Upcoming events

Jeez, the weeks are just flashing past. It's been nearly six weeks since my accident. It's taking longer to recover than I initially expected and the medical appointments are never-ending. I intend to continue the story of my brush with death but for now, I'll just mention that today I put a deposit on a motorcycle, the same model as the one that was written off that day. It'll be a couple of weeks or so until I receive it, but I'm in no condition to ride it just now anyway.

There's so much going on cinema-wise and I thought I'd just summarise those that I find worth mentioning.

• Cinema releases: if you haven't seen them, I highly recommend The Wrestler, Revolutionary Road, Gran Torino, Frozen River and Milk.
• Melbourne Cinémathèque: this week's screenings (Wed 7pm) are The River (Jean Renoir, France/India/USA, 1951) and Black Narcissus (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, UK, 1947). March 4 - 18 sees a season of Ingmar Bergman films including The Seventh Seal, The Silence, Fanny & Alexander, Smiles of a Summer Night and Winter Light.
  
• ACMI's Focus on Dante Ferretti started this week and continues until next Sunday with an array of films that feature the production designs of Ferretti. Films include Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, The Age of Innocence, The Aviator, The Decameron, The Black Dahlia, Interview with the Vampire, Tales of Ordinary Madness, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Casino, La nuit de varennes and The Name of the Rose.
• The Melbourne Latin American Film Festival, presented by Melbourne Filmoteca, screens at ACMI from Thursday 26 February to Monday 2 March.
• The French Film Festival, my favourite festival outside of MIFF, presented by Alliance Française (where I am in my second year of studying French), screens at Palace Como, Kino, Westgarth and Balwyn. I'll have a separate post on what's on offer, but for now, I can highly recommend A Christmas Tale, Lady Jane, Summer Hours and Public Enemy Number 1.
• ACMI screenings of JCVD and The Matador.
• ACMI's Dior on Film, screening from Thursday 12 - Friday 20 March.
• The Melbourne Queer Film Festival screens at ACMI from Thursday 19 - Sunday 29 March.
• La Mirada: Jewels of Spanish Cinema, unequivocally the best film festival in Melbourne for ambiance, organisation and spirit (mostly due to the passionate enthusiasm of festival director Rocio Garcia), screens at ACMI from Thursday 2 - Sunday 12 April.
• I know this is a long lead time, but ACMI is presenting in November 2009 through to February 2010 Dennis Hopper and the New Hollywood, "an expansive exhibition showcasing an extraordinary man’s life’s work, his collaborations and personal art collection, and an amazing insight into a formative era of Hollywood". No doubt there will be a Focus on Dennis Hopper, which I look forward to.