FSM

Even as it focuses on the downside of hook-up culture, FSM exudes a winning ease and brightness. For one thing, Vancouver hasn’t been this lovingly called upon to play itself since Ben Ratner’s Down River in 2013, while Vanessa Crouch provides a warm centre to its tale of an up-and-coming DJ whose love life could use a bit more flow. FSM has its flaws, but a lack of self-possession isn’t one of them. Melanie M. Jones’s feature screens at the Vancouver International Women in Film Festival next Thursday (March 10).

The projector: What to see and where to see it

The Witch
Writer-director Robert Eggers’s decidedly literal take on the 17th-century witch craze has polarized horror fans. Decide for yourself if it’s Shining brilliant or Exorcist II terrible when The Witch comes to the Rio Theatre for a weeklong run starting Friday (March 4).

Spartacus
Bryan Cranston’s Oscar-nominated performance as screenwriter Dalton Trumbo has brought attention yet again to this timeless Kirk Douglas epic—the first film to credit Trumbo after the Hollywood blacklist. See the restored version at Cinematheque, starting Saturday (March 5).

Erbarme Dich—Matthäus Passion Stories
Performers in a rundown church in the Netherlands consider the personal impact of Johann Sebastian Bach’s sacred oratorio St. Matthew Passion in this kaleidoscopic doc. Starts at the Vancity Theatre on Sunday (March 6).

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Tina Fey goes to war in this witty adaptation of Kim Barker’s bestseller The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan, opening Friday (March 4). “It captures my narrative arc. It captures the absurdity of what it was like to live in that ‘Kabubble’,” Barker told the Straight, referring to Kabul’s adrenalized bedlam of militants, hard-assed military types, and horny local politicians. Look for our review and an interview with the author—both coming soon.