Eating Raoul (1982)
In this black comedy, an uptight couple (Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov) discover a murderous way to both dispose of their rowdy swinger neighbors and scrounge up the funds for their dream restaurant. All proceeds from ticket sales will go toward paying the medical bills of Ray Tillotson, founder of Ray’s Ragtime, who recently died; this was his favorite film. Hollywood, Nov. 19.
Double Indemnity (1944)
Celebrate Noirvember with the classic that pioneered the film noir genre! From director Billy Wilder and writer Raymond Chandler, this seven-time Oscar-nominated crime thriller stars Barbara Stanwyck as a duplicitous housewife and Fred MacMurray as the insurance salesman she seduces. Academy, Nov. 19-25.
Ran (1985)
Akira Kurosawa reimagines Shakespeare’s King Lear (and, unofficially and anachronistically, Succession) as a historical epic set in medieval Japan. When an aging warlord decides to retire, he divides his kingdom among his three sons, but the sudden shift in power causes them to turn on each other, and him. Clinton, Nov. 20.
Nightmare Alley (1947)
This acclaimed film noir charts the scandalous rise and fall of an ambitious carnival barker (Tyrone Power) who dreams of ditching the sideshow and starting his own psychic “business” (read: scam) with beautiful mentalist Mademoiselle Zeena (Joan Blondell). Check out the original before Guillermo del Toro’s star-studded revamp hits theaters this December. Hollywood, Nov. 20-21.
Watermelon Man (1970)
Inspired by Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, the revolutionary Melvin Van Peebles directs this dark comedy about a bigoted white insurance salesman (Godfrey Cambridge, in whiteface) who inexplicably wakes up one day to find that he’s Black. Screening as part of the Hollywood’s Burn Hollywood Burn! The Films of Melvin Van Peebles series. Hollywood, Nov. 21.
ALSO PLAYING:
5th Avenue: Animal House (1978), Nov. 19-21. Academy: The Asphalt Jungle (1950), Nov. 17-18. Strangers on a Train (1951), Nov. 17-18. The Glass Key (1942), Nov. 19-25. Clinton: Malombra (1942), Nov. 17. The Hidden Fortress (1958), Nov. 18. Samurai Cop (1991), Nov. 19. Rad (1986), Nov. 21. The Shining (1980), Nov. 22. Hollywood: Pale Flower (1964), Nov. 18. Donnie Darko (2001), Nov. 20-21. A Face in the Crowd (1957), Nov. 22. Burial Ground: Nights of Terror (1981), Nov. 23.