BACinema
Beverly Arts Center, 2407 W. 111th St., 773-445-3838, beverlyartcenter.org
“Jersey Boys” ¿¿1/2 (U.S.; Clint Eastwood, 2014) “Jersey Boys” the movie is a different, more sedate animal than “Jersey Boys” the Broadway musical. Often this happens when a stage success comes to the screen, even with many of the same performers and artistic team members on board. Changes are made; ardent fans of the original are variously pleased or disappointed. And in this case, those who missed the theatrical edition of the tale of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons — how they found their sound and wrestled with temptations — might wonder what the fuss was about. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
—Michael Phillips
Block Cinema
Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston, blockmuseum.northwestern.edu
“The Wind” ¿¿¿¿ (U.S.; Victor Sjostrom, 1928) A supreme melodrama starring Lillian Gish, who could suffer like no other silent actress, unforgettably playing a woman driven nearly mad by frontier isolation and eroticism. 6 p.m. Saturday
Doc Films
University of Chicago, Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 E. 59th St., 773-702-8575, docfilms.uchicago.edu
“When Harry Met Sally” ¿¿¿ (U.S.; Rob Reiner, 1989) Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan play a couple we follow for 11 years as they can’t live with or without each other. 7, 9, 11 p.m. Friday; 1 p.m. Sunday
—Tribune
“Calvary” ¿¿¿ (Ireland, John Michael McDonagh, 2014) In a confessional, an unseen man, a parishioner whom Father James (Brendan Gleeson) knows but we do not, informs him he will be killed in a week’s time — not because he’s guilty of anything but because he’s an innocent representative of an institution responsible for the assault of so many innocents. How the priest fills his last days provides the dread of “Calvary.” A more despairing work than the previous McDonagh-Gleeson collaboration, “The Guard,” it approaches the nasty extremes found in the stage and film work of McDonagh’s brother, Martin, which is really saying something. 7, 9:15 p.m. Saturday; 3:15 p.m. Sunday
—Michael Phillips
“Little Fugitive” ¿¿¿1/2 (U.S.; Morris Engel, 1953) Low-budget classic about a small boy who mistakenly believes he’s shot his brother and his day of wandering through Coney Island. (1953) 7 p.m. Monday
—Tribune
*”The Cat and the Canary” (U.S.; Elliott Nugent, 1939) Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard star in this horror/comedy about a haunted house that hosts the reading of a will. 7 p.m. Tuesday
“Sanjuro” ¿¿¿¿ (Japan; Akira Kurosawa, 1963). Toshiro Mifune plays a blunt, deadly warrior who aids nine young incompetents in a local feud — and though this movie is not as fierce or memorable as its predecessor (“Yojimbo”) it’s almost as much fun.7, 9:15 p.m. Wednesday
—Tribune
Eisenhower Public Library District
4613 N. Oketo Ave., Harwood Heights, 708-867-7828, eisenhowerlibrary.org
“All Quiet on the Western Front”¿¿¿¿ (U.S.; Lewis Milestone, George Cukor, 1930). One of the great war movies, a still-powerful and poignant portrayal of an idealistic German youth (Lew Ayres) reduced to cannon fodder. Based on Erich Maria Remarque’s novel. 1 p.m. Thursday
—Tribune
The Music Box Theatre
3733 N. Southport Ave., 773-871-6604, musicboxtheatre.com
“The Big Lebowski” ¿¿¿1/2 (U.S.; Joel and Ethan Coen, 1998) The Coen Brothers’ funny, shaggy version of a Raymond Chandler-style mystery story, set in a brilliantly observed slice of modern LA. Jeff Bridges is “The Dude,” a ’60s layabout, in trouble because his name is the same as a local rich guy with woman and money troubles. John Goodman and Steve Buscemi are Dude’s Vietnam vet and surfer buddies. Midnight Friday, Saturday
—Tribune
*”The Scarlet Empress” (U.S.; Josef von Sternberg, 1934) Marlene Dietrich plays a young German princess who becomes Catherine the Great of Russia. 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Sunday
*indicates a film not reviewed by the Chicago Tribunebut of interest.
