The best movie screenings in Chicago in May

Both Interstellar and Gravity took us out of this world, but the reputation of Stanley Kubrick’s classic is safe. It’s not that 2001: A Space Odyssey doesn’t look dated—it does, a bit—but it remains as intelligent and provocative as ever, bearing years of conceptual dreaming. Until today’s equivalent of novelist Arthur C. Clarke commits a hefty chunk of time to envisioning the beginning of human civilization, as well as the far future, there will be no new film to supplant it. The Music Box marks the film’s 50th anniversary with a brand-new 70mm print struck from the original negative, promising bracingly sharp images and color.

Music Box Theatre. May 18–24 at various times; $14.

If La La Land left you in the mood for a real classic Hollywood musical, you’re in luck. Perhaps the pinnacle of the MGM golden era of screen musicals, this infectious delight follows Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Conner as silent-film troupers making the (finely choreographed) leap to talkies. With a script by Broadway wizards Betty Comden and Adolph Green and numbers like “Make ’Em Laugh,” “Good Morning” and the title tune featuring Kelly tap-dancing through a downpour, resistance is futile.

Logan Theatre. May 15–17 at 10:30pm; $9.

A noirishly cynical look back at “old Hollywood” from the not-so-far-removed perspective of 1950, Billy Wilder’s dark tale of an aging silent film queen and an opportunistic young screenwriter was born ready for its close-up. The pictures may have gotten smaller, but Gloria Swanson’s Norma Desmond returns to the big screen this month via TCM and Fathom Events’ multiplex series.

Various theaters. May 13 and 16 at 2, 7pm. Prices vary.

A pre-Mayberry Andy Griffith plays against his later type in Elia Kazan’s 1957 satire. Griffith embodies Lonesome Rhodes, a folksy philosophizer who goes from small-town drunk to television star to dangerously influential political voice. The messages in Kazan and writer Budd Schulberg’s telling can’t be accused of subtlety, but the cautionary tale about mixing marketing, populism and politics feels weirdly relevant.

Doc Films. May 9 at 7, 9:30pm; $5.

Alfonso Cuarón’s three-way drama broke box-office records in Mexico and was a huge crossover hit here in 2001; it’s also one of the best Jean-Luc Godard films Godard never made. Two 17-year-old horndogs (Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna) embark on a road trip to the Boca del Cielo beach. When they’re joined by an older woman, innocence, friendship and sexuality collide. Genius.

Doc Films. May 17 at 7pm. $5.