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A chorus of senior citizens singing the Sonic Youth/Clash/Ramones songbook sounds like a recipe for obnoxious cutesiness, but the subjects of Stephen Walker’s moving 2007 documentary resist the director’s attempts to patronize them as lovable geezers. They’re stubborn, irritable and frail, and they bring a life experience to the callow lyrics of the punk/funk/indie-rock hits they warble that transforms the songs utterly—as when an 80-year-old stalwart named Fred Knittle turns Coldplay’s “Fix You” into an anguished plaint for a fallen friend. If you missed the movie, one of the biggest documentary hits of recent years, during its theatrical run, don’t wait for the promised fiction remake: see it free as part of ITVS’s “Community Cinema” project in conjunction with NPT-Channel 8 and the excellent PBS series Independent Lens. A reception at 2:30 p.m. precedes the screening.
Sat., Dec. 12, 2:30 p.m., 2009
Sat., Dec. 12, 2:30 p.m., 2009
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