To celebrate the local premiere of “Where to Land” (2025), the new film by Hal Hartley, The Brattle Theatre presents three of the director’s most celebrated works. Though perhaps less well known today than such contemporaries as Richard Linklater or Steven Soderbergh, Hartley was just as important a figure in the indie film boom of the late ’80s and ’90s, his arch, deadpan comedies essential texts of Gen X cool. Hartley made his name with the so-called “Long Island Trilogy” – “The Unbelievable Truth” (1988), “Trust” (1990) and “Simple Men” (1992) – all of which screen in a triple feature Thursday (of particular note for format geeks is “Trust,” which screens from a new 35 mm print provided by the Chicago Film Society). If all of that whets your appetite for some new Hartley, “Where to Land” opens Friday at The Brattle and runs through Wednesday.
October is a time for revisiting horror classics, and it’s always cause for excitement when a new favorite is added to the pantheon. Such is the case of Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” (2025), which makes its repertory debut Friday through Monday playing the late show at The Brattle. Coogler’s southern-fried vampire epic was a sensation when it opened this spring, an electric celebration of Black music and culture featuring a brilliant dual performance from Michael B. Jordan. But it’s also, simply put, a damn fine horror picture, as rowdy and bloody and straight up fun as any classic of the genre. It seems safe to say that “Sinners” will be a staple of Halloween programming for the foreseeable future – which makes it all the more exciting to be present for its inaugural season.
With its 70 mm projectors still set up from its run of Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another,” it would seem like a waste if the Somerville Theatre didn’t screen some other favorites of the format. From Friday through Sunday, the Somerville presents a new 70 mm print of Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi classic “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977), in which Richard Dreyfus plays a frazzled father driven to obsession after witnessing a low-flying UFO. Though most closely associated with the early blockbuster age spearheaded by “Star Wars” (1977) and Spielberg’s own “Jaws” (1975), “Close Encounters” has as much in common with the moody New Hollywood pictures of the 1970s, functioning just as well as an off-kilter character study of suburban dysfunction as it does a special effects showcase (though the effects do remain dazzling). It’s no wonder the legendary French New Wave director Francois Truffaut appears in a major role as a crusading scientist; he clearly saw something special in the young Spielberg.
Speaking of Truffaut, the Harvard Film Archive continues its series “New Dog, New Tricks: Youth in Cinema” on Saturday with the director’s breakout film. Based loosely on Truffaut’s own school days, “The 400 Blows” (1959) is as honest a film as has ever been made about childhood, starring Jean-Pierre Leaud as the irrepressible Antoine Doinel (a role the actor would reprise in four subsequent films for Truffaut). It is paired in a double feature with Abbas Kiarostami’s equally affecting “Where Is the Friend’s House?” (1987), about a young boy trying to navigate family and social obligations to do the right thing. As is the custom of the series, the features are bridged by an animated short – Chuck Jones’ Roadrunner classic “Gee Whiz-z-z-z-z-z-z” (1956) – screened from a vintage 35 mm print.
It’s always a treat when your hometown is featured on the big screen – especially when that screen is in the town itself. On Saturday, The Brattle presents a special premiere screening of Federico Muchnik’s new documentary “Massachusetts Avenue: Life Along Cambridge’s Main Artery” (2025). While readers of the Day certainly don’t need to be told how much Massachusetts Avenue means to Cambridge, Muchnik digs into just what makes that main drag so special, taking a sort of dual-layer approach. On one hand, the filmmaker takes to the street itself, interviewing everyone from business owners to students to Harvard Square chess masters, all of whom call Mass. Ave. their home. Then, on a macro level, Muchnik sends drones overhead to give us a bird’s eye view – picture a sort of Central Square “Koyaanisqatsi.” After the screening, Muchnik takes the stage for a Q&A, and it’s probably safe to say some of the film’s subjects will be in attendance.
As the Halloween season continues, the Somerville has a pair of delightfully spooky classics. On Monday and Tuesday, the theater screens a new 4K restoration of John Carpenter’s “The Fog” (1980). Though perhaps not as widely heralded as Carpenter’s “Halloween” (1978) or “The Thing” (1980), “The Fog” is irresistible for its spooky seaside ambiance and sprawling cast of kooky characters (most memorably Adrienne Barbeau as a super cool late-night DJ who broadcasts out of the town lighthouse). If you’re looking for more kid-friendly fare, come back Wednesday for “Mad Monster Party?” (1967), the delightful Halloween special from holiday stop-motion maestros Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass, featuring the voices of Boris Karloff and Phyllis Diller and a rock ’n’ roll party with all your favorite monsters on the guest list – an absolute treat for the trick-or-treat set.
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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