Schools may be letting out, but it’s Reunion Week at the Brattle Theatre, a reliably eclectic annual series of films celebrating their 25th, 50th, or 75th anniversary. The series kicks off Friday with two very different New York classics hitting the big 5-0 this year: Chantal Akerman’s winsome essay film “News from Home” (1976), in which the director reads letters from her mother over priceless documentary footage of the ’70s Big Apple, and Martin Scorsese’s explosive “Taxi Driver” (1976), in which Robert De Niro’s Travis Bickle stalks those same streets and writes more sinister missives (“Taxi Driver” screens in encore Sunday afternoon). Saturday runs the board, marking the 75th anniversary of the Gene Kelly classic “An American in Paris” (1951), the 50th of Wim Wenders’ elegiac buddy picture “Kings of the Road” (1976), and the 25th of Terry Zwigoff’s “Ghost World” (2001), starring Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson as two of 21st century cinema’s most iconic hipsters.
Sunday begins with a brand-new 4K restoration of Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland” (1951), which remains as eye-poppingly strange as when it premiered (not for nothing was it rereleased in the ’60s to target the psychedelic crowd!). It’s followed by a pair of decidedly more grown-up features in Alf Sjöberg’s adaptation of August Strindberg’s “Miss Julie” (1951) and Michael Haneke’s harrowing international breakthrough “The Piano Teacher” (2001). Those looking for lighter fare can spend their Memorial Day off with a double feature of the beloved baseball comedy “The Bad News Bears” (1976) and Wes Anderson’s wistful masterpiece “The Royal Tenenbaums” (2001). The series continues through the week with favorites both (relatively) new and old; for the full schedule and ticket info, check out the Brattle’s website.
Perhaps the most intriguing selection of this year’s Reunion Week, however, is René Daalder’s fascinatingly weird revenge thriller “Massacre at Central High” (1976), screening on Saturday and Tuesday. When a mysterious loner transfers to a school run by preppie bullies, he evens the score by picking them off one by one — only for the school’s previously bullied nerds and outcasts to assert themselves as just as vicious as their onetime tormentors. Though it scans at first blush as typical ’70s horror sleaze (to be sure, some elements are very much of their time), Daalder’s film sets itself apart with a deceptively clever script and a cast of oddball characters, including the late Robert Carradine as a hilariously groovy stoner. It’s also startlingly prescient in its vision of so-called nerds proving to be fascists-in-waiting, anticipating any number of current high-profile figures in politics and tech. This marks the first time “Central High” has screened at the Brattle; hopefully, it won’t be the last.
Over at the Somerville Theatre, the Kurt & Jodie repertory series continues with two more double features from Mr. Russell and Ms. Foster. Sunday brings a family-friendly double feature of Disney’s animated classic “The Fox and the Hound” (1981), in which Kurt Russell voices a friendly hunting dog who strikes up an ill-starred friendship with Mickey Rooney’s orphaned fox, and the oddball kiddie musical “Bugsy Malone” (1976), starring Jodie Foster and a cast of child actors incongruously cast as grown-up gangsters. Leave the kids at home, however, for Monday’s program, which sees Russell in Robert Zemeckis’ ribald comedy “Used Cars” (1980) and Foster entangled with a drunken clown (played by Gary Busey!) in the cult drama “Carny” (1980). These four films, released early in their stars’ careers, signaled the range of both Russell and Foster’s talents — and, as we will see in the coming weeks, they were just getting started.
On Tuesday, the Kendall Square Cinema‘s month-long exploration of Aliens Among Us highlights one of the most unique and unclassifiable sci-fi films in recent memory. Adapted from Michael Faber’s novel of the same name, Jonathan Glazer’s “Under the Skin” (2013) casts a never-better Scarlett Johansson as an unnamed extra-terrestrial who assumes human form to lure unsuspecting motorists in Scotland. Far from your usual creature feature, “Under the Skin” is haunting and spare; dialogue is minimal, and Glazer’s detached camera invites us to view the world as if we were ourselves visitors from another world. The eerie atmosphere is driven home by the unforgettable score by Mica Levi, whose atonal, three-note refrain will haunt your dreams just as surely as Johansson’s man-eating creature. It may take you some time to interpret “Under the Skin,” but one thing’s for sure: You haven’t seen very much like it.
The Somerville’s Thirsty Thursdays series is a weekly crawl through cinema’s most infamous watering holes. This week, the establishment in question is “Road House” (1989), one of the most agreeably silly cult classics of the ’80s. Directed by the perfectly named Rowdy Herrington, “Road House” stars Patrick Swayze as Dalton, a world-famous bouncer (is there actually such a thing?) who quotes Zen philosophy while busting heads and flexing his pecs. There is a plot, involving crooked local businessman Ben Gazzara and a romance with beautiful doctor Kelly Lynch (last seen in previous Thirsty Thursday selection “Cocktail”), but it’s largely incidental to the immaculate ’80s vibes and ridiculously quotable dialogue (“Pain don’t hurt!”). “Road House” was such a staple of cable TV and VHS rentals in the ’90s that it almost feels sacrilegious to see it on the big screen, but there is no better way to experience its scuzzy charms than with a room full of fellow moviegoers (and, ideally, a trip to the Somerville’s own bar).
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