filmland / By North Coast Journal Staff

Greengrass in Iraq

Plus: The unattractive, Sub-Apatovian She’s Out of My League

(March 18, 2010) Previews

Opening Friday, Mar. 19, watch the fur fly in Bounty Hunter. A professional person-tracker portrayed by Gerard Butler gets his dream assignment when he is called on to track down his bail-jumping ex-wife, played by Jennifer Aniston.Rated PG-13 for sexual conduct and violence. 111m. At the Broadway, Fortuna and Mill Creek.

Greengrass in Iraq

GALLERY >

Being a kid sucks. Based on the best-selling illustrated novel by Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid follows a young boy through middle school as he deals with the horrors of adolescence. Rated PG for crude humor and language. 101m. At the Broadway, Fortuna and Mill Creek.

Are you sure you don’t want universal health care? Then I hope you paid for that high-priced mechanical organ keeping you alive. Otherwise you might have to deal with the Repo Men. They are under orders to get back the goods, by any means necessary. Rated R for violence, grisly images and language. 113m. At the Broadway and Mill Creek.

Garnering two Academy Award nominations, the foreign language film White Ribbon tells the tale of a children’s choir in pre-World War II Germany where strange accidents are occurring. Rated R for disturbing violence and sexuality. 144m. At the Minor.

My Grandmother, an eccentric Soviet silent cinema classic, kicks off a three-film series at the Arcata Playhouse on Monday, Mar. 22, organized by saxophonist/Dell’Artisan/Burner Zuzka Sabata. Proceeds from the screenings will help build a kinetic fire sculpture a Blue Lake crew is taking to Burning Man 2010. Georgian anarchist director Kote Mikaberidze’s 1929 film was banned by the Soviet regime for 40 years for its satiric look at bureaucracy. Its style is eccentric with stop-motion, puppetry, exaggerated camera angles, animation and crazy sets reminiscent of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Adding to the fun is a new soundtrack by a Bay Area jazz combo, The Beth Custer Ensemble, which includes guitarist David James from Spearhead, drummer Jan Jackson from Motherbug and bassist Mark Calderon, who played with The Meters. Nils Frykdahl from Sleepytime Gorilla Museum narrates the film’s intertitles. Altogether, it makes for a wild ride.

Gracing the screen at the Arcata Theater Lounge once again this week to appease the masses is The Big Lebowski (1997) on Friday, Mar. 19, at 7 p.m. Have you been jonesin’ for gratuitous shots of David Bowie’s package on the big screen? Labyrinth (1986) plays on Sunday, Mar. 21, at both 5:30 and 8 p.m. Japanese Sci-fi geeks should check out Gamera (1965) on Wednesday, Mar. 24, at 6 p.m.

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