Snow stands no chance against the awesome power of this week’s Film Series. You’ll cry. You’ll sing. You’ll die. You’ll finally get some Frontier Justice.
LE SILENCE DE LORNA (Lorna’s Silence)
2008. Belgium. Reg: Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne. Avec Jérémie Renier. 105 minutes. DEMAIN, 2 Février, 20h (WEDNESDAY, Feb. 2, 8 p.m.) $5.
Presented as part of The Tournées Festival, made possible with the support of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the French Ministry of Culture.
Yeah, sorry, I’m not gonna write the whole thing en français—too much PFSD from tenth grade. Luckily, that didn’t stop me from checking out this enthralling little piece of cinema after it won Best Screenplay at Cannes in 2008. “Lorna’s Silence” continues the Dardennes Brothers’ critically acclaimed tradition of highly personal, but often brutally realistic depictions of lower class Belgian life. Like “L’Enfant” (2005) and “La Promesse” (1996), “Lorna’s Silence” looks in places we might not and finds the things we hoped we wouldn’t.
MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS
1944. USA. Dir: Vincente Minnelli. With Judy Garland. 113 minutes. THURSDAY, Feb. 3, 8 p.m., FREE.
Have yourself a merry little Christmas / Let your heart be light / From now on / Our troubles will be out of sight // Here we are as in olden days / Happy golden days of yore / Faithful friends who are dear to us / Gather near to us once more // Through the years / We all will be together / If the Fates allow / Hang a shining star upon the highest bough / And have yourself a merry little Christmas now.
Handpicked by Jeanine Basinger to celebrate her birthday.
ENTER THE VOID
2010. France. Dir: Gaspar Noé. With Paz de la Huerta. 161 minutes. FRIDAY, Feb. 4, $5.
Sex. Drugs. Death. Tokyo. Existence. Reality. Those are words. Inadequate strings of meaningless symbols attempting to represent concepts at the heart of Gaspar Noé’s hard to see, harder to resist, and impossible to fully comprehend mindfuck. Plan on going sober, because I can guarantee you’re leaving high.
THE BIG TRAIL
1930. USA. Raoul Walsh. With John Wayne, Tyrone Power, Sr. 125 minutes. SATURDAY, Feb. 5, FREE.
A fast-paced story of revenge on the Santa Fe Trail, following fur trapper Breck Coleman (a handsome, 23 year-old John Wayne in his very first leading role) as he searches for his best friend’s killer. One of the first Westerns ever shot in widescreen, this recently restored piece of American cinema history has gained recognition since the unsuccessful Depression-Era release for its elegiac vistas, innovative camerawork, and insistent attention to realistic detail.