Pete's weekend movie roundup: Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious, Raiders of the Lost Ark matinee

Summer blockbusters of 2009 have some tough competition from classics showing in East Bay theaters.

With today's release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Summer 2009 is officially underway at the movies. Because of the buzz on Star Trek, Bruno, and Inglorious Basterds, I'm optimistic about this summer's cinematic offerings, although I always prefer the Oscar-bait months of September-December for movie going. The cool thing about living in the Bay Area, however, is that you don't need to go to the mulitplex to have a great movie experience. Take this weekend for example:

ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S NOTORIOUS. No, this isn't last year's documentary about the rapper Notorious B.I.G. But this espionage thriller is a flat-out masterpiece, with glamorous stars Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and Claude Rains taking direction from the master, Alfred Hitchcock and wearing gorgeous wardrobe, designed by the legendary Edith Head. Wait, it gets better: Notorious is showing tonight at the Paramount in Oakland, only the most spectacular art deco theatre in the world. Tickets are just $5, and the evening includes a Movietone newsreel, cartoon, and prize giveaway. You're not going to get a deal like that at your 20-screen multiplex, ever.

STEVEN SPIELBERG'S RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. Maybe the greatest action-adventure movie ever made, and a shot-by-shot perfect film. The three Indiana Jones follow-ups came nowhere close to matching the original, which is showing this Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Cerrito Speakeasy in El Cerrito. Tickets are $9 and benefit Harding Elementary. Sweet! If you want to see a film that's nearly as masterful but much more harrowing, the Cerrito also is showing Gomorrah every night this week. This docudrama about the crime syndicate in Naples, Italy is by far the best film I have seen in 2009.

SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: The mack-daddy of all Bay Area film festivals just kicked off and there's some really intriguing stuff on the program. I'm curious to see the French drama Summer Hours, starring the always-terrific Juliette Binoche. It's showing on Saturday night at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley. For a full festival schedule, click here.

FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA IN PERSON/ON SCREEN: The man who made the Godfather will take part in a tribute and conversation at the Castro Theater in San Francisco tonight, and tomorrow the Castro will screen the redux version of Apocalypse Now.

With this many killer options, I'm sure Matthew McConnaghey will understand why I won't be able to see his newest same-old rom-com, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Sorry, Wooderson!

Posted at 12:10 PM in Pete's Popcorn Picks | Permalink