Wednesday Night Movies

LCD Soundsystem was one of the best bands to emerge from the messy landscape of early millennial post-electroclash dance-punk—which sounds like damning with faint praise par excellence, but they excelled at keeping booties shaking while affecting that jaded bohemian je ne sais quoi that keeps hipsters and critics salivating. I can’t stop seeming like I’m making fun of them—perhaps it’s their refined irony rubbing off on me—but they were a great band, and they quit while they were ahead (though some have cynically suggested that they’re merely laying the groundwork for a reunion tour cash-in).

At any rate, the band and its final show are the subject of a documentary, LCD Soundsystem: Shut Up and Play the Hits. It screens for one night only in Montreal tonight, Wednesday July 18, at the Phi Centre, the new arts space from the fine folks who brought us DHC/Art, at 407 St-Pierre, 8 p.m., $12.

Despite suffering some harsh Harperian budget cuts, the Cinémathèque Québécoise has been going strong this summer with a solid slate of programming. And notwithstanding their high-culture airs, they offer one of the most budget-friendly movie tickets in town (Dollar Cinema notwithstanding), with admission fees of $8, $7 for students. Their retrospective of Czech animation master Jan Svankmajer wraps up this week just ahead of Fantasia. Catch his latest, 2010’s Surviving Life (Theory and Practice) tonight, and his 1988 masterpiece Alice on Thursday July 19, both at 6:30 p.m. ■