Grand Unified Theory

We really can’t speak too highly of this locally made comedy, about one long, hard day in the life of a self-doubting astrophysicist (Scott Bellis) and his sweetly dysfunctional family. Catch it, along with various cast and crew members, as part of the Vancity Theatre’s Canadian Film Week celebrations on Thursday (April 20).

The projector: What to see and where to see it 

Bruno Dumont  The thorniest of modern French filmmakers gets a mini-revival at the Cinematheque starting Thursday (April 20) with La Vie de Jésus (including a special introduction by Shaun Inouye.) P’tit Quinquin and L’Humanité follow. Visit www.thecinematheque.ca/ for dates and times.

They Live  Reportedly one of the Rio Theatre’s most requested films, John Carpenter’s They Live returns on Saturday (April 22) to chew bubble gum, kick ass, and offer a thoughtful screen rendering of Althusserian Marxism.

The Girls’ House  A wedding is interrupted by the mysterious death of the bride in this feature, banned in Iran, but screening at the Vancity Theatre next Wednesday (April 26) thanks to the Vancouver Iranian Film Society. 

The Stairs 

The Vancity Theatre’s Canadian Film Week closes out with director Hugh Gibson’s vital doc, about three Torontonians on the long path to recovery. The timeliness for Vancouverites is glaring, and Gibson will lead a panel discussion on Friday (April 21) with a Q&A on the following Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday (April 23, 24, and 25). More details, including guests, are at viff.org/.