Friday

Takashi Miike's bloody, brilliant samurai saga 13 Assassins makes its way back to the Westside for a run at the Santa Monica 4-Plex.

Sunday

Another can't-miss event at Echo Park Film Center: The latest installment in its essential Film Journeys series features Argentine director Celina Murga's A Week Alone (8 p.m.). The most obvious point of comparison for Murga's film is the work of compatriot Lucretia Martel: Both share a talent for teasing out the political resonance of a situation without sacrificing the psychological depth of their characters.

Tuesday

On Tuesday and Wednesday the New Beverly Cinema screens Apichatpong “Joe” Weerasethakul's two best features to date, Tropical Malady and Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. Though each film is more than fascinating enough on its own, the chance to take in the various evolutions and alterations in Joe's style (from bifurcated to discursive narrative, 35mm to 16mm film stock, exteriors to liminal spaces), as well as the consistencies (the role of Tong played by actor Sakda Kaewbuadee in both films, a poker-faced acceptance of the fantastic or supernatural — at least by Western definitions), makes this one of the richest double bills of the year.

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