REEL TALK: MOVIES RATED BY WAYS PETE CAMPBELL MIGHT DIE

ROCK OF AGES | SCHADENFREUDE OVERDOSE

Glee?  Rock of Ages?  Has karaoke suddenly become a legitimate form of entertainment?  Are the gangs of 22-year-old girls’-night-out participants who only know the first verse to “Don’t Stop Believing” now performance artists? Well, as expensive as movies are these days, getting drunk on karaoke night is even worse. So, combine the two: see Rock of Ages  drunk, sing along in the theater, and save yourself the public embarrassment when you can’t remember the second verse to “Livin’ On a Prayer.” [PG-13 | Wide Release, Fri 6.15.12]

BEL AMI | JOAN’S WRATH

Lord Byron wrote assholes so well that they named an entire archetype after him; the “byronic hero.” These guys are young, good looking, intelligent, well-to-do, successful and complete sociopaths. Robert Pattinson is that byronic hero in Bel Ami, an adaptation of Guy de Maupassant’s 1885 novel about a French guy who uses sex, charm, and intrigue to fuck people over. While believing Robert Pattinson in such a nuanced role is a bit much, maybe our hatred of him will come in handy this time. [R | Kendall Square Cinema, Fri 6.8.12]

THE SONS OF TENNESSEE WILLIAMS | WIFE CATCHES HIM WITH WHAT’S-HER-NAME

The Stonewall Rebellion of 1969 is widely considered the beginning of the open struggle for gay and lesbian equality in the United States, with riots taking place throughout Greenwich Village as the community erupted in anger of police treatment. Nearly ten years earlier, the gay community of steamy New Orleans had established a city-wide network of drag balls. Personal and political, The Sons of Tennessee Williams is a worthwhile investigation into a forgotten chapter in the struggle for LGBT liberation. [NR | Museum of Fine Arts, Thu 6.7.12]

STRAIGHT TO HELL RETURNS | LANE SHOOTS HIM

Many cult directors use their critically acclaimed breakthrough to get a piece of the mainstream, abandoning their creative roots and relegating their legacy to a byline: “From the director of that movie you like comes some crap.” Not Alex Cox, who only upped the ante with Straight To Hell after Repo Man and Sid & Nancy. Straight To Hell Returns is an updated version of that bizarrely awesome punk rock spaghetti western starring Joe Strummer, Shane MacGowan and Dennis Hopper. [NR | Harvard Film Archive, Fri 6.8.12]