Author: Peter Schilling

In the strange Earrings of Madame de …, a lonely woman, cloistered in an upper-class existence of endless soirées and empty finery, sells the pair of diamond earrings her husband gave her on their wedding day; the unnamed heroine needs spending money to cavort with her long queue of suitors. Oddly enough, the earrings make a complete circle, going from jeweler back to husband, from him to his mistress, then lost gambling in a casino, then back to our eponymous Madame (given to her by the paramour with whom she eventually falls in love). Max Ophüls’s moving 1953 picture is not so much an indictment of upper-class mores (both husband and wife make no secrets of their affairs), as it is an examination of the complex trappings of love, jealousy, and marriage.

Oh, that Douglas Sirk. The king of suburban ’50s melodrama is being given his due at this year’s Walker Summer Music and Movies program, and it’s about time. In There’s Always Tomorrow, Fred MacMurray—possibly the most underrated actor of his generation—plays a successful family man who is, nevertheless, plagued by disappointment. His wife is focused on their kids, who live their own lives and leave Dad pondering the meaning of it all. And then in walks Barbara Stanwyck—remember their pairing from Double Indemnity?—and sparks fly. But while the wife remains oblivious to her husband’s absence, MacMurray’s oldest child suspects treachery. Per the usual with Sirk, emotions are crushed beneath the stifling norms of the ’50s, and no one can emerge unscathed. 612-375-7600; www.walkerart.org

When it all boils down, Vitus is nothing more than a story about a child prodigy who seeks to be a normal boy. But in the hands of director Fredi M. Murer, the simple tale becomes a small but complex masterpiece about the universal difficulties of childhood. Murer, who is unknown in this country but considered Switzerland’s greatest director, obsessively captures the details of youth, including the rich interactions between child and adult. You will not find a movie that better addresses the pains and frustrations of childhood. Vitus is a must-see for parents seeking to challenge their children. Something tells us Mom and Dad will be moved, as well. 651-649-4416; www.landmarktheatres.com www.landmarktheatres.com

This collaboration between writer/director Brad Bird (The Incredibles) and the animation geeks at Pixar takes the medium to new heights. Ratatouille is the simple tale of Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt), a rat hiding in the shadows of a famous Parisian restaurant who seeks to become a chef. Like The Incredibles, Ratatouille is a comedy of startling action, consistently hilarious jokes, and mechanically brilliant slapstick. But the film is also a deeply felt meditation on the pleasures of hard work, friendship, eating (of course), and, surprisingly, the often cantankerous relationship between artist and critic. Avoid pigeonholing this one as a child’s diversion; Ratatouille is a profound joy, and the best film of the year.

Shot on location in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles in the early ’70s, Killer of Sheep tells the neo-realist tale of Stan, an African-American man numbed by the pressure of life in the ghetto and his slaughterhouse job. Director Charles Burnett’s movie is also widely considered one of the finest examinations of children’s reaction to crushing, inner-city poverty. Because Burnett never secured the rights to all the songs comprising his film’s score, the sublime Killer of Sheep never had a commercial release; in fact, during the past thirty years, it has become a well-known but ultimately hidden treasure. It was one of the first fifty films placed on the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress and proclaimed one of the hundred all-time greatest movies by the National Film Critics Circle. This long overdue theatrical release is not to be missed. 612-825-6006; www.landmarktheatres.com

At least one critic has dubbed Chris Marker a “cosmonaut”—this in apparent admiration of the French documentary filmmaker’s ability to make other cultures look like products of distant planets. Marker’s documentaries jettison conventional narrative, instead telling stories by way of letter-writing and striking imagery. Sadly, his fascinating oeuvre has rarely, if ever, been seen in this country. But the good folks at Criterion are now trying to remedy this problem by releasing Marker’s two most popular films on DVD. Sans Soleil (1983) involves odd footage of Africa and Japan—images of people and their ceremonies paired with poetic observation. La Jetée (1962), Marker’s sole fictional work, is a thirty-minute photo-roman—that is, a variety of stills culled together—with narration. The movie is a short and stunning science fiction work and noted in this country as the inspiration for the inferior 12 Monkeys. With its striking imagery and haunting story of time travel, love, and the trap of memory, you can watch La Jetée in the time it takes you to sit through an episode of My Name Is Earl, and be moved in ways you never imagined.

Judd Apatow seems to be everywhere. He was the executive producer of the critically acclaimed television show Freaks and Geeks and the writer-director of The 40 Year-Old Virgin. He will also lend his imprimatur to the upcoming teen sex comedy Superbad. In the meantime, he has produced another ribald farce in the style of Virgin (sans Steve Carell). In Knocked Up, a lovable stoner and budding internet-porn businessman played by Seth Rogen impregnates the Ashley Judd look-alike Katherine Heigl. She’s a gorgeous television personality; he’s a loser with a heart of gold. When they decide to have the baby together, laughs ensue. That’s the formula anyway, and what made Virgin work so well was Apatow’s fondness for Altman-like conversation and his healthy respect for these flawed, immature characters. (A plethora of dick- and boob-jokes didn’t hurt matters either.) Here, though, Apatow seems to think he’s making serious commentary on parenthood. Clocking in at two hours and ten minutes, it’s a bit long-winded. Still, much of the humor won’t be matched by any other movie this summer—in particular, there’s a hilarious passage about shaving one’s privates.

Kevin Costner plays the upstanding Earl Brooks, a family man and business leader who just happens to also be a serial killer with an alter ego named Marshall. Our starring cast includes Costner, Demi Moore, and William Hurt … well, that makes three actors who have seen better days. And yet, Mr. Brooks was written and directed by Bruce A. Evans, the guy who penned Stand By Me and the underrated Starman. Sometimes—not very often, but sometimes—these types make decent, straightforward, and entertaining B-movie fare that’s good for passing a summer evening. They did it a lot during the golden age of the studios, generating movies still watched today (such as Desperate Hours and the original Cape Fear). Who’s to say they can’t still do it today?