Cinematheque Ontario's spring season begins this Friday and the lineup for the next 7 weeks promises a collection of movies that range from tear-inducing beautiful to ruthlessly violent - sometimes both in the same film.

Two of my all-time favourite directors will be featured in retrospectives, the first being the man with the squibs, Sam Peckinpah. "Bloody" Sam's finest works are honored this month with the visceral delights including Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, Straw Dogs, Major Dundee, and the grandfather of modern slow-mo action, The Wild Bunch.

It's a two-feasts-in-one spring as a Werner Herzog perspective closes out the season. The prospect of seeing the ghastly beauty of Aguirre, The Wrath of God or the calamitous Fitzcarraldo on the big screen once again is thrill enough, but the cherry on the sundae is being given the rare opportunity to attend an on-stage interview with Herzog in person on May 6. An argument could be made for Herzog as the greatest living director so getting to see and hear him in Toronto is one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.

Excited? Wait, there's more! The Cinematheque keeps piling the treasures onto this heap of cinema loot with a third retrospective of the films of the Dardennes brothers which includes their most recent Palm d'Or winning film,

L'Enfant which I've heard is similar to Bresson's masterpiece, Pickpocket (featured last year at the Cinematheque).

I'd be neglect if I signed off without mentioning that there will also be a limited screening of Days of Heaven on a brand new 35mm print. Quite possibly the most gorgeously lit film in all of cinema, director Terrance Malick shot the film almost entirely at "magic hour", that sliver of time at dusk and dawn when natural light is at its richest and most golden. It's a honeyed treat of a film.

All Cinematheque screenings are at Jackman Hall, 317 Dundas West.
Regular show prices are $7.25 for members, $11.50 for non-members.
Special screenings are at an additional cost.