At the beach and under the stars, outdoor movies reign

Outdoor movies continue in full force this week. Take your pick from "Back to the Future" (Everett Cinema Under the Stars, 425-257-7101, www.everettwa.org) or "Hairspray" (Kirkland Outdoor Movies at the Beach, www.ci.kirkland.wa.us) tonight; "Ghostbusters" (Fremont Outdoor Movies, 206-781-4230, www.fremontoutdoormovies.com), "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (West Seattle Sidewalk Cinema, 207-276-8001, www.sidewalkcinema.com) or "Hairspray" (Carillon Point Outdoor Movie Nights, 425-822-1700, www.carillon-point.com) Saturday night; or "Raising Arizona" (Movies on the Pedestal at Rainier Square, 206-628-5050, www.moviesonthepedestal.com) or "Ace Ventura" (Redhook Moonlight Cinema, 425-483-3232, www.myspace.com/redhookalebrewery) Thursday night.

Note that both "Hairspray" screenings are the 2007 musical version, not the 1988 John Waters original. For more information on these and other outdoor screenings, see www.seattletimes.com and search for "outdoor movies."

"Last Year at Marienbad," Alain Resnais' enigmatic 1961 French drama set in an elegant hotel with a couple who may — perhaps — have met before, plays this week at SIFF Cinema in a new 35-mm print. Alain Robbe-Grillet received an Oscar nomination for the film's much-discussed, surreal screenplay. It screens at 8 p.m. through Thursday, with 2 p.m. matinees Saturday and Sunday. McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St., Seattle; 206-633-7151 or www.siff.net.

Lots going on at Northwest Film Forum this week: Tonight and Saturday bring "A Slice of Blood and Honey: Experimental Cinema From Macedonia," an evening of short films, video art and full-length documentaries brought to Seattle as part of a CEC ArtsLink grant supporting cultural exchanges between the U.S. and Eastern Europe. Hayao Miyazaki's enchanting family film "My Neighbor Totoro" screens Tuesday and Wednesday night as part of the "Dream Screen: Three by Miyazaki" series. And the "Hal Ashby's Commingling Seventies" series continues with a Tuesday/Wednesday run of the 1975 comedy "Shampoo," starring a young and very well-coifed Warren Beatty as a playboy hairdresser. All events take place at NWFF, 1515 12th Ave., Seattle; 206-267-5380 or www.nwfilmforum.org.

The Grand Illusion kicks off a two-week Charlton Heston miniseries with the 1968 sci-fi favorite "Planet of the Apes," screening in a new CinemaScope print. It runs nightly through Thursday at 1403 N.E. 50th St., Seattle; 206-523-3935 or www.grandillusioncinema.org.

And finally, the 1986 sequel "Aliens," with Sigourney Weaver returning as intrepid astronaut Ripley, is the midnight movie at the Egyptian tonight and Saturday. 805 E. Pine St., Seattle; 206-781-5755 or www.landmarktheatres.com.

Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com