Philadelphia Weekly

Ambler Theater
$4.50-$8. 108 E. Butler Ave. 215.345.7855. www.amblertheater.com

The Killer Within
(2006) (Shown on film): The unknowability of people gets a work-through in Macky Alston 's documentary on the strange tale of Bob Bechtel. In 1955 Bechtel gunned down fellow Swarthmore student Holmes Strozier. Not five years later he was declared not guilty by reason of insanity and set free, whereupon he started a family, became a respected college professor and kept his past a secret to all. Bechtel himself is chillingly opaque; he seems to have rectified his past with his present, which is infinitely more troubling than someone who can't get a read on his own psyche. Sadly, Alston's decision to focus largely on Bechtel's daughter Carrah winds up crippling the film. Her singleminded quest to rationalize the man who raised her with a one-time murderer winds up limiting Alston's focus when it should've included other subjects and spun off in other directions. B Thurs., Nov. 29, 7pm.

Shrek
(2001) (Shown on DVD): Suckers. C- Sat., Dec. 1, call for time.

Bryn Mawr Film Institute
$3.50-$9.25 (unless otherwise noted). 824 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr. 610.527.9898. www.brynmawrfilm.org

The Killer Within
(2006) (Shown on film): See the Ambler Theater. B Wed., Nov. 28, 7pm.

Curious George
(2006) (Shown on DVD): Will Ferrell, Drew Barrymore, David Cross and Dick Van Dyke lend their voices to this take on the Margret and H.A. Rey books. I've been told that like its source, the movie's not even a little appropriate for anyone over the age of 4. (Not reviewed.) Sat., Dec. 1, 11am.

Daydream Nation
(Shown on video): Not a filmic adaptation of the classic Sonic Youth album, but a collection of 18 animated shorts from Sweden. Apparently the country 's no longer lorded over culturally by August Strindberg and Ingmar Bergman; the night's description promises the wares "range from the whimsically surreal to the darkly perverse--and everywhere in between." Wed., Dec. 5, 7pm.

County Theater
$4.50-$8.50. 20 E. State St., Doylestown. 215.345.6789. www.countytheater.com

The Dark Crystal
(1982) (Shown on DVD): At the top of his game and given carte blanche, Jim Henson nurtured his dark side with this immersive all-puppet fantasy about the battle between the cute big-eared Gelflings and the ugly, scary Skeksis. Featuring sights like disembodied eyeballs and one death-by-sudden-decay, it 's the kind of kiddie fare no one would greenlight today, but someone should. B Sat., Dec. 1, 11am.

International House
$5-$7, unless otherwise noted. 3701 Chestnut St. 215.387.5125. www.ihousephilly.org

Two Films by Peter Greenaway
See A-List, p. 32.

The Draughtsman's Contract
(1982) (Shown on film): Peter Greenaway (The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover) crossed over from avant-garde to mainstream with this surprise arthouse hit, which combined inscrutable, elaborate puzzles with 17th-century period detail and acidic wit. The first of the director's many smug, pompous protagonists, Anthony Higgins plays an artist enlisted by wealthy lady Janet Suzman to produce a series of landscape drawings of her husband's estate; part of his pay includes "the unrestricted freedom of her most intimate hospitality." The first half chugs by on witty banter--all the better to keep you distracted from a murder that may have happened right under your nose. Tempting as it is to watch it again right away for more clues, one viewing is enough to appreciate Greenaway's static frames and Michael Nyman's infectious neo-baroque score. A- Thurs., Nov. 29, 7pm.

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