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Previous story: Movie Times (Friday, July 22 - Thursday, July 28)
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Film Now Playing

Compulsion

Opening:

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER—This week’s comic book movie. The Village Voice calls it a “hokey, hacky, two-hour-plus exercise in franchise transition/price gouging, complete with utterly unnecessary post-converted 3-D.” Starring Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, and Samuel L. Jackson. Directed by Joe Johnston (The Wolfman). Flix, Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria, Sunset Drive-In, Transit Drive-In

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS—Romantic comedy about two young urban professionals who experiment with a sex-only relationship. Starring Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman—whoops, my mistake, that’s Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake. Directed by Will Gluck (Easy A). Reviewed this issue. Flix, Market Arcade, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria, Transit Drive-In

THE TRIP—Faux documentary following British comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as they tour rural restaurants in England’s Lake District. Directed by Michael Winterbottom. (24 Hour Party People). Reviewed this issue. North Park

ETC:

COMPULSION (1959)—Richard Fleischer’s efficient dramatization of the Leopold and Loeb murder case of the 1920s, in which two intelligent young men of privileged background murdered a child just to prove that they could get away with it. Arriving late in the film, Orson Welles steals the show as their defense attorney (based on Clarence Darrow), who delivers an impassioned speech against capital punishment. Starring Dean Stockwell, Bradford Dillman, Diane Varsi, E.G. Marshall, Martin Milner and Gavin McLeod. Fri-Sat 8pm. The Screening Room, Northtown Plaza in Century Mall, 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst (837-0376 / www.screeningroom.net).

FUNNY GIRL (1968)—Barbra Streisand in her Oscar-winning performance as Ziegfeld comedienne Fanny Brice. With Omar Sharif, Kay Medford, Anne Francis, and Walter Pidgeon. Directed by William Wyler (Ben Hur). Thu July 21, 7pm. Riviera Theatre, 67 Webster St, N. Tonawanda (692-2413 / www.rivieratheatre.org).

THE MAIN EVENT (1979)—70s nostalgia with Barbra Streisand as a perfume magnate who becomes the manager of a washed-up boxer (Ryan O’Neal). Directed by Howard Zieff (Private Benjamin). Thu July 28, 7pm. Riviera Theatre, 67 Webster St, N. Tonawanda (692-2413 / www.rivieratheatre.org).

PATRIOT GUARD RIDERS—Director Ellen Unher Frick will be present for this screening of her documentary about the motorcycle group formed to protect military funerals from interference by the Westboro Baptist Church. Sun 5pm. Amherst Theatre, 3500 Main St. (834-7655 / www.patriotguardmovie.com/buffalo).

THE STRANGER (1946)—Orson Welles directed and stars in this suspense drama as a Nazi hiding out in small American town, where he is tracked down by Edward G. Robinson. Even though Welles only took the assignment in the hope that the studio would reward him with backing for other films, it’s as well-crafted a film as he ever made, with a particularly bracing finale. Thu July 21, 8pm. The Screening Room, Northtown Plaza in Century Mall, 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst (837-0376 / www.screeningroom.net).

THE TRIAL (1963)—Orson Welles’ adaptation of Franz Kafka’s novel, starring Anthony Perkins as Josef K, who is persecuted by a faceless bureaucracy for an unnamed offense. With Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider and Welles. Thu July 28, 8pm. The Screening Room, Northtown Plaza in Century Mall, 3131 Sheridan Drive, Amherst (837-0376 / www.screeningroom.net.