The Cinecultist's Weekly Movie Picks: Auteurs Edition

For New York moviegoers, this is a good week for those who worship at the cult of the director. In both the theatrical releases and the repertory columns, film fans of various established and up in coming auteurs will surely get their fill.

Brooklyn’s own Spike Lee takes on the action thriller genre in his newest, Inside Man starring Clive Owen as a bank robber, Denzel Washington as the hostage negotiator on the case and Jodie Foster as the boss lady there to throw a wrench into it. We’ve heard good things so far, so it’s definitely on Gothamist’s list. Might we also recommend the Dardenne brothers’ newest, L’Enfant? Darlings at the Cannes Film Festival, these French directors make cutting edge work – in this film, a petty thief father sells his baby son on the black market but lives to regret it. Also, there’s the Brian Jones biopic Stoned and the juvenile comedian shtick vehicle Larry the Cable Guy, Health Inspector, if you’re looking to kill brain cells instead of feed them.

In honor of the 25th anniversary of the influential dance troupe, choreographer Mark Morris chose a number of his favorite films for the Mark Morris and the Movies series at BAM which begins today and runs through the weekend. Did you know Robert Altman’s Nashville is one of his favorite movies of all time? Go fig. Mr. Morris will be on hand to introduce the 6:50 pm screening on Friday of Vincent Minnelli’s Cabin in the Sky and Monday’s 6:50 pm showing of George Romero’s Martin.

As a part of the Don Siegel series currently running at Film Forum, you can catch the Cold War era sci-fi paranoia classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers all weekend. All the people are turning into pods in what director and critic Peter Bogdanovich calls “the most haunting, strangely poetic science fiction picture ever.” Body Snatchers runs through Monday and the Don “action auteur extraordinare” Siegel series is on until April 13.

Gothamist Pick:
It’s that time of year again -- when the Film Society at Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art presents some of the most exciting new cinema from the best first time filmmakers at New Directors/New Films. This year there’s the added bonus of a series within the series looking back at some of the influential documentaries first screened at the festival. Manohla Dargis provided an overview of some of the films screening in yesterday’s NY Times. From what we hear from her and others who caught it at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, local production Half Nelson, among others in the excellent line-up, is definitely worth catching. So get out there and get your movie on, yo.