Ty's movie picks for Friday, March 21

Lots of interesting movie stuff going on throughout the greater Boston area this weekend, but first I'd like to offer early birthday wishes to Mladen Sekulovich, who turns 96 tomorrow. You know him as Karl Malden. 96! Way to go, fighting waterfront priest! Too many of my posts this week have been about dead people; tomorrow night, let us raise a glass to the character actors who survive.

On the other hand, I'm late off the dime in alerting you to the 10th Boston Underground Film Festival, which started at the Brattle last night with a screening of "The Wizard of Gore," a brand new remake of the venerable 1970 grindhouse classic (don't worry, it plays again today at 2:30; if you hurry, you'll just make it.) Other good stuff plays throughout the weekend.

Over at the Harvard Film Archive, the celebration of the career of legendary Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira continues. Oliveira turns 100 this year; he directed his most recent film, "Christopher Columbus, or, The Enigma" (it plays the HFA on Wednesday) last year. Kind of makes Karl Malden look like a pimply teenager.

At the MFA over the weekend is "The Duchess of Langeais, which lovers of director Jacques Rivette and slow, exquisite French movies will flip for; others, not so much. On Saturday, there's a very fine documentary about the legacy of AIDS in Africa: "Today the Hawk Takes One Chick". It'll be followed by a panel discussion with Cambridge-based filmmakers Jane Gillooly and Robert Gardner (whose 1986 classic "Forest of Bliss" will screen earlier in the day), part of an intriguing series on Boston area documentaries sponsored by the LEF Foundation.

On to lesser stuff: New movies in theaters today. It's the middle of March, so don't get your hopes up. On the other hand, if you have a kid and want to sample something truly different from the hogswallop the studios usually serve, you really need to check out "CJ7," the latest highly entertaining weirdness from Steven Chow, the man who gave you "Kung Fu Hustle" and "Shaolin Soccer."

Otherwise, "Drillbit Taylor" is a disappointment coming from the Judd Apatow factory (I hear much better things about the upcoming "Forgetting Sarah Marshall"). Wesley finds much to not like about David Gordon Green's "Snow Angels," although, to be fair, some of the reviews have been through the roof, so if you like the "George Washington" director's work, you should probably give the new one a look.

"Military Intelligence and You!" at the Kendall? Great idea all dressed up with no place to go.