CineFile is our weekly digest of the best in Dallas’ under-the-radar cinematic fare—from indie movies, to documentaries, to foreign films, to re-screenings of the (cult) classics. Here’s what you could be watching:
Friday the 13th (1980)
Horror
Dir.: Sean S. Cunningham
Runtime: 95 min.
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema
Friday, December 13, at 11:15 pm
There’s no better way to rekindle your friggatriskaidekaphobia (google it) than with this seminal slasher classic that stars a gangly Kevin Bacon and introduced the hockey-masked bogeyman Jason Voorhees. (Caveat emptor: not much Jason (and no hockey mask) in this one, but it still pwns the sequels.)
I Am Divine (2013)
Documentary
Dir.: Jeffrey Schwarz
Runtime: 90 min.
The Texas Theatre
Friday, December 13, at 7:15 pm
Saturday, December 14, at 6:15 pm
Sunday, December 15, at 5:15 pm
Divine was the outrageous drag-queen alter ego of a corpulent Baltimorean named Harris Glenn Milstead. The product of a collaboration between Milstead and his long-time pal, ’70s trash filmmaker John Waters (he of the pencil mustache), Divine emerged an iconic figure in the LGBT community in the years following Milstead’s death. Crazy prolific producer-director Jeffrey Schwarz keeps things irreverent in this biographical documentary that premiered at South By.
Die Hard (1988)
Action
Dir.: John McTiernan
Runtime: 131 min.
The Texas Theatre
Friday, December 13, at 9:20 pm
Saturday, December 14, at 8:20 pm
Sunday, December 15, at 7:20 pm
Watch Bruce Willis deliver “the greatest one-liner in movie history” with this 25th-anniversary screening of the movie that justifies the actor’s interminable stardom. You know the drill: explosions galore, an abhorrent eighties synth-pop soundtrack, and that wise-guy New York cop shtick. (Highly recommended for fans of Willis’ since-departed hair.)
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
Drama
Dir.: Frank Capra
Runtime: 130 min.
The Magnolia
Tuesday, December 17, at 7:30 and 10 pm
This obscenely beloved Frank Capra classic is required viewing for the Christmas (ahem, nondenominational holiday) season. Indulge your sweet tooth with this saccharine tale of small-town businessman George (Jimmy Stewart) who learns what life is all about. Sniffle.
CONTEMPORARY MEXICAN CINEMA AT THE MODERN
Make this weekend Mexican with The Modern’s screening of contemporary fare from south of the border. There are aging rebels, Mennonites falling in love, beauty queens trapped by drug-dealing gangs, and kids on the lam from respectability.
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
Machete Language (2011)
Drama
Dir: Kyzza Terraza
Runtime: 78 min.
Spanish, with English subs
Friday, December 13, at 7:30 pm
Silent Light (2007)
Drama
Dir.: Carlos Reygadas
Runtime: 132 min.
Plautdietsch, with English subs
Saturday, December 14, at 2 pm
Miss Bala (2011)
Drama
Dir.: Gerardo Naranjo
Runtime: 117 min.
Spanish, with English subs
Sunday, December 15, at 2 pm
I’m Gonna Explode (2008)
Drama
Dir.: Gerardo Naranjo
Runtime: 106 min.
Spanish, with English subs
Sunday, December 15, at 4 pm
