What's Screening in LA This Week

Here are my picks of what's on my radar for the top screenings in LA this week especially the films screening in awesome 35mm film..! (and in sweet air-conditioning) Seriously I saw something in DCP (digital) last week and my eyes were not impressed. Grrr..! Look, you can't exercise at the gym all the time, you LA freaks, so get out and see... Tod Browning's Freaks..? Well, yes, coincidentally it is actually playing tonight at midnight at Cinefamily.

If you want to make your own decisions (why?!), browse the LA Film Calendars links on my side bar  → → →

Several of these choices are tonight only, FYI.

NuArt Theatre
Santa Sangre (1989, Alejandro Jodorowsky) Uncut
Tonight FRIDAY Midnight
Having seen Endless Poetry (2016, Alejandro Jodorowsky) last week, and having somehow missed ever seeing his notorious Santa Sangre (1989), midnight at the classic NuArt Theatre seems the perfect way to rectify that. This is Friday midnight only.
(This screening DCP probably)
NUART THEATRE LINK

Egyptian
Tonight FRIDAY 7:30pm
Maniac (1980, William Lustig)
Last House on the Left (1972, Wes Craven)
Cannibal Holocaust (1980, Ruggero Deodato)
Well, I normally don't go in for Grindhouse or horror stuff too big, but this is three 35mm "classics" in a triple feature, at least financially is a GREAT DEAL, not to be missed. Maniac I feel like is one Tarantino used to praise, then you've got a famous early Wes Craven in there, and the only one I think I've seen is Cannibal Holocaust. I remember seeing it, don't think I loved it, but it was a trip. And indeed this is a trippy night, so horror aficionados definitely do not want to miss this, and I am strongly considering going. All these movies were too creepy for me to post any images, so these are probably great if even screen grabs are scary as shit.
All in 35mm
EGYPTIAN THEATRE LINK

Egyptian
Sunday 7/30 at 5:30 PM
The Draughtsman's Contract (1982, Peter Greenaway)
and
Prospero's Books (1991, Peter Greenaway)
I'm over the moon about Draughtsman's and not sure what I think about Prospero's Books,
which in the latter case I think is the usual reaction! It's a hazy trippy film that is somehow an adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest starring John Gielgud (no slouch!) as Prospero. Greenaway is like an art-school avant-garde short-film-maker who somehow gets to make major feature films, and with that combination, you get special, unique films. Draughtsman's Contract is really not to be missed.
Both 35mm
EGYPTIAN THEATRE LINK

Aero Theatre
Friday TONIGHT 7:30 pm
Barfly (1987, Barbet Schroeder)
and
Reversal of Fortune (1990, Barbet Schroeder)
This wasn't on my radar, but someone on FB replied to my earlier list that they were salivating over Barfly, which I've never seen, plus Reversal of Fortune, is prime-era Jeremy Irons and Glenn Close, seems surely worthy of at least being on the radar! There's also a lot more Barbet Schroeder films all week at the Aero.
Both 35mm
AERO THEATRE LINK

Billy Wilder Theatre (UCLA Film & TV Archive)
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972, John Huston) screenplay John Milius
and
The MacKintosh Man (1973, John Huston) screenplay Walter Hill
Saturday 7/29 
7:30 pm
The Billy Wilder Theatre has classic stuff every Fri, Sat, and Sun this summer, always on film..! 'Cause they're a film archive, you see, and they've got the access to the best prints and they really take care of 'em. There's also some highly intriguing films Friday and one Sunday, but this John Huston double feature Saturday with some big-name screenwriters has my interest piqued. Not traditionally cited among the highlights of the rich trove of '70s American cinema, being on 35mm, these two seem worth a look and should pack a wallop of '70s-style fun and counter-culture contemplation.
BILLY WILDER THEATRE LINK

LACMA
The Wizard of Oz (1939, Victor Fleming) 
Tuesday 1:00 pm (That's right, 1:00 pm!)
35mm for only $4..!
Only on the big screen can you see that it's just a bird and not a munchkin hanging himself! So go sort out the munchkin conspiracy for yourself. LACMA's Bing Theatre is the perfect big screen for this classic Hollywood film. Yes, it's in 35mm. What an amazing fun movie to see on the big screen in a matinee!
LACMA used to be one of the prime venues for arthouse/revival films, but they just have their Tuesday blue-hair matinees going on lately.
However, this really is a fun one if you are free at 1:00 pm on a Tuesday, so just go anyway.
LACMA LINK

Check out more great stuff at Cinefamily and New Beverly. You can check their calendars on my sidebar for what's playing.
Also the Old Town Music Hall has can't-miss City Lights (1931, Chaplin) plus every show begins with music played on the pipe organ, an audience sing along, and a comedy short. 

Eye on the Future
Next week a Jean-Pierre Melville (Le Samouraï) retrospective starts Friday August 4 at the Egyptian with Le Deuxieme Souffle (1966), and here's a link to an extremely old article I wrote raving about it, so you're really taking a long time to see this film, yo.

Also, some very nice Robert Mitchum selections are coming up as part of a centennial celebration for him starting next week in August at the Aero Theatre.

The week after that, starting Aug 10, is the return of 70mm, starting with Lifeforce (1985, Tobe Hooper) and much more at the Aero Theatre.

LA Screenings Not to Miss This Week

Here are MY picks for the top screenings this week in LA if you are ready to get off your arse and watch some awesome 35mm film..! (in sweet air-conditioning) instead of reading this on a phone in your hand on Twitter, you could be in the theater watching some of these!

If you want to make your own decisions (who does that?!), browse the LA Film Calendars links on my side bar  → → →

Some of these are tonight, FYI.

Egyptian Theatre  
If... (1968, Lindsay Anderson)
and  
Performance (1970, Donald Cammell, Nicholas Roeg)
7:30pm
At the Egyptian tonight Friday July 21 is If... and Performance, two landmark films of a sort of British "new wave" this is basically the greatest double feature I could ever imagine being concocted.   

If... is Malcolm McDowell gone mad in a British boarding school. And Performance is James Fox as a despicable London gangster who hides out from his bosses with a bunch of hippie musicians led by Mick Jagger who "open his eyes." They're both mind benders of the trippy '60s/'70s variety (not like a Matrix plot-twist). The only drawback is that you should really only see one at a time to fully absorb. This is the double feature of the year in my book. Both on 35mm film.
EGYPTIAN LINK

Old Town Music Hall
Fri 8:15pm, Sat 2:30 and 8:15pm, Sun 2:30pm
"All-Star Comedy Festival"
This weekend the Old Town Music Hall has its best program of the year, a rare treat, esp. if you live near the beach, with its "All-Star Comedy Festival" of silent and sound comedy shorts, always exquisitely selected, on 35mm and 16mm film. Every show begins with music played on the pipe organ, an audience sing along (I'm not kidding!), and a comedy short.
OLD TOWN MUSIC HALL LINK

Universal CityWalk IMAX
Dunkirk (2017, Christopher Nolan) in 70mm IMAX
Various showtimes
Okay, of course I rarely highlight current releases here, but this is a very special and rare event to see a film the majority of which was shot using 70mm IMAX cameras actually projected in 70mm IMAX on film. This is the case with Dunkirk (2017) by Christopher Nolan.

The only other place near LA showing it on film is Irvine, and there is also a "laser IMAX" (not film) at the TCL Chinese Theatre, but for me, I'd recommend seeing the highest-possible-resolution film format, which still exceeds digital (I think, right?), projected in the same native format it was shot on. Don't miss this. It doesn't play here on 70mm film forever, maybe a couple weeks, before the chance is gone.

Similar experiences were possible with Interstellar and some of his previous films, but the list of 70mm film theaters has dwindled, and, for me, seeing Interstellar in 70mm IMAX was really incredible visually, if you care about things like resolution (incredible detail on faces or in this movie maybe the ocean, etc.). It's really breathtaking.

Also note there is a HUGE difference between regular 70mm and IMAX 70mm. Imax is run through the film gate horizontally, instead of vertically, and while it uses the same 70mm film stock, what accounts for the extraordinary image quality is it is exposing a far larger surface area of the film stock (in a more square-ish aspect ratio) by this horizontal method, resulting in just stunning resolution. The projectors are somewhat rare and perhaps hard to maintain as to why the lack of availability to see it this way, and the extremely rare number of major film productions which utilize the format.

Here is the IMAX link to back up this info about it being the only place, and also for other cities outside of LA:
https://www.imax.com/news/experience-dunkirk-imax-70mm-film-and-imax-laser
AMC UNIVERSAL CITYWALK LINK

Billy Wilder Theatre (UCLA Film & TV Archive)
Days of Wine and Roses (1962, Blake Edwards)
and
Crime in the Streets (1956, Don Siegel)
Saturday July 22, 7:30 PM
One print in 35mm, the second in 16mm. Great deal regardless to see two classic films on beautiful film. Most know Days of Wine and Roses with Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick, and UCLA says of Crime in the Streets:

Director Don Siegel, hot off of his of his landmark classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), imbues the low-budget urban tale (originally staged on TV by Sidney Lumet) with trademark grit and intensity.

Crime in the Streets has John Cassavetes in it, and if you are the one person who doesn't like to watch John Cassavetes act, then don't go!
BILLY WILDER THEATRE LINK

 

Cinefamily
Stalker (1979, Andrei Tarkovsky)
Saturday July 22nd 7:00 pm 
Monday July 24th 8:00 pm
Along with other great stuff at Cinefamily, the new restoration of Tarkovsky's Stalker (1979) continues, showing twice this week, and these are the last 2 screenings! Seeing a great master's film on the big screen, the proper way, it's definitely going on my list. (This screening DCP)
A lot of other great stuff at Cinefamily, including the oddball The Happiness of the Katakuris continuing, so browse the Cinefamily calendar..!
CINEFAMILY LINK

New Beverly Cinema
Secret Agent Super Dragon (1966, Giorgio Ferroni) 
7:30pm
and 
Murder for Sale (1968, Renzo Cerrato, Jean-Pierre Desagnat)   
9:40pm
Wed July 26 and Thur July 27
Italian-made Euro spy films of the '60s riding the James Bond wave of a spy craze, in original 35mm IB Technicolor prints-- this is an original color film print creation process resulting in especially vibrant colors and such prints are a holy grail of cinema nerds. Plus the films sound crazy and outlandish in a great way. Check out the trailers. Batshit crazy quote from the trailer:

- Are you a natural redhead?
- You'll have to take my word for it. (beat) For now.

Good grief..!
NEW BEVERLY LINK

Aero Theatre
9 to 5 (1980, Colin Higgins)
and
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982, Colin Higgins)
Sunday July 23 7:30 pm 
These just seem really fun to see on the big screen in this day and age. Especially if you're over on the West side of LA. 9 to 5 is undeniably fun, and I haven't seen the second one, but obviously I'd be sitting through both if I'm there! (These two screenings are DCP.)

AERO THEATRE LINK

NuArt Theatre 
Endless Poetry (2016, Alejandro Jodorowosky)
Playing all week
Continuing for another week, the NuArt Theatre (an LA institution) has the latest film by cult auteur Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo, The Holy Mountain) playing all week, including a bonus midnight screening of his The Holy Mountain (1973) TONIGHT only. Just look at that poster to get intrigued. I haven't seen the recent Jodorowsky movies since his reappearance on the scene, but he's a towering figure of late '60s and '70s cult art cinema, so if you're going to jaunt to the big screen, this is the type of film to do it on.
NUART LINK

LA Screenings of Note This Week

Here are MY picks for the top screenings this week in LA if you are ready to get off your ass and watch some awesome 35mm film..! (in sweet air-conditioning) instead of browsing through your Instagram feed just because it's conveniently in your hand... say no!

If you want to make your own decisions (who does that?!), browse the LA Film Calendars links on my side bar  → → →

The first two double features are TONIGHT, just FYI:

Egyptian Theatre 
7:30pm 
Subway (1985, Luc Besson)
and
Le Dernier Combat (1983, Luc Besson)
Tonight at the Egyptian is Subway and Le Dernier Combat, two early Luc Besson films. Subway (1985) is a hell of a trip back in time, esp. on 35mm, when fluorescent lights were captivating and Christopher Lambert has never been sillier, plus- plus!- Isabelle Adjani. I'm curious to see Le Dernier Combat (1983) which preceded it and features Jean Reno. On the Egyptian's giant screen? No better way. (Note: Subway is DCP, the other is 35mm.)
EGYPTIAN LINK

New Beverly Cinema
Westworld 7:00pm
and
Runaway 9:15pm
Also TONIGHT, the New Beverly has an intriguing double feature, also playing Saturday July 15 (So if you see the Luc Besson you can STILL see this too) of Westworld (1973, Michael Crichton) and staggeringly awful but maybe in a good way Tom Selleck "classic" Runaway (1984, Michael Crichton) in beautiful 35mm, always with shorts, goodies, and vintage trailers beforehand.
NEW BEVERLY LINK

NuArt Theatre 
Endless Poetry (2016, Alejandro Jodorowosky)
Playing all week
The NuArt Theatre (an LA institution) has the latest film by cult auteur Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo, The Holy Mountain) playing all week, including a bonus midnight screening of his El Topo (1970) TONIGHT only. Just look at that poster to get intrigued. I haven't seen the recent Jodorowsky movies since his reappearance on the scene, but he's a towering figure of late '60s and '70s cult art cinema, so if you're going to jaunt to the big screen, this is the type of film to do it on.
NUART LINK

Cinefamily
The Sound of Music
Sunday July 16th 2:00pm
It's The Sound of Music (1965, Robert Wise). It's in 35mm. If you're a couple, this might be a seriously fun outing. PLUS, they are having a live puppet show performance before it. Great if you have kids.
CINEFAMILY LINK

Side note, later this theater is also showing the Happiness of the Katakuris (2001, Takashi Miike) Monday July 17th in 35mm (with Tetsuo: the Iron Man). This film has a mind-blowing premise, although the film is less good (to me at least) than the trailer, but hey if this trailer compels you, go!

Everyone who comes to this family's B&B in a bucolic countryside keeps dying, but it's a musical so they SING about it, and there are also little monsters killing everyone.

Cinefamily
Stalker
Thursday July 20th 7:00 pm
The new restoration of Tarkovsky's Stalker (1979) showing just Thursday this week, and there are only 2 more screenings after this, so seeing a great master's film on the big screen, the proper way, it's definitely going on my list. (This screening DCP)
CINEFAMILY LINK

New Beverly
Roboforce (aka I Love Maria)
Tuesday July 18 7:30 PM
I seriously loved this movie Roboforce (aka I Love Maria) (1988, David Chung). It's a Hong Kong Robocop rip-off with a lady as the Robocop (Sally Yeh from John Woo's Hard-Boiled). It has an AWESOME theme song that I once copied to cassette tape so I could drive around listening to it..

It's a double feature with Robotrix (1991, Jamie Luk) which I don't know anything about, but you know if New Beverly is putting it on it's going to be interesting.
Both in 35mm OF COURSE.

Here is the I Love Maria trailer with a bit of that AWESOME theme song (at 3:40 of trailer), and yes you are seeing John Woo and Tsui Hark cameos in the trailer (no subs though) and Tony Leung of Wong Kar-Wai fame being a total goofball.
NEW BEVERLY LINK


Eye on the future
Alert: Next Week, the Greatest Double Feature of All time:
At the Egyptian Friday July 21 is If... (1968, Lindsay Anderson) and Performance (1970, Donald Cammell, Nicholas Roeg), two landmark films of British "new wave" this is basically the greatest double feature I could ever imagine being concocted.  

If... is Malcolm McDowell gone mad in a British boarding school. And Performance is James Fox as a despicable London gangster who hides out from his bosses with a bunch of hippie musicians led by Mick Jagger who "open his eyes." They're both mind benders of the trippy '60s/'70s variety (not like a Matrix plot-twist). The only drawback is that you should really only see one at a time. This is the double feature of the year in my book.

Also next weekend July 21-23, the Old Town Music Hall has its best program of the year (esp. for you people who live near the beach) with its "All-Star Comedy Festival" of silent and sound comedy shorts, always exquisitely selected, on 35mm film. Every show begins with music played on the pipe organ, an audience sing along, and a comedy short.

Old Town Music Hall

Hot Screenings this Week

Here are MY hot Upcoming Screenings this week in LA if you are ready to get off your ass and watch some screenings in awesome 35mm film..! (and in sweet air-conditioning) Which is much better than anything your shitty "smart" phone can do.

If you want to make your own decisions (who does that?!), browse the LA Film Calendars links on my side bar  → → →

New Beverly Cinema:
The Border (1982, Tony Richardson) w/Jack Nicholson, Harvey Keitel
and Electra Glide in Blue (1973, James William Guercio) w/Robert Blake
Double feature playing Wednesday July 12 and July 13
This immediately came on my radar when I browsed the calendar as I've never seen either. I sat through both trailers last week, and I'm maximum interested now. These are some great throwbacks to a gritty, dusty barren western landscape '70s style of filmmaking, best seen in 35mm at the New Beverly's gritty theater. Plus there'll be shorts and campy '70s commercials in their amazing pre-program entertainment.

NEW BEVERLY LINK

Double Feature at Aero Theatre:
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! and The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover
Thursday July 13 7:30 pm

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! is a classic Pedro Almodovar from 1989, probably his most well-known breakthrough film of that era at least, starring an "in-his-prime" Antonio Banderas as a totally crazy motherf'er. Learn who the captivating actress Victoria Abril is and confirm that the late '80s, early '90s were a better time for some types of weirdness.

Next, if you felt Helen Mirren was wearing too many clothes in The Long Good Friday (1980, John Mackenzie) at the New Beverly last week, the Peter Greenaway towering classic, by far his most well-known breakthrough film, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989) is for you. It's almost as pretentious as its title—almost? Yeah, it's totally bonkers, but in the best way.

Both films are from 1989, so you can literally pretend you are living back in time in 1989 for two screenings.Leave your cell phone at home for full effect.
AERO THEATRE LINK

Double Feature SATURDAY at the Billy Wilder Theatre:
The Best Man and Seven Days in May
Okay, to be fair, the only reason this is on my list? I randomly picked up the original Dr. Strangelove-era, nuke-codes-in-jeopardy book Seven Days in May (by Fletcher Knebel & Charles W. Bailey II) to read last week, and I'd seen the movie before, but maybe I ought to go see it on the big screen as I'm finding the book a real interesting fun pre-Tom Clancy throwback. The film is from 1964, directed by John Frankenheimer, who actually sometimes isn't as interesting as people say he is.

Then UCLA's site says of The Best Man (1964, Franklin J. Schaffner):
"Gore Vidal's eerily prescient drama dares to imagine what extremes two presidential candidates (Henry Fonda and Cliff Robertson) might pursue in their fervent race to the highest office in the United States government."

Wow! Okay, I never heard of this before, which means it probably sucks, but as an apéritif to the Seven Days in May main feature, hmm.... probably not a bad throwback viewing to 1964.
BILLY WILDER THEATRE LINK

Nasty Habits at The Cinefamily
TONIGHT at 10:15pm:
I never heard of this film and it sounds amazing.
It's nuns, played by Glenda Jackson (awesome), Geraldine Page, Sandy Dennis (plus Eli Wallach and Rip Torn fit in somewhere), in a purposely transposed version of the Nixon Watergate scandal to a convent!
1977, Michael Lindsay-Hogg
In 35mm.

CINEFAMILY LINK
Side note: They're also showing British underground classic Scum (1979, Alan Clarke) with an impossibly young Ray Winstone (!) a few times this week (DCP) and newly restored version of Tarkovsky's Stalker (also in DCP).

Silent Film Freaks Rarity Alert:
Eve's Leaves (1926, Paul Sloane) at Cinefamily
Still showing silent films at what was once the Silent Movie Theatre, they dig up this Cecil B. DeMille-produced possibly-maybe classic from 1926 starring Leatrice Joy (I can confirm she is great at least) and William Boyd. In 35mm with live musical accompaniment.

CINEFAMILY LINK

The Thin Man at the Old Town Music Hall
If you live on the beach and are too lazy to go even to Westwood, why are you not going to this theater every weekend?!

They have a glow-in-the-dark gigantic Wurlitzer organ, play pre-show shorts, AND you can practice your singing with a sing-along section! (I'm not kidding)

And this weekend they're showing The Thin Man (1934, W.S. Van Dyke) w/William Powell and Myrna Loy sourced from the greatest detective novel writer Dashiell Hammett. On 35mm. A true, fun classic perfect for lazy people who live near the beach to saunter in to.
They always schedule screenings Friday 8:15, Sat. 2:30 and 8:15, Sunday 2:30

OLD TOWN MUSIC HALL LINK

Eye on the "future"
Next week at the Egyptian Friday July 14 is Subway and Le Dernier Combat, two trippy early Luc Besson films. Subway (1985) is a hell of a trip back in time, esp. on 35mm, when fluorescent lights were captivating and Christopher Lambert has never been sillier, plus- plus!- Isabelle Adjani. I'm curious to see Le Dernier Combat (1983) which preceded it and features Jean Reno. On the Egyptian's giant screen? No better way.
Also, the New Beverly has an intriguing double feature Friday July 14 and Saturday July 15 of Westworld (1973, Michael Crichton) and staggeringly awful but maybe in a good way Tom Selleck "classic" Runaway (1984, Michael Crichton) in beautiful 35mm with shorts and goodies beforehand.