Rialto Pictures’ 50th-anniversary release of “Breathless,” the landmark film of the French New Wave, in a gorgeous 35mm restoration with much-improved English subtitles, still bears its creator’s fingerprints. This innovative and influential film has aged well; its scenes have a present-tense immediacy. Godard brought to the screen the jagged, intuitive temperament of youth in a way that nobody else had ever done before. He expressed the terror and mystery of being young and isolated in a big city, even one as “romantic” as Paris.

Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg in "Breathless" Credit: Rialto Pictures

Michel Poiccard/Laszlo Kovacs (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a young criminal on the run from the police, after stealing a car and killing a cop. He has an affair with a beautiful young American, Patricia (Jean Seberg), an aspiring journalist who sells the New York Herald Tribune in the middle of the Champs Élysées. Patricia helps Michel to dodge the police, while they steal cars together in order to raise money for a trip to Rome.

Source: Rialto Cinemas

It runs for a week, starting Friday 7/23 through 7/29.  Showtimes for weekdays are 4:00, 7:00 & 9:20. On Sat & Sun, it shows also at 1:30 p.m.

Please see Rialto Cinemas for more details.

Steven Spielberg scared swimmers out of the water 35 years ago with a tale of a 25-foot great white shark. “Jaws” remains one of the most frightening movies of all time – especially when seen on a big screen!

Unlike many shockers that have been filmed since, this is a beautifully made movie, well-shot, with realistic characters and – dare I say it? – a degree of subtlety! Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss excel.

“This tale of terror is also a classic adventure saga, ingeniously mounted to evoke our primeval fears,” wrote John Stanley of Creature Features.

See it and scream!

The folks at Rialto Cinemas have selected the classics with help from members of Friends of the Cerrito Theater. We cordially invite everyone to join us for a terrifying evening! Settle back – if you can! — with a meal, beer or wine or a soft drink and enjoy! And enjoy a trivia contest and prizes before the movie.

Thursday, July 8, 9:15 p.m. All seats, $7. Please note the change in time: “Jaws” plays at 9:15!

Next up at the Cerrito Classics, Alfred Hitchcock’s “To Catch a Thief,” August 12.

Speaking of monumental movie anniversaries, Berkeley is part of a worldwide celebration of the 50th anniversary of the movie that defined the FrenchNew Wave, Jean Luc-Godard’s “Breathless.”

The Elmwood in Berkeley, the Cerrito’s sister theater, is one of a small number of theaters in the U.S. chosen to show a 35mm restored copy, with improved subtitles, honoring the 50th anniversary of “Breathless.”

“Breathless” will show July 30 to August 5. Please check the website for movie times: www.rialtocinemas.com.

Also coming up in July, the Cerrito will host the latest production of the National Theatre Live, “London Assurance,”  set in the courts and country halls of 19th century England.  Featuring Dickensian characters and Shakespearean disguises, the twists and turns will keep you laughing out loud.

“London Assurance” plays Monday, July 19th and Wednesday, July 21 at 7 p.m. Order tickets online at www.rialtocinermas.com, or call TIX (800) 595-4849.

Judy Holliday, perhaps the cinema’s greatest “ditzy blonde,” stars in June’s Cerrito Classic presentation, “Born Yesterday.” The 1950 film by George Cukor, one of Hollywood’s top Golden Age directors (“Dinner at Eight,” “A Star is Born”), stars Broderick Crawford as a rough-hewn businessman who hires the nerdy (in this role, at least) William Holden to teach his blonde bombshell girlfriend how to behave in society. How do you imagine she behaves with her attractive tutor?

The folks at Rialto Cinemas have selected the classics with help from members of Friends. We cordially invite everyone to join us for a delightful evening! Settle back with a meal, beer or wine or a soft drink and enjoy!

Thursday, June 10, 7:15 p.m. All seats, $7.

Next up at the Classics: Steven Spielberg’s famous fish story “Jaws,” with Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and one really mean fish. Catch it Thursday, July 18

And don’t miss The Cerrito’s almost-live-from London play:
Dion Boucicault’s 1841 classic, “London Assurance,” a production that has won raves from critics in Great Britain. Simon Russell Beale and Fiona Shaw star in this delightful comedy about love, country life, and fox hunting. “The whole show is a joy from start to finish,” the Daily Telegraph wrote. This National Theater production is shown via video feed. Adults $22, seniors (60+) $20, children (12 and under) $15. Monday, July 19 and Wednesday, July 21 at 7 p.m. Get tickets in advance at the theater or its website: www.rialtocinemas.com.

“Chinatown,” the classic neo-film noir about Los Angeles, the rape of the desert and nefarious real estate schemes, will entertain fans of classic cinema as the second presentation this year of Cerrito Classics.

The Classics are presented by Rialto Cinemas in conjunction with Friends of the Cerrito Theater.

Jack Nicholson stars in this taut 1974 drama, which was directed by Roman Polanski. It features Faye Dunaway and the master of film noir himself, John Huston, director of “The Maltese Falcon.”

Please join your friends in enjoying this great film on the big screen!

“Chinatown” will be shown at 7:15 p.m. Thursday May 13. $7 – a bargain!

For tickets, visit www.rialtocinemas.com.

“The Triplets of Bellevile,” a hilarious animated film from France about a heroic young bicyclist, the mob, the indefatigable Madame de Souza, and a trio of famed jazz musicians, will be shown during the first-ever Bike-in Movie shown at the Rialto Cinemas Cerrito.

Don’t miss this fabulous event, which will serve as the lead-in to Bike to Work Day, which follows the next day. Free valet parking will be provided for all bikes!

“Triplets of Belleville” will be shown at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday May 12. $9.50 with $2 discounts for students, seniors and children.

The film is rated PG for, among other things, sensuality and crude humor. Oh my!

Celebrate Cycling in El Cerrito! And compete for fun prizes!

For tickets, visit www.rialtocinemas.com.

Flyer for distribution. Please help spread the word!

The Rialto Cerrito Cinemas will host two special community events this coming weekend.

On Saturday, April 17, “Loma Prieta Revisited” will be screened at 11 a.m. The half-hour film was produced by the local community broadcaster KCRT in cooperation with the El Cerrito Fire Department. The event will also feature local people talking about their experiences during the 1989 quake, and will provide filmgoers a chance to learn more about El Cerrito’s CERT program – Community Emergency Response team. Come, enjoy, learn, participate – and maybe win an emergency kit or another prize. Admission is free!

On Sunday, April 18, at noon, a special program will benefit El Cerrito’s Harding Elementary School. “Enchanted,” with Amy Adams and James Marsden, mixes fantasy with reality, an animated evil queen and the gritty streets of New York, in a delightful PG-rated film

Later on:

And don’t forget the next National Theater Live presentation – “The Habit of Art” by playwright Alan Bennett, Monday, May 3 and Wednesday, May 5, at 7:30 p.m. This is a broadcast of live theater from one of London’s great theaters. The characters in this drama are composer Benjamin Britten and poet W. H. Auden. Buy tickets in advance to avoid disappointment! Adults $22, Seniors (60+) $20, Children (12 and under) $15. Visit the website, www.rialtocinemas.com.

Friends of the Cerrito Theater is thrilled that classic films will again be shown at our classic Art Deco movie theater.

Rialto Cinemas Cerrito plans a monthly series of classic films. They will be shown the second Thursday of every month – for the bargain price of only $7!

The folks at Rialto Cinemas selected the classics with help from members of Friends. We cordially invite everyone to join us for a series of delightful evenings, which will feature prizes and special events. Settle back with a meal, beer or wine or a soft drink and enjoy!

First up – “Diva,” which, the New York Times says is “like something beamed down from the planet of cool!” This 1981 French film, directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix, involves motorcycle messengers, mysterious opera stars, cops and racketeers – and features a legendary chase scene through Paris. “Every shot seems designed to delight the audience,” wrote critic Pauline Kael, who wasn’t easily delighted. The Village Voice called it “aA brash, snazzy thriller.” And Newsweek weighed in with: “Sensual, funny, outlandish, this is a movie devoted strictly to the pleasure principle.”

Thursday, April 8, 7:15 p.m. All seats, $7.

Next up: An old favorite, a movie that deserves to be seen on the big screen: Roman Polanski’s “Chinatown,” with Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway. Catch it Thursday, May 13.

To get film news directly from Rialto, sign up for their weekly newsletter.

Starting April 8th Rialto Cinemas Cerrito and the Friends of the Cerrito Theater are thrilled to announce the return of Cerrito Classics! Cerrito Classics is a monthly series of presentations of film classics on the big screen the way they were meant to be seen! Join us the second Thursday of each month to revisit these great movies! All seats $7! Join us for each month for classic movies, trivia and prizes!

The classics kick off with Diva, the genre shattering, art house sensation, re-released on 35mm. This film single-handedly launched the cinéma du look, an explosion of visually stunning, punk-inspired, super- cool French movies in the early 80s.

In this exhilarating modern noir, Jules (Frederic Andrei) is a motorbike messenger who is infatuated with the glorious voice of opera singer Cynthia (Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez), and surreptitiously tapes her. Because Cynthia has never allowed her voice to be recorded, shadowy agents of a Taiwanese record company seek his bootlegged tape. It also gets confused with yet another tape, this one with incriminating evidence about a high-ranking police official. Fortunately for Jules, he joins forces with a sassy young Vietnamese girl and a mysterious Zen philosopher, Gorodish (Richard Bohringer). Many dazzling plot complications ensue, along with one of cinema’s best chase scenes, in and around the Paris Metro system.

Look for Roman Polanski’s Chinatown starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway on Thursday, May 13th. June’s classic is the comedy Born Yesterday, in July we’ll feature Jaws, August brings To Catch a Thief, September is Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Setting the mood for Halloween October’s feature will be Rosemary’s Baby followed by a newly restored print of The Red Shoes in November and White Christmas in December.

Don’t forget: the second Thursday of each month all seats $7. Be sure to arrive early and plan to watch and dine. Nothing goes better with classic films than a wonderful meal, beer and wine!

For the Cerrito Classics ticket prices are– $7.00 for all seat. The Box Office is open daily from 15 minutes before the first feature begins until 15 minutes after the last feature has begun.

Rialto Cinemas Cerrito, located at 10070 San Pablo Avenue at Central in El Cerrito, opened as Rialto Cinemas Cerrito in July 2009 and presents first run films AND serves traditional movie concession items as well as meals, beer and wine. The Showtime hotline is (510) 273- 9102 and the website is www.rialtocinemas.com

CONTACT: Melissa Hatheway, 707-539-9771, mhatheway@rialtocinemas.com

Rialto Cinemas Cerrito will broadcast the Academy Awards gala. What better way to root for your favorite star than in the historic Cerrito Theater?

The event will be Sunday, March 7. Doors open at 4 – and you are encouraged to dress to the nines or come in costume.

The Rialto promises contests, prizes, a red carpet – and of course, paparazzi. Your host will be Mary Jane Lawless – and the audience itself will be part of the show.

And remember – the theater now sells both beer and wine to go with its many dining options.

Seating is general admission, with tickets costing $20. Visit the box office or buy them online at www.rialtocinemas.com.

See you at the movies!