If there's an awesome repertory movie house near you make sure to support it this weekend or next during the peak craziness over this year's Oscar nominees. See something really special you haven't seen before to remind you that the here and now ain't everything.
NYC -The gob-smackingly brilliant Black Narcissus (pictured left, which we wrote about during Season 1 of 'Hit Me...') is playing at Film Forum and will make nearly every one of next week's Oscar nominees look like timid wallflowers when it comes to psychosexualspiritual provocations, expressive production design and the use of color and light. Take that, uh... Life of Pi (?)
LA -The American Cinematheque in Hollywood is playing a double bill of Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas and the Coen Bros' Miller's Crossing on Saturday night in case this year's dearth of organized crime epics is bumming you out. [Insert tasteless joke about disorganized crime in Django Unchained. Hi, Jonah Hill!] Under no circumstances whatsoever should you miss Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons next Friday the 11th if you have never seen it. I guarantee you it demolishes any of the fresh Oscar nominees you'll still be talking from the day before.
CHICAGO -Okay okay... if you wanna stick with this year's crop but would like to try something new let it be known that The Rabbi's Cat, one of the foreign films hoping to squeeze out an American blockbuster from the Animated Feature Oscar shortlist is playing at the Siskel Film Center. I wish I were in Chicago to catch this. If you do, please report back.
Meanwhile back here in NYC, Norway's expensive ocean explorers drama Kon-Tiki which is hopefully something special since Norway chose it rather than Joachim Trier's top ten magnet Oslo August 31st to represent them for the Best Foreign Language Film category has one showing at the Walter Reade on Saturday evening.
...got any big movie plans this weekend?