2014 dramedy about the goings-on at a famous European hotel between the World Wars. It’s a charmingly told, (decidedly) tall tale — a fable that shows all the symptoms of a director imitating himself, and possibly even putting us on. At its best, Grand Budapest Hotel is many things. The color scheme is otherworldly, the music lithe and playful. Apart from its nonsense about the past, it’s a paean to the proles: As soldiers rout and the elite conspire, a network of concierges comes to one another’s rescue. They’re played, in cameos, by members of Anderson’s stock company — Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Bob Balaban and Owen Wilson. June 9-15. Row House (Harry Kloman)
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NEW THE BEST AND MOST BEAUTIFUL THINGS. Garrett Zevgetis directs this new coming-of-age documentary about 20-year-old Michelle Smith, legally blind and on the autism spectrum, who from her rural Maine home seeks out life, laughter and good times with a sex-fetish community. June 12-15. Harris IT COMES AT NIGHT. Trey Edward Shults’ horror thriller is a lean piece of paranoia and tension. It opens with no preamble on a man dying of something horrible. Quickly, we ascertain that there is some contagious disease loose, and for safety, one family has barricaded itself in a house in the isolated woods. Paul (Joel Edgerton), his wife, Sarah (Carmen Ejogo), and their teenage son (Travis Kelvin Harrison Jr.) live uneasily, taking precautions, including wearing protective gloves and face masks. Then late one night a stranger breaks in, and begs mercy: He was just looking for shelter for himself and his family. Grudgingly, Paul agrees, and Will (Christopher Abbott), his wife, Kim (Riley Keough) and their toddler move into the house. But the close quarters, the lack of electricity and plumbing, and the constant fear of contamination puts everyone on edge — and things go from awkward to very bad. The illness threat is never explained, and really, distrust is far more contagious, and ultimately, more deadly. Shults’ work is a slow-burner, and doesn’t indulge in gratuitous gore or jump-out scares. The most nerve-rattling scenes involve the insomniac Travis wandering around the oddly shaped house at night, his camping lantern throwing crazy shadows. (Take a moment to marvel at the technology that lets directors shoot movies with the weirdest sorts of limited light.) As it’s a bit slim on story, Night doesn’t deliver as much of an emotional punch as it likely aims to do. The ending isn’t wholly satisfying, but the film takes a pleasantly unsettling journey to get there. Starts Fri., June 9 (AH) THE MUMMY. An ancient Egyptian princess is awakened and proceeds to wreak havoc on assorted people and countries. Tom Cruise stars in Alex Kurtzman’s thriller. In 3-D, in select theaters. Starts Fri., June 9 MY COUSIN RACHEL. Roger Michell directs this period drama, adapted from the Daphne Du Maurier novel, in which a young man believes his cousin has murdered his guardian. Sam Claflin and Rachel Weisz star. Starts Fri., June 9
REPERTORY GET OUT. Being black while in white spaces is the core fear of Jordan Peele’s recent horror thriller, an assured, smart and provocative debut. And that fear is on the mind of Chris (Daniel Kaluuya), who’s packing to spend the weekend with the parents of his newish white girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams). It’s a modern Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, where things get creepy in the country. Back in the city, Chris’ buddy, Rod (LilRel Howery), functions as an audience stand-in; Rod calls Chris out for sticking around, for trusting this odd family, and he unspools increasingly baroque conspiracy theories about what might be really going on. Rod is also the source of the film’s laugh-out-loud moments. Peele knows the genre well, employing tropes like malfunctioning phones and locked basements. Get Out follows the standard trajectory, from weekend at isolated house that starts kinda weird to the frantic final reel where the bodies
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It Comes at Night pile up. You can watch Get Out as a basic slow-burn horror thriller, but the big rewards are in unpacking all that it subverts, as well as processing its indictment of how things are not OK in a “post-racial” America. 2:45 p.m. Wed., June 7, and 7:05 p.m. Thu., June 8. Row House Cinema (AH)
short films from around the world. Then, if inspired, try making an animated film of your own, using tablets, apps and the stop-motion animation technique. The screenings and workshop are offered in conjunction with the Three Rivers Arts Festival. Noon-3 p.m. daily through Sun., June 11. Harris. Free
THE VIRGIN SUICIDES. Sofia Coppola’s dreamy, unsettling 1999 drama is set in suburban Detroit in the 1970s. There, a group of teenage boys grow obsessed with five sisters, who are kept sheltered by their religious parents. Kirsten Dunst, Kathleen Turner and James Woods star. 5 p.m. Wed., June 7, and 9:15 p.m. Thu., June 8. Row House Cinema
TIP OF MY TONGUE. Lynne Sachs’ 2016 film celebrates the filmmaker’s 50th birthday in a unique fashion. She matches her life’s timeline to those of friends who lived through the same periods and events — Vietnam War protests, Columbine shooting, Occupy Wall Street — but in different places, such as Iran, Cuba, New York City and Australia. Director Sachs will attend the Fri., June 9, screenings. The film screens for free as part of the Three Rivers Arts Festival. 7 and 9 p.m. nightly, through Sun., June 11. Harris
HOT FUZZ. This affectionate and obsessive 2007 pop-culture comedy spoofs a pair of genres heretofore never combined: the English-village murder cozy and the gun-heavy American high-octane cop-buddy actioner. That the twain should never meet — and do — is the spine upon which writer-director Edgar Wright and his co-writer and star Simon Pegg hang many gags and clever asides. For every obvious gross-out joke or pratfall, the pair lay a landmine for a brilliant pay-off in the chaotic last reel (I laughed hardest when co-star Nick Frost simply asked, “Pub?”). There’s a busload of British TV and film thespians onboard, and the homages run the gamut from Agatha Christie and The Wicker Man to such stone-cold classics as Point Break and Bad Boys 2. At nearly two hours, it’s a trifle self-indulgent, but what beloved shoot-’em-up — and BBC mystery series — isn’t? Lock and load, lads. 7 p.m. Wed., June 7, and 2:15 p.m. Thu., June 8. Row House Cinema (AH)
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THE STEPFORD WIVES. Of course, this creepy tale about men’s domination of women, by confining them to subservient roles in the domestic sphere, came out just as the seeds of the women’s liberation movement were beginning to bear fruit. In Bryan Forbes’ 1975 slow-burner thriller, a couple moves to a small suburban enclave, where everything seems perfect. Or perhaps, too perfect, particularly among the women, who are all beautiful and devote themselves to cooking, cleaning and pleasing their men. Needless to say, there are some terrible secrets to be uncovered. Katharine Ross and Paula Prentiss star. 9:30 pm. Wed., June 7, and 4:40 p.m. Thu., June 8. Row House Cinema INTERNATIONAL ANIMATED SHORTS PROGRAM AND WORKSHOP. Catch a program of animated
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DOLLAR BANK CINEMA IN THE PARK. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Wed., June 7 (Schenley: Flagstaff Hill), and Sat., June 10 (Riverview). The Secret Life of Pets, Thu., June 8 (Brookline); Fri., June 9 (Arsenal); and Sat., June 10 (Grandview). Sing, Sun., June 11 (Schenley Plaza); Tue., June 13 (West End/Elliott Overlook); and Thu., June 15 (Brookline). Ghostbusters, Wed., June 14 (Schenley: Flagstaff Hill). Films begin at dusk. 412-255-2493 or www.citiparks. net. Free THE MUMMY. This 1999 version, directed by Stephen Sommers and starring Brendan Fraser, is fairly faithful to the old tales about ill-advisedly raiding Egyptian tombs. The tone of banter-and-horror recalls its B-movie forebearers, despite all the computerized effects. 7:30 p.m. Wed., June 7. AMC Loews Waterfront. $5 BOTTLE ROCKET. In Wes Anderson’s 1996 debut feature, a group of pals including Owen and Luke Wilson bungle a robbery. This quirky comedy builds to a hilarious burglary (safecracker Kumar Pallana steals every scene he’s in). Fans of Anderson’s later films, including Rushmore, The Royal Tennebaums and The Life Aquatic With Aquatic will catch the writer-director developing his deadpan style (and his love for matching work clothes). June 9-15. Row House Cinema (AH) THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL. Wes Anderson directs an ensemble cast — including Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham and Mathieu Amalric — in his
THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU. If ironic distance were a perfume, this 2004 Wes Anderson film would be drenched in it. Yet as an alluring scent, it wouldn’t prove particularly effective. Life bobbles along with oceanographer and documentarian Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) — a lonely, middle-aged, shabby sort of man, literally adrift — until a couple of mildly invigorating strangers turn up. They join Zissou’s multi-culti, ragtag gang aboard his rickety research ship in search of a shark — and some sketchy personal developments. Despite multiple intertwining threads, the film lacks a compelling story, and worse, nothing here feels organic; the sets, characters and storyline are all calculated for Anderson’s peculiar and deliberately detached pantomimes. We anticipate zingy pleasures, but the film soon grows stagy and airless. June 9-15. Row House (AH) THE ROYAL TENNENBAUMS. In his 2001 dramedy, Wes Anderson explores members of a splintered family, complete with disgraced, exiled king/dad Royal (Gene Hackman), regally unflappable queen mother (Anjelica Huston), and three child geniuses who grew up into neurotic adults: obsessively self-sufficient businessman (Ben Stiller), terminally insecure playwright (Gwyneth Paltrow) and nervously broken-down ex-tennis whiz (Luke Wilson). Anderson examines their pain with a sensitivity that’s somehow abetted by his deadpan absurdist humor. Led by Hackman, who expertly balances Royal’s lack of repentance with a sincere desire to patch things up with his long-neglected brood, the cast is fine as Anderson creates a kind-of fairy tale: It’s not quite real, he keeps reminding us, but it has more than enough of the world in it to move you in ways you might never expect. June 9-15. Row House (Bill O’Driscoll)
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LET ME MAKE YOU A MARTYR. Corey Asraf and John Swab direct this new thriller about two adopted siblings who fall in love and decide to kill their abusive father. The film stars Mark Boone Junior, Niko Nicotera, Sam Quartin and Marilyn Manson. 7 p.m. Sat., June 10. Hollywood GUN HILL ROAD. This Bronx-set drama tracks two concurrent journeys: the coming-of-age of transsexual teen-ager Michael, a.k.a. Vanessa; and the struggle of his tough-guy father (Esai Morales), just released from jail, to accept Vanessa’s identity. It’s a sympathetic portrayal that doesn’t offer pat solutions. The 2011 film screens as part of a monthly series of movies that highlight the struggles and triumphs of the LGBT community. 7 p.m. Wed., June 14. Alphabet City, 40 W. North Ave., North Side. www.reelq.org. Free FROM THIS DAY FORWARD. Sharon Shattuck’s 2015 documentary recounts her own family’s journey, beginning with her dad transitioning to female while Sharon was in middle school through her parents’ decision to remain together. 6:30 p.m. Thu., June 15. Eddy Theater, Chatham University campus, Shadyside. www.justfilmspgh.org. Free INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM. It’s whip-crackin’ adventure in India as the be-hatted Jones (Harrison Ford) searches for a mystical stone. Steven Spielberg directs this 1984 hit, the sequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark. 7:30 p.m. Wed., June 14. AMC Loews Waterfront. $5