The French Film Festival begins at the MFA, providing your chance to see some excellent Gallic flicks that will otherwise not be released in this country. Thank you, Bo. The Globe's Ethan Gilsdorf has the details.
Three can't-miss propositions this weekend, providing you can get past the mobs trying to see "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (which isn't so bad itself):
"Rescue Dawn" -- It looks like "just" another POW survival story until you look at it through the lens of Werner Herzog movies, at which point it becomes eerily overwhelming. I don't know how Christian Bale does it, but he's a completely different guy in each movie. You can also get your classic Herzog fix at the Brattle, and if you haven't seen "Aguirre" yet, now's the time. A more apt metaphor for our current misadventures abroad I can't imagine.
"Talk to Me" -- Is there a greater joy these days than watching Don Cheadle act? He finally gets a live one in the role of Petey Greene, DC disc jockey of the 1960s. See this for him and for Kasi Lemmons' infectious filmmaking -- and for Taraji P. Henson (with Cheadle, above) -- rather than for the extended, problematic mope that sinks the last third.
"Lady Chatterley" -- Achingly slow, quiet, gentle, hot adaptation of an early version of the D.H. Lawrence novel. In French. Bring a sense of patience and your significant other.
Tonight kicks off the annual "Summer Double Features" series at the Harvard Film Archive, easily the finest conglomeration of hard-to-find oldies, cool surprises, and inspired pairings in town. (My God! Elaine May's "A New Leaf" next Thursday!) Check their calendar and mark yours accordingly -- the series is an education in itself.
