Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

Opening:

ANNA KARENINA—Tom Stoppard scripted this adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s novel about an aristocratic woman who has an extramarital affair. Starring Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Kelly Macdonald, and Emily Watson. Directed by Joe Wright (Atonement). Reviewed this issue. Eastern Hills, McKinley, North Park

THE COLLECTION—Serial killer horror movie. Starring Josh Stewart, Christopher McDonald and Navi Rawat. Directed by Marcus Dunstan (The Collector). Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria

KILLING THEM SOFTLY—Adaptation of a George V. Higgins crime novel about the ill-considered robbery of a Mob-backed gambling operation. Starring Brad Pitt, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, James Gandolfini, Richard Jenkins, Ray Liotta, and Sam Shepard. Directed by Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford). Reviewed this issue. Regal Transit, Flix, Maple Ridge, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Walden Galleria

ETC:

AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER (1957)—Sleepless in Seattle wanted to be a remake of this classic romantic weeper, but Nora Ephron lacked the guts to be so brazenly sentimental. If you want to see it done right, spend an evening with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr under the smoothly professional direction of Leo McCarey. Fri, Sat, Thurs 7 pm. Screening Room

B.O.Y.D.—Locally made movie about a group of twentysomethings facing a coming-of-age moment during the blackout of 2003. Starring Christopher Marriott, Christopher Brechtel, Christopher Scherr and Kyle Scritchfield. Directed by Matt Lorentz.. Sun 1 pm Hamburg Palace

FREE RADICALS—Pip Chodorov’s documentary history of experimental cinema since the 1920s, including the work of Stan Brakhage, Jonas Mekas, and Andy Warhol. Thurs Dec 6 7 pm. Squeaky Wheel

THE MERRY WIDOW (1934)— Ernst Lubitsch brings his fabled touch to this adaptation of the popular operetta about a small kingdom trying to keep the widow who is its main financier from marrying a Frenchman. Starring Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Edward Everett Horton and Una Merkel. Tues 7. Screening Room

THE PHARAOH’S DAUGHTER—From the Bolshoi Ballet, Pierre Lacotte re-imagining of Petipa’s popular entertainment from 1862 in which a young English Lord traveling through Egypt takes shelter in a pyramid with local characters who share an opium-fueled dream about the Pharaoh’s daughter rising from her tomb to enchant them. Sun 2, Thurs 7. Amherst, Eastern Hills

SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS (1964)—If Ed Wood had made a holiday movie, it would have looked like this gloriously godawful no-budget Chrisploitation turkey. A camp classic even before we realized that the 9-year-old actress playing Martian child Girmar was the one and only Pia Zadora. Best seen at a venue that sells beer and wine. Fri-Sat 9:15 pm. Screening Room

A SEPARATION (Iran, 2011)—Winner of this year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, a drama detailing the complications that ensue when a couple decide to divorce because the mother wants to take their adolescent daughter to another country. Presented as part of the Buffalo Film Seminar. Tues. 7 pm. Market Arcade.

SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN (1952)—The one Hollywood musical that everyone likes, even people who hate musicals. A story parodying the movies’ transition from silents to sound is the backdrop for some still astonishing dance numbers featuring Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor (whose “Make ‘Em Laugh” sequence is one of the most amazing things you’ll ever see.) With Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen, Rita Moreno and Cyd Charisse. Fri-Sat 7 pm Screening Room

THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965)—Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer in the 1965 Academy Award winner for Best Picture. It beat out Darling, Doctor Zhivago, Ship of Fools and A Thousand Clowns. Go figure. Free and open to the public. Sat-Sun 2 pm. Riviera

STATIONS OF THE ELEVATED (1980)—Legendary documentarian Manfred Kirchheimer, who specialized in portraits of urban life, will present two of his films. “Stations” uses a Charles Mingus score to accompany footage of New York subways being painted by slum kids. “Claw” (1968) argues that styles of contemporary urban development subordinate human values to economic ones. Fri 6:30pm. Hallwalls

THE STORY OF FILM AN ODYSSEY—The fifth installment of the epic documentary by Irish film critic Mark Cousins, an ambitious history of cinema that covers the global filmmaking community from the 1890s through the present day. If you don’t have four years to spend in film school, this is the next best thing. Sun 4:30 pm Screening Room

“WATCH THIS!”—Program of films curated by Regional Artist Access Residency artist Matthew Hardesty. Free and open to the public. Tues 7 pm. Squeaky Wheel