Y'know, if this was any other November 18, I'd be super keen on catching an opening night HARRY POTTER show, but what with the Brattle in need and me being in mid-'thon and all, I'm gonna wait on the GOBLET and instead, Brattle it up w one, maybe two, "Recent Raves." You should check them out!
BROKEN FLOWERS plays at 7.30 and THUMBSUCKER screens at 9.45. Together they're a double feature, so if you've got the stamina, one ticket will get you both shows. I've seen FLOWERS and HIGHLY recommend if you can stand some slightly indie-artsy camera work with your bittersweet Bill Murray. I missed THUMBSUCKER when it was new and playing at the f/artsy Kendall, so I'm definitely catching that. I'm on the fence about BROKEN FLOWERS.
There's also a midnight screening of a local indie picture, PONY TROUBLE, that sounds like a lot of fun. If you're into the local indie music scene, do check out the Brattle's blurb for the roll call of local talent involved with this zany flick.
THUMBSUCKER's about a boy on that cusp between high school and the wider world of college, who in all of his 17 years of living has been unable to shake the habit of sucking his thumb. This is the obvious crisis that his family, teachers, and random acquaintances try to help him deal with, but each of these people in turn are in need of help themselves, walking around with their own, not-so-obvious versions of thumbsucking. Everyone wants to be "normal," right? The movie's got an excellent cast (Tilda "White Witch" Swinton, Vincent "Pooh Bear" D'Onofrio) assigned to some promisingly eccentric roles. I mean, Keanu Reeves as a new-age orthodontist, and Vince Vaughn as the thumbsucker's high school debate coach! C'mon!
If anyone wants company for the double feature, or different people want to do one or the other, I'll happily sit thru both while people tag in and out around me. =)
BROKEN FLOWERS is a Jim Jarmusch film, and definitely feels like one. He's the fellow what directed GHOST DOG (when a good Samaritan saves a young street kid from a serious beating, the kid decides to serve his benefactor as a modern samurai warrior, a trained killer who lives by the samurai code), NIGHT ON EARTH (one night, four taxi cabs, four different time zones), and MYSTERY TRAIN (Elvis haunts a Memphis hotel with an eclectic clientele) - all good crack I highly recommend. He's also the director behind COFFEE AND CIGARETTES, but I can't vouch for that personally as I haven't seen it (I'll bet it's very fun, tho =).
FLOWERS is Jarmusch's take on a noir film, with Bill Murray as the jaded hard-boiled detective, armed with a bouquet of flowers, not a pistol, on the trail of a very personal McGuffin, not a statuette hiding microfilm or a briefcase of royal jewels, but the son he didn't know he had... or maybe, it's love... or happiness... I don't know, you'll have to see it and tell me. The Jarmusch pace is a bit slow compared to your typical googleplex cinema fare. The camera lingers on things, just off center from the action sometimes, but for me, never without purpose. Sometimes it's for irony, other times for humor, and still others for some bit of pain or loneliness to register.
Frack. Maybe I DO need to see BOTH of these movies...
And so do YOU! Check them out if you can. And if you're looking for company for either or both, do let me know. You might be able to twist my arm. =) The theater's in Harvard Square, so there's Square fare for food/drink options to mix into a movie night. Border Cafe (which I love, but should be got to on a Friday on the early side of the evening), Cambridge 1, Grafton Street, and John Harvard's are a few likely crowd-pleasing options.
I'm just sayin' =)
Keep on keepin on~
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