David Lynch Retrospective at Coral Gables Art Cinema
Following the recent untimely death of David Lynch, Coral Gables Art Cinema is celebrating the legendary director's life and legacy with a retrospective of some of his best films every Friday in February. The series kicks off with a midnight screening of Eraserhead on February 7. Wild at Heart follows on February 14, which would make for a wild Valentine's Day double feature with In The Mood for Love (see below). Mulholland Drive is next on February 21, and the series concludes with Blue Velvet on February 28. There's also a screening planned of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me on February 24 in honor of Twin Peaks Day, the day Agent Cooper arrived in the fictional town. Three of these films— Eraserhead, Mulholland Drive, and Blue Velvet — will be presented in 4K restorations.
Our Take: Typically we'd single one of these films out as a must-see, but picking a favorite Lynch movie is like picking a favorite child. They're all essential and incredible and well worth seeing in the cinema, so don't miss a single one! Throughout February at Coral Gables Art Cinema, 260 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables; 786-472-2249; gablescinema.com. Tickets cost $10 to $11.75.
I’m Still Here
Fernanda Torres upset the competition at the Golden Globes, taking home the award for Best Actress (Drama) for her performance in director Walter Salles' latest film, a fact-based political drama from Brazil set during the country's era of dictatorship in the '70s. The film is nominated for three Oscars: Best Picture, Best International Feature, and Best Actress for Torres. Our Take: Living an idyllic life in Rio de Janeiro, Eunice Paiva's (Torres) life is shattered forever when her husband Rubens (Selton Mello), a former leftist politician, is abducted by the state police. Then she is taken, surviving 12 days in a brutal torture dungeon. She and her five children never see Rubens again, but she's undaunted, fighting the government tooth and nail to get them to admit to his murder. Elegantly told and filled with as much joy as sorrow, I'm Still Here feels like a warning for a spate of countries entering a new era of right-wing repression — including the United States. Opens Friday, February 7.
Parasite: Fifth Anniversary IMAX Re-Release
Many cinephiles remember Bong Joon-ho's triumph at the 2020 Oscars — where his film Parasite secured a historic five wins, including Best Picture and Best Director — as the last moment of joy before the COVID-19 pandemic ushered in an era of despair. Well, get ready to relive the joyful times: The film is returning to theaters in IMAX for its fifth anniversary ahead of Bong's next film, Mickey 17, which opens in March. Our Take: Class divides are sharp as knives in this twisted thriller about the Kims, a broke and desperate Seoul family of four that cons its way into domestic jobs in the hilltop mansion of the wealthier, oblivious Park household. Just when they think they've got it made, security and comfort devolve into bloody conflict as the Kims discover a horrible secret within the house. Winner of the 2019 Palme d'Or as well as its four Oscars, Parasite marked a watershed moment in American audiences' acceptance of foreign films because of its entertainingly twisted plot, sympathetic characters, and its depiction of the way a poisonous society forces people into violent confrontation in pursuit of status and contentment. As Bong noted, commenting on the film's international appeal: "I tried to express a sentiment specific to Korean culture, [but] all the responses from different audiences were pretty much the same. Essentially, we all live in the same country called 'capitalism.'" Opens Friday, February 7; check local listings.
Maggie Cheung (left) and Tony Leung (right) in director Wong Kar Wai's In The Mood For Love.
Janus Films photo
In The Mood For Love at Coral Gables Art Cinema
There is possibly no more appropriate Valentine's Day movie than Wong Kar Wai's 2000 classic, one of the most beautiful films ever made featuring two of the sexiest people ever put in front of the camera, Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung. Coral Gables Art Cinema will screen the film on February 14. Just be sure to book a hotel room for afterward, too — or make it a double with Wild at Heart (see above). Our Take: Tension fills every frame of Wong Kar Wai's understated romantic drama, set amidst the empty nighttime streets and claustrophobic corridors of Hong Kong in the 1960s. Recently arrived from Shanghai and forced by confined spaces and fateful circumstances to grow closer, journalist Mr. Chow (Leung) and secretary Mrs. Chan (Cheung) live in neighboring apartments. When they realize their spouses are cheating on them with each other, they develop a strange bond that threatens to burst into a bloom of love — a dangerous proposition in the restrained social climate of their new home. Certainly one of the greatest films of all time, the film is a riot of spectacular elegance, from the sumptuous costumes to the lovely cinematography of Mark Lee Ping Bin and Christopher Doyle, all enhanced by the theatrical viewing experience. 7 p.m. Friday, February 14 at Coral Gables Art Cinema, 260 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables; 786-472-2249; gablescinema.com. Tickets cost $10 to $11.75.
Malcolm X (4K Restoration) at Coral Gables Art Cinema
Along with Lynch, CGAC is celebrating another great filmmaker this month with a monthlong retrospective of Spike Lee every Saturday in February. The series includes the Brooklyn director's underseen Crooklyn (February 1) and Jungle Fever (February 8), wrapping up with the all-time classic Do The Right Thing on February 22. But our pick of the bunch is Lee's 1992 biopic, Malcolm X, screening on February 15 and starring Denzel Washington as the controversial political leader. Our Take: Spike Lee fought tooth and nail to get Malcolm X made the way he believed it ought to be. He protested Warner Bros.' initial hire of Norman Jewison as director until they gave him the job. He solicited donations from prominent black entertainment figures, from Oprah Winfrey and Magic Johnson to Michael and Janet Jackson, to finish the film after the studio refused further funding. He got permission to film in Mecca — the first time a Hollywood film had ever been granted the privilege — to film X's hajj. He even got Nelson Mandela to cameo. The result is one of the greatest biopics ever made, anchored by arguably the greatest performance by one of the greatest American actors of our time. It's a film awash in greatness. Washington and Lee take us boldly through the life of Malcolm X, from his days on the streets of Boston and eventual imprisonment through his jailhouse conversion to Islam and rise through the ranks of the Nation of Islam. From there, we watch as the corrupt organization tears him down after he rejects their militancy in favor of racial toleration, culminating in his exile and eventual assassination. It's a monumental story told with style, wisdom, and gravitas. 10 p.m. Saturday, February 15 at Coral Gables Art Cinema, 260 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables; 786-472-2249; gablescinema.com. Tickets cost $10 to $11.75.
AV Club Tribute to David Lynch
Along with CGAC, AV Club is hosting its own tribute to David Lynch starting this month. Curated by New Times' own Juan Barquin, "In Dreams, I Walk With You" will use the Miami-Dade County Library's impressive collection of archival film prints to explore the director's vast sphere of influence. The series is still under construction, but the organizers have given us a sneak peek at their program for February 19 at Gramps, titled "Influences and Favorites," featuring films by Maya Deren, Germaine Dulac, and Suzan Pitt. Videos of Lynch discussing the films, as well as his commercial and music video work, will also be screened. They've even got a Woody Woodpecker short as part of the lineup, in honor of the director's peculiar fixation on the character. 7 p.m. Wednesday, February 19 at Gramps, 176 NW 24th St., Miami; gramps.com. 
The Annihilation of Fish (4K Restoration) at Coral Gables Art Cinema
Twenty-five years since it debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival and subsequently disappeared after failing to secure distribution, Killer of Sheep director Charles Burnett's 1999 film The Annihilation of Fish is finally coming to theaters in a brand-new 4K restoration. Our Take: "My given name is Obediah Johnson, but my real name is Fish." This is how James Earl Jones' character, a Jamaican immigrant recently kicked out of a mental hospital, introduces himself to his new landlord, Mrs. Muldroone (Margot Kidder). A demon follows him around and wrestles with him, or so he believes — he's the only one who can see it. His white neighbor Poinsettia (Redgrave) has similar hallucinations: An opera lover, until recently she believed she was engaged to Puccini. They're both old, both a bit funny in the head, and a tender love grows between them. The Annihilation of Fish is a film about the kind of people who are rarely granted grace or romance in American cinema. It's a little rough around the edges, but the excellent performances (especially Jones) and the empathetic treatment of its elderly characters with mental illnesses make this lost work by one of America's most underappreciated great filmmakers worth rediscovering. Opening Thursday, February 20 at Coral Gables Art Cinema, 260 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables; 786-472-2249; gablescinema.com. Tickets cost $10 to $11.75.
