Friday, October 06, 2017

What's in Store for LA 35mm Film Screening Lovers This Week


Here’s what's in store for LA 35mm film screening lovers this week! (Well, 35mm and some regular digital.)

This is just what's on my personal radar. There’s also a series of recent German films at the Egyptian, rare films about Berlin at UCLA, and more than I can list going on in 35mm at the New Beverly.

So browse the LA Film Calendars links on my side bar to find even more! → → →

On mobile displays, you may need to click "Desktop Version" at bottom and then you can see the sidebar.

As usual, a couple of these choices are tonight, FYI, and not necessarily listed first.

Egyptian Theatre (part of Beyond Fest)
Miracles aka Mr. Canton and Lady Rose (1989, Jackie Chan) Jackie Chan In Person!
and
Police Story 3 aka Supercop (1993, Stanley Tong)
and
Police Story (1985, Jackie Chan, Chi-Hwa Chen)
Fri. (tonight) Oct. 6 7:00 pm
Police Story honestly is one of my absolute favorite Jackie Chan films. Both for exciting plot, humor, performances (him and Maggie Cheung), and some incredible action sequences, including in a mall with a shitload of glass breaking. And Supercop ain’t no slouch either! Both Police Story films are in 35mm! Did I mention Jackie was in person?! (Miracles DCP.)

Aero Theatre
Battleship Potemkin (1925, Sergei Eisenstein)
and
The Man with the Movie Camera (1929, Dziga Vertov)
Sat. Oct. 7 7:30pm
Silent Film Nerd Alert! Okay, first, never miss an opportunity to see Battleship Potemkin on the big screen! (And certainly not when it's 35mm!) Second, never miss an opportunity to see The Man with the Movie Camera on the big screen!  Okay, that’s all I can say to advertise this one, you’re on your own! (Battleship in 35mm, Man with the Movie Camera is DCP.) (Musical score not notated. Presumably it's soundtrack on the prints since no live music indicated.)

New Beverly
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006, Guillermo Del Toro)
and
Crimson Peak (2015, Guillermo Del Toro)
Fri. (tonight) 6:30 pm/9:00 pm
Well, curses, the New Bev added tons of stuff after my last week’s rundown! But I did warn you that their calendar was not yet posted at least. These are 35mm prints. So if you like the Guillermo Del Toro stuff, this is a pretty essential screening for you, as he donated his own print of the first film to the New Bev! 



Downtown Independent
Allá en el rancho grande  (Out on the Big Ranch)  (1936, Fernando de Fuentes)
and
María Elena  (She-Devil Island)  (1936, Fernando de Fuentes)
Fri. (tonight) Oct. 6 7:30 pm
Both in 35mm! Two classics (?maybe?) from Mexico. The description of the second film alone has me kind of sold:
"María Elena makes a “bad” choice, allowing sexual desire to trump a sensible marriage, thus sending her faithful fisherman suitor across the sea.  There he learns of a mysterious island inhabited only by women."


Downtown Independent
La otra (1946, Roberto Gavaldón)
and
En la palma de tu mano (1951, Roberto Gavaldón)
Sat. Oct. 7 7:30pm
First a noirish crime film starring Dolores Del Río and then a film the site calls “One of the best movies of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema”, also a film noir, sounds like a can’t-miss! (This screening DCP).


Egyptian Theatre
The Beyond Fest
Various Dates
The Beyond Fest continues! I won’t go in-depth on this, because so many sell out, and it's a bit more fangirl/fanboy-centric than I would get into myself. Some things are DCP (although notably 4k restorations). But check it out! I noticed they added an exquisite Jackie Chan triple feature tonight!
http://beyondfest.com/?page_id=3025


Arclight Cinemas (Various)
"It's Alive!" -- film's favorite monsters terrorize the big screen
through Oct. 31
There's a pretty good selection here all month at various Arclights. I feel like they're almost definitely all DCP, but click the individual links to see. Some great movies in here and if you live less central to LA, can find some good stuff near you.
ARCLIGHT LINK
Oct. 9 – Frankenstein (1931) – Pasadena

Oct. 10 – The Thing – Hollywood

Oct. 10 – Rosemary’s Baby – Sherman Oaks

Oct. 11 – Alien – Hollywood

Oct. 13 – Friday the 13th – Hollywood

Oct. 16 – The Mummy (1932) – Pasadena

Oct. 17 – The Monster Squad – Sherman Oaks

Oct. 18 – Nightmare on Elm Street – Hollywood

Oct. 23 – Alien – Culver City

Oct. 23 – The Exorcist – Pasadena

Oct. 23 – The Thing – La Jolla

Oct. 23 – Halloween – Hollywood

Oct. 24 – Alien – Santa Monica

Oct. 24 – The Exorcist – Beach Cities

Oct. 24 – Suspiria – Hollywood

Oct. 24 – The Blob (1988) – Sherman Oaks

Oct. 25 – The Exorcist – Hollywood

Oct. 30 – The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) – Hollywood

Oct. 31 – Halloween – Sherman Oaks
https://www.arclightcinemas.com/en/news/arclight-presents-its-alive?promo=spotlightM2

https://www.arclightcinemas.com/en/news/arclight-presents-its-alive?promo=spotlightM2




https://www.arclightcinemas.com/en/news/arclight-presents-its-alive?promo=spotlightM2

Egyptian Theatre
The Gleaners & I (2001, Agnès Varda) Agnès Varda In Person
and
Vagabond (1985, Agnès Varda)
Thur. Oct. 12 7:30 pm
Agnès Varda comes into Los Angeles (does she live here already anyway?) to appear with two fairly high profile films of hers in person. Gleaners & I, on 35mm, is a fun labor of love documentary about people who pick up the cast-offs of others. Vagabond is a pretty wonderful film starring the always amazing Sandrine Bonnaire. It’s a very interesting film, very artsy (unlike today’s films!) so I think it’s worth an outing, even if it’s not my number one favorite film of hers. I’m partial to La Pointe Courte and Cléo from 5 to 7. Although I actually haven’t seen Vagabond in quite a long time, so maybe I'm not doing it justice. Go see! (Gleaners in 35mm, Vagabond DCP.)

Aero Theatre
Metropolitan (1990, Whit Stillman) Whit Stillman in Person
Sun. Oct. 8 7:30pm
This is a great Whit Stillman movie! It’s the first and most well-known one. I feel like I knew and hated some of these people as I one time attended a boarding school, and it all rings so horribly true. (They're on break in Manhattan here.) But then some of the people are nice. Are they? Wait, maybe they're all awful. Chris Eigeman is always a marvel in pretty much everything, but this is his first the original star-making appearance and career best. Oh, how I hated the rich snobs at my school yet love this movie. Thanks, Whit!
(This screening DCP.)

New Beverly
All-Night Horror Show
Sat Oct. 7 7:30 pm
I guess I’d be remiss to not mention this. Not personally a huge horror fan myself, but this must be every horror cinephile fan’s wettest of wet dreams. Enjoy! Oops, it’s sold out already, guess you guys already knew about this one.

New Beverly
Werewolf of London (1935, Stuart Walker)
and
The Wolf Man (1941, George Waggoner)
Wed. Oct. 11 2:00 pm
Yes, another wonderful October double feature from the New Bev as part of their new Afternoon Classics time slot. 35mm of course! Good films here!



Coming Next Week

Aero Theatre
Andrei Rublev (1969, Andrei Tarkovsky)
Sat. Oct. 14 7:30 pm
The master Tarkovsky is back (you may remember the Stalker [1979] revival screenings a few weeks back). This is how a cinephile gets their membership badge. They watch this on film, in 35mm, in a theater. So go do it. It’s a beautiful re-creation of a medieval era of a notable icon painter, and nothing will make you think about art and life the same way again. Commiserate with confused fellow filmgoers in the foyer afterward and receive your membership badge in the cinephile guild. Did I mention it’s in 35mm! Did I mention it’s somewhat lengthy? Good, getting your badge shouldn’t be easy.

Aero Theatre
Come and See (1985, Elem Klimov)
Sun. Oct. 15 7:30 pm
Oh, man, I just watched another film by this guy, his The Adventures of a Dentist (1965) on Film Struck. (Kind of like a slightly less sharp Dušan Makevejev style.) And I did that because this film here is a balls-out masterpiece. One of the most harrowing World War II films ever. Did you think the Nazis were bad yet? Well, just in case you missed anything, this will pretty close to make you feel they were even worse. Because they were. (And watch Shoah [1985, Claude Lanzmann] also, since this is only one aspect, set in Belarus.) This is in the Landmarks of Soviet Cinema series for a really big reason. It’s fricking shocking and incredible. Worth seeing. In 35mm!

Downtown Independent
La casa de los millones (1942, Luis Bayón Herrera)
and
La dama duende  (1945, Luis Saslavsky)
Fri. Oct. 13 7:30 pm
These two in DCP, but oh so rare..! This time we have films from Argentina in this ongoing Latin American film series. La casa de los millions is a comedy, with puns and slapstick about a noveau riche widow who is driving all her servants away. La dama duende is the story of woman (yet another widow?!) trying to win a man by pretending to be a ghost, so I have a feeling this might be a comedy. Was voted the best Argentine film of 1945! (This screening DCP.)



Downtown Independent
Ahí está el detalle  (You’re Missing the Point) (1940, Juan Bustillo Oro)
and
Calabacitas tiernas (1949, Gilberto Martínez Solares)
Sat. Oct. 14 7:30 pm
And now it’s back to 35mm in the series, yay! Two from Mexico here, the first with Cantinflas apparently made him the most bankable star in Mexico, and the plot is apparently too convoluted for words, so it might be funny. Then Calabacitas tiernas features Tin-Tan putting on an international music show to alleviate financial woes.
 
New Beverly
Easy Rider (1969, Dennis Hopper)
and
Chasers (1994, Dennis Hopper)
Sun Oct. 15 6:30 pm/8:35 pm and Mon. Oct. 16 7:30 pm/9:35 pm
There is no situation under which I would ever watch Chasers ever… except this one. Where I will have just sat through the masterpiece Easy Rider on 35mm at the New Bev, which I incidentally just watched the blu-ray of and, man, it holds up and gives again and again on every viewing. So to then sit through the curiosity that is Chasers, I’m totally on board, should be fun, might even be a rollicking good time. Seriously Easy Rider is one of the greatest films ever, the film that started the entire “New American Cinema” of the ’70s, and it personally demands you see it on 35mm!
 
LACMA
The Mummy (1932, Karl Freund)
Tue. Oct. 17 1:00 pm
I have to list this because with all the October horror fests going on, this is probably the only one playing The Mummy in beautiful 35mm. It’s a weird crowd, lot of retirees, but you’ll see a wonderful film in 35mm for only $4 and have a better October than everybody else.

New Beverly
The Omen (1976, Richard Donner)
and
Holocaust 2000 (1977, Albert De Martino)
Fri. Oct. 13 and Sat. Oct. 14 7:00 pm/9:20 pm
Seeing the Omen in 35mm should be required viewing right?! The second film sounds intriguing as heck. It has a similar plot line with a child, but add a nuclear power plant in the Middle East and Kirk Douglas! Should be good?? Or since I’ve literally never heard of this film, I’m hoping very awful in the best way. (Second film 16mm.)


New Beverly
The Bride of Frankenstein (1935, James Whale)
and
Son of Frankenstein (1939, Rowland V. Lee)
Wed. Oct. 18 2:00 pm
Frankenstein had a son?! Whoa, I had no idea. Better rectify that and watch this film! Plus, seriously, Bride of Frankenstein definitely should be seen in 35mm, and while it has a few other showings in October, this is the only one guaranteed to be 35mm!


New Beverly
The Hired Hand (1971, Peter Fonda)
And
Kid Blue (1973, James Frawley)
Wed. Oct. 18 and Thur. Oct. 19 7:30 pm/9:35 pm
Answers the question, what did Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper (separately) do right after they made Easy Rider? While my favorite answer to that question is Dennis Hopper’s totally awesome The Last Movie (1971), this double feature of two westerns they made sounds like a great investigation into how they “blew it”? haha little joke there, but maybe true, depending on how bad these films are! The Hired Hand is directed by Fonda, who had more than a hand in creating Easy Rider if memory serves, and Kid Blue stars Hopper as a hapless outlaw, and features Warren Oates, Peter Boyle, Ben Johnson and Leo Purcell. In 35mm, this sounds like you’re browsing around an archive and their screening stuff for you personally as you search for buried treasure.


Egyptian Theatre (in the Spielberg Theatre)
Outside the Law (1920, Tod Browning)
Sat. Oct. 14 7:30 pm
Silent film nerd alert! This is a retro-format screening in 8mm. (Not even “super,” just regular 8mm!) So watch the way many rich people saw films on their fancy projectors at home in the old days. Live musical accompaniment and a short film selection! You know director Tod Browning from Dracula (1931) and Freaks (1932), but now you know he also directed a ton of silent films, often starring  Lon Chaney (star of the original Phantom of the Opera [1925, Rupert Julian]), including this one in dual roles!

Aero Theatre
Suspiria (1977, Dario Argento)
Fri. Oct. 13 7:30 pm
A wonderful heartwarming film starring the amazing actress Jessica Harper. Warm your cockles on a Friday the 13th in October with this loving ode to suspense. This is a 4K restoration. Yeah, I prefer 35mm film, but maybe this will look great. (This screening DCP.)

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