Mother’s Day is Sunday and the Brattle Theatre is starting early with tributes to cinematic matriarchs of all stripes in a series appropriately titled Brattle <3s Moms. In typical eclectic Brattle fashion, the series ranges from Greta Gerwig’s heartbreaking coming-of-age story “Lady Bird” (2017, screening Friday) to Jordan Peele’s modern horror classic “Us” (2019, Sunday) to Gillian Armstrong’s 1994 adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women” (this week’s Friday Film Matinee). There are mothers who don’t strictly adhere to conventional gender norms, such as Divine’s iconic Edna Turnblad in John Waters’ “Hairspray” (1988, Monday), and non-biological mothers who are nevertheless fiercely devoted, like Ellen Ripley in “Aliens” (1986, Thursday). All, however, are regarded with compassion. The possible exception is Mrs. Bates, who makes her annual appearance in the traditional Motherโs Day Sunday screening of “Psycho” (1960). For the complete lineup and ticket info, check out the Brattle’s website.
Next week, the Harvard Film Archive will close for the season to facilitate some much-needed restoration. But first, it will squeeze in one last repertory series. The series’ title, The Spring Is Over (Prague 1970), does not refer to the changing of the seasons (though its timing is serendipitous). Rather, the HFA has collected four fascinating Czech films which arose in the wake of the 1968โs “Prague Spring,” reflecting the turmoil which followed the violent suppression of the revolution. The series begins Friday with “Fruit of Paradise” (1970), Vฤra Chytilovรก’s follow-up to her cult classic “Daisies” and “Squandered Sunday” (1969) by the criminally underappreciated Drahomรญra Vihanovรก. Saturday brings perhaps the best known of the films on display, Jaromil Jireลก’s “Valerie and Her Week of Wonders” (1970), a psychedelic fairy tale for grown-ups whose soundtrack has become a touchstone for dreampop artists like Broadcast and Stereolab. The series, and the HFA’s programming season, closes Monday with Ester Krumbachovรก’s wicked feminist satire “Murdering the Devil” (1970).
The HFA also has one last Saturday double feature lined up in its student-curated Community in Cinema series. The first film on the bill, Toshio Matsumoto’s groundbreaking “Funeral Parade of Roses” (1969) is a masterpiece of both the Japanese New Wave of the 1950s-1970s, and of queer cinema. The “roses” of the title are a community of tough, street-smart trans women working as hostesses in Tokyo’s Shinjuku ward. The film’s frank portrayal of its characters feels perhaps even more fresh now than when it was released, and its unflinching sex and violence (and eye-popping cinematography and rapid-fire editing) are believed to have influenced Stanley Kubrick in the making of “A Clockwork Orange.” It’s paired with “Land of Silence and Darkness” (1971), the first feature from the great Werner Herzog. The Harvard Film Archive will reopen its doors with the new school year in September.
The Somerville Theatre this week hosts two documentaries about unique artistic scenes. On Sunday, the Somerville welcomes director Bill Lichtenstein for an expanded edition of his film “The Airwaves Belonged to the People: WBCN and the American Revolution” (2019). For those not in the know, WBCN was Boston’s premiere alternative radio station from the late 1960s to its demise in 2009. Lichtenstein will be on hand following the screening for a Q&A with several WBCN alumni. The focus shifts to a different city Thursday and next Friday for the local premiere of Brian Vincent’s “Make Me Famous” (2021), which uses painter Edward Brezinski as an entryway into the legendary New York Downtown scene, which also included such figures as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Blondie. Both films might inspire you to create some art of your own โ at a time when we need it more than ever.
Though primarily a Cambridge destination for first-run films, the Kendall Square Cinema has been placing increased focus on repertory screenings, and this week sees two very different crowd-pleasers. On Tuesday, the Kendall screens the blockbuster sci-fi comedy “Men In Black” (1997) as part of its weekly series “Retro Replay: Aliens Among Us.โ While primarily remembered as one of Will Smith’s most entertaining ’90s star vehicles, it is equally notable for Vincent D’Onofrio’s committed comic performance as a swarm of cockroaches nesting under a farmer’s skin. On Wednesday, the theater turns its Filmmaker Focus on the great John Huston’s jet-black classic “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” (1948). “Sierra Madre” features an inspired heel turn from Humphrey Bogart, as well as one of the all-time great misquoted movie dialogues: โBadges? We donโt need no stinkinโ badges.โ the actual line, spoken by Alfonso Bedoya as the Mexican bandit Gold Hat, is “Badges? We ain’t got no badges. We don’t need no badges. I don’t have to show you any stinkin’ badges!” Catch it on the big screen and impress your friends with your fully accurate version!
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