a highly-opinionated selection of things happening around town, and sometimes out of town. this month's page here.
mon. june 11
the color wheel 5:00 7:00 PM @ downtown independent
celine and julie go boating 8 PM @ silent movie theatre
street dogs of south central FREE (RSVP) 7 PM @ usc brocolli theatre
frank fairfield @ redwood
annie hall 9 PM @ downtown independent
tue. june 12
the color wheel 5:00 7:00 PM @ downtown independent
celine and julie go boating 8 PM @ silent movie theatre
wed. june 13
the big sleep 8 PM @ last remaining seats @ los angeles theatre
sneakpeek @ bootleg
the color wheel 3:00 5:00 PM @ downtown independent
little darlings @ downtown independent
celine and julie go boating 8 PM @ silent movie theatre
thu. june 14
partch 8:30 @ redcat
ali: fear eats the soul, chinese roulette @ egyptian
the color wheel 3:00 5:00 PM @ downtown independent
mike watt & the missingmen @ satellite
diamonds are forever, live and let die @ aero
celine and julie go boating 8 PM @ silent movie theatre
god equals genocide @ blue star
robert nelson tribute screening #1 8 PM @ epfc
fri. june 15
airport @ ucla film archive
ghostbusters MIDNIGHT @ nuart
casablanca (gates at 6:30, film at sunset) @ oscars outdoors
the man with the golden gun, the spy who loved me, moonraker @ egyptian
from beyond MIDNIGHT @ silent movie theatre
street dogs of south central 8 PM @ epfc
take this waltz FREE (RSVP) 7 PM @ usc ray stark
killer joe @ laff @ lacma
ezra buchla @ the sanctuary
jesus and mary chain @ hollywood park
beasts of the southern wild 7 PM @ laff @ regal 1
e.t. FREE 8:30 PM @ laff @ FIGat7th
gimme the loot 9:30 PM @ laff @ regal 9
red flag 9:50 PM @ laff @ regal 13
juan of the dead 11 PM @ laff @ regal 12
sat. june 16
the art of illusions: pre-cinematic entertainment in mexico: an illustrated lecture 8 PM @ velaslavasay panorama
jb smoove @ the improv
snow white and the seven dwarves (gates at 6:30, film at sunset) @ oscars outdoors
mildred pierce 2 PM @ los angeles restaurants of the 1920s-40s @ egyptian
the terminator, terminator 2: judgment day, terminator 3: rise of the machines @ egyptian
for your eyes only, octopussy, a view to a kill @ aero
how to be a homosexual: films of roger jacoby 8 PM @ epfc
cheech & chong's up in smoke @ cinespia @ hollywood forever
mike watt & the missingmen @ redwood
the compass is carried by the dead man 4:20 PM @ laff @ regal 14
thursday till sunday 5:30 PM @ laff @ regal 13
dead man's burden 7 PM @ laff @ regal 10
a band called death 7:20 PM @ laff @ regal 11
vampira and me 10 PM @ laff @ regal 12
saturday morning massacre 10:30 PM @ laff @ regal 13
sun. june 17
high plains drifter 7 PM, winchester '73 @ ucla film archive
the living daylights, licence to kill @ aero
the kid 4 PM @ silent movie theatre
monterey pop 7 PM @ silent movie theatre
love and death 3:45 7:30 PM, everything you ever wanted to know about sex 5:30 9:15 PM @ new beverly
extraterrestrial FREE (RSVP) 6 PM @ usc ray stark
ritual america: secret brotherhoods and their influence on american society: a visual guide FREE 6:30 PM @ stories
airships (8:15) @ bootleg
nightwatching @ filmforum @ spielberg @ egyptian
sister 1:20 PM @ laff @ regal 10
without gorky 1:30 PM @ laff @ regal 11
red flag 3:50 PM @ laff @ regal 11
crazy & thief 5:30 PM @ laff @ regal 13
breakfast with curtis 6:40 PM @ laff @ regal 10
bunohan: return to murder 9:40 PM @ laff @ regal 10
thursday till sunday 9:50 PM @ laff @ regal 13
mon. june 18
the sting @ ucla film archive
love and death, everything you ever wanted to know about sex @ new beverly
frank fairfield @ redwood
sister 7:10 PM @ laff @ regal 11
the compass is carried by the dead man 7:20 PM @ laff @ regal 13
juan of the dead 10:10 PM @ laff @ regal 9
tue. june 19
the bank dick 1 PM, never give a sucker an even break @ lacma
willoughby FREE @ satellite
the kid with a bike, kes @ new beverly
mondo game show 8 PM @ tv tuesday @ silent movie theatre
the do-deca-pentathlon FREE (RSVP) 6:30 PM @ usc ray stark
we are wisconsin! FREE @ hammer
a band called death 7:10 PM @ laff @ regal 9
searching for sugar man 7:40 PM @ laff @ regal 8
ballads blues and bluegrass 8 PM @ laff @ grammy museum
bunohan: return to murder 9:40 PM @ laff @ regal 9
saturday morning massacre 10 PM @ laff @ regal 13
wed. june 20
the kid with a bike, kes @ new beverly
wait until dark @ egyptian
searching for sugar man 5:30 PM @ laff @ regal 8
breakfast with curtis 8:10 PM @ laff @ regal 13
p-047 9:50 PM @ laff @ regal 12
thu. june 21
dead dawn @ echo
the mill and the cross, the draughtsman's contract @ new beverly
juan of the dead @ silent movie theatre
new works salon 8 PM @ epfc
hondo (3D) FREE (RSVP) 6 PM @ usc ray stark
robot & frank 5 PM @ laff @ regal 8
beauty is embarassing @ laff @ lacma
fri. june 22
the birds @ ucla film archive
beavis and butthead do america MIDNIGHT @ nuart
the coup @ the smell
raising arizona (gates at 6:30, film at sunset) @ oscars outdoors
freaks, carnivals of souls @ egyptian
goldeneye, tomorrow never dies @ aero
detention MIDNIGHT @ silent movie theatre
the mill and the cross, the draughtsman's contract @ new beverly
california dreamin' FREE (RSVP) 7 PM @ usc ray stark
fancy space people (11:15) @ hm157
without gorky 7:40 PM @ laff @ regal 9
the house i live in 8:10 PM @ laff @ regal 13
dead man's burden 9:50 PM @ laff @ regal 10
sat. june 23
l'inferno 3 PM @ getty center
dante's inferno (2007) 7 PM @ getty center
inglorious basterds @ ucla film archive
donnie darko 9 PM @ devil's night drive-in
quintron and miss pussycat @ the smell
ferris bueller's day off (gates at 6:30, film at sunset) @ oscars outdoors
the big lebowski 8:30 PM @ eat see hear outdoor movie festival @ memorial greek theater at samo high
the world is not enough, die another day @ egyptian
forbidden zone, the american astronaut @ aero
bass on film day one 5:30 PM @ silent movie theatre
breaking glass 8 PM @ we hate everything including this film series @ epfc
chinatown @ cinespia @ hollywood forever
heroes & heroines FREE @ echo
the breaking point 3:30 PM @ laff @ redcat
easy money 6:30 PM @ laff @ redcat
robot & frank 7:10 PM @ laff @ regal 10
vampira and me 7:30 PM @ laff @ regal 13
sun. june 24
moonbeams, whirr, tropic of cancer, etc @ shoegaze festival @ part time punks @ the echo
dante's inferno (1924) 3 PM @ getty center
jaws 7 PM @ ucla film archive
casino royale (2006), quantum of solace @ aero
phase iv @ bass on film day two 8:30 PM @ silent movie theatre
l.a. confidential 7 PM, devil in a blue dress 9:40 PM @ new beverly
p-047 12:40 PM @ laff @ regal 14
the house i live in 3:30 PM @ laff @ regal 13
mon. june 25
the adventures of buckaroo banzai @ silent movie theatre
l.a. confidential, devil in a blue dress @ new beverly
turn me on dammit! FREE (RSVP) 7 PM @ usc broccoli theatre
frank fairfield @ redwood
louis ck @ improv
hara-kiri: death of a samurai 3D (sneak preview) FREE (RSVP) @ downtown independent
wed. june 27
robin hood (1922) @ last reminaing seats @ orpheum theatre
bell gardens @ echo
assemble head in sunburst sound @ bootleg
3 women @ aero
the life and death of colonel blimp @ ampas samuel goldwyn
thu. june 28
rebellion, la haine @ egyptian
la air: nancy jean tucker 8 PM @ epfc
fri. june 29
the warriors MIDNIGHT @ nuart
jonathan richman @ echo
jon brion @ largo
a star is born (1937) (gates at 6:30, film at sunset) @ oscars outdoors
thunderbirds are go, thunderbird six @ egyptian
pink floyd: the wall, when the wind blows @ aero
soul train: the hippest trip in america FREE 7 PM @ lacma
white magic @ katzen kultur klub
no age @ no-mart: save chinatown, live walmart free @ human resources
sat. june 30
the wizard of oz (1939) 2:00 8:00 PM @ last remaining seats @ saban theatre
the mountain goats (solo) @ mccabe's
the goonies (gates at 6:30, film at sunset) @ oscars outdoors
zoolander 8:30 PM @ eat see hear outdoor movie festival @ paul revere middle school
animal house @ egyptian
thunderbirds episodes part 1 @ spielberg @ egyptian
stop making sense, stax revue 1967 @ aero
palms 8 PM @ epfc
soft pack, abe vigoda, dunes @ bootleg
labyrinth @ cinespia @ hollywood forever
dead dawn @ hm157
jonathan richman @ detroit bar
l'aura moire @ decadanse summer soiree @ mr. t's bowl
sun. jul. 1
the mountain goats (solo) @ mccabe's
dead angle @ echo
quadrophenia 8 PM @ biker movie night @ satellite
thunderbirds episodes part 2 @ spielberg @ egyptian
monterey pop, jimi plays monterey, shake! otis at monterey @ aero
tue. jul. 3
beach house @ el rey
wed. jul. 4
tobacco @ airliner
fri. jul. 6
allah-las (NOON) FREE @ grand performances @ california plaza
stagecoach (gates at 6:30, film at sunset) @ oscars outdoors
the loons @ soda bar (SD)
pangea @ echo
sat. jul. 7
the big lebowski 9 PM @ devil's night drive-in
dazed and confused 8:30 PM @ eat see hear outdoor movie festival @ fidm / grand hope park
never too young to die MIDNIGHT @ silent movie theatre
mon. jul. 9
how to make a piece of art that is not a piece of art FREE 6 PM @ documental @ unurban
tue. jul. 10
tom brosseau @ largo
fri. jul. 13
sonny & the sunsets @ echo
venice beach biennial
sat. jul. 14
the princess bride (gates at 6:30, film at sunset) @ oscars outdoors
venice beach biennial
sonny & the sunsets, allah-las FREE @ levitt pavilion @ mcarthur park
grass widow, dirt dress @ glass house
sun. jul. 15
venice beach biennial
tue. jul. 17
all the king's men 1 PM @ lacma
wed. jul. 18
le folie almayer @ aero
fri. jul. 20
rolling thunder MIDNIGHT @ silent movie theatre
sat. jul. 21
the princess bride 8:30 PM @ devil's night drive-in
the karate kid (gates at 6:30, film at sunset) @ oscars outdoors
the loons FREE @ burger records
three stooges, little rascals & classic cartoons @ heritage square
fri. jul. 27
king tuff, jaill @ echo
the psychic paramount @ satellite
sat. jul. 28
jaws 2:00 8:00 PM @ alex theatre
nick waterhouse (6:00) FREE @ getty center
the dark crystal (gates at 6:30, film at sunset) @ oscars outdoors
the princess bride 8:30 PM @ eat see hear outdoor movie festival @ paul revere middle school
titanic (1953) @ heritage square
fri. aug. 3
north by northwest (gates at 6:30, film at sunset) @ oscars outdoors
sat. aug. 4
steamboat bill jr. (gates at 6:30, film at sunset) @ oscars outdoors
horse feathers @ heritage square
fri. aug. 10
young frankenstein (gates at 6:30, film at sunset) @ oscars outdoors
sat. aug. 11
back to the future (gates at 6:30, film at sunset) @ oscars outdoors
friday 8:30 PM @ eat see hear outdoor movie festival @ hollywood recreation center
mon. aug. 13
grandaddy @ fonda
hippie revolution films FREE 6 PM @ documental @ unurban
tue. aug. 14
primary FREE @ hammer
sat. aug. 18
ghostbusters 8:30 PM @ eat see hear outdoor movie festival @ la cienega park (beverly hills)
sixteen candles, valley girl @ street food cinema @ exposition park
thu. aug. 23
the war room FREE @ hammer
fri. aug. 24
julia holter @ echo
sat. aug. 25
weird science @ street food cinema @ exposition park
tue. aug. 28
spin FREE @ hammer
sun. sept. 2
easy rider 8 PM @ biker movie night @ satellite
thu. sept. 6
negativland @ echo
portrait of the poet as experimental filmmaker FREE 7 PM @ 7 dudley cinema @ beyond baroque
mon. sept. 10
cinema abstractions & avant garde films FREE 6 PM @ documental @ unurban
sat. sept. 22
the clock (noon saturday through noon sunday) FREE @ lacma
tue. sept. 25
beach house @ wiltern
sat. oct. 6
eagle rock music festival
WHAT IT IS:
ALI: FEAR EATS THE SOUL
1974, Janus Films, 93 min, Germany, Dir: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
When robust young Moroccan guest worker Ali (El Hadi ben Salem) and quiet, unassuming Emmi (Brigitte Mira), a white German woman easily 20 years his senior, meet in a bar, the chemistry is palpable and the two become a couple. But 1970s Germany is not kind to cross-generational, cross-racial relationships, and Emmi and Ali find their romance suddenly up against a closely guarded barrier of hostility and envy from friends and family. A surprisingly tender film from Fassbinder that often is considered his best, ALI follows the soul-wearing difficulties of prejudice, homesickness and unconventional love. In German with English subtitles.
THE AMERICAN ASTRONAUT
2001, Artistic License, 91 min, USA, Dir: Cory McAbee
In an alternate version of the Old West, space travel is the norm and interplanetary trader Samuel Curtis sets off on a journey through the solar system, unaware that his old enemy Professor Hess is hot on his trail. Shooting on gorgeous 35mm black-and-white film, writer, director and star Cory McAbee creates an utterly unique and ambitious blend of genres: part science fiction, part Western, and part musical, THE AMERICAN ASTRONAUT is as unclassifiable as it is entertaining.
THE ART OF ILLUSIONS: PRE-CINEMATIC ENTERTAINMENT IN MEXICO: AN ILLUSTRATED LECTURE
A presentation on visual technologies, projection methods and entertainments popular in Mexico before the proliferation of cinema. This bilingual illustrated lecture will be presented in English & Spanish.
BALLADS, BLUES, AND BLUEGRASS
Shot during a late night afterparty in famed ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax's Greenwich Village apartment in 1961 but unseen until now, this film is a treasure trove of performances by some of the most influential blues, bluegrass, country and folk artists of the day, including Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and Roscoe Holcomb (the inspiration for the term "high, lonesome sound"). More a "fly on the wall" piece than a concert film, this intimate get-together also features some incisive and entertaining interviews as Lomax quizzes the players about their music in the midst of a party that would have been a hoot(anany) to attend. Join us as we recreate that Greenwich Village vibe in the Grammy Museum.
(USA, 1961, 37 mins). World Premiere. Directed By: Alan Lomax. Producers: Alan Lomax, George Pickow, Jean Ritchie. Cinematographer: George Pickow. Editor: Anna Lomax Wood. Cast: Clarence Ashley, Roscoe Holcomb, Doc Watson, Jean Ritchie, Jack Elliott, Peter LaFarge, the New Lost City Ramblers, Memphis Slim, Willie Dixon. Live musical performance from Father John Misty; Curt Smith, Tears for Fears and Asdru Sierra, Ozomatli. Hosted by KCRW's Chris Douridas
A Band Called Death
(USA, 2012, 98 mins). World Premiere. Directed By: Jeff Howlett, Mark Covino. Producers: Matthew Perniciaro, Scott Mosier, Kevin Mann, Jerry Ferrara. Cinematographer: Mark Covino. Editor: Rich Fox. Music: Sam Retzer, Tim Boland. Featuring: David Hackney, Bobby Hackney, Sr., Dannis Hackney
Before Bad Brains, the Sex Pistols or even the Ramones, there was Death. Formed in the early '70s by three teenage brothers from Detroit, Death is credited as being the first black punk band, and the Hackney brothers, David, Bobby, and Dannis, are now considered pioneers in their field. But it wasn’t until recently — when a dusty 1974 demo tape made its way out of Bobby’s attic nearly 30 years after Death’s heyday — that anyone outside a small group of punk enthusiasts had even heard of them. Equal parts electrifying rockumentary and epic family chronicle, the story of Death is one of brotherly love and fierce, divinely inspired expression
Beasts of the Southern Wild
(USA, 2011, 91 mins) Directed By: Benh Zeitlin. Executive Producers: Philipp Engelhorn, Paul Mezey, Michael Raisler. Producers: Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey, Josh Penn. Screenwriters: Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin. Cinematographer: Ben Richardson. Editors: Crockett Doob, Affonso Gonçalves. Music: Dan Romer, Benh Zeitlin. Cast: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry. On an isolated stretch of land called the Bathtub, in the midst of the Mississippi Delta, six-year-old Hushpuppy and her father lead a fiercely independent existence, one seemingly built upon the flotsam and jetsam from a recently struck catastrophe… or perhaps one that is yet to come. First time actors Dwight Henry and Quvenzhané Wallis give powerhouse performances as father and daughter, two souls whose devotion to each other takes on mythic proportions. In this arresting work of fantastical realism, writer/director/composer Benh Zeitlin conjures a startling, triumphant vision of a childhood at the edge of the natural world.
BEAUTY IS EMBARASSING
2012/color/89 min./digital
Dir: Neil Berkeley; w/ Wayne White, Matt Groening, Paul Reubens, Mark Mothersbaugh, Todd Oldham, Gary Panter, Rick Heitzman, Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris, Woodrow White, Lulu White, Mimi Pond
You may not know Wayne White by name, but you are unquestionably familiar with his work. A guiding force behind Pee-wee’s Playhouse, White made an indelible mark on 1980s and 1990s pop culture by creating some of the decades’ most arresting and iconic images.
Beauty is Embarrassing chronicles his ongoing struggles to find peace and balance between his work and his art. Director Neil Berkeley captures White at home, on the road, and onstage doing his one-man show, resulting in a funny, irreverent, and joyful documentary that inspires us all to follow our own passions. A Q&A follows screening
Breakfast with Curtis
(USA, 2012, 82 mins). World Premiere. Directed By: Laura Colella. Executive Producer: Michael A. Jackman. Producer: Laura Colella. Screenwriter: Laura Colella. Cinematographer: Laura Colella. Editor: Laura Colella. Cast: Theo Green, Jonah Parker, David Parker, Virginia Laffey, Aaron Jungels, Yvonne Parker, Adele Parker, Laura Colella, Gideon Parker.
Over the course of a balmy east coast summer, an introverted, bespectacled teenager is brought into the strange and delightful world of his bohemian neighbors. What unfolds, against the backdrop of lush flowerbeds and overgrown vegetable patches, is a mirthful story of unlikely and rekindled friendships. But for all of its wine-soaked, pot-infused dreaminess, Breakfast is firmly rooted in reality. The rambling purple house where the action happens is writer/director/co-star Laura Colella’s, and her captivating cast is composed of her very own housemates and neighbors.
Despite the homespun approach and unfettered narrative, Colella’s smartly written, tightly directed tale has a distinct vision and clear intention, one joyously devoted to the pleasure principle.
BREAKING GLASS
The We Hate Everything Including This Film Series continues with another night of punk rock rarities on 16mm film. First up is one of the many news magazine shows of the 1970’s that had “What is punk?” segments. This one, entitled Special Edition, is hosted by Get Smart’s Barbara Feldon and features brief clips of LA punk personalities Hellin Killer and Pleasant Gehman. The feature tonight is the relatively unknown Breaking Glass (1980), which follows performer Hazel O’Connor’s fictional rise from the UK punk dives to robotic New Wave superstar.
The Breaking Point
(USA, 1950, 97 mins). Directed By: Michael Curtiz. Producer: Jerry Wald. Screenwriter: Ranald MacDougall. Cinematographer: Ted McCord. Editors: Alan Crosland, Jr. Music: Howard Jackson, Max Steiner. Cast: John Garfield, Patricia Neal, Phyllis Thaxter, Juano Hernandez, Wallace Ford.
An adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s To Have and Have Not — and one that’s more faithful to the novel that the classic Bogart and Bacall film that actually bears that name — The Breaking Point reunites director Michael Curtiz with star John Garfield, who plays a down on his luck charter boat captain who falls in with a shady lawyer and his disreputable clients.
With its nuanced script and excellent performances by Garfield and his cast mates, including Patricia Neal as a hardened party girl and pioneering African-American actor Juano Hernández as Garfield’s friend and partner, this little-seen classic goes beyond the usual film noir trappings to deliver a poignancy that still has impact today.
Bunohan: Return to Murder
(Malaysia, 2011, 97 mins). In Malay with English subtitles. US Premiere. Directed By: Dain Said. Producer: Nandita Solomon. Screenwriter: Dain Said. Cinematographer: Charin Pengpanich. Editor: HK Panca. Music: Tan Yan Wei. Cast: Faizal Hussein, Zahiril Adzim, Pekin Ibrahim, Bront Palarae, Namron, Wan Hanafisu.
Equal parts Shakespearian drama and martial arts crime thriller, this contemporary Malaysian noir pits brother against brother as they fight for revenge, power and their lives.
After failing to see a Thai death match through to the end, Tomoi kickboxer Adil flees to his hometown of Bunohan (which means “murder” in Malay), with hired assassin Ilham, who was also born in Bunohan, following close behind. Meanwhile, Adil’s brother Baker is home tending to their ailing father and plotting to cheat his brother out of his inheritance. With a penchant for stylish visuals, writer/director Dain Said fuses the modern and mythic into a hard-hitting film that is as surprising as it is unforgettable.
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'
(2007, Romania) Directed by Cristian Nemescu
Inspired by events during the Kosovo war, the film satirizes Romanian corruption and geopolitical power in this tale of how a train of U.S. marines gets sidetracked in a remote village when they can't come up with the proper paperwork. Completed after the talented young director's death, the film garnered the Prix Un Certain Regard at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.
Producer: Andrei Boncea. Screenplay: Tudor Voican, Cristian Nemescu, Catherine Linstrum. Cinematographer: Liviu Marghidan. Editor: Catalin Cristutiu. Cast: Armand Assante, Razvan Vasilescu, Jamie Elman, Maria Dinulescu, Ion Sapdaru. Presented in English, Romanian, Spanish, and Italian dialogue with English subtitles. 35mm, color & B/W, 155 min. Followed by a Q&A with actor Maria Dinulescu.
Celine and Julie Go Boating
(1974/color/193 min.) Scr: Juliet Berto, Eduardo de Gregorio, Dominique Labourier, Bulle Ogier, Marie-France Pisier, Jacques Rivette; dir: Jacques Rivette; w/ Juliet Berto, Bulle Ogier, Dominique Labourier, Marie-France Pisier, Barbet Schroeder.
Inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), Jacques Rivette's lighthearted celebration of the world of the imagination centers on two women-Celine, a magician, and Julie, a librarian-who meet on a summer day in a Paris park. Instant friends and conspirators, they stumble into a mysterious house and a parallel reality in which a quartet of ghosts acts out a nineteenth-century play about two women in love with the same man. "The old house is like a deserted art cinema where the same faded old print is projected forever. But what happens there is also a creaky stage melodrama that needs to be endlessly rehearsed until the spell is broken," observed Jonathan Romney in The Guardian. "[And] that's only part of it: there's Celine's slapdash magic act as La Mandragore, Julie's manic song-and-dance debut as La Kamikaze, a dead-of-night library raid with roller skates and an extraordinary number of cats . . . Rivette's film is a three-hour tangle of dream, cloak-and-dagger intrigue, and seemingly haphazard comedy that leaves you exhilarated.
CHINESE ROULETTE
1976, Janus Films, 96 min, Germany, Dir: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Fassbinder goes Gothic with this character-driven, wicked mosaic of intertwining mysteries. Industrial magnate Gerhard Christ (Alexander Allerson) takes his longtime French mistress Irene (Anna Karina) on a weekend getaway to his luxurious countryside chateau. He gets quite a shock when he discovers his wife, Ariane, and disabled teenage daughter, Angela, already at the manse. Angela, who has deviously planned this meeting and is armed with her mute governess (Brigitte Mira) and a collection of grotesque dolls, devises a diabolical and psychologically vicious truth game of "Chinese Roulette" for the adults to play. In German with English subtitles.
CINEMA ABSTRACTIONS & AVANT GARDE FILMS - Rare films that evoke this quote: "Early in life I experimented with peyote, LSD and so on. But in many ways my films are ahead of my own experience. The new art and other forms of expression reveal the influence of mind-expansion. And finally we reach the point where there virtually is no separation between science, observation and philosophy." - Jordan Belson. Many of the filmmakers have been featured in the Ann Arbor Film Festival, and Bryan Konefsky's Experiments In Cinema.
THE CLOCK
LACMA presents another special twenty-four-hour screening of Christian Marclay's The Clock beginning Saturday, September 22, at noon and ending at noon on Sunday, September 23. The Clock is a twenty-four-hour single-channel montage constructed from thousands of moments of cinema and television history depicting the passage of time. Marclay has excerpted each of these moments from their original contexts and edited them together to create a functioning timepiece synchronized to local time wherever it is viewed—marking the exact time in real time for the viewer for twenty-four consecutive hours. The sampled clips come from films of all genres, time periods, and cultures, some lasting only seconds, others minutes, and have been culled from hundreds of films, famous and obscure, into a seamless whole. The result, a melding of video and reality, unfolds with a seemingly endless cast of cameos. By making the film available in its entirety, this free screening will allow The Clock to be viewed in the way Marclay intended.
THE COLOR WHEEL
Confirming Alex Ross Perry as an innovative new voice in American cinema, THE COLOR WHEEL takes viewers on a comedic and cathartic road trip through the diners, motels and thrift stores of the Northeast. JR (co-writer Carlen Altman) is an aspiring news anchor who has just dropped out of school after an awful, awkward breakup with her professor/lover. She enlists her reluctant brother, Colin (played by Perry), to drive to her ex's house and help pick up the remainder of her belongings. The bickering siblings' journey will eventually lead to an unexpected destination: sympathy and acceptance. More than a mere film about sibling rivalry, THE COLOR WHEEL explores the relationship between two people who grew up together but who remain complete strangers. Beyond the nasty insults and obnoxious fights, they are two wounded souls bursting with disillusionment and sexual frustrations who can really only be tolerated by one another.
The Compass is Carried by the Dead Man
(La Brújula la lleva el Muerto)
(Mexico, 2011, 111 mins). In Spanish with English subtitles. North American Premiere. Directed By: Arturo Pons. Producer: Ozcar Ramírez González. Screenwriter: Arturo Pons. Cinematographer: Luis David Sansans. Editors: Arturo Pons, Paloma Lopez. Music: Edgar Barroso. Cast: Gael Sanchez Valle, Pedro Gamez, Ana Ofelia Murguía, Eligio Melendez, Luis Bayardo, Marco Perez
A darkly humorous odyssey through the sun-soaked Mexican borderlands, Arturo Pons’ poetic and satirical ode to the immigrant follows 13-year-old Chencho on a treacherous trek to reach the United States and the promised land of Chicago. Lost and alone in a desolate landscape, he is rescued by a cryptic old man who perishes shortly thereafter, titular compass clenched in his hand. Holding the reins of a rickety cart alongside a dead man to guide him, Chencho finds himself joined by a surreal collection of characters with nowhere to go but no reason to stay, all looking for the road to salvation.
Crazy & Thief
(USA, 2011, 52 mins). North American premiere. Directed By: Cory McAbee. Producers: Cory McAbee, Scott Miller, Steve Holmgren. Screenwriter: Cory McAbee. Cinematographer: Scott Miller. Editor: Matt Cowan. Music: Cory McAbee. Cast: Willa Vy McAbee, John Huck McAbee, Gregory Russell Cook, Graham Stanford
“I bet we find something that’s better than anything anyone’s ever seen,” says 7-year-old Crazy as she and her 2-year-old brother, Thief, head out on an adventure of their own making, guided only by a homemade “Star Chart” and their unfettered imaginations. Working with his own children, director Cory McAbee has fashioned a film that irresistibly captures the exuberance of childhood. With wonder and a remarkable sense of humor (young Thief ranks among cinema’s great surrealist comedians), this pint-sized Odyssey follows Crazy and Thief as they head towards their final destination: the Star of Bethlehem and a cardboard time machine that will get them back home.
DANTE'S INFERNO (1924)
In conjunction with the exhibition Heaven, Hell, and Dying Well: Images of Death in the Middle Ages, this series focuses on three interpretations of Dante Alighieri's Inferno. Since the fifteenth century, illustrators, painters, and (finally) filmmakers have envisioned the "nine circles of hell." Dante's Inferno (1924, United States, 60 minutes, black and white) Directed by Henry Otto. Silent, presented with live piano accompaniment.
DANTE'S INFERNO (2007)
In conjunction with the exhibition Heaven, Hell, and Dying Well: Images of Death in the Middle Ages, this series focuses on three interpretations of Dante Alighieri's Inferno. Since the fifteenth century, illustrators, painters, and (finally) filmmakers have envisioned the "nine circles of hell." Dante's Inferno (2007, United States, 88 minutes, color) Directed by Sean Meredith
Dead Man's Burden
(USA, 2012, 93 mins). World Premiere. Directed By: Jared Moshé. Executive Producers: Jennifer Chikes, Ruth Mutch, Nick Quested. Producer: Veronica Nickel. Screenwriter: Jared Moshé. Cinematographer: Robert Hauer. Editor: Jeff Israel. Music: H. Scott Salinas. Cast: Barlow Jacobs, Clare Bowen, David Call, Joseph Lyle Taylor, Richard Riehle
Opening with a startling act of violence, this tense, classically crafted indie Western takes place in the aftermath of the Civil War on a hardscrabble homestead in New Mexico where the McCurry clan has been struggling to survive. Martha McCurry sees salvation in selling the family farm, against the wishes of her father. With the patriarch’s death, she seizes her opportunity, but her plans are upset by the unexpected return of her brother Wade, a defector to the Union Army long thought dead. Jared Moshé’s impressive first feature depicts a family in the lethal grip of its own civil war.
DETENTION
“Detention is Insane, Hyperkinetic, Next Level Filmmaking — a bonkers exploration of decades of teen culture, slammed into one thrilling, beautifully shot movie.” – Devin Faraci, Badass Digest
From the director of the balls-to-the-wall Torque comes Detention, a genre-bent hyperkinetic smashterpiece that destroys every teen movie concept in an ambitious blink-and-you’ll-miss-it/WHAT THE FUCK AM I WATCHING?! brainscraper. Teen hunkapalooza Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games’ Peeta) headlines the students of Grizzly Lake High as they race to outlast a vicious killer ripped from their local multiplex, while making various stops for time-travel, BitTorrenting, body-swapping, costume parties and your not-so-typical teen romance. Visionary music video director Joseph Kahn (Brandy & Monica’s “The Boy is Mine”, Britney Spears’ “Toxic”) largely self-financed this ‘90s-obsessed, fast-paced alternate universe combination of pop culture mania and bizarre suburban landscape, only to have it abandoned by its distributor on a mere ten screens across the country. We’re rescuing the film for one night only and in 35mm –- be the friend who saw it FIRST and ON THE BIG SCREEN. Writer/director Joseph Kahn joins Hollywood Reporter contributing editor Todd Gilchrist for a Q&A after the film! Dir. Joseph Kahn, 2011, 35mm, 93 min.
THE DO-DECA-PENTATHLON
The Do-Deca-Pentathlon is the story of two grown brothers who secretly rekindle their fiercely competitive childhood sporting event – a homemade Olympics of 25 events – during a family reunion in order to finally determine the ultimate champion. When the rest of the family is disrupted by their unfinished business, the brothers must choose between their passion for beating the hell out of each other or the greater good of the family. Written, Produced and Directed by Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass. Produced by Stephanie Langhoff. Followed by a Q&A with Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass and actors Steve Zissis, Mark Kelly and Jennifer LaFleur.
Easy Money
(Snabba Cash)
(Sweden, 2010, 124 mins). In Swedish, Serbian, Spanish, English, with English subtitles. Directed By: Daniél Espinosa. Executive Producer: Michael Hjorth. Producer: Fredrik Wikström. Screenwriter: Maria Karlsson. Cinematographer: Aril Wretblad
Editor: Theis Schmidt. Cast: Joel Kinnaman, Matias Varela, Dragomir Mrsic, Lisa Henni, Mahmut Suvakci, Jones Danko
The Killing’s Joel Kinnaman stars in this supercharged Swedish crime thriller playing JW, a poor student who leads a double life mixing with the Stockholm elite. To support his lavish lifestyle, and impress the upper class girl he’s fallen for, he’s lured into a world of crime. His story will fatally intersect with two others: Jorge, a Chilean on the run from the law and the Yugoslavian mafia; and the hitman hired to kill Jorge, whose job is compromised by the young daughter he has to take care of. Easy Money’s huge success set off a bidding war in Hollywood for the remake rights: you’ll understand why.
EXTRATERRESTRIAL
Julio and Julia don’t know each other, but they wake up in the same bed, horribly hungover and with no memory of the night before. He falls in love with her almost immediately. She doesn’t reciprocate. It would be nothing more than an awkward situation... Until they see the massive alien ship hovering over the city. Running time: 90 minutes. In Spanish, with English subtitles. Written and Directed by Nacho Vigalondo.
FORBIDDEN ZONE
1982, 74 min, USA, Dir: Richard Elfman
A mysterious door leads to the Sixth Dimension - get ready for a wild ride - in one of the greatest cult classics of all time! Beautiful young "Frenchy" (Marie-Pascale Elfman) slides through cosmic intestines into a subterranean world ruled by horny midget King Fausto (Herve Villechaize) and his jealous Queen Doris (Susan Tyrrell). "Chicken-boy" (Matthew Bright, director of FREEWAY) comes to the rescue, only to have his head cut off by the soul-singing Devil himself - played by Danny Elfman and the original Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. Frog butlers, topless princesses and rioting school kids sing and dance in unforgettable musical numbers by Danny Elfman, Cab Calloway, Josephine Baker and others. An experience you will never forget!
FROM BEYOND
Every bit as colorful, gruesome and insane as his preceding seminal masterpiece Re-Animator, Stuart Gordon’s From Beyond continues his legendary fascination with H.P. Lovecraft, as well as provide another amazing collaborative canvas for horror film icon Jeffrey Combs to strike with his riveting brand of ultra-impassioned performance. From Beyond tells the gooey tale of a pair of scientists discovering a new gland in the brain — one that happens to yank nightmarish creatures from another reality into our dimension. If that doesn’t already sound like enough fun, Dawn Of The Dead‘s Ken Foree gets thrown into the mix, as does uber-sexy Barbara Crampton (who spends most of her screentime traipsing around in BDSM fetish gear.) Wicked psychedelia, intense latex monster effects and all-out craziness ensues, resulting in one of the Eighties’ greatest lurid horror fantasias. You’d have to be stuck in a hellish alternate reality yourself to miss this rare screening, especially since director Stuart Gordon will be there in person! Dir. Stuart Gordon, 1986, 35mm, 86 min.
Gasland
Directed by Josh Fox. Produced by Trish Adlesic, Fox, Molly Gandour
When Josh Fox is approached by a company wishing to drill for natural gas on his property, he begins a disturbing investigation into the environmental repercussions of the process. In region after region across the country, he documents evidence of serious pollution and contamination caused by drilling methods that have been exempted from the standards required by the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. Digital. 107 mins. Academy Award nominee: Documentary Feature
Gimme the Loot
(USA, 2012, 81 mins). Directed By: Adam Leon. Producers: Natalie Difford, Dominic Buchanan, Jamund Washington. Screenwriter: Adam Leon. Cinematographer: Jonathan Miller. Editor: Morgan Faust. Music: Nicholas Britell. Cast: Tashiana Washington, Ty Hickson, Meeko, Zoe Lescaze.
The game of graffiti art comes with few rules and a lot of bravado, as young Sofia and Malcolm discover when they try to defend their name after their latest spraypaint masterpiece is defaced by a rival gang. Over the next 48 hours, the two roam the sun-drenched streets of New York, hatching schemes to get enough cash for their master plan — “bombing” the famous apple in the Mets’ stadium — all the while figuring out their role in the underground scene and with each other.
With irresistible performances from its two leads, Gimme the Loot is a warm, spirited look at two kids just trying to get by, one tag at a time.
HIPPIE REVOLUTION FILMS – Rare films on music, politics and communes. The hippies were heirs to a long line of bohemians that includes William Blake, Walt Whitman, Emerson, Thoreau, Hesse, Rimbaud, Oscar Wilde, Huxley and utopian movements like the Rosicrucians and the Theosophists, and most direcly the Beats.
HONDO
John Wayne plays a hard-bitten cavalry scout who is humanized by frontierswoman Geraldine Page and her young son (Lee Aaker, star of TV's Rin Tin Tin). Try as he might, Wayne can't convince Page to move off her land in anticipation of an Apache attack. He leaves her ranch, only to be ambushed by desperado Leo Gordon--who happens to be Page's long-absent husband. Having killed Gordon, Hondo returns to the ranch to protect Page from the Indians, and to rekindle the woman's hesitant love for him.
Hondo is so "perfect" a John Ford western that many people assume it was directed by John Ford--or at the very least, Andrew McLaglen. Actually the director was suspense expert John Farrow, who worked with the "Duke" only twice in his career (the second film was a war drama, The Sea Chase). The climactic attack sequence is enhanced by Hondo's 3-D photography, one of the few truly effective utilizations of this much-maligned process. Running time: 83 minutes.
The House I Live In
(USA, 2012, 107 mins). Directed By: Eugene Jarecki. Executive Producers: Joslyn Barnes, Nick Fraser, Danny Glover. Producers: Melinda Shopsin , Christopher St. John , Sam Cullman. Cinematographers: Sam Cullman, Derek Hallquist. Editor: Paul Frost. Music: Robert Miller
Eugene Jarecki’s powerful, award-winning documentary exposes the monumental failure of our 40-year, trillion dollar war on drugs, which has torn apart communities, consciously targeted minorities, damaged our police forces and turned incarceration into big time American business. Featuring eye-opening interviews with prison guards, judges, cops, The Wire producer David Simon and historian Richard Lawrence Miller, who shows how the persecution of specific drugs goes hand in hand with the persecution of specific racial groups, Jarecki’s vast, moving and revelatory film suggests that our governmental solutions may be the real crime.
HOW TO BE A HOMOSEXUAL: FILMS OF ROGER JACOBY
"HOW TO BE A HOMOSEXUAL began, said Jacoby, as 'excerpts from a compilation journal work begun in 1979. It is an ironic title - there's nothing sexually explicit about the film.' But the film is richly sensual.... In every scene, the emulsion captures the images, enhances, then betrays, overpowers and destroys them, as the patterns and color reshape the filmed reality into a different landscape." - Kathleen Tyner, Cinematograph. Works to be screened on 16mm: How to Be a Homosexual Parts 1 & 2 and Aged in Wood.
HOW TO MAKE A PIECE OF ART THAT IS NOT A PIECE OF ART - Gerry Fialka screens rare film clips and leads discussion that will delve deep into flipping that line into HOW TO MAKE A PIECE OF NON-DUCHAMP-CLONED ART THAT IS NOT NON-DUCHAMP-CLONED ART ala culture jammers and renegade artists. "The English language is the only language where a double negative is a no-no." - Alfred E. Newman.
JUAN OF THE DEAD
Fifty years after the Cuban Revolution, a brand-new hostile takeover is taking place, but these rebels only want one thing: to chomp your flesh. Welcome to the very first independent film to emerge from Castro’s World in half a century! Our hero Juan is a shiftless procrastinator, but knows an opportunity to make a quick buck when he sees one — so when Havana is overrun with zombies, Juan bands his friends together to form a ragtag “cleaning service” militia, ridding households of unwanted, undead loved ones. Much like Romero’s late-‘70s gold standard in satirizing modern culture through zombification, Juan of the Dead takes every opportunity to hilariously skewer the everyday ins-and-outs of Cuban society, from the government classifying the putrid hordes as “dissidents”, to public transport that still runs regardless of the bloody carnage. And, it’s gloriously splatterific from top to bottom — would we have it any other way? Dir. Alejandro Brugués, 2011, 35mm, 92 min.
THE KID
In this milestone early Chaplin feature, 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 made him one of our greatest cinematic treasures. Also screening is A Dog’s Life, the 1918 short that the presages The Kid, and features the Tramp’s sweet misadventures in the company of a young pup, who happily watches as Chaplin hides from the cops, taunts hard-faced gangster types, and tries to get the girl!
The Kid Dir. Charles Chaplin, 1921, 35mm, 68 min.
A Dog’s Life Dir. Charles Chaplin, 1918, 35mm, 33 min.
THE KID WITH A BIKE (LE GAMIN AU VELO)
2011, Sundance Selects, 87 min, Belgium, Dir: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
11-year old Cyril (an incredibly natural Thomas Doret) is the problem child of his state-run youth farm, insisting through tantrums and escape attempts that his neglectful father will return for him. During one of his episodes, Cyril encounters Samantha (Cecile De France), a hairdresser who feels an instant connection to the haphazard youth. Underestimating how much pain the boy carries around with him, she offers to host him on the weekends - but her efforts to help the troubled boy are threatened by a local drug dealer, who sees Cyril as a potential lieutenant. Shot in the Dardenne brothers' trademark naturalistic style, THE KID WITH A BIKE practically glows with compassion, and was a well-deserved Grand Prix winner at the Cannes Film Festival.
"With customary restraint, the Dardenne brothers have added yet another exquisite entry to their masterful body of work...there isn’t a single unearned emotion in this tremendously moving drama." -- David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter
KILLER JOE
2012/color/103 min.
Scr: Tracy Letts; dir: William Friedkin; w/ Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Thomas Haden Church, Gina Gershon
An iconoclastic filmmaker with a fiercely independent spirit, William Friedkin has bravely forged his own path through the past forty years of American cinema. Hollywood is still reeling from Friedkin’s one-two punch of The French Connection and The Exorcist, two films that heralded a new era of filmmaking. Raw and visceral, with an authenticity that cannot be denied, his films—including The Boys in The Band, Sorcerer, To Live and Die in L.A., Cruising, and his latest, Killer Joe—are bold, exciting works that have frequently courted controversy, only to go on to become contemporary classics. A filmmaker who has never stopped challenging himself or his audiences, William Friedkin is the perfect choice to be this year’s Los Angeles Film Festival Guest Director.
In Killer Joe, a twisted dark comedy based on Tracy Letts’s play, Friedkin serves up a heaping murder story that only a Texas-sized plate can hold. Matthew McConaughey shines as Joe Cooper, a dirty cop hired to take out the hated matriarch of a trailer park family by her own son, who wants to cash in on her $50,000 life insurance policy. The son, Chris, gives up his sweet and innocent sister, Dottie, to Joe as collateral until they get the cash—and Joe can’t resist this young object of desire. Killer Joe is an audacious, sexy thriller that will make you gasp while wanting to bite down on some deep-fried cookin’. A conversation with William Friedkin precedes the screening
LA AIR: NANCY JEAN TUCKER
LA AIR is a new artist-in-residence program that invites Los Angeles filmmakers to utilize EPFC resources in creating a new work over a four-week period. Nancy Jean Tucker is a director and animator based in Los Angeles. She is originally from Louisville, Kentucky, and began making films at the California Institute of the Arts. Her films and music videos have shown around the world in such venues as the Rotterdam International Film Festival, Anthology Film Archives, Pitchfork.com,
and the Nova Scotia Museum of Art. She recently received a fellowship from Yaddo for her current film, We Let the Darkness In. For her residency at the film center, she will organize a collaborative animation project using some of her favorite Los Angeles filmmakers, as well as create new scenes for her current mixed media film. These will be screened along with the premiere of a music video she recently directed for Simone White.
LA FOLIE ALMAYER
ALMAYER'S FOLLY
2011, Shellac Distribution, 127 min, Belgium, France, Dir: Chantal Akerman
Freely adapted from Joseph Conrad's first novel, Chantal Akerman's hypnotic drama follows a European trader's faded dreams of finding fortune in Malaysia, and his broken relationship with his half-Malay daughter. Gorgeously shot in the dense, overlush jungle, the film showcases Akerman's aesthetic tendancies for long takes and docudrama-style spontaneity. Official selection of the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.
LA HAINE
1995, Universal, 98 min, France, Dir: Mathieu Kassovitz
French Cesar-winning film LA HAINE depicts the life of young adults in the impoverished French suburbs. Focusing on three young men who make a living from petty crimes and small time drug dealing, the story takes place after a riot during which their friend is brutally assaulted by policemen. The film, a box office and critical success in France, was controversial upon release due to its debatable portrayal of the French police and suburban youth. Director Mathieu Kassovitz won the 1995 Best Director award at Cannes for the urban drama, and the film ranked #32 in Empire magazine’s 100 Best Films of World Cinema.
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP
The West Coast premiere of the newly restored, full-length version
Restored by the Academy Film Archive. In association with the British Film Institute, ITV Studios Global Entertainment Ltd and The Film Foundation.
Special guest: Three-time Oscar winner Thelma Schoonmaker
Inspired by a satiric cartoon character created by David Low, "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp" tells a story both epic and deeply personal as it follows the 40-year career of a British Army officer from the Boer War to World War II. Created by the dynamic British writing-directing-producing team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (whose longtime partnership would ultimately produce 22 pictures), the lavish production features gorgeous Technicolor and tour-de-force performances by Roger Livesey and Deborah Kerr.
The film created much controversy during its initial release in Great Britain in 1943, and it did not reach the United States until 1945, when its original running time of 163 minutes was cut to 148 minutes and then to 93 minutes. This stunning digital restoration now offers audiences the opportunity to view the film in its entirety and experience its full power.
Powell's widow, Oscar-winning film editor Thelma Schoonmaker, served as the supervising consultant on this restoration, alongside Film Foundation founder Martin Scorsese. Schoonmaker will introduce the Academy's screening of the work that critic David Kehr has called "very possibly the finest film ever made in Britain."
L'INFERNO
In conjunction with the exhibition Heaven, Hell, and Dying Well: Images of Death in the Middle Ages, this series focuses on three interpretations of Dante Alighieri's Inferno. Since the fifteenth century, illustrators, painters, and (finally) filmmakers have envisioned the "nine circles of hell." L'Inferno (1911, Italy, 68 minutes, black and white) Directed by Giuseppe de Liguoro
THE MAKIOKA SISTERS
The Makioka Sisters chronicles the life and affairs of four sisters in late '30s Japan. An older, conservative sister tries to continue family traditions and pretensions to status, while the younger sisters discover the new freedoms becoming available to them. "This Kon Ichikawa film has a triumphant simplicity about it. You don't just watch the film--you coast on its rhythms and glide past the precipitous spots" (Pauline Kael, The New Yorker). The cast includes Juzo Itami, who would later emerge as a prominent director with The Funeral, Tampopo and A Taxing Woman. In Japanese with English subtitles. 1983, Japan, 35mm, 140 minutes. 35mm print made in 2011! directed by Kon Ichikawa; starring Keiko Kishi, Yoshiko Sakuma, Sayuri Yoshinaga, Yûko Kotegawa; in Japanese with English subtitles
MILDRED PIERCE
1945, Warner Bros., 111 min, USA, Dir: Michael Curtiz
"Mildred had more to offer in a glance, than most woman give in a lifetime."
Joan Crawford gives her signature performance (an Oscar winner!) as James M. Cain's ultimate maternal martyr, in thrall to her own femme fatale daughter, Veda (a deliciously venal Ann Blyth). The twisted combination of high-strung soap opera and hard-edged pulp produced what may be the greatest Hollywood melodrama of all time.
"Loving her was like shaking hands with the devil."
Co-presented with the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles
Veronica Gelakoska, author of "Pig ‘n Whistle," part of the Arcadia Images in America series, and Los Angeles Magazine columnist/preservation and vintage culture expert, Chris Nichols, will give an illustrated talk on the Pig ‘n Whistle, Melody Lane, Hody’s and other popular Los Angeles restaurants of the 1920s–40s. Followed by a screening of MILDRED PIERCE. Slices of Mildred Pierce’s famous fruit pies will be for sale at this screening! Larry Edmonds will host a booksigning of "Pig 'n Whistle" with Veronica Gelakoska after the lecture, prior to the screening.
MONDO GAME SHOW
In a not-too-long-ago era before the current daytime network infotainment glut, our airwaves deliciously overflowed with a parade of mid-day Caligula-esque bread ‘n circuses gaming spectacles, conducted solely for the pleasure of a nationwide throng of septugenarian shut-ins and stoned college students. These phantasmagorical game show curiosities, nearly extinct from today’s on-air schedule, were a bounty of neon-hued, Yellow Submarine-inspired geometric wonderland sets, a revolving-door array of tanked hosts ‘n zonked guests, half-impossible-to-fathom gameplay rules seemingly conjured out of an opium den nightmare, and inane-in-the-membrane catchy theme songs that remain forever burrowed into our collective hippocampus. In celebration of Cinefamily’s eternal fascination with all things vintage game show, TV Tuesday proudly gives you an epic mondo mix featuring the most outrageous moments from your favorite classics, even more stultifying moments from unsold pilots and broadcast flops, and a tribute to Family Feud’s late, great Richard Dawson. Plus, we top it all off with the rarely-seen documentary Big Bucks: The “Press Your Luck” Scandal, involving notorious 1984 contestant Michael Larson, who laughed all the way to the bank by gaming the system, taking off with the loot and NO WHAMMIES!
NEVER TOO YOUNG TO DIE
Pack your bags and prepare for the RIDE OF YOUR LIFE, as gymnast heartthrob Lance Stargrove (a pre-”Full House” John Stamos!) avenges the death of his superspy father (former James Bond-er George Lazenby), meets-cute with the sexy Danja Deering (Prince protégé Vanity), and fights to save the world from hermaphrodite megavillain/sultry chanteuse Velvet Von Ragner (Gene Simmons of Kiss, in the role he was born to play.) The ‘80s pizza party masterpiece that you’ve waited a lifetime to discover, Never Too Young To Die delivers on its promise of outrageous action, radical style, loud tunes and big hair, while simultaneously re-examining gender roles in modern cinema. Not to be missed and not on DVD, this Reagan-era time-bomb is screening from what may be the only remaining 35mm print in the known universe! Dir. Gil Bettman, 1986, 35mm, 97 min.
NEW WORKS SALON
Several local and visiting artists will present new in-progress or recently completed works on Super 8, standard 8mm, and 16mm. Matt Weathers will be showing ...and then they became spirits, a Super 8 film about two people posing their questions of life to the land and drawing closer to it in anticipation of a response. Mike Stoltz will show Give Me Shapes, a Super 8 dual projection collaboration with Hannah Lew, as well as a new 16mm work in progress called Sky Slicer. Other filmmakers include Camille Reyes, Erich Burciaga... and more.
Nightwatching (2007, 35mm, color, 134 mins)
Nightwatching, Greenaway’s fictional foray into art-history detecting, was made a year before the more spare Rembrandt’s J’Accuse. Greenaway takes a fictional approach to the painter’s life, portraying Rembrandt’s relations with three women, his wife, his model, and his servant, during the creation of his masterpiece, The Night Watch. It focuses on the painter himself, played with gusto by Martin Freeman (The Office; Sherlock). Shifting between Rembrandt’s relations with the three women, and the complications that arise when he accepts a commission to paint a group portrait, Nightwatching uses a series of elegant tableaux to dramatize two mysteries -- that of Rembrandt’s life, of which little is known, and that of the iconography of his famous painting The Night Watch. Intertwining it all is a murder. Los Angeles Premiere!
P-047
(Thailand, 2011, 98 mins). In Thai with English subtitles. Directed By: Kongdej Jaturanrasamee. Producer: Soros Sukhum. Screenwriter: Kongdej Jaturanrasmee. Cinematographer: Umpornpol Yugala. Editor: Manussa Vorasingha. Music: Chaibandit Peuchponsub, Apichet Kambhu. Cast: Apichai Tragoolpadetgrai, Parinya Kwamwongwan.
Lek and Kong work side by side at the shopping mall. Lek is a lonely locksmith, and Kong is an aspiring writer. When Kong comes up with a plan to put Lek’s lock picking skills to good use, the two start breaking into other people’s homes, not to steal anything but just to bask temporarily in the lives of others. One day, Kong pries too deeply into someone else’s life, and things grow rather complicated.
Recalling Christopher Nolan by way of Wong Kar-wai, P-047 beautifully weaves together flashbacks, fantasy sequences and fragmented memories into a film that is part meditation, part multilayered mystery and utterly fascinating.
PALMS
"Artur Aristakisyan’s 1993 documentary, Palms (Ladoni), has been a film cited more than seen; it’s an intensely poetic, provocative–even inspiring–account of the poor and destitute in Chisinau (formerly Kishinev), the capital of Moldova ... it was shot in handheld, black-and-white 16mm and enlarged to 35mm in an a way that makes it seem like a scratched, overly-contrasted artifact from ages past; a film about the purity of abjection that physically resembles its subject. The only soundtrack is Aristakisyan’s ruminating narration and brief snatches of Giuseppe Verdi’s soaring music. The footage was collected over the course of several years shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union and Moldova’s independence, and it could be said to be a baring of the country’s repressed soul through the tenuous lives of its vagabonds." --Doug Cummings, Film Journeys. With introduction by Ross Lipman. 1993, 139min, projected from DVD
PARTCH
“Weird and wonderful sonorities, truly unlike anything else on Earth or any neighboring celestial body.” LA Weekly
Celebrating the release of the first recording of the complete Bitter Music, Partch’s often hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking, long-lost hobo journal from 1935 is performed as a special multimedia presentation including the work’s original pen and ink illustrations, photographs from the composer’s scrapbooks and his legendary instruments. From the transient shelters of mid-Depression California to the reading room of the British Museum, from cleaning sewers to taking tea with Irish poet W.B. Yeats, Partch’s story reveals seven months in a lifetime of extraordinary struggle to forge a new musical language outside the traditions of western classical music. The evening also includes a newly discovered 1969 interview with Partch about Bitter Music, and the first performance of the long-lost 1942 version of Barstow for 2 voices, Adapted Guitar and Chromelodeon.
PHASE IV
Saul Bass was a man steeped in aesthetics; a background in commercials and film title design testified to that. Saul was the best in the business. In 1974 he directed his only full length film to sit alongside a number of shorter features. Phase IV centred on the attack on a band of disparate humans by aggressive ants, but this was in no way a throwback to creature features of the 1950s. An unexplained phenomenon changes these ants, but not physically as the normal sci-fi route dictates. These ants grow smart. They develop a hive mind. Collective thought has never been looked upon lovingly in the US and I’m only half joking when I suggest that the communal beliefs (even that of ants) may have seemed unappealing to cold war America. Especially true when great strength is shown in the hard work and numbers of this uniform army of six legged soldiers. Saul Bass failed commercially with this first and only opportunity as a movie director.
Perhaps the ambiguity of the film turned viewers off. Bass was not interested in explanations. The classic format of disturbance and resolution failed to be followed. What he did believe in was visuals. Phase IV relies heavily on color; segments are meaningfully coded chemical yellow or blue in contrast to the natural desert backdrop. From a science documentary beginning Phase IV adapts into a hallucinatory optical overload. Using symmetry and patterning the director gives the ants an almost corporate identity.
PORTRAIT OF THE POET AS EXPERIMENTAL FILMMAKER - Historian/Lit Critter Gerry Fialka screens films and discusses the interconnections between film and poetry. These artforms expand our notions of reality both inner and outer. How is the interior dialogue (consciousness) the essence of the human condition? How does it inform content vs. form issues? Explore Poe, the Symbolists, Hollis Frampton, Walt Whitman, William Farley, Jack Kerouac, Charles Olson, Henry Ferrini, Robert Creeley, and Beat films up to contemporary New Media makers. Drawing on witty and insightful analysis of poet/experimental filmmakers Jean Cocteau, James Broughton, Maya Deren, Marie Menken, Abigail Child, Bob Branaman, Jack Smith, Yoko Ono and Stan Brakhage, Fialka reviews first-person lyrical visions. This multi-media event includes rare film clips of Diane DiPrima, Amiri Baraka, Bukowski, Beckett, Burroughs and Gary Snyder, as well as live readings accompanied by film projections that stir up new metaphors via self-reflexive synthesis. Come into deeper awareness of synesthesia and the non-physical via spoken word and moving image art. "All bad poetry springs from genuine feeling." - Oscar Wilde. Radically change the paradigms of sense ratio shifting. Turn the eye into an ear ala McLuhan's percepts. Fialka's observations provoke the rascality retrieval of Man (Cine-poem) Ray and Curtis Harrington, who transformed Poe into cinema. "Poets understand texts better than most information technologists." - Jerome McGann. "You don't have to be a communist to be anti-capitalist. It is enough to be a poet." - Jonas Mekas, seminal experimental filmmaker.
PRIMARY
Focusing on the 1960 Democratic Party presidential primary, Primary is a groundbreaking documentary that follows John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey as they crisscross Wisconsin, each trying to convince voters that he is the one who can beat Richard Nixon. (1960, Dir. R. Drew, 60 min.)
REBELLION
L'ORDRE ET LA MORALE
2011, Kinology, 136 min, France, Dir: Mathieu Kassovitz
New Caledonia, 1988: 30 policemen are taken hostage by Kanak separatists. Philippe Legorjus (Mathieu Kassovitz, who also directs), a negotiator sent by the French Army to solve the crisis on the island, finds himself conflicted between his morals and his responsibility as a soldier to obey orders in this action-packed historico-political drama.
Red Flag
(USA, 2012, 83 mins). World Premiere. Directed By: Alex Karpovsky. Producer: Alex Karpovsky. Screenwriter: Alex Karpovsky. Cinematographer: Adam Ginsberg. Editor: Adam Ginsberg. Cast: Alex Karpovsky, Onur Tukel, Jennifer Prediger, Caroline White, Keith Poulson, Dustin Guy Defa.
Writer/director/star Alex Karpovsky, a familiar face to indie filmgoers, reveals his sterling comic chops in this close-to-the-bone comedy. Teasing the line between fiction and reality, he plays an indie filmmaker named Alex Karpovsky who, dumped by a longtime girlfriend fed up with his refusal to marry, takes to the road with a reluctant old pal for a misbegotten mini tour screening his movie on college campuses and independent cinemas. Pursued by an overly ardent groupie and his own demons, he sinks deeper into a swamp of humiliations. Keeping a deftly-judged distance between himself and “himself,” Karpovsky pulls hilarity out of personal pain.
Ritual America: Secret Brotherhoods and Their Influence on American Society: A Visual Guide
A very special SLIDESHOW presentation by Feral House founder ADAM PARFREY.
Adam Parfrey will be putting on a slide show of the weird and extraordinary aspects of secret societies in the history of American kulture, as seen in “Ritual America: Secret Brotherhoods and Their Influence on American Society: A Visual Guide.” Craig Heimbichner, the co-author might appear to help Parfrey trigger the susceptible with CIA mind-control operations, or not.
ROBERT NELSON TRIBUTE SCREENING #1
To celebrate the passing of the inimitable Robert Nelson (1930–2012), Mark Toscano and Echo Park Film Center will be presenting multiple programs of Bob’s work, beginning with two Nelson films which have not been seen together in decades, despite that being Bob’s original intention. The Suite California films were originally intended as a much longer, multi-part travelog throughout California. Bob completed two parts, covering Southern California and the Bay Area, and the results are formally inventive and highly affecting, functioning as travelogs that ultimately trace the vast and unpredictable area between a rich personal reading of a place and the place itself. Although both works feature Bob’s characteristic brilliant humor throughout, they are also deeply reflective and rich with unexpected, revelatory insight about his own experience of his home state. SUITE CALIFORNIA STOPS & PASSES PART 1: TIJUANA TO HOLLYWOOD VIA DEATH VALLEY (1976, b/w & color, sound, 46min.) SUITE CALIFORNIA STOPS & PASSES PART 2: SAN FRANCISCO TO THE SIERRA NEVADAS & BACK AGAIN (1978, b/w & color, sound, 48min.)
Robot & Frank
(USA, 2012, 89 mins). Directed By: Jake Schreier. Executive Producers: Jeremy Bailer, Bob Kelman, Bill Perry, Amy Porter, Danny Rifkin, Tom Valerio. Producers: Galt Niederhoffer, Sam Bisbee, Jackie Kelman Bisbee, Lance Acord. Screenwriter: Christopher D. Ford. Cinematographer: Matthew J. Lloyd. Editor: Jacob Craycroft. Cast: Frank Langella, Susan Sarandon, James Marsden, Liv Tyler, Peter Sarsgaard, Jeremy Sisto, Jeremy Strong.
Frank is an aging ex-con, played to perfection by Frank Langella, living alone in a house filled with clutter and memories. When his son insists on buying him a robotic caretaker, he is quite resistant, futilely searching for an off switch on his new housemate. Over time, however, the two come to an understanding and even a friendship. But when Frank begins to re-explore old vices, it leads both him and his cybernetic pal down a dangerous path.
With supporting performances by Susan Sarandon, James Marsden and Liv Tyler, Robot & Frank is a comic look at the very near future of family and friendship.
Saturday Morning Massacre
(USA, 2011, 83 mins). Directed By: Spencer Parsons. Executive Producers: Alan Berg, Kristin Johansen-Berg, Clark Lyda. Producers: Jonny Mars, Jason Wehling, Jesse Lyda. Screenwriters: Jory Balsimo, Aaron Leggett, Jason Wehling. Cinematographer: Drew Daniels. Editor: Don Swaynos. Cast: Josephine Decker, Paul Gordon, Jonny Mars, Ashley Spillers, Adam Tate.
When a foursome of paranormal investigators, who happen to travel in a vintage van accompanied by their canine companion (sound familiar?), realize their business is on the rocks, they agree to take on a rambling mansion with a mysterious past. Set more on debunking a hoax than hunting ghosts, the team nonchalantly settles in for the night, but what awaits them in the dark may prove more terrifying, and a lot deadlier, than anything they could have expected.
Festival alums Spencer Parsons, Jonny Mars and Jason Wheling return with a funny, sexy, fantastically bloody, Scooby-inspired thrill ride you won’t want to miss.
Searching for Sugar Man
(Sweden , England, 2011, 85 mins). Directed By: Malik Bendjelloul. Executive Producer: John Battsek. Producers: Simon Chinn, Malik Bendjelloul. Cinematographer: Camilla Skagerström. Editor: Malik Bendjelloul. Music: Sixto Rodriguez. Featuring: Rodriguez.
Rodriguez might be the best singer-songwriter you’ve never heard of. Despite recording two albums of incredible music in the early '70s, the Mexican-American musician never found success at home. Strangely enough, in South Africa Rodriguez became and remains a nationwide sensation. When fans seek to solve the mystery of what became of this great talent, they find a truth much stranger than any of the legends that have been passed down over the last 40 years.
Exploding with style and fueled by the incredible sounds of the man himself, Searching for Sugar Man is a true-life rock story that must be seen to be believed.
Sister
(L'enfant d'en haut)
(Switzerland, 2012, 97 mins). In French with English subtitles. North American Premiere. Directed By: Ursula Meier. Executive Producer: Andre Bouvard. Producers: Denis Freyd, Ruth Waldburger. Screenwriters: Antoine Jaccoud, Ursula Meier. Cinematographer: Agnès Godard. Editor: Nelly Quettier. Music: John Parish. Cast: Léa Seydoux, Kacey Mottet Klein, Gillian Anderson.
Precocious 12-year-old Simon — played by the unforgettable Kacey Mottet Klein — lives with his wild and irresponsible older sister in a small apartment below a luxurious ski resort nestled in the Swiss Alps. Each day, Simon ascends the lofty mountain above, pilfering ski equipment from the rich and selling it to get by. Left unsupervised, his newfound criminal enterprise and growing attachment to the seasonal workers and guests sends his precarious relationship with his sister spiraling out of control.
A stunning meditation on secrets, lies and moral obligation, Ursula Meier's compassionate character study of a boy forced to grow up too fast is a movie for the ages.
SOUL TRAIN: THE HIPPEST TRIP IN AMERICA
Dance Camera West pays tribute to Soul Train by screening the ninety-minute documentary Soul Train: The Hippest Trip In America by J. Kevin Swain, followed by interviews with original Soul Train dancers, including Jody Watley and Damita Jo Freeman. Hosted by Elvis Mitchell.
SPIN
Using unauthorized satellite footage, filmmaker Brian Springer’s Spin captures alarming behind-the-scenes maneuverings of politicians and newscasters—who presume they’re off camera—during the 1992 presidential election. (1995, Dir. B. Springer, 57 min.)
STREET DOGS OF SOUTH CENTRAL
Street Dogs Of South Central is a documentary by Bill Marin. It follows the every day happenings of a mother dog and her 4 pups in the urban jungle of South Central. An unflinching look at the life of street dogs and the hardships they endure every day but it also shows the willingness of the dogs to survive and the bond they share. Narrated by Queen Latifah. The USC screening will be followed by a Q&A with Bill Marin.
TAKE THIS WALTZ
When Margot (Michelle Williams), 28, meets Daniel (Luke Kirby), their chemistry is intense and immediate. But Margot suppresses her sudden attraction; she is happily married to Lou (Seth Rogen), a cookbook writer. When Margot learns that Daniel lives across the street from them, the certainty about her domestic life shatters. She and Daniel steal moments throughout the steaming Toronto summer, their eroticism heightened by their restraint. Swelteringly hot, bright and colorful like a bowl of fruit, Take This Waltz leads us, laughing, through the familiar, but uncharted question of what long-term relationships do to love, sex, and our images of ourselves. Running time: 116 minutes. Written & Directed by Sarah Polley. Produced by Sarah Polley and Susan Cavan.
THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO
1966, Park Circus/ITV, 93 min, USA, Dir: David Lane
Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's hit TV series "Thunderbirds Are Go!" virtually defined the Mod/Sci-Fi look with its sleek silver space-craft and cheeky dialogue ("That's F-A-B!"). This was the first of two stunning THUNDERBIRDS features shot in "SuperMarionation CinemaScope."
THUNDERBIRD SIX
1968, Park Circus/ITV, 89 min, USA, Dir: David Lane
The daring International Rescue Team and their squadron of futuristic airships battle the villainous Black Phantom and his cohorts. With a far-out soundtrack by series composer Barry Gray.
Thursday till Sunday
(De jueves a domingo)
(Chile, 2012, 96 mins). North American Premiere. Directed By: Dominga Sotomayor. Producers: Gregorio González, Benjamin Domenech. Screenwriter: Dominga Sotomayor. Cinematographer: Bárbara Álvarez. Editors: Danielle Fillios, Catalina Marín. Music: Diego Fontecilla, Elisa Arteche. Cast: Santi Ahumada, Emiliano Freifeld, Francisco Pérez-Bannen, Paola Giannini.
In the soft pre-dawn light, a young family loads into their car and begins a journey that will affect them all far deeper than the usual weekend get-away. With a mixture of nostalgia and anxiety, Thursday till Sunday deftly captures the end of a childhood as the young daughter, from her vantage point in the back seat, begins to realize that something is strained — or possibly broken — between her mother and father.
With uncommon beauty and style, writer/director Dominga Sotomayor perfectly captures the emotional dynamics of a young family at a crossroads and the claustrophobia of the open road.
Vampira and Me
(USA, 2012, 106 mins). World Premiere. Directed By: R. H. Greene. Producer: R. H. Greene. Cinematographers: Sean Peacock, Larry Herbst, R. H. Greene. Editor: R. H. Greene. Featuring: Maila Nurmi, Gloria Pall, Dana Gould, Gabrielle Geiselman, Jennifer Van Goethem, Satan's Cheerleaders.
Before Elvira, there was Vampira, the playfully ghoulish host of a local L.A. late night horror movie show. Camp before camp existed, a Goth before her time, she became a national celebrity in the mid-Fifties, then disappeared, briefly surfacing in Ed Wood’s Plan 9 From Outer Space. What became of her? Utilizing rarely seen archival footage and delving deep into the layers of Vampira’s story — her friendship with James Dean, her close brush with a murderer, her lawsuit against Elvira, her years in Hollywood exile — R.H. Greene, who knew her well, has created a loving, personal portrait of the remarkable woman behind the chalk-white mask.
THE WAR ROOM
James Carville, George Stephanopoulos, and Bill Clinton strategize how to beat George H.W. Bush in the 1992 presidential election despite numerous setbacks. (1993, Dirs. C. Hegedus, D. A. Pennebaker, 96 min.)
We are Wisconsin!
Documenting the public outcry against Wisconsin governor Scott Walker’s controversial 2011 budget-repair bill, We Are Wisconsin! focuses on the human story behind a remarkable popular uprising forged on the floor of the Madison Capitol. The film asks the question “why should we care about what’s going on in Wisconsin?” through an in-depth profile of six protesters—a UW-Madison student leader, a county social worker, a nurse, a high school teacher, a police officer, and a union electrician.
(2012, Dir. A. Williams, 90 min.)
Without Gorky
(England, 2011, 86 mins). Directed By: Cosima Spender. Producer: Valerio Bonelli. Cinematographer: Cosima Spender. Editor: Valerio Bonelli. Music: Jason Cooper.
The suicide of the great abstract expressionist Arshile Gorky in 1945 hangs over his surviving family: his cosmopolitan widow “Mougouch” and his two daughters. This moving, penetrating documentary, made by his granddaughter Cosima Spender, is both a brilliant portrait of the artist — a man who told myriad lies about his true identity — and the haunted tale of a family still grappling with his turbulent ghost. Ranging from London to New York to Gorky’s native Armenia, Spender’s intimate, honest film transcends the usual boundaries of the art documentary: it’s as special as the mythic, larger than life man it brings into clear focus.