While it is quite obvious that Eraserhead should have been the thumbnail for this week’s round up of classy free cinema in the District, I am forever scarred by the lady in the radiator and as such decided to go with the more childish and innocent illustration approach.
Escapism kids, this is what it is all about.
(escapism, and also checking how long the movies are, so you don’t, like me last week, end up in a 4 hour screening of “Mother and The Whore” )
But here it is: this week’s cream of the free fun crop.
Wednesday
The Jazz Film series continues tonight at The Library of Congress at 7pm. It goes on every Wednesday so at least try to catch it before it peaces entirely out.
Also, the aforementioned Eraserhead is presented by the Psychotronics at the Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse, around 8pm.
For the uninitiated this is what’s up:
After inadvertently fathering a pathetic mutant child, poor Henry falls for the tiny woman who serenades him from inside the radiator. The ultimate student film (taking 2 years to shoot and edit, and financed by the AFI and Sissy Spacek), filled with sexual imagery and spectacular sound design. One of the handful of truly original movies, and arguably Lynch’s best effort to date.
Prepare to be scarred for life.
Thursday
Library of Congress is rolling out the Ann Margret film series this week.
At 7pm catch “Kitten with a whip”.
I hope you’re ready for this synopsis?
Ann Margret is a very naughty girl. Kicked out of reform school and on the run, she is discovered in her nighty at the home of a wealthy married man (Forsythe), who instead of turning her in invites her to stay. Join us for the hijinks.
BONUS: Shown with a classic Flintstones episode in which Fred and Barney find a very special babysitter to look after Pebbles. She even helps the two with their musical act and gets them a spot in a big show.
Friday
brings us a double “mature audiences only” bill of
Grain in Ear @ Freer Sackler at 7 pm, Zhang Lu’s subtle, poetic drama provides a window into the rarely depicted Korean diaspora in China. A Korean single mother makes a living by selling snacks to factory workers in an industrial no-man’s-land. With her husband in jail, she enters into an affair that has dire consequences for her and her young son.
and The Swinger at The Library of congress (Same time) which is a feast for the eyes and senses. Ann-Margret is the catalyst for all the action in this visual romp that has been called the first music video by the few who have seen it. More a series of vignettes than a cohesive whole, the film is an early portrayal of the 60’s counter culture offering a free flowing slice of the new found freedom. Don’t miss this visually unique and colorful testament to the charms of the birth of a new era later labeled the “Swinging Sixties.”
and finally wrap the week up on
Saturday
with a free, 11 am screening of Beauty and The Beast at The National Gallery Admit it -you LOVE singing candlesticks.
