The lines will be long for the new 007 flick, and holiday movie season begins on Thanksgiving. If you want a worthy, balanced, and thoroughly international respite from multiplex gridlock, check out the Zeitgeist: The Films of Our Times retrospective (through Nov. 26). It begins tonight with a winsome young Catherine Deneuve singing in the 1964 musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, always a treat. Among the stars in a dozen other features (plus a package of shorts) are Maggie Cheung, Tilda Swinton, and Noam Chomsky (OK, arthouse stars). Other titles originally released by New York distributor Zeitgeist are the wonderful ballet documentary Ballets Russes, Todd Haynes breakthrough Poison, and Guy Maddins retro comedy Careful (accompanied by his equally genius short The Heart of the World, also filmed like a silent movie). And when the series is done, you can make a date with Daniel Craig to avoid your family and recover from turkey bloat. Hell be waiting. SIFF Cinema, 321 Mercer St. (McCaw Hall), 448-2186, www.siff.net. $75$95 series, $8$10 individual. 7:30 p.m.
BRIAN MILLER
Nov. 14-26, 2008
