter’s loyalty to her mother drives this touching coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of modern South Africa.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., Aug. 5