Cinematheque Film Schedule

United States | USA | Jane Wagner

At the start of his movie career, John Travolta had a three-film contract with the Robert Stigwood Organisation. His first two pictures were Saturday Night Fever and Grease. Moment by Moment, film #3, has largely been forgotten. This is not surprising given its disastrous reception by critics and the public in 1978. The movie is a love story in which lonely, unhappily married Beverly Hills socialite Trisha Rawlings (Lily Tomlin!) falls in love with a...

United States | 1987 | Elaine May

Dustin Hoffman, Warren Beatty, Isabelle Adjani, and Charles Grodin in a $51 million comedy written and directed by Elaine May and shot by the great Vittorio Storaro—what could possibly go wrong? Plenty, if you believe the film critics of 1987. Beatty and Hoffman play untalented, unsuccessful lounge singers who accept a gig in Morocco. Soon they find themselves involved with CIA political intrigue—and even regime change!—in the neighboring (fictional) republic of Ishtar. Despite its reputation,...

United States | 1987 | Elaine May

Dustin Hoffman, Warren Beatty, Isabelle Adjani, and Charles Grodin in a $51 million comedy written and directed by Elaine May and shot by the great Vittorio Storaro—what could possibly go wrong? Plenty, if you believe the film critics of 1987. Beatty and Hoffman play untalented, unsuccessful lounge singers who accept a gig in Morocco. Soon they find themselves involved with CIA political intrigue—and even regime change!—in the neighboring (fictional) republic of Ishtar. Despite its reputation,...

United States | USA | Jane Wagner

At the start of his movie career, John Travolta had a three-film contract with the Robert Stigwood Organisation. His first two pictures were Saturday Night Fever and Grease. Moment by Moment, film #3, has largely been forgotten. This is not surprising given its disastrous reception by critics and the public in 1978. The movie is a love story in which lonely, unhappily married Beverly Hills socialite Trisha Rawlings (Lily Tomlin!) falls in love with a...

Japan | 2016 | Hirokazu Kore-eda

The Cinematheque is pleased to be a community partner for this new movie showing in the 41st Cleveland International Film Festival, which takes place March 29-April 9 at Tower City Cinemas and at various locations throughout the region. After the Storm is the latest work by world-class Japanese director, Hirokazu Kore-eda (Nobody Knows, Still Walking). Kore-eda's first feature, Maborosi, debuted in Cleveland at the Cinematheque almost 30 years ago, and since then the director has...

Japan | 2016 | Hirokazu Kore-eda

The Cinematheque is pleased to be a community partner for this new movie showing in the 41st Cleveland International Film Festival, which takes place March 29-April 9 at Tower City Cinemas and at various locations throughout the region. After the Storm is the latest work by world-class Japanese director, Hirokazu Kore-eda (Nobody Knows, Still Walking). Kore-eda's first feature, Maborosi, debuted in Cleveland at the Cinematheque almost 30 years ago, and since then the director has...

United States | 1995 | Paul Verhoeven

A young drifter (Elizabeth Berkley) rises from lowly lap dancer to Vegas headliner in this sleazy maybe-satire directed by Paul Verhoeven (Elle) and written by NE Ohio’s Joe Eszterhas (Basic Instinct). A critical and financial fiasco when first released, Showgirls has become a hugely profitable cult film with defenders ranging from Jim Jarmusch and Quentin Tarantino to Jacques Rivette. With Kyle MacLachlan and Gina Gershon. No one under 18 admitted! Scope. 131 min.

United States | 2003 | Martin Brest

Everybody knows that Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck star in this notorious stinker. But how many know that Al Pacino and Christopher Walken are also in it? Or that writer-director Martin Brest previously directed such hits as Scent of a Woman, Beverly Hills Cop, and Midnight Run? Surely it’s time to take another look at this much derided romantic comedy. Larry Gigli (Affleck) is a lackey in the L.A. mob who is ordered to kidnap...

United States | 2003 | Martin Brest

Everybody knows that Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck star in this notorious stinker. But how many know that Al Pacino and Christopher Walken are also in it? Or that writer-director Martin Brest previously directed such hits as Scent of a Woman, Beverly Hills Cop, and Midnight Run? Surely it’s time to take another look at this much derided romantic comedy. Larry Gigli (Affleck) is a lackey in the L.A. mob who is ordered to kidnap...

United States | 1995 | Paul Verhoeven

A young drifter (Elizabeth Berkley) rises from lowly lap dancer to Vegas headliner in this sleazy maybe-satire directed by Paul Verhoeven (Elle) and written by NE Ohio’s Joe Eszterhas (Basic Instinct). A critical and financial fiasco when first released, Showgirls has become a hugely profitable cult film with defenders ranging from Jim Jarmusch and Quentin Tarantino to Jacques Rivette. With Kyle MacLachlan and Gina Gershon. No one under 18 admitted! Scope. 131 min.

United States | 2015 | Celia Rowlson-Hall

In this modern-day vision of Mother Mary’s pilgrimage—told entirely through movement—a pregnant woman crosses the scorched landscape of the American Southwest to give birth in Las Vegas. Deconstructing gender roles and reinventing the hero’s journey, MA turns an archetypal American road trip (gas stations, motel rooms, convenience stores, etc.) into a voyage into the visceral and the surreal—interweaving ritual, performance, and the body as sculpture. Choreographer and director Celia Rowlson-Hall stars in her feature debut,...

France | 1937 | Jean Renoir

Orson Welles once said, “If I had only one film in the world to save, it would be Grand Illusion.” Jean Gabin, Erich von Stroheim, and Pierre Fresnay star in Jean Renoir’s great anti-war movie—a humanistic masterpiece set in and around a German POW camp during the First World War. This exciting and moving classic slyly demonstrates that it is social class—not nationality or language—that really separates and divides people. Essential viewing! Subtitles. DCP. 114...

France | 1937 | Jean Renoir

Orson Welles once said, “If I had only one film in the world to save, it would be Grand Illusion.” Jean Gabin, Erich von Stroheim, and Pierre Fresnay star in Jean Renoir’s great anti-war movie—a humanistic masterpiece set in and around a German POW camp during the First World War. This exciting and moving classic slyly demonstrates that it is social class—not nationality or language—that really separates and divides people. Essential viewing! Subtitles. DCP. 114...

Great Britain | 1965 | Karel Reisz

This rarely revived counterculture cult classic is set in swinging 1960s London. David Warner plays an anarchist artist from a working class background who literally goes ape when his well-heeled wife (Vanessa Redgrave, in her Oscar-nominated film debut) wants a divorce. Our romantic rebel hero embarks on a series of funny, outlandish stunts to win her back. Print from England! 97 min.

Italy | 1959 | Roberto Rossellini

During the German occupation of Milan in WWII, a petty Italian thief and con man (Vittorio De Sica) is arrested by the Gestapo and forced to spy for them in prison—impersonating a general in order to root out anti-fascist resistance fighters there. Winner of the Golden Lion (top prize) at the 1959 Venice Film Festival and one of Rossellini’s best films. Subtitles. Blu-ray. 140 min.

Great Britain | 1972 | Peter Medak

Peter O’Toole earned the fourth of his eight Oscar nominations for this savage British satire (with musical numbers!) in which an institutionalized lunatic with a Jesus complex inherits a lordship, upsetting the upper class order. An outrageous, irreverent cult classic! 154 min.

United States | 2016 | So Yong Kim

Jena Malone and Elvis Presley’s granddaughter Riley Keough (Mad Max: Fury Road, American Honey) co-star in the fourth film by So Yong Kim (In Between Days, Treeless Mountain). The movie tells of two old college friends—one a young mother whose husband is often away, the other an unmarried free spirit—who embark on an impromptu road trip. As they travel, their long-held affection for each other deepens into something unspoken that leaves them confused and uneasy....

Great Britain, Italy | 1999 | Franco Zeffirelli

Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, Cher, and Lily Tomlin star in Franco Zeffirelli’s semi-autobiographical film about a group of eccentric British and American friends in 1930s Italy who help raise an illegitimate, motherless local boy. Given Zeffirelli’s considerable gifts for lavish, picturesque visuals, the cast’s scenery-chewing divas have their work cut out for them! In English with Japanese subtitles (only available print). 35mm. 117 min.

Great Britain | 1969 | Jean-Luc Godard

This Godard classic from the late 1960s (his first feature after Weekend) mixes scenes of social and political unrest (black militants, student revolts, women’s liberationists, etc.) with footage of the Rolling Stones in the studio working on the classic track that gives the movie its title. But as the song comes together, the world falls apart. With Anne Wiazemsky (Mouchette) as Eve Democracy. Sympathy for the Devil was selected to be shown by New York-based...

United States | 2016 | So Yong Kim

Jena Malone and Elvis Presley’s granddaughter Riley Keough (Mad Max: Fury Road, American Honey) co-star in the fourth film by So Yong Kim (In Between Days, Treeless Mountain). The movie tells of two old college friends—one a young mother whose husband is often away, the other an unmarried free spirit—who embark on an impromptu road trip. As they travel, their long-held affection for each other deepens into something unspoken that leaves them confused and uneasy....

United States | 1982 | Richard Benjamin

A young writer on a top live TV comedy show in 1954 New York spends the week chaperoning the show’s next guest star, Alan Swann (Peter O’Toole), an aging, swashbuckling matinee idol with a drinking problem and a proclivity toward mischief and bad behavior. O’Toole received the sixth of his eight Oscar nominations for this wonderful comedy that was allegedly inspired by an Errol Flynn appearance on Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows, for which...

Great Britain, Italy | 1999 | Franco Zeffirelli

Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, Cher, and Lily Tomlin star in Franco Zeffirelli’s semi-autobiographical film about a group of eccentric British and American friends in 1930s Italy who help raise an illegitimate, motherless local boy. Given Zeffirelli’s considerable gifts for lavish, picturesque visuals, the cast’s scenery-chewing divas have their work cut out for them! In English with Japanese subtitles (only available print). 35mm. 117 min.

United States | 2016 | Jon Nguyen, Rick Barnes, Olivia Neergaard-Holm

It’s only one month before the re-launch of Twin Peaks, so the time is right for this new documentary about the show’s enigmatic and idiosyncratic creator. David Lynch: The Art Life is nothing less than an artistic coming-of-age story and autobiography in which the now 70-year-old director of Blue Velvet and Mulholland Dr. recounts his idyllic American childhood, his love of painting, and his formative years at various art and film schools. (These culminated in...

United States | 1954 | Herbert J. Biberman

It’s a miracle that this landmark labor classic was ever made. It was written, produced, and directed by three men who had been blacklisted by Hollywood; financed by a union that had been expelled from the CIO because of its alleged communist leadership; and denounced by the U.S. House of Representatives and denied screens by theater owners when finally finished. Despite all that, this indie milestone survives today (and was even added to the Library...

United States | 2016 | Jon Nguyen, Rick Barnes, Olivia Neergaard-Holm

It’s only one month before the re-launch of Twin Peaks, so the time is right for this new documentary about the show’s enigmatic and idiosyncratic creator. David Lynch: The Art Life is nothing less than an artistic coming-of-age story and autobiography in which the now 70-year-old director of Blue Velvet and Mulholland Dr. recounts his idyllic American childhood, his love of painting, and his formative years at various art and film schools. (These culminated in...

United States | 1982 | Richard Benjamin

A young writer on a top live TV comedy show in 1954 New York spends the week chaperoning the show’s next guest star, Alan Swann (Peter O’Toole), an aging, swashbuckling matinee idol with a drinking problem and a proclivity toward mischief and bad behavior. O’Toole received the sixth of his eight Oscar nominations for this wonderful comedy that was allegedly inspired by an Errol Flynn appearance on Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows, for which...

France, Israel | 2016 | Shimon Dotan

This important and acclaimed new documentary takes an in-depth look at some of the many Israeli citizens who have built homes and communities in the occupied West Bank—complicating the nation’s ongoing Palestinian conflict and jeopardizing the two-state solution that many seek. The film also looks at the religious and political roots of the settler movement, going back to Israel’s founding in 1948 and to its acquisition of substantial Arab territories after 1967’s Six-Day War. “Extraordinary!”...

Argentina, Brazil, Portugal | 2016 | Eduardo Williams

How do you describe a film that is essentially indescribable? Eduardo Williams’ feature debut, one of the most audacious and acclaimed visions of 2016, is nominally about work and millennials. It begins in Argentina, where a bored, unemployed young man decides to dabble in internet porn. From there the film connects to other idle young men in Mozambique, and to even more of them in the Philippines. (Though without jobs, they have phones and computers.)...

Japan | 1953 | Kenji Mizoguchi

Mizoguchi’s most celebrated film is an atmospheric samurai drama and ghost story in which two peasants living in war-torn 16th-century Japan leave their homes hoping to profit from the conflict. This haunting movie subtly conveys the illusory nature of ambition and desire. With Machiko Kyō and Kinuyo Tanaka; cinematography by Kazuo Miyagawa. “Simultaneously realistic, allegorical and supernatural, Ugetsu is the most stylistically perfect of all Mizoguchi’s work, and many critics consider it the greatest Japanese...

Argentina, Brazil, Portugal | 2016 | Eduardo Williams

How do you describe a film that is essentially indescribable? Eduardo Williams’ feature debut, one of the most audacious and acclaimed visions of 2016, is nominally about work and millennials. It begins in Argentina, where a bored, unemployed young man decides to dabble in internet porn. From there the film connects to other idle young men in Mozambique, and to even more of them in the Philippines. (Though without jobs, they have phones and computers.)...

New Zealand | 2008 | Toa Fraser

Peter O’Toole and Sam Neill (both giving Oscar-worthy performances) star in this delightful film version of Lord Dunsany’s cult fantasy novel. Set in Edwardian England, this odd, one-of-a-kind movie chronicles how a lecture on the transmigration of souls, and a rare Hungarian wine, help effect a thaw in the chilly relationship between a dutiful son and his embittered father. And dog lovers absolutely shouldn’t miss it. Blu-ray. 100 min.

France, Portugal, Spain | 2016 | Albert Serra

Jean-Pierre Léaud stars in the highly acclaimed new film from Catalan maverick Albert Serra, who specializes in minimalist historical dramas that humanize larger-than-life figures (Don Quixote, Dracula, Casanova, the Magi). His latest work brings France’s powerful Sun King down to earth, re-creating the ailing monarch’s final days in his Versailles bed chamber, surrounded by concerned doctors and counselors. “A mesmerizing elegy.” –The NY Times. “The most beautiful film at Cannes 2016.” –Sight & Sound. Subtitles....

Japan | 1953 | Kenji Mizoguchi

Mizoguchi’s most celebrated film is an atmospheric samurai drama and ghost story in which two peasants living in war-torn 16th-century Japan leave their homes hoping to profit from the conflict. This haunting movie subtly conveys the illusory nature of ambition and desire. With Machiko Kyō and Kinuyo Tanaka; cinematography by Kazuo Miyagawa. “Simultaneously realistic, allegorical and supernatural, Ugetsu is the most stylistically perfect of all Mizoguchi’s work, and many critics consider it the greatest Japanese...

France, Portugal, Spain | 2016 | Albert Serra

Jean-Pierre Léaud stars in the highly acclaimed new film from Catalan maverick Albert Serra, who specializes in minimalist historical dramas that humanize larger-than-life figures (Don Quixote, Dracula, Casanova, the Magi). His latest work brings France’s powerful Sun King down to earth, re-creating the ailing monarch’s final days in his Versailles bed chamber, surrounded by concerned doctors and counselors. “A mesmerizing elegy.” –The NY Times. “The most beautiful film at Cannes 2016.” –Sight & Sound. Subtitles....

Italy | 1977 | Ettore Scola

On the day in 1938 that Hitler visits Mussolini in Italy, two lonely Romans—a housewife/mother in an unhappy marriage (Sophia Loren) and an anti-fascist journalist recently fired and awaiting deportation (Marcello Mastroianni)—meet and hang out while everyone else is at the big parade and rally. Loren and Mastroianni are far from glamorous in this touching, well-acted film that, 40 years ago, garnered many nominations and awards. Subtitles. Blu-ray. 107 min.

France, Israel | 2016 | Shimon Dotan

This important and acclaimed new documentary takes an in-depth look at some of the many Israeli citizens who have built homes and communities in the occupied West Bank—complicating the nation’s ongoing Palestinian conflict and jeopardizing the two-state solution that many seek. The film also looks at the religious and political roots of the settler movement, going back to Israel’s founding in 1948 and to its acquisition of substantial Arab territories after 1967’s Six-Day War. “Extraordinary!”...