a highly-opinionated selection of things happening around town, and sometimes out of town. this month's page here.
wed. aug. 3 the barker 8 PM @ silent movie theatre pee wee's big adventure FREE @ movies on the terrace @ westfield century city smokey and the bandit, unforgiven @ new beverly rebel without a cause @ egyptian scott thompson & kevin mcdonald @ largo thu. aug. 4 seven deadly sampler films too FREE 7 PM @ beyond baroque peter kolovos @ dem passwords l.a. river ramble (urban hike) FREE 7 PM @ moca engagement party (starts @ moca geffen contemporary) bob and the monster 8:00 11:00 PM @ don't knock the rock! @ silent movie theatre smokey and the bandit, unforgiven @ new beverly the long long trailer, the dark corner @ egyptian the indian runner @ aero blow up FREE 7 PM @ lomography gallery store dunes @ take off! nasa space universe @ the smell fri. aug. 5 parenthood, the fisher king @ new beverly je t'aime moi non plus 8 PM @ silent movie theatre the last circus FREE (RVSP, sneak preview) MIDNIGHT @ silent movie theatre indiana jones and the raiders of the lost ark FREE 8 PM @ friday night flicks @ pershing square johnny guitar, in a lonely place @ aero hell's angels (1930) @ ucla film archive LA font (11:30) @ casey's the color of pomegranates, man follows birds @ lacma searching for elliot smith 9:30 PM @ bootleg theater sat. aug. 6 jason and the argonauts 2 PM @ lacma topkapi 5 PM @ lacma arabian nights (1974) @ lacma spaceballs MIDNIGHT @ laemmle royal fargo @ outdoor cinema food fest @ exposition park the valley of gwangi FREE 8:30 PM @ b-movies and bad science @ la brea tar pits breakfast at tiffany's @ cinespia @ hollywood forever the fisher king 4:20 9:30 PM, parenthood 7 PM @ new beverly kids in the hall: brain candy MIDNIGHT @ new beverly cold fish 10 PM @ silent movie theatre near dark, pumpkinhead @ egyptian new los angeles folk festival @ zorthian ranch robin hood (1922) w/ live musical accompaniment @ aero hold your man, red-headed woman @ ucla film archive gibbons and the sluts @ catnap sun. aug. 7 thrones @ troubadour ruthless people, the war of the roses @ new beverly cold fish 6:30 9:50 PM @ silent movie theatre bigger than life, knock on any door @ aero art marathon by stephen keene @ smmoa ann arbor film festival tour - digital program a @ spielberg theatre @ egyptian mon. aug. 8 four sons 7 PM @ photoplay award winners of the silent era @ ampas samuel goldwyn theater ruthless people, the war of the roses @ new beverly platinum blonde @ ucla film archive art marathon by stephen keene @ smmoa magic trip: ken kesey's search for a kool place FREE 8 PM @ amoeba's monday movies @ space 1520 tue. aug. 9 allah las FREE @ the echo art marathon by stephen keene @ smmoa je t'aime moi non plus 8:00 10:15 PM @ silent movie theatre wed. aug. 10 bill cunningham new york, the cruise @ new beverly the goonies FREE @ movies on the terrace @ westfield century city art marathon by stephen keene @ smmoa dirt dress @ harvard & stone marcia griffiths @ dub club @ echoplex thee rain cats FREE @ the standard, west hollywood thu. aug. 11 bill cunningham new york, the cruise @ new beverly u.s.f. @ the smell LA font @ echo better than something: jay reatard 8 PM @ don't knock the rock! @ silent movie theatre art marathon by stephen keene @ smmoa brent weinbach (9:30) @ ucb the last circus FREE 7 PM @ usc ray stark rear window FREE 7 PM @ lomography gallery store fri. aug. 12 the front 8 PM, play it again sam @ new beverly jeu de massacre 8 PM, erotissimo @ silent movie theatre candyman MIDNIGHT @ silent movie theatre autoerotic MIDNIGHT @ nuart art marathon by stephen keene @ smmoa LA font (11:30) @ casey's the white meadows, climates @ lacma moonbeams FREE @ origami vinyl moonbeams @ lot 1 cafe the films of charles and ray eames FREE 8 PM @ epfc filmmobile @ location TBA sat. aug. 13 the front 3:50 7:30 PM, play it again sam 5:45 9:25 PM @ new beverly young frankenstein MIDNIGHT @ laemmle royal mothra 2 PM @ lacma the thief of bagdad 5 PM @ lacma alexandria why? @ lacma cold showers @ bordello movies til dawn (screenings from 9pm-6am) @ cinespia @ hollywood forever occult l.a.: season of the witch 7 PM @ silent movie theatre skidoo 10 PM @ silent movie theatre art marathon by stephen keene @ smmoa ema & the ghosts (9:00) FREE @ pehrspace sun. aug. 14 shannon & the clams, bleached (6:00) @ psycho beach party targets 3:25 7:30 PM, two-minute warning 5:15 9:20 PM @ new beverly living light: an evening with linda perhacs & friends @ silent movie theatre marketa lazarova @ egyptian down and out in beverly hills @ aero iron man (1931), red dust @ ucla film archive mon. aug. 15 targets, two-minute warning @ new beverly chasing madoff FREE 7 PM @ usc ray stark pangea (10:00) FREE @ satellite tue. aug. 16 allah las FREE @ the echo la dolce vita 7:45 @ silent movie theatre suddenly last summer 1 PM @ lacma physical forms, ema & her lady parts @ royal/t wooden shjips FREE 7 PM @ amoeba records the fuse @ bordello candy claws @ fmly @ rsvp for location wed. aug. 17 nightfall, pushover @ new beverly pulsar @ aero la dolce vita 7:45 @ silent movie theatre sirius, the white dove @ egyptian candy claws @ echo LA font FREE 7 PM @ origami vinyl thu. aug. 18 nightfall, pushover @ new beverly wheedle's groove 8 PM, the jim sullivan story @ don't knock the rock! @ silent movie theatre empty cage quartet FREE 8 PM @ hammer dirt dress @ echo william eggleston in the real world FREE 7 PM @ lomography gallery store the cool school FREE 6:30 PM @ moca geffen fri. aug. 19 quadrophenia MIDNIGHT @ nuart wooden shjips FREE (RSVP) @ echo bleached, plateaus @ the smell anna 8 PM, viva averty! @ anna karina tribute night @ silent movie theatre monty python and the holy grail FREE 8 PM @ friday night flicks @ pershing square together @ ucla film archive LA font (11:30) @ casey's world on a wire @ lacma pee-wee's big adventure FREE 8 PM @ outdoor films @ hancock park @ lacma pizza pizza daddy-o 8 PM @ epfc sat. aug. 20 this island earth 2 PM @ lacma world on a wire @ lacma 20 million miles to earth MIDNIGHT @ laemmle royal wattstax 8 PM FREE @ hammer musem wooden shjips @ casbah, SD ema & her lady parts, heller keller @ pehrspace raiders of the lost ark @ outdoor cinema food fest @ la cienega park the jerk @ cinespia @ hollywood forever rhino resurrected: the incredibly strange story of the world's most famous record store 2:30 PM @ silent movie theatre weird weekend day one 6 PM @ silent movie theatre invisible sunglasses 7 PM @ synchronicity cut + run festival presents autonomy of place 8 PM @ epfc moab @ handbag factory white fence, king tuff @ 15022 mulberry dr., suite j, whittier sun. aug. 21 the great k&a train robbery @ silents under the stars @ paramount ranch weird weekend day two 4 PM @ silent movie theatre das boot 5:30 @ egyptian heroes & heroines @ 5 stars bar perpetuum mobile @ ucla film archive ken jacobs 3D 2:00 PM @ downtown independent tue. aug. 23 allah las FREE @ the echo heller keller @ the smell lemmy FREE 8 PM @ amoeba's monday movies @ space 1520 if a tree falls: a story of the earth liberation front FREE 7 PM @ usc ray stark an evening with ken jacobs 8 PM @ silent movie theatre wed. aug. 24 the valley of the bees @ egyptian murder by death, the cheap detective @ aero gainsbourg: a heroic life FREE (RSVP, sneak preview) @ bootleg theatre thu. aug. 25 family band: the cowsills story 8 PM @ don't knock the rock! @ silent movie theatre preggers @ dem passwords the 'burbs, matinee @ aero do the right thing, la haine FREE @ niche.LA video art fri. aug. 26 cache 7 PM, the white ribbon @ new beverly gainsbourg: a heroic life FREE (RSVP, sneak preview) 8 PM @ silent movie theatre nightbreed MIDNIGHT @ silent movie theatre halloween (1978), hallween ii (1981), halloween iii @ egyptian brent weinbach (8:00) @ improv goldie, bombshell @ ucla film archive LA font (11:30) @ casey's jon brion @ largo wild pink horse FREE @ mal's bar inquiry towards the practice of secular magic day one 8:30 PM @ pixel (+) frequency robot monster FREE 8 PM @ epfc filmmobile sat. aug. 27 charles bradley FREE 6 PM @ getty center earth vs. the flying saucers MIDNIGHT @ laemmle royal horror of dracula 2 PM @ lacma bill & ted's excellent adventure @ devil's night drive-in one million years b.c. FREE 8:30 PM @ b-movies and bad science @ la brea tar pits psycho (1960) @ cinespia @ hollywood forever the white ribbon 4:15 9:20 PM, cache 7 PM @ new beverly three wise girls @ ucla film archive jon brion @ largo chinatown 8 PM @ tree people gainsbourg and his girls 6:15 PM @ silent movie theatre we hate everything including this film series 8 PM @ epfc the finches (8:30) FREE @ calarts mfa opening @ the farley building, 1669 colorado blvd., los angeles inquiry towards the practice of secular magic day two 8:30 PM @ pixel (+) frequency sun. aug. 28 seapony @ the echo re-animator 3:55 7:30 PM, from beyond 5:45 9:20 PM @ new beverly white fence, king tuff, dunes, lucky dragons, john wiese, etc @ the smell audacity @ bordello LA font (6:00) FREE @ not sunset junction @ sunset/maltman soft pack, devon williams band @ 5246 Range View Ave. 90042 3-8 PM mon. aug. 29 re-animator, from beyond @ new beverly LA font (10:00) FREE @ silverlake lounge seapony (7:00) FREE @ origami vinyl an evening with jean claude vannier 8 PM @ silent movie theatre tue. aug. 30 powaqqatsi (w/ live musical accompaniment by the philip glass ensemble) 8 PM @ hollywood bowl allah las, trc FREE @ the echo mouthbreathers, white mystery @ the smell who's afraid of virginia woolf? 1 PM @ lacma birthday party for george & mike kuchar 8 PM-8 AM FREE @ epfc wed. aug. 31 poison, my own private idaho @ new beverly shadows of a hot summer @ egyptian danton @ aero gainsbourg: a heroic life FREE 7 PM @ usc ray stark thu. sept. 1 atomic sublime 7 PM @ beyond baroque poison, my own private idaho @ new beverly raising arizona @ aero sonny & the sunsets FREE 7 PM @ santa monica pier wild pink horse @ fais do-do gainsbourg and his girls 7:30 10:00 PM @ silent movie theatre fri. sept. 2 e.t. FREE 8 PM @ friday night flicks @ pershing square the crawdaddys @ the casbah (SD) pangea, mean jeans @ psycho beach party @ blue star wayne's world 9:30 PM @ downtown independent the tree of life, synecdoche new york @ new beverly l'enfance nue @ silent movie theatre gainsbourg and his girls 10:00 PM @ silent movie theatre e.t. (extended cut), close encounters of the third kind @ aero sat. sept. 3 explosions in the sky, no age, olivia tremor control, strange boys, ty segall, etc @ fyf fest @ downtown it came from beneath the sea MIDNIGHT @ laemmle royal the soft pack @ bordello synecdoche new york 4:35 9:40 PM, the tree of life 7 PM @ new beverly forbidden zone MIDNIGHT @ new beverly a horrible way to die 7 PM @ silent movie theatre los angeles plays itself @ aero sun. sept. 4 this is spinal tap @ cinespia @ hollywood forever charade 3:10 7:30 PM, arabesque 5:25 9:45 PM @ new beverly los angeles plays itself @ aero mon. sept. 5 charade, arabesque @ new beverly tue. sept. 6 sea lions @ satellite exploding flowers (9:00) @ silverlake lounge charade, arabesque @ new beverly back to school: educational and ephemeral toons 8 PM @ silent movie theatre wed. sept. 7 heavenly creatures, picnic at hanging rock @ new beverly fluttering hearts 8 PM, rivals, changing husbands @ silent movie theatre vanishing point, duel @ egyptian thu. sept. 8 heavenly creatures, picnic at hanging rock @ new beverly the maltese falcon, the big sleep @ aero allah-las FREE (8:30) @ ron herman store w-h-i-t-e FREE @ gallery 111 lucky dragons @ new original works festival week one @ redcat jeff garlin in conversation with larry david @ largo fri. sept. 9 valley of peace, kekec @ ucla film archive thee cormans, cyclops, cumstain @ harolds (san pedro) the 400 blows 7:45 PM, johnny tough @ silent movie theatre the gate MIDNIGHT @ silent movie theatre the prize, jean gentil @ egyptian wings of desire, faraway so close! @ new beverly grass widow FREE @ burger records cine sin fronteras 8 PM @ epfc lucky dragons @ new original works festival week one @ redcat sat. sept. 10 vesna, 100% slovenian @ ucla film archive e.t. (FREE w/ bike helmet) NOON @ lacma the triplets of belleville (FREE w/ bike helmet) 5 PM @ lacma upsilon acrux @ handbag factory king of the hill 7 PM @ silent movie theatre silent comedy shorts program @ aero rebel without a cause @ cinespia @ hollywood forever wings of desire 7 PM, faraway so close! @ new beverly cerebral ballzy FREE (RSVP, early show) @ the roxy un lac 8 PM @ epfc bart davenport FREE (5:00) @ permanent records lucky dragons @ new original works festival week one @ redcat sun. sept. 11 derby, max out @ ucla film archive it's a double feature charlie brown! 6:30 PM @ silent movie theatre castle of purity @ egyptian the landlord, the fabulous baker boys @ aero murder by death 3:40 7:30, the cheap detective 5:35 9:25 @ new beverly mon. sept. 12 john wiese @ pehrspace wed. sept. 14 camper van beethoven @ satellite fri. sept. 16 sleepy sun @ nomad compound idiocracy MIDNIGHT @ nuart dance in the rain, a sand castle @ ucla film archive sun. sept. 18 zounds @ the echo the penalty 2 PM @ alex theatre scarface (1932) 3:05 7:30 PM, hell's angels (1930) 5:00 9:25 PM @ new beverly stronghold of toughs, paper planes @ ucla film archive mon. sept. 19 scarface (1932), hell's angels (1930) @ new beverly tue. sept. 20 low @ el rey fri. sept. 23 the soft skin 8 PM, the woman next door @ new beverly sat. sept. 24 the soft skin 3:00 7:30 PM, the woman next door 5:25 9:50 PM @ new beverly sun. sept. 25 raft of the medusa 7 PM @ ucla film archive mon. sept. 26 gravehopping, 9:06 @ ucla film archive fri. sept. 30 wet hot american summer MIDNIGHT @ nuart sat. oct. 1 eagle rock music festival sun. oct. 2 dum dum girls, crocodiles @ detroit bar mon. oct. 3 dum dum girls, crocodiles @ troubadour sun. oct. 9 gary war @ echo tue. oct. 18 portishead @ shrine wed. oct. 19 portishead @ shrine thu. oct. 20 shellac @ eagle rock center for the arts fri. oct. 21 devon williams, tamaryn @ echo poltergeist FREE 8 PM @ friday night flicks @ pershing square shellac @ eagle rock center for the arts sat. oct. 22 plan 9 from outer space 2:00 8:00 PM @ alex theatre tue. oct 25 nostalgia for the light FREE 7 PM @ usc ray stark sun. oct. 30 the cabinet of dr. caligari (1920, w/ live organ accompaniment) @ disney hall tue. nov. 1 wild flag @ casbah (SD) wed. nov. 2 wild flag @ troubadour thu. nov. 3 wild flag @ troubadour sat. nov. 26 three stooges big screen event 2:00 8:00 PM @ alex theatre tue. dec. 6 the sea and cake @ troubadour mon. dec. 26 greatest cartoons ever 2:00 7:00 PM @ alex theatre WHAT IT IS: AKIRA KUROSAWA'S DREAMS One of the stand-out films from Akira Kurosawa’s underrated later period, 1990’s Dreams is one of the director’s most autobiographical films as well as his most fantastical. Culled from Kurosawa’s actual dreams –- from childhood through oldhood -– these eight highly-varied vignettes form a vivid memoir of the sleep life of one of last century’s most fertile and disciplined imaginations. Mount Fuji melts, dolls come to life as the sky clouds over with peach blossoms, and humanoid foxes perform secret wedding ceremonies in the rain. With George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic on visual effects, the images nearly pop off the screen. And, in a stunningly unforgettable dream, the protagonist pops into a Van Gogh canvas, wandering through closeups of the artist’s brushstrokes and live-action recreations of his landscapes to meet a Van Gogh (played by Martin Scorsese!) who, sensing his own mortality, obsesses over his craft in the little time he has left. Completed when Kurosawa was 80, the weirdly beautiful Dreams shows just how fruitful those later years of a world-class auteur can be. Dir. Akira Kurosawa, 1990, 35mm, 119 min. Alexandria, Why? 1979/color/133 min. Scr: Youssef Chahine, Mohsen Zayed; dir: Youssef Chahine; w/ Naglaa Fathi, Farid Shawki, Ezzat el-Alaili. Winner of the Silver Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival, this acclaimed first installment in Youssef Chahine’s groundbreaking Alexandria quartet takes place between 1942—as Brits and Arabs join forces against advancing German troops—and 1945. Against this tumultuous backdrop, Chahine pieces together a vivacious panorama of upper class life in the titular Mediterranean port city: Yehia, standing in for Chahine, is obsessed with MGM musicals and dreams of studying acting in the USA; a beautiful Jewish socialite must decide between fleeing with her father or staying with her Arab lover; a wealthy aristocrat (Egyptian cinema’s first openly gay character) becomes enamored with a young British soldier. Chahine masterfully weaves these interrelated storylines together to create a magnificent historical and autobiographical tapestry. Chahine directed nearly forty films in a career that began in1950s and lasted until his death in 2008, along the way garnering acclaim across Europe and even giving Omar Sharif his big-screen break. “[A] sprawling epic…Chahine believed less was never enough. Embracing a splashy masala of styles, he threw everything—ideas, people, whole nations and regions—up in the air for the viewers to try to catch. And beyond his movies’ entertainment value, it wouldn’t hurt for American to see the visions of a cosmopolitan filmmaker from the Arab world, who speaks for himself but reflects the dreams and fears of a people whose popular culture is nearly unknown in the U.S.”—Richard Corliss, Time. ANNA (from IMDB) Seen again over 40 years after the film was first shown on French TV, "Anna" strikes the imagination with its blend of smiling superficiality and its visual creativity. In a way, it is a cousin film of Antonioni's "Blow Up," but its deep concern is to fully commit itself in remaining on the edge of things, enjoying a beautiful winter sunlight, wondering when and where I will find love, chasing images... The film music, written by Serge Gainsbourg, is very consistent, far from the sheer collections of accumulated songs that most musicals consist in nowadays. Despite its given impression of being improvised, it is also the result of a very thorough visual and cinematic work, with a lot of attention put into colors and lights, which look still stunning today. Last but not least, it seems to have paved the way to bigger productions such as Bob Fosse's "All That Jazz." "Anna" is a fascinating witness of the 1960s culture in Europe. Dir. Pierre Koralnik, 1967, 87 mins. Writers: Serge Gainsbourg, Jean-Loup Dabadie (dialogue). Stars: Anna Karina, Jean-Claude Brialy and Marianne Faithfull ANN ARBOR FILM FESTIVAL TOUR - DIGITAL PROGRAM A This program of films from North America’s longest running independent and experimental film festival includes: Jan Villa (2010) (AAFF Best of Festival Award), Natasha Mendonca’s powerfully expressive film on her familial relationships intertwined with the devastating effects of a heavy monsoon in Mumbai; I Touched Her Legs (2010), Danish photographer/filmmaker Eva Marie Rødbro’s immersive portrait of teenagers in the American South; Tokyo-based animator Atsushi Wada’s The Mechanism of Spring (2010), a curious view of a few boys’ joyful encounter with the coming of spring; Braden King’s Home Movie (2009) (AAFF Best Narrative Award), an intimately staged portrait of the filmmaker’s family as they express longing in the absence of husband and father; Soon-Mi Yoo’s PINK (2011), a fixed camera view of a darkened entrance to a bar filmed in the area known as “Hooker Hill” in Seoul, South Korea; French artist Laure Prouvost’s percussively energetic and utterly unnerving video, It, Heat, Hit (2010); Richard Weibe’s Aliki (2010), a brief encounter with a lone flamingo on a strand in Cyprus; and Nulepsy (2010), British filmmaker Jessica Rinland’s odd tale of one man’s life-long pathological compulsion to spontaneously shed his clothes. Anywhere. Anytime. Arabian Nights 1974/color/160 min. Scr: Dacia Maraini, Pier Paolo Pasolini; dir: Pier Paolo Pasolini; w/ Ninetto Davoli, Franco Merli, IInes Pellegrini, The final film in Pier Paolo Pasolini's “Trilogy of Life,” (following The Decameron and The Canterbury Tales), the Arabian Nights adapts Scheherezade’s tales-within-tales—populated by slaves and kings, demons and lovers. By turns lusty, poetic and humorous, Pasolini's film is a ribald, liberating celebration of life in all its mystery. Shot on location in Iran, Yemen and Ethiopia, Arabian Nights offer a succession of sumptuously surreal surprises, from the pictorial to the sensual. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes. “Pasolini’s most beautiful film and a triumphant vindication of the entire trilogy… [Conjures] an endlessly varied and cosmopolitan world: inconceivable palaces with jeweled and mirrored sanctums, bazaars, deserts, tortuously winding alleys, the high seas. But also, in keeping with the exoticism of his source, he has chosen this time to admit tales with a strong element of the fantastic: prophecies fulfilled mysterious kinesic languages, intuitions and premonitions, levitations, transmogrification... intellectual reasoning cannot account for the stories’ consuming delight, at once relaxed and euphoric, in the act of love, or the enthralled but irreverent appreciation of the human body… [Arabian Nights] has managed to show the broadest range of human passions, with sexuality rightfully prominent, in a form that expresses boundless affection but not a trace of prurience.”—Tony Rayns, Monthly Film Bulletin. ATOMIC SUBLIME (2010, 72min) Jesse Lerner's (in person) enlightening found footage collage essay engages the history and politics of modern art in the United States. There is a fundamental tension at the heart of this history, a tension that helps define the structure of this experimental documentary. On one hand the Abstract Expressionist painters, like many other modern artists working in the USA during the years after World War II, were often red-baited. Given that modern art originated in Europe, the critics stated, it was almost certainly (at the very least) “un-American,” if not dangerously communist and subversive. At the same time, the USSR endorsed [socialist] realist painting, and tolerated very little else. For those who sought to define the USA in opposition to the Soviet Union, the monopoly that figurative painting enjoyed on the other side of the Iron Curtain implied that abstraction out to be an ally of capitalist democracy. Perhaps for this reason, and certainly quite improbably, the U.S. State Department exported Abstract Expressionist painting (and photographic reproduction of these works) around the world. The debate over the political underpinnings of gestural abstraction rarely addressed the artworks themselves; it rather provided a forum for conflicting ideological and cultural agendas to rehearse their differences in a new arena. Found footage filmmaking struck me as a particularly appropriate way to tell this story, not simply because the great wealth of little-known material that could be enlisted to tell this history, but also as an acknowledgement of the work of some of the Abstract Expressionists’ most striking contemporaries on the West Coast (e.g. Bruce Conner, Wallace Berman) who used assemblage and collage for very different ends. Their work often brought into the foreground the political concerns (and the always looming threat of nuclear annihilation) that so-called “New York School” always left implicit. While researching this complex story of culture and politics, its contemporary resonances struck me as powerful and telling. More than a series of historical episodes--some little known, others familiar--the narrative that this documentary relates is a timely one about the relations between the state and the arts, and about the politics, fear and ideology too often exiled from the histories of modernism. "After watching any or all of Lerner's films, you are likely to have a bundle of questions stockpiled in your freshly zapped brain" -GreenCine.com THE BARKER Based on the oft-filmed play by Kenyon Nicholson, The Barker represented the talking-picture debut of silent-screen favorite Milton Sills (the film itself is a part-talkie, containing 38 minutes' worth of dialogue). Sills is cast as Nifty Miller, veteran sideshow barker for a cheap carnival. Miller is determined that his young son Chris (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) will not follow in his footsteps but will instead attend law school. But Chris cannot help but be drawn to carnival life -- especially when he meets pretty "carney" Lou (Dorothy Mackaill). The film ran into some state-by-state censorship problems due to the scanty costumes worn by the female cast members. Herman Mankiewicz was among the screenwriters of The Barker, which received a latter-day fame of sorts when its crowded opening-credit title was reproduced in the pages of Kevin Brownlow's silent-film retrospective The Parade's Gone By. Dir. George Fitzmaurice, 1928, 35mm, 80 min. BIGGER THAN LIFE 1956, 20th Century Fox, 95 min, USA, Dir: Nicholas Ray Director Nicholas Ray’s subversively twisted portrait of suburban life centers on a teacher (James Mason) who becomes addicted to cortisone and experiences visionary, tyrannical delusions. Ray’s superb use of color and shot composition reaches a deliriously surreal intensity here that at times borders on the psychedelic. In addition to one of Mason’s finest performances, there’s also standout work from co-stars Barbara Rush and Walter Matthau. BOB AND THE MONSTER “It’s worth sticking around just to see what happens”. Anyone who was in L.A. during the punk, post-punk and early grunge years knew, or knew of the notorious musician/mayhem maker Bob Forrest. Today, so does the rest of the world, but instead as a cool-headed empathetic counselor on “Celebrity Rehab”. In this incredibly raw and inspiring documentary, Forrest revisits his heyday as charismatic front man and lyricist for indie band Thelonious Monster, and his struggle with the ultimate rock accoutrement: heroin. Bob And The Monster is a heady mix of claymation, rare archival performance footage, home video and interviews with seminal L.A. artists like the Circle Jerks, Fishbone, Jane’s Addiction, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Guns N’ Roses and Courtney Love. After the film, join us for a Q&A with director Keirda Bahruth, producer Rick Ballard, Thelonious Monster drummer Pete Weiss — and Bob Forrest, who will also perform a solo set following the Q&A! Dir. Keirda Bahruth, 2011, HDCAM, 85 min. Bombshell (1933) Directed by Victor Fleming Lola Burns is a big movie star who functions as a cash cow for both her family and her film studio, the latter’s publicity department turning out a steady stream of outrageous fabrications to keep her in the limelight. But Lola only wants to be loved for herself in this screwball comedy that lampoons Clara Bow and Jean Harlow’s own emerging star persona. Given the nastiness of all the other leading men, Harlow not only carries the picture, she turns it into a one-woman show. Ironically, Fleming refused credit on both this film and Red Dust, two of his best works. MGM. Screenwriter: John Lee Mahin, Jules Furthman. Cinematographer: Harold Rosson. Editor: Margaret Booth. Cast: Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, Frank Morgan. 35mm, b/w, 96 min. THE CHEAP DETECTIVE 2011, Sony Repertory (Columbia), 92 min, USA, Dir: Robert Moore In this follow-up to MURDER BY DEATH, Peter Falk stars as Lou Peckinpaugh, a penny-pinching private eye trying to stay ahead of the police as he tracks down his partner’s killer and some missing diamonds in 1940s San Francisco. This loving parody of film noir - and Bogart movies in particular - rounds up all sorts of usual suspects, including Ann-Margret, Eileen Brennan, Sid Caesar, Madeline Kahn, Dom DeLuise, Stockard Channing and Louise Fletcher, to play the assorted femmes fatale, fall-guys, cops and crooks peopling Neil Simon’s gag-filled screenplay. Climates 2006/color/101 min. Scr/dir: Nuri Bilge Ceylan; w/ Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Nazan Kesal, Mehmet Eryilmaz. An atmospheric and incisive portrayal of a couple’s dissolution, Climates harkens to the stately modernism of Antonioni and Bresson. Though the two leads are played by a real-life couple, director Nuri Bilge Ceylan and his wife Ebru, the film hardly seems confessional. Starting on the sunsoaked Aegean coast and transitioning to the bustling streets of Istanbul and a wintry eastern province, Ceylan’s meticulously-appointed film ruminates on the fragility and complexity of relationships. The director was recently awarded the Grand Jury prize at Cannes for Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, which is set to open on US screen later this year. “Ceylan’s interest in how we isolate ourselves from one another seems as simple as his visual style, which encourages contemplation rather than distraction… The film paints a haunting portrait of existential solitude…The mysteries of his work are those of the heard, the head, the soul.”—Manohla Dargis, The New York Times. COLD FISH Right from its sucker-punch opening with its jagged hand written titles and razor editing, Sion Sono’s Cold Fish grabs you by the hair and drags you through an intense narrative of betrayal, infidelity and murder. Ostensibly inspired by the story of a real-life Japanese serial killer (who raised dogs, rather than fish), Cold Fish has all of Sono’s trademark brilliance and nihilism in its tale of sad-sack Shamoto (Mitsuru Fukikoshi), who’s stuck with a failing fish store and a family who hates him. When Shamoto meets the the charismatic and rich Murata, owner of a popular high-end fish shop and a hot-red Ferrari (Denden, in one of the greatest serial killer portrayals of the last few decades), his life changes irrevocably. Easily manipulated and coerced into progressively worse situations, it’s not long before Shamoto realizes that not only has Murata car-jacked his life, but he’s also shut the windows, locked the doors and is driving them full-speed off of a cliff. Dir. Sion Sono, 2010, 144 min. The Color of Pomegranates 1969/color/78 min. Scr/dir: Sergei Parajanov; w/ Sofiko Chiaureli, Melkon Aleksanyan,Vilen Galstyan Giorgi Gegechkori. The hallucinatory films of Armenian painter and poet Sergei Parajanov are joyous, colorful and often musical expressions of visionary experience than revel in parable, myth and allegory. Inspired by the folk traditions of Ukraine and the Caucasus, their delirious beauty belies a personal life marked by persecution and imprisonment under the Soviet regime, including a five-year sentence of hard labor in the gulag for trumped-up charges. Paradjanov pays tribute to the life of 18th-century troubadour Sayat Nova in this indelible film, perhaps his masterpiece. It evokes the poet's childhood and youth, his days as a troubadour at the court of King Heraclius II of Georgia, and his retreat to a monastery. Long suppressed by politburo authorities due to its religious sentiment and bold divergence from “Soviet realism”, The Color of Pomegranates is modern in its abandonment of cinematic conventions while also classical in its attention to archaic aesthetics. "An extraordinarily beautiful film... any one of its linked tableaux is a startling combination of Byzantine flatness, Quattrocento beatifics and Islamic symmetry.”—J. Hoberman, The Village Voice. THE COOL SCHOOL The Cool School (2007) focuses on the seminal Ferus Gallery, which groomed the L.A. art scene from a loose band of idealistic beatniks into a coterie of competitive, often brilliant, artists, including Ed Kienholz, Ed Ruscha, Craig Kauffman, Wallace Berman, Ed Moses, and Robert Irwin. The Ferus Gallery also served as a launching point for New York imports such as Andy Warhol, hosting his first Soup Can show. Directed by Morgan Neville, the film stars Irving Blum, Walter Hopps, Ed Ruscha, Frank Gehry, Dennis Hopper, and John Baldessari, and is narrated by Jeff Bridges. THE CRUISE This popular and critically acclaimed documentary profiles Manhattan bus tour guide Timothy "Speed" Levitch, whose fascinating city narratives are more about poetry and philosophy than the standard tourist trade. Levitch, who says his mission is to "rewrite the souls" of his customers, is also a playwright, and he treats his seemingly trite guide position as an extension of his creativity. The film debut of director Bennett Miller (Capote). "One of the most outrageously entertaining performance documentaries I've ever seen" (J. Hoberman, The Village Voice). 1998, USA, 35mm, 76 minutes CUT + RUN FESTIVAL PRESENTS AUTONOMY OF PLACE Traveling film festival, Cut + Run, hits the road again for their 3rd annual tour of experimental short films. This year C+R presents the work of American filmmakers from throughout the country each exploring the fringes of the Autonomy of Place. Each film uniquely investigates the capacities in which we recognize the politics and philosophies of the forgotten, overlooked, and sometimes untold landscapes of our time and place. This year's program, The Autonomy of Place, features the following work: Gathering by Robert Todd; How to Draw Clouds by Salise Hughes; SAVE by Roger Beebe; Irma by Charles Fairbanks; 5 Lessons and 9 Questions about Chinatown by Shelly Silver; Cusps by Sara Zia Ebrahimi; Passeggiata by Rick Bahto TRT 56 Mins CURATORS AND FILMMAKERS IN ATTENDANCE! Dance in the Rain (Ples V Dezju) (Slovenia, 1961) Directed by Bostjan Hladnik This elegant and enigmatic love story centers on a brooding young painter and an older actress. Uncertain of their choices in life, each acutely aware of time slipping away, they verbally savage one another, between admitting (often only internally) their love for each other. A study of archetypes as much as characters, the penetrating drama masterfully weighs whether life’s plateaus are cause for disillusion or hope. Screenwriter: Bostjan Hladnik. Cinematographer: Janez Kalisnik. Editor: Kleopatra Harisijades. Cast: Miha Baloh, Dusa Pockaj, Ali Raner, Rado Nakrst, Joze Zupan. 35mm, b/w, in Slovenian with English subtitles, 104 min. DANTON 1983, Janus Films, 136 min, France, Poland, West Germany, Dir: Andrzej Wajda Directed by Andrzej Wajda while in exile, the Polish filmmaker's French-language debut is an adaptation of "The Danton Affair," written in the 1920s by Communist playwright Stanislawa Przybyszewska. After the French Revolution, Paris suffers under the Reign of Terror as the government of the ruthless Maximilien de Robespierre (Wojciech Pszoniak) intimidates all opponents. Georges Danton (Gérard Depardieu), former friend of the leader, seeks an end to the bloodshed and, joined by Camille Desmoulins (writer-director Patrice Chéreau in his first acting role), attempts to bring peace to the streets of the capital. For his efforts, Danton is imprisoned, and awaits the guillotine with steely resolve. In French with English subtitles. "I do not know of any play or movie that has ever come so close to suggesting the fascinating complexity of the French Revolution." - Andrew Sarris, Village Voice THE DARK CORNER 1946, 20th Century Fox, 99 min, USA, Dir: Henry Hathaway Wrongly convicted private eye Bradford Galt (Mark Stevens) is sprung from prison, but bad luck sticks to his gummed shoes. Who’s the mystery man in the white suit and why won’t he leave Galt alone? What’s his connection to the big money boys on the Upper East Side? Galt’s no Marlowe. Without his loyal gal Friday (Lucille Ball), he wouldn’t make it out from behind the 8-ball alive. "I’m backed up in a dark corner," he grouses, "and I don’t know who’s hitting me." Co-starring Clifton Webb, William Bendix. Derby (1972) Directed by Robert Kaylor What begins as a Maysles-inspired documentary about professional roller derby morphs into a fascinating portrait of a quintessential American dreamer the second that Midwestern machinist Michael Snell appears on screen. Snell aspires to derby fame, but when filmmaker Robert Kaylor turns his camera on the swaggering 23-year-old, he discovers a man more devoted to constructing a self-justifying fantasy of success, than achieving success itself. Cast: Charlie O’Connell, Michael Snell. 16mm, color, 91 min. In-person: Filmmaker Robert Kaylor. DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS 1986, Buena Vista, 103 min, USA, Dir: Paul Mazursky In this hilarious reworking of Jean Renoir’s BOUDU SAVED FROM DROWNING, Dave Whiteman (Richard Dreyfuss) and wife Barbara (Bette Midler) seem to have it all - a beautiful house, two kids and a Border Collie - but something’s missing. When the homeless Jerry Baskin (Nick Nolte) tries to drown himself in the Whitemans’ pool, Dave thinks he’s found someone who understands that life is more than material wealth; however, Jerry adapts to luxury with surprising ease. With Little Richard. “A California comedy that is generous and scathing in equal measure.” - Janet Maslin, The New York Times. Erotissimo Erotissimo’s Pop Art ingredients don’t just pop — they positively explode across the screen in a mirthful tumble of all the coolest and most colorful elements the height of Sixties cinema has to offer. This playful satire of the advertising age (directed by Gerard Pires, who, in addition to making both art films and action flicks, helmed hundreds of commercial spots himself) focuses on a married woman (Annie Girardot) who tries to spice up the sex life between her and her distracted husband while under a deluge of sexy movies, sexy ads on the streets, sexy consumer products, sexy intimate clothing and sex talks with her mother and female friends. Using a Hard Day’s Night-like template of silly episodic tomfoolery as a launching point, Erotissimo is a moment-by-moment, scene-by-scene feast of a film, and is a non-stop parade of eye-popping modern fashion, architecture, whirlwind proto-music video editing and a spectacular psych-funk soundtrack by William Sheller rich with thick, hip-shaking basslines. Dir. Gérard Pirès, 1969, digital presentation, 100 min. FOUR SONS (1928) Four-time Best Director winner John Ford helmed this drama about four brothers in World War I, one of the few of Ford’s silent films that still exists. Preceded by Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in TWO TARS (1928) and a fragment from the 1928 lost film THE CASE OF LENA SMITH, directed by Josef von Sternberg, courtesy of the Austrian Film Museum, Vienna. From Beyond From Stuart Gordon, the director of Re-Animator, comes this outrageous, grisly take on a story by H.P. Lovecraft. The Resonator is a gruesome machine that activates a special sixth sense--one that makes its victims crave human brains. Director Stuart Gordon and actress Barbara Crampton are scheduled to appear IN PERSON for the evening shows on Sunday! 1985, USA, 35mm, 86 minutes. directed by Stuart Gordon; screenplay by Dennis Paoli, William J. Norris and Stuart Gordon; original story by H.P. Lovecraft; starring Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, David Gale, Robert Sampson, Gerry Black, Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, Peter Kent THE FRONT Woody Allen, in a non-Allen vehicle, stars as Howard Prince, a cashier who is persuaded to "front" for a writer friend who has been blacklisted during the McCarthy-era witch-hunts. 1976, USA, 35mm, 95 minutes. directed by Martin Ritt; screenplay by Walter Bernstein; starring Woody Allen, Zero Mostel, Herschel Bernardi, Michael Murphy, Andrea Marcovicci, Remak Ramsay, Lloyd Gough Goldie (1931) Directed by Benjamin Stoloff Sailor Spike is always looking for girls and when he finds them, Sailor Bill (an early starring role for Spencer Tracy) has been there first and left his mark: a tattoo. A talkie remake of Howard Hawks’ A Girl in Every Port (1928), the title also foreshadows Harlow’s role as a girl with a tattoo, reprising Louise Brooks’ character in the former film. But Jean Harlow looks great in a bathing suit as a high diver, cracking open Fox’s otherwise pedestrian buddy picture. According to The New York Times, Harlow dives 200 feet without wetting her hair or disturbing her make-up. Fox Film Corp. Screenwriter: Paul Perez, Gene Towne. Cinematographer: Ernest Palmer. Editor: Alex Troffey. Cast: Spencer Tracy, Warren Hymer, Jean Harlow. 35mm, b/w, 68 min. Gravehopping (Odgrobadogroba) (Slovenia, 2005) Directed by Jan Cvitkovic In this deft, ironic comedy by Jan Cvitkovic, every tragedy has its grimly humorous side. Grave hopping funeral orator Pero is busy eulogizing for laughs and ineptly wooing a local girl while his father stages comical suicide attempts and his free-spirited sister defies the small town ennui. The graveside humor and comic relief shows the characters’ resilience all the way to the last, formidable scene. Producer: Janez Burger, Jan Cvitkovic. Screenwriter: Jan Cvitkovic. Cinematographer: Simon Tansek. Editor: Milos Kalusek. Cast: Gregor Bakovic, Drago Milinovic, Sonja Savic, Mojca Fatur, Natasa Matjasec. 35mm, color, in Slovenian with English subtitles, 103 min. Greatest Cartoons Ever The day after Christmas has always been a big day for releasing movies, as many families are looking for something to do after all the presents have been opened and all the parties are over. This year, on December 26th, the Alex Film Society will be presenting our 2nd Annual, family oriented special event that provides a really great alternative to the other pre-packaged Hollywood extravaganzas. THE GREATEST CARTOONS EVER! showcases some of the very best theatrical cartoons from the movies' Golden Age, featuring iconic characters like Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Popeye, Betty Boop, Donald and Daffy, even the original Superman, projected in 35mm on the big screen at the Alex Theatre. Animation historian and author Jerry Beck and producer Frank Gladstone have programmed a hugely entertaining cinematic trip back to a time when animated cartoons were more than an opening act; they were often the most popular part of going to the movies. HELL'S ANGELS Directed by Howard Hughes Two brothers, Roy and Monte, attend Oxford then volunteer for the RAF, when World War I breaks out. Jean Harlow plays Helen, Roy’s supposed girlfriend who doesn’t mind sleeping with Monte. “Let me change into something more comfortable,” she says, as modern girls will. Three years in the making at a cost of $3.8 million, Hell’s Angels started out as a silent film and ended up a talking picture. Five directors worked on the film, including James Whale (who directed Harlow’s dialogue scenes) and Howard Hawks, before Hughes personally took over the reigns. But its status remains legendary. United Artists. Producer: Howard Hughes. Screenwriter: Joseph Moncure March, Howard Estabrook, Harry Behn. Cinematographer: Tony Gaudio. Editor: Douglass Biggs. Cast: Ben Lyon, James Hall, Jean Harlow. 35mm, b/w and color, 127 min. Hold Your Man (1933) Directed by Sam Wood Harlow’s Miss Ruby Adams, a woman not above a con game herself, falls in love with a small time hoodlum, played by Gable. When he accidentally kills a man, she takes the fall for him, even though both have been shown to be cynical, world-weary characters. Anita Loos delivers another witty, screwball script, particularly evident in the bitchy exchanges between Harlow and Dorothy Burgess. However, the film ends-up going a bit soft, a sign of the growing power of self-appointed civic censors to influence studio policy. MGM. Screenwriter: Anita Loos. Cinematographer: Harold Rosson. Editor: Frank Sullivan. Cast: Jean Harlow, Clark Gable. 35mm, b/w, 87 min. IF A TREE FALLS: A STORY OF THE EARTH LIBERATION FRONT Marshall Curry, Oscar-nominated director of Street Fight (2005) paints a surprising portrait of political activism caught in a legal vortex. Reconstructing the recent history of the Earth Liberation Front, and the case of Oregon-based activist Daniel McGowan, Curry depicts both the economic sabotage performed by “ELF” sleeper cells, disenchanted with ineffectual public protests and the police brutality that often follows, and the legal maneuvers of a system which today often brands activists as terrorists. Digital video, color, 85 min. IN A LONELY PLACE 1950, Sony Repertory, 94 min, Dir: Nicholas Ray A brilliant, moody drama of a screenwriter (Humphrey Bogart) accused of murder, and the starlet (Gloria Grahame) afraid to trust him. On one level, a poisonous rejection of all things Hollywood; on another, a love triangle of almost demonic intensity between the director and his two stars. Although Dorothy B. Hughes’ original novel also possessed a desolate ending, Ray’s equally downbeat climax was quite different and undoubtedly did not find favor with the studio powers-that-be. Co-starring Frank Lovejoy. THE INDIAN RUNNER 1991, MGM Repertory, 125 min, USA, Dir: Sean Penn Inspired by the Bruce Springsteen song "Highway Patrolman," this auspicious debut for first-time director Sean Penn focuses on the Cain and Abel relationship between two loving brothers, small-town lawman David Morse and Vietnam vet Viggo Mortensen. Often unbearably moving but never sentimental, it features a gallery of stand-out performances by Charles Bronson, Sandy Dennis, Dennis Hopper, Patricia Arquette and Valeria Golino. Discussion following with director Sean Penn. JE T'AIME MOI NON PLUS Upon its release in England, it only played in a Soho porno theater; meanwhile, François Truffaut — one of the film’s few defenders back in ‘76 — announced “Don’t bother going to see my film, see Gainsbourg’s. That is a work of art.” Starring his wife Jane Birkin and Warhol superstar Joe Dallesandro, Serge Gainsbourg’s directorial debut concept piece on the nature of love and sex goes far beyond the irony of its song-inspired title “Je t’aime... moi non plus” (it’s a call-and-response; Woman: “I love you”, Man: “Me neither.”) Whereas the original Gainsbourg-Birkin song is full of breathy, orgasmic wordplay, Je t’aime... the film is breathtakingly wordless at times, as Birkin’s boyish, sexually desperate snack bar owner and Dallesandro’s brutish gay garbage truck driver(!) navigate one of the most rocky and blackly humorous relationships in all of French cinema. It’s intellectually explicit, beautifully offensive, full of summer, trash and ass — an absolute must-see. Dir. Serge Gainsbourg, 1976, 35mm, 89 min. Jeu De Massacre WOOSH! Swaths of garish color cut across the screen like a lysergic rainbow just as The Alan Bown Set smash out a title-card tune catchier than a catcher’s mitt. You’re about to be swept into a jazzy world caught between a comic book and the French countryside! Mon œil — it’s Jeu De Massacre (aka The Killing Game)! Loaded with sex appeal, groovy digs and that deliciously dry French wit, Alain Jessua’s second feature is a fabulous time that makes fun of life in every sense of the phrase. Pierre, a handsome comic-strip writer, and his artistic wife are invited to vacation in Neuchâtel, Switzerland by their biggest fan, an impossibly eccentric man-child who spends the better part of his days piloting remote control planes, ogling strippers and spending gobs of inheritance money. However, Pierre and his seductive wife are quick to capitalize on their host’s outlandish nature, turning him into a suave, pop-art, comic book criminal — a fantasy Bob is all too willing to embrace in reality. As fun and creative as they come, the film will make you exit the theater a little hipper and with a few French wise cracks that’ll keep you on the cusp of cool…for a little while at least! C’est la vie au le Cinefamily! Dir. Alain Jessua, 1967, digital presentation, 90 min. The Jim Sullivan Story In March 1975, notable folk troubador Jim Sullivan mysteriously disappeared outside Santa Rosa, New Mexico. His VW bug was found abandoned, his motel room untouched. Some think he got lost in the desert. Some think he fell foul of a local family with alleged mafia ties. Some think he was abducted by aliens. Tracking down the truth behind Jim’s mystery became an obsession of Light In The Attic’s Matt Sullivan (no relation) when he happened upon a copy of the album and fell in love. He took on a cross country pilgrimage in search of master tapes and truth, and came back with neither, despite hundreds of phone calls, e-mails, letters, faxes, private detectives, telepathy, palm readings and meetings with Jim’s wife, son and producer. Alongside Light In The Attic’s reissue of Sullivan’s 1969 album “U.F.O.”, The Jim Sullivan Story is a compact portrait of label head Matt Sullivan and film director Jennifer Maas’s unending obsession with the enigma that is Jim Sullivan. Dir. Jennifer Maas, 2010, digital presentation, 5 min. JOHNNY GUITAR 1954, Republic (Paramount), 110 min, USA, Dir: Nicholas Ray Joan Crawford is headstrong Vienna, a saloon owner waiting for the railroad to reach her town. Her friendship with charming outlaw the Dancing Kid (Scott Brady) jeopardizes her standing in the local community. Uptight landowners led by jealous Emma (a frightening Mercedes McCambridge) will do anything to repress her yen for the Kid, even if it means lynching half the town to do it. Enter Vienna’s old flame, Johnny (Sterling Hayden), a quick-draw who’s given up guns for a guitar. Only director Nicholas Ray could pull off this color-coded, violent, romantic tall tale rife with allegorical references to the rabid right wing of 1950s America. Victor Young did the lush score, with Peggy Lee singing the torrid theme song. Co-starring Ward Bond, Ernest Borgnine, John Carradine. Kekec (Slovenia, 1951) Directed by Joze Gale This Alpine tale introduced the resourceful lad “Kekec,” already a popular folk character, to the screen. Clever Kekec brings peace to his mountain village, outwitting the evil poacher Bedanec, who terrorizes the locals. A Slovenian David-and-Goliath story, the delightful film and plucky Kekec himself were lovingly adopted by Slovenians well-acquainted with foreign influence, and doggedly devoted to cultural preservation and self-direction. Screenwriter: J. Gale, Franc Milcinski. Cinematographer: Ivan Marincek. Editor: I. Marincek. Cast: Matija Barl, F. Milcinski, France Presetnik, Zdenka Logarjeva, Lojze Potokar. 35mm, b/w, in Slovenian with English subtitles, 91 min. KEN JACOBS 3D Los Angeles Filmforum and LA 3D Club are delighted to welcome avant-garde stereoscopic filmmaker Ken Jacobs back to Los Angeles. Excerpts from Jacobs's 3D work will be shown and projected in both anaglyph or 3D without spectacles. Selections will include excerpts from New York Ghetto Fishmarket 1903 (1975), Celestial Subway Lines/Salvaging Noise (2005), Anaglyph Tom (2008) and more recent experimental work with Elbow Dance, Space Flaws and From Berkeley to San Francisco (2010). Ken Jacobs has been making experimental and “underground” films in New York City for over fifty years. With over thirty film and video works, Jacobs has also created 3D shadow plays, stereoscopic magic lantern performances, art installations and sound pieces that deal with film, cinema history and the nature of the moving image. Jacobs’ works have been canonized in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) and the Whitney Museum of American Art, which included him on its list of “100 Greatest Artist of the 20th Century.” Ken Jacobs in person! Rooftop reception following the event KNOCK ON ANY DOOR 1949, Sony Repertory, 100 min, USA, Dir: Nicholas Ray Ray’s second picture was produced by star Humphrey Bogart’s Santana Productions and it reflects the gutsy social realism both men favored in their storytelling. Delinquent John Derek and his gutter-rat chums have shot a cop during a robbery. Bogart’s character, a successful attorney who extricated himself from the ghetto, feels obligated to defend Derek. Ray poses eternal questions about character versus environment and which is more responsible for rampant urban crime. NOT AVAILABLE ON DVD! THE LAST CIRCUS “I’m making this film to exorcise a pain in my soul that just won’t go away, like oil stains. I wash my clothes with movies.” — Alex de la Iglesia From the hyperdrive mind of one of Europe’s most ruthless cinematic satirists comes The Last Circus: a wicked tragicomic deconstruction of the terribly bloody Spanish Civil War as seen through the eyes of a benevolent-turned-psychotic Sad Clown vs. an evil alcoholic wifebeating Happy Clown! Alex de la Iglesia uses his nation’s greatest historical horror as the backdrop for an uncompromising tale of two equally damaged circus performers manically vying for the heart and soul of their joint obsession: their circus’s alluring female acrobat. Hysterically funny without watering down even a fraction of its harrowing message, the film matches its operatic, wildly unpredictable twists with the equally chaotic reality of life under Franco’s dictatorial rule of Spain in the 1970s. Equal parts Saving Private Ryan and Santa Sangre, The Last Circus is one helluva unique and thrilling time. Dir. Alex de la Iglesia, 2010, 35mm, 107 min. Lemmy: 49% Motherf**ker, 51% Son Of A Bitch Motörhead's Lemmy Kilmister has spent the better part of the past four decades as the living embodiment of the rock and roll lifestyle. Four years in the making, the critically acclaimed documentary 'Lemmy: 49% Motherf**ker, 51% Son Of A Bitch' gives fans an unprecedented look into his world. Directed by Greg Olliver and Wes Orshoski, the film boasts star-studded lineup including Metallica, Dave Grohl, Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, Jarvis Cocker, Joan Jett and more, the film offers a rare and revealing look at Lemmy's life with candid at-home interviews, studio sessions, and priceless live concert footage. Mojo calls the film 'an unflinching and deeply humanizing portrait of one of modern music s truly iconic figures.' LIVING LIGHT: AN EVENING WITH LINDA PERHACS & FRIENDS The twinship between color and sound has captivated artists for centuries. Across film, dance, fine art and music, creators have long sought to convey the harmony between light, movement, and tone that reverberates through nature; it is this synesthetic vision that inspired turned psych-folk songstress Linda Perhacs to record her now mythic 1970 album “Parallelograms”. Crafting transcendental tonal illustrations within the seemingly simple trappings of late-’60s song structures, Linda plumbed the same well of inspiration that drove pioneering filmmakers to eschew representational cinema for a purer way of illustrating the symbiosis of the senses. Join us as we celebrate these visual and sonic explorers, with a rare live set from Ms. Perhacs and her band (featuring selections from “Parallelograms” and new material exclusively debuted at Cinefamily), as well as a selection of boundary-pushing cinema from the masters of the synesthetic form, new video works commissioned for the show, and live dance accompaniment from world-renowned dancer/choreographer Ryan Heffington! THE LONG, LONG TRAILER 1954, Warner Bros., 96 min, USA, Dir: Vincente Minnelli Long before VACATION and RV, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz hit the road (though not as the Ricardos) in color in this slapstick romp about newlyweds who buy a shiny new trailer and decide to take a cross-country honeymoon. Needless to say, "There’s gonna be a lotta ’splainin’ to do!" With Marjorie "Ma Kettle" Main, Keenan Wynn and Madge Blake; written by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich (FATHER OF THE BRIDE). Magic Trip: Ken Kesey's Search For A Kool Place In 1964, Ken Kesey, famed author of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," set off on a legendary, LSD-fuelled cross-country road trip to the New York World's Fair. Joined by "The Merry Band of Pranksters," he set out to make a documentary about their trip, shooting footage on 16MM, but the film was never finished and the footage has remained virtually unseen until now. Magnolia Pictures presents this special advance screening. Man Follows Birds 1975/color/87 min. Scr/dir: Ali Khamraev w/ Dzhanik Faiziyev, Dilorom Kambarova. The work Uzbek filmmaker Ali Khamraev has only recently come to the attention of Western audiences, thanks to the hard work of France’s Festival of Three Continents in Nantes; Kent Jones, director of the World Cinema Foundation; and distributor Alla Verlotsky. Jones writes “an artist of rock-solid humanism and amazing expressive power, Khamraev is a towering figure, a wizard with landscapes (they all seem charged, often enchanted) and an instinctual genius with actors.” A mind-bending portrait of an orphan’s adolescence in a gritty medieval village life, this revelatory 1975 feature evokes the mystic expressionism and baroque delirium of Parajanov and Dovshenko. MARKETA LAZAROVA 1967, Janus Films, 163 min, Czechoslovakia, Dir: Frantisek Vlacil Voted the best Czech movie of all time in a poll of 100 Czech film critics, this ravishing 13th-century epic based on a novel by Vladislav Vancura evokes an era when pagan and Christian clans faced off in a fierce struggle for dominance. An unforgiving winter landscape, dominated by hawks and wolves, sets the scene for a violent tale of rapacious rivalries played out in kidnapping, murder, plunder and rape. Vlacil’s unsettling symbolism carries a stark, eerie beauty, enhanced by Zdenek Liska’s avant-garde score. With Josef Kemr, Magda Vasaryova. In Czech with English subtitles. "A ceaseless flow of ravishing images." - Kristin M. Jones, The Wall Street Journal Max Out (1970) Directed by Robert Kaylor Filmmaker Robert Kaylor’s debut feature follows an African American ex-con struggling to re-adapt to the everyday world. Unable to find work, he takes up with a gay man for shelter, telling his friends it’s just a hustle, as he circles ever-closer back to his old ways. With hand-held camera work, Kaylor captures the grit and grind of the life with his all-amateur cast adding to the film’s striking authenticity. Screenwriter: Melvin Rivers, Ken Jackson. Cast: M. Rivers, Joe Rizzo, Sue Annet Ceruti. 16mm, b/w, 45 min. In-person: Filmmaker Robert Kaylor. MOVIES TIL DAWN Saturday August 13th we will be showing movies from dusk till dawn at Hollywood Forever. We will screen rare concert footage, psychedelic animation, visual music, short docs and other ephemera of the era until the sun rises on Sunday morning. First up is Monterey Pop, the seminal concert film, with performances by Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Janis Joplin, Simon + Garfunkel and many more. Immediately following Monterey Pop we will show Jimi Hendrix-A Documentary with blistering footage of Jimi live and interviews with the people who knew the legend best. We will have a Q+A with Eddie Kramer (Jimi's longtime engineer/producer) and Gary Weiss the director of the documentary, all moderated by musician Harper Simon. After the documentary we will embark on a voyage through some of our favorite psychedelia: concert performances, trippy shorts and stunning visuals, with Cinespia DJs spinning sets throughout the night. Bring a sleeping bag, food and drinks, make a nest and settle in for some of the best movies and visuals of the late 60s and early 70s. . Come early or late, stay all night if you like!! Please no tents, pets or bbqs. MURDER BY DEATH 1976, Sony Repertory (Columbia), 94 min, USA, Dir: Robert Moore Eccentric millionaire Truman Capote invites six of the world’s greatest detectives to his mansion for “dinner and a murder.” When the sleuths (Peter Sellers, David Niven, Maggie Smith, James Coco, Peter Falk and Elsa Lanchester) arrive and discover that the host is the apparent victim, they attempt to solve the puzzle and survive the evening themselves. Neil Simon’s dazzling script parodies virtually all the conventions of the murder mystery while throwing in enough red herrings to keep the audience guessing until the very end. With Alec Guinness. NIGHTFALL Commercial artist James Vanning (Aldo Ray) and his friend, Dr. Edward Gurston (Frank Albertson), are on a hunting and fishing trip in Wyoming when they stop to help two men whose car has crashed. The pair, John (Brian Keith) and Red (Rudy Bond), turn out to be escaped bank robbers, on the run with 350,000 dollars in stolen cash after a clean getaway, and they don't plan on leaving any witnesses -- Gurston is shot dead by Red, using Vanning's hunting rifle, but Vanning survives by accident, knocked cold but alive. He awakens to discover the stolen money, accidentally left behind, and runs with it from the returning killers... 1957, USA, 35mm, 78 minutes. directed by Jacques Tourneur; story by David Goodis; screenplay by Stirling Silliphant; starring Aldo Ray, Brian Keith, Anne Bancroft, Jocelyn Brando 9:06 (Slovenia, 2009) Directed by Igor sterk A film noir par excellence and a first-rate psychological drama, Igor Sterk’s 9:06 takes us to Ljubljana, where police inspector Dusan (Igor Samobor in a terrific performance) investigates an unusual suicide. The investigation soon turns into obsession as he moves into the apartment of the deceased, assuming the identity of the dead man and reliving the victim’s, as well as his own, shattered life. Producer: Igor Sterk, Frank Celarc, Christoph Thoke. Screenwriter: I. Sterk, Sinisa Dragin. Cinematographer: Simon Tansek. Editor: Petar Markovic. Cast: Igor Samobor, Labina Mitevska, Silva Cusin, Pavle Ravnohrib, Gregor Bakovic. 35mm, color, in Slovenian with English subtitles, 71 min. Nostalgia for the Light (Nostalgia de la luz) (2010) Directed by Patricio Guzman The uniquely arid conditions of Chile's Atacama Desert make it an ideal location for both viewing the night sky through its crystal clear atmosphere and hunting for indigenous artifacts, perfectly preserved inits dry earth. But the astronomers and archeologists are not the only ones at work in the Atacama, which has become a pilgrimage site, of sorts, for the relatives of political prisoners who sift the sands for remains that were dumped in the dessert by the Pinochet regime, which operated a death camp in the region. Through interviews and images, illuminating and haunting, Guzman builds subtle, surprising links between these seekers in the stars and sands. The result is an emotionally compelling and intellectually dazzlingly meditation on our constantly shifting relationship with the past. Producer: Meike Martens, Renate Sachse. Screenplay: Patricio Guzman. Cinematographer: Katell Djian. Editor: Patricio Guzman. HDcam, Color, 90 min. OCCULT L.A.: SEASON OF THE WITCH The Witch has held a seductive, supernatural sway in nearly every culture since the dawn of man. Some dedicate their powers to healing and the service of mankind; others manipulate the mysteries to control or destroy others for gain. Loved, hated, revered, or persecuted — the Witch is one of the most misunderstood, demonized archetypes of all time. Join White Witch Maja D’Aoust and Process Media’s Jodi Wille for a spellbinding evening of film, ritual, and revelation as we illumine the role of the Witch through the ages, in popular consciousness and as conveyed through the cinematic eye. See the LA premieres of new, witch-made films by Sera Timms and Micki Pellerano, never-shown Source Family white magic rituals on film, a newly restored 16mm print of Curtis Harrington’s The Wormwood Star presented by artist-occultist Brian Butler, and more — along with selects of some of the most obscure, strange, electrifying, and influential moments of the Witch in film history. Afterwards, D’Aoust, Santeria priestess Marlene Vargas, and white wizard clairvoyant Aiden Chase will be LIVE onstage to discuss their craft and what it means to be a true witch in Los Angeles today!!! 100% Slovenian (Americanke) (Slovenia, 2005) Directed by Hanna Slak An amusing but thoughtful documentary portrait of several contemporary American women of Slovenian descent. Regardless that their ties to the mother country are generations old, their feeling that they are “100% Slovenian” demonstrates the intensity with which national identity infuses the Slovenian character. Digital video, color, in Slovenian with English subtitles, 50 min. One Million Years B.C. (1966) A caveman is banished from his home and finds temporary shelter among a group of oceanside cave dwelling people. After a second banishment, he sets forth with a beautiful cavewoman played by Raquel Welch! Adventures begin to take shape as they face the harsh prehistoric world as a couple. Paper Planes (Na Papirnatih Avionih) (Slovenia, 1967) Directed by Matjaz Klopcic A photographer tired of the jaded milieu of an early advertising age under socialism romances a young ballerina. The Triple Bridge, fountains and rooftops of the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, and the ski resorts of the Slovenian Alps are the dreamy 1960s backdrops for this great love story. Disarmingly believable as the inexperienced naif, Snezana Niksic, as the ballerina, steals the show. Screenwriter: Matjaz Klopcic. Cinematographer: Rudi Vavpotic. Editor: Milka Badjura. Cast: Snezana Niksic, Polde Bibic, Stanislava Pesic, Dare Ulaga, Stefka Drolc. 35mm, b/w, in Slovenian with English subtitles, 81 min. THE PENALTY Lon Chaney stars in The Penalty, a psychological thriller filled with violence, sadism and a touch of nudity. Not your typical silent film! The movie will be accompanied by a live musical score and a special display of Lon Chaney makeup, props and costume. 1920/Eminent Authors Pictures Inc. PERPETUUM MOBILE Directed by Nicolás Pereda Director Nicolás Pereda revisits the characters of Together in an expanded universe of Mexico City where Gabino—still looking for his dog—now lives with his mom and works as a mover, a gig that allows him, and us, a window onto lives in transition. Into this narrative patchwork, Pereda ventures into explicit stylistic experiment. Are we watching a fi lm, rehearsals to a film, or a blend of both? The ambiguity jibes with the messiness of the improvised lives on screen. Producer: Nicolás Pereda, Catalina Pereda. Screenwriter/Editor: N. Pereda. Cinematographer: Alejandro Coronado. Cast: Gabino Rodriguez, Teresa Sanchez, Francisco Barreiro. 35mm, color, 86 min. PIZZA PIZZA DADDY-O A 1967 film by Bob Eberlein and Bess Lomax Hawes that looks at continuity and change in girls' playground games at a Los Angeles school. PLATINUM BLONDE Directed by Frank Capra In some ways it was ingenious of Frank Capra to pit socialite Harlow’s screaming sexuality, wrapped in tons of money, against Loretta Young’s sacrificing, always available, but strictly virginal woman in the wings. Reporter Stew Smith naturally chooses sex and easy living with Schuyler, until he realizes it will cost him his manly soul, then returns to the comfort of his own class. Williams’ newspaper reporter explores the bifurcation of American womanhood: poor virgin vs. whore with gold, but then reality beats out fantasy. Capra’s long-time screenwriter Robert Riskin contributes exceeding witty dialogue in this “light entertainment.” Columbia Pictures Corp. Producer: Harry Cohn. Screenwriter: Robert Riskin, Jo Swerling. Cinematographer: Joseph Walker. Editor: Gene Milford. Cast: Loretta Young, Robert Williams, Jean Harlow. 35mm, b/w, 89 min. PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM Woody Allen's first film with Diane Keaton. Allen plays Allen, a fanatical movie buff with an outrageous recurring hallucination: Humphrey Bogart offering tips on how to make it with the ladies. Eventually Allen discovers that there is one woman with whom he can be himself: his best friend's wife. The final scene is a terrific take-off on Casablanca, with roaring plane propellers, heavy fog, and Bogart-style trench coats. 1972, USA, 35mm, 85 minutes. directed by Herbert Ross; screenplay by Woody Allen; starring Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Susan Anspach Powaqqatsi: Life in Transformation While Godfrey Reggio’s groundbreaking documentary Koyaanisqatsi focused on modern life, its sequel Powaqqatsi focuses on the conflict between traditional ways and industrialization in the third world. As with Koyaanisqatsi, the film is strongly related to its Glass soundtrack, which this time uses children’s voices, in harmony with the film’s message and images. Following the Bowl’s hugely successful 2009 performance of Koyaanisqatsi, Philip Glass and his ensemble return to accompany the sequel. Pulsar 2010, Corridor, 91 min, Belguin, Dir: Alex Stockman When Samuel's girlfriend Mireille heads off to New York for a prestigious internship and he stays behind to work in Brussels, his life starts to unravel. His computer is hacked, a series of dodgy IT guys fail to protect his wireless network and a mysterious hacker seems intent on ruining his now long-distance relationship with Mireille. Paranoia meets flailing romance meets darkly tinged mystery in director Alex Stockman's fascinating look at the way online technology dictates our lives, relationships and even mental stability. In Dutch and French with English subtitles. "Tapping into contempo paranoia about computer hackers and privacy in the Internet age with a romantic twist, Belgian drama PULSAR is a taut little thriller that's big on atmosphere." - Variety. Followed by a Belgian beer reception in the lobby open to all ticket buyers. PUSHOVER Two bank robbers get away with 250,000 dollars in unmarked, unrecorded bills, murdering a guard in the process. The police know the leader was Harry Wheeler (Paul E. Richards) and turn their attention to his girlfriend, Leona McLane (Kim Novak), detective Paul Sheridan (Fred MacMurray) arranging to pick her up in a "chance" meeting at a movie and spend some time with her. After one day, he knows what he needs to -- that she's not in touch with Wheeler, but expects to be -- but he keeps things going between them for three more days. By the time the department has a full surveillance team in place, he can't get her off his mind... 1954, USA, 35mm, 88 minutes. directed by Richard Quine; story by Bill S. Ballinger and Thomas Walsh; screenplay by Roy Huggins; starring Fred MacMurray, Philip Carey, Kim Novak, Dorothy Malone, E.G. Marshall Raft of the Medusa (Splav Meduze) (Slovenia, 1980) Directed by Karpo Acimovic-Godina Two schoolteachers with big dreams take off from their muddy backwater village and travel with fellow drifters and performance artists through Yugoslavia of 1920s, with a ‘lightness of being’ and pure joy that was not to be repeated. This watershed film of the Slovenian and Yugoslav cinema burst onto the scene in 1980 and re-introduced modernism, asserting a wonderful, nihilistic rebellion against all canons. Screenwriter: Branko Vucievic. Cinematographer: K. Acimovic-Godina. Editor: K. Acimovic-Godina. Cast: Olga Kacjan, Vladislava Milosavljevic, Boris Komnenic, Erol Kadic, Frano Lasic. 35mm, color, in Slovenian and Serbo-Croatian w/ English subtitles, 101 min. Red Dust (1932) Directed by Victor Fleming Filmed in the same over-heated, studio designed, orientalist tropics as The Letter, Red Dust features Jean Harlow as a Singapore floozie who has finally found her man in Clark Gable’s gone-native plantation owner. They are made for each other, though he doesn’t know it, because he falls for the civilized, but married, Mary Astor. Gene Raymond as the husband sports his usual non-sex-appeal, so Mary is soon in the arms of the beast, then thinks about her pocketbook. All the virtues of pre-Code cinema are here: the frank discussion about sexuality, the depiction of adultery, the unsentimental view of class relations. MGM. Producer: Hunt Stromberg. Based on the play by Wilson Collison. Screenwriter: Wilson Collison, John Lee Mahin. Cinematographer: Harold Rosson, Arthur Edeson. Editor: Blanche Sewell. Cast: Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Gene Raymond. Red-Headed Woman (1932) Directed by Jack Conway Originally conceived as a project for Greta Garbo, this film features a woman who, like Barbara Stanwyck’s Baby Face, has no morals other than to use her body against influential men to move up the social ladder. Coming from the wrong side of the tracks, Lil “Red” Andrews first animates her wealthy but weak boss to leave his wife and marry her; she then moves quickly on to another, well-healed businessman. No airhead blonde, Jean Harlow’s vulgar but highly erotic gold-digger knows exactly what she wants and how to get it, thanks to Anita Loos’ wise-cracking script. MGM. Producer: Albert Lewin. Screenwriter: Anita Loos, F. Scott Fitzgerald. Cinematographer: Harold Rosson. Editor: Blanche Sewell. Cast: Jean Harlow, Chester Morris, Lewis Stone. 35mm, b/w, 79 min. RHINO RESURRECTED: THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE STORY OF THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS RECORD STORE Rhino Resurrected is the iconoclastic story of a ramshackle little record store that became a hub of hardcore music misfits, a launching pad for influential music careers, and a groundbreaking and irreverent record label revered by music lovers worldwide. The inspiration for the film came last spring when the founder of Rhino, Richard Foos, opened a “pop-up” record store that tried to re-create the “Rhino” vibe and quickly turned into a celebration of and elegy for a music culture that’s all but lost. The film features killer live performances from Richard Thompson, Mike Watt, Peter Case, Little Willie G and thee Midnighters, Temple City Kazoo Orchestra and so much more – it’s a must see for any LA music fan! Join us for a Q&A with director Keith Shapiro and executive producer Bill Fishman after the screening! Dir. Keith Shapiro, 2011, digital presentation, 73 min. ROBOT MONSTER The FILMMOBILE will be screening the 1953 3-D sci-fi film ROBOT MONSTER near Griffith Park... The Robot Monster has been sent to Earth as the advance party of an impending invasion. Ordered by The Great One to capture several humans, the Robot Monster becomes confused once it learns more about humans. The LA 3-D Club will making the outdoor screening even more spectacular by providing 3-D glasses! Come out for some bingo, prizes, snacks and maybe a real-life spotting of the Robot Monster itself. For those who get to the screening early there will be a FILMMOBILE picnic at 6:30pm at the actual Bronson Cave (think Batman TV show) in Griffith Park off Canyon Drive RUTHLESS PEOPLE 1986, Buena Vista Pictures, 93 min, USA, Dir: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker Kidnappers Judge Reinhold and Helen Slater think they've found their ticket to the good life when they snatch Bette Midler, the wife of a wealthy businessman (Danny DeVito). The problem is that the woman's husband was already planning to murder her and is thrilled to have her out of the way. This is only the first of an endless series of clever - and hilariously nasty - twists and turns in this brilliant farce from the creators of AIRPLANE! and TOP SECRET. A Sand Castle (Peseni Grad) (Slovenia, 1962) Directed by Bostjan Hladnik Director Bostjan Hladnik’s genre-bending road picture gathers a group of new friends (two men and a mysterious young woman) in a madcap automobile excursion to the ocean. The pleasures they find there prove as transitory as the sand castles that they build. A tour de-force of absurdist, physical comedy, the film subtly interrogates the supposed panacea of materialism, leisure, and the flight from one’s own history. Screenwriter: Bostjan Hladnik. Cinematographer: Janez Kalisnik. Editor: Kleopatra Harisijades. Cast: Ali Raner, Milena Dravic, Ljubisa Samardzic, Spela Rozin, Janez Albreht. 35mm, b/w, in Slovenian with English subtitles, 96 min. SEARCHING FOR ELLIOT SMITH Elliott Smith's intensely intimate songs helped popularize lo-fi indie-rock: a traditionally underground genre until Smith's mainstream effort "Miss Misery" took Hollywood by surprise. But even after an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song, he managed to fly mostly under the radar - and Smith wanted it that way. After his death in 2003, Smith's peers avoided the media, granting very few print interviews and NO on-camera interviews - until now. From his high school days as a National Merit Scholar, to his early work in the Portland rock band Heatmiser, to critical acclaim... to his mysterious death at the age of 34, we learn the dark motivations behind a musical genius, and discover how psychic pain can also produce timeless art. SEVEN DEADLY SAMPLER FILMS TOO Experimental films to political activist cinema to lit, art, music, poetry flix to avant garde documentaries, this series provokes new questions and features fiery discussions. SHADOWS OF A HOT SUMMER (STINY HORKEHO LETA) 1977, Czechoslovakia, 99 min, Dir: Frantisek Vlacil Director Frantisek Vlacil’s powerful and violent tale of a Moravian farmer faced with untenable choices is set amidst the political chaos of 1947. Retreating from a communist advance, a band of Ukrainian guerrillas hole up in a remote farmhouse where they take a family hostage. The farmer must decide whether it’s safer for his wife and children to resist or cooperate with their captors. Either choice carries a heavy price. With Juraj Kukura, Marta Vancurova. In Czech with English subtitles. "Plays like a cross between one of the more politicized spaghetti Westerns and Peckinpah's STRAW DOGS." - Michael Brooke, Sight & Sound SIRIUS 1974, 50 min, Czechoslovakia, Dir: Frantisek Vlacil In SIRIUS, a young boy whose most cherished companion is his loyal German shepherd devises his own form of resistance when the Nazis arrest his father, then order the confiscation of local canines, including his pet, to be retrained as attack dogs against the rebellious populace. In Czech with English subtitles. This evening of films by Czech filmmaker Frantisek Vlacil begins with two shorts. Award-winning “Glass Skies” (“Sklenena Oblaka,” 1958, 18 min.) traces a child’s infatuation with flight, from birds and butterflies to airplanes. No dialogue; a printed translation of the brief spoken introduction will be provided. And the title “Art Nouveau In Prague” (“Praha Secesni,” 1975, 20 min.) says it all, as Vlacil surveys Prague’s art nouveau treasures. No subtitles, but a printed English translation of the minimal poetic narration will be provided. SKIDOO, 1968, Paramount, 97 min. Dir. Otto Preminger. This infamous acid-comedy opened and bombed in 1968 but has since become a highly sought-after cult film - never on video - still not on DVD. Retired mobster Jackie Gleason is coerced by former colleagues back into business, going to prison to execute a contract on a crime commission squealer. Co-starring Carol Channing, Burgess Meredith, Mickey Rooney, George Raft, John Philip Law, Frankie Avalon - and Groucho Marx (as a gang boss named God!) in his last film. Everyone in prison, including guards, eventually get dosed with LSD. Features an acclaimed score and cameo by Harry Nilsson. Several of the cast and crew - including Otto and Groucho - took acid trips as pre-filming research! THE SOFT SKIN Truffaut's New Wave classic is a study of a man's first incident of infidelity. Jean Desailly is the successful publisher who, while often separated from his wife because of business, meets a younger flight attendant and has an affair. With legendary skill and acute sensitivity, Truffaut rips the mask off the lies, suspicions and guilt that lead to the disintegration of ordinary marriages. 1964, France/Portugal, 35mm, 119 minutes. New 35mm print! directed by François Truffaut; screenplay by François Truffaut and Jean-Louis Richard; starring Jean Desailly, Françoise Dorléac, Nelly Benedetti, Daniel Ceccaldi; in French and Portuguese with English subtitles Stronghold of Toughs (Grajski Biki) (Slovenia, 1967) Directed by Joze Pogacnik “It’s wonderful to be young in our homeland,” sings a youth choir over the loud speakers in a juvenile hall for orphaned boys, where young Peter dreams of reuniting with his father. Peter’s subsequent run-ins with a charismatic gang leader portray a clueless society with inept bureaucrats turning a blind eye to its underclass. Screenwriter: Primoz Kozak. Cinematographer: Janez Kaisnik. Editor: Vojislav Bjenjas. Cast: Kole Angelovski, Hana Brejchova, Janez Rohacek, Miki Micovic, Miha Baloh. 35mm, b/w, in Slovenian with English subtitles, 88 min. TARGETS The stunning film-making debut of critic-turned-director Peter Bogdanovich. A psychotic sniper and an aging horror movie star (Boris Karloff in his final film) find their lives drawn together by a series of unrelated events. 1968, USA, 35mm, 90 minutes. written and directed by Peter Bogdanovich; story by Polly Platt and Peter Bogdanovich; starring Tim O'Kelly, Boris Karloff, Arthur Peterson, Monte Landis, Nancy Hsueh, Peter Bogdanovich The Thief of Bagdad 1940/color/106 min. Scr: Miles Malleson; dir: Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell, Tim Whelan; w/ Conrad Veidt, Sabu, June Duprez, John Justin, Rex Ingram When Prince Ahmad (John Justin) is cast out of Bagdad by the marvelously villainous Grand Vizier Jaffar (German legend Conrad Veidt), he joins forces with scrappy thief Abu (Sabu, in his definitive role) to win back his royal place amid a panoply of adventures involving flying horses, shipwrecks, magic carpets, and a bottled-up Genie of epic proportions. Hoping to astound audiences with his extravagant adaptation of One Thousand and One Nights, legendary producer Alexander Korda hired Michael Powell to take over from theater director Ludwig Berger. Alongside Tim Whelan and special-effects master William Cameron Menzies (an Oscar-winner for his work), Powell concocts a sumptuous fantasy brimming with visual delight, from its storybook sets and vibrant mise-en-scène to Miklós Rózsa’s rousing score. The film set a standard for cinematic spectacle that invigorated a generation of ambitious filmmakers, among them Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas and Martin Scorsese. “Ranks next to Fantasia… a cinematic delight.”—Bosley Crowther, The New York Times. THIS ISLAND EARTH Scientists at a mysterious research station are really visitors from planet Metaluna, to which they kidnap brilliant minds who they hope can help them. 1955/color/87 min. Scr: Franklin Coen, Edward G. O'Callaghan; dir: Joseph M. Newman; w/ Jeff Morrow, Faith Domergue, Rex Reason. Three Stooges Big Screen Event Stooges In History –– Sort of! This Year, we will take a look back in time to various period of history with our boys as the guides. Subject to great 35mm prints being available, our line up is: BACK TO THE WOODS (1937) GOOFS AND SADDLES (1937) MUMMIES DUMMIES (1948) HIGHER THAN A KITE (1943) WEE WEE MONSIEUR (1938) Our extra added attraction this year will be a tribute to the early television hosts who brought the Stooges films to kids all over the country via their local after-school shows during the late 1950s and 1960s. We'll be taking a nostalgic look at Officer Joe Boulton, Skipper Chuck Zink, Chuck McCann, Sandy Becker, Sally Starr, Cowboy Bob Glaze, etc. etc. That should put us in the mood to go back in time with Moe, Larry, Curly and Shemp. Running time approximately 2 hours. THREE WISE GIRLS Newly restored print! Directed by William Beaudine Generally not available until 2009, when Sony Pictures restored the film, this surprising little Columbia programmer allowed Harlow to shine without the hot sex. As a small-town girl in the big city, drawing swarms of wealthy suitors, Jean Harlow gets to play a Mary Pickford type, which is only fitting, given that William Beaudine directed “Little Mary” in Sparrows. Meanwhile, old pal Mae Clark, who comes from the same small town, demonstrates what happens when working class women cave too readily to men’s desires: unlike socialites, they can’t afford to give it away. Columbia Pictures Corp. Screenwriter: Wilson Collison, Robert Riskin, Agnes Christine Johnston. Cinematographer: Ted Tetzlaff. Editor: Jack Dennis. Cast: Jean Harlow, Mae Clark, Walter Byron. 35mm, b/w, 68 min. TOGETHER (JUNTOS) Directed by Nicolás Pereda Director Nicolás Pereda’s sharply observed second feature opens with an event that ever threatens to evolve into a storyline: Gabino (Rodríguez), wakes to find his dog, Junto, missing. But Junto’s disappearance remains only one in a series of wry, everyday occurrences that actually serve to frame the ever-expanding silences between Gabino and his girlfriend, Luisa. Eventually, silence and stasis come to reign in a dream-like finale that reveals more about the end of love than any number of recent American indie gabfests. Producer/Screenwriter/Editor: Nicolás Pereda. Cinematographer: Alejandro Coronado. Cast: Gabino Rodríguez, Luisa Pardo, Francisco Barreiro. HDCam, color, 73 min. TWO-MINUTE WARNING (from IMDB)A psychotic sniper plans a massive killing spree in a Los Angeles football stadium during a major championship game. The police, led by Captain Peter Holly (Charlton Heston) and SWAT commander Sergeant Button (John Cassavetes), learn of the plot and rush to the scene. Still, they may be too late, as an all-star cast finds itself lined up in the sights of a gun-toting madman. 1976, USA, 35mm, 115 minutes. directed by Larry Peerce; screenplay by Edward Hume; based on the novel by George LaFountaine; starring Charlton Heston, John Cassavetes, Martin Balsam, Beau Bridges, Marilyn Hassett, David Janssen, Jack Klugman, Gena Rowlands, Walter Pidgeon, Brock Peters The Valley of Gwangi (1969) A fame- hungry cowboy captures a dinosaur living in the Forbidden Valley and puts it in a Mexican circus, which ends in a bloody battle! Another film featuring the stop-action special effects talents of Ray Harryhausen. Valley of Peace (Dolina Miru) (Slovenia, 1956) Directed by France Stiglic Two children lose their families in an air raid and take to wandering the countryside, dodging Yugoslav partisans and invading Fascist forces, seeking a storied “Valley of Peace.” Taken under the wing of a stranded U.S. paratrooper, their faith in their deliverance is alternately vindicated and sorely tested in this strangely lyrical film that reflects Slovenia’s dogged pursuit of its own destiny in the tumultuous 20th century. Screenwriter: Ivan Ribic. Cinematographer: Rudi Vavpotic. Editor: Radojka Ivancevic. Cast: Tugomir Stiglic, Evelyne Wohlfeiler, John Kitzmiller, Boris Kralj, Maks Furjan. 35mm, b/w, in Slovenian, German and English with English subtitles, 88 min. THE VALLEY OF THE BEES (UDOLI VCEL) 1967, 97 min, Czechoslovakia, Dir: Frantisek Vlacil Often ranked with Bergman and Tarkovsky for the power of his depictions of medieval life, Vlacil explores the grip of fanaticism in THE VALLEY OF THE BEES. Young Ondrej grows to manhood in a harsh religious order where, with a hint of homoerotic tension, a Teutonic knight and veteran of the crusades becomes his mentor. Ondrej flees this life, settling in the castle of his childhood to marry his father's young widow, but his unforgiving mentor is prepared to pursue him to the ends of the earth. With Petr Cepek, Jan Kacer. In Czech with English subtitles. Vesna (Slovenia, 1953) Directed by Frantisek Cap Three strapping college students, loath to study, hatch a plot to romance the daughter of their math professor to secure the answers to a coming exam—but love soon complicates the perfect plot. Produced in the newly socialist Yugoslavia, this whimsical film bursts with optimism in youth. A perennial favorite, the film is the namesake of Slovenia’s highest film honor, the Vesna. Screenwriter: Matej Bor. Cinematographer: Paul Grupp. Editor: Milka Badjura. Cast: Metka Gabrijelcic, Franek Trefalt, Olga Bedjanic, Jure Fulan, Janez Cuk. 35mm, b/w, in Slovenian with English subtitles, 96 min. Viva Averty! A celebration of one of France’s greatest music video pioneers! Jean-Cristophe Averty is most famous for his innovative adaptation of Serge Gainsbourg’s “Histoire du Melody Nelson” — but few fans of that television special know of, much less have seen his on-the-air work from throughout the ‘60s, which utilized then-cutting-edge video technology and its attendant gear to its fullest, as well as positioned him as one of the greatest contributors to both the French pop art aesthetic and the universe of television soundstage set design. Tonight, we’ll unlock the secret vaults of Averty material to bring you highlights from his various switched-on ‘60s French TV specials, scenes from his 1970 Salvador Dali doc A Soft Self-Portrait, an a rare half-hour piece on Averty’s life and work! Wheedle’s Groove “Wheedle’s Groove not only paints a vibrant picture of Soul in Seattle and the many people who made it happen, but it also stands as a testament to the potential for individual collectors to rediscover and recover important landmarks in music history for us all.” — Seattle International Film Festival Thirty years before grunge music put Seattle on the map, late ‘60s groups like Black On White Affair, The Soul Swingers, and Cold, Bold & Together filled airwaves and packed clubs every night of the week. Just as many of the groups were on the verge of breaking out, the fickle public turned its ear to disco, and Seattle’s soul scene slipped into obscurity. Ten years ago, local collector DJ Mr. Supreme uncovered Seattle’s soulful past after finding a dusty Black on White Affair 45 called ‘Bold Soul Sister’ in a 99-cent bin at a Seattle Center record show. A few years later, he’d built a rough impression of a once-thriving scene — and a hefty collection of 45s. With commentary by notable Seattle music figures like Quincy Jones, Sir Mix-A-Lot, Mark Arm (Mudhoney), Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie), Ben Shepherd (Soundgarden), Kim Warnick (The Fastbacks) and Kenny G — and using interview footage, archival materials, original music, and live performances — Wheedle’s Groove paints the definitive documentary picture of this thriving and vibrant music scene documented in those precious records! Dir. Jennifer Maas, 2009, DigiBeta, 95 min. THE WHITE DOVE (HOLUBICE) 1960, 76 min, Czechoslovakia, Dir: Frantisek Vlacil A forerunner of the Czech New Wave, Vlacil creates a touching allegory for the universal craving for freedom in his visually stunning first feature, infusing two parallel stories with powerful psychological connections. A homing pigeon released in Belgium flies across Europe toward a young girl who waits by the sea. A lonely boy in Prague wounds the bird with his gun and then remorsefully nurses it back to health, reluctant to set it free. With Katerina Irmanovova, Anna Pitasova. In Czech with English subtitles. The White Meadows 2009/color/93 min. Scr/dir: Mohammad Rasoulof; w/ Hasan Pourshirazi, Younes Ghazali, Mohammad Rabbani. A native of Shiraz, Mohammad Rasoulof has been a constant target of persecution by Iranian authorities. He was most recently imprisoned in December 2010 alongside fellow filmmaker Jafar Panahi on charges of “assembly, collusion, and propagandizing against the regime” and sentenced to six years in prison and a twenty-year ban on making films or leaving the country. (Both directors had their newest films world-premiered at Cannes this year to great acclaim and equally great outcry for their release.) Made before Rasoulof’s arrest, The White Meadows is a potent allegory of intolerance and the mystifying protocols of authority. A boatman navigates the increasingly brackish waters of a coastal land, collecting the heartaches and tears of its inhabitants. But he remains powerless against their misguided attempts to appease the gods and make the land green again, whether by offering a bride to the sea or “treating” the eyes of a painter who sees in different colors. “One of the most vivid cine-folklorists since Sergei Parajanov. His is a world of landscapes both visceral and symbolic, in which the country's sprawling salt flats appear forever on the verge of engulfing the nomadic characters… A fiercely compassionate call for freedom, the film features downright tangible sensory dimensions: The sky's infinite color and the ocean's saline taste are integral elements of the narrative… Rasoulof's most personal portrait of the responsibilities and dangers of a questioning artist.”—Fernando F. Croce. THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR Fanny Ardant and Gerard Depardieu star as former tempestuous lovers, now married to other people, who suddenly find themselves living next door to one another. Truffaut masterfully guides the couple through a maze of confused feelings, steering them toward their final encounter. 1981, France, 35mm, 106 minutes. directed by François Truffaut; screenplay by Jean Aurel, Suzanne Schiffman and François Truffaut; starring Fanny Ardant, Gérard Depardieu, Henri Garcin, Michèle Baumgartner; in French with English subtitles World on a Wire 1973/color/212 min. (part one: 105 min. | part two: 107 min.) Scr: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Fritz Müller-Scherz; dir: Rainer Werner Fassbinder; w/ Klaus Löwitsch, Mascha Rabben, Karl-Heinz Vosgerau, Adrian Hoven, Ivan Desny, Barbara Valentin, Ulli Lommel. A dystopic science-fiction epic, World on a Wire is German wunderkind Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s gloriously cracked, boundlessly inventive take on future paranoia. With dashes of Kubrick, Vonnegut, and Dick, but a flavor entirely his own, World on a Wire is the noir-spiked tale of reluctant action hero Fred Stiller (Klaus Löwitsch), a cybernetics engineer who uncovers a massive corporate and governmental conspiracy. At risk? Our entire reality as we know it. This long unseen three-and-a-half-hour labyrinth is a satiric and surreal look at the weird world of tomorrow from one of cinema’s kinkiest geniuses. “An analog-age Avatar, a movie that anticipates Blade Runner in its meditation on artificial and human intelligence and The Matrix in its conception of reality as a computer-generated illusion… Fassbinder’s love of mirrors as décor and alienation devices, inherited from his idol Douglas Sirk, reaches a dizzying peak in World on a Wire. Almost every shot features at least one mirror image; faces and bodies are reflected in tabletops, refracted through lamps, caught between infinity mirrors.”—Dennis Lim, The New York Times.