The fall schedule at Cinematheque Ontario has me pretty excited for some great nights at the movies. Along with a full retrospective of the Japanese master Nagisa Oshima, they’re also playing a fair number of must-see movies for any film enthusiast, including Mean Streets, Bonjour tristesse and Céline et Julie vont en bateau.

I actually didn’t know much about Oshima prior to reading about him in the fall schedule but he sounds like a fascinating director, considered among some to be the greatest living Japanese filmmaker, and integral to the beginning of the Japanese New Wave. I saw one of his early movies, Cruel Story of Youth, on Friday night and it was quite impactful, with the same kinetic energy and rebellion of the films of the French New Wave, a comparison Oshima apparently doesn’t take kindly to. Apparently he strives to never make two movies in the same style, so I’m really looking forward to seeing how that plays out in some of the other films in the retrospective. The Cinematheque schedule offers top ten Oshima lists from a bunch of film scholars, including Martin Scorsese, in an attempt to help you choose which films to see, since there are quite a few in the series. I just read the write-up for each film and, based on my availability, chose a few that I knew I could make it to.

They’re also doing a series on the first 40 years of the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes. Although this selection features a lot of Canadian cinema, it’s the French films (and Mean Streets) that caught my attention right away, particularly, the screenings of Le Diable probablement and Céline et Julie vont en bateau. Any chance to see films by Robert Bresson or Jacques Rivette is not worth passing up, and I think these two films won’t disappoint. Also, if you’ve never seen Mean Streets before, the chance to see it on the big screen isn’t worth passing up. Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel give some of their rawest work, and that’s saying a lot.

I’ve broken with my tradition of buying two tickets to every screening I’m going to and inviting people along this time since there is such a wide range of films and I plan to go to many of them. Instead, I’ll offer the list of films I’m seeing here and if you read this and are interested in seeing any of them, let me know and I can try to get you a ticket. Some of these films will sell out early so the sooner the better.

• Death by Hanging / November 9, 2008 / 5:30pm
• The Man Who Left His Will On Film / November 10, 2008 / 7:00pm
• In the Realm of the Senses / November 15, 2008 / 9:00pm
• The Ceremony / November 17, 2008 / 7:00pm
• L’Enfant sauvage / November 28, 2008 / 7:00pm
• Diary of a Shinjuku Thief / November 29, 2008 / 7:00pm
• Le Diable probablement / December 3, 2008 / 8:45pm
• Gohatto / December 6, 2008 / 7:00pm
• Bonjour tristesse / December 7, 2008 / 1:00pm
• Céline et Julie vont en bateau / December 7, 2008 / 3:00pm

Bonjour tristesse is already in limited availability and it’s also part of a double feature afternoon I’m doing so if you want to get involved, better act fast.

If you’ve never been to the Cinematheque and/or just don’t think you’re into movies enough to check it out, I highly recommend you visit the website and take a look around. Every season they play tons of amazing movies that were meant to be seen on the big screen and it’s not just art house and foreign films, they include a lot of accessible programming.

And on top of everything else, it’s the cheapest movie you’ll see in a theatre this side of Harbourfront Centre.