Spider Baby

Opening:

BAD WORDS—Jason Bateman makes his directorial debut and stars in this dark comedy as a loser seeking revenge by entering the national spelling bee. Co-starring Kathryn Hahn, Rohan Chand, Philip Baker Hall, and Allison Janney. Reviewed this issue. Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

ENEMY—Jake Gyllenhaal stars in this adaptation of a José Saramago novel as a Toronto history professor who discovers he has an exact double living nearby. With Mélanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon, and Isabella Rossellini. Directed by Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners). Reviewed this issue. Amherst

NOAH—In which Darren Aronofsky amazes the world by finding an even more preposterous basis for a film than his 2006 stinker The Fountain. Starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, and Anthony Hopkins. Flix, Maple Ridge, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

SABOTAGE—Arnold Schwarzenegger as a DEA agent whose squad is targeted for assassination after they take down a drug cartel safe house. With Sam Worthington, Joe Manganiello, Terrence Howard and Mireille Enos. Directed by David Ayer (End of Watch). Flix, Maple Ridge, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

ETC:

BABETTE’S FEAST (1987)—Director Gabriel Axel’s adaptation of a story by Isak Dinesen won the Academy Award for best foreign language film. In a Danish fishing village, a French cook (Stephane Audran) who has been forced to flee her homeland, becomes a housemaid to two elderly sisters. When she wins the lottery, she uses the money to prepare a lavish French feast for these people who frown on sensual pleasures. Presented as part of the Buffalo Film Seminars. Market Arcade.

THE BIG COMBO (1955)—Poverty Row crime classic starring Cornel Wilde as a dogged cop trying to bring down a gangster by getting his girlfriend (Jean Wallace) to rat him out. Co-starring Richard Conte, and Brian Donlevy; look for Earl Holliman and Lee Van Cleef as a pair of gay hoods. Directed by B movie auteur Joseph H. Lewis (Gun Crazy). Screening Room

BUTTER ON THE LATCH—Variety describes this debut film from Josephine Decker (previously an actress in several Joe Swanberg films) as “a visually poetic, virtually free-form groove in which emotion, rather than narrative, guides viewers through a young woman’s visit to a Balkan folk music camp.” A Little Red Booking presentation. Squeaky Wheel

THE HOUSE OF EXORCISM (1973)—Typically lurid but stylish thriller from Italian director Mario Bava (Black Sunday) starring Elke Sommer as a woman stranded at a creepy castle. Also known as Lisa and the Devil. With Telly Savalas, Sylva Koscina and Alessio Orano. Screening Room

MARCO SPADA—Broadcast live from Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre. Directed by Pierre Lacotte. Amherst

QUICKSAND (1950)—Peter Lorre easily steals the show from star Mickey Rooney in this B noir about an auto mechanic who commits petty theft to impress a trashy woman (Jeanne Cagney). Directed by Irving Pichel. Screening Room

SPIDER BABY (1964)—Indescribably odd horror comedy starring Lon Chaney Jr. (who also sings the theme song) as the caretaker of three siblings who suffer from a hereditary disease that makes them both childlike and murderous. Co-starring Carol Ohmart, Mantan Moreland and Sid Haig. Directed by Jack Hill (Coffy). Screening Room