What to watch this weekend: Friday, April 17

(appearing this weekend at The Brattle)

I'll make this quick because I have to go see "Crank High Voltage" this morning. Look, someone has to.

The womenfolk of America will be tromping off this weekend to see Zac Efron in "17 Again", and that's fine since he's really pretty and the movie has Leslie Mann and Thomas Lennon to keep it bearable for anyone whose hormones are firing at post-pubescent levels. Yes, it retreads a million other body-switch/young-again movies. Go watch Turner Classics, you old fossil.

Guys? And any women left over? I strongly suggest "Anvil! The Story of Anvil," which in the Boston area is playing at the Kendall Square. It's a real-life "This is Spinal Tap," about a heavy-metal band whose leaders (one of them named Robb Reiner -- you can't make this stuff up) are still hoping for fame to tap them on the shoulder in their 50s. Loud, pottymouthed, hilarious, and big-hearted as hell, the movie features my favorite line of the week: "Three words: We don't have good management." And, yes, there's a knob that goes to 11.

The other near-great film opening this weekend is "Goodbye Solo," also at the Kendall; it's the latest from Ramin Bahrani, is set in North Carolina, and follows the prickly friendship of a Senegalese cab driver (the irrepressible Souléymane Sy Savané) and a suicidal old cuss played by Red West (a key member of Elvis Presley's Memphis Mafia who here seems to channel the late Richard Farnsworth). Every time you think the movie's going to take a turn for the cute, it resists, and eventually rises to a starker, more mysterious place. Very much worth checking out.

Also at the Kendall, "Shall We Kiss?," a hot little French head-trip from writer-director-actor Emmanuel Mouret -- a fine choice for smart couples looking for a good date movie. Also, Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck star in "State of Play," a thriller that's also a love letter to the dying industry I call home. Wesley thinks it's okay, other critics are all over the map.

The Boston International Film Festival kicks off tonight at the AMC Loews Boston Common and runs until the 26th. As usual, it's a somewhat disorganized affair with a catch-as-catch-can collection of movies that probably won't see theatrical release later on. Which doesn't make them bad; it's simply hard to get a handle on the line-up from the festival's website. Tonight's opening night movie looks to be a goodie, though: the Boston-set crime drama (since that's all we seem to make these days) "What Doesn't Kill You," starring Ethan Hawke and Mark Ruffalo. Don't mix up this festival (which this year moves up from June) with the more ambitious Independent Film Festival of Boston starting next week. More movies and more festivals is always good for this town, but sowing moviegoer (and filmmaker) confusion doesn't help.

There's also classic noir at the Brattle (see above), and the Harvard Film Archive brings in Italian filmmakers Yervant Gianikian and Angela Ricci Lucchi to display some of their pointed political archival mixmastery.