Movies of August (and early September)

Wow, that's a slim gig calendar for August. After the orgy of live music of the last few weeks, I guess I'm a bit glad for the break. August 8th, there's a chance to see some Saharan rock in the form of Tinariwen, but it seems to be sold out online. Art Bergmann was recommending them during my last interview with him, apparently the sound of Saharan guitars was an influence on his song "Mirage"... 

There's a punk show at LanaLou's on August 10th with two bands I've seen and enjoyed (Hung Up, Random Killing), a band I have yet to see (The Furniture) and a headliner I don't know (Forbidden Dimension). Gonna have to play that by ear! 

But nothing much else that I'm aware of. I don't think I'll see Steve Earle (August 13th). Not many good tickets left, and the ones that are there are $77. Blondie was going to be the big gig this month; I have some nostalgia for shows at the Coliseum. But it's cancelled. 

So what else to do?

The summer film noir programme is in effect at the Cinematheque, broken into two series -- international noir and domestic. A friend who knows I like Ida Lupino was just recommending The Man I Love, which is one I've never seen. Sam Fuller's Pickup on South Street is a favourite, but it only screens August 5th and 9th. I don't think I'll be able to be there for the 5th, which has it in a series with The Third Man (never seen that on the big screen) and To Have and Have Not. Shame I don't think I'll make it! Meantime on the 9th it's billed with Le Samourai. I've never seen a Melville on screen, but I've also always thought this a fairly slight film for Melville, a bit overrated. It's like Walter Hill's The Driver, or something, stripped down to naked archetypes; I prefer my archetypes dressed up a bit. 

But again, I've never seen Melville on screen. Maybe that will make a difference? 

There's also some great stuff coming up at the VIFF Centre. It's been closed for a variety of upgrades and has an ambitious series of heavy hitting "Total Cinema" coming up to show off their new equipment. A few big crowd pleasers that I've never really gotten (Lawrence of Arabia has never spoken to me) or that I'm worn out on, like Blade Runner, say -- I think I can throw that one, and its sequel, to the wolves, here, because they'll pack the house no matter what I say -- but I was almost thinking it was time to see the first Jurassic Park movie again, and lo, there it is on the big screen (ditto The Matrix). I was also just thinking I was nearly ready to see Children of Men again, too. Funny how that film, which I first saw in the context of the war in Iraq and the post-9/11 eruption of Islamophobia, has grown on me; it registered on first viewing as a political cheap shot, bound to the moment of its release, and as such mostly just annoyed me, but it has grown in my estimation with each subsequent viewing, so that if I had to list "greatest films of the 21st century" so far, it would be in the top 5... 

Plus Stop Making Sense? A cheap-seat National Cinema Day programme of Sunset Boulevard, The Player, and Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen? Amelie?  There's even a chance to see Mark Robson's 70s disaster film Earthquake on the big screen, a film I caught up with on home video not too long ago and quite enjoyed, grim as it is. 

There's more in the series, too.  I somehow expect I'll be seeing this guy at a couple of movies this summer... and I don't mean Phil Silvers...