Aspen's Wheeler sets January slate of films

ASPEN — The Wheeler Film Series has scheduled four movies for January at the Wheeler Opera House in Aspen.

The movie month opens Jan. 4-5 with “Ashes of Time Redux,” a re-edited version of Chinese director Kar Wai Wong’s 1992 drama about a swordsman seeking refuge in the desert.

“The Band Wagon,” Vincente Minnelli’s 1953 musical starring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse, will be screened Jan. 11, as part two of the “Genius of Fred Astaire” series. The film will be presented by Aspen musical historian Bob Klineman, and will be followed by a Q&A session with Klineman.

The French drama “A Christmas Tale,” starring Catherine Deneuve as the mother of an ailing family gathering for the holidays, is set for Jan. 19-20. The film, by Arnaud Desplechin (2004’s “Kings and Queens”), was nominated for the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival.

“The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” a World War II drama about a friendship between a Jewish boy in a Nazi concentration camp and the son of the camp’s commandant, has encore screenings Jan. 24-25. Vera Farmiga, who stars as a German mother, earned Best Actress honors at the British Independent Film Awards.

More films may be added to the January schedule. For updates, go to wheeleroperahouse.com.

All films in the series have evening screenings at 7:30 p.m. Films scheduled for Saturday and Sunday have additional 4:30 p.m. matinee presentations.