Friday Happenings

Godard

The MFA concludes its Jean-Luc Godard retrospective this weekend with a pair of his best films. Masculine/Feminine (1966) was Godard's most coherent attempt to reconcile pop culture, radical politics, art, and sex, his four great obsessions. It's also an enlightening snapshot of mid-sixties France, its radicalism and its narcissism. Vivre sa vie (1962) is a slice of early Godard: the utterly depressing story of a woman trapped by prostitution, told in twelve static frames. Screening separately. Remis Auditorium, Museum of Fine Arts, 6 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. $10/$8.

Local Film

The Boston Cinema Census is an evening of local independent film and video. Featuring experimental shorts, documentary ruminations, and animation, it's a rare opportunity for local filmmakers to strut their stuff. Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Cambridge, 7:30 p.m. Complete schedule.

Film Noir

The HFA continues its Richard Quine retrospective with two of his films noirs. Pushover (1954) features Quine favorite Kim Novak in the role of femme fatale and Fred MacMurray in a sly reprise of his hapless hornball role from Double Indemnity. Drive a Crooked Road (1954), starring Mickey Rooney, of all people, is one of a clutch of race car films noirs that Hollywood cranked out during the fifties. Screening as a double-feature. Harvard Film Archive, Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St., Cambridge, 7 p.m. $8/$6.

Sing-Alongs

The Coolidge gets back into the business of midnight screenings with Danger Zone: The 80s Movie Anthem Sing-Along. From "She's Like the Wind" to "Ghostbusters," it's a horrifying medley of the songs that led many to conclude that the eighties was the worst decade in the history of American popular music. If you get roped into going to this, and can avoid being vomited upon by BU students, don't despair. Flash Gordon and Labyrinth both came out in the eighties. Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St., Brookline, midnight, $10.

Movies About Women

It's the second annual International Women's Day Film Festival, and Hostelling International USA, Women in Film & Video New England, and the United Nations Association of Greater Boston present a pair of films about women artists. Exposing Homelessness (2006) tells the story of three formerly homeless women who turn to photography to describe their plight, and Singing Pictures (2006) looks at India's Patua singing painters who have joined in a collective dedicated to personal—and cultural—survival. Gallery 263, 263 Pearl St., Cambridge, 7 p.m. $10.