Easily one of the year’s most talked-about films, the latest opus from Danish provoc-auteur von Trier (Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark, Melancholia) traces the erotic life of a self-diagnosed nymphomaniac, fearlessly portrayed by Gainsbourg.  Boldly confrontational, wildly compelling, and often surprisingly funny, Von Trier’s very explicit epic is a true orgy of cinema.  Because the original cut was halved for international release, Volumes I and II will be screened consecutively. (MK)

Godard's feverish, surreal and pulpy New Wave classic follows undercover agent Lemmy Caution (American expat actor Constantine) as he attempts to resist the Orwellian regime of supercomputer Alpha 60. Shot entirely on location in Paris without the use of special effects, Godard and cinematographer Raoul Coutard use their otherworldly imaginations to create an unforgettable low-budget sci-fi noir future. Presented in a new DCP restoration by Rialto Pictures, Alphaville stands as a bizarre, fantastic entry in the canon of one of cinema's greatest auteurs. (AW)

Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) gives a bravura dual performance in this darkly comic mindbender, which seamlessly combines the existential paranoia of Dostoevsky’s novella with the bureaucratic dystopia of Brazil.  Simon James is a nebbish nobody, hopelessly overlooked at home and at work, until the abrupt arrival of James Simon, a suave ladykiller who happens to be his perfect doppelganger.   Witty, visually dazzling and endlessly inventive, The Double is a marvel of sci-fi cinema.  “Hilarious and wickedly clever… special and singular filmmaking at its best” (Indiewire). (MK)

An expanded version of a 1994 short film, Anderson’s feature debut follows two best friends (played by the real-life brothers Wilson) as they attempt to escape the doldrums of suburbia for a life of crime on the road. Featuring Caan as the “legendary” crime boss Mr. Henry, Bottle Rocket examines dreams and romanticism with an off-beat, semi-surreal style matched perfectly to Anderson’s idiosyncrasies. It proved to be a breakthrough for both the director and the Wilson brothers. (AW)

Iconic, outlandish, and over-the-top, Russ Meyer’s turbo-charged magnum opus follows a trio of bodacious supervixens who prowl the California desert, taking chopsocky revenge on the men who leer at them.  This hugely influential vision of buxom go-go dancers, badass sports cars, and crisp black-and-white cinematography has become a central totem of retro culture.  It’s also a terrific piece of cinema – just take it from trash connoisseur John Waters, who declared Faster Pussycat  “beyond a doubt, the best movie ever made.  It is possibly better than any film that will be made in the future.” (MK)

In one of Tarkovsky’s most enigmatic and beautifully-composed films, world-weary Russian poet Andrei Gorchakov (Yankovsky) travels to Italy with translator Eugenia (Giordano) to study the life of an 18th-century Russian composer. Haunted by memories of his family back home, Andrei becomes increasingly unmoored after an encounter with a local madman (Ingmar Bergman regular Josephson), who purportedly locked away his wife and children for seven years in fear of the forthcoming apocalypse. Tarkovsky evokes his protagonist’s psychic and spiritual malaise through a series of extraordinary long takes, crafting a visual symphony of flooding ruins, fog-shrouded vistas, and echoing corridors bathed in fading afternoon light. A new 35mm print, originally scheduled to play in January, will be shown. (MC)

The director of Hoop Dreams tells the life story of the most beloved and influential film critic of our times, Roger Ebert (1942-2013). Based on Ebert’s best-selling memoir, James’ funny, revealing, nostalgic and emotional bio-doc covers all of the major chapters in Ebert’s life: his childhood and university education in Urbana, IL; his Pulitzer Prize-winning career at the Chicago Sun-Times; his alcoholism; his marriage to Chaz Ebert; and his frequently tumultuous television partnership with fellow critic Gene Siskel.  For some of the most memorable sequences, Ebert allowed James to film him in the final months of his struggles with cancer, an illness that took his speaking voice, but not his ability to experience the joy of living. “Life Itself is a work of deftness and delicacy, by turns a film about illness and death, about writing, about cinema and, finally, and very movingly a film about love” (Geoffrey O’Brien, The New York Times).