a highly-opinionated selection of things happening around town, and sometimes out of town. this month's page here.

mon. may 31

duck you sucker, bring me the head of alfredo garcia @ new beverly theatre
tom carter @ echo curio
the like, the living sickness @ the echo
foot village @ pehrspace


tue. june 1

duck you sucker, bring me the head of alfredo garcia @ new beverly theatre
100 greatest looney tunes 8 PM @ silent movie theatre
guy and madeline on a park bench FREE @ melnitz movies @ ucla james bridges theater


wed. june 2

strangers on a train @ last remaining seats @ million dollar theatre
audacity @ alex's bar
socorro @ echo curio
school of seven bells @ the echo
rich fulcher 8 PM @ silent movie theatre
rebel without a cause, east of eden @ egyptian theatre


thu. june 3

dunes @ the smell
neon indian @ detroit bar
rich fulcher 8 PM @ silent movie theatre
a thousand clowns 8 PM @ echo park film center
bustin' down the door, standing room only @ aero theatre
winter's bone FREE @ melnitz movies @ ucla james bridges theater


fri. june 4

mia doi todd @ mccabe's
cobra, tango & cash, cliffhanger @ new beverly theatre
meho plaza @ pehrspace
neon indian @ first fridays @ natural history museum
rich fulcher 8 PM @ silent movie theatre
performance @ lacma
white of the eye 9:25 @ lacma
apocalypse now redux @ egyptian theatre
naked lunch, the new age @ aero theatre
rats, jarrett silberman @ human resources


sat. june 5

the living sickness @ mind machine @ bordello
the lost empire, chopping mall, demolition high @ new beverly theatre
mike watt @ the smell
screaming females, audacity @ spaceland
dunes @ nomad gallery
wild side @ lacma
demon seed 10 PM @ lacma
foxy brown, jackie brown @ egyptian theatre
casablanca @ cinespia @ hollywood forever
eternal sunshine of the spotless mind MIDNIGHT @ academy
culver city art walk, noon to 8


sun. june 6

bipolar bear, dunes @ the smell
screaming females, stoned at heart @ echo curio
by brakhage: a 16mm film screening @ spielberg theatre @ egyptian theatre


mon. june 7

double indemnity 7 PM @ ampas samuel goldwyn
slumber party massacre, sorority house massacre @ new beverly theatre
thao and mirah @ bootleg theatre
the wrong guy 8 PM @ comedy death ray @ silent movie theatre
eraserhead 9:30 @ downtown independent
sunset blvd 8 PM @ arclight hollywood


tue. june 8

best coast @ echoplex
the man from the diners' club 1:30 PM FREE @ skirball center
blow out, femme fatale @ new beverly theatre
chinatown @ arclight sherman oaks


wed. june 9

american graffiti @ last remaining seats @ orpheum theatre
revenge of the nerds, heavenly bodies @ new beverly theatre
fatty arbuckle shorts 8 PM, the cardboard lover @ silent movie theatre
baraka (70mm) @ egyptian theatre


thu. june 10

the loons @ the echo
wild grass @ lacma
bonnie and clyde, alice's restaurant @ aero theatre
san francisco exquisite corpse & intimate observations 8 PM @ echo park film center


fri. june 11

ed wood MIDNIGHT @ nuart
cries and whispers, interiors @ new beverly theatre
stunt rock MIDNIGHT @ new beverly theatre
kentucky fried movie 8 PM, amazon women on the moon @ silent movie theatre
the conformist @ lacma
dirt dress @ pehrspace
westworld, diary of a mad housewife @ aero theatre
personal & the pizzas @ pissed off pete's (SF)
rich fulcher 8 PM @ ucb
the decay of fiction 8 PM @ filmmobile summer screening series @ location tbd


sat. june 12

cries and whispers 3:40 7:30, interiors 5:35 9:25 @ new beverly theatre
the wild life MIDNIGHT @ new beverly theatre
the conformist @ lacma
spaceballs MIDNIGHT @ academy
moon duo @ henry miller library (big sur)


sun. june 13

shane, the kentuckian @ new beverly theatre
blow up @ cinespia @ hollywood forever
stephen connolly: occasional pieces and afflicted states @ spielberg theatre @ egyptian theatre


mon. june 14

mildred pierce 7 PM @ ampas samuel goldwyn
nodzzz, dunes @ sync space
shane, the kentuckian @ new beverly theatre
harold and maude 8 PM @ arclight hollywood
modern romance 8 PM @ comedy death ray @ silent movie theatre


tue. june 15

woods, abe vigoda, nodzzz, etc @ woodsist festival @ echoplex & echo
dunes, back to the future the ride @ the smell
shadoevision 8:00 11:00 PM @ tribute to shadoe stevens @ silent movie theatre
an american hippie in israel, the hitchhikers @ grindhouse film fest @ new beverly theatre
gravity was everywhere back then FREE 8 PM @ hammer
airplane @ arclight sherman oaks
sunrise (with live score by my education) 9 PM @ bootleg theatre
thurston moore @ sync space


wed. june 16

the graduate @ last remaining seats @ los angeles theatre
oldboy, sympathy for mr. vengeance @ new beverly theatre
charlie chaplin shorts 8 PM @ silent movie theatre
wendigo, habit @ aero theatre


thu. june 17

oldboy, sympathy for mr. vengeance @ new beverly theatre
night control @ echo curio
mr. mike's mondo video 8 PM, nothing lasts forever @ silent movie theatre
the magnificent seven @ egyptian theatre
the idle class, sunnyside, the circus @ aero theatre


fri. june 18

an education, fish tank @ new beverly theatre
pulp fiction MIDNIGHT @ new beverly theatre
totally serious @ the smell
the heartbreak kid 8 PM, bone @ silent movie theatre
birdemic: shock and terror MIDNIGHT @ silent movie theatre
city lights, a woman of paris @ aero theatre
mary lynn rajskub @ steve allen theatre
king kong (1933) @ filmmobile summer screening series @ location tbd
the house of the angel 10 PM @ la film fest @ redcat


sat. june 19

an education, fish tank @ new beverly theatre
play misty for me MIDNIGHT @ new beverly theatre
down terrace 8 PM @ silent movie theatre
papillon @ egyptian theatre
meho plaza 5 PM FREE @ vacation vinyl
the gold rush @ aero theatre
invasion of the body snatchers (1956) @ cinespia @ hollywood forever
mary lynn rajskub @ steve allen theatre
the fall 2 PM @ la film fest @ redcat
down terrace 4 PM @ la film fest @ regal 13
cold weather 10 PM @ la film fest @ downtown independent


sun. june 20

the kid 2 PM @ silent movie theatre
bert jansch @ largo
point blank, the outfit @ new beverly theatre
warlocks @ the echo
chrome wings @ echo curio
the great escape @ egyptian theatre
the kid 3 PM @ aero theatre
goldfinger, thunderball @ aero theatre
the sound cinema of stan brakhage @ spielberg theatre @ egyptian theatre
the hand in the trap 4:30 PM @ la film fest @ redcat
the seven madmen 7 PM @ la film fest @ redcat
cafe noir 8 PM @ la film fest @ regal 12
hickey & boggs 9:45 @ la film fest @ redcat


mon. june 21

the killers 7 PM @ ampas samuel goldwyn
point blank, the outfit @ new beverly theatre
totally serious, rats @ echo curio
the man who knew too little 8 PM @ silent movie theatre
cold weather @ la film fest @ regal 11


tue. june 22

bagdad cafe, gas food lodging @ new beverly theatre
suspicion 1 PM @ silent movie theatre
space waves mazzy star tribute @ bootleg theatre
the adventures of buckaroo banzai (hosted by john lithgow) 8 PM @ la film fest @ regal 12


wed. june 23

bagdad cafe, gas food lodging @ new beverly theatre
the true drone @ sync space
harold lloyd shorts 8 PM @ silent movie theatre
limelight @ aero theatre
dum dum girls @ new parish (oakland)
animal kingdom 8 PM @ la film fest @ regal 1
cafe noir 8 PM @ la film fest @ regal 12
katalin varga 8 PM @ la film fest @ regal 10
monsters 10:15 PM @ la film fest @ regal 10


thu. june 24

the fearless vampire killers, dracula has risen from the grave @ new beverly theatre
modern times, a king in new york @ aero theatre
rats @ echo curio
the hand in the trap 7:30 PM @ la film fest @ redcat
the driver 9:45 @ la film fest @ redcat
down terrace 10:15 PM @ la film fest @ regal 10


fri. june 25

ty segall, moonhearts @ spaceland
dracula (spanish version), the blood spattered bride @ new beverly theatre
animal house 8 PM @ national lampoon's 40th anniversary tribute @ silent movie theatre
falling down, flatliners @ egyptian theatre
the circus, the gold rush @ aero theatre
jon brion @ largo
mary lynn rajskub @ steve allen theatre
animal kingdom 4:45 @ la film fest @ regal 9


sat. june 26

sharon jones & the dap-kings @ wiltern
salome (1923) 3 PM @ getty center
cleopatra (1934) 7 PM @ getty center
nosferatu the vampyre 5:15 PM, dracula (1979), love at first bite @ new beverly theatre
up in smoke, cheech & chong's next movie, cheech & chong's nice dreams @ silent movie theatre
retroformat: idols of the silent era @ spielberg theatre @ egyptian theatre
the pilgrim, the great dictator @ aero theatre
midnight cowboy 7 PM @ cinespia @ hollywood forever
jon brion @ largo
mary lynn rajskub @ steve allen theatre
pee wee's big adventure 1 PM @ la film fest @ orpheum
the house of the angel 3 PM @ la film fest @ redcat
the seven madmen 5:30 PM @ la film fest @ redcat
monsters 7 PM @ la film fest @ downtown independent
the fall 8:30 PM @ la film fest @ redcat
thunder soul 8:30 PM @ la film fest @ ford amphitheatre


sun. june 27

mata hari (1932) 3 PM @ getty center
neil hamburger @ spaceland
fuxa @ the echo
crack in the world 5:30 PM, the river @ egyptian theatre
charlie chaplin shorts 3 PM @ aero theatre


mon. june 28

the strange love of martha ivers 7 PM @ ampas samuel goldwyn
clifford 8 PM @ silent movie theatre


tue. june 29

bonnie's kids, detroit 9000 @ grindhouse film fest @ new beverly theatre
forbidden planet 1 PM @ lacma
tame impala @ silverlake lounge


wed. june 30

see no evil, the don is dead @ new beverly theatre
buster keaton shorts 8 PM @ silent movie theatre


thu. jul. 1

dum dum girls, dunes @ the echo
see no evil, the don is dead @ new beverly theatre


fri. jul. 2

mary lynn rajskub @ steve allen theatre
the savage eye @ filmmobile summer screening series @ location tbd


sat. jul. 3

foot village @ the smell
dum dum girls @ detroit bar
chrome wings @ mcworld
mary lynn rajskub @ steve allen theatre


tue. jul. 6

fol chen @ the echo
zidane: a twentieth-century portrait 7 PM FREE @ hammer


wed. jul. 7

captain january 8 PM @ silent movie theatre


thu. jul. 8

au revoir simone @ the echo


fri. jul. 9

magic kids @ echoplex
mary lynn rajskub @ steve allen theatre


sat. jul. 10

movie night (TBA) @ heritage square
easy rider @ devil's night drive-in
mary lynn rajskub @ steve allen theatre


mon. jul. 12

the dark mirror 7 PM @ ampas samuel goldwyn


tue. jul. 13

daddy longlegs 8 PM @ silent movie theatre


wed. jul. 14

riding giants 7 PM FREE @ hammer


thu. jul. 15

antibalas @ echoplex


fri. jul. 16

mary lynn rajskub @ steve allen theatre


sat. jul. 17

movie night (TBA) @ heritage square
mary lynn rajskub @ steve allen theatre


mon. jul. 19

the blue dahlia 7 PM @ ampas samuel goldwyn
1991: the year punk broke 6 PM, the reinactors @ 7 dudley cinema


fri. jul. 23

sleepy sun @ spaceland
mary lynn rajskub @ steve allen theatre


sat. jul. 24

movie night (TBA) @ heritage square
mary lynn rajskub @ steve allen theatre
personal & the pizzas @ pissed off pete's (SF)


mon. jul. 26

the stanger 7 PM @ ampas samuel goldwyn


tue. jul. 27

fungi girls @ TBA


fri. jul. 30

mary lynn rajskub @ steve allen theatre
mi ami @ bootleg theatre
moonhearts, goodnight loving @ redwood bar


sat. jul. 31

patton oswalt @ largo
mary lynn rajskub @ steve allen theatre


mon. aug. 2

body and soul 7 PM @ ampas samuel goldwyn


tue. aug. 3

koolhaus houselife 7 PM FREE @ hammer


thu. aug. 5

personal & the pizzas @ the knockout (SF)


fri. aug. 6

personal & the pizzas @ TBA (oakland)
mary lynn rajskub @ steve allen theatre


sat. aug. 7

mary lynn rajskub @ steve allen theatre


mon. aug. 9

crossfire 7 PM @ ampas samuel goldwyn


fri. aug. 13

mary lynn rajskub @ steve allen theatre


sat. aug. 14

ema & the ghosts @ pehrspace
mary lynn rajskub @ steve allen theatre


mon. aug. 16

a double life 7 PM @ ampas samuel goldwyn
rocaterrania 8:30 @ 7 dudley cinema


fri. aug. 20

mary lynn rajskub @ steve allen theatre


sat. aug. 21

mary lynn rajskub @ steve allen theatre


mon. aug. 23

the kiss of death 7 PM @ ampas samuel goldwyn


fri. aug. 27

mary lynn rajskub @ steve allen theatre


sat. aug. 28

mary lynn rajskub @ steve allen theatre


mon. aug. 30

white heat 7 PM @ ampas samuel goldwyn


sat. sept. 4

fyf fest


wed. sept. 8

the gories @ the echo


thu. sept. 9

camper van beethoven @ echoplex


thu. sept. 30

sonic youth, no age @ hollywood bowl




WHAT IT IS:



AN AMERICAN HIPPIE IN ISRAEL (Ha-Trempist)
(from IMDB)
Incited by a disillusioned young man who has decided to flee from civilization, a group of 4 people go searching for freedom and happiness on an isolated island. When their boat goes astray and they are left without food, their animal instincts take over...  Dir. Amos Sefer, 1972, 95 mins.


ANIMAL KINGDOM
In this astonishing family gangster saga, seventeen-year-old Josh Cody, having lost his drug-addicted mother, is taken in by his grandmother and uncles, a volatile clan of gun-toting criminals who are under constant surveillance by Melbourne's trigger-happy police.  The death of one of his uncles sets off a fierce battle for vengeance, and Josh must learn the laws of a very nasty jungle to survive.
A kind of Australian Goodfellas, the explosive, high-style Animal Kingdom heralds the arrival of a major new directing talent, David Michod. He’s marshaled a remarkable ensemble that includes Guy Pearce and a who’s who of up-and-coming Australian male stars.  But at Sundance, where Animal Kingdom won the Grand Jury prize for best international film, it was veteran Jacki Weaver as the twisted family’s unforgettable mother hen that got everybody talking.


BAGDAD CAFE
From Percy Adlon, the director of Sugarbaby, an English-language film about a friendship between two women at a desert truck stop motel and diner. One is black and overworked. The other is German and overdressed. A haunting musical score and a top-notch supporting cast, which includes Jack Palance, makes this sweet comedy starring C.C. Pounder and Marianne Sagebrecht.  Percy Adlon---West Germany---1988---91 mins.


BARAKA, 1992, Magidson Films, 96 min. Inspired by the Sufi word meaning "breath of life," BARAKA is a mind-expanding, spiritual journey around the globe -- shot in 24 countries on five continents -- from director- cinematographer Ron Fricke (who photographed the earlier KOYAANISQATSI) and producer Mark Magidson (the Imax film CHRONOS). Filmed entirely without dialogue in a stunning cascade of crystalline, time-lapse 70mm images, BARAKA is quite simply breathtaking.


Birdemic: Shock and Terror
The most discussed and anticipated avian-based disaster film since the The Birds, Birdemic is equal parts epochal tale and cinematic warning shot. It tells the story of a couple unexpectedly and unforgettably caught in the eye of a feather-based storm -- an apocalyptic attack winging down from the skies in a twisted morass of feathers, talons and blood-soaked claws. And the man that fired the shot across the diegetic bow of cineastes everywhere? That would be writer/director/dream factory foreman James Nguyen. One of cinema's most persistent imagineers, Nguyen (legally trademarked as "The Master of the Romantic Thriller"™) funded his masterwork with savings accrued from his day job as a Silicon Valley software salesman. No less than five years in the making, Birdemic stands as a testament to Nguyen's dark, enduring vision. Brace yourselves -- the evening's screening also includes a LIVE PERFORMANCE of "Just Hangin' Out (With My Family)" by Birdemic guest star Damien Carter!!!!
Dir. James Nguyen, 2008, digital presentation, 90 min.


THE BLOOD SPATTERED BRIDE
Loosely based on Sheridan LeFanu's Carmilla, this erotic horror feature follows a beautiful young bride's descent into an unholy communion with a reincarnated murderess. The slow, dreamlike pace of this intriguing feature results in another unusual mixture of art and exploitation from the director of The Exquisite Corpse. Vicente Aranda---Spain---1972---101 mins.


The Blue Dahlia
(96 mins.)
Novelist Raymond Chandler penned this original screenplay which reteamed Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake, as a veteran accused of murder and the woman who comes to his aid.


Body and Soul
(104 mins.)
John Garfield was nominated for his powerful performance as a boxer embroiled in the underworld in this drama from writer Abraham Polonsky (“Force of Evil”) and director Robert Rossen (“The Hustler”).


Bone
Snappy, trippy, goofy and silly, Bone is a top-shelf "head" film made by Larry Cohen (It's Alive, The Stuff, God Told Me To), who'd later go onto be one of the most high-concept gonzo exploitation filmmakers of the '70s and '80s. Laced with commercial parodies worthy of Putney Swope, popping with stony gags and loaded with unexpected surprises (including an unforgettable turn by Match Game’s Brett Somers and a truly nutty twist ending), this is one of the most acerbic, fearless black comedies from the decade that perfected them. Scene-stealing Yaphet Kotto is the title character, a shady pool cleaner who helps yank a rat plugging up the swimming pool of an uptight, unsatisfied Beverly Hills couple, and proceeds to hold the wife hostage to extort their life savings. But once again, the real star here is a young Jeannie Berlin, in one of her wildest roles as an unnamed larcenous free spirit who becomes entangled within the twisted Beverly Hills triangle. Shoplifting groceries and flirting with our married husband, all the while philosophizing a mile-a-minute, Berlin's so good here that her mom Elaine May allegedly used these scenes to win her that Oscar-nominated role in The Heartbreak Kid later that year.
Dir. Larry Cohen, 1972, 35mm, 95 min. 


BONNIE'S KIDS
(from IMDB)
Sisters Myra and Ellie have finally had enough of their miserable, dead-end lives. When their step-father Charley (the Bonnie from the title being long dead) tries to rape Myra, Ellie ventilates him with a shotgun, and the pair run off to their wealthy uncle's mansion in El Paso. From that point on, the two undergo a transformation in their personalities, and start to enjoy living their lives on the wild side.  Dir. Arthur Marks, 1973, 105 mins.


Buster Keaton Shorts
"Keaton's face ranked with Lincoln's as an early American archetype; it was haunting, handsome, almost beautiful, yet it was irreducibly funny...No one could do as much with the deadpan." - James Agee, "Comedy's Greatest Era"
Buster Keaton was a born showman, a master of both understated whimsical comic touches and elaborate physical stunts, the ingeniousness and bravado of which still easily shock and thrill audiences over eighty years later. He was also his own greatest prop, putting his person through a harrowing, yet hysterical unending series of near-calamities, all of them performed for real, without stunt doubles, at a time when Jackie Chan's father was still in diapers! Buster's sharp attention to detail also went far beyond merely plotting gags; his films are some of the most gorgeously photographed silent comedies, with expansive vistas and extravagant sets; perhaps the most remarkable fact of all is that each short is a wildly different picture, a beautiful and original self-contained world. We're overjoyed to bring to you a night of Keaton's first films, where the laws of physics are meant to be bent, and anything is possible. 


BUSTIN' DOWN THE DOOR, 2008, Screen Media Films, 96 min. Dir. Jeremy Gosch. During the winter of 1975, a group of headstrong young surfers from Australia and South Africa touched down on the beaches of Hawaii and, with a risky new approach and blatantly colonial attitude, altered surfing into the sport, culture and multi-billion dollar industry it is today. Documentarian Jeremy Gosch captures with thunderous intensity the sudden, exciting evolution and revolution taking place in the surfing world of the mid 1970s.


By Brakhage: A 16mm Film Screening
Filmforum opens June with a celebratory program of 16mm films by Stan Brakhage, commemorating the release of Criterion’s DVD set By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volume Two.  However, we also wish to commemorate the continued availability of all of Stan Brakhage’s films on film, the format in which they are ideally intended to be seen.  As such, tonight’s program draws its films from the contents of Criterion’s DVD release, but presented in their original 16mm.  Brakhage’s filmmaking is so vividly and deeply about the textures and properties of celluloid film and the apparatus of film projection, and this program is designed to highlight works from this excellent DVD release that particularly benefit from projection in their original medium.  The Criterion release is cause for celebration, but we also invite you to continue to seek out and support the projection of films on film as much as possible.


CAFE NOIR
This formally rigorous, but sprawling and endlessly playful examination of unrequited love trails a heartsick music teacher as he wanders the lonely streets of Seoul. Having recently been unceremoniously dumped by his married lover, he finds himself drawn to a young woman in her own state of romantic purgatory. Writer-director Jung Sung-il may prove to be Korea’s answer to Jean-Luc Godard, an adventurous film critic turned auteur with an audacious vision. Witness Café Noir, his ambitious, subversively funny film debut that references Goethe, Dostoyevsky, leftist politics, Bollywood, and Christianity while paying loving homage to the last decade of Korean cinema.


Captain January
Before "America's First Sweetheart" Shirley Temple won the hearts of film fans across the globe at the dawn of the sound era with her spunkiness, her charm and her irrepressible cuteness, there was the equally adorable Baby Peggy, one of the silent screen's youngest and biggest stars. Starting her film career at the ripe old age of two(!), Baby Peggy appeared in over 150 shorts and over 20 features before semi-retiring from the picture business by age eight (in favor of the vaudeville stage) -- including versions of Heidi and Captain January, both of which would later become big successes for little Miss Shirley. In Peggy's Captain January, she plays a mystery girl who's found by Jeremiah, a scruffy, elderly lighthouse keeper after washing ashore by herself. Taken in by Jeremiah, she's later discovered to be the niece of a wealthy woman who wants to raise the girl for herself, even though Peggy's perfectly happy where she is -- who will be the girl's true guardian? Also showing before the feature is Mickey The Detective (1928), one of the earliest surviving shorts starring Mickey Rooney, then eight years old and credited as "Mickey McGuire"! "Baby Peggy" Montgomery, one of the last living silent film stars and still spunky at 91 years old, will be here at the Cinefamily in person to introduce the screening!  Dir. Edward F. Cline, 1924, 35mm, 64 min. (Library 35mm print courtesy of the Library of Congress Motion Picture Collection)


The Cardboard Lover
A double shot of two of the silent era's most lovable funny people! As newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst’s real-life mistress, Marion Davies garnered a lifelong reputation for controversy and an unjustified caricature in the form of Citizen Kane’s ditzy charmer, Susan Alexander. The limelight was often unflattering to Davies, and her ill-advised turns (at Hearst’s insistence) in overwrought dramas overshadowed her wonderful run as a skilled comedienne in some of the Roaring Twenties' most playful films. The Cardboard Lover casts Davies in the sort of role she was born to play -- a flighty, loveable flapper who, while on a whirlwind European vacation, unwittingly becomes the faux paramour of a tennis pro, as part of a ploy to keep the pro's real-life two-timing girlfriend in check. The tables are quickly turned, however, when she aims to keep her athlete lover all to herself, for real.  Hugh Munro Neely (documentarian behind Captured On Film: The True Story of Marion Davies) and Brent Walker (author of "Mack Sennett's Fun Factory") will both be here in-person for introductory remarks before the show!   Dir. Robert Z. Leonard, 1928, 35mm, 75 min. (Library 35mm print courtesy of the Library of Congress Motion Picture Collection)


CHARLIE CHAPLIN SHORTS (AERO THEATRE)
New 35 mm Print! "Pay Day," (1922, 28 min) Chaplin as a construction worker celebrates pay day by going to the bar - and trouble erupts. "Sunnyside," (1919, 29 min) Charlie the handyman must mow the floor of a hotel, and deal with the pesky cows and goats who have found a home in the church. New 35 mm Print!  "A Day's Pleasure," (1919, 25 min). A family boat outing is complicated by tumultuous waves, traffic and a pool of tar. New 35 mm Print! "The Idle Class," (1921, 32 min). The Tramp arrives at a luxurious resort, stowed away in the train that takes the elite to their sunny summer playground. 


Charlie Chaplin Shorts (Silent Movie Theatre)
"If there can be an explanation of his unique success with a universal public, it is his gift of transmuting the fundamental anxieties and concerns of human life into comedy -- a reflection of his own life experiences." - David Robinson, "Movie Icons: Charlie Chaplin"
When the Tramp's name is invoked, one immediately thinks of the most beloved of all silent comedy features: The Gold Rush. City Lights. Modern Times. Besides their effortless ability to elicit laughs from even the most hardened cynic, part of their genius comes from their meticulousness, their deliberate strides that could only come from a master artist who took his time controlling every creative aspect. Chaplin achieved that level of artistry after tirelessly honing his timing, his persona and his filmmaking through a decade's worth of inventive and satisfying one- and two-reelers that solidified him as the most versatile, lovable comedic performer of his era, and an icon of world cinema whose very silhouette instantly warms hearts and raises smiles. Join us for a night of the rarely-screened and the very best from Chaplin's first ten years of movie stardom.


THE CIRCUS, 1928, Janus Films, 71 min. Dir. Charlie Chaplin. The Little Tramp goes from being a circus loiterer who steals hotdogs from babies to an accidental clown in this delightful riot by comedic genius Charlie Chaplin. Don't be fooled by the freewheeling slapstick throughout - the final shot evokes the heart-tugging yet adorable melancholia that makes the Tramp one of cinema's most enduring characters.  New 35 mm Print!


Clifford
Hide the children, Clifford is coming home! In the early 1990s, The Universe noted that modern American studio comedies were severely lacking in terms of maniacal, piss-yer-pants derangement. Naturally, this problem had to be rectified. Quickly. Summoning all of its ubiquitous power, The Universe decreed that 44-year-old Martin Short would portray a psychotic, dinosaur-obsessed 10-year-old (and would be framed on-screen either with weirdo forced perspective or simply on his knees, like "Dorf"), Charles Grodin would shit several hundred bricks, and "jokes" involving plutonium, toupées, facelifts and inappropriate sexuality would be utilized. Salvation was imminent. Clifford was born! Easily one of the most bizarre films of its decade produced for the mainstream, Clifford delivers intentional comedy as quasi-unintentional surrealism, and the result is a righteous, baffling descent into hilarity for all the wrong (right?) reasons. Twenty years from now, this film will be heralded by a new guard of WTF-film enthusiasts -- so here's your chance to beat 'em to it.
Dir. Paul Flaherty, 1994, 35mm, 90 min.


COLD WEATHER
A former forensic science major turned ice factory worker turned self-modeled Sherlock Holmes leads an unlikely team of irregulars in this charming comic mystery from indie auteur Aaron Katz. When his ex-girlfriend goes missing, Doug enlists his big sister Gail and co-worker Carlos in his ramshackle investigation that draws the slacker sleuths into Portland’s not-quite-seedy underground. Building on the lyrical style and naturalistic performances of his two previous features, Katz’s film may feature a few car chases and stake outs, but ultimately it is less interested in the chilly mechanics of genre than in the warm bond between friends and family.


CRACK IN THE WORLD, 1965, Paramount, 96 min. Terminally ill scientist Dana Andrews believes he can siphon off geothermal energy from the earth’s core by firing a nuclear missile deep below the planet’s crust. Colleague Kieron Moore thinks it’s a bad idea and tries to stop Andrews before it’s too late. Inevitably, the missile is fired, and a crack starts to appear gradually circling the globe, threatening to break the world in half! Andrew Marton helmed this rarely screened, hard-to-see 1960s classic. 


CRIES AND WHISPERS
Ingmar Bergman's anguished, searing examination of the lust, envy, betrayal, love and self-mutilation that passes between four women--three sisters and a family provider--in this sculpted, metaphysical drama. "Bergman uses the women as metaphors for humanity, representing how we respond to anxiety, death, and  the visitations of what appears to be a wrathful rather than benevolent God" (James Monaco). With Harriet Andersson, Ingrid Thulin and Liv Ullmann. Cinematography by Sven Nykvist.  Ingmar Bergman---Sweden---1972---91 mins. 


Crossfire
(86 mins.)
Richard Brooks’s novel The Brick Foxhole became a powerful thriller about murder among World War II veterans, directed by Edward Dmytryk from a screenplay by John Paxton.


Daddy Longlegs
"Featuring some of the most unhinged parenting decisions ever made!" - Melissa Anderson, Artforum
With Daddy Longlegs (formerly known as Go Get Some Rosemary), sibling directing team Josh and Benny Safdie have crafted a realistic fairy tale that captures the magic of parenthood grounded in the gritty, grainy milieu of New York City, invoking memories of their own inventive dad's outré rearing techniques. Divorced and alone, Lenny (the perfectly cast Ronald Bronstein, director of the darkly comic nightmare Frownland) is the father of two young boys he gets to see a couple of weeks a year. He cherishes his time with them, and plays out the dual roles of stern parent and lovable buddy, inventing myths and somehow living them, all while working overtime in the big city. When the going gets tough, Lenny uses some unusual, perhaps even hazardous, techniques to keep the kids safe from the world -- and the Safdies' fluid style gives us the tangible feeling that we're in the boxing ring alongside Lenny, thrilling to his unorthodox method of dealing with the shitstorm of society. Also showing before the feature are a selection of shorts from the Safdies' early career! Ben & Josh Safdie will be here at the Cinefamily in person for a Q&A after the show!


The Dark Mirror
(85 mins.)
Olivia de Havilland plays twin sisters suspected of murder in this 1946 romantic thriller with a screenplay by Nunnally Johnson and directed by Robert Siodmak, who was Oscar-nominated the same year for directing “The Killers.”


THE DECAY OF FICTION
Angelenos are invited to discover and explore their changing urban landscape when the Filmmobile projects an array of classic films at (actual or implied) cinematic locations across the city. The 2010 EPFC Filmmobile Summer Screening Series kicks off with The Decay of Fiction, Pat O’Neill’s haunting meditation on The Ambassador Hotel.
“If there were more experimental films as entertaining as “The Decay of Fiction,” Pat O’Neill’s luminous Hollywood ghost story, the notion of a thriving avant-garde cinema might not be so intimidating to the moviegoing public. The 73-minute movie is a semiabstract film noir shot largely in the empty corridors and bare peeling rooms of the Ambassador, a once-grand Los Angeles hotel that went spectacularly to seed after closing in 1989. The Ambassador was the site of some of the early Academy Awards ceremonies in the 1930’s and of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. But instead of concentrating on that public history, the film uses the building, emptied of its furnishings, to imagine its mythical shadow history and its status as a metaphor for old Hollywood, in all its fabulous glamour and corruption.” — Stephen Holden, The New York Times


Demon Seed
1977/color/97 min./Panavision  | Scr: Robert Jaffe, Roger Hirson; dir: Donald Cammell; w/ Julie Christie, Fritz Weaver, Gerritt Graham
What if a giant blob of artificial intelligence decided to procreate in human form? As the unhappy wife of a scientist who is imprisoned in her own home and violated by an invincible machine (voiced by Robert Vaughn), Julie Christie gives a harrowing, no-nonsense performance. Cammell's claustrophobic, hallucinogenic depiction—replete with cosmographic animations by avant-garde legend Jordan Belson—of a biotech, appliance-saturated society that lacks moral or genetic parameters is truly stunning.


DETROIT 9000
An interesting blaxploitation film, notable for the way it mirrors the social and political unease of its era and for the rare use (within the genre) of a top-billed white co-star, Alex Rocco. Rocco and Hari Rhodes play detectives on the trail of a group of violent criminals who committed a robbery at a fund-raiser for a black congressman eyeing the governor's seat. The questions surrounding the political motivations of the robbery were quite timely, coming at the height of the Watergate crisis. And even within all its high-energy action scenes, the film manages to capture some of the hopelessness that had become too common in inner-city life. Arthur Marks---USA---1973---107 mins. 


DIARY OF A MAD HOUSEWIFE, 1970, Universal, 104 min. Dir. Frank Perry. Tina Balser (Carrie Snodgress) is an unhappy housewife, forced to deal with emotional abuse from her ladder-climbing, intensely critical husband (a terrific Richard Benjamin). Tina finds herself in the arms of a handsome, hugely successful and weirdly sadistic writer (Frank Langella), but will this secret relationship prove any healthier than her marriage? Discussion between films with actor Richard Benjamin.


THE DON IS DEAD
(from IMDB)
In a city dominated by three crime families, the adviser of one hatches a scheme to grab control of the city by setting the other crime families against each other. For a time his plan works well, and gang warfare breaks out. One of the family heads is dependant on two brothers who kill for him. The younger of these brothers is reluctant to participate but is more intelligent than both his brother and his friend, the crime Don. Gradually, as the violence accelerates, the younger brother assumes command.  Dir. Richard Fleischer, 1973, 115 mins.


Down Terrace
Winner of the 2010 Fantastic Fest "New Wave Best Feature" award, the new British slice of kitchen sink gangsterism Down Terrace quickly makes friends, has you chuckling, and then quietly sneaks up and billy-clubs you with a deft mixture of effortless nuanced performances and primal, violent folly. The film has real-life family members Robin and Robert Hill playing the small town thug duo of Karl and and his pop Bill, who, after they're released from jail, struggle to figure out the identity of the fink who set them up. Huge gusts of fresh air are breathed into this basic crime plot, as the comedic awkwardness of the family dynamic (neurotic passive-aggressive son with the pregnant girlfriend no one likes, bullying ex-hippie dad, peacekeeping mum) keeps things real, providing an ace counterpoint to the film's startling occasional bursts of bloodshed. The assured hand of first-time director Ben Wheatley, here working with talented actors you've seen on UK TV shows like "Spaced", "The Office" and "Extras", easily transcends the "Mike Leigh meets The Sopranos" conceptual surface of the subject matter, given his main characters' strong, absorbing relationship with each other. Down Terrace may be very intimate, but it explodes across the screen with an epic amount of wryness.
Dir. Ben Wheatley, 2009, HDCAM, 90 min. 


A Double Life
(104 mins.)
Ronald Colman won the Best Actor Oscar for his change-of-pace role as an actor whose performance as Othello starts to affect his personal life in this psychological drama from director George Cukor and writers Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin.


DRACULA (1979)
Fresh off of a starring turn in the stylized, hit Broadway rendition of Dracula, Frank Langella returned to the role for this more subdued adaptation. Arguably the suavest Dracula to date, Langella brings a classy sexuality to Bram Stoker's bloodsucker. Co-stars Laurence Olivier, Donald Pleasence and Kate Nelligan. John Badham---Great Britain/USA---1979---109 mins. 


DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE
When Monsignor Muller (Rupert Davies) exorcises Dracula's castle, the Count (Christopher Lee) takes vengeance on him by claiming his beautiful niece Maria (Veronica Carlson) as his bride. Freddie Francis---Great Britain---1968---92 mins. 


DRACULA, SPANISH VERSION
(from IMDB)
Language was no barrier to Hollywood in the silent era: title cards were easily translated from English. When sound began to roar, Hollywood began to fear the loss of its foreign markets--and so, for a brief time, the studios occasionally produced two versions of certain films, one in English and one in another language, most often German or Spanish. Such was the case with the 1931 Dracula.
According to film historian and author David J. Skal, producer Paul Kohner fell in love with Mexican-born actress Lupita Tovar (they later married), and his romantic interest prompted the suggestion that she star in a Spanish-language version of the film. When the English language cast wrapped for the day, the Spanish language cast arrived and worked through the night using the same sets.
Most of Hollywood's foreign-language duplicates were forgotten as quickly as they were released, but the Spanish Dracula would be the exception. Todd Browning, who directed the English language film starring Bela Lugosi, was extremely uncomfortable with sound technology. While the first fifteen minutes or so his film are exceptional, the movie thereafter becomes a filmed stage play--and a very choppy and rather unimaginative stage play at that. Instead of simply duplicating Browning's set-ups, producer Kohner and director George Melford set out to best him, and when the Spanish version debuted most viewers declared it greatly superior to the English version.  Dir. George Melford, 1931, 104 mins.


AN EDUCATION
(from IMDB)
A coming-of-age story about a teenage girl in 1960s suburban London, and how her life changes with the arrival of a playboy nearly twice her age.  Dir. Lone Scherfig, 2009, 100 mins.


THE FALL
Albertina, a pretty, naïve student from the provinces, rents a room in a strange, claustrophobic Buenos Aires household where the neurotic, sickly mother is confined to her bed, leaving her four unattended sons to run wild, living by rules of their own invention. Elsa Daniel stars as the modest, easily shocked Albertina, whose sexuality is awakened by the boys’ uncle, a seductive adventurer. Steeped in hothouse gothic atmosphere, The Fall exemplifies Leopoldo Torre Nilsson's expressionist visual style, which he once attributed to his extreme myopia, which, he said, gives birth to a deformed and haunting world.


Fatty Arbuckle shorts
In addition to the feature, the night's screening kicks off with three super-rare shorts starring the rolly-poly godfather of silent shorts, Fatty Arbuckle. Watch as he bumbles and goofs with agile grace through Zip The Dodger, Mabel's Willful Way, Fatty's Day Off and Fatty's Wine Party. All of tonight's film prints are incredibly rare, and aren't on DVD!  1913-14, 35mm, approx. 30 min. (Library 35mm prints courtesy of the Library of Congress Motion Picture Collection) 


FEMME FATALE
Director Brian De Palma (Scarface, Carrie) returns with all of his tricks and obsessions for a sexy thriller that races through the high stakes world of the Parisian nightlife. Supermodel Rebecca Romijn-Stamos stars as a wealthy socialite involved with a gang of jewel thieves. After betraying the thieves during a diamond heist, she flees to America, assumes a new identity and marries a politician. When her new husband (Peter Coyote) becomes French ambassador, she must return to Paris where she is recognized by a photographer (Antonio Banderas) who knows her past.  "...an unadulterated delight" (Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader). Brian De Palma---USA---2002---114 mins. 


FISH TANK
This Cannes Jury Prize-winning second feature from Andrea Arnold (Red Road) is a coming-of-age story about a hard 15-year-old girl in a harder housing project in Essex, England. Supposedly discovered at a train station, newcomer Katie Jarvis rings true as Mia, who gets kicked out of school, freeing up her days for drinking, listening to hip-hop, and fighting with her mom (Kierston Wareing) and sister (Rebecca Griffiths). When mom's strange new boyfriend (Michael Fassbender) moves in, there's an uneasy attraction between him and Mia. The results aren't pretty. "...thanks to Ms. Arnold's fine-grained realism and the astonishing performance of Katie Jarvis...it is a diamond-hard reflection on the peril and progress of a fragile soul in a bad situation" (The New York Times).  Andrea Arnold---Great Britain---2009---123 mins. 


GAS FOOD LODGING
Allison Anders' depiction of the difficult, complex relationship between a single mother and her two daughters has some graceful, liquid camera work and an excellent performance by Ione Skye as a distracted, promiscuous vixen. Set in a ragged New Mexico town, Anders maps out some tangled relationships while  fully exploring post-adolescent and adult sexuality. Adapted from the novel by Richard Peck. Cinematography by Dean Lent. With Brooke Adams, Fairuza Balk and Allison Anders---USA---1992---94 mins.


THE GOLD RUSH, 1925, Janus Films, 72 min. Coming off his first major financial failure, A WOMAN OF PARIS, writer-director Charlie Chaplin responded with what many consider his finest feature length film. The Lone Prospector (Chaplin) travels to the far-off Yukon in search of gold, but ends up falling in love with dance-hall girl Georgia Hale. The classic "dance of the dinner rolls" and "boiled shoe leather" scenes show Chaplin’s gift for poignant comedy at its very best. Plus New 35 mm Print! "A Dog's Life," (1918, Janus Films, 40 min). A literal expression of Chaplin's identification with the underdog. New 35 mm Print! "A Day's Pleasure," (1919, Janus Films, 25 min). A family boat outing is complicated by tumultuous waves, traffic and a pool of tar. New 35 mm Print! "Shoulder Arms," (1918, Janus Films, 46 min). The comedy of self-preservation and patriotic fantasy comes to a head when the Tramp finds himself in World War I.


Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then
Brent Green’s debut feature-length film expands upon the themes and aesthetics of his short analog animations. Hope and despair often clash in Green’s fantastical, intimate productions. Filmed on an elaborate large-scale set with actors instead of drawings, this film reconstructs the true story of a man obsessed with curing his wife of a terminal illness. For the Hammer program, Green narrates the film live onstage accompanied by Brendan Canty of Fugazi on drums, John Swartz on cello and Donna K providing foley and percussion.


Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench
A young Boston jazz musician drifts from affair to affair, his trumpet the only constant in his life. He makes a promising connection with an aimless introvert named Madeline, who immediately takes to his music. Their relationship is cut short, however, when Guy leaves her for another, more outgoing love interest. The two separated lovers slowly wind their way back into each other’s lives, through a series of romances and near-romances punctuated by song. A full-fledged musical that recasts the MGM tradition in a gritty, near-documentary style, Guy and Madeline stars Jason Palmer, recently named by Down Beat Magazine one of the top twenty-five “Trumpeters for the Future.” Director Damien Chazelle in person for a Q&A! Winner, Special Jury Prize, 2009 Torino Film Festival Official Selection, 2009 Viennale


HABIT, 1996, Glass Eye Pix/Passport Cinema, 112 min. It is autumn in New York and Sam (Larry Fessenden) has broken up with his girlfriend and his father has recently died. World-weary and sloppy drunk, he finds temporary solace in the arms of Anna (Meredith Snaider), a mysterious woman who draws him away from his friends and into a web of addiction and madness. A beautiful "downtown" vampire tale. Discussion between films with director Larry Fessenden.


THE HAND IN THE TRAP
The winner of the International Critics Prize in Cannes in 1961, The Hand in the Trap was Leopoldo Torre Nilsson's third consecutive collaboration with writer (and wife) Beatriz Guido and with star Elsa Daniel. Here Daniel plays Laura, a girl obsessed with discovering the dark secret that her family hides in an upstairs room of the house, off limits to everyone. The film delves into a suffocating world of sick love, prejudice, repressed and repressive women, horny men, and images of enclosure and entrapment. Many consider it the Argentine director's finest.


Harold Lloyd Shorts
"The good American, still devoutly believed in during the 1920s, was two things: he was aggressive, and he was innocent...And then there was Harold Lloyd. A boy whom nothing could defeat." - Walter Kerr, "The Silent Clowns"
Lloyd's legacy has only been cemented over the last few decades, as he has finally been recognized as one of the great silent comedians alongside Chaplin and Keaton. When Hal Roach came into a small inheritance and decided to start producing comedies, he immediately hired fellow extra Harold Lloyd to be his star, and after over 100 shorts as the characters of "Willy Work" and "Lucky Luke", Lloyd invented his famous "glasses" character -- an ambitious go-getting "man of the century", yet an everyman who resembled many of those in his audience. His trademark horn-rimmed glasses disarmed the aggression of his striving character enough for audience sympathy, paving the way for an incredible bounty of highly physical gags in these fast-paced films. Lloyd liked something funny to be happening at all times, and succeeded at a phenomenally high rate. Come laugh it up with us, as we screen a selection of some of his best early works! 


The Heartbreak Kid
Elaine May's The Heartbreak Kid is easily the most artistically successful of all the films Neil Simon scripted: a densely layered, oft-overlooked masterpiece of subtle humanism, and one of the most entertaining filmic indictments of love, sex, and hyprocrisy that you’ll ever see. A fantastic writer herself, May's incredible gift for the subtlest of comic nuances helped make this one a perfectly balanced ensemble chamber piece -- with Charles Grodin as the young husband on his honeymoon, Jeannie Berlin as the Jew-lywed wife he's immediately repulsed by, Cybil Shephard as the fantasy blonde shiksah that he dreams of escaping with, and Eddie Albert as Cybill's skeptical hardnose father. In a series of finely tuned dialogue scenes, the comedy embers are stoked to a slow-roasting, sauna-like burn. Everyone's fantastic, but the real discovery is Elaine May's daughter Jeannie Berlin, who seems to have inherited every iota of her mother's comic genius, creating a character that's somehow both endearing and repulsive; you don't know whether you want to kill her or comfort her, but mostly you just want out of the room. Egg salad will never be the same.
Dir. Elaine May, 1972, 35mm, 106 min.


HICKEY & BOGGS
(1972) Directed by Robert Culp
In the late Robert Culp's taut, cynical detective thriller, Culp and Bill Cosby subvert their upbeat, ironic "I Spy" personas—this time playing downtrodden private eyes searching for a missing girl in the sun-bleached mean streets of early '70s Los Angeles, and leaving violence in their wake. Culp's assured direction brings Walter Hill's dystopic, neo-noir screenplay vividly to life. Offering little reassurance about human nature, Hickey & Boggs pits the weary detectives against their prey in a deadly, morally ambiguous confrontation, and stands as one of the most alarming and rewarding examples of its genre.
Producer: Fouad Said. Screenplay: Walter Hill. Cast: Robert Culp, Bill Cosby, T-Ronce Allen, Rosalind Cash. 35mm, 111 min. 


THE HITCHHIKERS
(from IMDB)
"Hee Haw"'s Misty Rowe stars in this exploitationer made to cash in on the Manson cult murders.  Dir. Beverly Sebastian & Ferd Sebastian, 1972, 92 mins.


THE HOUSE OF THE ANGEL
Shown at the 1957 Cannes film festival, this was the movie that made Leopoldo Torre Nilsson an international art house star. Based on a novel by his wife---and usual screenwriter---Beatriz Guido, The House of the Angel focuses on the ruling class in 1920s Argentina, a deeply repressive society where political arguments were often settled by duels, and young women were expected to be totally ignorant of sex. With dark expressionist camera angles that have been compared to Orson Welles, Torre Nilsson tells his story of political hypocrisy and sexual discovery through the eyes of a beautiful, cloistered teenage girl---his muse, Elsa Daniel---whose loss of innocence is rendered in striking images of shadow and light.


The Idle Class
(1921, Janus Films, 32 min). The Tramp arrives at a luxurious resort, stowed away in the train that takes the elite to their sunny summer playground. New 35 mm Print! 


INTERIORS
Diane Keaton, Mary Beth Hurt and Kristin Griffith are sisters who try to come to terms with themselves when their parents undergo divorce. Considered Woody Allen's dramatic masterpiece by many critics, the Bergman-influenced Interiors features brilliant performances from Maureen Stapleton, Geraldine Page and E.G. Marshall. Woody Allen---USA---1978---92 mins.


KATALIN VARGA
(2009, Romania/United Kingdom) Directed by Peter Strickland
In British writer-director Peter Strickland's haunting and spare feature debut, newcomer Hilda Peter plays Katalin Varga, a woman whose tranquil life in rural Transylvania collapses after her husband discovers that their young son Orban isn't his. Banished from her home, Katalin embarks on a journey to track down Orban's birth father—and to reconcile with a past that has been buried but not forgotten. Powered by an atmospheric score and a story that subverts the conventions of the road movie and revenge drama, Katalin Varga deservedly won the European Film Awards' 2009 European Discovery prize.
Producer: Peter Strickland. Screenplay: Peter Strickland. Cinematographer: Mark Gyori. Cast: Hilda Peter, Tibor Palffy, Norbert Tanko. Presented in Romanian and Hungarian dialogue with English subtitles. 35mm, 82 min. 


THE KID
"But it was in The Kid that Chaplin seemed to realize, at last, precisely what was required." - Walter Kerr, "The Silent Clowns"
In celebration of Father’s Day, The Cinefamily presents one of Chaplin’s most moving and beloved films. The Tramp adopts an abandoned toddler (Jackie Coogan) whom he discovers in an alley, and raises him to become his sidekick in a variety of schemes and cons. Chaplin's first feature-length directorial effort, The Kid is a moving and hilarious portrait of paternal love, or as the film's first intertitle says, "A picture with a smile, and perhaps a tear..." As well, it's the landmark work of genius in which Charlie the jester metamorphasized into Charlie the full-blooded actor, whose iconic dignity in the face of comic adversity has continued to make him one of our greatest cinematic treasures. Children under 18 get in half-price to this special "kiddie" matinee!


The Killers
(103 mins.)
Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner gave breakthrough performances in this gripping drama from a screenplay by Anthony Veiller that expanded Ernest Hemingway’s classic short story about a man who makes no effort to escape from the men hired to kill him.


A KING IN NEW YORK, 1957, Janus Films, 110 min. Charlie Chaplin's take on America in the 1950s, made during his exile from the country due to his leftist views, stars Chaplin as a peaceable king who runs afoul of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Roberto Rossellini wisely called the work "the film of a free man."  New 35 mm Print! 


The Kiss of Death
(98 mins.)
Richard Widmark made a memorable screen debut as Tommy Udo, one of the all-time great villains of film noir, in this tense drama starring Victor Mature and Brian Donlevy, directed by Henry Hathaway from a screenplay by Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer.


Koolhaus HouseLife
Koolhaus HouseLife examines the daily life of one of the masterpieces of contemporary architecture of recent years: The House in Bordeaux, designed in 1998 by Rem Koolhaas / OMA. Unlike most movies about architecture, this feature focuses less on explaining the building and its virtuosity than on letting the viewer experience the daily intimacy of an architectural icon. (France, 2008, 58 min. French with English subtitles. Dirs: Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine)


LIMELIGHT, 1952, Janus Films, 137 min. Dir. Charlie Chaplin. In this nostalgic but never maudlin swan song, Chaplin channels the riotous music-hall culture of his youth. An intensely personal film complete with recollections of his parents as well as his children in cameo roles, LIMELIGHT also features the one-time-only onscreen pairing of Chaplin and Buster Keaton.  New 35 mm Print!


LOVE AT FIRST BITE
(from IMDB)
This vampire spoof has Count Dracula moving to New York to find his Bride, after being forced to move out of his Transylvanian castle. There with the aid of assistant Renfield, he stumbles through typical New York city life situations while pursuing Cindy Soundheim. But her boyfriend, Doctor Jeff Rosenberg, realizes she is under the influence of a vampire, and tries his bumbling best to convince police Lt Ferguson of what is going on, and to help him stop Dracula. Dir. Stan Dragoti, 1979, 94 mins.


THE MAN FROM THE DINERS’ CLUB
In this send-up of the American business world, Danny Kaye plays a hapless Diners' Club employee who must retrieve a card accidentally issued to a mobster (Telly Savalas). Also featuring Harry Dean Stanton as a beatnik. Directed by Frank Tashlin. (1963, 96 min. No MPAA rating.) 


Mildred Pierce
(109 mins.)
Joan Crawford earned her only Academy Award for her memorable portrayal of a businesswoman coping with a conniving daughter and an unfaithful lover in this film version of the James M. Cain novel with a screenplay by Ranald MacDougall, directed by Michael Curtiz.


Mr. Mike's Mondo Video
As one of the founding editors of National Lampoon and the head writer of SNL during its legendary formative years, Michael O'Donoghue's caustic wit and casual disregard for the fragility of the average human psyche contributed to the warping of an entire generation, making him a comedy legend in the process. And to prove it, the apex of O'Donoghue's crazed television achievements is so volatile, offensive and awesome that it didn't even make it onto the air! An appaled NBC censor board infamously instantly rejected Mr. Mike's Mondo Video, the all-star sketch film special (inspired by the success of Italian "mondo" movies) that showcases the wide variety of bizarre made-up behavior around the world. Reprising his recurring SNL shady character "Mr. Mike", O'Donoghue extolls the virtues of throwing cats in swimming pools, women who love creeps, bathing in dolphin blood, Klaus Nomi, webbed toes and TV-worshipping cults -- and presides over a phalanx of incredible cameos by Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Margot Kidder, Debbie Harry and tons more! Later shipped off to theaters for angry, disbelieving patrons, Mondo Video has almost never screened theatrically since its original run -- so don't miss this extremely rare chance to see a scarce 35mm print, up close and in person, for an evening of truly cracked black comedy.
Dir. Michael O'Donoghue, 1979, 35mm, 75 min. 


MONSTERS
In Gareth Edwards’ stunning directorial debut, a photojournalist in southern Mexico is charged with getting his boss’ daughter to the safety of the U.S. The only problem is the two of them are on the wrong side of the “Infected Zone,” a huge swath of land between the two countries that is an alien-infested no-man’s land. With an economy of means but no shortage of vision, Edwards has made a science fiction film that successfully acknowledges, but nimbly avoids, all the pitfalls of the genre. Yes, there are monsters, but Edwards’ storytelling holds other wonders as well, as he wisely keeps his focus on people instead of pyrotechnics.


THE NEW AGE, 1994, Warner Bros., 112 min. Dir. Michael Tolkin. When yuppies Peter and Katharine Witner (Peter Weller and Judy Davis) both lose their perfect jobs, they turn to New Age gurus, misguided business plans and even the occasional infidelity to try to find meaning in their lives. Slowly, as the pressures of hitting rock bottom sink in, the Witners' marriage begins to unravel in this smart drama about the perils of modern California living. Discussion between films with actor Peter Weller.


1991 - THE YEAR PUNK BROKE ('92, 99m) at 6pm - With Sonic Youth and Nirvana as they stumble thought their 1991 European club festival tour! Let filmmaker Dave Markey put you on stage, off stage and backstage! Witness the boredom! The cynicism! And rock harder than you may have ever rocked before! Featuring Dinosaur Jr., Babes In Toyland, Gumball, The Ramones and a surging wave of punk rock fanatics! See You In The Pit! "Markey strives for a kind of cinema verite-meets-homemade-fanzine appeal and succeeds almost too well."-Entertainment Weekly 


NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE
Werner Herzog's retelling of the Dracula legend is truly an homage to F.W. Murnau's 1922 silent classic. Both reverent and funny, the film captures much of the look (including Klaus Kinski's make-up) and atmosphere of the original, while subtly crafting a mood all its own. Some of the scenes are shot-for-shot reproductions of Murnau's images, while others are pure Herzog. Isabelle Adjani plays the beauty that Kinski's vampire pursues, with Bruno Ganz as her unlucky husband.  Werner Herzog---West Germany---1979---107 mins./96 mins. 


Nothing Lasts Forever
Take the whimsical social satire of Frank Capra, filter it through the startling future dream of Terry Gilliam's Brazil and add a few drops of the gentle madness of both Forbidden Zone and The Hudsucker Proxy -- and you've got Nothing Lasts Forever, the vastly underseen early '80s gem from Tom Schiller, director of some of SNL's most ingenious early film shorts. Zach Galligan (Gremlins) plays Adam, an upstanding wannabe artist trapped in a discreetly ever-mutating retro future dystopia (is it '30s? '50s? '80s?), where the Port Authority has assumed control of Manhattan's government, and has denied him an "artist's license." A secret cabal of hobos, however, sees Adam's worth and sends him packing on a shuttle bus to the Moon! Shelved by MGM after its completion and never released theatrically or on video, this subtle and charming B&W curio -- even with the added presence of its co-stars Bill Murray and Dan Ackroyd -- was too "outside the box" and ahead of its time in the boom era of teen sex romps, slasher films and buddy action flicks. Lucky for us, however, Nothing Lasts Forever remains as one of the most truly unique film works of its time.
Dir. Tom Schiller, 1984, 35mm, 82 min. 


100 Greatest Looney Tunes!
To commemorate the publication of animation historian Jerry Beck's new hardcover book "The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons" (Insight Editions), we've got for you (what else?) one hundred Looney Tunes -- we'll screen a selection of full-length shorts in 35mm, as well as present a specially-edited reel featuring the other ninety-odd, and if we're lucky, advance copies of the book may be available for Jerry to sign! The book is based on a survey taken of thousands of cartoon fans, film historians and renowned movie critics, and celebrates the best of the best, the fastest and funniest Warner Bros. cartoons you must see before you die. The program features classic works by Tex Avery, Frank Tashlin, Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett, Friz Freleng and others -- and stars Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, Tweety, Sylvester, Speedy Gonzales and dozens more. "Kill da Wabbit!" "Hassan Chop!" "I Tawt I Taw a Putty Tat!" "What’s Up, Doc?" "Pronoun Trouble!" Which ones made the cut? Join us on June 1st and find out! That’s all, folks!


THE OUTFIT
(from IMDB)
When petty criminal Macklin is released from prison, he learns that his brother was shot by two killers. Macklin and his brother didn't know that the bank they robbed was owned by the syndicate. When he's almost offed by a killer too, Macklin pays the mobster Jack Manner a visit and demands reparations. His friend Cody helps him to gratify his thirst for revenge.    Dir. John Flynn, 1973, 103 mins.


Performance
1970/color/105 min. | Scr: Donald Cammell; dir: Donald Cammell, Nicolas Roeg; w/ Mick Jagger, James Fox, Anita Pallenberg, Michele Breton.
Drawing inspiration both from the East End's mobster twins Ronald and Reginald Kray (who Cammell wanted to employ as "technical advisors" on the film) and Chelsea's tuned-in/turned-on rock scene, Performance follows ruthless Cockney gangster James Fox as he tries to lie low in the baronial, rundown manor of reclusive, hippie mystic Mick Jagger. With echoes of Persona (released in 1967), Performance expands Bergman's two-hander mind game into a series of enigmatic trysts between heavy-lidded Jagger, his two concubines (gamine Michele Breton and Anita Pallenberg, real-life girlfriend of Keith Richards) and Fox. Throughout the grueling shoot, the offscreen behavior of the four leads began to reflect their onscreen debauchery. (After the film wrapped, Fox retreated to an evangelical group and didn't act again for a decade.) Co-directed by cinematographer Nicholas Roeg—whose credits at the time included Richard Lester's Petulia, François Truffaut's Fahrenheit 451 and John Schlesinger's Far from the Madding Crowd—Cammell's debut feature is hypnotically stylish. In addition to its cavernously bohemian sets and hep Jack Nitzsche score—interspersing synthesizer drones and Ry Cooder slide guitar—the film boasts "a nonstop farrago of strobe cuts, flash forwards, percussive zooms, rack-focus shots weird aural cues, and trippy interpolations" (J. Hoberman, The Village Voice).  These "strobe cuts", developed by Cammell and editor Frank Mazzola while Roeg was in Australia shooting Walkabout, may be the film's signature flourish, inspiring the jigsaw edits of Easy Rider. Deemed unreleasable by Warner Bros. and panned by the mainstream press when it finally hit theaters in 1970, Performance now stands as a landmark of decadent imagination and a definitive cult classic. "One of the greatest movies ever made in Britain… a Modernist masterpiece that invokes Artaud and Genet, Borges, Bataille and Burroughs, Nabokov's Despair and Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray."—John Patterson, LA Weekly. 


THE PILGRIM, 1923, Janus Films, 59 min. Chaplin plays an escaped convict who, upon discovering a suit of clerical clothes, makes the uniform his disguise. A smart and funny critique of religious pretense.  New 35 mm Print!


PLAY MISTY FOR ME
In his directorial debut, Clint Eastwood plays a late-night radio disc jockey who is haunted by an obsessive groupie (Jessica Walter, just as scary as can be) with whom he had what he thought was a casual fling. A very competent thriller that still delivers lots of surprises and chills, and the probable inspiration for Fatal Attraction.  Clint Eastwood---USA---1971---102 mins. 


POINT BLANK
A superior crime thriller starring Lee Marvin as a double-crossed professional criminal out to settle the score with everyone who sold him out and left him for dead. Based on the novel by Donald Westlake writing as Richard Stark. Cast includes Angie Dickinson, Carroll O'Connor, Keenan Wynn, John Vernon and Lloyd Bochner.  John Boorman---USA---1967---89 mins. 


THE REINACTORS ('09, 96m) at 8pm - Dave Markey's (in-person) hilarious documentary interweaves the disparate lives of street performers and celebrity look-a-likes on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame. "A bittersweet look at a tribe of desperate dreamers. David Markey dives deep into the subterranean nooks and crannies of this bizarre subculture and surfaces with cinematic gold." - Ann Magnuson, The Paper.


RETROFORMAT- IDOLS OF THE SILENT ERA: This fascinating evening of Super 8 shorts includes Two superb D.W Griffith shorts: Florence Lawrence in  "Confidence" (1909, 11 min); and Henry Walthall, Blanche Sweet and Lionel Barrymore in "Death's Marathon" (1913, 17min). "Fox Trot Finesse" (1915) stars the delightful Mr. & Mrs. Sidney Drew (cousins of the Barrymores and namesakes to Drew Barrymore). 1915's stark drama "The Making of Crooks" stars Jack Pickford, Mary's brother, as a juvenile delinquent. For utter camp madness, Pearl White stars in "Lost in the Night" and "The Mad Lover" (1913). Wallace Reid & Dorothy Gish star in "Old Heidleberg" (1916). 


Riding Giants
An exhilarating, often mind-blowing history of surfing. — Washington Post
Riding Giants takes us along surfing’s timeline from its Polynesian roots to its early 20th-century rebirth in Southern California. The film highlights the group of extraordinary adventurers who, not satisfied with the mere recreational and social aspects of the sport, began searching for bigger and bigger waves. A Q&A with director Stacy Peralta will follow the screening. (2004, 104 min. Dir. Stacy Peralta.


THE RIVER, 1951, Janus Films, 99 min. Based on the novel by Rumer Godden and directed, written and produced by Jean Renoir, this is a moving portrait of an English girl coming of age in Bengal. The film was nominated for two BAFTA awards and was the first film to be shot on location in India using three-strip Technicolor. Restored by The Academy Film Archive in cooperation with The British Film Institute and Janus Films. Restoration funding provided by The Film Foundation and The Hollywood Foreign Press Association.


ROCATERRANIA ('09, 74m) at 8:30pm Brett Ingram's fascinating documentary explores the secret world of scientific illustrator and visionary artist Renaldo Kuhler. In the last four decades, seventy-six-year-old Renaldo Kuhler has created hundreds of plates for the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, illustrating diverse flora and fauna for obscure scientific journals and reference books. Before the making of this documentary, no one knew that Kuhler is also a prolific visionary artist, and one of the most important discoveries of outsider art since Henry Darger. Kuhler also worked with Stan Brakhage.


SAN FRANCISCO EXQUISITE CORPSE & INTIMATE OBSERVATIONS
Super 8 films from San Francisco! Intimate Observations is a collection of moving collages, left-field narrative and cinema vérité committed to the confines of small gauge celluloid. These new and classic experimental & narrative works capture candid situations, mundane objects and familiar landscapes but reveal something extraordinary about them. SF Bay Area filmmakers include Phoebe Tooke, Christian Bruno & Natalija Vekic, Paul Clipson, Daniel Gorrell, Jim Granato, Miles Montalbano, Douglas Schultz and "King of Super 8" Danny Plotnick. The impetus for the Exquisite Corpse Films follows from the original surrealist construct presented by Andre Breton in 1920. Each film was created using a 3 minute cartridge of Kodachrome super 8 film and was assigned a topic chosen by the group, with (6) 30 second opportunities to describe the subject. The filmmakers edited their contributions 'in camera' and the films are presented as they were shot. Live music by Don Black of GHIANT and Eric McCann of the New Amsterdams will be featured to score the 2nd half of the show, SF Exquisite Corpse!! CURATOR AND FILMMAKER JIM GRANATO IN ATTENDANCE!


THE SAVAGE EYE
Angelenos are invited to discover and explore their changing urban landscape when the Filmmobile projects an array of classic films at (actual or implied) cinematic locations across the city. Join us for The Savage Eye, the 1959 “dramatized documentary” film that provides a peephole into the seedier side of a long gone Los Angeles.


SEE NO EVIL
Mia Farrow stars in this horror drama as a young woman, blinded in an accident, who finds her entire family murdered on their farm. She must now escape the homicidal maniac who targets her. With Dorothy Allison. Richard Fleischer---USA---1971---90 mins.


THE SEVEN MADMEN
Shot in color, this baroque melodrama set in the 1930s---a time of economic and political crisis---is based on two novels by the legendary Argentine writer Roberto Arlt, who's been dubbed the Dostoyevsky of South America. It follows a frustrated inventor named Erdosian, desperate to escape poverty, who joins a secret society funded by a network of brothels that aims to subvert the social order. Its cast was considered a dream team of Argentinian actors---Alfredo Alcon, Norma Aleandro, Hector Alterio, and Sergio Renan. The Seven Madmen won the Silver Bear at the 1973 Berlin Film Festival.


SHADOEVISION
TV Tuesday:
A Tribute To Shadoe Stevens
(feat. "Federated Group" Commercials Best-Of & Shadoevision!)
Co-presented by Hidden Los Angeles
Who knew that commercials could be this much fun?! One of the most berserk, outrageous and unforgettable TV comedies of the 1980s, doled out thirty seconds at a time, was the unending series of wacky, ultra-fast-paced commercial spots for the So Cal electronics chain The Federated Group that starred "Fred Rated", the half-insane "Bass-O-Matic"-style spokesman with a smooth baritone and a suave smile (played by broadcasting legend Shadoe Stevens). Before he was the voice of "Hollywood Squares", Stevens and his round-the-clock gung-ho skeleton crew tirelessly cranked out highly memorable, frenetic nuggets of dadaist Monty Python-esque video art disguised in the form of VCR and car stereo ads -- amassing the astounding figure of over 1000 genius commercials in the span of just a few years, and leaving an indelible mark on the psyche of every L.A. TV-watcher. Join us as we pay tribute to Shadoe and his "Fred Rated" team by screening the definitive "best of Fred" reel, followed by Shadoevision, the even-more-bonkers 1986 sci-fi comedy cable special that, in the words of Shadoe, "pioneered new experiences in psychological entertaiment!" Shadoe Stevens, director Chuck Cirino and the rest of the "Fred Rated"/Shadoevision brain trust will all be here at the Cinefamily for a Q&A after the screening! 


The Sound Cinema of Stan Brakhage
Among his more than 350 personal films, Stan Brakhage (1933-2003) produced only 27 works with soundtracks (a complete list appears below).  In this program, five of these sound films will be shown, representing a variety of approaches to what Brakhage referred to as “the ‘sound problem’ of motion picture aesthetic.”  (We hope you had a chance to join us for two other Brakhage sound films – Visions in Meditation #3 and Scenes From Under Childhood, Section One – which were screened in our program on June 6, 2010.)
Brakhage created his own soundtracks for a number of the films (three of which are included tonight), but also worked with composers, who either created new pieces for him, or authorized existing pieces to be used.  Many of them were also friends, including James Tenney (Interim, Christ Mass Sex Dance, “...” Reel Five), Rick Corrigan (Visions in Meditation #3, Boulder Blues and Pearls And..., Faust 4, others), and Joel Haertling (I... Dreaming, Loud Visual Noises, others).
Although music and sound were of great significance to Brakhage, sound cinema was a problematic area that he felt would often create more unresolvable conflict in his work than the harmony of spirit that might be desired.  Brakhage approached the visual and rhythmic aspects of his films in such an intensely musical way, that any attempt at soundtrack might only create distraction, conflict, and competition between his visual music and its aural counterpart.  Nevertheless, he did work with sound on 27 occasions, sometimes to his great personal satisfaction (Passage Through: A Ritual), sometimes only to resigned tolerance (Scenes From Under Childhood, Section One).  


STANDING ROOM ONLY, 1978, 102 min. Dir. Allen Main and Hugh Thomas. A quintessential surf film from an era when performance surfing and independent filmmaking were reaching new heights. Electrifying footage of the best locations being ridden by the premier surfers of the 1970s, along with a groovy 1970s soundtrack and afros galore. Discussion after the film with surfing legend Shaun Tomson. 


Stephen Connolly: Occasional Pieces and Afflicted States
Filmforum is delighted to host the premiere screening for UK-based filmmaker Stephen Connolly here in Los Angeles. One of the leading strands of experimental film today utilizes observational documentary techniques, without necessarily tying the edited film to a clear narrative or leading character.  Instead, the work investigates the social, political and historical terrain of contemporary spaces and landscapes through prolonged gazes, careful composition and montage. Connolly’s short films retain the sensitivity to light, rhythm, and perception that characterize all fine experimental and documentary work.  If you are a fan of films by such artists as James Benning, Naomi Uman, Ben Rivers, Vera Brunner-Sung (whose film Common Ground traverses some of the same terrain as Connolly’s Great American Desert), and Laura Kraning, we think you’ll find this show of great interest.


The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
(117 mins.)
Kirk Douglas made his film debut as an ambitious D.A. and Robert Rossen wrote the screenplay for this romantic thriller starring Barbara Stanwyck in the title role of a woman made wealthy by a murder she committed in her youth.


STUNT ROCK
(from IMDB)
Australian stuntman Grant Page goes to Los Angeles to work on a television series. He uses his spare time to lend his expertise to rock band Sorcery, whose act features duels between the King of the Wizards and the Prince of Darkness, with his cousin playing the Prince. Page helps the duo develop pyrotechnic magic tricks for their shows, and also finds himself in a budding romance with a magazine writer as he recounts to her his own exploits as a stuntman and daredevil as well as various stunts by other greats.  Dir. Brian Trenchard-Smith, 1978, 86 mins.


Sunnyside
(1919, Janus Films, 29 min). Charlie the handyman must mow the floor of a hotel and deal with the pesky cows and goats that have found a home in the church.  New 35 mm Print!


A THOUSAND CLOWNS
Join us for a special screening of A Thousand Clowns (1965), directed by Fred Coe with original screenplay by Herb Gardner. Adapted from Gardner’s 1962 play of the same title, this rare cinematic gem is perhaps at its most poignant today in light of the current economic climate. Set in the confines of a tiny New York City apartment, the film explores themes of unemployment, conformity, and conventionality, and is unavailable on DVD.
Introduced by Rena Durrant with discussion to follow. 


THUNDER SOUL
Told with style and pizzazz, the rousing documentary Thunder Soul celebrates the Kashmere Stage Band, a worldwide sensation in the 1970s that will forever change the way you think about high school bands. When Conrad O. Johnson, a music teacher at a predominantly black high school in Houston, replaced the staid stage band standards with contemporary funk, jazz, and original compositions, he changed the lives of his students forever. Not only did they become one of the best bands, professional or amateur, around, but they learned lessons that stayed with them long after graduation, as evidenced thirty-five years later, when the band reunited to pay tribute to the man who made it all possible.


White of the Eye
1987/color/110 min. | Scr: Donald Cammell; China Cammell; dir: Donald Cammell; w/ David Keith, Cathy Moriarty, Art Evans
An elliptical, Hitchcockian thriller set in the harsh, bleached landscape of Arizona mining country, White of the Eye stars Cathy Moriarty as a transplanted New Yorker pondering whether the man she loves, audiophile David Keith, is a serial killer. Originally given an X rating due to its menacing imagery—on one occasion, a police officer likens the murderer's handiwork to "post-Cubist Picasso…or maybe even later"—the film was released with an R thanks to a letter from Cammell confidant Marlon Brando to the chairman of the ratings board defending the film's "originality, artistry and power." Perhaps the least-seen of Cammell's feature films, White of the Eye is an eerie deconstruction of high-80's consumerist culture that reaches a startling desert climax which evokes Antonioni's Zabriskie Point. "In the final reel, I tried to create the sound and fury of madness and take you into a world of transcendent horror."—Donald Cammell.


Wild Grass
2009/color/104 min./Scope | Scr: Alex Réval, Laurent Herbiet; dir: Alain Resnais; w/ Sabine Azéma, André Dussollier, Anne Consigny, Emmanuelle Devos, Mathieu Amalric
Widely acclaimed at its Cannes world premiere, the latest film from France's master of space-time intrigue, Alain Resnais, may be his headiest concoction in decades. Racked by a mid-life crisis, George becomes obsessed with the owner of a mysterious purse that he chances upon: an aviatrix with a shocking red hair. As he tries to track her down, he becomes enveloped in a mystery of his own making. With its lush widescreen camerawork, playfully free-floating montage, and imaginative tonal shifts, Resnais's latest mind-bending journey finds this 87-year-old filmmaker in peak form. "Sublime…Resnais's finest work to date."—The New York Times. 


THE WILD LIFE
(from IMDB)
The adventures of Bill & Tom, two high school buddies at opposite ends of the spectrum. Bill (Eric Stolz) prefers to live life straight-laced, while his friend Tom (Chris Penn) takes nothing seriously except partying all the time. When Bill moves out of his mother's house to live on his own he faces many issues, from his girlfriend, to his brother, to his landlord. Meanwhile, his friend Tom moves in to keep the rent down but proceeds to turn Bill's life upside down. 
Dir. Art Linson, 1984, 96 mins.


Wild Side
1995/color/111 min. | Scr; China Kong, Donald Cammell; dir: Donald Cammell; w/ Anne Heche, Christopher Walken, Joan Chen, Steven Hauer
Black-haired, bug-eyed Christopher Walken gives a performance of career-best eccentricity as a gangster caught between his estranged wife (Joan Chen), her lover (Anne Heche), and his double-crossing bodyguard (Steven Hauer). With noir shadings, operatic sprawl, Cammell's trademark splintered crosscutting, and uninhibited acting from its four stars, Wild Side may be Cammell's most adventurous film since Performance. This director's-cut version—reconstructed posthumously by Cammell's wife/co-writer, China, and editor Frank Mazzola—is longer than the edited version released to cable television by its producers, though it has fewer scenes. "A film which repeatedly and willfully brings itself to the brink of implausibility and chaos, yet steps back to become an original and exhilarating thriller, capriciously intelligent, with experimentalism and verve…in Wild Side a cult classic has been born."—Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian. 


Winter's Bone
17 year-old Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) sets out to track down her father, who put their house up for his bail bond and then disappeared. If she fails, Ree and her family will be turned out into the Ozark woods. Challenging her outlaw kin's code of silence and risking her life, Ree hacks through the lies, evasions and threats offered up by her relatives and begins to piece together the truth. Actresses Lauren Sweetser and Dale Dickey will be present for a Q&A Winner, Grand Jury Prize, 2010 Sundance Film Festival Official Selection, 2010 Berlin International Film Festival


A WOMAN OF PARIS, 1923, Janus Films, 78 min. One of the rare Chaplin films not starring Chaplin, this romantic drama stars Edna Purviance as a woman who bounces back and forth between the security of a wealthy lover (played by the great Adolphe Menjou) and the passion of a poor artist.  New 35 mm Print! 


The Wrong Guy
After the original run of The Kids In The Hall came to an end with Brain Candy, Dave Foley kept the train a-rolling with The Wrong Guy, his very KITH-like '90s re-imagining of The Fugitive, complete with mile-a-minute gags and surreal Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker energy to spare. Directed by Canadian comedy guru David Stenberg (whose short-lived 1970s sketch show featured almost the entire cast of what would later be "SCTV") and co-starring Jennifer Tilly as an alluring narcoleptic, the film's a nimble man-on-the-run spoof, with Foley as a junior executive suck-up who thinks he's been framed for the murder of his boss. Fleeing the city, Foley spirals into a chuckle-heavy dementia as he "outwits" the cops who are actually on the trail of the real killer. Graciously abandoning all forms of reality in favor of stylish '60s bombast, brilliant absurdities, high-five-worthy cameos (including fellow Kids In The Hall member Kevin McDonald) and good ol’ gross-out gore gags, The Wrong Guy is the best kind of overlooked obscurity -- the seriously funny kind. Dave Foley will be at the Cinefamily in person for a Q&A after the screening!!!!
Dir. David Steinberg, 1997, 35mm, 92 min.


Zidane: A Twentieth-Century Portrait
Halfway between a sports documentary and a conceptual art installation, Zidane consists of a full-length soccer game (Real Madrid vs. Villareal, April 23, 2005) entirely filmed from the perspective of soccer superstar Zinedine Zidane. Original music by Mogwai. (2006, 90 mins. Dirs: Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno).