Thursday, April 17, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Beyond the Multiplex

This week's special screenings

Three Seasons

(PG-13, 113 min.) [Ba Mua] Vietnamese-American filmmaker Tony Bui's lyrical 1999 debut offers a poignant portrait of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), via three interconnected stories. Ex-Marine Harvey Keitel, returning to find the daughter he left behind, befriends an impoverished street kid (Huu Duoc Nguyen); cyclo driver Don Duong falls for high-class prostitute Zoe Bui; a woman (Ngoc Hiep Nguyen) gathers lotus flowers outside a temple where her singing inspires a reclusive, leprous spiritual master (Tran Manh Cuong) to resume writing poetry. A sumptuous, leisurely look at a country that won the war but whose people seem at risk of losing the peace, in a modern world of fast-paced change. [English and Vietnamese dialogue, with subtitles] Contemporary Asian film series, Charleston Heights Arts Center, 800 S. Brush St., 229-6383, $4. Tue., April 22 7:30 p.m. (with introduction by UNLV's Bob Benedetto at 7:15).

Metropolis

(PG-13, 106 min.) Not to be confused with Fritz Lang's 1926 silent classic, Rin Taro's 2001 anime is based on Osamu Tezuka's manga comic about a private detective and his young nephew, who visit a futuristic city where they meet a mysterious robot girl and foil a dastardly military coup. NOTBAD (Nevadans Organized To Better Address Diversity) presents Animated World film series, Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, 507-3459, free. Tue., April 22 7:15 p.m.

When Hell Freezes Over, I'll Skate

(NR, 60 min.) Dirty Dancing director Emile Ardolino and Vinnette Carroll's 1979 TV special features an eight-member ensemble performing African-American music and poetry, with musical selections ranging from Civil War-era gospel to disco, plus slave quarter sermons and contemporary black poetry. With Lynne Clifton-Allen, Cleavant Derricks and Lynne Thigpen. Makes You Wanna Holler film series, West Las Vegas Library, 951 W. Lake Mead Blvd., 507-3980, free, Tue., April 22 6:00 p.m.