From Bong Joon-Ho to 'Blow Out': local movie screenings in January

It's a new year, and what better way to get away from the cold, by taking in a classic movie screening? Here is what is on offer this month:

Rear Window and other Hitchcock classics

It's Hitchcock season at the Colonial Theatre (227 Bridge Street, Phoenixville). Several of the master of suspense's films are showing throughout the month, including 1954's Rear Window (January 5 and 6); 1954's Dial M For Murder (January 12 and 13), 1955's To Catch a Thief (January 19 and 20) and 1948's Rope (January 26 and 27.)

Blow Out

“It's a good scream.” The Philadelphia Film Society's Made in Philadelphia series continues January 8 with Brian DePalma's 1981 Blow Out, which starred John Travolta and filmed in Philly the year before. The screening starts at 7pm at The Pennsylvania Convention Center's Michael A. Nutter Theatre (1101 Arch Street).

Pee Wee's Big Adventure

The Midnight Madness series at the Bourse continues with Tim Burton's 1985 cinematic adventure starring Paul Reubens' Pee Wee Herman character, a film that's celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The film, possibly a homage to de Sica's The Bicycle Thieves, shows just before midnight on January 10.

Bong Joon-Ho: Before Parasite

If you saw Bong Joon-Ho's majestic Parasite this fall, and have been meaning to delve deeper into the South Korean auteur's older work, you're in luck: Several of Bong's early films are showing this month at the Philadelphia Film Center (1412 Chestnut Street), in a trio of double features. First, on January 15, comes 2013's post-apocalyptic train saga Snowpiercer at 6:45pm, followed by Mother at 9:30pm.

On January 22, it's Memories of Murder at 6:45pm, followed by the monster-movie-with-a-twist The Host at 9:30pm. And on January 29, there's the environmental parable Okja at 6:45pm, paired with Barking Dogs Never Bite at 9:30pm.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High

This month's Throwback Thursday Quizzo film at the Film Center is director Amy Heckerling's 1982 comedy, starring Sean Penn, Judge Reinhold and Jennifer Jason Leigh, and based on screenwriter Cameron Crowe's return to high school. The quizzo starts at 7:30pm on January 16, with the film following afterward.

Flash Gordon

Mark Hodges' 1980 film of the popular superhero serial, featuring a soundtrack by Queen, comes to the Colonial Theater on January 17 at 9:45pm

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

The monthly showing of the midnight classic is back at the Bourse before midnight on January 17, with a shadow cast once again from Transylvanian Nipple Productions.

An American in Paris

The Gene Kelly classic from 1951 is getting a two-night Fathom Events run, at various local theaters, on January 19 and 22, as part of the TCM Big Screen Classics series.

The Devil and Daniel Johnston

In honor of the musician Daniel Johnston, who passed away last September, director Jeff Feuerzeig's 2005 documentary about Johnston will show January 22 at World Cafe Live (3025 Walnut St) at 8pm. The film will be preceded by a special tribute performance by Joe Jack Talcum of the Dead Milkmen.

Don't Look Back

You know that shot you've seen in numerous music videos, of a performer singing while scrolling through cue cards and then throwing them away? Every one of them is parodying Bob Dylan, as he sang "Subterranean Homesick Blues" in documentarian D.A. Pennebaker's 1967 Don't Look Back. The film will screen January 22 at Bryn Mawr Film Institute, preceded by a seminar hosted by film critic Christopher Long. The seminar starts at 6:30pm and the film at 7:15pm.

Pet Sematary

This year's After Hours screening at the Philadelphia Film Center is the original Pet Sematary, director Mary Lambert's adaptation of Stephen King's novel about reanimated animals. This shows January 23 at 9pm.

The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou

“I need to find a baby for this father.” Wes Anderson's 2004 film, starring Bill Murray in tribute to Jacques Cousteau, was his follow-up to The Royal Tenenbaums and has only gained in esteem in the years since. It shows at the Bourse just before midnight on January 24.

In the Heat of the Night

As the Oscars approach, Bryn Mawr Film Institute is looking back at some Oscar winners of the past. On January 27 at 7:15pm, it's director Norman Jewison's In the Heat of the Night, which won Best Picture in 1967. The film, starring Rod Steiger and Sidney Poitier, is showing in conjunction with Dr. Paul Wright's multi-week seminar Oscar Zeitgeist: Best Picture as Cultural Barometer, which runs through February.

Y Tu Mama También

Speaking of acclaimed international auteurs, the Bryn Mawr Film Institute is hosting a seminar and retrospective on the director of Roma, called Crossing Borders: The Cinema of Alfonso Cuaron. Most of the series and seminar, hosted by Temple University's Dr. Maurizio Giammarco, will take place on the four Tuesdays between January 28 and February 18. The first film, at 7:15pm on January 28, is 2001's Y Tu Mama Tambien, the exhilarating story of two young men and an adult woman who go on a road trip through Mexico together.

The Hottest August

One of the most acclaimed documentaries of 2019 comes to Philadelphia for one night only on January 28, at 7pm at the Philadelphia Film Center, as part of the Non-Fiction Series. Directed by Brett Story, the film takes the temperature of New Yorkers during a very hot month.

Eve's Bayou

If you enjoyed director Kasi Lemmons' Harriet in the Fall, her amazing 1997 debut, Eve's Bayou, is coming to the Philadelphia Film Center on January 30 at 7pm. The Southern Gothic film stars Samuel L. Jackson, Lynn Whitfield and Jurnee Smollett, and it's showing as part of the Film Essentials Series.

Blade Runner

Ridley Scott's original sci-fi adventure from 1982 is the final Midnight Madness event of the month, just before midnight on January 31. This is the "Final Cut" version of the film.