Every Saturday at 11:30am, Monday at 7pm and Thursday at 9pm, the Charles presents repertory films in DCP format (and from time to time on 35mm film) in The Charles’ original 360 seat theatre.
| Lifeboat | |
| Showgirls | Thursday, June 19 |
| The Elephant Man | Saturday, June 21 |
| A Tale of Summer | Saturday, June 28 |
| Crash | Thursday, July 3 |
| Journey to Italy | Saturday, July 5 |
| Wild at Heart | Thursday, July 10 |
| Act of Violence | Saturday, July 12 |
| Idiocracy | Thursday, July 17 |
| The Gang’s All Here | Saturday, July 19 |
| Hackers | Thursday, July 24 |
| The Empire Strikes Back | Saturday, July 26 |
| The Thin Red Line | Monday, July 28 |
| Commando | Thursday, July 31 |
Even “minor” Hitchcock looms tall over most directors’ peaks. Here he crams the title vessel with survivors from a WWII U-boat attack and wrests a world of drama, suspense, and intrigue from the cramped space between the gunwales. Tallulah Bankhead toplines a sterling cast. -Lee Gardner more »
Paul Verhoeven’s polarizing cinema punchline has aged well in the sense that it hasn’t gotten any worse. Screenwriter Joe Eszterhaz’s script about a frequently nude naif dancing her way to the top in Las Vegas remains a ridiculous line-o-rama, but the real reason the film inspires lols is poor Elizabeth Berkley, whose too-much p more »
David Lynch followed up the mold-breaking Eraserhead with perhaps his most classically Hollywood feature, and his most deeply affecting. John Hurt’s embodiment of the title character astonishes, but the film is really about how the other characters see and react to him. Anthony Hopkins, for one, reacts exquisitely. -Lee Gardner more »
Melvil Poupaud’s feckless young man heads for a beach town solo to mope, play guitar, and wait for his on/off girlfriend to arrive. He soon finds himself unsuccessfully juggling several young women, including anthropologist/waitress Amanda Langlet. One of Éric Rohmer’s most charming and amusing chatfests, enhanced by the sun-bak more »
Sex. Death. Sex and death. David Cronenberg plays all the hits in his adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s novel about a group of turned-on car-crash enthusiasts who go further and further in their pursuit of souped-up kicks. James Spader, Deborah Kara Unger, Elias Koteas, and Holly Hunter kink up the screen, despite Spader’s character’ more »
George Sanders plays a man who is somehow tired of being married to Ingrid Bergman, who plays his similarly ennui-laden spouse. A trip to Italy exposes the faults in their relationship. That’s pretty much it, but Roberto Rosselini’s direction and the lovely performances make it feel like grand drama. -Lee Gardner more »
David Lynch dips into Southern Gothic and hardboiled noir for his lurid yet sweet adaptation of Barry Gifford’s novel. Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern star as lovers on the run, abetted and thwarted by a cast of Lynch regulars and the occasional ‘90s indie staple (e.g. Willem Dafoe). Once again, Dern is the secret MVP. -Lee Gardner more »
Ex-G.I. Robert Ryan is bent on revenge against his former best friend and Army buddy Van Helfin, who sold out their comrades to the Nazis. Phyllis Thaxter and a young Janet Leigh play the women caught between them. Journeyman director Fred Zinneman’s inky-black noir wows with its inexorable story and grim fatalism. Fantastic e more »
Mike Judge followed up Office Space with a vicious satire about our increasingly enshittified society. It made nary a peep in theaters but now scans like Nostradamus. Luke Wilson plays a regular bro who, hundreds of years in the future, stands as the de facto smartest man in America. The whole thing runs out of gas before the en more »
Brazilian icon Carmen Miranda gets second billing but mainly serves as wacky “ethnic” comic relief. The real star, of course, is director Busby Berkeley’s trademark elaborate musical numbers, especially the Miranda-sung “The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat” and the completely insane finale. As corny as Kansas but a visual and music more »
There’s nothing quite as ridiculous as a past vision of the future, especially one as Hollywood try-hard as this. Jonny Lee Miller and a baby Angelina Jolie lead a team of techie teens out to fight The Man, embodied by Fisher Stevens. Everyone spouts goofy jargon and would-be zingers, rollerblades everywhere, and tries their bes more »
For many years, the second Star Wars film was considered The Good One—darker, more complex, romantic. Whatever the current rankings, it’s still pretty good. Great set pieces, interesting character stuff, Billy Dee Williams, and no Ewoks. -Lee Gardner more »
Terrence Malick’s return to filmmaking after a 20-year hiatus combined the poetic spirit and visual sumptuousness of Badlands and Days of Heaven with a new break from Hollywood formalism—cue the cryptic voiceovers. He applied his new method to the venerable war-movie genre but found moving and richly rewarding new life in it. Hi more »
There are certainly better ‘80s action movies, but Commando is the most ‘80s-action-movie ‘80s action movie, and probably the most fun to watch with an audience. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays the titular badass, who’s lured out of retirement to rescue his tween daughter from some grudge-holding bad guys and a literal army of squib more »
