a highly-opinionated selection of things happening around town, and sometimes out of town. this month's page here.
fri. jul. 31
upsilon acrux @ eagle rock center for arts
the terminator, terminator 2: judgment day @ aero theatre
stunt rock MIDNIGHT @ new beverly theatre
the big lebowski MIDNIGHT @ regency fairfax theater
5 fingers @ lacma
the deadly affair 9:30 PM @ lacma
muppet history 101, muppet music moments 8 PM, MIDNIGHT @ silent movie theatre
deerhoof @ echoplex
faust MIDNIGHT @ nuart theatre
jon brion @ largo
dead meadow @ henry miller library (big sur)
sat. aug. 1
shanghai express, the bitter tea of general yen @ starlight studio screenings
some like it hot @ cinespia @ hollywood forever
timonium @ pehrspace
it's a bikini world, angel angel down we go @ egyptian theatre
ghostbusters 7 PM @ hollywood almost free outdoor cinema
lolita @ lacma
patti smith @ smmoa
the loons FREE @ hipsters @ bar pink (SD)
magic bmx 9:30 PM, rad @ silent movie theatre
baraka (70mm) @ aero theatre
dungeonmaster MIDNIGHT @ new beverly theatre
werner herzog (book signing) @ book soup
sun. aug. 2
uncle meat, cafe l.a.: the beat generation in los angeles @ egyptian theatre
upsilon acrux @ the smell
and now my love (presented by fred armisen) 8 PM @ silent movie theatre
the monster squad (w/ live commentary) @ aero theatre
modern times 4 PM 7:30 PM, the general 5:55 PM 9:20 PM @ new beverly theatre
mon. aug. 3
gator bait @ ucla film archive
modern times, the general @ new beverly theatre
the growlers FREE @ the echo
tue. aug. 4
bipolar bear @ l'keg gallery
modern times, the general @ new beverly theatre
visioneers @ cinema speakeasy @ echo park film center
jerry beck presents beatnik animation night 8 PM @ silent movie theatre
wed. aug. 5
bury me an angel @ ucla film archive
the extra girl 8 PM @ silent movie theatre
easy rider 8 PM @ AFI 100s @ arclight hollywood
bipolar bear @ the smell
diabolique, casque d'or @ aero theatre
the burbs, smile (w/ joe dante and Bruce dern in person) @ new beverly theatre
thu. aug. 6
wesley willis' joyrides 8 PM, haack... the king of techno @ silent movie theatre
candy @ egyptian theatre
the burbs, smile @ new beverly theatre
quintron & miss pussycat @ the echo
fri. aug. 7
razorback MIDNIGHT @ nuart theatre
le cercle rouge, le doulos @ aero theatre
le monde du silence 8 PM, le monde sans soleil @ silent movie theatre
the st. valentine's day massacre, not of this earth (w/ roger corman and joe dante in person) @ new beverly theatre
reservoir dogs MIDNIGHT @ new beverly theatre
jon brion @ largo
nothing sacred, the great mcginty @ ucla film archive
sat. aug. 8
the slumber party massacre @ ucla film archive
dead meadow @ arts theatre (long beach)
nels cline and jon brion @ largo
bullitt @ cinespia @ hollywood forever
the douglas lee @ velaslavasay panorama
gremlins MIDNIGHT @ new beverly theatre
sun. aug. 9
breathless, alphaville @ aero theatre
matinee 3:40 PM 7:30 PM, miracle mile 5:40 PM 9:30 PM (w/ joe dante in person) @ new beverly theatre
damion romero @ echo curio
mon. aug. 10
matinee, miracle mile @ new beverly theatre
it's a gift, angels over broadway @ ucla film archive
mary lynn rajskub @ largo
the growlers FREE @ the echo
tue. aug. 11
sunn O))) @ eagle rock center for arts
the badlanders 1 PM @ lacma
to my great chagrin: the unbelievable story of brother theodore 8 PM @ silent movie theatre
cold turkey, the president's analyst (w/ joe dante in person) @ new beverly theatre
wed. aug. 12
cold turkey, the president's analyst @ new beverly theatre
midnight cowboy 8 PM @ AFI 100s @ arclight hollywood
thu. aug. 13
i need that record! 8 PM @ silent movie theatre
kitten with a whip, the lonely lady @ egyptian theatre
the last valley, alice's adventures in wonderland (1972) (w/ joe dante in person) @ new beverly theatre
fri. aug. 14
leon morin priest 7:30 PM 9:40 PM @ lacma
the aztec mummy vs. the human robot FREE @ ucla film archive
jabberwocky, erik the viking @ aero theatre
fol chen @ echoplex
the song remains the same MIDNIGHT @ regency fairfax theater
proteus 8 PM, the hellstrom chronicle @ silent movie theatre
jon brion @ largo
count yorga vampire, the lost boys @ new beverly theatre
shellshag @ spaceland
sat. aug. 15
leon morin priest 7:30 PM 9:40 PM @ lacma
shaun of the dead 7 PM @ hollywood almost free outdoor cinema
mahogany, a new kind of love @ egyptian theatre
paper moon @ cinespia @ hollywood forever
frank fairfield @ redwood bar
the velvet vampire, the hunger @ new beverly theatre
troll ii 9 PM, monster dog @ silent movie theatre
double indemnity, notorious @ ucla film archive
sun. aug. 16
the 5,000 fingers of dr. t FREE 11 AM @ hammer museum
frank fairfield @ redwood bar
mary lynn rajskub @ steve allen theater
labyrinth, the dark crystal @ aero theatre
mon. aug. 17
forgotten tenor 6 PM @ 7 dudley cinema @ the talking stick
ace in the hole @ ucla film archive
infinite animation: the work of adam beckett @ ampas linwood dunn
the growlers FREE @ the echo
tue. aug. 18
my own private crucifixion 7 PM @ larry johnson film series @ hammer museum
patrick, harlequin @ new beverly theatre
jay reatard FREE 6 PM @ amoeba
thu. aug. 20
on/off: mark stewart from the pop group to the maffia 8 PM @ silent movie theatre
the blair witch project @ egyptian theatre
the wild one, the wild angels @ aero theatre
al qaeda @ echo curio
fri. aug. 21
the sonics @ echoplex
aliens MIDNIGHT @ nuart theatre
the strong sex FREE @ ucla film archive
the great adventure 8 PM, louisiana story @ silent movie theatre
ema & the ghosts @ pehrspace
indiana jones and the temple of doom MIDNIGHT @ regency fairfax theater
terror creatures from the grave, return of dr. mabuse, werewolf in a girls' dormitory @ egyptian theatre
office space, beavis and butt-head do america @ aero theatre
jon brion @ largo
sat. aug. 22
bipolar bear @ redwood bar
fast times at ridgemont high @ devil's night drive-in
raiders of the lost ark 6 PM, indiana jones and the temple of doom, indiana jones and the last crusade @ egyptian theatre
extract (sneak preview) @ aero theatre
caveman 8 PM, grunt! @ silent movie theatre
the bank dick, hail the conquering hero @ ucla film archive
sunset junction
sun. aug. 23
occult USA: the process church of the final judgment 6 PM @ silent movie theatre
the planet of the female invaders 7 PM FREE @ hammer museum
revenge of the nerds, back to school @ aero theatre
raiders of the lost ark, indiana jones and the temple of doom @ new beverly theatre
movies moguls monkeys and murder too @ ampas linwood dunn
sunset junction
mon. aug. 24
raiders of the lost ark, indiana jones and the temple of doom @ new beverly theatre
mary lynn rajskub @ largo
six organs of admittance @ the echo
tue. aug. 25
the cincinnati kid 1 PM @ lacma
fred armisen @ largo
raiders of the lost ark, indiana jones and the temple of doom @ new beverly theatre
wed. aug. 26
male and female 8 PM @ silent movie theatre
kurt vile @ troubadour
the devils, beatrice cenci @ egyptian theatre
the graduate @ aero theatre
serpico, cruising @ new beverly theatre
thu. aug. 27
night flight tribute night 8 PM @ silent movie theatre
kurt vile @ echoplex
dirtbombs @ the echo
live at the smell 8 PM @ downtown independent
portrait of jennie, the ghost and mrs. muir @ egyptian theatre
serpico, cruising @ new beverly theatre
fri. aug. 28
os mutantes @ echoplex
ted leo & the pharmacists @ the echo
office space MIDNIGHT @ nuart theatre
wet hot american summer MIDNIGHT @ regency fairfax theater
ape and super-ape 8 PM @ silent movie theatre
evil dead, evil dead 2, army of darkness @ new beverly theatre
the warlocks @ spaceland
the monster's ship FREE @ ucla film archive
strait-jacket, mirage @ egyptian theatre
sat. aug. 29
the warlocks @ spaceland
santo the silver mask vs. the martian invasion FREE @ ucla film archive
the thing, they live @ egyptian theatre
evil dead, evil dead 2, army of darkness @ new beverly theatre
patton oswalt @ largo
fol chen @ pehrspace
jaws, jaws 2, jaws 3 @ aero theatre
sun. aug. 30
the chase 5:30 PM @ aero theatre
the dirty dozen 5:10 PM, the inglorious bastards @ new beverly theatre
the bear (w/ live score by no age) 8 PM 10:30 PM @ silent movie theatre
neil hamburger @ spaceland
mon. aug. 31
the inglorious bastards, the dirty dozen @ new beverly theatre
the growlers FREE @ the echo
jason simon, the meek FREE @ silverlake lounge
tue. sep. 1
the inglorious bastards, the dirty dozen @ new beverly theatre
thu. sep. 3
patti smith FREE @ santa monica pier
fri. sep. 4
twin peaks: fire walk with me MIDNIGHT @ nuart theatre
labyrinth MIDNIGHT @ regency fairfax theater
sat. sep. 5
timonium @ pehrspace
the morlocks @ haunted house a-go-go @ bordello
mon. sep. 7
the five minutes game: mom 'n pop video shoppe edition 6 PM @ silent movie theatre
wed. sep. 9
mi ami @ troubadour
thu. sep. 10
manhattan 8 PM @ ampas samuel goldwyn
asteroid #4 @ spaceland
fri. sep. 11
vivian girls @ the echo
sat. sep. 12
clue @ devil's night drive-in
sun. sep. 13
vivian girls @ the smell
tue. sep. 15
hiking @ the smell
fri. sep. 18
saccharine trust @ the smell
meat puppets @ el rey
sat. sep. 19
the pains of being pure at heart @ troubadour
sat. sep. 20
saccharine trust, mike watt, nels cline @ knitting factory
fri. sep. 25
autolux @ el rey
om @ echoplex
sat. sep. 26
cotton jones @ spaceland
sun. sep. 27
autolux @ detroit bar
tue. sep. 29
sonic youth @ the wiltern
thu. oct. 1
foot village @ the smell
wed. oct. 7
teenage jesus and the jerks, miko mika @ el rey
sat. oct. 24
the haunting 2 PM 8 PM @ alex theatre
wed. nov. 4
broadcast @ troubadour
sat. nov. 14
the homosexuals @ el rey
WHAT IT IS:
ACE IN THE HOLE
(1951) Directed by Billy Wilder
Cynical news reporter Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas), his career a shambles as a result of reckless ethical behavior, washes up at a small paper in rinky-dink Albuquerque, hungrily craving a sensational story to restart his career. Opportunity knocks when a local man seeking Indian artifacts is trapped inside an ancient cliff dwelling, setting off a rescue mission and drawing crowds of gawkers. Motivated by boredom, opportunism, lust and lurid curiosity, director Billy Wilder's lead characters and his nameless crowds are a pretty bunch indeed… but utterly believable and engrossing.
Paramount Pictures. Producer: Billy Wilder. Screenplay: Billy Wilder, Lesser Samuels, Walter Newman. Cinematographer: Charles Lang. Editor: Arthur Schmidt. Cast: Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling, Porter Hall, Robert Arthur, Richard Benedict. 35mm, B/W, 111 min.
And Now, My Love
Known as Los Angeles’s best live comedy night, Comedy Death-Ray (held every Tuesday at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre) is famous for offering world-class comics in an intimate and revealing setting. Now those same comedians are coming to the Cinefamily to show you not only the films that influenced them, but also short films & various videos that they’ve either made, star in, or just love. For August's Comedy Death-Ray night, we welcome SNL mainstay (and former Blue Man Group drummer!) Fred Armisen. For his pick, Fred selected Claude Lelouch's sprawling romance Toute Une Vie (And Now, My Love), which chronicles three love affairs over three generations. Armisen: "I love this movie. It's optimistic and has it's own sense of humor. There's this one song that is played over and over as a theme--you know how they used to do that in European movies all the time? I'm telling you, it's great! I'll explain more why I love it when you get here." So come hear the man speak!
ANGEL, ANGEL, DOWN WE GO (aka CULT OF THE DAMNED), 1969, MGM Repertory, 103 min. Robert Thom (writer of WILD IN THE STREETS) scripted and directed this jaw-dropping hymn to purple prose and psychedelic nihilism. Washed-up star Astrid (Jennifer Jones), her jaded millionaire spouse (Charles Aidman) and their searching-for-meaning daughter (Holly Near) all have the misfortune to meet Machiavellian pop star Bogart Peter Stuyvesant (Jordan Christopher) who worms his way into the household with his band, The Rabbit Habit (!), in tow. While occasionally belting out catchy songs by Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil (more WILD IN THE STREETS alumni), and with the help of plenty of LSD, he alternately charms and intimidates everyone in this dysfunctional family. Imagine a remake of Pasolini's TEOREMA done in the American International drive-in mindset, and you’ll get some idea of what to expect. An absurdly tasteless vision of the evil flipside of the late ‘60s Hollywood counterculture. Be sure to look for Roddy McDowall and Lou Rawls in Jordan Christopher’s spaced-out entourage! NOT ON DVD Introduction to the screening by Domenic Priore.
ANGELS OVER BROADWAY
(1940) Directed by Ben Hecht and Lee Garmes
Ben Hecht wrote, produced and co-directed this intriguing human drama. A pathetic man (John Qualen), has robbed his boss of $3,000, but has lost the money and been found out. Desperate to replace the money, he contemplates suicide in a bar where the lowlifes would usually roll you for your last dime. But tonight, failed, drunken playwright Thomas Mitchell, dashing con man Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and would-be showgirl Rita Hayworth decide to help him by fleecing a group of gamblers even less scrupulous than themselves. Hecht's film is a backhanded salute to the human spirit, exhibiting his compassion for the flotsam of humanity.
Columbia Pictures. Producer: Ben Hecht. Screenwriter: Ben Hecht. Cinematographer: Lee Garmes. Editor: Gene Havlick. Cast: Rita Hayworth, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Thomas Mitchell, John Qualen, George Watts. 35mm, B/W, 79 min.
Ape and Super-Ape
Bert Haanstra, a legend in the Netherlands and one of the greatest nature documentarians, delivered his magnum opus with Ape And Super-Ape. The scope of the film is massive on numerous levels--artistically, intellectually, and geographically. Haanstra travelled to the literal farthest corners of the world, covering over 150,000 miles and taking over three years to collect stunning footage of the animal kingdom, which demonstrated his thesis of the survival of all species on this planet. Before shooting, Haanstra squirreled himself away like a hermit, studied endless books on the subject, and meditated upon how to make this film appeal to a wide audience, and not just a few biologists. The final result is a masterpiece. Ape and Super-Ape is both serious, even savage, in subject matter, yet often playful in treatment--full of witty montages and clever crosscutting between human and animal behavior, a killer jazz score, and a laconic voiceover commentary that both adds to the images and sometimes undermines them. It is visually beautiful, moving, entertaining, thought-provoking, humorous--but above all, remorseless.
Dir. Bert Haanstra, 1972, 35mm, 104 min.
The Aztec Mummy vs. The Human Robot
Mexico, 1957
PROD: Guillermo Calderón. DIR: Rafael Portillo. SCR: Guillermo Calderón, Alfredo Salazar. CINE: Enrique Wallace. EDIT: Jorge Bustos, José Li-ho, J.R. Remy. CAST: Ramón Gay, Rosa Arenas, Ángel di Stefani, Crox Alvarado, Luis Aceves Castañeda.
The sinister Dr. Krupp covets the ancient treasure guarded for centuries by the dread Aztec mummy Popoca. Dr. Almada, a modern Mexican scientist, tells his incredulous colleagues about Dr. Krupp’s earlier attempts to hypnotize Almada’s beautiful fiancée Flor into stealing the treasure. The final confrontation in a cemetery between the mummy and Krupp’s metallic robot (both of them more kooky than menacing) is a spectacle reminiscent of Ed Wood. Can Krupp’s tin monstrosity finally rob Mexico of its ancient patrimony, or will Popoca vanquish the evil invader?
35mm, b/w, subtitles, 65 min.
The Badlanders
1958/color/85 min./Scope | Scr: Richard Collin; dir: Delmer Daves; w/ Alan Ladd, Ernest Borgnine, Katy Jurado, Claire Kelly.
Western outlaws join forces for a daring gold robbery in this remake of The Asphalt Jungle.
THE BANK DICK
(1940) Directed by Edward F. Cline
W.C. Fields stars as Egbert Souse, embattled small-town husband and father. His wife and mother-in-law denigrate him as a drunk and a nobody; indeed, drinking and tall tales are about all that sustain him. When one day Souse accidentally intercepts a bank robber, he's acclaimed a hero and made a uniformed bank detective, regaling every child and barfly with tales of his heroics. But hearing of a golden investment opportunity ("Beefsteak Mines!"), he plots a light-fingered embezzlement to finance his stock purchase, leading to madcap consequences. Morally lapsed, besotted, Fields is lovable as a big-dreaming bottom-dweller in a world satisfied with mediocrity.
Universal Pictures. Executive Producer: Cliff Work. Screenplay: W.C. Fields. Editor: Arthur Hilton. Cast: W.C. Fields, Milton R. Krasner, Cora Witherspoon, Una Merkel, Grady Sutton, Franklin Pangborn. 35mm, B/W, 72 min.
BARAKA, 1992, Magidson Films, 96 min. If you have never seen BARAKA, one of the Cinematheque’s favorite movies, this is another chance to experience one of the most visually awesome films ever made. Inspired by the Sufi word that means "breath of life," BARAKA is a mind-expanding, spiritual journey around the globe (shot in 24 countries on 5 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 70 mm. images, BARAKA is quite simply breathtaking. "Smashingly edited, superbly scored … speaks volumes about the planet without uttering a single word." – Suzan Ayscough, Variety. 70 mm!
The Bear
(w/ live score by No Age)
L.A.-based, world-renowned experimental noise pop duo No Age will appear live at the Cinefamily to perform their brand-new score for Jean-Jacques Annaud's majestic 1988 film The Bear, a near-wordless cinematic expedition deep into the savagery and tenderness of the animal kingdom. Told from the titular species' point of view, The Bear chronicles the journey of an orphan bear cub and a lone adult bear banding together to avoid two human hunters. Along the way, director Annaud has great fun with the storytelling possibilities from a non-human perspective, including dream sequences and an unforgettable psychdelic mushroom bear trip! With nearly no (human) dialogue, the film easily lends itself to live scoring, and No Age drummer Dean Spunt and guitarist Randy Randall have crafted a shimmering 90-minute set of sonic blasts and delicate textures that perfectly complement the peculiar, touching and altogether unique experience that is The Bear.
BEATRICE CENCI, 1969, 99 min. Gore meister director Lucio Fulci (THE BEYOND, ZOMBIE) tackles literary giant Stendahl’s masterpiece of bloody familial treachery in 16th century Italy in this surprisingly faithful adaptation (which itself was based on a true story). Wealthy Francesco Cenci (George Wilson) is a sadistic landowner who regularly abuses his family and tenants, but is in good standing with his powerful cleric friends. He also has depraved designs on his own beautiful daughter, Beatrice (Adrienne Larussa). After one too many nightmarish evenings trying to keep her patriarch’s hands off of her, Beatrice plots with her servant lover Olimpo (Tomas Milian) to murder her evil parent. But after his demise, things quickly unravel, with noblemen and powerful clergy ensnaring Beatrice and her hapless accomplices for rounds of gruesome torture. One of Fulci’s comparatively unknown and best efforts. (Screened from a digital source).
BURY ME AN ANGEL
(1972) Directed by Barbara Peters
After making her directorial debut in 1970 with the lezploitation feature, Just the Two of Us, Barbara Peters made a string of films for Roger Corman's New World Pictures beginning with this female biker revenge flick. Dixie Peabody stars as Dag, a biker chick who hits the road to revenge when someone kills her boyfriend. Peters aerates the action with extended detours through dispersed pockets of California's hippie culture and performances that are almost-Bressonian in their blankness.
Meier-Murray Productions. Producer: Paul Norbert. Screenplay: Connie Graver. Cinematographer: Sven Walnum. Editor: Tony de Zarraga. Cast: Dixie Peabody, Terry Mace, Clyde Ventura, Joanne Moore Jordan, Marie Denn. 35mm, 89 min.
Cafe L.A.: The Beat Generation in Los Angeles
Approx. 60 min. Produced by Domenic Priore and Brian Chidester. This now-updated 850-image slideshow brings you inside the coffeehouses and jazz joints of the greater Los Angeles area during the 1955-1965 era. Done with a local geography spin, the presentation is inspired by KNXT's "Ralph Story's Los Angeles" and Mike Salisbury's visual montage work in the Los Angeles Times' old (1966-1972) West magazine supplement. We go from Santa Barbara to Laguna Beach down the coastline, then north through Tustin, Buena Park, Pasadena, into Silver Lake, downtown L.A., a bit over to Western Avenue, South Central, up Fairfax and La Cienega and out to Sunset Strip. Beatniks in Venice, jazz and R&B pioneers downtown, pop artists on Restaurant Row and the earliest stages of folk-rock and psychedelia on the Strip are all captured, with a final run at the end of the artists on the L.A. scene. Introduction and live slideshow narration by Domenic Priore, author of Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood and Beatsville.
CANDY, 1968, 120 min. Dir. Christian Marquand. One of the most wildly underrated films of the 1960s, CANDY uses the pornographic adventures of an innocent teenage sexpot (played by Swedish bombshell Ewa Aulin) on an odyssey across America as an opportunity to satirize the military, 1960s hippie idealism, middle-class morality and more. When Candy arrives in Hollywood at the climax, nothing will ever be the same again! Loosely inspired by the centuries-old classic Candide, DR. STRANGELOVE writer Terry Southern and Mason Hoffenberg wrote the notoriously ribald novel (adapted here by THE GRADUATE screenwriter Buck Henry). CANDY features an amazing gallery of supporting players: Marlon Brando as Grindl the Guru; James Coburn as the hilariously homicidal surgeon, Krankheit; Ringo Starr as the Mexican gardener Emmanuel; Richard Burton as a drunken Welsh poet (promoted as a rock star to Candy’s high school class); John Huston as a lecherous hospital administrator; Walter Matthau as a rabid anti-Commie general; and John Astin plays a dual role as Candy’s prudish single father and libidinous uncle! Keep your eyes peeled for a bevy of beautiful European actresses – Elsa Martinelli as Candy’s swinging aunt, Anita Pallenberg (PERFORMANCE) as a demonic nurse and Florinda Bolkan (LIZARD IN A WOMAN’S SKIN), Marilu Tolo (DJANGO KILL) and Nicoletta Machiavelli (NAVAJO JOE) as Starr’s murderous, motorcycle-riding sisters. Songs by The Byrds and Steppenwolf, along with Dave Grusin’s amazingly good pop-psychedelic score. Introduction to the screening by Domenic Priore.
CASQUE D’OR, 1952, Janus Films, 96 min. Dir. Jacques Becker. Do not miss this sublime masterpiece of romantic French cinema – simultaneously a heartbreaking adult fairy tale and an impressionist rendering of the turn-of-the-century Parisian underworld. The fleeting moments of shared love and erotic passion between Serge Reggiani and Simone Signoret are genuine poetry – moments cut short by the jealous machinations of others.
Caveman
Carl Gottlieb--a man who would be beloved merely for his writing work on Jaws and The Jerk--co-wrote and directed Caveman, a piece of light-hearted spoofery and buffoonery which casually became one of the most original and silly comedies of the '80s, with an entirely invented ooga-booga language (selected theaters during its original release gave out glossary handbills containing thirty caveman words), and a batch of charmingly old-school effects (from stop-motion to hand puppets.) The result is a pitch-perfect mix of of live-action cartooniness and modified silent film--the two genres in which cavemen most naturally live. Funded by George Harrison, and starring everycaveman Ringo Starr (with all of his puppy dog charm), Caveman is half kids' film and half rock-n-roll comedy--babealicious fur-bikinied bombshells, stoned T-Rexes howling at the moon, and the invention of music seen as a big party. A party we're gonna continue! Carl Gottlieb will be in person at the Cinefamily to introduce the film, and do a Q & A afterwards! Dir. Carl Gottleb, 1981, 35mm, 91 min.
THE CHASE, 1966, Sony Repertory, 135 min. Dir. Arthur Penn. Screenplay by Lillian Hellman from the play by Horton Foote, and starring Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, James Fox, Robert Duvall and Robert Redford, the film portrays how the escape of one man from prison, in one night, profoundly affects the inhabitants of a small southern town. Designed by Richard Day (MY GAL SAL, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, ON THE WATERFRONT). A panel discussion will follow with leading production designers who will further discuss the creation and use of backlots in film.
The Cincinnati Kid
1965/color/113 min. | Scr: Ring Lardner Jr., Terry Southern; dir: Norman Jewison; w/ Steve McQueen, Edward G. Robinson, Ann-Margret, Karl Malden, Tuesday Weld, Joan Blondell, Rip Torn, Jack Weston, Cab Calloway.
Cardsharps try to deal with personal problems during a big game in New Orleans.
COLD TURKEY
(from IMDB)
Reverend Brooks leads the town in a contest to stop smoking for a month, But some tobacco executives don't want them to win, and try everything they can to make them smoke. If townspeople don't go nuts, from wanting a cigarette, or kill each other from irritation and frustration, they will will a huge prize. Dir. Norman Lear, 1971, 99 mins.
COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE
This fun, atmospheric and fast-paced horror feature has long been a midnight movie favorite. A seance brings two young couples into the company of the dashing but deadly Count Yorga (Robert Quarry), and soon a plague of vampirism is overtaking southern California. Bob Kelljan---USA---1970---91 mins.
The Deadly Affair
1966/color/107 min. | Scr: Paul Dehn; dir: Sidney Lumet; w/ James Mason, Harriet Andersson, Simone Signoret, Maximilian Schell.
This sophisticated, adult spy thriller, based on a novel by John le Carré, stars Mason as a burnt-out security inspector in the Foreign Office who finds himself threatened by an espionage ring while investigating a colleague's suicide. On display are the genre's standard ingredients-intrigue, betrayal, and violent death-but Lumet's primary focus is on a fascinating group of characters brought vividly to life by a stellar international cast including Signoret, who gives gut-wrenching performance as a Holocaust survivor. Master cinematographer Freddie Young, of Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago fame, pre-exposed the film to give the images a psychological realism unique to the mid-sixties Cold War era. "Thematically it was a film about life's disappointments. I wanted to get that dreary, lifeless feeling London has in winter. I wanted to desaturate the colors."—Sidney Lumet.
THE DEVILS, 1971, Warner Bros., 111 min. Director Ken Russell’s still-shocking adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s play "Devils of Loudun" was vilified as blasphemous and excessive upon its initial release, and remains one of the most disturbingly memorable films from the early 1970s. The film’s allegory of a corrupt power structure that equates sexual activity with Satanism, all for the sake of political and religious repression, is more relevant today than ever. In the 17th century, French Cardinal Richelieu’s minions use the womanizing of activist priest Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed) as a pretext for the Inquisition to investigate his "diabolic possession" of the local nuns, including demented, hunchback Mother Superior Sister Jeanne (an unforgettable Vanessa Redgrave). With support from an excellent cast that includes Dudley Sutton, Gemma Jones and Michael Gothard. NOT ON DVD
DIABOLIQUE, 1955, Janus Films, 110 min. Dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot. One of the greatest psychological thrillers ever made, DIABOLIQUE focuses on the browbeaten wife (Vera Clouzot) of a brutal schoolmaster and his tough-as-nails mistress (Simone Signoret), as they team up to murder their mutual tormentor. But that’s only the beginning of this edge-of-your-seat affair, a twisting, turning shocker that still holds up today as one of the all-time classics of suspense. Legend has it that Clouzot beat Hitchcock to the punch by only an hour in sewing up rights to the original novel by Pierre Boileau. With sardonic Charles Vanel as the poker-faced inspector.
THE DIRTY DOZEN
This very tough, very funny and very violent film is one of the high points of action cinema. Twelve convicts are offered amnesty if they go on a suicide mission behind enemy lines during World War II. Lee Marvin heads an all-star cast including Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, George Kennedy, Ralph Meeker, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas and Donald Sutherland. Robert Aldrich---USA---1967---149 mins.
THE DUNGEONMASTER
(from IMDB)
Paul, a computer whiz who spends more time with his machine than with his girlfriend, finds that he has been chosen as a worthy opponent for Mestema, an evil wizard who has spent centuries searching for a challenging foe. After having his computer changed into wristband weapon, Paul does battle with a variety of monsters before finally coming face to face with the ultimate adversary. 1985, 73 mins.
EXTRACT, 2009, Miramax. The latest comedy from writer/director Mike Judge is the story of Joel and his extract manufacturing plant. Joel is just about ready to sell the plant and gear up for an early retirement to easy street when Murphy’s law intercedes with a series of workplace accidents and disasters that put his business and personal life in jeopardy. The film stars Jason Bateman ("Arrested Development"), Kristen Wiig ("Saturday Night Live"), Mila Kunis (FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL), and Ben Affleck (HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU). Discussion following with writer/director Mike Judge.
The Extra Girl
Though she had the doe eyes, thousand-watt smile, and cascading curls of a classic Silent ingenue, Mabel Normand set herself apart from a generation of starlets with a whole tabloid's worth of Gothic Hollywood scandals. By 1924, Normand had starred in over 200 films, written and directed dozens more, and was publicly linked with the shootings of two men. At the height of her career, Normand starred in The Extra Girl, a film which steeled her reputation as a comedienne as brilliant as she was beautiful. The film follows a small-town sweetheart who ambles into Hollywood, much as Normand did as a teenager. Her performance is just one in a career that included countless collaborations with Mack Sennett, Fatty Arbuckle, and Charlie Chaplin, and fortunately for us, she sparkles like a gem.
FAUST
Murnau's last German production before going to Hollywood is a lavish one, based on Goethe's play and inspired by Romantic painters like Caspar David Friedrich. Gosta Ekman is the elderly professor who sells his soul to the devil. Emil Jannings plays Mephistopheles and Camilla Horn is Marguerite. "No director ever succeeded in conjuring up the supernatural as masterfully as this" (Lotte Eisner, The Haunted Screen). Friedrich W. Murnau---Germany---1926---116 mins.
5 Fingers
1952/b&w/108 min. | Scr: Michael Wilson; dir: Joseph Mankiewicz; w/ James Mason, Danielle Darrieux, Michael Rennie.
Based loosely on a true story, this elegant espionage film set in Ankara in 1944 stars Mason as an Albanian-born valet working at the British embassy who teams up with an unscrupulous countess (Darrieux) to sell secret Allied documents to the Germans. An excellent screenplay made even better by the witty embellishments of Mankiewicz, "The tale becomes an irresistibly cynical comedy of manners in which the crafty gentleman's gentleman (a marvelous performance from Mason), scheming to promote himself as a member of the leisure classes, falls victim to his own pretensions. An irresistible treat."—Time Out.
The Five Minutes Game:
Mom 'N Pop Video Shoppe Edition & Cinefamily Labor Day BBQ
We here at the Cinefamily love two things in tandem: busting out the patio grill, and an onslaught of deranged video--so we're closing out a whole summer's worth of nonstop partying with another installment of our highly popular and always-unpredictable Five Minutes Game! What's all this about a game, you ask? We're firm believers in "Every movie is interesting for at least its first five minutes", those fascinating moments when you're still entering the new world a film presents you, and trying to figure out what the hell's going on. What we're gonna do is choose fifteen movies you've likely never seen before (with most, if not all of the films unavailable on DVD), line 'em up, and only show you the first five minutes of each. After all that, you, the audience, gets to vote on which film out of the fifteen we all then watch in its entirety. And, to kick off the evening's presentation, we'll be showing a short doc of our own creation, which follows the Cinefamily crew as we scour thrift stores & mom 'n pop video shoppes, looking for those extra-rare slabs of Five Minutes Game VHS fodder. So, bring something to cook on our grill, and let's get started!
FORGOTTEN TENOR (‘94, 136m) at 7:30pm- Abraham Ravett's experimental documentary pays tribute to bebop saxophonist WARDELL GRAY, who was a contemporary of Count Basie and Charlie Parker. Ravett is interested in why some figures are inscribed in history and others are not, but he is primarily concerned with the process of investigating a person's life--the attempt to construct a vision of a figure from incomplete and fragmentary documents. Wardell Gray's story is pieced together from both willing and reluctant witnesses, film snippets, personal letters, home movies and photographs, and a number of in credible recordings. The inevitable gap between a life lived and a life remembered is suggested by Ravett's use of animation and recreations. Whether trying to connect with a potential interviewee by phone, examining a photograph, or explaining the economics of avant-garde productions, Ravett reveals the storie s behind oral histories. His portrait not only provides a face to the sound, it evokes a sense of what it is like to be a black musician in postwar America. With Clark Terry, Art Farmer, Teddy Edwards. 6pm- rare Jimmy Smith & Jaki Byrd films.
GATOR BAIT
(1973) Directed by Beverly Sebastian
A redneck clan is out for Cajun blood after they're led to believe that a sexy swamp thing, played by former Playboy Playmate Claudia Jennings, killed one of their own. Driven deep into the bayou as much by male sexual aggression and anxiety as revenge, the hunters quickly become the hunted in this drive-in classic.
Sebastian Films Limited, Inc.. Producer: Beverly Sebastian, Ferd Sebastian. Screenplay: Beverly Sebastian. Cinematographer: Ferd Sebastian. Editor: Ron Johnson. Cast: Claudia Jennings, Sam Gilman, Doug Dirkson, Clyde Ventura, Bill Thurman. 35mm, 88 min.
THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR, 1947, 20th Century Fox, 104 min. Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz (ALL ABOUT EVE) turned out this perfect blend of ghost tale and poignant love story set in 1900 England. Young widow Gene Tierney, with her daughter (Natalie Wood) in tow, moves into a cozy old seacliff house that previously belonged to deceased ship captain Rex Harrison. Harrison’s spirit is a salty dog unaccustomed to female company who tries to scare the new tenant away. But Tierney resolutely stands her ground. Gradually, the two reach an understanding and, as the years pass, become extremely fond of each other, with Tierney turning out a bestselling – and scandalous -- biography of Harrison. All the more poignant, as Harrison must stand by helplessly as Tierney undergoes heartbreak at the hands of earthly suitor George Sanders.
THE GREAT ADVENTURE
The Great Adventure is the subtlest of coming-of-age stories, an ode to dual "lost paradises": the childhood of Man and every man's childhood. Nature is seen as a beautiful but cruel Eden we have left behind forever, and this is reflected through one boy's passing friendship with an young otter, a connection as passing as the seasons. This enchanting film could only have been made by one man, Arne Sucksdorff. As a child raised near the pastoral forests of northern Sweden, Sucksdorff had an innate feel for nature, and was a child prodigy of animal wrangling. His films are populated with the otters, foxes, and other wild fauna he befriended and tamed. Mixing his human cast with indigenous animals, and filming them with award-winning photographic skill, he was able to capture the images and scenes he needed for his poetic vision--a fox playfully teasing an otter, or an owl silently, quickly and ferociously catching a mouse. His view is magical, but not sugarcoated. Nature is a dangerous place, where life and death hangs in the balance, and also a place of wonder. A great adventure. Dir. Arne Sucksdorff, 1953, 16mm, 77 min.
THE GREAT MCGINTY
(1940) Directed by Preston Sturges
Sturges' bizarrely comedic first film as director ponders the serious question: can virtue sprout and flourish from a bed of muck? Dan McGinty (Brian Donlevy) is a Depression-era hobo, easily tempted when the local political boss invites him to take part in a voter-fraud scheme. Unhindered by scruples, McGinty excels as a cog in the political machine, rising steadily to the governorship of his state, and aided by a symbolic sham marriage to cynical clerical worker Catherine (Muriel Angelus). But when the newly powerful McGinty, softened by marriage, contemplates his ability to do good, the tide turns against him.
Paramount Pictures. Producer: Buddy G. DeSylva. Screenwriter: Preston Sturges. Cinematographer: William C. Mellor. Editor: Hugh Bennett. Cast: Brian Donlevy, Muriel Angelus, Akim Tamiroff, Allyn Joslyn, William Demarest. 35mm, B/W, 82 min.
Grunt!
The antics grow even more bizarre with our second film, the ultra-rare second feature from Italy, Grunt!, Andy Luotto's
Caveman rip-off. An otherwise undistinguished group of mouthbreathers come upon a gigantic egg that both mutates all who touch it (hence creating new species) and presents them with the means to cook, manufacture, and move up the evolutionary ladder. Naturally, this inspires jealousy from a rival clan, who steals it, and now our loincloth loons must make the perilous trek to retrieve their egg. This exposes them to the world beyond their tiny lair and such things as--disco? Yes, we're in for the kind of dadaist strangeness only Italian comedy can provide. Grunt! marks the only writing and directing gig for New York born actor Luotto, recently featured in Abel Ferrara's Go-Go Tales and now moonlighting as a celebrity chef! No word on whether his recipes got help from the magic egg. Dir. Andy Luotto, 1983, digital presentation, 90 min.
Haack...The King Of Techno
Bruce Haack was one of the most musically and lyrically inventive artists of the early electronic age, combining homemade analog synths, classical, country, pop and acid rock elements into one massive, heady stew. His craft evolved from his passion and creation of numerous kids' records, and today his work has inspired the likes of world-renowned musicians such as Beck, the Beastie Boys and Mouse On Mars, proving he's an almost-lost treasure ripe for rediscovery. Packed with warped visuals, wild music and far out stories, Haack follows the King of Techno as he drops in on "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" and golden-oldie game show host Garry Moore, playing his bizarre instruments such as the Peopleodian, a device played by touching peoples' skin! Directed in true Haack spirit, for kids, adults and music fans alike, Philip Anagnos' directorial debut will send you out humming "School For Robots" and scrambling for Haack's records! Director Philip Anagnos will appear in person for a post-screening Q&A session! Haack: The King of Techno Dir. Philip Anagnos, 2004, DigiBeta, 57 min.
HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO
(1944) Directed by Preston Sturges
Serviceman Woodrow Truesmith (Eddie Bracken) returns home from the war, discharged with hay fever. Convinced by some fellow Marines to adopt a white lie about being wounded, his fib backfires when he is greeted with a hero's welcome in his hometown. Vainly protesting, the bewildered Woodrow is beset with admirers, who foist honors upon him and before long, outfit him as a mayoral candidate. Though he wants to come clean, it's soon clear no-one else wants to hear him out, and wide-eyed Woodrow gets a vivid and hilarious lesson in politics-as-usual, with the genuine heroism of servicemen exploited for naked gain.
Paramount Pictures. Producer: Preston Sturges, Buddy G. DeSylva. Screenplay: Preston Sturges. Cinematographer: John F. Seitz. Editor: Stuart Gilmore. Cast: Eddie Bracken, Ella Raines, Raymond Walburn, Elizabeth Patterson, William Demarest. 35mm, B/W, 101 min.
HARLEQUIN
(from IMDB)
A modern-day politician is faced with the incomprehensible in this mystical fantasy. Senator Rast is a very powerful man. But he is nothing compared to the extraordinary power of the enigmatic stranger who mysteriously comes to "visit" him. Possessing uncanny magical prowess and miraculous psychic abilities, the peculiar, but seemingly benevolent, visitor quickly gains a spell-binding hold over the Senator and his family. But a power-lusting political backer is also vying for control over the up-and-coming senator. And he would kill the influential stranger, without question, for that power. But he and the senator are about to be enlightened...
The Haunting
Robert Wise adapted Shirley Jackson’s novel The Haunting of Hill House into one of filmdom’s most memorable horror films.
A paranormal investigator (Richard Johnson) decides to investigate a 90-year old haunted house aided by two women with recent psychic experiences (Julie Harris and Claire Bloom) and the owner’s skeptical nephew (Russ Tamblyn).
A true ghost story of the first degree, THE HAUNTING is perfect spook fare to put you in the Halloween spirit.
Presented In 35mm black and white and CinemaScope. (M-G-M, 1963)
Is the Alex Haunted?
Join World renowned Psychic-Medium & Parapsychological Investigator Michael J. Kouri who will appear live on stage!
Runs 2 1/2 hrs.
The Hellstrom Chronicle
"From childhood nightmares to adult schizophrenia, the insect is a common fixation on the human mind--partly because his face seems so evil, partly because he is so indestructible." So says the theatrical Dr. Nils Hellstrom (played with hammy gusto by actor Lawrence Pressman), who narrates The Hellstrom Chronicle, a documentary in the same alarming tone of a '50s "Red scare" film, rendering the oddest of nature film concoctions--a piece of anti-insect propoganda! His tone is deadly serious, except when laughing at our futility in the face of the murder bugs that surround us at all times, ready to take over at the first sign of our weakness. Hellstrom's obsessive, mind-blowing arguments are also supported by spaced-out microphotography and a switched-on Lalo Schifrin jazz-funk score, making the film into an incredible head movie, an audio-visual bug-out on the bug world that's informative and entertaining at the same time. Best Documentary winner at the '71 Oscars and '72 BAFTAs, as well as the recipient of the Technical Grand Prize at Cannes, it's the best way to prepare for the welcome of your inevitable insect overlords. And that's not science fiction--that's science FACT, baby! Dirs. Ed Spiegel & Walon Green, 1971, 35mm, 90 min.
I Need That Record!
I Need That Record! asks the simple question: why have over 3,000 independent record stores in the U.S. closed in the past decade? As much a cool history lesson on vinyl as a portrait of greedy record labels, media consolidation, homogenized radio, big box stores, e-commerce, shoddy "stars" pushed by big money and even the digital revolution, the film is, at its core, a loving tribute to the cherished nerdy record stores which for decades have nurtured our access to the music we all love. In addition to the exploration of its juicy premise, the film contains interviews with Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Ian MacKaye (Fugazi), Mike Watt (Minutemen), Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith Group), Chris Frantz (Talking Heads), Pat Carney (The Black Keyes), composer Glenn Branca, authors Noam Chomsky and Legs McNeil, rock photographer Bob Gruen--and dozens of indie record stores across the U.S. of A.! The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Brendan Toller, a panel discussion (moderated by Michael Des Barres, featuring special guests) on the fate of the indie record store today, a Danny Benair Record Club listening party (bring a record to share if you want!), and a record swap on the Cinefamily outdoor patio!
Dir. Brendan Toller, 2008, digital presentation, 77 min.
INFINITE ANIMATION: THE WORK OF ADAM BECKETT
Adam Beckett (1950–1979) was an influential animator and visual effects artist whose career straddled the line between art film and the special effects industry. Well known for his unique use of the optical printer in conjunction with the animation stand, Beckett’s technical achievements ranged from his work on highly experimental art films to commercial films including “Star Wars” (1977), for which he was recruited to head the rotoscope and animation department, and the 1978 horror film “Piranha,” on which he worked as an animator.
Between 1970 and 1975, while still a student in Jules Engel’s then newly-formed experimental animation program at the California Institute of the Arts, Beckett completed six groundbreaking films. His complex, intense work, which has been described as “a masterful visual universe,” had a great impact on his peers and won awards at numerous film festivals. In 1975, Beckett started his own studio, Infinite Animation, while simultaneously pursuing his MFA and teaching at CalArts. Tragically, he died in a fire in 1979 at the age of 29.
Hosted by Richard Winn Taylor and Beckett biographer Pamela Turner, this special program will including a screening of several of Beckett’s remarkable short films, all recently restored by the iotaCenter and the Academy Film Archive: “Dear Janice” (1972), “Heavy-Light” (1973), “Evolution of the Red Star” (1973), “Flesh Flows” (1974), “Sausage City” (1974) and “Kitsch in Synch” (1975). The evening will also feature a screening of one of Beckett’s last films, “Life in the Atom,” which remained unfinished at his death.
An onstage panel of friends and colleagues will discuss Beckett’s life and work. Scheduled guests include Oscar-winning visual effects artists David Berry and Richard Edlund and experimental filmmaker Pat O’Neill.
THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS
This Enzo Castellari spaghetti action-war movie stars Bo Svenson and Fred Williamson in the fast-paced story of a group of American soldiers headed for military prison during WWII. When their transport gets attacked, they escape and make their way towards the neutral Swiss border. Before they know it, these AWOL army badasses get roped into helping the French steal a secret weapon deep inside Nazi occupied territory. Enzo G. Castellari---Italy---1978---99 mins.
IT’S A BIKINI WORLD, 1967, MGM Repertory, 86 min. Set the Wayback Machine to 1966, where you actually get to go inside the notorious Haunted House club on Hollywood Boulevard. Originally a Schindler-designed L.A. version of the Broadway theater watering hole Sardi’s (’30s), then the incredible Zardi’s Jassland (’50s), the Haunted House is definitely the star of this movie. The psychotronic monster-au-go-go stage featured shimmy-shake dancers and bloodshot eyeballs that rotated while "smoke" (dry ice) was snorted onto a packed dancefloor (eat your heart out, Led Zep). Not a bad effect when orbing The Animals, who groove to "We’ve Gotta Get Outta This Place," teen garage punk godz The Castaways ("Liar Liar"), R&B girl group The Toys and Chicano rock ’n’ rollers Pat & Lolly Vegas. For good measure, The Gentrys of "Keep on Dancing" fame perform some great mid-‘60s slop at a beach pad with Pop Art on the walls. The Mike Curb soundtrack features an early Moog cut plus a kinetic surf instrumental theme by Bob Summers. Also featuring Sid "Spider Baby" Haig as Daddy (a takeoff on hot rod king Ed Roth), monster-mashin’ Bobby "Boris" Pickett, Disney teen geek Tommy Kirk and beach flick starlet Deborah Walley (as Delilah) in a quasi-feminist plot; she competes with Kirk at the drag strip, in skateboard races and other dares thought up at Wil Wright’s Ice Cream Parlor. Directed by Stephanie Rothman, who later got auteur cred for GROUP MARRIAGE, THE VELVET VAMPIRE and the women’s-prison flick TERMINAL ISLAND. Rothman would say of this film, "I became very depressed after making IT’S A BIKINI WORLD." Perhaps it was the crud culture, or the instinct that the world would never be as cool again. NOT ON DVD
IT'S A GIFT
(1934) Directed by Norman Z. McLeod
This comedy masterpiece upends every promise of American bourgeois bliss. W.C. Fields (who wrote the original story under the pen name Charles Bogle) portrays Harold Bissonette: a hard-working store owner who faces daily frustrations and screeching reprisals from his wife, neighbors and customers. He's unable to get a good night's sleep or even sneak a drink in peace. When a sudden inheritance fulfills Bissonette's dreams of purchasing a California orange grove, a host of new complications awaits him in his Western Shangri-La. It's A Gift tenderly but smirkingly posits that life would be better if everyone would just leave you alone.
Paramount Pictures. Producer: William LeBaron. Screenplay: Jack Cunningham. Cinematographer: Henry Sharp. Cast: W.C. Fields, Kathleen Howard, Jean Rouverol, Julian Madison, Baby LeRoy. 35mm, B/W, 73 min.
Jerry Beck presents Beatnik Animation Night
We're hippin' you to the one of the coolest shows on our entire calendar, man. Animation historian Jerry Beck will present a wild program of vintage cartoon shorts that reflect the Beat Generation and its influences in all animated media. Dig what we're puttin' down! The show will include Stan Freberg's Three Little Bops, Real Gone Woody (with Woody Woodpecker), and the Wildman of Wildsville (voiced by Lord Buckley). In addition, you'll catch Popeye, Foghorn Leghorn and the Beatles in their grooviest coffee house threads. We'll be screening rare prints in 16mm, 35mm and video. It's a cartoon blast from the past and, like, strictly toons-ville, daddy-o!
Jim Henson Commercials and Experiments
A mind-blowing collection of shorts, crazy commercials, and other rarities from the Henson vault. Highlights include: an industrial film for Wilson’s Meat that must be seen to be believed, commercials featuring the LaChoy Dragon (a full-body character that caused Frank Oz to swear off doing any others), animation utilizing techniques ranging from stop-motion to early computer animation, excerpts from The Cube and Youth 68, the two episodes Jim and company created for NBC's "Experiment in Television", and a 35mm print of Time Piece, an Academy Award nominated 8-minute masterpiece that showcases Henson’s talent for making music out of everyday sounds. When we featured this 90-minute Commercials and Experiments program back in 2008, it sold out three showings, so be sure to get your ticket early for this one-of-a-kind event!
KITTEN WITH A WHIP, 1964, Universal, 83 min. Long before sultry young wildcat Ann-Margret proved she could really act, she proved she couldn’t with this laugh-out-loud bad-girl cult classic all about, as the ads read: "Jody … the kicks she digs … the swingers she runs with … and the special kind of hell she can make for a man!" A-M plays a schizy juvenile-hall escapee who holds rising politician and married suburbanite John Forsythe ("Dynasty") captive in his home, smearing lipstick across a framed photo of his wife and pouting, posing, bumpin’ and grindin’ with her pretty-boy thug pals Peter Brown and Skip Ward (MYRA BRECKINRIDGE). Directed by veteran TV helmer Douglas Heyes ("The Twilight Zone") from his screenplay based on a novel by Wade Miller (who also wrote the novel on which legendary lost noir, GUILTY BYSTANDER, was based), KITTEN WITH A WHIP is jam-packed with faux-Beat dialogue, jazzed up by a sexy TOUCH OF EVIL-esque music score, and set afire by Ann-Margret at her snarly, vampy jailbait zenith. This one demands to be worshipped on the big screen – and we don’t mean in the remake Lindsay Lohan threatens to star in.
THE LAST VALLEY
James Clavell directed and scripted this extravagant adventure epic set during the latter part of the Thirty Years War. Omar Sharif stars as a former teacher, turned beggar by the ravages of the war, who tries to take refuge in a quiet village, seemingly unscathed by battle. Soon, however, a ruthless warrior (Michael Caine) leads his band of mercenaries to the peaceful community. Clavell reportedly invested a good portion of his own fortune into this ambitious film and its failure at the box-office played a part in his decision to abandon filmmaking. James Clavell---USA---1970---125 mins.
LE DOULOS, 1962, Rialto Pictures, 108 min. Director Melville met Jean-Paul Belmondo during a brief cameo in Godard's BREATHLESS -- here, he gives Belmondo one of his best roles, that of a two-faced informer caught between the police and his "old pal," played by doom-faced Serge Reggiani. "It was only when LE DOULOS was finished and Belmondo saw himself on the screen that he realized, with great astonishment, ‘Christ! The stoolie is me!’ " -- Melville.
Le Monde Du Silence
In 1954, underwater filmmaking legend and oceanographer Jacques Cousteau--along with his loyal team of technicians, snorkelers, explorers and camera crew (which included a young film student named Louis Malle)--took his boat the Calypso out to sea, in an attempt to make a film version of his best-selling book, "Le Monde du Silence". As the film documents Cousteau's voyage across the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, it provides a lyrical meditation on the awesome enigmas of the natural world, along with the human impulse to explore them. The film's sumptuous images are "breathtaking, the brilliantly colored coral reefs serving as a stationary counterpoint to the teeming schools of sea life whizzing past them". (Film Society of Lincoln Center) After winning adulation and awards at the Cannes Film Festival, Le Monde du Silence went on to claim an Academy Award, Cousteau went on to be the most famous nature documentarian in the world, and snorkeling became a popular sport for vacationers everywhere. Dirs. Jacques-Yves Cousteau & Louis Malle, 1956, 16mm, 86 min.
Le Monde Sans Soleil
Cousteau's follow-up to Le Monde Du Silence was this incredible document of his ambitious project to create an environment in which men could live and work on the sea floor: the Continental Shelf Station Two. In what was probably the biggest inspiration for Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic, the film features six oceanauts who lived thirty feet underwater for thirty days, in the Red Sea off the coast of Sudan. Using their starfish-shaped outpost like a combination science lab/log cabin/neighborhood coffee house, the jovial French crew are shown living their lives as best they can, as they are subjected to the practical rigors of working on the ocean floor, in addition to undergoing constant medical examinations--as such a undersea feat had never been before attempted. Fascinating and fun, Le Monde Sans Soleil (The World Without Sun) garnered Cousteau another Academy Award for Best Documentary, as well as numerous other honors. Dir. Jacques Cousteau, 1964, 35mm, 93 min.
Léon Morin, Priest
1961/b&w/115 min. | Scr/dir: Jean-Pierre Melville; w/ Jean-Paul Belmondo, Emmanuelle Riva.
During the Occupation in a provincial French village, Communist widow Riva becomes enthralled by serenely devout Belmondo, fresh off Breathless and switching gears from hardboiled gangster to enigmatic man of the cloth. Under the taut direction of noir master (and Jewish atheist) Jean-Pierre Melville and based on an autobiographical novel by Beatrice Beck, the platonic encounters and intellectual jousts of this unlikely couple are at once erotic and cerebral. This reissue of a film rarely seen on the big screen may help to secure its place in the canon of transcendental cinema.
Lolita
1962/b&w/152 min. | Scr: Vladimir Nabokov, Kubrick; dir: Stanley Kubrick; w/ James Mason, Shelley Winters, Sue Lyon, Peter Sellers.
If ever an actor was born to play a fictional character it was James Mason as Humbert Humbert, the pedophile narrator of Nabokov's controversial best-selling novel. Hiding his dark and twisted desires behind the façade of a suave European academic, Humbert insinuates himself into the life of fourteen-year-old Lolita by marrying her sexually frustrated mother, a strident and suspicious presence conveniently silenced by a speeding car. Disguised as father and daughter, Humbert and his self-centered nymphet embark on a cross-country car trip closely shadowed by the chameleon-like Clare Quilty, Lolita's "true love." A visually striking adaptation of a novel that many felt could not be filmed, Kubrick's Lolita is a black comedy set in a vulgar America of shabby motels and fast-food stands, and a postmodern version of Pandora's Box in which the predator is destroyed by his own obsession. "A simple, lucid film, precisely written, which reveals America and American sex better than Melville."—Jean-Luc Godard.
THE LONELY LADY, 1983, Universal, 92 min. Pia Zadora reaches bad-movie Nirvana in this tale of a would-be screenwriter who gets abused by every man who crosses her path, from garden-hose–wielding teen rapist Ray Liotta to impotent older husband Lloyd Bochner to sleazy nightclub owner Joseph Cali. Eventually, in this howlingly ludicrous adaptation of the Harold Robbins potboiler, she puts aside her Vietnam script to write a scandalous tell-all, leading her to an awards show where she memorably tells the crowd, "I’m not the only one who’s had to f--- her way to the top!" There’s not a costume, a prop, a performance or line of dialogue in THE LONELY LADY that isn’t side-splittingly hilarious -- no one will be seated during the shocking (and ridiculously over-the-top) nervous-breakdown sequence, during which Zadora takes a fully clothed shower, followed by typewriter keys and the faces of those who’ve wronged her spinning around her head. Ineptly directed by Peter Sasdy (TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA), this epic stinker was a multiple winner at the Razzie Awards, which in 2005 nominated it as one of the worst dramas ever made.
Louisiana Story
As in The Great Adventure, Louisiana Story presents the natural world as experienced through youthful eyes, here in the form a young Cajun living in the bayou. Director Robert Flaherty--the pioneer who virtually invented the documentary feature with Nanook of the North--was a nature boy himself; as a 19th-century child in the fading Old West, Flaherty would join his explorer father on month-long canoe trips and Arctic snowshoeing runs. His identification with this film's hero is clear, and he shares the young boy's sensitivity to the peaceful beauty of his surroundings. Louisiana Story later takes a fascinating turn, when that same curious gaze is turned upon the new machinery and derricks the oil industry has built in those same swamps. The camera stares at these various metal giants without judgement, but with simple curiousity--the machines' function is irrelevant, their images reduced to abstractions. In this way, Flaherty's final feature treats both man and nature with the same legendarily skilled and sensitive eye. Dir. Robert Flaherty, 1948, 35mm, 78 min.
Magic BMX
Once or twice a year, the Cinefamily unveils an HFS film that is extra-special, something that's perhaps never been screened in this country, or something that virtually none of you--and we mean none of you--have seen before, a true discovery. Like Lost In The Desert or Dangerous Men, Magic BMX is one of those movies. We can't even find an image on the Internet to share with you, or a review to quote. The thing's not even on the IMDB--but we tell you it does exist! We're not mad! Laugh if you must, but we've seen it with our own eyes! The beast is a lopsided Frankenstein's monster of a creature, found deep within the caves of Hong Kong cinema: it has the body of an E.T. rip-off, but instead of legs it rides around on chrome Skyway Tuff Wheels stolen from Rad, and its head houses the brain of a cheap piece of '80s chop-socky schlock. It's got an alien infant with an Ed Grimley haircut who grants magic BMX powers, a total Nerdlinger Jones lead kid who makes you wanna sock him in the nose (even when he's gained the power), and a "life is cheap" cavalier attitude towards its kids-in-peril bike stunts. This beast of a picture tries to appeal to children, but it's simply terrrrrrifffying! Dir. ????, 1983, 35mm, 90 min.
MAHOGANY, 1975, Paramount, 109 min. Oscar-winning director Tony Richardson (TOM JONES, THE LOVED ONE) began directing Diana Ross in this quintessentially kitschy money-changes-everything soap opera but, luckily for Richardson, he soon got replaced by Ross’ personal Svengali, Motown head and producer Berry Gordy. Fresh off her Oscar-nominated triumph in LADY SINGS THE BLUES, Ross this time plays an ambitious beauty rising from a Chicago ‘hood to become a rich, deliciously decadent international supermodel. Our glam heroine soon learns that la dolce vita isn’t what it’s cracked up to be from the likes of twitchy bisexual photographer Anthony Perkins (in an exultant hoot of a performance) before finding redemption with straight- arrow politician Billy Dee Williams. Sure, MAHOGANY conveys a female-empowerment message, but it’s really all about Diana learning that "Success is nothing without someone you love to share it with" while traipsing around wearing transcendently awful "creations" (that she actually designed and wanted credit for!) while the hit "Do You Know Where You’re Going To?" plays relentlessly on the soundtrack. A wiggy, wonderful compendium of ‘70s movie-star-run-amok cliches, MAHOGANY co-stars Beah Richards (GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER) and Marisa Mell (DANGER: DIABOLIK).
Male and Female
Gloria Swanson's iconic performance as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard is exponentially more affecting in light of its echoing of her own life. Swanson's formidable career as a Silent superstar waned with the advent of Talkies, but those who've seen her in one of many silent turns for Cecille B. DeMille will marvel at a romantic lead and fashion icon whose otherworldly command of the screen elicited countless movie-house sighs. DeMille's Male And Female is a special treat, as it's an adaptation of a play by Peter Pan scribe J.M. Barrie. Swanson's onscreen transition from aristocratic haughtiness to humbled maturity ensured the film's position as Paramount's biggest hit of 1919. If you can tear your eyes away from Swanson, look out for a scene which features an actual chloroformed leopard!
MATINEE
Joe Dante's unjustly neglected feature is a brilliant investigation of Cold War paranoia. Set in a coastal Florida town, John Goodman stars as a William Castle prototype 50s shock producer mounting his fiendish, low grade science fiction classic Mant! ("Half man, Half ant, All terror!") during the intense political tension of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The large ensemble cast (including Cathy Moriarty, John Sayles, Dick Miller and some engaging teenage performers) is excellent. Joe Dante---USA---1992---98 mins.
MIRACLE MILE
After chancing upon a ringing payphone, Harry (Anthony Edwards) learns that he only has 70 minutes to live before total nuclear war! He must do everything in his power to save himself and his girlfriend (Mare Winningham) before the U.S. warhead strikes and Russia responds. Though Miracle Mile ultimately makes for a tense experience with some illogical twists, this is not unlike the Cold War itself. "The movie's diabolical effectiveness comes from the fact that it never reveals, until the very end, whether the nightmare is real, or only some sort of tragic misunderstanding" (Roger Ebert). With Lou Hancock, John Agar, and the music of Tangerine Dream. Steve De Jarnatt---USA---1988---87 mins.
MIRAGE, 1965, Universal, 108 min. Director Edward Dmytryk (MURDER, MY SWEET) delivers one of his best later pictures, expertly returning to thriller territory with a modern sensibility and Hitchcockian style. During a New York skyscraper blackout, a high-powered executive falls to his death, and accountant Gregory Peck loses 90% of his memory. He enlists the help of new acquaintance Diane Baker and private eye Walter Matthau to help him uncover his past. Peck can only remember a couple of people who know him, and they inevitably turn up dead. From then on, all bets are off – the killers and corporate honchos (amongst them George Kennedy and Kevin McCarthy) want Peck out of the way, too. A marvelous puzzler with brain-twisting turns that point the way to later thrillers like MEMENTO. NOT ON DVD. Discussion in between films with actress Diane Baker.
Monster Dog
From the mind of Claudio Fragasso comes another baffling slice of Euro horror, this time starring Alice Cooper as Vincent Raven, a rock star shooting his latest music video with his sexy '80s groupies at a spooky mansion. The locals, however, think he's part of a ridiculous and very confusing supernatural legend involving werewolves and dog packs, which leads to some mistaken identity and lots of gunshots. Soon the cast is under siege from the title creature, a sort of slimy were-canine. Oh, and the madness all kicks off with a hilarious music video, and in true Eurotrash fashion, Alice is dubbed the whole movie through. A true obscurity best known to archaeologists of straight-to-video horror trash, this pop culture curio can now be experienced in all its original 35mm madness for one night only. Slip on your best vintage metal shirt, slap on some eyeliner, and prepare to howl the night away. Dir. Claudio Fragasso, 1984, 35mm, 84 min.
THE MONSTER SQUAD, 1987, LionsGate, 82 min. Dir. Fred Dekker. Young kids form a club that is devoted to monsters, but soon get more than they bargained for when Count Dracula adjourns to Earth, accompanied by Frankenstein's Monster, the Wolfman, the Mummy and the Gill-man. The uglies are in search of a powerful amulet that will grant them power to rule the world. Our heroes - the Monster Squad are the only ones daring to stand in their way. With Andre Gower, Robby Kiger, Stephen Macht, Tom Noonan (as Frankenstein’s monster), Duncan Regehr (as Dracula). Trailer Director Fred Dekker will comment on the making of THE MONSTER SQUAD while it is screening. Other guests to be announced.
The Monsters’ Ship
Mexico, 1959
PROD: Jesús Sotomayor Martínez. DIR: Rogelio A. González. SCR: Alfredo Varela. CINE: Raúl Martínez Solares. EDIT: Carlos Savage. CAST: Eulalio González, Ana Bertha Lepe, Lorena Velázquez, Consuelo Frank, Manuel Alvarado.
The last man on Venus has died. Beta and Gamma, two Venusian women, have been sent on an intergalactic mission collecting bizarre male specimens from throughout space. And a monstrous collection they are too, all scales and fangs and exposed brains. An emergency crash landing in Chihuahua, Mexico puts the Venusian women face to face with handsome Laureano and his brother Chuy. Beautiful Beta is enthralled by Laureano’s good looks and sweet singing, but Gamma is set on conquering Earth, using her captive “men” as soldiers. Laureano takes it all in stride, an attitude befitting this Norteño. But can he prevail against the extraterrestrial goons? Or the Venusian beauties themselves? (We haven’t mentioned their vampire-like bloodsucking… but this should give you enough to work with.)
35mm, b/w, subtitles, 81 min.
Movies, Moguls, Monkeys and Murder Too!
This second screening of early motion pictures shot in Los Angeles from 1909–1914 will highlight the Selig studio and its pioneer filmmakers that quickly made filmmaking in Los Angeles such a boom industry.
After shooting some location footage at a Los Angeles-area beach to insert into an otherwise stagebound version of “Monte Cristo” (1908), producer William Selig and director Francis Boggs realized the potential of filming in Los Angeles and opened the first permanent film studio in the Los Angeles suburb of Edendale in 1909. Our Selig film journey will begin with a “western” shot in Chicago, “The Cowboy Millionaire” (1909); and continue with “A Frontier Girl’s Courage” (1911) starring Hobart Bosworth, one of the earliest Broadway stars to cross over to film; the only surviving chapter of what is commonly credited as the first serial, “The Adventures of Kathlyn” (1913); and “Thor, Lord of the Jungle” (1913), an early three-reeler.
Join us for this unique evening of archival prints from the Nederlands Filmmuseum featuring the earliest surviving glimpses of Los Angeles as a film location
My Own Private Crucifixion
Nico reads Thomas à Kempis while Ondine and Brigid Polk shoot speed and bemoan their preppy, run-amok children. High tech salvation awaits us all, to the sound of an analog synthesizer.
This evening features a screening of Andy Warhol’s rarely seen “sexploitation” feature Imitation of Christ, preceded by William E. Jones’s short video, Film Montages (for Peter Roehr).
A NEW KIND OF LOVE, 1963, Paramount, 110 min. Dir. Melville Shavelson. Playboy newspaperman Paul Newman can’t stand fashion buyer Joanne Woodward when she’s got a mannish haircut, but after she spends an afternoon at Elizabeth Arden -- and comes out looking like a drag queen -- he goes gaga. Between New Look fashion shows by Lanvin (who gets a "Perfumes by" credit!), Dior and Givenchy, Woodward convinces Newman that she’s actually an international call girl, and he turns her made-up decadent adventures into awful, sports-metaphor–filled newspaper columns that somehow save his job. Ridiculously sexist -- Newman’s first line to Woodward is "Excuse me, sir" -- A NEW KIND OF LOVE is the kind of misogyny-packed Hollywood bauble that leaves modern audiences shocked and amused. Set in Paris, the film turns the City of Lights into the City of Process Shots on the Paramount backlot. Proof that even the greatest stars can be miscast -- and that real-life lovers often have zero on-screen chemistry -- A NEW KIND OF LOVE mixes over-the-top fashion with a lulu of a supporting cast, including Eva Gabor ("Green Acres"), Thelma Ritter (ALL ABOUT EVE), Maurice Chevalier (playing himself) and Robert Clary ("Hogan’s Heroes"). You won’t believe your eyes.
Night Flight tribute night
Before infomercials took over the late-night airwaves, overnight programming was a staid line-up of reruns, talk shows, and old movies. Throughout most of the '80s however, there was one anarchic alternative—-Night Flight. Premiering on the fledgling USA Network on June 5, 1981--two months before MTV's arrival—-Night Flight was a glorious amalgamation of music videos, short films, cartoons, interviews, concerts, and cult movies. For many viewers, it was a video primer to the counterculture of the Reagan era, featuring artists and films that at the time could not be seen anywhere else and for seven years, Night Flight was required viewing for stoners, punkers, headbangers, and insomniacs. Now, twenty years after the final episode was aired, the show's producers have gone back into their video vaults and emerged with this best-of program that will bring tears of joy to fans' sleep-deprived eyes, as well as a musical feature film picked from the Night Flight programming schedule archives! Night Flight creator Stuart Shapiro will appear in-person for a Q&A after the program!
NOTHING SACRED
(1937) Directed by William A. Wellman
Sensationalistic reporter Wally Cook (Fredric March)—nearly fired for his exaggerated stories—is saved by a new lead: "Hazel Flagg" (Carole Lombard), a rural woman fatally infected with "radium poisoning." Hazel already knows the misreported story is bogus. But when Wally offers her a chance to tour New York City, she jumps, and "brave" Hazel becomes the toast of the town as the public regard her tragedy with the sanctity of rubberneckers at a car crash. Screenwriter Ben Hecht skewers our tabloid-crazed culture, which gobbles and gulps every media sensation as if it were filet mignon.
Selznick International Pictures. Producer: David O. Selznick. Screenplay: Ben Hecht. Cinematographer: W. Howard Greene. Editor: James M. Newcom. Cast: Fredric March, Carole Lombard, Charles Winninger, Walter Connolly, Sig Ruman. 35mm, color, 77 min.
NOT OF THIS EARTH
(from IMDB)
An alien agent (Paul Birch) from the distant planet Davana is sent to earth via a high-tech matter transporter. There he terrorizes Southern California in an attempt to acquire blood for his dying race, the result of a devastating nuclear war. Dir. Roger Corman, 1957, 67 mins.
Occult USA:
The Process Church of the Final Judgment
Was The Process Church truly "one of the most dangerous Satanic cults in America"? Or were they an intensely creative apocalyptic shadow side to the flower-powered '60s and New Age '70s. Scores of black-cloaked devotees swept the streets of New York, San Francisco, London, Paris, and other cities selling magazines with titles like "Sex", "Fear", "Love" and "Death", and a theology proposing the reconciliation of Christ and Satan through love. Marianne Faithfull, George Clinton and Mick Jagger participated in Process publications, and Funkadelic reproduced Process material in two of their albums. The inside story of this controversial group has at last emerged with Feral House's LOVE SEX FEAR DEATH by Timothy Wyllie and other former members. Tonight, Feral House and Process Books present a re-creation of an actual Process Church “Sabbath Assembly” ritual. Author Wyllie (Father Micah) will follow to discuss the cult and his time within it in a multimedia presentation. The Sabbath Assembly band, comprised of Jex Thoth (Profound Lore Records), Imaad Wasif (Tee Pee Records), and David Christian (of No-Neck Blues Band) will perform Process hymns and songs throughout. Join us!
ON/OFF: Mark Stewart from The Pop Group to The Maffia
This one's a must for all post-punk junkies! The name of singer/industrial hip-hop pioneer Mark Stewart may not be instantly familiar, but his influence is felt the world over. From his early days with confrontational post-punk pioneers The Pop Group to his myriad collaborations with the likes of Trent Reznor, Massive Attack and Primal Scream, Stewart has provided ghostly beats and haunting vocals for over thirty years, and shows no signs of stopping. German filmmaker Tøni Schifer, who followed Stewart around for three years, has crafted a detailed, intimate portrait of the artist, supplemented by interviews with Stewart himself, his Pop Group co-horts Dan Catsis, Gareth Sager and John Waddington, Keith Levine (P.I.L.), Janine Rainforth (Maximum Joy), Douglas Hart (The Jesus & Mary Chain), Fritz Catlin (23 Skidoo), Daniel Miller (Mute Records), Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Massive Attack and many others, plus some terrific never-before-seen vintage performance footage. Plus, scenes of the wildly eccentric Stewart interacting with his mother are not to be missed! Straight from Berlin, director Tøni Schifer will be in attendance for a post-screening Q&A!
Dir: Tøni Schifer, 2009, DigiBeta, 90 min.
PATRICK
A chilling horror story about a patient in a small hospital who has been in a coma for four years following his violent murder of his mother. Despite his condition, he begins to play deadly, psychokinetic games with the staff of the hospital. "...gripping, brilliantly played..." (Brian White, Sydney Daily Mirror). Richard Franklin---Australia---1978---112 mins.
The Planet of Female Invaders
Mexico, 1965
PROD: Emilio Gómez Muriel. DIR: Alfredo B. Crevenna. SCR: Emilio Gomez Muriel, Alfredo Ruanova. CINE: Alfred Uribe. EDIT: Raul J. Casso. CAST: Lorena Velázquez, Elizabeth Campbell, Maura Monti, Guillermo Murray, Adriana Roel.
The female inhabitants of the planet Sibila want to invade Earth, but in order to breathe the Earth’s atmosphere for more than a day, it is necessary to create breathing adaptors from the lungs of living humans. A vanguard force comes to Earth seeking human specimens. Landing near an amusement park on Earth, they manage to disguise their ship as an innocent ride, thereby trapping several Earthlings and bringing them to Sibila. This sets up an intergalactic confrontation that pits rational, masculine, scientifically advanced Mexico against hysterical, overdressed and over-coiffed, feminine outer space. Seguro, it’s clear what has to happen.
35mm, b/w, subtitles, 85 min.
PORTRAIT OF JENNIE, 1948, Disney, 86 min. Producer David O. Selznick (GONE WITH THE WIND) hired William Dieterle (THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER) to direct this wistful love story in New York City locations, focusing on struggling artist Joseph Cotten as he gradually falls in love with Jennie (Jennifer Jones), a strange young girl he meets in Central Park. As Cotten periodically runs into her over a period of months, she seems to grow up before his eyes, and he slowly comes to understand his new muse is the restless spirit of a long-dead woman. The score by Bernard Herrmann and Dimitri Tiomkin tugs at the heartstrings without overt sentimentality, and the film won a 1949 Oscar for Special Effects. With sterling support from Ethel Barrymore, David Wayne, Lillian Gish and Cecil Kellaway. Don’t miss the beautiful and nightmarish green-and-sepia-tinted climactic sequence, a truly magical experience. "Jennifer Jones' performance is standout. Her miming ability gives a quality to the four ages she portrays -- from a small girl through the flowering woman. Ingenuity in makeup also figures importantly in sharpening the portrayal." -- Variety
THE PRESIDENT'S ANALYST
James Coburn has one of his best roles in this wacky comedy as he plays the president's therapist who soon becomes Public Enemy #1 when he quits his job and ends up with the President's private secrets. With Godfrey Cambridge, Severn Darden, Joan Delaney. Theodore Flicker---USA---1967---100 mins.
Proteus
Man's dream of uniting nature and art forms the subject of Proteus, the first feature from avant-garde filmmaker David Lebrun. Proteus is a one-of-a-kind investigation into 19th-century artist/biologist Ernst Haeckel, whose major work "Art Forms in Nature" synthesized his two disparate passions by presenting gorgeous hand-drawn lithographs of 4,000 species, all of which were previously unidentified single-celled sea creatures called radiolarian. Lebrun, who reportedly spent two decades making the film, found the ideal way to convey Haeckel's unique images: by taking the actual drawings and animating them in ways that make the splendiferous orbs and tentacles dance in carefully choreographed arrays. In the end, Lebrun makes us contemplate the majestic vastness of the natural universe and its complex artistic perfection in ways that only Haeckel could have imagined. Dir. David Lebrun, 35mm, 2004, 60 min.
RAZORBACK
(from IMDB)
A wild, vicious pig terrorizes the Australian outback. The first victim is a small child who is killed. The child's granddad is brought to trial for killing the child but aquitted. The next victim is an American TV-journalist. Her husband Carl gets there and starts to search for the truth. The local inhabitants won't really help him, but he is joined by a hunter and a female farmer to find the beast. Dir. Russell Mulcahy, 1984, 95 mins.
RETURN OF DR. MABUSE, 1961, 89 min. Director Harald Reinl (TORTURE CHAMBER OF DR. SADISM) was one of the unsung masters of German pulp cinema in the 1950s and 60s, making scores of krimis (Germany’s rough equivalent to Italy’s giallo genre). Fritz Lang had just resurrected his 1930s archvillain in THE THOUSAND EYES OF DR. MABUSE, and pulp master Reinl stepped in to direct this riproaring sequel, with Gert Frobe (Goldfinger in GOLDFINGER) as Mabuse’s tireless nemesis, the blustery and efficient police kommissar Lohmann. Lex Barker is Joe Como, crack FBI undercover man also on the trail of the shadowy fiend, and Daliah Lavi (THE WHIP AND THE BODY) is the beautiful heroine. With a supporting cast of stand-out German character actors, including Wolfgang Preiss and Werner Peters.
ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE
A vividly bloody recounting of the infamous Chicago gangland slaying in the mob war between Al Capone and Bugs Moran. This was Roger Corman's first big studio film. Starring Jason Robards, George Segal, Ralph Meeker and, if you look closely, a young Jack Nicholson. Roger Corman---USA---1967---100
Santo the Silver Mask Vs. The Martian Invasion
Mexico, 1967
PROD: Alfonso Rosas Priego. DIR: Alfredo B. Crevenna. SCR: Rafael García Travesi. CINE: Jorge Stahl Jr. EDIT: Abraham Cruz. CAST: Santo, Wolf Ruvinskis, El Nazi, Beni Galan, Eva Norvind.
Extraterrestrials invade Earth seeking human specimens. Announcing themselves in apocalyptic television broadcasts, then tele-transporting themselves to private homes and public sporting events, the platinum-bewigged, mylar-clad, macho Martians, backed by scantly dressed female beauties as counterparts, kidnap select humans, obliterating others with vaporizing rays. But heroic masked wrestler “Santo” neutralizes the invaders with his incredible wrestling prowess, after respectfully consulting a famous scientist and the local priest -- thus mediating between Mexico’s high-tech future and its traditional past to restore peace and order to the nation. ¡Bien hecho, luchador!
35mm, b/w, subtitles, 85 min.
SHANGHAI EXPRESS
(from IMDB)
Many passengers on the Shanghai Express are more concerned that the notorious Shanghai Lil is on board than the fact that a civil war is going on that may make the trip take more than three days. The British Army doctor, Donald Harvey, knew Lil before she became a famous "coaster." A fellow passenger defines a coaster as "a woman who lives by her wits along the China coast." When Chinese guerillas stop the train, Dr. Harvey is selected as the hostage. Lil saves him, but can she make him believe that she really hasn't changed from the woman he loved five years before? Josef von Sternberg drama w/ Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook. 1932-Paramount
THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE
(1982) Directed by Amy Holden-Jones
Written by feminist author Rita Mae Brown and directed by Amy Holden Jones, The Slumber Party Massacre, was intended as a parody of the voyeuristic male fantasies at the throbbing heart of every slasher movie. While Jones still delivers on the T&A before a driller killer unleashes carnage on a bevy of unsuspecting teens, the terrorized women come to their own rescue and there's plenty of camp humor to take the edge off the gore.
Santa Fe Productions. Producer: Amy Holden-Jones. Screenplay: Rita Mae Brown. Cinematographer: Steve Posey. Editor: Wendy Greene Bricmont, Sean Foley. Cast: Michelle Michaels, Robin Stille, Michael Villela, Debra Deliso. 35mm, 76 min.
SMILE
In this terrifically performed and insightfully observed slice of Americana, Michael Ritchie turns his camera on a teen beauty pageant in Santa Rosa, California. Among the contestants are such stars of the future as Melanie Griffith, Annette O'Toole, Collen Camp and Joan Prather. Contest officials include Bruce Dern, Barbara Feldon, Geoffrey Lewis and choreographer Michael Kidd. Title song by Charlie Chaplin. To keep the reactions real, the winner wasn't announced until the camera was rolling. Michael Ritchie---USA---1975---113 mins.
STRAIT-JACKET, 1964, Sony Repertory, 93 min. One of the most entertaining chillers from shock-show auteur William Castle (THE TINGLER, the original HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL). Joan Crawford is a gal from the wrong side of the tracks, jailed for taking a hatchet to her hubby after finding him in bed with a local floozy. Decades later she’s released from the asylum, hopefully cured, but still wrapped very tight. Traumatized daughter Diane Baker, who witnessed the gory episode as a tyke, has been living with her uncle and aunt (Leif Erickson, Rochelle Hudson) and is about to get married to a young man unaware of the family history. Awkward moments prevail and, before long, more family acquaintances are getting the axe treatment! But is it really Joan who’s up to her old tricks? With great support from George Kennedy (who should have gotten some kind of award for playing the world’s sleaziest handyman), plus tons of desolate Inland Empire on-location exteriors shot in Riverside, California.
The Strong Sex
Mexico, 1946
PROD: Emilio Gómez Muriel. DIR: Emilio Gómez Muriel. SCR: Humberto Gómez Landero, Miguel Morayta. CINE: Agustín Martínez Solares. EDIT: Jorge Bustos. CAST: Mapy Cortés, Ángel Garasa, Rafael Baledón, Alma Rosa Aguirre, Emperatriz Carvajal.
A fascinating, 1940s precursor to Mexico’s later sci-fi craze, this art deco fantasy imagines a parallel world to macho Mexico. After a shipwreck, Adan -- a handsome “charro” from Guadalajara, and his dashing Spaniard friend Curro, wash ashore on the island of Eden, a land where women are waited upon hand and foot by men. This social order is threatened when Queen Eva XLV falls in love with her guapo visitor Adan, even adopting his curious Mexican ways to win him. A rare peek into an alternate universe, with sexual politics surprisingly little changed.
35mm, b/w, subtitles, 81 min.
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.
TERROR CREATURES FROM THE GRAVE, 1965, 85 min. "They rise from dank coffins in the dead of night, murdering their victims in an orgy of slaughter!" Barbara Steele is Cleo, the widow of the recently deceased occultist Jeronimus Hauff. Lawyer Albert (Walter Brandi) arrives at the estate to finalize his will, believing him still alive. The mystery deepens as those who were present at Jeronimus’ deathbed begin dying in horrible "accidents." Steele’s beautiful stepdaughter (Mirella Maravidi) claims her father is still alive, prowling the mansion. Amping up the creepy thrills, the house just happens to be built over an ancient cemetery of medieval plague victims who are coming back from beyond the grave to avenge past wrongs. Director Massimo Pupillo, who helmed the loony BLOODY PIT OF HORROR the same year, piles on the gorgeously atmospheric black-and-white setpieces. Don’t miss this ultra-rare, original 35mm print screening of an Italian horror classic!
To My Great Chagrin:
The Unbelievable Story of Brother Theodore
"My friends, I cannot see you. I’m blinded by the spotlight. But somehow with my third eye--with my inner eye I can see you. You are a small but utterly repulsive audience." - Brother Theodore
He was considered to be one of the most significant links in the history of comedy, admired by such people as Woody Allen, Dick Cavett, and Eric Bogosian. His television appearances have spanned from Steve Allen to Merv Griffin to David Letterman. His long-running Off-Broadway show was hailed as “diabolical genius”. He was Brother Theodore. Formerly a millionaire playboy living in pre-war Germany, Theodore endured the sobering destruction of his entire family, his fortune, and his own identity, as a survivor of Dachau. Later shipped to America and continually haunted by his loss, Theodore re-invented himself by capitalizing on his dark, existential humor, to become one of America’s most respected humorists and monologists. Combining ultra-rare footage of performances and TV appearances along with puppetry and innovative use of voiceover, To My Great Chagrin reconciles the cryptic, oddly comic fury of Brother Theodore’s performing persona with the stranger-than-fiction chronology of his life.
Troll 2
Bad movies in the 1990s found it impossible to top this offering from the decade's first year, a mind-roasting experience of joyous incoherence and dazed non-acting from director Claudio Fragasso that offers more entertainment value than all of Uwe Boll's anemic works combined. Shot in Utah by a crew of Italians (who likely didn't understand a word being uttered by the actors), it's the story of the highly dysfunctional and completely clueless Waits family, who decide to swap houses and live for a while in the town of Nilbog, where the vegetarian townspeople have something sinister to hide. Though it has nothing to do with trolls, this does feature aerobics, popcorn as a supernatural sex aid, a ghostly grandpa, people turning into green slush, a sheriff named Gene Freak, the diabolical goblin queen named Creedence Leonore Gielgud, a life-saving bologna sandwich, deeply confusing homoerotic subtext, and the ultimate dinner table spoiler. Every single line of dialogue will wedge itself in your head for eternity, so come forewarned. Dir. Claudio Fragasso, 1990, 35mm, 95 min.
VELVET VAMPIRE
It has to do with a beautiful, 125-year-old woman, the mistress of a remote ranch in the southwest who stocks her own blood bank with tourists dumb enough to spend the night. Stephanie Rothman---USA---1971---80 mins.
VISIONEERS
First time feature filmmaker Jared Drake makes his directorial debut with this quirky black comedy set in the near future, and concerning a curious spike in cases of spontaneous human combustion. The Jeffers Corporation is the largest business in the history of mankind, and they got that way thanks to their strict philosophy of happiness through mindless productivity. But when people begin literally exploding due to unhappiness, Jeffers Corporation Level Three Visioneer George Washington Winsterhammerman (Zach Galifianakis) begins to fear that his time will come sooner rather than later. Judy Greer, Missi Pyle, and James LeGros co-star in an existential black comedy featuring music by Tim DeLaughter of the Polyphonic Spree.
WEREWOLF IN A GIRLS’ DORMITORY, 1961, 83 min. Despite the ridiculous title, this hybrid Italian/German co-production yields a surprisingly high quotient of chills. Directed by Paolo Heusch and scripted by later giallo maestro Ernesto Gastaldi (aka Julian Berry), the film has an astounding number of red herrings (typical of later giallo pix) contending as the marauding werewolf rampaging through the lonely woods outside a teen girls’ reformatory. But everyone zeroes in on handsome new teacher Carl Schell (lesser-known brother to Maximilian and Maria), who seems to have a dark secret in his past. Co-starring the Italian Peter Lorre, Luciano Pigozzi (aka Alan Collins). Barbara Lass is the comely girl lead, heading up a supporting cast of nubile Euro starlets. Listen for the absurd theme song "Ghoul in School" during the title credits.
Wesley Willis's Joyrides
Despite impossible odds, self-proclaimed rock 'n roll star and "Chicago City Artist" Wesley Willis became an underground rock icon, revered artist and hero to many before his untimely death in 2003. Through his force of personality, his drawing talents, his unique vocabulary and an incredibly focused and singular songwriting style, Wesley’s creativity attracted people from all walks of life, and helped him to overcome the daily torment of schizophrenia, a haunting condition which plagued him throughout his adult life. Directors Chris Bagley and Kim Shively spent five years on the road and at home with Willis (along withn his many family members, friends and collaborators) to create the definitive portrait of Wesley as prolific artist and musician, on his path from obscurity to fame--a journey which will leave you uplifted, tickled and adrenalized. Dirs. Chris Bagley & Kim Shivley, 2008, DigiBeta, 78 min.
THE WILD ANGELS, 1966, MGM Repertory, 93 min. Dir. Roger Corman. Hot-tempered biker Peter Fonda has no respect for straight society and goes about proving it. Nancy Sinatra, Bruce Dern, Diane Ladd and Michael J. Pollard join him on his journey of perpetual rebellion. See amazing gone-forever, time-capsule Southern Califonia locations, including great sequences shot in Venice. With the incredibly catchy instrumental theme by Davie Allen and the Arrows.
THE WILD ONE, 1954, Sony Repertory, 79 min. Dir. Laslo Benedek. Marlon Brando roars into pop culture as one of the first antihero outsiders in American cinema. His biker gang turns a small burg upside-down when they drunkenly brawl with Lee Marvin's rival wild bunch, only to have the tables turned when vigilante rule takes over. Based on an actual incident in a Southern California town in 1947.