American Hot Wax
Cleveland DJ and honorary rock & roll pioneer Alan Freed's story is told in this 1978 movie starring Fran Drescher (pre-Nanny), Jay Leno (pre-Tonight Show), and Laraine Newman (pre-obscurity). It explores the controversial stuff: Racists hated that Freed brought black music to their white children, and his career ended with a messy payola scandal. But mostly it's about music on the edge of greatness in the '50s, with Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Screamin' Jay Hawkins playing themselves. It's at the Cinematheque at 9:35 p.m. Friday, June 8, and 5 p.m. Saturday, June 9. — Michael Gallucci
Attenberg
A coming-of-age story about a 23-year-old antisocial Greek woman who learns about the world outside her bleak factory town from David Attenborough's wildlife documentaries. Cinematheque. At 5:30 p.m. Thursday, June 7, and 7:35 p.m. Friday, June 8.
The City Dark
Documentary about all the city lights clogging up the nighttime sky. The director is an astronomer, so of course he's pissed. Cleveland Museum of Art's Morley Lecture Hall. At 7 p.m. Friday, June 8.
Forbidden Planet
This week's Sunday Classics movie is one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever made: a 1956 space odyssey based on Shakespeare's The Tempest. Really. Shaker Square Cinemas. At 10 a.m. Sunday, June 10.
Let the Bullets Fly
A Chinese action-comedy-western about a bandit who poses as the mayor of a 1920s town. You had us at "Chinese action-comedy-western." Cinematheque. At 7:25 p.m. Thursday, June 7, and 9 p.m. Saturday, June 9.
Peace, Love, and Misunderstanding
What do you get when a bitchy New York City lawyer mom meets a hippie grandmother and two teenage girls? Shit that only happens in the movies. Opens Friday at the Cedar Lee Theatre.
Pina
Wim Wenders' 3D tribute to the late dance choreographer Pina Bausch, seen here without the 3D. Cinematheque. At 5:30 p.m. Friday, June 8, and 6:55 p.m. Saturday, June 9.
The Story of Film: An Odyssey
The 13th and 14th parts of a 15-hour movie, which the art museum is showing in less butt-numbing increments over 10 weeks. It's all about the history of the movies, and it's almost through. Cleveland Museum of Art's Morley Lecture Hall. At 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, June 13.
Where Do We Go Now?
Lebanese women band together to ease tensions between the Muslims and Christians in their small village. Opens Friday at the Cedar Lee Theatre.
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