I suggest checking out an interesting feature offered at Brookline’s Coolidge Corner Theatre (290 Harvard Street, Brookline, 617-734-2500) in conjunction with the Museum of Science and New Scientist magazine, namely the monthly Science on Screen series. Designed to make good use of the abundant scientific talent in the area, thanks to Boston’s uncommon number of top academic institutions, the film series offers movies with a science theme, introduced by real scientists who know their stuff.

On April 21, viewers will have a chance to enjoy the classic Alfred Hitchcock suspense yarn Vertigo, as well as a revealing discussion beforehand with Harvard Medical School professor and practicing psychiatrist Catherine Kimble, MD. Dr. Kimble will talk about vertigo and anxiety and what both entail for sufferers, such as the main character of the film, a former San Francisco police detective and acrophobe (someone with an abnormal fear of heights) portrayed by James Stewart.

Tomorrow’s screening and discussion of Vertigo take place from 7pm to 9:30pm. Tickets purchased online or at the door cost $9.75 each for the general public, with a discount to $7.75 for students, seniors, and members of the Museum of Science. Members of Coolidge Corner Theatre are admitted free of charge.

Need help deciding whether Vertigo is your cup of tea? If so, just take a look at the original trailer for the 1958 double Oscar nominee following the jump.

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The ten-year-old annual event began as an informal affair in 1999, but has since matured and expanded into a full-fledged, more conventionally arranged series of screenings. And, unlike the fare you’ll find at whatever national chain happens to service your community, many of the scheduled works at BUFF will be hosted by the writers, directors, and stars who bring the films to life. If you’ve ever been to a hosted screening before or even watched the extras on a DVD, you probably agree there’s nothing like discovering details about a movie straight from the horse’s mouth.

This Saturday and Sunday, BUFF films and shorts in a variety of genres, ranging from musicals to horror to comedy, will be shown at two venues in Cambridge near Harvard University: Brattle Theatre (40 Brattle Street, Cambridge, 617-867-6837) and AMC Loews Harvard Square (10 Church Street, Cambridge, 617-864-4581).

Highlights include Saturday’s presentation of the German film-noir crime drama The Road to Nod from writer/director M.A. Littler (AMC Loews Harvard Square, 9:45pm, 100 minutes, Germany, 2007) and Sunday’s Closing Night screening of host and director Tony Krantz’s Otis (Brattle Theatre, 8:30pm, 90 minutes, USA, 2008), a dark serial-killer horror-comedy that premiered at SXSW earlier this month. Otis stars Bostin Christopher in the title role, along with familiar actors like Daniel Stern (Home Alone), Kevin Pollak (Casino), Quincy-born Illeana Douglas (Stir of Echoes), and Cambridge-born Jere Burns (TV’s Help Me Help You).

Tickets to individual movies cost $8 each for the general public and $6 for students and seniors. Moreover, trailers for the two intriguing movies mentioned previously, The Road to Nod and Otis, follow the jump. [More Information]

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And, these aren’t the run-of-the-mill, humdrum movies already available at the local theater either. The New England Aquarium and Museum of Science are going grand instead, serving up deep-sea footage in larger-than-life 3D style.

Deep Sea 3D

New England Aquarium

The New England Aquarium (Central Wharf, Boston, 617-973-5200) bills its Deep Sea 3D film as an “underwater adventure” and correctly so. Presented with breathtaking IMAX 3D technology, the shots beneath the ocean’s surface give viewers the impression of being right there in the middle of the scuba-diving adventure with the explorers and filmmakers.

According to the Aquarium, the film crew traveled to numerous locales to acquire the footage in the movie, including the Bahamas, British Columbia, Hawaii, and North Carolina. So, in addition to seeing an amazing film and witnessing otherwise hidden sea life, attendees get a trip — albeit brief — to some of the most exotic places in the world, too.

Deep Sea 3D runs through April 16 and screens daily at 3pm. The Aquarium is also presently showing the ocean-themed IMAX 3D films Sea Monsters 3D and Sharks 3D. Tickets to all range in price from $6.95 for children aged 3–11 to $23.95 for a combination IMAX and Aquarium adult pass that permits same-day entry to both an IMAX movie and the Aquarium. Attendees should arrive 15 to 30 minutes before showtime because latecomers will not be admitted. Moreover, tickets purchased online cannot be used for screenings on the same day of the transaction. [More Information]

The World of Sharks

Museum of Science

If you’re a little closer to Cambridge, Boston’s Museum of Science (Science Park, Boston, 617-723-2500) has its own underwater offering available in an impressive Digital 3D Cinema. The World of Sharks focuses on the title creature, enabling viewers to figuratively swim with the fearsome fish while getting a closeup glimpse of other marine organisms that share the same ocean habitat.

The museum is screening the 25-minute film daily through March 24 at 11am, 12:30pm, 2pm, and 3:30pm, with additional 5pm, 6:30pm, and 8pm showtimes added on Fridays (there’s no 11am screening on March 13). Tickets range in price from $3 for children to $3.50 for seniors and $4 for adults, although members pay $2 less for each type. In addition, 24-hour advance registration is required. [More Information]

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When Stevens’ parents ask him to return home for their 50th wedding anniversary, the entertainment personality does, and he brings along his ten-year-old son, new wife, and misunderstanding that since he’s a media star now, his family and old neighbors will treat him with due respect. Of course, he’s wrong.

Besides Lawrence, prominent cast members include James Earl Jones as Stevens’ father, Margaret Avery as his mother, and Joy Bryant as his self-involved wife, in addition to Michael Clarke Duncan, Cedric the Entertainer, Mike Epps, Nicole Ari Parker, and Mo’Nique.

If the PG-13 film sounds interesting to you and you plan to be in the metro Boston area next Wednesday, the free weekday newspaper BostonNOW has a contest for you. It’s giving 50 randomly selected winners the opportunity to win a two-person pass to an advance screening of Roscoe Jenkins at a local movie theater on February 6.

Just visit www.bostonnow.com/roscoe to enter and then cross your fingers for a little good news. And if you don’t have any luck with that route, the movie’s website also offers the chance to score some free advance tickets, courtesy of the production studio Universal Pictures.

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Saturday | January 26

A Conversation with Playwright Douglas Carter Beane

First up on Saturday is “A Conversation with Playwright Douglas Carter Beane.” A Tony Award nominee in 2007 for the Broadway comedy The Little Dog Laughed, Douglas Carter Beane also wrote, among many other things, the screenplay for the 1995 feature film To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, starring Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze, and John Leguizamo.

Beane will discuss his ample work—and presumably take questions from attendees—in the same location where SpeakEasy Stage Company is currently staging The Little Dog Laughed through February 16. The afternoon engagement requires advance registration and will start at 12:30pm at the Boston Center for the Arts’ Calderwood Pavilion (527 Tremont Street, Boston).

Sunday | January 27

Making Movies in Massachusetts

Both events scheduled for Sunday will be hosted at the Institute of Contemporary Art (100 Northern Avenue, Boston). The first, “Making Movies in Massachusetts” from 1:30pm–3pm, will explore the reasons underlying Massachusetts’ present and future popularity as a location for filming movies. Nick Paleologos, the executive director of the Massachusetts Film Office, and producer-director Sam Weisman will lead the registration-required discussion.

A Look at Avenue Q

A half-hour later, at 3:30pm, the 90-minute discussion “A Look at Avenue Q” will begin. It also requires advance registration to gain an inside perspective on the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical-comedy Avenue Q, which is about one cash-strapped college graduate’s attempts to acquire fame in the Big Apple. Producer Jeffrey Seller and puppet conceiver and designer (yes, the production uses puppets à la Sesame Street) Rick Lyon share their experiences while leading the talk.

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Those individuals looking for something different to do on Christmas Day are in luck, especially if they have a soft spot for action movies in the science-fiction genre with prominent neo-noir elements. At a time when many are lounging around their homes, marveling at gifts and enough tasty food to feed a small army for a month, Cambridge’s Brattle Theatre will present a surprisingly compatible antidote, namely the supposed Final Cut of Ridley Scott’s modern not-so-cult-anymore classic Blade Runner.

The flick officially went upscale this year when the non-profit American Film Institute sanctioned it with the 97th spot on its updated list of the 100 Greatest American Movies of All Time. There are some seven versions of the film to date, including the recent December 18 DVD release, thus my strong feeling that the Final Cut might not end up the final cut in the long run.

Fans are understandably enthused about the latest newly restored edition because director Scott was in control of putting it together, unlike the last major release, the misnamed Director’s Cut in 1992, which he had no significant influence on due to time restrictions. The Final Cut also marks the 25th Anniversary of Blade Runner’s original 1982 premiere.

So, why is this movie based on sci-fi literary icon Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? a good complement to the year-end holiday festivities? Because the themes of community, survival at all cost, and what constitutes legitimate life forms can really make one appreciate the concept of togetherness, not to mention that the plot, the ambience, and the set and costume designs are nothing less than magnetic.

Take a look at the Final Cut trailer for Blade Runner below and then snag your ticket(s) for the Christmas Day screening at the Brattle Theatre (as of this writing, seats are available for 7pm and 9:30pm EST). If you can’t make it on the holiday, no worries, though, since Ford and friends will be in town until Thursday, January 3, 2008.

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