The reel critic Special Edition

Author: Jason Gutierrez

So here we are, three weeks into a new semester. The excitement of new classes has passed and the luster of this new semester has worn a bit. At this point, or if not now perhaps later on in the semester, I suspect a few of you might be sitting around one weekend night thinking to yourself, "Man, I really want to go to the movies, but I have no idea what's worth watching." Well, fear not, for I am here to break down, week by week, what films are worth watching, either here on campus or in Burlington, this semester.

Let's begin with this coming weekend, where the Hirschfield Film Series will be screening David Lynch's bizarre opus "Inland Empire." For those familiar with Lynch's work, especially "Mulholland Drive" and "Eraserhead," "Inland Empire" will be a welcome break from films that rely on things like plot and character. Unable to find the proper words to describe the film I have told friends, "It's like when Lynch pulls the rug out from underneath you in 'Mulholland Drive.' except it happens for the entire film." "Inland Empire" is as close to avant-garde as mainstream cinema can get. It's a terrific mind bender that can really open your eyes up to just how wide the possibilities are for a film if the right man is at the helm.

The weekend of March 7 finds us welcoming a new Jason Statham film to the Burlington multiplexes. Under normal circumstances this wouldn't be something to get excited about, but this time the movie, "The Bank Job," actually looks good. The title pretty much sums up the plot, which revolves around the true story of a 1971 bank heist in London. It doesn't look to be anything groundbreaking, but it does look to be entertaining and not terrible. Worth a watch if just for the fact that the last movie Statham made that was worth watching was 2001's "Snatch." Lunar eclipses happen more often, so we should take advantage of this rare event.

This brings us up to the week of March 14 and the release of Michael Haneke's "Funny Games," a reportedly shot-for-shot remake of his 1997 Austrian film of the same name. The film attempts to tackle the weighty subject of violence in media and culture by portraying extreme acts of violence on-screen. It's a fine line to walk without coming off as condescending, but Haneke more or less succeeds. Be forewarned, however, that the Austrian version of "Funny Games" is extremely difficult to watch at times and I suspect that this American remake won't be any easier, but if you were a fan of Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film "A Clockwork Orange," my suspicion is that you'll find much to like here.

Ah, and so arrives Spring Break! Cancun? Miami? Nassau? If you're like me, you're staying around here. If you are around Midd for the break, or if it's raining in one of those tropical places, you can always go see, "4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days," winner of the Palme d'Or at last year's Cannes Film Festival, which tells the story of a woman trying to get an abortion in Romania during the final years of Communism. Or you can go outside and do something active - both are good options.

As you get back on campus at the beginning of April you might consider checking out "The American Astronaut," which the Web site for the Roxy Theater in Burlington assures is "coming soon," and hopefully this means the beginning of April. The film itself is several years old and currently available on DVD, but it would be worth it to see it on the big screen. To try and describe the film would be an exercise in futility, but I like Entertainment Weekly's attempt (they call it, "a Laurel and Hardy skit directed by Salvador Dali").

So this brings us to April 11 and another Hirschfield Film Series screening. This time it's a documentary called "Iraq in Fragments." Filmed during 2003 and 2004, the film is a ground-level look at Iraq since the beginning of the American invasion and occupation. We see the country from the perspective of an 11-year-old Sunni boy, a young Shiite cleric and Kurdish workers. Director James Longley has crafted a uniquely apolitical film that is less interested in making a political statement and concerned more with creating a portrait of a country that is tearing itself apart and the daily lives of those who live in that country. It's a beautiful film that I wholeheartedly recommend.

To accompany the presumably beautiful weather that will be gracing our campus during the middle weeks of April, we have two dark and bloody free Friday films: the Coen Brothers' "No Country for Old Men" and Tim Burton's interpretation of "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street." Both are fabulous films that have garnered so much attention over the course of the awards season that they scarcely need more attention by me, except to say that if you don't go to another movie this semester, go to either, or both, of these. "No Country" is better, but "Sweeney Todd" is more fun, so chose accordingly.

Finally, the Hirschfield Film Series brings us "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" on Saturday, May 2. The film, which won the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or in 2006, received modest distribution in the United States over the course of last summer and has since been released on DVD, but has gone, to my knowledge, largely unseen. It's a shame because it was one of the best films that made its way to American theaters last year. It tells the story of the Irish revolution from the perspective of men who were, more or less, foot soldiers fighting the British in fields. The film stars the fabulously talented Cillian Murphy, who turns in a marvelous performance as one of these foot soldiers. This is a great film to end the semester.

There is one more free Friday film after "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" (it's the enjoyable but overrated "Charlie Wilson's War"), but it's on the last day of the semester and really, what are you doing watching a movie on the last day of the semester? Happy viewing.