International Women’s Day is Saturday, which, for reasons I don’t feel I need to expand on, takes on a heightened level of significance this year. In association with the good folx at Strictly Brohibited, a group dedicated to female and gender-expansive voices in film, The Brattle Theatre celebrates this weekend with “True Tales of Wonder Women,” a three-day program of biopics and other real-life stories of women throughout history written and/or directed by female filmmakers. The series begins Friday with Kasi Lemmons’ “Harriet” (2019), starring Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo as underground railroad hero Harriet Tubman, and Madeleine Olnek’s “Wild Nights with Emily” (2018), a celebration of the long-suppressed lesbian history of Amherst’s own Emily Dickinson (played by the always great Molly Shannon). Saturday brings The Brattle debut of Kinuyo Tanaka’s “Forever a Woman” (1955), about the great Japanese poet Fumiko Nakajō, as well as, naturally, “Professor Marston and the Wonder Women” (2017), about the creation of the iconic DC Comics heroine; that night, in perhaps the centerpiece of the series, Strictly Brohibited hosts a conversation after a 35 mm screening of Mike Nichols’ “Silkwood” (1983), written by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen and starring Meryl Streep and Cher. The series concludes Sunday with Nancy Kelly’s “Thousand Pieces of Gold” (1991), Marjane Satrapi’s animated memoir “Persepolis” (2007) and Julie Taymor’s “Frida” (2002), for which Salma Hayek won the Oscar for her portrayal of the iconic painter. It’s a wonderful and thoughtful series that provides some badly needed inspiration during these troubling times.
The Harvard Film Archive commences its latest celebration of one of the world’s most intriguing and vital filmmakers Friday. In “Albert Serra, or Cinematic Time Reimagined,” the HFA pays tribute to the Catalan filmmaker’s curious mix of spectacle and minimalism, as well as his penchant for adapting the seemingly unadaptable. In “The Death of Louis XIV” (2016), the black comedy that commences the series Friday, Serra casts French New Wave legend Jean-Pierre Léaud as the bedridden Sun King, decaying visibly in the heart of Versailles while his entourage attempts to stage-manage his demise. “Liberté” (2019), screening immediately afterward, is something of a spiritual sequel, following an enclave of exiles from the court of King Louis XVI as they plot a revolution from the darkness of the French wilds. The series continues through mid-April, culminating in a series of appearances from the director himself, but these serve as the perfect introduction to his wry brand of mordant formalism.
The Somerville Theatre kicks off “March Movie Madness” this month, an immaculately curated series of some of the greatest concert films ever made. The series opens Friday with a 4k presentation of “The Last Waltz” (1978), Martin Scorsese’s dazzling chronicle of the final performance of The Band. The story of The Band is the stuff of rock legend: formed as the backing band of rock ’n’ roller Ronnie Hawkins, it was poached by Bob Dylan and served as the touring ensemble of his early electric period, before setting off on its own as rock’s premiere purveyors of rootsy Americana (in a local aside, The Band laid down the backing track for “Moulty,” the jaw-dropping cult single by Cape Cod garage rockers The Barbarians). This screening is especially poignant in light of the recent passing of multi-instrumentalist Garth Hudson, the final surviving member of The Band. The series continues Tuesday with Prince’s essential 1987 concert film “Sign ’O’ the Times,” with more on tap for the remainder of the month – all to be played as big and loud as the musicians and filmmakers intended.
The Kendall Square Cinema continues its tribute to British filmmaker Edgar Wright on Tuesdaywith arguably the director’s finest work to date, “Hot Fuzz” (2007). “Hot Fuzz” is the second entry of Wright’s so-called “Cornetto Trilogy” – a loose series of affectionate genre parodies made in collaboration with actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost – and, for my money, represents the height of the trio’s invention and razor-sharp timing. Pegg plays Nicholas Angel, a London cop who is so good at his job that he is transferred to the sleepy village of Sandford to keep from making his fellow officers look bad – only to uncover a conspiracy wilder than anything he’s ever seen in the big city. “Hot Fuzz” weaves in multiple strains of police drama, beginning as a cozy mystery before taking a hard right into folk horror, finally emerging as a gloriously bombastic action thriller in the Michael Bay vein. But what makes the film sing is Wright’s whip-smart comic timing (the film requires at least two watches to appreciate all the symmetrical setups and payoffs), and the wonderful chemistry between Pegg, Frost and a murderer’s row (so to speak) of British talent, including a post-Bond Timothy Dalton and a pre-Oscar Olivia Colman. Watch out for that rogue swan!
In this age of accelerated online discourse, true cult films – the kind that build a following slowly through word of mouth – have become a rarity. One happy exception is Adam Rehmeier’s gleefully profane rom-com “Dinner in America” (2020), which makes a triumphant return to the screen Wednesday and Thursday at the Somerville Theatre. Cult star Kyle Gallner plays John Q. Public, a dirtbag punk rock singer who, on the run from the law, shacks up with oddball pet shop employee Patty (Emerson alum Emily Skeggs) – unaware that she’s the dream girl who’s been sending him anonymous lyrics and dirty Polaroids for years. “Dinner” pulls off a tricky tonal balancing act, its raunchy, anarchic humor transitioning into a genuinely affecting love story so subtly that you barely notice until its sneaked up on you. Unfortunately, it had the poor timing to premiere in Covid-stricken 2020, when it was slated as the opening night selection of that year’s scrapped Boston Underground Film Festival. It delighted critics on the virtual festival circuit (including yours truly, reviewing for Boston Hassle as part of the Buff-sponsored Nightstream), but had trouble attracting a distributor, ultimately dumping unceremoniously onto Hulu two years later. In the time since, however, it has become something of a streaming sensation via clips shared on TikTok, and has finally found the audience it so richly deserves. At long last, you can see it in the communal setting it was made for – just be prepared to take it down a notch.
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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