Lauren Bacall is one of those stars whose name remains synonymous with the glamour and elegance of Old Hollywood (indeed, at the time of her death at age 89 in 2014, she was the last survivor of the pantheon name-checked by Madonna in the interlude of “Vogue”). To celebrate what would be Bacall’s centennial birthday, The Brattle Theatre has programmed a week’s worth of the actor’s most iconic classics, running from Friday to the following Thursday. Naturally, the series includes several of the films Bacall made with her husband, Humphrey Bogart, including Howard Hawks’ “To Have and Have Not” (1945, screening Friday and Saturday) and the original-release version of John Huston’s noir classic “The Big Sleep” (1946, Saturday and Monday). But the retrospective spans the breadth of Bacall’s illustrious career, from the Douglas Sirk melodrama “Written in the Wind” (1956, Sunday and Thursday) to the Paul Newman vehicle “Harper” (1966, Monday and Wednesday), all the way to 2003’s “Dogville” from Danish enfant terrible Lars von Trier, which screens in a new 4k restoration on Sunday. One week might not be enough to pay tribute to such an immense talent, but The Brattle’s program is likely to keep you more than busy.
Of course, retrospectives of beloved classics are only half the draw of an establishment such as The Brattle; just as important is the rediscovery of overlooked gems. Shu Lea Cheang’s anarchic satire “Fresh Kill” (1994) failed to make much of a splash upon its initial release, its rambunctious mix of avant-garde metanarrative and in-your-face queer aesthetic perhaps a step too outrageous even within the context of the indie-film boom of the ’90s. In 2024, however, it feels just about right, and the film’s legend has grown steadily over the years among those with a taste for cult and fringe cinema. On Friday, The Brattle welcomes Cheang for an in-person screening of a restored 35 mm print of her magnum opus, co-presented by Strictly Brohibited, the Boston Underground Film Festival and Wicked Queer. It might be your new favorite movie – and you’ll never look at fish lips the same way again.
We might have caught up with “Fresh Kill,” but some films have become cult classics precisely because of how antiquated they’ve become. Such is the case with “Hackers” (1995), which celebrates its 29th anniversary Sunday with an all-out party at the Somerville Theatre. “Hackers” is a perfect slice of mid-’90s cyberpunk cheese, with its “Hack the Planet” ethos and a cast including Matthew Lillard, Jonny Lee Miller and a prestardom Angelina Jolie. The Somerville’s presentation begins with a preshow featuring video artist v.Kash, DJ Wubson and chiptune band Battlemode. The 35 mm screening features a special introduction by Renoly Santiago, known to fans of the film for his role as hacker “Phantom Phreak.” After the film, you can head upstairs to an afterparty in the Crystal Ballroom. The Internet might not be the brave new frontier it was in the ’90s, but you may find yourself investing in a pair of wraparound shades afterward.
One of the most exciting names in world cinema right now is Hamaguchi Ryusuke, the incisive Japanese filmmaker who broke through to an international audience with his Oscar-winning 2021 masterpiece “Drive My Car.” Starting next week, Hamaguchi will be present for a weeklong series at the Harvard Film Archive titled “The World as a Stage.” The series begins Monday with a screening of Hamaguchi’s other major work from 2021, the anthology film “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy.” Rather than tell a single sustained narrative, “Wheel” presents a triptych of vignettes about interpersonal relationships: a model navigates an unconventional love triangle; a frustrated student convinces his girlfriend to seduce (and record) the professor who flunked him; and a pair of long-lost friends reconnect in a world in which the Internet has ceased to be. As with all screenings in the series, Hamaguchi will be present for a postfilm discussion – an invaluable opportunity to hear one of the current masters of the medium talk about his craft.
In anticipation of a pair of new 70 mm restorations of “Vertigo” and “North by Northwest” (both screening next month), the Somerville kicks off a weekly series called “A Bit of Hitch,” pairing a double feature of classics by Alfred Hitchcock each Tuesday. First up are a pair of the filmmaker’s early classics from his days in England. “The 39 Steps” (1935) is among Hitchcock’s first true masterpieces, a hugely influential spy thriller starring Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll (in addition, of course, to the director’s own obligatory cameo). It’s followed by one of my favorites in Hitchcock’s filmography, the overlooked “The Lady Vanishes” (1938), a mind-bending and darkly humorous tale of intrigue and mistaken identity on a speeding locomotive. Hitchcock would go on to bigger and better-known classics, but these films prove that the director’s signature wit and high-wire suspense were baked in at the earliest stages of his career.
Though perhaps not household names on par with Walt Disney or Chuck Jones, the husband-and-wife team of John and Faith Hubley are spoken of in hushed tones among fans of animation; beginning in the ’50s, the pair directed a string of jazzy, free-spirited shorts, winning three Oscars and inspiring countless followers. In celebration of Faith’s 100th birthday (which she would have rung in next week), The Brattle presents a pair of programs of the Hubleys’ greatest work, hosted by their daughter and fellow filmmaker Emily. Wednesday’s program focuses on Faith’s work with her husband and on her own, while Thursday celebrates the family as a whole, including some of John’s solo work as well as some of Emily’s (the Hubleys’ other daughter, Yo La Tengo bassist Georgia Hubley, is sure to make some appearances as well). It’s a once-in-a-lifetime presentation of rarely screened material and not to be missed by anyone with even a passing interest in animation.
Oscar Goff is a writer and film critic based in Somerville. He is film editor and senior critic for the Boston Hassle and his work has appeared in the monthly Boston Compass newspaper and publications such as WBUR’s The ARTery and iHeartNoise. He is a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, and the Online Film Critics Society.
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