Spanish cinema who's who today at Instituto Cervantes (L-R): Antonio Pérez, Chus Gutiérrez, Ventura Pons, FSLC director Richard Peña, Fernando Lara; Montxo Armendariz and Manuel Martín Cuenca

Some of this weekend's worthwhile cinematic happenings around New York:

--The good news about Spanish Cinema Now is that it gets underway at Lincoln Center this weekend, matching more than a dozen contemporary Spanish films with a selection of classic Don Quixote adaptations. I thought the myth was that Quixote--which celebrates its 400th anniversary this year--was the ultimate cursed, unfilmable novel. Nevertheless, three of these versions seem to hang in there, while the floundering-Terry-Gilliam saga Lost in La Mancha reminds us that we tackle Cervantes at our own peril. (Speaking of peril, avoid Jess Franco's unwatchable edit of Orson Welles's doomed Don Quixote at all costs; the consequences are more acutely painful than the curiosity.)

So what is the bad news? I covered the press conference today, and everybody spoke Spanish! The nerve! At least the films are subtitled, and what films: Highlights include Montxo Armendariz's Oscar contender Obaba, Ventura Pons's beautifully acted Idiot Love and Miguel Courtois's thriller El Lobo. The odds of most of these films getting American distribution are not what you would call good, so do not miss the chance to check them out while you can.

--Film Forum begins its Essential Hitchcock series today--36 films over five weeks, including a rarely screened 3-D print of Dial M For Murder and the bizarre short film that passed for the Psycho trailer in 1960. But even better, if you ask me (at the end of the day, you can rent Vertigo) is Posteritati Gallery's classic Hitchcock poster exhibit, "Blondes, Blood and Blackmail." I mean, I am a Hitchcock freak, and I cannot summon the image of a single ONE of his posters besides Psycho. Posteritati fills in the blanks with one-sheets from 25 countries spanning the director's 50-year career. You have until March to pay a visit, but you might as well accompany a friend or loved one this weekend and scam a poster out of them for a holiday gift.

--Anthology Film Archives is celebrating its 35th year over the next few days, welcoming guest curators like Patti Smith, Peter Bogdanovich and Christine Vachon while boasting a curiously strange sponsorship from Altoids. Yes, Altoids. My head hurts trying to reconcile AFA with any patron but Jonas Mekas, but I am not here to judge--only to make suggestions. And I absolutely suggest getting your ass down there tonight for drinks with Bogdanovich and tomorrow for Smith's screening of Au Hasard Balthazar. Vachon, meanwhile, goes back to countercultural basics with a double-bill of Pull My Daisy and Flaming Creatures. Happy birthday to all.