This Week's Screenings (6/23-6/26)

Monday, June 23

This Thursday, as part of its Janus Films Night series, the Upper Eastside Garden is screening Marco Bellochio's 1965 film Fists in the Pocket at 7 pm. This nuanced film about a young man's attempts to rid his grotesquely dysfunctional family of its many afflictions uses perversity and an offbeat sense of humor to implicate Catholic morality and bourgeois family values. Its confident style established Bellochio as a talented and socially conscious filmmaker in a decade when the French New Wave's directors were receiving most of the international film community's attention.

Weekend Screenings (6/20-6/22)

Friday, June 20

Tonight at 8 pm at the Tower Theater director Gianni Amelio's film Cosi Ridevano (The Way We Laughed) screens as part of the New Italian Filmmamker Showcase. This showcase celebrates the rich world of Italian History, Art and culture through the country's cinematic history.

Cosi Ridevano tells the story of two Sicilian brothers, Giovanni and Pietro, who emigrate to the city of Turin. Giovanni works odd jobs and encourages Pietro to keep up with his studies, but when an economic shift allows Giovanni to profit through ill-gotten gains, the once irresponsible Pietro must cover up the corrupt actions of his older brother.

Gus Van Sant and more at MBC

Monday, June 9

Miami Beach Cinematheque: 512 Espanola Way, Miami Beach; 305-673-4567. Tickets for non-member are $10; $6 for members and students.

As part of its Best of Cannes in HD! series MBC is screening The Band's Visit on Monday, June 9 at 7:45 pm and 9:30 pm.

On Wednesday, June 11 in collaboration with the SobeSocialClub MBC is presenting the Miami Theatrical Premiere of A Four Letter Word at 7:45 pm and a second screening of the film at 9:30 pm.

Mongolian Ping Pong

Thursday, June 5

Sunrise Cinemas' Cafe Cinematheque series returns this week with three screenings of the 2005 Chinese Film Mongolian Ping Pong. When a young Bilike boy finds a ping pong ball floating in the Steppe River, he and his rural village try and discern what the ball is. When they finally learn that it is a crucial component of China's national sport, the determined boy sets off to return the ball to China's capital.

Mongolian Ping Pong will screen at Intracoastal 8 on June 8 at 10 am, at Sunrise 11 on June 8 at 2 pm and at Mizner Cinema 8 on June 15 at 10 am. Each screening will be followed with a discussion hosted by film lecturer Shelly Isaacs.

This Weekend at the Cosford

Wednesday, June 4

This weekend the University of Miami's Cosford Cinema will be screening the films The Counterfeiters and Love Songs.

The Counterfeiters tells the true story of Salomon Sorowitsch, a bohemian counterfeiter who helped the Nazis organize a counterfeit operation to finance their war effort. Using prisoners from the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, the operation produced the equivalent of over 130 million pound sterling before it was all said and done. The film won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It is 1 hour and 38 minutes long and plays at the following times: 7pm on Friday, June 6; 4pm and 6pm on Saturday, June 7; and 2 pm and 6 pm on Sunday, June 8.

Retro Beach Film Festival at Cinema Paradiso

Monday, June 2

The 1st Annual Retro Beach Film Festival starts Thursday, June 5 at Cinema Paradiso. Presented by Steve Savor, the festival will screen 9 beach-themed films and host a number of special events such as a Beach Party with hot dogs, beach music, Tiki Torches and an Elvis impersonator.

The following films comprise the festival's list: Beach Blanket Bingo, How to Stuff A Wild Bikini, Good Times starring Sonny and Cher, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Girl Happy starring Elvis, Where the Boys Are, Ride the Wild Surf, Wild Wild Summer and Head featuring the Monkees.

The Cosford's Weekend Schedule

Thursday, May 29

This weekend the University of Miami's Cosford cinema is screening the documentary Up The Yangtze and an HD recording of the opera La Rondine as performed at Milan's famed La Scala Opera House. Up The Yangtze addresses the environmental and cultural ramifications of China's Three Gorges Dam. 

The two films are playing at the following times: 

Friday, May 30:
7pm Up the Yangtze
8:45pm Up the Yangtze
 
Saturday, May 31:
2pm La Rondine
4pm Up the Yangtze
6pm Up the Yangtze
8pm La Rondine
 
Sunday, June 1:
2pm Up the Yangtze
4pm Up the Yangtze
6pm La Rondine

Sugar Babies, the Senses of Cinema and BRAFF 2008

Tuesday, May 27

Sunrise Cinema's Senses of Cinema-Foreign Film 101 series returns this week with three screenings of the 2006 French Film Days of Glory. Set in 1943, this wartime drama tells the story of four North African Soldiers who volunteer to join the French Army but are treated like second-class citizens in the fight against the Nazis. Days of Glory will screen at Intracoastal 8 on May 27, at Sunrise 11 on May 28 and at Mizner Cinema 8 on May 29. Each screening starts at 7:30 pm and will be followed with a discussion hosted by film lecturer Shelly Isaacs.

Derek Jarman and Bob Dylan at MBC

Tuesday, May 20

On Friday, May 23 the Miami Beach Cinematheque will continue its tribute to filmmaker Derek Jarman with a screening of Wittgenstein. This comic biography of German Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein uses Jarman's minimalist style to evoke the eccentricities of a scholar who preferred Carmen Miranda to Aristotle and assisted in the Soviet Revolution. The film starts at 8:30 pm.

On Saturday, May 24 MBC will present The Other Side of Mirror: Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk Festival as part of its Music on Film Series. At the 1965 Newport Folk Festival Bob Dylan did something that would alienate much of his original fan base: he plugged his guitar into an amplifier. During the sixties hippies and folk music lovers preached tolerance and pleaded for peace, but they apparently could not tolerate a musician who wanted to express himself by using an electric guitar. Dylan's performance at Newport caused pandemonium among the crowd, but it signaled an artistic progression towards rock music that would result in two of his most critically acclaimed albums, Highway 61 and Blonde on Blonde.

This Week's Screenings

Monday, May 19

Here is a list of this week's pertinent screenings. Click on each theater's link for a full schedule. More information to come later in the week.

Miami Beach Cinematheque: 512 Espanola Way, Miami Beach; 305-673-4567. Tickets for non-member are $10; $6 for members and students.

1. As part of the 1st Annual Hip Hop Conference in Miami, as presented by the FIU Department of African New World Studies, Counting Headz, a film about the love/hate relationship many South African women have with hip-hop, is playing on Wednesday, May 21 at 8 pm. The screening will be hosted by keynote Speaker P. Frank Williams, an Emmy winning TV producer, writer, journalist, author and commentator. Admission is free.
   
2. The 2008 Independent Lens Series, which screens award winning documentaries before they are broadcast on PBS, is presenting New Year Baby, a film about a survivor of the Khmer Rouge genocide and her subsequent search for her family's history. The film is screening on Thursday, May 22 at 8:30 pm. Admission is free.

Cinema Paradiso in Ft. Lauderdale: 503 SE 6 Street, Ft. Lauderdale; 954-525-3456. General Admission is $8; $7 for seniors and students; $5 for FLIFF Members.