To-do: Week starting Thursday 18th November: Harry Potter, Agora, Gasland, Greenberg, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Man of the West
Opening this week: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1), the second last in the fantasy series; Agora, a probably annoying historical drama from director Alejandro Amenábar (The Sea Inside) that pits the forces of religion against the forces of science and reason; and Gasland, a documentary about the devastating effects of hydraulic oil drilling on a small American community.
At Cinematheque on Wednesday at ACMI, Scandinavian Silent Cinema: The Phantom Carriage by Victor Sjöström (paid homage to by Ingmar Bergman in Wild Strawberries) and Sir Arne’s Treasure by Mauritz Stiller, followed by Thomas Graal’s Best Film also by Stiller.
At ACMI: Castaway with Roy Conli, American: The Bill Hicks Story (last week), Festival of Jewish Cinema (until the 29th)
At the Astor: Greenberg plays with Scott Pilgrim vs The World on Friday. John Huston’s Oscar-winning The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (starring Humphrey Bogart) plays with Anthony Mann’s Man of the West, rated the sixth-best of 1958 by Jean-Luc Godard (above Touch of Evil at number 7!). JLG commented that each shot “gives one the impression that Anthony Mann is reinventing the Western, exactly as Matisse’s portraits reinvent the features of Piero Della Francesca. It is, moreover, more than an impression. He does reinvent.” On Monday, Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas screens with Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction.
