Tout Va Bien On S'en Va In Claude Mouriéras's comedy-drama, three sisters (Miou Miou, Sandrine Kiberlian and Natacha Regnier) who operate a dance school in Lyon are less than thrilled when their father (Michel Piccoli) returns after a 15-year absence. Saturday, April 13, 7:15 p.m.; Sunday, April 14, 5 p.m.
Under the Influence Director Eric Gardner's debut feature is a romantic thriller about a personal injury lawyer (Peter Greene) accused of murder when his lover (Camilla Overbye Roos) accidentally kills an innocent bystander in a staged accident. Friday, April 12, 7:15 p.m.; Saturday, April 13, 5 p.m.
Beta Cinema
Where have all the good German guys gone? Lavinia Wilson is caught between a rock and a hard place in Julietta.
Star Trek's Colm Meaney stars in the Irish comedy How Harry Became a Tree.
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Under the Stars This uneven but intriguing first feature by London-born filmmaker Christos Georgiou is a road movie with a unique itinerary. By focusing on the odyssey of Lukas (Akis Sakellariou), a Greek-Cypriot who longs to visit his hometown in the Turkish-held north of Cyprus, Georgiou attempts to illuminate the sociopolitical and psychological scars that remain in Europe's last divided country. Myrto Alikaki steals every scene that isn't nailed to the floor as Phoebe, a wily smuggler who agrees to escort Lukas across the Greek-Turkish border. Phoebe is endlessly resourceful and, more important, a convincing liar. The latter attribute comes in handy as she talks her way past security guards and curious civilians, so Lukas can once more see the seaside town he fled during the 1974 Turkish invasion. Sunday, April 7, 7:15 p.m.; Tuesday, April 9, 3 p.m. (J.L.)
Unspeakable One doubts Houston pain specialist Pavan Grover would have gotten very far if he hadn't put up $7 million of his own money (see "Script Doctor," by Dylan Otto Krider, January 17). Yet with the financing in place, what could have been the celluloid equivalent of vanity publishing became a full-fledged Hollywood production. Dennis Hopper plays an over-the-top villainous prison warden opposite idealistic attorney Lance Henriksen (Aliens, Millennium) and sleazy judge Jeff Fahey (Lawnmower Man), with director of photography Antonio Calvache (In the Bedroom) signed on for good measure. But it's Dina Meyer (Starship Troopers) who puts the most into her performance. Director Thomas Wright (X-Files, Dark Angel) is the right guy to helm this sci-fi horror film about a serial killer (played by Grover) and brain-burrowing parasites. In spite of -- or perhaps because of -- revisions made to Grover's script by Buckaroo Banzai writer Earl Mac Rauch, the plot is hard to follow. It's never clear how these mind-altering worms are transferred, and what, if anything, they have to do with a revelation about the killer's psychic abilities. Still, Grover's first effort in front of the camera is not terribly embarrassing. This is no blockbuster, but heck, it's at least a Sci Fi Channel original movie. Thursday, April 11, 9:30 p.m.; Saturday, April 13, 7:15 p.m. (D.O.K.)
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Gene Wilder stars in this bright and lively 1971 musical film version of Roald Dahl's classic children's book. Saturday, April 6, 3 p.m.; Monday, April 8, 5 p.m.
*The Wizard of Oz Wizard was something of a box-office fizzle back in 1939 and attained its status as a pop-culture masterwork only after decades of TV reruns, so it's a special treat to see this beloved fantasy up on the big screen, where it belongs. WorldFest reportedly has obtained a newly restored print, so Dorothy and her friends will look better than ever. But if you really want to see the classic in a new light, consider the comments of Salman Rushdie -- yes, that Salman Rushdie -- who reappraised the movie in a 2000 essay. In Rushdie's view, it's "a film whose driving force is the inadequacy of adults, even of good adults; a film that shows us how the weakness of grown-ups forces children to take control of their own destinies, and so, ironically, grow up themselves." But even Rushdie doesn't hazard an answer to the movie's great unanswered question: What will happen when that bitchy Miss Gulch shows up again to take Toto on a one-way trip to the pound? Saturday, April 6, 7:15 p.m. (J.L.)
Zelimo Siberian-born filmmaker Aleks Rosenberg's debut feature focuses on a young Russian émigré who recalls the tragic events that brought him to America. Sunday, April 7, 7:15 p.m.; Tuesday, April 9, 3 p.m.
