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As we collected information for this week\u2019s Calendar<\/strong>, we felt underwhelmed by the new offerings opening in MICRO-FILM Country<\/strong>. Our companion \u201cFlickers of the Week<\/strong>\u201d segment will therefore give props to slightly older entertainments we believe will be worth your while! If you happened to miss the controversial Spike Lee<\/strong> joint CHI-RAQ<\/strong> or the handsomely staged MACBETH<\/strong> during their back-to-back bookings at the Art Theater Co-op<\/strong> in December, fresh chances await you to take in these adaptations of famous playwrights from centuries ago. Directed by Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel<\/strong> and starring the equally great Michael Fassbender<\/strong> and Marion Cotillard<\/strong>, MACBETH<\/strong> interprets with cinematic verve the legendary tragedy by William Shakespeare<\/strong> about the cursed efforts of a victorious general and his ambitious wife to gain the throne of Scotland<\/strong> for themselves; it plays the Normal Theater, 209 North St., Normal<\/strong>, at 7 p.m.<\/strong> later tonight, Saturday, January 30<\/strong>, and tomorrow night, Sunday, January 31<\/strong>, where its production values and sweep can be appreciated in full before the Radius-TWC<\/strong> release is relegated to a streaming afterlife through Amazon Prime<\/strong><\/a><\/span>. Moving from a timeless lesson in greed to a timely reflection of cultural unease in the United States<\/strong>, sister company Amazon Studios<\/strong> produced as their first big-screen foray CHI-RAQ<\/strong>, directed by Lee from a screenplay he wrote with Kevin Willmott<\/strong> that radically updates the Greek \u201cwar comedy\u201d Lysistrada<\/strong><\/span> by Aristophanes<\/strong><\/a><\/span>. In this rambunctious iteration featuring Teyonah Parris<\/strong> as a sleek and modernized Lysistrada, the women living in Chicago<\/strong>\u2019s South Side band together and launch a \u201csex strike\u201d against men in a valiant attempt to curb gang violence and heal African-American neighborhoods. CHI-RAQ<\/strong> has moved through the distribution pipeline amazingly fast, from a too-brief theatrical launch via Roadside Attractions<\/strong> to its addition on Amazon Instant Video<\/strong><\/a><\/span> at year\u2019s end to a DVD\/Blu-ray berth courtesy Lionsgate<\/strong> this past Tuesday, January 26. Family Video<\/strong> now stocks the disc for rental if you still rely on physical media for your movie viewing at home.<\/p>\n ~ Jason Pankoke<\/p>\n p.s.<\/em> If we had filed our recommendations earlier, we might have instead sung praises for the Normal Theater\u2019s Thursday night presentation of THRONE OF BLOOD<\/strong> (1957), the famous Macbeth<\/strong><\/span> retelling set in medieval Japan<\/strong>. How often in this day and age does one get to bask in the awesomeness of Akira Kurosawa<\/strong> filmmaking mastery or Toshiro Mifune<\/strong> acting prowess with an audience and outside a cinema studies class? Behold the black-and-white majesty of KUMONOSU-J\u00d4<\/strong> (SPIDER\u2019S WEB CASTLE<\/strong>) in a vintage Toho Co.<\/strong> trailer shared on-line by Criterion Dungeon<\/a><\/strong><\/span> as well as the beautifully vivid gallery one can amass with a simple Google Image<\/strong> search<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n p.s.2<\/em> Interested in picking and pontificating over the \u201cFlicker of the Week<\/strong>\u201d for the C-U community? Write us at cuconfidential [at] gmail [dot] com<\/strong>!<\/p>\n [Updated 1\/30\/16, 8:30 p.m. CST]<\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n