DEC 10–11

Down for Dada

Copresented with the Sprocket Society and the Northwest Film Forum, it's a series of 16-mm rarities from the golden age of cinematic surrealism, with a collection of short films and a feature film by Hans Richter (in collaboration with the likes of Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Man Ray, and John Cage). With musical accompaniment by Lori Goldstein. Northwest Film Forum

DEC 12

Zero Motivation

It's a new Israeli comedy set among the ranks of the Israeli military, aiming for sort of a M*A*S*H vibe but set in a women's division. It's already picked up an award at Tribeca and was a standout at the 2014 Israeli Academy Awards. Varsity Theatre

Wild

Where's Reese Witherspoon going this time? Well, she's unplugging from her failed marriage and heroin (yes, heroin) addiction, and heading off on a grueling, life-resetting trek along the Pacific Crest Trail. Based on the best-selling memoir by Cheryl Strayed, from the director of Dallas Buyers Club. Guild 45th

DEC 12–14

The Conformist

This classic Italian film was made when Bernardo Bertolucci was considered an important filmmaker. There are few (if any) critics who hold this opinion when it comes to his recent work.

SIFF Film Center

DEC 12–JAN 1

It's a Wonderful Life

The Grand Illusion has been making people cry with this movie for 44 years now. Grand Illusion

Holiday Favorites

SIFF trots out its tried-and-true, perfectly engineered cinematic entertainment machines—we're talking Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory in Smell-O-Vision, The Princess Bride Quote-Along, Fiddler on the Roof on Christmas with a Chinese buffet. SIFF Cinema Uptown

DEC 15

The Hobbit Marathon

All three Hobbit movies—the two you've already seen and the one you haven't seen yet—when laid end to end, extend from here to the rings of Saturn. Make the trek over the course of one long day, in the comfort of the new and improved Cinerama. Cinerama

DEC 19

Annie

This hiphop-era remix of an old comic strip that was made into a popular Broadway musical in the '70s was produced by Jay Z and Will Smith, and it stars Jamie Foxx.

Wide Release

DEC 19–21

Hoop Dreams

It's been 20 years since this epic, aching documentary about two high-school basketball players trying to weather poverty, injury, prejudice, and all the regular teenage angst to boot. It's the piece of filmmaking that Roger Ebert described as "the great American documentary," presented here on a new digital restoration. Northwest Film Forum

DEC 25

The Imitation Game

Benedict Cumberbatch stars in this prestige-packed biopic of Alan Turing, the British computer analyst who helped end World War II by cracking the Nazi code before being criminally prosecuted for homosexuality and chemically castrated. But in the relentlessly conventional Imitation Game, Turing's reduced to the quirky father of "what we now call 'computers!'" It's a film about code-breaking that's stultifyingly formulaic. (DAVID SCHMADER) Harvard Exit

DEC 26–30

Home Alone

If you haven't seen this movie in a while, try watching it again. If you're a human, you'll soon be overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of on-screen sadism and torture. One wonders which is worse: what Macaulay Culkin does to Joe Pesci in Home Alone or what Joe Pesci does to pretty much everyone he meets in Casino. Central Cinema

JAN 2

Viva la Liberta

Toni Servillo plays twin brothers in this political drama set in contemporary Italy. Landmark Theatres

Winter Sleep

Directed by the great Nuri Bilge Ceylan, this Turkish film is set in a snowy, isolated community in the region of Anatolia. It won the 2014 Palme d'Or and is Turkey's entry into the Academy Awards for best foreign language film. Grand Illusion

JAN 2–4

Sing-a-Long-A Sound of Music

It's your chance to do out loud what you always do in your head anyway, and it's not every day you can see a movie at this beautiful and ornate theater. 5th Avenue Theatre

JAN 9

Inherent Vice

Finally someone has made a movie based on a novel by the legendary American writer Thomas Pynchon. That someone is none other than Paul Thomas Anderson. Wide Release

Selma

In this movie, which is set during the civil rights movement, a British-born Nigerian plays MLK, and a British-born half-Nigerian plays MLK's wife. A black American, Ava Marie DuVernay, directed the history-heavy pic. Wide release

Life Partners

It's a romantic comedy set around the tensions that arise between two women in their 20s—one straight and one lesbian—whose best friendship with one another must inevitably address incoming romantic interests. Landmark Theatres

JAN 9–14

50/50 Fest: Double Indemnity and LĂ©on: The Professional

Central Cinema will occasionally pair two movies that were made 50 years apart. This time, it's Luc Besson's cult classic and Billy Wilder's noir masterpiece. Central Cinema

JAN 9–15

My Last Year with the Nuns

Pranks, loogies, the tragic end of a dirty magazine collection, a pile of telltale vomit on the classroom floor—these are some of Matt Smith's memories from growing up Catholic on Capitol Hill in the '60s. So is the casual racism and homophobia of his fellow kids and grown-ups alike, and he relates it all with an unsettling, deadpan blue-eyed stare. This film is based on his one-man show, and the transfer from stage to cinema is exceptionally well-accomplished. (BETHANY JEAN CLEMENT) Northwest Film Forum

JAN 9–30

Midnight Adrenaline at the Egyptian

See if you can spot the common thread amongst these (each runs for one weekend, Friday and Saturday, at midnight each night): Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Dazed & Confused, The Big Lebowski, and Reefer Madness. SIFF Cinema Egyptian

JAN 12

Goodbye to Language

Jean-Luc Godard's newest film is in 3-D (for real), and Seattle is one of the few places you can see it. It takes a look at a relationship between a man and a woman from the perspective of a wandering dog, and it's already netting some fantastic reviews. It's copresented here in association with the Northwest Film Forum and the Seattle Art Museum. Cinerama

JAN 16

She's Beautiful When She's Angry

This documentary covers threads of the feminist movement, ranging from the middle of the 20th century to the current day, and it examines what's been gained and how impermanent those gains sometimes seem to have been. Varsity Theatre

American Sniper

Clint Eastwood directs.

Wide Release

JAN 16–20

Better Off Dead

John Cusack as a teenager.

Central Cinema

JAN 16–22

The Shop Around the Corner and Philadelphia Story

You really can't do much better than these. Item one is the Ernst Lubitsch gem that's perhaps best known today as being the basis for You've Got Mail. Item two is a brilliant acting showcase—among much else—and your only chance ever to see Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, and Katharine Hepburn grace the same screen at the same time. Both on 35 mm. Grand Illusion

JAN 22–FEB 7

Children's Film Festival Seattle

It's the 10th birthday of this festival, which hopes to inspire a love of cinema and art and beauty in the youngest among us. Featured are more than 150 films—animations, features, and shorts—from around the world, as well as some live performances. Northwest Film Forum

JAN 23

Mr. Turner

Mike Leigh, who has been making excellent films for a long time—Naked, Topsy-Turvy, Another Year—now turns his attention to the brilliant British painter J.M.W. Turner in this new biopic. Harvard Exit

JAN 23, 30–31

Naked Lunch

It's a 35-mm presentation of David Cronenberg's twisting, feverish take on Burroughs's nightmare. Drugs, insects, and everything in between abounds. Grand Illusion

JAN 23–28

Troll 2

Some call it the worst movie of all time, but certainly all will agree on its place among the cinematic disaster canon. Central Cinema

JAN 23–29

Burroughs: The Movie

It's a documentary about William Burroughs. Howard Brookner, the director, started it as his senior thesis in 1978, and it ended up getting blown up into a feature, first released in 1983. To say Burroughs is a pretty wacky guy is probably the understatement of a lifetime. Grand Illusion

JAN 27–FEB 24

Frank Capra Restored

Five new 4K restorations of films by Frank Capra, one of the great directors of Hollywood's golden era. Which? It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Lost Horizon, You Can't Take It with You, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. SIFF Cinema Uptown

FEB 12–15

Seattle Asian American Film Festival

An assemblage of contemporary films that relate to or are by Asian Americans.

Ark Lodge Cinema

FEB 12–16

Noir City 2015

Eddie Muller, "the Czar of Noir," returns with his selection of classic and rediscovered film noir favorites—this is a perennial favorite among Seattle moviegoers and should not be missed. Peppered among the program are often films that you can pretty much see nowhere else, and Muller is an eminently knowledgeable guide—he lives this stuff. SIFF Cinema Uptown

FEB 13

Fifty Shades of Grey

"'Does this mean you're going to make love to me tonight, Christian?' Holy shit. Did I just say that? His mouth drops open slightly, but he recovers quickly. 'No, Anastasia it doesn't. Firstly, I don't make love. I fuck... hard. Secondly, there's a lot more paperwork to do, and thirdly, you don't yet know what you're in for. You could still run for the hills. Come, I want to show you my playroom.'" Wide release

FEB 13–15

Harold & Maude

The perfect date movie, about a death-obsessed young man who falls in love with an old woman's impending corpse. SIFF Film Center

FEB 14

Scarecrow Video Presents VHSEX 3

They've "penetrated Scarecrow Video's Sexploitation room once again in search of more awkward adult situations, humorous humping, and weird sexual interludes—all from vintage videotape! Adults only!" Grand Illusion recommended

VENUES

Ark Lodge Cinema

4816 Rainier Ave S, 721-3156, arklodgecinemas.com

Central Cinema

1411 21st Ave, 686-6684, central-cinema.com

5th Avenue Theatre

1308 Fifth Ave, 625-1900, 5thavenue.org

Grand Illusion

1403 NE 50th St, 523-3935, grandillusioncinema.org

Guild 45th

2115 N 45th St, 547-2127, landmarktheatres.com

Harvard Exit

807 E Roy St, 323-0587, landmarktheatres.com

Northwest Film Forum

1515 12th Ave, 267-5380, nwfilmforum.org

SIFF Cinema Egyptian

801 E Pine St, 324-9996, siff.net

SIFF Cinema Uptown

511 Queen Anne Ave N, 324-9996, siff.net

SIFF Film Center

Seattle Center, 324-9996, siff.net

Varsity Theatre

4329 University Way NE, 632-6412, landmarktheatres.com