Greetings City Lights Fans,

As I wage my private battle with the sun, which involves pleading with mother nature for some precipitation to encourage moviegoing, I console myself with the knowledge that we have a killer week of cinematic fun. To wit. 

Michael Apted, the brilliant British director, has been following the same group of individuals every 7 years with the result that we have remarkable time capsule of the lives of the subjects. While he has had a parallel career in the both the British and US film industries (even directing a James Bond installment) Apted's long range project is unique in the annals of film history. A new edition is an event and if you have not fallen to its charms in previous editions, make this your first.  "The best of art makes you think of life. On that front, Michael Apted has achieved more than all but a handful of filmmakers. Cherish 63 Up, like you cherish life." The Guardian

For all of cinema's high-falutin -- let's call them pretensions -- sometimes we need a damn fine genre film, aka 'B' picture, like the kind a Saturday double-bill might start with. Kristen Stewart is here with Underwater. "It's a lean and mean film that gets you into its action instantly and then doesn’t release the pressure until the ending credits. In an era of increasingly long blockbusters with pretensions of greatness, it’s refreshing to see a tight movie that knows exactly what it needs to do and sets about doing it. Anchored by another impressive performance from Kristen Stewart and really effective cinematography from Bojan Bazelli, “Underwater” absolutely bullies you into liking it. There's no time not to." RogerEbert.com

Come As You Are has a definite Peanut Butter Falcon vibe to it -- check out the trailer below -- about a trio of friends with disabilities fleeing their overbearing parents on a road-trip to a brothel in Montreal. The set-up could be cringe-inducing: instead it is laugh out loud fun. "Thanks to the smart and knowing screenplay by Erik Linthorst, sharp and well-paced and fuss-free direction from Richard Wong and a quartet of fine actors at the top of their games, “Come As You Are” is alternately laugh-out-loud funny and reach-for-the-tissues emotional without resorting to maudlin manipulations or shameless grabs for laughs." Chicago Sun-Times

Finally, The Photograph is an old-fashioned romantic drama, with fresh talent behind and in front of the camera. "The Photograph, both thoughtful and entertaining, with a pleasurably laid-back vibe, belongs to a class of movie that barely exists anymore on the big screen. It’s also a reminder that appealing actors are sometimes the best spectacle of all." Time

Knives Out continues its lofty position on the box office charts, and word has spread even further of its charms (too many to list). It's not the first time we've brought it back, but it is the last. Catch it this week. Parasite latches on to more hearts and minds for one final week and Harrison Ford's hit The Call of the Wild continues, but please note that everything but The Call of Wild ends 3/5 as we'll have a slate of new films opening: Pixar's Onward, Ordinary Love, and The Way Back. Plan accordingly!

On the special event front: Bolshoi Ballet returns with Giselle for an encore on Saturday, In Search of Chopin finds itself in Florence on 3/4, and this year's best cat videos are compiled for your pleasure with CatVideoFest 2020, with some added showtimes for good measure. 

Have a great week!
Michael