Art & Science Festival screenings
An eclectic and imaginative range of screenings taking place across the city this week for the Art and Science Festival, undoubtedly our top pick is the head scrambling Timecrimes (see below) but other essential cinema includes an immersive screening of John Hughes’ classic coming of age drama The Breakfast Club, spoiled brats mucking about with death in (the original) Flatliners, curmudgeonly Swedish comedy A Man Called Ove and Flatpack begin the build up to their own unmissable festival in April with an evening of animated shorts.
Mon 12 Mar to Sun 18 Mar at various venues artsandsciencefestival.co.uk

Timecrimes (dir: Nacho Vigalondo, 2009, cert 15) + intro
Grappling with the concept of time travel has never been easy on the grey mush swilling around inside our skulls, what if you bumped into yourself? What if you bumped into yourself several times? Such is the fate of several Héctor’s in Nacho Vigalondo’s low budget high concept sci-fi thriller. Vigalondo ratchets up the tension to unbearable levels as one moment of curiosity spirals into murderous consequences. Part of the Art & Science Festival, the screening will be introduced by Dr Nikk Effingham, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Birmingham.
Tue 13 Mar 8pm  at The Electric, Station Street, Birmingham B5 4DY £10.50 www.theelectric.co.uk

Hard Ticket to Hawaii (dir: Andy Sidaris, 1987, cert 18) Trash Film Night
The pick (that’s not saying much) of Andy Sidaris’ series of Bullets, Bombs and Boobs movies, released in the late eighties and early nineties that starred a gaggle of Playboy Playmates and Penthouse Pets. Extreme violence, relentless explosions, one such event famously featuring a giant python, ridiculous plots, ample nudity and possibly the worst dialogue ever committed to film, “If brains were birdshit you’d have a clean cage.”  The usual Trash Film Night hosts Luke and David will be providing live commentary throughout. Part of the Art & Science Festival.
Thu 15 Mar 8.30pm  at The Electric, Station Street, Birmingham B5 4DY £8 www.theelectric.co.uk

Ingmar Bergman season
Often erroneously judged as just an arch miserabilist, and though there can be no denying the strata of Scandinavian pessimism that grounds much of his work, this is to ignore the delicate playfulness and humour that informs a lot of it. One of the greatest filmmakers to have ever lived and an absolute joy on the big screen. Three films this weekend beginning with probably Bergman’s most renown film The Seventh Seal in which Max Von Sydow’s weary knight challenges death to a game of chess, the enigmatically complex psychological drama Persona and Bergman’s rarely seen first English language film The Touch.
Fri 16 Mar to Sun 18 Mar at the mac, Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham B12 9QH £9 macbirmingham.co.uk

In Bruges (dir: Martin McDonagh, 2007, cert 18) + whisky tasting
Whilst McDonagh may be winning plaudits, and a best director Academy Award nomination, for Three Billboards, it was with his abrasive film debut In Bruges that the playwright established himself as a uniquely compelling filmmaker. The tale of two gangsters, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, hiding out in the titular Belgian city is a blackly comic riot of violence and industrial strength language that wrong foots the audience throughout. Screened in association with Jameson’s Whisky who will be serving taster shots at specific times during the film.
Sat 17 Mar 8pm at The Electric, Station Street, Birmingham B5 4DY £19.50 www.theelectric.co.uk

Wes Anderson marathon
With new film, the stop motion animated Isle of Dogs, due for release this month, prepare yourselves with an afternoon in the company of contemporary cinema’s most enigmatic director. Anderson’s visual flair and off kilter humour is a uniquely potent formula, with his films possessing a startling symmetry of vision matched with a fearlessly deadpan probe into the comedy of melancholy. Four films today beginning with The Royal Tenenbaums, through The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and Fantastic Mr Fox, with The Grand Budapest Hotel wrapping things up nicely.
Sun 18 Mar 12pm at The Mockingbird, Custard Factory, Gibb St, Birmingham B9 4AA £20 veezi.com

The Selfish Giant (dir: Clio Barnard, 2013, cert 15)
Based on Oscar Wilde’s short story, Barnard’s film imagines the beautiful garden of Wilde’s tale as a grim Northern wasteland of neglect in which Bradford boys Arbor and Swifty earn money by collecting and selling scrap metal. Inevitably compared with Ken Loach, Barnard’s vision is a peerless piece of social realism possessed of a powerfully honest voice. As in the original text tragedy is inevitable, but the journey there is an exhilarating tour de force in authentic cinema.
Sun 18 Mar 6.30pm at Cafe Ort, 500-504 Moseley Road, Balsall Heath, Birmingham, B12 9AH £5 www.meetup.com