Cowboys and Carbonara

If you want to give your noodle a treat, let it boil at the Sergio Leone Retrospective this month at the Miami Beach Cinematheque. Named so because of the Italian studios that extruded them during the Sixties, spaghetti Westerns are often regarded as corny or tastelessly violent, but the off-putting nickname hides groundbreaking psychological twists, chilling scores, and rich cinematography, which set a standard that continues to this day. Tonight’s feature, A Fistful of Dollars (1964), is the first in the famous “Man with No Name” trilogy and stars Clint Eastwood. Don’t let film snobs turn you off by calling it a mere rehashing of Kurosawa’s Yojimbo (which was heavily flavored by Dashiell Hammett anyway). Sure, the plot follows the tale of the lone anti-hero who plays two crime families against each other, but Fistful stands firmly on its own laurels. Filmmaker Eric Zaldivar will serve up a plate of commentary. Individual film tickets cost $10; passes for the entire fest are $35. Call 305-673-4567, or visit www.mbcinema.com.
Fri., Aug. 4