WEST MEETS EAST FILM FORUM: CHINA ON SCREEN
The University of Baltimore presents two days of screenings of and discussions about contemporary Chinese film (disclosure:
City Paper
Editor Lee Gardner is among the panelists). Titles include
Once Upon a Time in China and America
,
Romeo Must Die
,
House of Flying Daggers
, and
Lust, Caution
on Friday and
Yellow Earth
,
Happy Together
,
Fist of Legend
, and
Infernal Affairs
on Saturday. See
for the full schedule.
HAYWIRE
Director Steven Soderbergh tries his hand at straight-up action, starring mixed martial arts star Gina Carano as a wronged government operative out for revenge.
Opens Jan. 20.
KUNG FU PANDA 2
The respectable sequel to the computer-animated blockbuster with Jack Black once again voicing the title ursid.
MYSTERY TRAIN
Jim Jarmusch’s deadpan three-episode exploration of the mystique of Memphis comes to the Spiral Cinema screening series.
RED TAILS
The much-anticipated George Lucas-produced, Anthony Hemingway-directed account of the aerial adventures of a squadron of black fighter pilots during World War II.
Opens Jan. 20.
UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING
Kate Beckinsale dons the leather for yet another installment of this vampires-versus-werewolves action franchise.
Opens Jan. 20.
WEEK END
Jean-Luc Godard’s scabrous 1967 cocktail of wayward proto-yuppies and societal breakdown in the French countryside contains some of his most annoying po-faced rhetorical gambits, but also some of the funniest moments found in his work as well as the still astonishing eight-minute traffic-jam tracking shot.
WEST SIDE STORY
The film version of Leonard Bernstein’s musical is, yes, a bit cheesy/goofy, but who can deny its dance-fight revolution power? Two shows only.
WHAT TIME IS IT THERE?
The most charming and sprightly of Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang’s films to date,
What Time Is It There?
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offers elliptical romantic comedy by centering on a street vendor and his long-distance longing for a young woman he sells a watch to before she leaves on a trip to Paris. Part of the Spiral Cinema series.