’Tis the week before Christmas, and not a creature is stirring at some of Camberville’s favorite rep houses: the Harvard Film Archive, like its parent university, is on winter break, while the main house at the Somerville Theatre is currently given over to nightly performances of the beloved “Slutcracker” revue. If you happen by The Brattle Theatre this week, however, you’ll hear such a clatter that you may just run to the box office to see what’s the matter. In the days leading up to the big holiday, The Brattle will continue its “Unsilent Nights” series, putting its revamped sound system to the test with some of the most raucous, bombastic and flat-out loudest films ever projected onto the screen. Between the thunder of explosions and the boom of the scores, you will almost certainly shake like a bowlful of jelly.
Thursday’s offering is S.S. Rajamouli’s Telugu-language action-musical epic “RRR” (2022). “RRR” was a box office sensation in its native India and a surprise breakthrough hit stateside, and it’s easy to see why: It is, quite simply, a blast. Its action scenes are kinetic, bloody and unabashedly fun, while its musical numbers, including the Oscar-winning “Naatu Naatu,” will be stuck in your head. Screenings reliably inspire spontaneous cheering and dancing in the aisles, and this one will almost certainly be no exception. (Also of note: “RRR” has yet to be released on American Blu-ray, and the cut currently streaming on Netflix in the United States is dubbed awkwardly into Hindi, making this opportunity to watch it in its original form all the more valuable.)
The series continues Friday with a double feature of U.S. blockbusters that failed to ignite the box office upon original release, but which have inspired cult followings since. First up is “Pacific Rim” (2013), Guillermo del Toro’s loving homage to Japanese kaiju cinema and anime. The plot is simple – in a postapocalyptic future, human resistance fighters must operate giant robots to fight even-more-giant monsters – but the amount of enthusiasm and care with which del Toro has developed his world is leagues more satisfying than the superficially similar “Transformers” films. It is paired with “Speed Racer” (2008), Lana and Lily Wachowski’s live-action adaptation of the long-running Japanese cartoon series. No mere cash-in, “Speed Racer” is almost avant-garde in its vision of a high-octane, neon-tinted future, pushing the visual invention of the sisters’ famous “Matrix” trilogy to the outer edges of digital technology. Both films will be presented on 35 mm; if you are among the many who missed them the first time around, this is an ideal opportunity to catch up.
Saturday brings what is arguably one of the most pivotal films of the 21st century so far: Christopher Nolan’s Batman sequel “The Dark Knight” (2008). Superhero films have become so de rigueur in the years since its success that it’s easy to forget just how good “The Dark Knight” is, from its defiantly realistic Gotham City to Heath Ledger’s instantly iconic characterization of the Joker. But for all its grittiness, “The Dark Knight” never forgets that it is a comic book film, with a plot full of pulpy incident and pop-art opera. You can begrudge it the cinematic movement it spawned, but the fact remains that this is what blockbuster cinema should be.
This goes double for Sunday’s double feature of George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015) and its prequel, this year’s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.” “Fury Road” is one of those movies that almost feels like it should not exist, packed with decades’ worth of ideas recalling everything from Terry Gilliam to Alejandro Jodorowsky and featuring some of the most jaw-dropping stunt work captured on film (in addition to hundreds of drivers, Miller employed Olympic athletes and Cirque du Soleil performers, perhaps the only people on Earth up to the challenges of his storyboards). It also introduced one of the all-time great action heroes in Charlize Theron’s one-armed warrior Imperator Furiosa, so it is little wonder that, for his follow-up, Miller chose to flesh out her backstory. For whatever reason, “Furiosa” failed to catch on with audiences, but it is still one of the best action pictures of the year, and it is a pleasure to return to Miller’s zonked-out wasteland one more time.
The series closes Monday with a no-brainer: John McTiernan’s yuletide-set shoot-’em-up “Die Hard” (1988) and its sequel, “Die Hard 2” (1990). It has become something of a meme to debate whether “Die Hard” qualifies as a “Christmas movie.” My hot take is: Sure, why not? While neither “Die Hard” nor “Die Hard 2” show any particular interest in the holiday beyond the irony of using brightly colored lights as a backdrop for gunfire and carnage, there’s no law dictating what does or does not qualify as holiday entertainment (yet, anyway; I wouldn’t put much past the incoming administration). If watching Bruce Willis crawling through broken glass fills you with the holly-jollies – or, for that matter, clambering into an independent cinema to watch any big, noisy action extravaganza – who am I to be a Scrooge? For my money, the holidays are about sharing a communal experience, whether you’re gathered around a fireplace or the silver screen.
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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