This big movie news this weekend is The Golden Compass, the adaptation of Philip Pullman's novel of the same name. The first book in the His Dark Materials trilogy, The Golden Compass tells the tale of the "orphan" Lyra as she and her polar bear Iorek (voiced by Gandalf--er, Ian McKellen) embark on a journey to rescue Lyra's friend Roger from his kidnappers. We hear the movie's anti-religious themes have been played down (maybe thanks to Mitt's input?), but it should be a wild ride nonetheless. Any movie with McKellen as a heavily armored polar bear is okay with us.

Other recent and new releases include Juno, the story of a young Canadian impregnated by Michael Cera (okay, okay, a character played by Michael Cera), and Atonement with Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Romola Garai, Vanessa Redgrave, and Brenda Blethyn acting out the consequences of a young girl's bold choice.

If long lines, crowded theaters, box office blockbusters, Keira Knightley's breasts (or lack thereof) aren't your thing, Boston also has plenty of offbeat film events coming up this weekend. Read about these gems after the jump.

Reha Erdem Retrospective
Boston MFA
This retrospective includes several of the Turkish filmmaker's early works but also features more recent projects.

Friday, December 7
Any Time in October (short) and Oh Moon (A Ay), 5:30 p.m.
Reha Erdem's first film, Oh Moon tells the story of young Yekta, who lives with "her lame seagull, her spinster aunt, and her grandfather, Sirri," who is paralyzed and bedridden, following the death of his son and bride." Yekta's mother left the family in a boat; Yekta considers following in her mother's wake? Will she? Watch to find out.
Times and Winds (Bes vakit), 8:00 p.m.
"A hypnotic portrait of village life possessing much more than its seemingly placid surface."

Sunday, December 9
What’s a Human Anyway? (Insan nedir ki?), 1:30 p.m.
"Ali, a taxi driver has lost his memory in an accident and reverted to a childlike innocence."
Times and Winds (Bes vakit), 8:00 p.m.
"A hypnotic portrait of village life possessing much more than its seemingly placid surface."

Two Films by Peter Greenaway
Boston MFA

Madcap films from the English director.

Saturday, December 8
The Draughtsman’s Contract, 1:45 p.m.
A witty, stylized, erotic country-house murder mystery.
A Zed and Two Noughts, 3:40 p.m.
A visually arresting and hilarious film, full of surprises and magnificent conundrums..

Brattle Theatre Showings (Including a Tribute to Ingmar Bergman)

Friday, December 7

Persona, 6:00, 8:00
"Arguably Ingmar Bergman's most challenging and rewarding film," Persona stars Liv Ullman as a stage actress who stop speaking. Her identity blends with that of the nurse assigned to care for her, creating a "fascinating character study and a masterful art film puzzle."

Undoing, 9:45, midnight
"This cool thriller set in L.A.'s Koreatown from Chris Chan Lee, director of the acclaimed Yellow, features an electric performance from Sung Kang, some great eccentric characters, and a film noir style tinged with L.A. neon. Don't miss this chance to see it on the big screen!"

***Join actor Sung Kang and producers Karin Chien and Phil Lam for a Q+A following Friday's 9:45 show!

Saturday, December 8

Il Posto, 11:00 a.m. (FREE!)
A tender coming-of-age story and a sharp observation of dehumanizing corporate enterprise, Ermanno Olmi's Il Posto is a touching and hilarious tale of one young man's stumbling entrance into the perils of modern adulthood.
*** Film scholar Ted Barron will discuss the film.

Shame, 3:00 and 7:15 p.m.
The Hour Of The Wolf, 5:15 p.m.
Part of the Tribute to Ingmar Bergman

Undoing, 9:30 p.m. and midnight

Sunday

The Passion Of Anna, 2:30 and 7:15
The Serpent's Egg, 4:45
Part of the Tribute to Ingmar Bergman

Undoing, 9:30 p.m.

Vanishing Points: The Films of Shohei Imamura at the Harvard Film Archive

This two-week tribute to the Japanese New Wave director continues with several gems this week.

Friday, December 7

The Ballad of Narayama (Narayama-bushi ko), 7:00 p.m.
"The inhabitants of an isolated mountain village practice population control by carrying their elders to the top of Mount Narayama to die when they reach 70."

Zegen, 9:30 p.m.
The title translates as "the pimp," designating the character who serves as our guide through Imamura's satiric vision of Japanese expansionism.

Saturday, December 8

Pigs and Battleships (Buta to gunkan), 7:00 p.m.
This absurdist depiction of a postwar Japan supposedly imbibing democracy while prospering from the presence of the U.S. military is generally considered to be Imamura's first masterpiece.

The Insect Woman (Nippon konchuki ), 9:15 p.m.
In a brilliant film that bears comparison to Fassbinder's The Marriage of Maria Braun, two generations of brash, no-nonsense Imamurian women survive cataclysmic misfortunes and betrayals by relying on their "entomological" instincts for self-preservation at any cost.

Sunday, December 9, 3:00 p.m.
Lights of Night (Nishi Ginza eki-mae), 3:00 p.m.
For his second film, Imamura was assigned by the studio Nikkatsu to direct this vehicle for singer-comedian Frank Nagai. The result is a comedy about a hen-pecked drugstore owner who spends his days reminiscing about a wartime romance in the tropics.

My Second Brother (Nianchan), 4:00 p.m.
This studio assignment finds Imamura venturing into the kind of realism he would later use as a launching pad for his own obsessions. The film is based on a true story, adapted from the diary by a real little girl of Korean descent, one of four siblings in a working-class family.

Stolen Desire (Nusumareta yokujo), 7:00 p.m.
Imamura's film debut can be seen as a ribald, contrarian reworking of Ozu's A Story of Floating Weeds. An idealistic director quits school to join a traveling theater troupe and finds himself trapped in a love triangle between the leading player's wife and her younger sister.

Endless Desire (Hateshi naki yokubo), 9:00 p.m.
On the tenth anniversary of Japan's WWII surrender, a motley group of five gathers in the basement of a butcher shop to dig up a cache of morphine buried during the war.

If obscure directors don't do it for you, check out the films at the Coolidge or brown bag it with Fandango. It's gonna be a chilly weekend--stay inside where it's warm!

Imamura image from filmreference.com. Bergman image from the BBC. Erdem image fromsanat.milliyet.com.tr.