For one week only, the new restoration of Orson Welles’ Chimes at Midnight (1966) plays at The Uptown. Welles developed the film from a stage production drawn from Shakespeare’s “Henry VI” and “Henry V” (as well as “Holinshead’s Chronicles”) centered on Falstaff (played with bedhead and bulbous nose red with drink) and his bad-father relationship with young Prince Hal (Keith Baxter), the heir to the crown of England, is his wastrel years. “If I wanted to get into heaven on the basis of one movie, that’s the one I would offer up,” Welles said of the film, which suffered from distribution issues, competing claims of ownership, and degraded prints almost from the time it was completed. Now it has been lovingly remastered from the negatives and Janus films (a partner with Criterion) has applied digital technology to create a new digital restoration for the U.S.
It’s a Brian De Palma weekend. The documentary De Palma, directed by Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow, opens at The Uptown while short retrospective Obsessions: Classic De Palma, featuring seven De Palma films, plays through Sunday at the SIFF Film Center. All tickets to the retrospective screenings are $5 and SIFF members get free admission (based on ticket availability).
Nicolas Winding Refn’s polarizing The Neon Demon was booed and praised at Cannes this year. It opens this week at the Egyptian and other cinemas all over the city to polarize Seattle audiences.
Johnnie To’s Three opens at Pacific Place, arriving in Seattle with no local advertising or reviews. Louis Ko (a longtime To favorite) stars in the crime drama.
The Best of Children’s Film Festival Seattle 2016 returns for a school’s out matinee showing on Sunday, June 26 at NWFF. Schedule and showtimes here.
Silent Movie Mondays at The Paramount concludes the summer program on Monday, June 17 with Why Be Good (1929), starring Colleen Moore as hardworking salesgirl by day and jazz baby by night who falls for the boss’s son (Neil Hamilton). Features live accompaniment by Christian Elliot on the Mighty Wurlitzer. Doors open at 6pm, the film begins at 7pm.
John Cassavetes’s The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976) plays in a 35mm print for one show only at NWFF on Wednesday, June 29.
The original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), the one with Gene Wilder as the strangely unsettling Wonka, plays on big screen in select theaters across the country for two nights this week: Sunday, June 26 and Wednesday, June 29. It’s a Fathom event and you can find participating theaters in your area here.
The final presentation in Queer Fan Nights at NWFF is a collection of iconic song performances with a queer angle from the Eurovision Song Competition on Thursday, June 30 at 8pm (Happy Hour in the lobby at 7pm), co-sponsored by Three Dollar Bill Cinema.
Tickets are now on sale for the Summer Film Series at the Seattle Art Museum: Cary Grant for President, six comedies playing Thursday nights at SAM’s Plestcheeff Auditorium. The series begins on Thursday, July 7 with Bringing Up Baby (1938) and all films will be screened in 35mm. Schedule and series passes at the SAM website, you can also purchase passes at Scarecrow Video.
Visit the film review pages at The Seattle Times, Seattle Weekly, and The Stranger for more releases.
View complete screening schedules through IMDb, MSN, Yahoo, or Fandango, pick the interface of your choice.