I\u2019m a sucker for Christmas. Even in the dead heat of a summer afternoon, I can often be caught humming a few bars of a carol while I whack away at weeds and mosquitoes. It is, quite frankly, bothersome, although mostly to the Scrooges who cluck their tongues and insist I wait at least until the Thanksgiving meal has passed before I start in on mistletoe and holly.<\/p>\n
For my part, I find that it\u2019s often during the first 11 months of the year that I could most use a lift from the spirit of the season. Wait until Thanksgiving, and you\u2019re left trying to cram all that good will toward men into the space between Black Friday and a New Year\u2019s Day hangover. Me, I\u2019d rather have it all year long, with the milk of human kindness on a slow drip.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re like me, you may want to keep an eye on area theaters for a local screening of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, an incredible turkey of a movie that is making the rounds as part of the RiffTrax Live series of screenings. Combining B-movie mayhem with sarcastic running commentary (the latter provided by the crew behind Mystery Science Theater 3000), it\u2019s the type of movie you might stumble across on a local TV station while making cookie plates with Mom. Sure, you\u2019d make fun of it for a bit\u2014but before you know it, watching it has turned into a family tradition.<\/p>\n
The 1964 original is a sci-fi dud that shows up with a regretful regularity on those (oddly popular) \u201cworst movies ever\u201d lists. Directed by Nicholas Webster\u2014not that you should recognize the name\u2014it has survived its early drubbings to become something of a cult classic after being featured on an episode of the Canned Film Festival series in the mid-1980s. Since then, each decade seems to have rediscovered the film in its own way: first as part of the MST3000 comedy series, and later as a holiday filler for a young Comedy Central and old Elvira movie marathons. Now it returns to the big screen.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re curious about the plot, then I regret to inform you that you have completely missed the point of seeing a film called Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. The title is the plot, end of story. Okay, fine. In the spirit of the season, I\u2019ll give you a bit of backstory. It seems that over on the red planet, the Martians are concerned that their kids are watching too much Earth TV\u2014a distraction resulting from the rigid rules of the alien society. The solution, somehow, is to kidnap Santa and bring him to Mars in the hope that he will inspire the young Martians to think for themselves. Does it make a lick of sense? Not too much\u2014but neither, really, does egg nog.<\/p>\n
Also this week: Amherst Cinema brings in a different sci-fi film from the past when it screens The Visitor as part of the theater\u2019s ongoing Late Nites series. Showing Friday night at 10 p.m., the 1979 film\u2014restored and presented uncut theatrically for the first time ever in the U.S.\u2014stars John Huston (The Maltese Falcon) as an interstellar warrior caught in a battle against an 8-year-old girl and her bird. While this one is unlikely to become a new tradition, it\u2019s mind-warping enough to warrant a viewing.<\/p>\n
And finally, Amherst also hosts a return engagement of The Flat, director Arnon Goldfinger\u2019s exploration of family and friendship, and the sometimes surprising strength of the bonds that we make. For Goldfinger\u2019s grandparents\u2014whom he knew only as the Tel Aviv residents he visited as a child\u2014those bonds spanned some of the most horrific years of Europe\u2019s history. To say more about Goldfinger\u2019s discoveries would be to deprive viewers of some of his film\u2019s emotional wallop. Barton Byg, founder of the DEFA Film Library at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and a leading scholar of East German cinema, will be on hand to discuss the film in relation to G\u00fcnter Grass\u2019 Peeling the Onion.\u2022