Cinematheque Blog

Mar 30 - Apr 3: Oldboy, Battle Royale & More Three Stooges!

03/27/12  |  Posted by Cinematheque  |  Posted in Cinematheque

OLDBOY, bizarre South Korean revenge saga, is not for the squeamish! In the 2003 South Korean film OLDBOY, a Korean businessman is kidnapped for no apparent reason and held prisoner for 15 years in a hotel room with a TV but no windows. When his inexplicable solitary confinement ends, he vows revenge on the person who imprisoned him and destroyed his family life. Chan-wook Park's singular, stylish drama-one of the most acclaimed and popular Asian films of the past decade-is now being remade by Spike Lee. No one under 18 will be admitted to this recent cult classic that shows on Friday and Saturday. Nyuk, nyuk, who's there? It's the Three Stooges again! The program THE BEST OF THE THREE STOOGES II, 1938-1940 spotlights five more hilarious shorts starring the original kings of stupid slapstick, Moe Howard, Curly Howard, and Larry Fine. Included in the show are: Termites of 1938; Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb; Violent Is the Word for Curly; You Nazty Spy!, the first Hollywood movie to openly satirize Hitler and the Nazi Party (both Moe and Larry regarded it as their favorite Stooges short); and A Plumbing We Will Go, one of Curly's finest hours. Cinematheque bringing "Hunger Games" precursor BATTLE ROYALE to the Capitol Theatre, W. 65th & Detroit Ave. It's been a few months since the Cinematheque showed a movie at the Capitol Theatre. But next Tuesday night at 7:15 pm we return to W. 65th and Detroit to present one of our most requested movies of the past ten years! Kinji Fukasaku's 2000 Japanese fantasy BATTLE ROYALE, which is finally available theatrically in the U.S., is not only one of Quentin Tarantino's favorite movies and among the most controversial films of the last decade, it's also a striking precursor to THE HUNGER GAMES. Set in a futuristic Japan wracked by fiscal collapse, unemployment, and rampant juvenile crime, the film depicts the implementation of a new government law that picks a 9th grade school class at random, sends it to a remote island, and forces the students to participate in the ultimate game of survival: hunting and killing each other with an assortment of weapons until only one person is left standing. Chiaki Kuriyama (KILL BILL) and Takeshi Kitano (FIREWORKS, ZATOICHI) star in this wickedly satirical, darkly humorous, and gleefully violent action-horror comedy that has been argued, acclaimed, and banned around the world (but hasn't been screened in Cleveland since its debut at the 2001 Cleveland Int'l Film Festival). We will show the original uncut, uncensored, unrated version of BATTLE ROYALE; people under 17 must be accompanied by parent or guardian, but no one under 15 will be admitted at all. The fim will be shown on the Capitol's big screen at 1390 W. 65th St. at Detroit Ave. on Cleveland's West Side. Tickets cost $9; Cinematheque members and CIA I.D. holders $7; ages 25 & under $5 (with proof of age). $9 tickets can be purchased in advance at www.clevelandcinemas.com. No Cleveland Cinemas passes or discounts will be honored. Free parking is available next to theatre and at other lots in the Gordon Square Arts District. Here's the trailer. And here's a recent NPR story about the similarities between THE HUNGER GAMES and BATTLE ROYALE. This Weekend THE BEST OF THE THREE STOOGES II, 1938-1940 Fri., March 30, at 8:00 pm Sat., March 31, at 7:30 pm OLDBOY Fri., March 30, at 9:50 pm Sat., March 31, at 9:20 pm Added Film! Special Offsite Event! BATTLE ROYALE Tue., April 3, at 7:15 pm at the Capitol Theatre W. 65th & Detroit Ave. Next Week A CAT IN PARIS Thu., April 5, at 6:45 pm Sat., April 7, at 7:10 pm FAUST Thu., April 5, at 8:10 pm Fri., April 6, at 9:25 pm A MAN ESCAPED Fri., April 6, at 7:30 pm Sat., April 7, at 5:15 pm ETERNITY AND A DAY Sat., April 7, at 8:35 pm

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