FUNNY FACE. Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire star in Stanley Donen’s 1957 musical comedy about a New York City shop clerk who winds up being a fashion model in Paris. May 12-18. Row House Cinema
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SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN. Hollywood’s transition from silent film to talkies is lovingly skewered in this rousing musical from Stanley Donen. The 1952 film stars Debbie Reynolds, Donald O’Connor, Pittsburgh’s own Gene Kelly and a very important lamppost. May 12-18. Row House Cinema
NEW KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD. Guy Ritchie directs this tale of the poor Englishman who, after pulling a sword from a stone, learns that he is really a king. Charlie Hunnam and Jude Law star. Starts Fri., May 12 RISK. Documentarian Laura Poitras (Citizenfour) profiles WikiLeak’s Julian Assange. The work was filmed over six years, during which time the controversial Assange has been ensconced in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Starts Fri., May 12. Hollywood
THE WIZARD OF OZ. If your viewings of Victor Fleming’s 1939 musical film have been via TV only, you owe it to yourself (and any young ’uns) to see this beloved family classic on the big screen. Join Dorothy (Judy Garland) and her little dog, too, on their unforgettable Technicolor journey to the Land of Oz — a wondrous place that, ultimately, isn’t quite as wonderful as Kansas. May 12-18. Row House Cinema
SNATCHED. Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn star in this comedy about a mother-daughter vacation that goes horribly wrong. Jonathan Levine directs. Starts Fri., May 12
DARK SIDE OF OZ. Watch The Wizard of Oz while Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon plays, and have your mind blown by the synchronicity. Midnight, Fri., May 12, and midnight, Sat., May 13. Row House Cinema
THE WALL. If you like movies about war and soldiers — specifically those that lean more toward psychological thriller than action — you should see this one sooner than later. The less you know about Doug Liman’s drama going in, the more intriguing it will be — especially since there isn’t that much plot. We begin in some remote part of Iraq, in 2007, where two U.S. Army servicemen — Sgt. Isaac (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Staff Sgt. Shane Matthews (John Cena) are hunkered down on a dusty hillside, armed with sniper rifles and high-powered binoculars. They’ve been there for a day, patiently watching an area below them. It is the site of a pipeline construction — now halted as half-a-dozen subcontractors lie dead on the ground. The workers appear to have been shot in the head, suggesting the work of a trained sniper, who may or may not still be on the scene. Isaac and Matthews suspect that such a gunman is holed up behind the low crumbling wall near the pipeline. Frustrated with the fruitless surveillance operation, they head down off the hill to investigate. And … there is indeed a hidden sniper. After this short set-up, the film settles into a cat-and-mouse drama, where physical endurance and certain tactical skills matter, but so does brain work: figuring things out from few clues, making calculations and playing head games. The drama unfolds more or less in real time, and may be one of the grimiest, dustiest films I’ve ever seen. The Wall’s tagline is “This isn’t a war. It’s a game.” That’s a fair assessment, from the occasional zingy chess-match nature of the “battle” to the rather improbable story. Starts Fri., May 12 (Al Hoff)
ONGOING A QUIET PASSION. It’s fun to imagine how the great American poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) would have processed a film about her largely solitary life, and her portrayal by one of the stars of cheerfully raunchy Sex in the City. But we can see for ourselves, in Terence Davies’ (House of Mirth) handsome bio-pic, in which Cynthia Nixon portrays the often-difficult Dickinson with great sympathy. Dickinson lived in Amherst, Mass., often reclusively. Her few companions here include family members and a rather lively friend, with whom she enjoys verbal sparring. She remains unmarried, and writes poetry, some of which is published. As modern viewers, we pity the sensitive and yearning Dickinson her often sad life. Sequestered by societal mores and her own insecurities, she is unable to realize the fullest
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The Wall
THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG. Catherine Deneuve stars in this sparkling 1964 musical from Jacques Demy. She’s a country girl who falls in love with a mechanic. Ahhh, l’amour! Of note: The story is told only through song, and this candy-colored film was a major inspiration for last year’s hit La La Land. In French, with subtitles. May 13-18. Row House Cinema THE SOUND OF MUSIC. These hills are alive … with the sound of music. Julie Andrews stars in Robert Wise’s 1965 musical dramedy about the singing Von Trapp family. 11 a.m. Sun., May 14. Hollywood
Mothers of Bedford expression of her talents. (There is never an easy time to be a poet. But to be an upper-middle-class woman in the 1800s was simply to be married off or ignored as a spinster, and never a poet.) The title refers to Dickinson’s emotional passion (however suppressed), but can also take the religious meaning, denoting a time of suffering. And religion, too, is up for frequent debate in Dickinson’s life, as she struggles with incorporating her own desire for a fulfilling spirituality within the rigid structures of the organized church. Davies’ film is a lyrical work, and literally full of poetry. It should please those who can appreciate an introspective and meditative biography of someone who rarely left her house. It is true parlor intrigue — a room where perhaps a quarter of the film takes place — in which the wickedest things are the barbed epigrams, and the dramas are life’s familiar woes: the death of a parent, the loss of a friend, an unresolved illness. A must-see for fans of Dickinson and 19thcentury arts and letters. Manor (AH)
REPERTORY MARNIE. Alfred Hitchcock’s 1964 thriller about a thief named Marnie (Tippi Hedren), who has some serious psychosexual issues, and the man (Sean Connery) who pursues her. Less seen than Vertigo, but similarly weird vis-à-vis memory and mental health. 2:15 p.m. Wed., May 10. Row House Cinema NOTORIOUS. This top-notch A-list 1943 thrillerromance from Alfred Hitchcock finds Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant sparring as lovers and secret agents, while discreetly infiltrating Nazi collabora-
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tors in South America. 5 p.m. Wed., May 10. Row House Cinema VERTIGO. James Stewart loses his grip when he becomes obsessed with a beautiful blonde (Kim Novak) in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 thriller. Conflating sexual desire, memory and deception, Vertigo, shot in glorious color in the San Francisco Bay area, is regarded as one of Hitchcock’s finest works. 7:15 p.m. Wed., May 10. Row House Cinema FRIED GREEN TOMATOES. Jon Avnet directs this 1991 adaptation of the popular Fannie Flagg novel about an unhappy housewife who finds a sympathetic ear with an elderly woman in a nursing home. Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson and Mary-Louise Parker star. 7:30 p.m. Wed., May 10. AMC Loews Waterfront. $5 THE LADY VANISHES. In Alfred Hitchcock’s 1939 light comedy-thriller, a young woman on board a trans-European train is baffled when her carriage companion, a sweet old lady, simply disappears. 9:30 p.m. Wed., May 10. Row House Cinema FOUND FOOTAGE FESTIVAL. This touring program, hosted by Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett, brings the hilarity of found video, rescued from thrift stores, basement and who knows where. This year’s brandnew program includes: a star-studded Desert Storm parade sponsored by Taco Bell; on-air bloopers from more than a decade’s worth of North Dakota local news; and a collection of satanic-panic videos from the 1980s, including “The Law Enforcement Guide to Satanic Cults.” 8 p.m. Thu., May 11. Regent Square. $12
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THE WORLD OF APU. This 1959 film is the last in Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s masterful trilogy about the coming-of-age of a young Bengali man named Apu, and the recently independent India. The deeply humanist films, gorgeously shot in black and white, gently mark the transition from traditional to modern, from rural to urban. Ray’s work also helped spark a rise in “world cinema,” films produced outside of Europe and the U.S. World depicts Apu seeking work as a writer, and a romantic relationship, during a fateful journey to a rural village. It is not necessary to have seen the two earlier films — Pather Panchali (1955) and Aparajito (1956) — to enjoy and appreciate this one. In Bengali, with subtitles. 7:45 p.m. Tue., May 16. Tull Family Theater, 418 Walnut St., Sewickley. www.thetullfamilytheater.org MRS. DOUBTFIRE. Robin Williams stars as a divorced dad who doubles as the wacky but lovable nanny Mrs. Doubtfire in Chris Columbus’ 1993 comedy. And who says there are no good roles for middle-aged women? 7:30 p.m. Wed., May 17. AMC Loews Waterfront MOTHERS OF BEDFORD. Jenifer McShane’s 2011 documentary profiles a little-discussed issue — that 80 percent of women in prison are mothers to school-age children. The film examines the lives of five women, incarcerated at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in New York, and how they struggle to maintain relationships with their children. 6:30 p.m. Thu., May 18. Eddy Theater, Chatham University campus, Shadyside. www.justfilmspgh.org. Free KIDNAPPPED FOR CHRIST. Kate Logan directs this 2014 documentary about a “re-education camp” in the Dominican Republic, where American parents send their gay teen children to be “fixed.” Logan, herself a Christian college student, learned of the facility while doing missionary work in the Dominican Republic and was granted rare access to the camp and to its inhabitants. The film screens as part of Reel Q’s ongoing series Reel Stories, which presents films about the struggles and triumphs of the LGBT community. 7 p.m. Thu., May 18. Alphabet City, 40 W. North Ave., North Side. www.reelq.org/events. Free
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