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Going beyond Barbenheimer
The BSR August 2023 repertory movie roundup
Stephen Silver
Both ends of the Barbenheimer double feature are now in theaters, and yes, you should absolutely see them both. But contrary to the belief of many, those aren’t the only movies in the world. And while most of the region’s theaters will likely keep showing Barbie and Oppenheimer for all of August, there are plenty of older films to check out as well in the Philadelphia area’s finer repertory theaters.
The highlights
The Dark Knight and Cinema Classics seminar
Saturday, August 12, 12:30pm
Bryn Mawr Film Institute, 824 Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr
If you’re on a Christopher Nolan kick after Oppenheimer, get ready to dive back into the director’s Batman era, with a deep analysis of Nolan’s 2008 The Dark Knight. The film, which just turned 15 years old, is one of the most acclaimed superhero movies ever made, featuring an Oscar-winning Joker performance by the late Heath Ledger. Paul Wright, PhD, will lead the seminar for a movie that, per BMFI, “honors and enriches its source material, treating comic narratives as modern mythologies with the power to address serious and abiding themes.”
It’s one of five Cinema Classics seminars at BMFI in August, including All About Eve on Tuesday, August 1; The Grand Budapest Hotel on Wednesday, August 16; Stand By Me on Wednesday, August 23; and Casablanca on Tuesday, August 29.
The Godfather Trilogy
The Godfather: Sunday, August 6, 6pm, and Saturday, August 12, 11am
The Godfather, Part II: Monday, August 7, 3pm and 7pm; and Saturday, August 12, 3pm
The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone: Wednesday, August 9, 3pm and 7pm; Saturday, August 12, 7:30pm
PFS at the Bourse, 400 Ranstead Street, Philadelphia
The Philadelphia Film Society, as part of the August leg of its Summer of Trilogies, is offering perhaps the greatest of them all, Francis Ford Coppola’s three-film mob epic. They’re offering one at a time, as well as all in a row on Saturday, August 12, if you’re up for a triple feature that will last nearly twice as long as Barbenheimer. The third film, rather than the 1990’s original The Godfather, Part III, is the director’s cut of that movie released in 2020.
Other trilogies scheduled for August include Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Three Women series, a trio of giallo films from Dario Argento, and Robert Zemeckis’s three Back to the Future films.
Metropolis with live theatre organ accompaniment
Sunday, August 6, 1:30pm
Colonial Theatre, 227 Bridge Street, Phoenixville
If you want to go even more old school, the Colonial is offering a chance to check on Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent film, complete with a live organist in the theater. That organist is Brett Miller, a finalist in the American Theatre Organ Society’s Young Organist Competition, and someone who has made an unlikely specialty of playing the organ live along with silent films.
Oldboy (Remastered & Restored)
Dates and times TBD
Various theaters
South Korean director Park Chan-Wook’s legendarily shocking suspense/horror film from 2003 marks 20 years this year, and after NEON recently grabbed the distribution rights, they announced a restored and remastered new release of Oldboy in 4K. It’s a film that slowly drew its appeal through word of mouth two decades ago, so many people haven’t seen it on the big screen.
If you’re looking further at suspense, there are numerous Alfred Hitchcock films screening throughout the region in the director’s birth month of August, including a series at Ritz Five.
More cinema screenings
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Tuesday, August 1
Ritz Five
Apocalypse Now: Final Cut
Wednesday, August 2
Ambler Theater
Bring It On
Wednesday, August 2
Fringe Arts
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Wednesday, August 2
Saturday, August 5
PFS at the Bourse
Return of the Jedi
Wednesday, August 2
Thursday, August 26
Ritz Five
Vertigo
Wednesday, August 2
Ambler Theater
Deep Red
Friday, August 4
Saturday, August 5
PFS at the Bourse
Love Me Tonight
Friday, August 4
Media Arts Council (State Street Movie Night)
Zardoz
Friday, August 4
Colonial Theatre
The Cat O’ Nine Tails
Saturday, August 5
PFS at the Bourse
Clueless
Monday, August 7
Bryn Mawr Film Institute
Rear Window
Tuesday, August 8
Ritz Five
Breathless
Thursday, August 10
PFS at the Bourse
The Sting
Thursday, August 10
Ambler Theater
Viva Presents… Viva
Thursday, August 10
Bryn Mawr Film Institute
Some Like It Hot
Friday, August 11
PFS at the Bourse
Tremors
Friday, August 11
Hiway Theater
Enter the Dragon (50th anniversary)
Sunday, August 13
Wednesday, August 16
Various theaters
The 39 Steps
Tuesday, August 15
Ritz Five
The Big Lebowski (Little Lebowski Nite)
Thursday, August 17
Ambler Theater
RRR
Friday, August 18
PFS at the Bourse
Back to the Future
Monday, August 21
Saturday, August 26
PFS at the Bourse
Back to the Future Part 2
Tuesday, August 22
Saturday, August 26
PFS at the Bourse
Back to the Future Part 3
Wednesday, August 23
Saturday, August 26
PFS at the Bourse
Rope
Tuesday, August 22
Ritz Five
Dirty Dancing
Thursday, August 24
Hiway Theater
National Lampoon’s Vacation
Thursday, August 24
Ambler Theater
Rocky Horror Picture Show
Wednesday, August 25
Ritz Five
Tokyo Pop
Thursday, August 26
Lightbox Film Center
The Empire Strikes Back
Friday, August 27
Colonial Theatre
The Lady Vanishes
Sunday, August 29
Ritz Five
The Taking
Monday, August 30
Lightbox Film Center
Above image: The 2003 cult classic Oldboy gets a re-release this year. (Image courtesy of NEON.)
Image description: Actor Choi Min-sik in character, only his upper body and shirt is visible against black backdrop, the title in red letters.
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