The Conquest
This new biopic about French President Nicolas Sarkozy assumes you're up on modern politics, as it parades one stuffy leader after another in front of you. Good luck keeping up with all the players in Sarkozy's rise to power. Director Xavier Durringer sets up The Conquest as satire, which may seem like the most obvious starting point in a movie about insider politics. But he lets it all fall in place with a sharp eye cocked toward European policy makers. At the Cinematheque at 7:30 p.m. Friday, January 20, and 9:05 p.m. Saturday, January 21. — Michael Gallucci
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos
Japanese animation on the big screen. At the Cedar Lee Theatre at 7 p.m. Tuesday, January 24, and at Plaza Cinemas at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, January 25.
The Mirror
Andrei Tarkovsky's 1975 movie about a dying man looking back on his life won't mess up your mind like his Solaris or Stalker do, but it's still kinda fucked up. Cinematheque. At 9:35 p.m. Friday, January 20, and 6:30 p.m. Sunday, January 22.
Oka!
Biopic about an American musicologist who lived with Bayaka Pygmies for 25 years. Cleveland Museum of Art's Morley Lecture Hall. At 7 p.m. Friday, January 20, and 1:30 p.m. Sunday, January 22.
Richard Garriott:
Man on a Mission
Documentary about a video-game developer who went to space in 2008. Cleveland Museum of Art's Morley Lecture Hall. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, January 25.
Pianomania
Documentary about Stefan Knüpfer, a guy who tunes Steinway pianos for classical stars like Lang Lang. Dramaz! Cinematheque. At 7:10 p.m. Saturday, January 21, and 4:15 p.m. Sunday, January 22.
Queen Kelly
The Cinematheque's Artists of the Silent Screen series continues with Erich von Stroheim's never-finished 1929 masterpiece about a girl taken from a convent who ends up the head of an African brothel. There's a whole mess of backstory to this troubled movie, which was somewhat restored in 1985. Cinematheque. At 5:15 p.m. Saturday, January 21, and 8:35 p.m. Sunday, January 22.
The Spiders
Fritz Lang's 1919 silent adventure movie screens as part of the Cinematheque's two-month series about silent films. It's a lot like Raiders of the Lost Ark, but black and white, silent, German, and with spiders instead of snakes. Cinematheque. At 7 p.m. Thursday, January 19.
