Film

THE Charles kicks off a noon time Saturday film series tomorrow with the awesomely beautiful South. In 1914, the British explorer Ernest Shackleton, determined to be the first to cross Antarctica, led H.M.S. Endurance into frozen seas that stymied the ship's progress and then crushed it in shifting ice. A cinematographer named Frank Hurley was part of the crew, and he shot this 80-minute documentary. The film doesn't tell a tidy narrative: How could it? Hurley and the rest were stuck for eight months and adrift for five; he also didn't accompany Shackleton on the rescue mission the leader and five others undertook in a small boat on the open sea. But South gives us visceral images unlike any other movie: The camera glides with the prow of the Endurance as it hovers over ice-encrusted water, and the frozen vessel glitters against the night in stark, haunting relief.

"Titanic" is being re-released in 3-D this week. So we asked: Which older film would you love to see again on the big screen? "Raging Bull. "Scorsese and De Niro at their best. De Niro blood in 3-D? Luke Broadwater, reporter, The Baltimore Sun The obvious choice is "Ghostbusters," but for the hell of it, I'm also going to go with "Kentucky Fried Movie. " It's so absurd, so inappropriate and so funny. Stokely Baksh, community coordinator, The Baltimore Sun No brainer: "The Adventures of Milo and Otis.

Current plans call for the movie version of the Broadway hit Hair- spray to be filmed in both Baltimore and Toronto, an executive with New Line Cinema confirmed yesterday. "It is our intention to shoot in Baltimore and Toronto," said Mark Kaufman, an executive vice president with New Line. "It could be a day in Baltimore, it could be a week in Baltimore. ... That has been our intention from the start." He said details of the film's budget, which will dictate where Hairspray will be shot, are being worked out. Open auditions for several roles in the film will be held nationwide beginning next month in Atlanta.

Over the course of four decades in journalism, I have seen perhaps a dozen news stories that I covered turned into what are called "docudramas" -- re-enacted film versions of actual events. Since these undertakings represent an odd blend of journalism, history and creative writing, I always await the result with much trepidation. I have found some of the "docudramas" to be factually faithful; others can only be called a deliberate distortion of history. But none has ever more skillfully captured the essence and ambience of the story than a film which has just opened at movie theaters across the country, called "The Long Walk Home."

Films about a housewarming party at which a guest reveals his personal relationship with the abominable snowman, and a hyper-kinetic Hong Kong contract killer start John Hopkins Film Fest 2001 tonight at the Charles. The four-day festival, which moves to the Hopkins campus tomorrow, will include more than 125 feature-length films and shorts, from Darren Aronofsky's "Requiem for a Dream" to works from little-known local filmmakers. It all starts tonight at 8 with Scott Barlow's "The Last Late Night," about a dinner party that takes unforeseen turns, and a pair of shorts: "Seraglio," a tale of adultery and cabbage, and "The Hook-Armed Man," in which Jesus works at a gas station.

The great Ray Charles stars as himself in 1964's Blues for Lovers, spending half his time singing, the other half helping a sightless boy get to Paris for an operation. The movie, being shown at 7 p.m. Wednesday as part of the summer film series at An die Musik, 409 N. Charles St., was directed by Paul Henreid, best known for playing Victor Laszlo in Casablanca. The program includes some appearances by Charles on The Dick Cavett Show. Tickets are $8. Information: 410-385-2638 or andiemusiklive.

Last week, I wrote about HBO's "Game Change" right after screening the two-hour film about the 2008 presidential campaign of John McCain and Sarah Palin. You can read it here . I described the film as "so political in so many good ways," and predicted it would be one of the most important cultural movies of the year if it generated the the kind of discussion and debate about Palin, the campaign, media, politics and history that I thought would. The film does not premiere until March 10, but that debate has already started in earnest, especially with those on the right attacking the film without having seen it -- often in the most ideological and uninformed ways.

The AFI Silver celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day each year with free screenings of "King: A Filmed Record … Montgomery to Memphis. " It's never been more pertinent. This year, at this moment, it provides a tonic for the soul. The movie delivers nuance and power simultaneously. Its central message is shaming, inspiring and stunning, all at once. When the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. urges his supporters to fight "physical force" with "soul force," his eloquence and tempered zeal can still bring you to your feet.

The Maryland Historical Society's "Filming Maryland" exhibit, closes this weekend with a free showing of Barry Levinson's "Avalon" at the Senator Theatre. Released in 1990, "Avalon" was the third of Levinson's films shot in his native Baltimore (it was preceded by "Diner" and "Tin Men" and followed by "Liberty Heights"). The film spans 50 years, telling the story of a Russian-Jewish immigrant family who settled in Baltimore around the turn of the century. They arrive on the Fourth of July, in one of the film's most spectacular scenes.

Wim Wenders, the critically acclaimed German director of "Wings of Desire" and "Paris, Texas," will introduce his new film, "Faraway, So Close," at the Senator Theatre at 7:30 tonight.Mr. Wenders will also answer questions after the screening, the film's Maryland debut."Faraway, So Close," which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival, is the sequel to 1987's "Wings of Desire," which Mr. Wenders wrote in collaboration with German poet Peter Handke.Mr. Wenders "is one of the most cerebral of contemporary directors," says Senator owner Tom Kiefaber, who points to "his inspired choice of subject matter and the talented team of professionals he has assembled for his productions."