Cinematheque Film Schedule

France | 2014 | Gregg Akari

Shailene Woodley and Eva Green star in the new psychodrama by Gregg Araki (The Living End, Mysterious Skin). It’s a stylized coming-of-age tale set in 1988, about a 17-year-old girl who must deal with the sudden mysterious disappearance of her erratic mother. “Naughty, campy…Eva Green [is] deliciously unhinged.” –Variety.

United Kingdom | 2014 | Hong Khaou

An elderly Chinese-Cambodian woman (Cheng Pei-Pei) living in a London assisted-living facility and grieving for her recently deceased son is visited by another young man (Ben Whishaw) who shares her grief. This “friend” of her son wants to connect with his late lover’s mother, but since she doesn’t speak English and didn’t know that her child was gay, there are major language and cultural barriers to surmount. “Delicate and unhurried…Wears its stylistic debt to In...

United Kingdom | 2014 | Hong Khaou

An elderly Chinese-Cambodian woman (Cheng Pei-Pei) living in a London assisted-living facility and grieving for her recently deceased son is visited by another young man (Ben Whishaw) who shares her grief. This “friend” of her son wants to connect with his late lover’s mother, but since she doesn’t speak English and didn’t know that her child was gay, there are major language and cultural barriers to surmount. “Delicate and unhurried…Wears its stylistic debt to In...

France | 2014 | Alain Renais

The final film by the great postmodernist Alain Resnais (his first feature Hiroshima Mon Amour shows Feb. 14-15) is adapted, like two of his others, from a play by Alan Ayckbourn. The movie features an all-star French cast (Sabine Azéma, Hippolyte Girardot, Sandrine Kiberlain, André Dussollier, et al.) and follows three mature couples in an amateur theatrical group who learn that a mutual friend, George, has terminal cancer, forcing them to re-examine their own lives...

United States | 1933 | Lowell Sherman

Mae West and Cary Grant star in this double entendre-laden comedy set during the Gay Nineties and based on West’s hit Broadway show Diamond Lil. West plays a bawdy saloon singer who is visited one day by the straight-laced, uniformed director of the city mission next door (Grant). On Saturday Dr. William Patrick “Pat” Day, Professor of English and Cinema Studies at Oberlin College, and an expert on 1930s Hollywood, will talk briefly before the...

France | 2014 | Alain Renais

The final film by the great postmodernist Alain Resnais (his first feature Hiroshima Mon Amour shows Feb. 14-15) is adapted, like two of his others, from a play by Alan Ayckbourn. The movie features an all-star French cast (Sabine Azéma, Hippolyte Girardot, Sandrine Kiberlain, André Dussollier, et al.) and follows three mature couples in an amateur theatrical group who learn that a mutual friend, George, has terminal cancer, forcing them to re-examine their own lives...

France | 2014 | Gregg Akari

Shailene Woodley and Eva Green star in the new psychodrama by Gregg Araki (The Living End, Mysterious Skin). It’s a stylized coming-of-age tale set in 1988, about a 17-year-old girl who must deal with the sudden mysterious disappearance of her erratic mother. “Naughty, campy…Eva Green [is] deliciously unhinged.” –Variety.

United States | 1916-17 | Charles Chaplin

Not So Silent Cinema is a project of New York composer Brendan Cooney, who pens new scores to classic silent films that are then performed live around the country. Not So Silent Cinema makes its Cleveland debut today when the New River Ensemble plays Cooney’s music for three celebrated short comedies that Charlie Chaplin made for the Mutual Film Company: The Pawnshop (1916), The Cure (1917), and The Adventurer (1917). These movies show the rapid...

United States | 1933 | Lowell Sherman

Mae West and Cary Grant star in this double entendre-laden comedy set during the Gay Nineties and based on West’s hit Broadway show Diamond Lil. West plays a bawdy saloon singer who is visited one day by the straight-laced, uniformed director of the city mission next door (Grant). On Saturday Dr. William Patrick “Pat” Day, Professor of English and Cinema Studies at Oberlin College, and an expert on 1930s Hollywood, will talk briefly before the...

Japan | 2013 | Mami Sunada

Japan’s legendary Studio Ghibli, home of the great animator Hayao Miyazaki (now retired), is seen from the inside in this fascinating, revealing documentary that was shot during the production of Miyazaki’s final feature, The Wind Rises. “Building to an emotional wallop that’s almost on par with anything found in one of Miyazaki’s films, The Kingdom Of Dreams And Madness is pornographically interesting for Studio Ghibli fans; as a delicate depiction of the artistic spirit, it’s...

United States | 2014 | Amir Bar-Lev

Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno, and State College, PA, are all put on trial in this multifaceted examination of the recent Penn State child sex abuse scandal from the director of The Tillman Story. “A devastating portrait of a community—and, by extension, a nation—put under a spell, even reduced to grateful infantilism, by the game of football.” –The New Yorker.

United States | 2014 | Alex Ross Perry

An arrogant, self-centered, disagreeable young writer (Jason Schwartzman) abandons New York City and his live-in photographer girlfriend (Elisabeth Moss) for a rural sojourn at the upstate summer home of a celebrated, Philip Rothian novelist (Jonathan Pryce) who is one of his idols. This literate, well-acted comedy-drama from fast-rising writer-director Alex Ross Perry (The Color Wheel), “formally announces Perry as one of the most promising young talents on the indie scene" (Variety). Has an 85% “fresh...

United States | 2014 | Alex Ross Perry

An arrogant, self-centered, disagreeable young writer (Jason Schwartzman) abandons New York City and his live-in photographer girlfriend (Elisabeth Moss) for a rural sojourn at the upstate summer home of a celebrated, Philip Rothian novelist (Jonathan Pryce) who is one of his idols. This literate, well-acted comedy-drama from fast-rising writer-director Alex Ross Perry (The Color Wheel), “formally announces Perry as one of the most promising young talents on the indie scene" (Variety). Has an 85% “fresh...

United States | 2014 | Amir Bar-Lev

Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno, and State College, PA, are all put on trial in this multifaceted examination of the recent Penn State child sex abuse scandal from the director of The Tillman Story. “A devastating portrait of a community—and, by extension, a nation—put under a spell, even reduced to grateful infantilism, by the game of football.” –The New Yorker.

United States | 1929 | Dorothy Arzner

The silent era's sensationally popular “It” girl Clara Bow made her talkie debut in this Pre-Code movie by pioneering female filmmaker Dorothy Arzner. Bow plays a student at an all-girl college where passion and partying take precedence over schoolwork, especially with a professor as hot as Fredric March. “Great fun.” –Leonard Maltin. 35mm print from the Universal Pictures studio archive!

2014 | Various

In last year’s program of Sundance Film Festival minis, we showed the original Whiplash short that was expanded into this year’s acclaimed Whiplash feature. The latest compilation of superb Sundance live-action shorts includes eight movies from the 2014 festival, among them: Afronauts, about Zambian exiles who try to beat America to the moon in 1969; Dawn, an account of a sheltered teenager from director Rose McGowan; and Verbatim, an uproarious, unbelievable (but 100% true) comedy...

United States | 1983 | Howard Brookner

Long feared lost but recently rediscovered and digitally restored, this definitive screen biography of William S. Burroughs (Naked Lunch) began life as an NYU thesis film (Jim Jarmusch did the sound) but became a critical and art house hit around the world. Burroughs, who died in 1997, participated fully in the project, and the movie features interviews with Allen Ginsberg, Patti Smith, Terry Southern, and others.

2014 | Various

In last year’s program of Sundance Film Festival minis, we showed the original Whiplash short that was expanded into this year’s acclaimed Whiplash feature. The latest compilation of superb Sundance live-action shorts includes eight movies from the 2014 festival, among them: Afronauts, about Zambian exiles who try to beat America to the moon in 1969; Dawn, an account of a sheltered teenager from director Rose McGowan; and Verbatim, an uproarious, unbelievable (but 100% true) comedy...

United States | 1929 | Dorothy Arzner

The silent era's sensationally popular “It” girl Clara Bow made her talkie debut in this Pre-Code movie by pioneering female filmmaker Dorothy Arzner. Bow plays a student at an all-girl college where passion and partying take precedence over schoolwork, especially with a professor as hot as Fredric March. “Great fun.” –Leonard Maltin. 35mm print from the Universal Pictures studio archive!

United States | 1983 | Howard Brookner

Long feared lost but recently rediscovered and digitally restored, this definitive screen biography of William S. Burroughs (Naked Lunch) began life as an NYU thesis film (Jim Jarmusch did the sound) but became a critical and art house hit around the world. Burroughs, who died in 1997, participated fully in the project, and the movie features interviews with Allen Ginsberg, Patti Smith, Terry Southern, and others.

2014 | Margaret Brown

The lingering aftereffects of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion that killed 11 workers and caused the worst oil spill in U.S. history are explored in this unsettling new documentary. Features interviews with rig survivors, BP executives, and Gulf Coast residents. “Gives voice to many of the previously nameless and faceless victims of the disaster.” –L.A. Times.

United States | 2014 | Alan Hicks

In this acclaimed and moving nonfiction film that is one of 15 movies shortlisted for this year's Oscar for Best Documentary Feature (in January it might become one of the five nominees), nonagenarian jazz trumpet great Clark Terry, who once mentored Miles Davis and Quincy Jones, now tries to help a blind piano prodigy 66 years his junior overcome his crippling stage fright. “Both tender and joyous, a moving account of the mutual nourishment of...

United States | 1932 | Irving Pichel, Ernest B. Schoedsack

A year before they produced King Kong, Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack collaborated on another exciting and famous thriller starring Robert Armstrong and Fay Wray (though Joel McCrea was the lead). The Most Dangerous Game tells of a big game hunter who lives on a remote island and hunts humans for sport. It’s the best film version of a 1924 Richard Connell story that has been adapted countless times over many decades.

China, Taiwan, United States | 2014 | Ian Cheney

Who is General Tso and why are we eating his chicken? This lighthearted documentary uses one of America's most popular takeout dishes, General Tso’s chicken, as a springboard for an exploration of the history and evolution of Chinese food in the U.S. “Finger-lickin’ good.” –Variety.

2014 | Margaret Brown

The lingering aftereffects of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion that killed 11 workers and caused the worst oil spill in U.S. history are explored in this unsettling new documentary. Features interviews with rig survivors, BP executives, and Gulf Coast residents. “Gives voice to many of the previously nameless and faceless victims of the disaster.” –L.A. Times.

United States | 1931 | George Fitzmaurice

In Greta Garbo’s most commercially successful movie (also MGM’s biggest hit of 1932), the mysterious, Swedish-born actress plays the Parisian exotic dancer who was also an alluring WWI spy known for leading men to their doom. Here she falls for an enemy Russian officer (Ramon Novarro). With Lionel Barrymore. Cinematography by Cleveland-born William H. Daniels, Garbo’s favorite cameraman.

China, Taiwan, United States | 2014 | Ian Cheney

Who is General Tso and why are we eating his chicken? This lighthearted documentary uses one of America's most popular takeout dishes, General Tso’s chicken, as a springboard for an exploration of the history and evolution of Chinese food in the U.S. “Finger-lickin’ good.” –Variety.

United States | 1967 | Frederick Wiseman

Ace documentarian Frederick Wiseman established his reputation with his very first film, a nightmarish look at Massachusetts’ Bridgewater State Hospital for the criminally insane. The movie was banned for 20 years because it allegedly violated the patients/inmates’ privacy and dignity. But what it really did was show how the state abused and tortured people in its care. Wiseman has continued to make unflinching cinema verité portraits of American institutions ever since. Adults only!

United States | | Frederick Wiseman

Frederick Wiseman, who has directed over 40 documentary features since the late 1960s, is not only one of America’s greatest nonfiction filmmakers; he is one of America’s greatest filmmakers, period. This afternoon the director of Titicut Follies, High School, La Danse, National Gallery, and many others will appear in person to answer audience questions about his illustrious career, which has been spent, for the most part, documenting the inner workings of American institutions. Clips from...

United States | 2014 | Alan Hicks

In this acclaimed and moving nonfiction film that is one of 15 movies shortlisted for this year's Oscar for Best Documentary Feature (in January it might become one of the five nominees), nonagenarian jazz trumpet great Clark Terry, who once mentored Miles Davis and Quincy Jones, now tries to help a blind piano prodigy 66 years his junior overcome his crippling stage fright. “Both tender and joyous, a moving account of the mutual nourishment of...

United States | 1931 | George Fitzmaurice

In Greta Garbo’s most commercially successful movie (also MGM’s biggest hit of 1932), the mysterious, Swedish-born actress plays the Parisian exotic dancer who was also an alluring WWI spy known for leading men to their doom. Here she falls for an enemy Russian officer (Ramon Novarro). With Lionel Barrymore. Cinematography by Cleveland-born William H. Daniels, Garbo’s favorite cameraman.

United States | 1932 | Irving Pichel, Ernest B. Schoedsack

A year before they produced King Kong, Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack collaborated on another exciting and famous thriller starring Robert Armstrong and Fay Wray (though Joel McCrea was the lead). The Most Dangerous Game tells of a big game hunter who lives on a remote island and hunts humans for sport. It’s the best film version of a 1924 Richard Connell story that has been adapted countless times over many decades.

France | 1934-47 | Various

France’s great filmmaker and comic actor Jacques Tati is a perennial favorite at the Cinematheque. But before he made his hilarious features starring his bumbling alter ego Monsieur Hulot (Mr. Hulot’s Holiday, Mon Oncle, PlayTime, et al.), he acted in (and sometimes directed) short comedies. In this program we show four of them: Charles Barrois’ 23-min. On demande une brute (Wanted: A Brawny Wrestler, 1934), about wrestling; Jacques Berr and Tati’s 33-min. Gai dimanche (Lively...

Estonia, France, Germany | 2013 | Ben Rivers, Ben Russell

This collaboration between two major contemporary experimental filmmakers is a triptych exploring the possibility of utopia and transcendence in the postmodern era. Musician Robert A. A. Lowe (Lichens) plays an unnamed character who is seen at an Estonian island commune, then living alone in the majestic Finnish wilderness, then as a black metal singer at an orgiastic Norwegian rock club. “An art film that’s as uncompromising as it is uncommercial…Will prove fascinating for those willing...

United States | 1931 | William Wellman

Barbara Stanwyck stars in this tough, taut, shocking melodrama—about a city hospital nurse providing in-home care for two seriously ill little girls who are slowly being murdered. Joan Blondell and Clark Gable also appear in this essential classic that film historian William K. Everson called “Pre-Code with a vengeance.”

France | 1992 | Éric Rohmer

In the second of Éric Rohmer’s “Tales of the Four Seasons” (#3, A Summer’s Tale, showed last August), a young woman on summer holiday falls in love with a cook and returns home bearing his child. But an incorrect address causes her to lose touch with him, so she raises their child alone. For four years she is wooed by two other suitors, a hairdresser and a librarian, but she can’t help thinking about her...

United States | 2013 | Frank Henenlotter

Cult horror filmmaker Frank Henenlotter (Basket Case, Brain Damage, Frankenhooker) turns from blood to skin in his new survey of “adults only” cinema from 1930 to 1970. Abetted by longtime exploitation king David F. Friedman, Henenlotter takes us on a guided tour through this disreputable (but perennially popular) genre—from coin-drop arcade peepshow loops and sex-ed shorts to burlesque-capades, nudie cuties, and stag films. “A wall-to-wall lazy Susan of tits, ass, and hilarity.” –John Waters.