Extra! Extra! Your weekly LA 35mm film screenings paper appearing on FB newsstands today! (Includes some digital screenings.)
This is just what's on my personal radar. So
browse the LA Film Calendars links on my side bar to find even more! → → →
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"Desktop Version" at bottom and then you can see the sidebar.
Sometimes these choices are tonight, FYI, and
not necessarily listed first.
NuArt Theatre
Eraserhead
(1977, David Lynch)
Fri. (tonight) Nov. 10 11:59pm
Alert: in 35mm! Good
ol’ David Lynch classic at midnight, probably the only instance of a major
filmmaker breaking through via the midnight movie circuit of the time. And here
you can replicate that experience by going to see it probably exactly where it
played at midnight when it first came out. Also, if you don’t like truly weird
movies, don’t watch this one.
Downtown Independent (w/Los Angeles Film
Forum)
Amérika Trilogy, part 1: Bolivar, Tropikal
Symphony (1979, Diego Rísquez)
Wed. Nov. 15 8:00 pm
This is an
experimental film, the first Super 8 film to be selected for the Directors
Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. This trilogy is about the real and
mythical histories of the Latin American continent. Sounds very interesting.
Director Diego Rísquez is in person at these, a filmmaker from Venezuela. Here
the Super 8 has been blown up to 35mm. Part 2 is Nov. 19
at the Autry Museum at 4:00 pm, and Part 3 is Nov. 20
at REDCAT at 8:30 pm.
DOWNTOWN INDEPENDENT LINK (Except note it’s at 8:00 pm, it lists wrong time in one place)
New
Beverly
The Female Bunch (1971, Al Adamson)
and
The Murder Gang
(1976, Al Adamson)
Tue.
Nov. 14 7:30pm/9:25pm
These sound like pure grindhouse fare, if
you’re into it. Both have Russ Tamblyn in them. The first is a western where
the women live by their own rules and features the final screen performance of
Lon Chaney Jr. The second is a Las Vegas cop gone a bit badass while trying to
fight Russ Tamblyn’s criminal overlord..!
New
Beverly
Mrs. Miniver
(1942, William Wyler)
Wed.
Nov. 15 2:00 pm
More afternoon classics in 35mm here. (Check
schedule for others.) I haven’t seen this, but as 35mm becomes somewhat rare to
see projected, it’s great to go see some William Wyler, who is sometimes a
stupendous director (I love The Heiress
[1949] and Dodsworth [1936]). Seems
worth a look if you have the daytime free.
Academy
Strawberry and Chocolate (1993, Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Juan Carlos Tabío)
Mon.
Nov. 13 7:30 pm
One of this town’s most amazing theaters,
showing a foreign “classic” on 35mm. I put that in quotes because I haven’t yet
seen this film, although I am a fan of Alea’s early Cuban black and white
films, which are quite amazing. (This seems a bit more mainstream.) At the
Academy’s amazingly huge theater for only 5 bucks.
Aero
Theatre
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987, John Hughes)
Thu.
Nov. 16 7:30 pm
It’s DCP, but a lot of fun in a theater with a
lot of people and it’s a Thanksgiving favorite! Come get yourself in the
holiday mood.
Coming Next Week
Downtown
Independent
On the Beach at Night Alone (2017, Hong Sang-soo)
Tue.
Nov. 21 8:00 pm
Fri.
Nov. 24 8:00 pm
Where are today’s current auteurs, the
Fellinis, Antonionis and French New Wave directors of today? They’re here, in
the body of Hong Sang-soo, an amazing director. Okay there are others, but this
is a big director you really should be
watching if you care about art cinema anymore. My favorite film of his is The Turning Gate, also known as On the Occasion of Remembering the Turning
Gate (what a great long title!), and he also directed a nice one with Isabelle
Huppert, In Another Country. Lead
actress Kim Min-hee won the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film
Festival this year for her performance. This is his latest and looks like it’s
appearing just twice here in LA. Screw the foreign language film Oscars, this
is what you should really be seeing. No idea why actual art films are shunned
at Oscar time. Go see the real shit. (Presumably shot and screened digital.)
Academy
Amores Perros
(2000, Alejandro González Iñárritu)
Mon.
Nov. 20 7:30 pm
This is the film that put Alejandro
González Iñárritu on the map in the US, and he hasn’t looked back since. This
is well worth seeing in 35mm on the big screen, especially because of its
unique film processing. While not the first, it’s a very prominent example of
using the bleach-bypass processing method to get that silvery desaturated look.
More silver is preserved in the processing of the film elements for what’s
sometimes described as a “black and white in color” look, like with the grain
and grittiness of black and white, but in color. It’s expensive due to the
silver retention(!), but creates this unique, gritty look they wanted. Plus it’s
Rodrigo Prieto I almost failed to mention, ha, the cinematography genius who after
this collaboration has D.P.’d some of the most famous recent Hollywood movies.
I never loved this movie entirely, however, as there’s good and bad things
about Iñárritu’s approach to cinema in general. He’s a bit more mainstream of a
Hollywood auteur than art film auteur, but I think this is a good screening to
attend and reevaluate. Especially in
this ginormous state-of-the-art theater at the Academy for only 5 bucks?!
UCLA
Film & TV Archive
Vengeance of the Phoenix Sisters (1968, Chen Hung-min)
and
Moon Fascinating, Bird Sweet (1978, Chen Yao-chi)
Sun.
Nov. 19 7:00 pm
Wow just based on these titles alone, let’s go!
The first is a swordplay film, described as having balletic editing. UCLA goes
so far as to say this period in Taiwan rivals Shaw Brothers films of the era,
but then I think we would have heard of them before now. However, the second
film is a very early Brigitte Lin (Chin-shia) film! I had no idea she had a pre-Hong
Kong career, and that it started this far back, man, 1978, that’s a long time
ago. Big fan of hers, so seeing her in her earlier phase in Taiwanese films
sounds like a can’t-miss very rare screening. This is not a martial arts film,
it’s a steamy melodrama. (Okay, maybe not even steamy, I made that up, but even
the screen grab looks steamy.) You may know her from Chungking Express, The Bride with White Hair, Dream Lovers (w/Chow
Yun-Fat), Swordsman II, (This
screening DCP.)
New
Beverly
The Thin Man
(1934, W.S. Van Dyke)
and
Another Thin Man (1939, W.S. Van Dyke)
Sun.
Nov. 19 6:30 pm/8:30 pm
Mon.
Nov. 20 7:30 pm/9:30 pm
William Powell and Myrna Loy dazzle with
chemistry in this early sound-era classic from a Dashiell Hammett novel, with
some of the hard-boiled grit scrubbed off in favor of Hollywood sparkle. But
still so worth it! I haven’t seen the second one. Is it good? Well, you’re sitting
there anyway for a double feature. It’s the third film in the series. Both
35mm!
Egyptian
Theatre
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, Stanley Kubrick) in 70mm!
Sun.
Nov. 19 7:30 pm
Wed.
Nov. 22 7:30 pm
Fri.
Nov. 24 7:30 pm
Sat.
Nov. 25 7:30 pm
What can I tell you, this plays all the
fricking time. But it was shot on 70mm and is being screened on 70mm. As
opposed to seeing some 35mm film blown up to 70mm, this is the real deal, and
there’s a big difference. So, if you haven’t seen it, really this is the ideal
way! It has some slowness to modern audiences in certain sections by taking too
much time showing off special effects that were brand-new at the time, and the
closed-off behaviors of the lead astronauts may seem a bit obtuse at times, but
by the end, you’ll be deep in thought contemplating the ideas it brings up on such a
wondrous journey, and in the thrall of A.I.'s biggest star of them all, Hal 9000. Your only excuse
not to go? If you have already seen it more than once on 70mm, otherwise, you
better go.
Autry
Museum (w/Los Angeles Film Forum)
Amérika Trilogy, part 2: Orinoko, Nueva
Mundo (1984, Diego Rísquez)
Sun. Nov. 19 4:00 pm
35mm screening! This
is an experimental film, part 1 of which (see above) was the first Super 8 film
to be selected for the Directors Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. Part 2
also played Cannes but was never distributed in the US. This trilogy is about
the real and mythical histories of the Latin American continent. The film is
said to be surreal, a speechless vision of the history of Venezuela and the
Orinoco River basin before and after conquest. Appearing in some form are
historical figures such as Columbus, but through the eyes of the indigenous
peoples. This is a fascinating subject for me as I just read a whole book on
Trinidad’s entire history (just off the coast of Venezuela). Director Diego
Rísquez in person at these, a filmmaker from Venezuela. Sounds amazing! Part 1 is Nov. 15
at Downtown Independent at 8:00 pm. Part 3 is Nov. 20 at REDCAT at 8:30
pm.
REDCAT
(w/Los Angeles Film Forum)
Amérika Trilogy, part 3: Amérika, Terra
Incógnita (1988, Diego Rísquez)
Mon. Nov. 20 8:30 pm
Originally shot on
Super 16mm and blown up to 35mm. (Presented here on 35mm.) This is an
experimental film, part 1 of which (see above) was the first Super 8 film to be
selected for the Directors Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. This trilogy
is about the real and mythical histories of the Latin American continent.
Sounds very interesting. Director Diego Rísquez in person at these, a filmmaker
from Venezuela. Part 1 is Nov. 15
at Downtown Independent at 8:30 pm. Part 2 is Nov. 19
at the Autry Museum at 4:00 pm.
Downtown
Independent
El Vampiro
(1957, Fernando Méndez)
and
Sombra verde
(1954, Roberto Gavaldón
Sat.
Nov. 18 7:30 pm
The first is a said to be a classic of
midcentury Mexican horror, but that’s not a thing on my radar, what is that?!
Anyway, it’s two people stranded at a train station at night, and boom, a carriage
offers to give them a ride and things will get bitey. Sounds like that Coppola Dracula. In the second film, we have Ricardo
Montalbán returning to Mexico to make a film, whilst already a major star in
the US. It’s a bit of an erotic jungle adventure film, but sounds interesting. (First
film 35mm, second film DCP.)
New
Beverly
The War of the Gargantuans (1966, Ishiro Honda)
Sat.
Nov. 18 11:59 pm
It’s back! In case you missed it before. I
didn’t see it yet, so I don’t know, it seemed pretty popular in the realm of
fascination with weird giant monster cinema from the director of Godzilla.
New
Beverly
His Kind of Woman! (1951, John Farrow)
and
Thunder Road
(1958, Arthur Ripley)
Tue.
Nov. 21 7:30 pm/10:00 pm
Wed.
Nov. 22 7:30 pm/10:00 pm
Get your Mitchum on with a double feature. My
spidey sense says these are not the all-time best Robert Mitchum films ever,
but hey you got Jane Russell, Vincent Price and Raymond Burr in the first film,
plus Mitchum sings the theme song in the second (see the trailer on the site
link). Given the dearth of old-timey films screening in 35mm, it could be worth
going and maybe fun.
NuArt
Theatre
Suspiria
(Extended) (1977, Dario Argento)
Fri.
Nov. 17 11:59 pm
A 4k restoration. Extended version. Jessica
Harper is always awesome!
Echo Park Film Center
The
House is Black (1963, Forough Farrokhzad)
Sat. Nov. 18 8:00 pm
Iranian cinema has
been amazing since about the 1960s through today with such luminaries as Abbas
Kiarostami (recently deceased), Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Majid Majidi, and Samira
Makhmalbaf just to name a few of the best. Their fruitful forbears in the 1960s influenced
their more well-known ’90s followers and that is what this screening is about. Some
bridged the entire period, such as Dariush Mehrjui, who worked from the ’60s
through the ’90s, even to today. This short film here from 1963 is by a famed poet
and is said to have heavily influenced the later cinema figures. I’m a huge
Iranian cinema enthusiast, especially of Abbas Kiarostami, and somehow have not
seen this film! (Screening format not disclosed, short film 20 minutes.)
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