Most of the population of the free world will be going to see "Spider-Man 3" this weekend. Conveniently, that frees the rest of you to do whatever niche programming or soul-searching you want. Not much else in movie theaters, unfortunately, unless you're a cycling fan (proceed forthwith to "The Flying Scotsman," in photo above, and I swear the movie's not as ridiculous as that outfit), a Euro-football junkie ("Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait" at the ICA), or a gambling addict ("Lucky You"). That said, if you have a yen for adorable, calorie-free French comedies, "The Valet," from reliable farceur Francis Veber, stands to make you very, very happy. At the very least, you won't hate yourself afterwards, and I'm not entirely sure you can say that about "Spider-Man 3".
Community art porn at the Coolidge at midnight, tonight and tomorrow. God, I love that place.
At the Harvard Film Archive, a retrospective of the films of Spain's Alex de la Iglesia, who's mostly unknown here while Pedro Almodovar hogs all the press. The filmmaker himself will be present at Saturday's 7 p.m. screening of "La Communidad". Highly recommended.
If you're interested in Tibet, Buddhism, exotic cinematic tours, and/or eye-popping cinematography, the MFA has some dharma unspooling with the ongoing screenings of John Bush's "Yatra Trilogy" and the debut today of "Dreaming Lhasa," which makes up in poignancy and visual impact what it lacks in drama.
Or you could go outdoors. It is May, after all.
