Hopefully everyone has recovered from the hurricane that a devastated much of the East Coast over the impromptu Halloween break. Luckily, the Goldsmith Family Cinema has been drained, sponged down, spit-shined, and is ready to go without the Film Series missing a beat. Sadly, the crew of the Cine-Files was not so fortunate. The houseboat I share with all my male relatives was blown wildly offshore, which created rampant trust issues and resulted in the postponement of this article. Hopefully everyone was able to enjoy John Carpenter’s icy masterpiece “The Thing” on Wednesday and Steven Soderbergh’s “Contagion” on Thursday nonetheless. For tonight and tomorrow, here are your Cine-Files:
2012. USA. Dir: Steven Soderbergh. With Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughy.
Friday, Nov. 2, 8 p.m. $5.
The summer’s hottest surprise hit is smart, sensitive, and has stunning abs. Let Steven Soderbergh’s manly melodrama show you what it’s got. Let it be strong enough for the two of you, just for tonight. You do not understand the art of seduction like this film does. He has worked his magic for critics and audiences alike. Enjoy his sensual delights. Sex. You get the point. Throwing dollar bills is not forbidden in the Goldsmith Family Cinema.
1964. Japan. Dir: Hiroshi Teshigahara. With Eiji Okada.
Saturday, Nov. 3, 8 p.m. FREE.
This feverish story of a man’s bizarre entrapment is heralded as one of the great achievements of the Japanese New Wave. The sparse, elusive story, by the great novelist Kobo Abe, balances emotion and suspense with elegance. Eiji Okada (“Hiroshima, Mon Amour”) turns in an intense, honest performance. Teshigahara’s direction is by turns stylized and sensitive, and he handles visual abstraction and emotional subtleties with equal skill. The soundtrack is by modernist master Toru Takemitsu, widely considered Japan’s greatest composer. It’s one of cinema’s most piercing existential allegories, but don’t let that scare you off. It’s also as sensually atmospheric a film as you’re likely to encounter, so see it big in all its luscious, heady splendor.
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