By Mathew Kumar

The only major release particularly worth recounting this week is the Wachowski brothers’ V for Vendetta, and though it comes so shortly (you’d almost think they planned it!) after Natalie Portman’s sweary rap from Saturday Night Live went viral, the current reaction seems to be that even dudes who like bald chicks with dodgy English accents should just save up for a trip to Camden instead. The New York Times has a particularly nice piece on the beef Alan Moore, the author of the original graphic novel, has with the film, and it should clearly remind everyone to run out and buy everything he’s ever written, because it’s all the brilliant work of a genius.
Not V for Vendetta, though. That was rubbish to begin with.
Never mind, then, as Cinematheque Ontario’s spring season begins this week, starting with Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s highly rated Three Times. NOW’s Glenn Sumi actually goes as far as complaining “[the film is] so suggestive and mysterious, you’ll actually want to take a cue from the title and see it Three Times. Good luck. In its limited run at Cinematheque, it’s getting a mere four screenings.” Questionable maths aside (we’ll assume that Glenn doubts that anyone will be able to schedule 3 viewings from a pool of 4 possible time slots, or something), Three Times features three stories of unrequited love, set across three time periods, and has ‘enormous power and texture’ according to Eye’s Jason Anderson. Cinematheque Ontario also begins their Sam Peckinpah season, the pick of this week being tonight’s Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (8:45pm). All Cinematheque Ontario showings are at Jackman Hall, AGO, 317 Dundas W.