Weekly Film Agenda: War/Games Edition

In a world where there's nothing to do but watch movies.
In a city full of theaters, museums, and libraries.
One moviegoer who can be in three places at once.

Thursday 6/29

Wordplay
Patrick Creadon's debut feature-length documentary follows the career of puzzling luminary Will Shortz and the national crossword tournament he founded. Celebrity interviews include Daily Show host Jon Stewart and celebrated Daily Show guests Bob Dole and Bill Clinton.
Kendall Square Cinema
See theatre web site for showtimes throughout the week & ticket prices
Wordplay: IMDB | web site | trailer
Will Shortz: wikipedia | NPR Sunday Puzzle
American Crossword Puzzle Tournament: web site

Friday 6/30

War Photographer
James Nachtwey has brought back devastating images from Bosnia, Rwanda, Afghanistan, and Manhattan.
Remis Auditorium, Museum of Fine Arts
2 pm Saturday (and 10:30 am Sunday), $7
War Photographer: IMDB | web site | trailer
James Nachtwey: web site

Mondo Archival: Julie Buck
Before the Harvard Film Archive's Julie Buck absconds to grad school in New York, she's curating a midnight screening of her "favorite short films, odd clips, and treasured trash." She's also sparechanging for her tuition.
Brattle Theatre
Midnight, $10
Julie Buck: web site | blog

Rebel Without A Cause
Watch the James Dean classic out on the breezy waterfront. It's free, but it's not like we can resist getting a drink or two.
Intrigue Café, Boston Harbor Hotel, 70 Rowes Wharf
Starts at dusk, free & open to the public
Rebel Without A Cause: IMDB | trailer

The War Tapes
Soldiers shoot their own damn war documentary, Beastie Boys style.
Kendall Square Cinema
See theatre web site for showtimes throughout the week & ticket prices
The War Tapes: IMDB | web site | clips & outtakes | trailer

Saturday 7/1

Mondo Archival: Clinton McClung
McClung, former Coolidge program director and inventor of the now-traditional Buffy Singalong, returns for one more midnight screening of selections his eclectic, bizarre, gorgeous found-footage collection.
Brattle Theatre
Midnight, $10
Clinton McClung: Dig interview

Monday 7/3

Within Our Gates
Long before DJ Spooky remixed and rebirthed D.W. Griffith's racist Civil War epic, Oscar Micheaux rebutted The Birth of a Nation with this silent melodrama whose censored scenes have since been reinstated by the Library of Congress. Live piano accompaniment.
James Whale's 1936 film of Show Boat screens right afterwards, at 9 pm: see the great Paul Robeson singing "Ol' Man River" before getting blacklisted into decades of obscurity.
Harvard Film Archive
7 pm, $8
Within Our Gates: IMDB
Show Boat: IMDB