Charitable Film Network's monthly Japanese film series continues on Monday, May 6, with a free screening of the Ishiro Honda's original 1954 Godzilla at 7 p.m. at Cafe Istanbul inside New Orleans Healing Center, 2372 St. Claude Avenue. Widely regarded as a metaphor for nuclear holocaust in the era immediately following World War II, Godzilla went on to spawn 28 sequels produced by Toho Co. Ltd. of Japan. More info on the screening here.

The Prytania Theatre will offer a children's movie series this summer from May to August with monthly Friday and Saturday morning screenings of kid-friendly fare. The series begins on May 24-25 with The Muppet Movie and continues with E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial on June 21-22; Mary Poppins on July 26-27; and Charlotte's Web on August 23-24. All screenings begin at 10 a.m. and tickets are $5.75. More info here.

The trailer above for Ross McElwee's Photographic Memory, which screens at 7 p.m. tonight at CAC, is misleading. It runs some scenes in fast forward and uses fast-tempo music that's not in the film. McElwee's documentary is much more patient and deliberately pensive. Ostensibly it's about the filmmaker's concerns about his son Adrian's discontent and desire for separation, and it's strangely compelling for a film about one parent's worries about the future of his child.

What makes McElwee's work almost darkly compelling is the way he earnestly states one purpose while pursuing a more narcissistic one. The effect works brilliantly in Sherman's March, and it works well in Photographic Memory, though the contrast is less stark. In Sherman's March, McElwee says he's making a documentary about Gen. William Sherman's path of destruction in the South. But what's brilliant to the point of discomfort are the scenes in which he interviews former girlfriends about why their relationships didn't work. In Photographic Memory, McElwee rolls footage of his son at young ages being very open about his thoughts and McElwee contrasts that with the aloof late-teen Adrian seeking privacy (to smoke pot, hang out with his friends, pursue extreme sports). McElwee announces that he's going to go to France to retrace his steps when he was his son's age - to see if he can gain insight into being that age - but again it turns into a journey much more about his past relationships. It seems that he planned the trip to France and then sought an excuse he finally found in arguing with Adrian. And as insightful as he sounds, one wonders if he should reflect on how often he tries to relate to people while filming them. That's an inherently unequal conversation. He exposes some of his own frailties this way, and it's engrossing.

The film is presented by the New Orleans Film Society and the CAC. Trailer for Sherman's March after the jump.

Firmly rooted in the Southern literature of writers ranging from Mark Twain to mystery novelist James Lee Burke, Mud is the engaging and atmospheric third feature from writer-director Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter). With its story of two teenage boys who discover a mysterious drifter named Mud (Matthew McConaughey) hiding out on a small and remote island on the Mississippi river, the film far exceeds what usually passes for a coming-of-age story in Hollywood. Mud offers a soulful meditation on the nature of love disguised as a Southern Gothic crime thriller, all told from a distinctly male point of view. It has a mythic quality that carries it through the rough spots even when it turns out to be a bit more conventional (and long-winded) than it might have been.

Arkansas native Nichols came home to mount the first large-scale film production in that state’s history, and the result is a setting that feels both fresh and familiar while supporting the story’s uniquely Southern vibe. It’s hard to imagine anyone but McConaughey in the title role, oozing earthiness and authenticity while using his low-key charisma to win over Ellis (Tye Sheridan), the smarter and more troubled of the two teens, and enlist the boys in his struggle to reconnect with the absent Juniper (Reese Witherspoon). Even Witherspoon is believable, a few extra pounds keeping her from looking like a movie star. Her careless character may not be the ideal object of devotion, but she does provide an object lesson on the true price of love.

It’s easy to understand Robert Redford’s attraction to the material and worldview found in Neil Gordon’s The Company You Keep, the 2003 novel on which director Redford’s movie is based. The book fictionalizes the later life of members of 1960s and ’70s radical revolutionary group The Weather Underground, imaging what might happen to them if their assumed identities were finally exposed after they spent 30 years hiding in plain sight. Redford is known for his progressive politics, and bringing Gordon’s book to the big screen affords him the chance to revisit a misunderstood era and reexamine the passions that led to violence in the name of social justice. It’s harder to imagine why Redford would bother to make an uninspired movie on the subject.

Though its subject matter is obviously close to Redford’s heart, The Company You Keep is sleepy and unconvincing. At 76, Redford seems too old for the lead role of a former late-’60s radical. At least his friends are well cast: it’s a pleasure to see Susan Sarandon, Nick Nolte, Chris Cooper, Julie Christie, Stanley Tucci and others sharing Redford’s attraction to the story and bringing it for their time on screen. The best lines are reserved for Redford’s character, though, as he repeatedly chastises the young reporter (Shia LaBeouf) who exposes him for not understanding the crucial role of the press in revealing difficult truths. That’s a message that bears repeating, but it’s not enough to support a two-hour film.

There are a couple of red flags that always seem to pop up sooner or later in movies that are not all they should be — especially as regards storytelling. One is that after mysterious or confusing events take place, the action stops and one character explains everything to another so the audience can make sense of what just happened on screen. A second red flag occurs when critical, story-altering information is delivered through the low-impact device of flashback. You thought things were this way? No, they’re really that way. These flags wave defiantly in Oblivion, a movie that also features the most innovative and original sci-fi visuals since Blade Runner came along 31 years ago. Oblivion is gorgeous. But you won’t be able to recount the story later to friends, even with benefit of spoilers. It’s just too muddled and incomplete.

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The story of how Jackie Robinson broke the color line in professional sports against all odds in 1947 is something every kid in America should know. For that reason alone, we should be grateful for writer-director Brian Helgeland’s new Robinson biopic 42. The movie manages to capture something of Robinson’s extraordinary resilience and it gets the on-field details right. But 42 is all broad strokes and old-fashioned Hollywood hokum. In 42’s world, there were good people who supported Robinson and bad people who opposed him, which hardly scratches the surface of racism in America — then or now. And the story’s natural dramatic impact is blunted by the film’s relentless gee-whiz tone. While 42 may offer a crucial bare-bones history lesson, it strikes out when the game’s on the line.

A program of short films by French filmmaker Jean-Gabriel Périot entitled "We are Winning, Don't Forget," will be screened tonight, April 15, at 7:00 p.m. at Antenna Gallery, 3718 St. Claude in the Bywater. Périot, who is known for the innovative use of archival materials in his films, will attend the screening. Presented by the New Orleans Film Society and Antenna Gallery, the event is part of a national tour co-sponsored by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Admission is free and open to the public. More info here.

There’s no shortage of ambition in The Place Beyond the Pines, the third feature from writer-director Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine). Essentially three related but distinct 45-minute films, The Place Beyond the Pines reaches for epic scale in its story of fathers, sons and the inescapable legacies passed on to future generations. But it never quite fulfills its apparent quest for something meaningful to say.

Playing against type, Ryan Gosling aces the difficult role of Luke Glanton, a hard-luck motorcycle stunt driver who turns to robbing banks after he discovers he has a son to support. And Bradley Cooper leaves the excesses of Silver Linings Playbook far behind as the small-town cop who confronts Glanton and pays a heavy price. But Cianfrance disrupts his film with musical passages so emotionally specific they’d make Steven Spielberg blush, spotlighting the gulf between the film’s small successes and its needlessly self-important tone. Sometimes modesty is the best policy.

The Place Beyond the Pines starts today at the Canal Place and Elmwood theaters.

English filmmaker Danny Boyle hit it big in recent years with widely acclaimed and not-quite-mainstream movies like Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours. But he began his big-screen career with two films — Shallow Grave and Trainspotting — that instantly revealed a true signature style: crisp pacing, lush visuals, witty dialogue and a knack for infusing noir-ish crime thrillers with a punk rocker’s anarchic sense of fun. Trance is Boyle’s eleventh feature but it would have served perfectly as his third.

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