‘Labyrinth of Lies’ and ‘Made in U.S.A.’ in Neighborhood Movie Houses (Tues., 12/8/15)

1) Labyrinth of Lies – By the late 50’s, most people in Germany were anxious to put the horrors of World War II behind them … the horrors as well as a full accounting of the complicity of the German people during the Third Reich. Fritz Bauer was a young judge who had briefly been held in a concentration camp in the early 1930’s and later fled to Sweden. After the war he returned to Germany and through unceasing work was instrumental in bringing about what’s known as the “Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials” in which hundreds of former death camp workers were eventually charged with crimes. Bauer was also instrumental in helping Israeli’s intelligence agency, Mossad, capture Adolf Eichmann. Labyrinth of Lies tells the story of those times by imagining a young lawyer working for Bauer after the war and his gradual realization about the nature of evil and collusion. The film has been selected as the German entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at next year’s Oscars. 8 p.m. Ends Thursday. Regent Square Theater, 1035 S Braddock Ave, Regent Square. (TH)

2) Made in U.S.A. – In 1966, French auteur Jean-Luc Godard made a movie called Made in U.S.A. It was “inspired” by Howard Hawks’ The Big Sleep, but also based on a novel, The Juggler, by Donald E. Westlake. Godard never paid Westlake for the use of his book, and so the film was never shown in the United States. Three months after Westlake died (in 2009), the movie finally came to America. It was not, however, hailed as a lost masterpiece. The film has very little to do with logic or plot or cohesion. Godard once said that the only thing you need to make a successful film is a “pretty girl and a gun,” and that’s about all he supplies here. The camera is fixed on the beautiful Anna Karina while live gangsters and dead bodies pile up around her. There’s also a thorough drenching of 60’s Pop-Mod design and color, and, for no apparent reason, a young Marianne Faithfull shows up at a street café to sing “As Tears Go By.” Ahhh, those Frenchies! 5:15 p.m. Runs through tomorrow. Row House Cinema, 4115 Butler St., Lawrenceville.

3) Spectre – This is the last time Daniel Craig will be appearing as James Bond. (Or, rather, he said in a recent interview that the only way he’d play Bond again is if they paid him a lot of money. Considering that he got $17 million for Skyfall, exactly how much does he consider “a lot” to be?) This time around Bond is investigating an evil, secret group known as SPECTRE. Meanwhile on the home front, British politicians are trying to shut down the Secret Service. Christoph Waltz is the villain, with Ralph Fiennes as “M,” Ben Whishaw as “Q” and Andrew Scott as “C.” (I’m not making that up.) Sam Mendes, the director of Skyfall, returns as well. Check Fandango for screens and times.

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