ongoing - Thurs. Nov. 29

 Whenever it's a particularly dark, dismal, rainy day, I generally mumble something about it being a "Blade Runner" day. Some people get it, many don't. "Blade Runner" - Ridley Scott's movie based on a Philip K. Dick's book "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" - was first in theaters a long time ago. It always rained in "Blade Runner." And it perfectly symbolized a dystopian world where humans and non-humans (replicants) were not so far apart, and violence was everywhere. It was a perfect companion piece for "The Road Warrior," and back in those VHS/VCR days I'd put them both on one tape, just for those kind of days when I wanted to wallow in two different nasty possible futures. Of course, I let a friend borrow it and that was that. Now, there have been various cuts of "Blade Runner" released over the years, and I haven't kept up. What's here now, closing a two-week run at the Coolidge Corner Theatre,  is "Blade Runner: The Final Cut," the movie as re-shaped by the director. Evidently, he both added and subtracted and came up with what he truly wanted. Look, we, too have mixed feelings about "director's cut" movies. Too often, we choose that as a DVD rental and only end up singing the praises of the studio for reigning in some monomaniacal director in the first place. In this case, I don't think so. Scott is one of our favorite directors. I was  on the phone recently talking to Reid Paley, a musician who played a show at the Middle East Nov. 10 , and he said he watched the new version more than a few times in New York. Loves it. Says it's the best "Blade Runner" ever. Paley, we must say, iknows when something is both dark and good. And somehow, we don't think Scott will have brightened up the future much. The past quarter-century hasn't exactly moved in a direction opposite the movie, if you catch my drift. Tickets: $9.75. At 2, 4:45 and 10:15. Some days there is a 7:30 show - check the website below.

290 Harvard St., Brookline, 617-734-2500 www.coolidge.org