REEL TALK: MOVIES RATED BY SMELLS OF THE THEATER

8 1/2 | MOVIE THEATER POPCORN

A surreal autobiographical film about absurd and beautiful things—as are most films by director Federico Fellini. The film centers on fictional famed director Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni), who is expected to produce a work of great artistic integrity and profound meaning. While he wants to rise to meet the public’s expectations, Guido is just a man and struggles with his much more present (but by no means banal) personal life and memories. [NR | Brattle Theatre, Thu 9.1.1]

OFFICE SPACE | AIR-CONDITIONED AIR

If you like your comedy to hurt a little, watch Office Space this week. A satire of life entrenched in cubicles created by Mike Judge that—if you ask anyone who works in an office—might not be satirical at all. Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston) is fed up with his day job and decides to stop working. He manages to survive a vicious round of layoffs despite his every effort to not. His productivity just goes up from there. This movie is for anyone who has a job that sucks sometimes (i.e. everyone). [R | Coolidge Corner Theatre, Mon 9.5.11]

THE HEDGEHOG | OLD CHAIRS

This movie is based on The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. The book sold, like, a billion copies, so it must be good. All those readers will tell you it’s great and about Paloma Josse (Garance Le Guillermic), a quirky 11-year-old hardened by a privileged life and resolved to end it all on her approaching 12th birthday. Then, she begins an unusual friendship with her building’s prickly caretaker (Josiane Balasko)—an unlikely ally in her intellectually curious world. [NR | Kendall Square Cinema, Fri 9.2.11]

APOLLO 18 | FLOOR

What if the moon was different? Apollo 17 was officially the last manned mission to the moon, but in this film, decades-old found footage reveals there was another, secreter mission that shows why we never went back … MOON GOBLINS! Just kidding. The nature of the mysterious entity on the moon is the whole reason to watch, so I can’t tell you what it is. Remember to always investigate old camcorders and suspicious film reels. You never know which ones will reveal international government cover-ups. [PG-13 | Wide release, Fri 9.2.11]

SHARK NIGHT 3D | FARTING

For film directors, making sharks threatening is always tricky because of the logistical challenge inherent to their aquatic lifestyles. There must be a compelling reason for people to be in the water, and for a shark to decide to eat them. Shark Night 3D does a particularly bad job of believably intersecting the lives of sharks and humans—but who cares. The movie isn’t scary, but it is a great testament to the powerful technological innovations used to make three-dimensional sharks eat beautiful, bad actors. [PG-13 | Wide release, Fri 9.2.11]