Last night, I canceled my Miso account (an app which allows you to check in to TV shows & movies - it’s Foursquare for shut-ins). No beef with the company, I just wasn’t getting much use out of the app any more. But, as always, it gets me to thinking (and overthinking) about my relationship with film as a viewer, and with other viewers.

I started using Miso because I had hoped that, by keeping up with friends’ (& internet acquaintances’ & strangers’) watches, we could open up new dialogues about interesting films. Instead, like many internet lists & sites, it becomes more about swinging our dicks around to “prove” our fandom with whomever has the most check-ins, points, items on watchlist, etc. It may be my chronic inferiority complex, but it just wasn’t fun any more. I don’t really care how many hundreds of movies you’ve seen this year. I want to know which ones actually stick. Which ones you’re passionate about. Which ones you want to engage with beyond punching a few buttons on an app. Hopefully some of those have stuck with me too, and we can both benefit as fans.

Now - any recommendations on sites & services that promote something like that?

Harry Dean Stanton walks the line for Wim Wenders’ wanderlust in PARIS, TEXAS. Courtesy 20th Century Fox / The Criterion Collection.

German auteur Wim Wenders (pronounced “Vim Venders” - like a Bond villain) may be most acclaimed over here for the Oscar-nominated documentaries Pina & Buena Vista Social Club, but his output spans 4 decades and 50+ films. Wenders’ work is a unique brand of wanderlust; he can capture both the beauty of the landscape and the discontent of staying in one place. The Goethe-Institut Los Angeles follows Wenders’ career across continents Saturday with Wimfest!

A highlight from the day-long event (noon to midnight) is The American Friend, adapted from the novel Ripley’s Game. The film is an open meditation on mobsters & murder starring Bruno Ganz (Wenders’ own Wings of Desire for the arthouse crowd, Hitler from Downfall for viral video fans) and the late Dennis Hopper (who makes a talented Mr. Ripley). Additional screenings include Wenders’ seminal Paris, Texas, Tokyo-Ga, in which Wenders retraces the Tokyo of his favorite filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu & Lisbon Story, wherein a frantic filmmaker tries to present the beauty of Portugal. Delve even deeper with documentaries & early shorts. $10 nets a pass for the whole day. Wunderbar!

Have a quick laugh (or 10) at the Downtown Independent with the L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival. A masterful meld of industry panels for filmmakers & their best bits for ticket-holders, the chaos comes Thursday night & stays through the weekend. Programs feature pro comics, amateurs, animators, screenwriters & student filmmakers. Irreverence continues after dark with parties at The Conga Room (Thursday), Urban Colony (Friday), Kyoto Grand Hotel (Saturday) & a “Red Carpet Rapture” Sunday night. The full schedule & tickets are available online. Here’s the mother of all previews, from 2010’s fest (our vintage coverage).

On that note, Mrs. Film Calendar & I have our own bun coming out of the oven next week, so this column will go dark for a while. Until then, there’s still a few days to pack ourselves full of popcorn! See you at the movies!

All Week
Bernie (2011) (The Landmark)
Damsels in Distress (2012) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
Elles (2011) (Nuart Theatre)
Headhunters (2011) (The Landmark)
Here (2011) (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3) (Laemmle’s Town Center 5)
The Highest Pass (2012) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
The Kid With a Bike (2011) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
Mamitas (2011) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
The Moth Diaries (2011) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
Monsieur Lazhar (2011) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
People vs. The State of Illusion (2011) (Regent Theatre)
The Pruitt-Igoe Myth (2011) (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3)
Restless City (2011) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
Sound of My Voice (2012) (Arclight Hollywood) (The Landmark)
Tezz (2012) (Laemmle’s Fallbrook 7)
We Have a Pope (2012) (Laemmle’s Fallbrook 7)

Thursday 4/26
The Big Red One (1980) (New Beverly Cinema)
Caged (1950) / Big House USA (1955) (Egyptian Theatre) (Noir City: Hollywood, 14th Annual Festival of Film Noir)
I Wish (2011) (free event) (Melnitz Movies)
Icon Eye (2012) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Jamaican Noir: The Cinema of Dread)
LA Air: John Palmer (free event) (Echo Park Film Center)
L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival (Downtown Independent)
Lenny (1974) (Aero Theatre)
Marley (2012) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Jamaican Noir: The Cinema of Dread)
Seance (2011) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
The Skin I’m In (2012) (free event w/ filmmaker Broderick Fox) (USC School of Cinematic Arts) (Alumni Screening Series)
South Park (1999) (LACMA) (100 Years of Paramount Pictures: Animation)

Friday 4/27
Big Trouble in Little China (1986) (Nuart Theatre) (Cine-Insomnia Midnight Movie)
Bindlestiffs (2012) (free event w/ filmmakers Andrew Edison, Luke Loftin & Morgan Hahn) (USC School of Cinematic Arts) (Alumni Screening Series)
A Brand New Life (2009) (free event) (Korean Cultural Center)
Dr. Giggles (1992) (w/ star Larry Drake) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre)
Le Havre (2011) / La Vie de Bohème (1992) (New Beverly Cinema)
Here (2011) (w/ filmmaker Braden King at 8:15pm show) (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3)
Le Jour Se Leve (1938) (Aero Theatre) (Midnight in Paris)
L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival (Downtown Independent)
Land of Look Behind (1982) (w/ director Alan Greenberg) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Jamaican Noir: The Cinema of Dread)
Optical Poetry: An Oskar Fischinger Retrospective / Color and Form: Modernist Animation in California (LACMA)
Precious Knowledge (2011) (w/ director Ari Palos) (Egyptian Theatre)
The Pruitt-Igoe Myth (2011) (w/ filmmaker Chad Freidrichs at 7:20pm show) (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3)
Royal Wedding (1951) (Old Town Music Hall)
Samad Becomes an Artist (1974) (w/ filmmaker Parviz Sayyad) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum) (UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema)
Scene of the Crime (1949) / Reign of Terror (1949) (w/ actor Norman Lloyd) (Egyptian Theatre) (Noir City: Hollywood, 14th Annual Festival of Film Noir)
Welcome to Shirley (2012) (free event w/ director Joe Weil) (USC School of Cinematic Arts) (Alumni Screening Series)
The Turin Horse (2011) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (The Aching Beauty of Bela Tarr)

Saturday 4/28
Alice in Wonderland (1933) (w/ comedian TJ Miller) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Alices in Wonderland)
Beyond the Stereotype: Real Asians Onscreen (Autry National Center) (Conversations on Convergence)
The Birds (1963) (Alex Theatre)
Checkpoint (1987) (w/ filmmaker Parviz Sayyad) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum) (UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema)
The Chemical Brothers: Don’t Think (2012) (Arclight Hollywood)
Children of Paradise (1945) (Aero Theatre) (Midnight in Paris)
Christine (1983) (New Beverly Cinema) (New Beverly Midnights)
Countryman (1982) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Jamaican Noir: The Cinema of Dread) (HFS)
Le Havre (2011) / La Vie de Bohème (1992) (New Beverly Cinema)
Here (2011) (w/ filmmaker Braden King at 7pm & 10pm shows) (Laemmle’s Town Center 5)
The Kid With a Bike (2011) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival (Downtown Independent)
The Legend of Billie Jean (1985) (Devil’s Night Drive In)
Mamitas (2011) (w/ special guests at 7pm show) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Mera Nam Joker (1970) (free event) (LACMA)
New Works Salon (Echo Park Film Center)
A Night to Remember (1958) (w/ Titanic centennial discussion) (Egyptian Theatre)
Pandora’s Box (1929) (free event) (Getty Center) (What Becomes a Legend)
The Pruitt-Igoe Myth (2011) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Noho 7) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
The Pruitt-Igoe Myth (2011) (w/ filmmaker Chad Freidrichs at 7:20pm show) (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3)
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) (Live Shadowcast Midnight Show) (Art Theatre of Long Beach)
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) (Sins O’ The Flesh Midnight Show) (Nuart Theatre)
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) (Midnight Insanity Midnight Show) (South Coast Village Regency Theaters)
Royal Wedding (1951) (Old Town Music Hall)
The Sheik (1921) (free event) (Getty Center) (What Becomes a Legend)
Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (1958) / Edge of the City (1957) (w/ actress Julie Adams) (Egyptian Theatre) (Noir City: Hollywood, 14th Annual Festival of Film Noir)
The Turin Horse (2011) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (The Aching Beauty of Bela Tarr)
Wimfest! (Goethe-Institut)

Sunday 4/29
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) (The Bay Theatre)
Animation Breakdown: Masters of Polish Animation (1957-1975) (w/ live score by Baaba) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre)
Gilda (1946) (free event) (Getty Center) (What Becomes a Legend)
Goodbye (2010) / This Is Not a Film (2010) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum) (UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema)
High Plains Drifter (1973) / Joe Kidd (1972) (Aero Theatre)
Johnny O’Clock (1946) / Johnny Allegro (1949) (Egyptian Theatre) (Noir City: Hollywood, 14th Annual Festival of Film Noir)
The Kid With a Bike (2011) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival (Downtown Independent)
Land of Look Behind (1982) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Jamaican Noir: The Cinema of Dread)
Morocco (1930) (free event) (Getty Center) (What Becomes a Legend)
The Party (1968) / I Love You, Alice B. Toklas (1968) (New Beverly Cinema)
The Pruitt-Igoe Myth (2011) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Noho 7) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Royal Wedding (1951) (Old Town Music Hall)

Cutie pies will rise! Image courtesy Disney.

Few can resist the charms of baby animals. If last year’s Planet of the Apes and Project Nim left you swearing off simians forever, Disney’s latest Earth Day extravaganza Chimpanzee will bring you back into the fold. The film “stars” Oscar, a lovable scamp more curious than George, and his family band as they play in the forest and discover their world. Things get hairy when rival chimps raise a ruckus, but we have a sneaking suspicion everyone will share a hearty laugh over a banana split later. As with last year’s release of African Cats, a portion of opening week ticket sales goes back to conservation efforts - in this case the Jane Goodall Institute’s Tchimpounga Natural Reserve in the Republic of Congo.

The cute kid quotient reaches critical mass in Jesus Henry Christ. Canadian teen Jason Spevack (who played another little Oscar in Sunshine Cleaning) is Henry James Herman, test tube tot turned boy genius. At the tender age of 10, he’s already applying for college - although he soon applies himself toward searching for his father (Michael Sheen, Midnight in Paris). He & Henry’s mother (Toni Collette, Little Miss Sunshine) are less-than-favorably acquainted, and his daughter (Samantha Weinstein, a bunch of Canadian TV) is none too pleased to share the spotlight with a half sibling. Will this new-found family stick together, or just stay weird? Jesus Henry Christ opens at several Laemmles locations and is available on VOD.

That’s all for this week. Consider yourselves lucky ones.

Wide Release
Chimpanzee (Reviews) (Showtimes)
The Lucky One (Reviews) (Showtimes)
Think Like a Man (Reviews) (Showtimes)

Limited Release
California, 90420 (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Noho 7) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Darling Companion (Reviews) (The Landmark) (Arclight Hollywood)
The Fields (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
Fightville (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3)
Goodbye First Love (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7) (Laemmle’s Royal Theatre)
Hit So Hard: The Life And Near Death Story Of Patty Schemel (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
Jesus Henry Christ (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Town Center 5)
Marley (Reviews) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Laemmle’s Noho 7) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
My Way (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Noho 7) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Surviving Progress (Reviews) (Nuart Theatre)

As you may already know, the Alamo Drafthouse has legitimized the widely-held belief that 1982 was “the greatest summer for movies ever”. It’s an impressive slate, but I really can’t say, because I wasn’t there.

But I did notice this…

Conan the Barbarian: adaptation
The Road Warrior: sequel
Rocky III: sequel
Poltergeist: original
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan: sequel
E.T.: The Extraterrestrial: original
The Thing: remake/adaptation
TRON: original

I’m not saying every adaptation, sequel or remake is a winner. But I’m sick of lazy critics bemoaning Hollywood’s “lack of originality”. It’s hardly a new development.

(h/t my wife for texting me “Yeah…it’s a lot of sequels”)

Tell your children! Tell your neighbors! Let no one fall under the spell of REEFER MADNESS - the devil’s weed!

Juana have a merry time at the movies this Friday? The Grindhouse Film Festival & New Beverly Midnights roll up for a special screening of cannabis cult classic Reefer Madness. The Cinefamily takes it back to the motherland with another midnight movie, Marley. The new documentary about the iconic artist kicks off a week-long series, Jamaican Noir: The Cinema of Dread. Keep it coming harder in the wee hours of the morning with Kingston crime-verite Rockers on the same bill, followed by Peter Tosh doc Stepping Razor Red X. The latter only plays as part of this line-up, while Marley & Rockers screen again throughout the weekend.

If you’re planning to spent the 20th baked, not fried, festivities continue throughout the weekend. The Art Theatre of Long Beach joins select venues Thursday night for the Second Annual Grateful Dead Meet-Up at the Movies. From concerts to cartoons, the Cinefamily survivors are back up & running Sunday afternoon (seriously - do they ever sleep?) for Cartoon Head-Trip, the first of a new monthly 16 & 35mm series curated by cartoon historian Jerry Beck. No need to dance around drug puns here - one of the psychedelic shorts to be shown is even called Wacky Weed!

Finally, there’s another dank on display this weekend. The dark, seedy underbelly of Noir City emerges again for the 14th Annual Los Angeles Festival of Film Noir at the Egyptian Theatre through May 6th. The fest opens Friday with a brand-spankin’ new 35mm print of The Great Gatsby. Before Baz Luhrmann was even a twinkle in his parents’ eyes, this adaptation of the Jazz Age classic lit up the screen & sent fedoras flying. More mega-rare mysteries seeing restorations this weekend are Naked Alibi (in which a murder suspect released on technicality picks up his old habit - and leaves the cops to pick up the bodies!) and The Window (about a boy who can’t convince anyone he witnessed a murder - except for the killers!). As in previous years, each new print is paired with another gumshoe gem from studio archives and passionate introductions from the Film Noir Foundation.

Full list appears below. See you at the movies!

All Week
California, 90420 (2012) (Laemmle’s Noho 7) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Darling Companion (2012) (The Landmark) (Arclight Hollywood)
The Deep Blue Sea (2011) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
The Fields (2011) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
Fightville (2011) (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3)
Footnote (2011) (Art Theatre of Long Beach)
Goodbye First Love (2011) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7) (Laemmle’s Royal Theatre)
Hit So Hard: The Life And Near Death Story Of Patty Schemel (2011) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
Iranian Taboo (2011) (Laemmle’s Town Center 5)
Jesus Henry Christ (2012) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Town Center 5)
The Kid With a Bike (2011) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
Marley (2012) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Laemmle’s Noho 7) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
My Way (2011) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Noho 7) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Surviving Progress (2011) (Nuart Theatre)
We Have a Pope (2011) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)

Thursday 4/19
A Boy and His Dog (1975) (w/ author Harlan Ellison) (Egyptian Theatre)
Come Back, Africa (1960) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre)
The Crazies (1973) / Cat People (1982) (w/ actress Lynn Lowry) (New Beverly Cinema)
Crosstown Rivals: Films From USC and UCLA in the 1960s (w/ special guests) (Los Angeles Filmforum) (USC School of Cinematic Arts)
Grateful Dead Meet-Up at the Movies (Art Theatre of Long Beach)
Highlights From the Permanent Collection (Echo Park Film Center)
Silent Comedy Shorts Program (Aero Theatre)
Werckmeister Harmonies (2000) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (The Aching Beauty of Bela Tarr)

Friday 4/20
All Star Comedy Festival (Old Town Music Hall)
Barcelona (1984) / The Last Days of Disco (1998) (New Beverly Cinema)
Early Vertov and His Problems (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum) (Kino-Eye: The Revolutionary Cinema of Dziga Vertov)
The Great Gatsby (1949) / This Gun for Hire (1942) (w/ special guests) (Egyptian Theatre) (Noir City: Hollywood, 14th Annual Festival of Film Noir)
Marley (2012) All Nighter Movie Marathon (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Jamaican Noir: The Cinema of Dread)
The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012) (family matinee) (Aero Theatre)
A Quartet of Recent Films by Nathaniel Dorsky (w/ Nathaniel Dorsky) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum)
Reefer Madness (1936) (New Beverly Cinema) (New Beverly Midnights)
The Silver Lake Badminton and Adventures Club (free event w/ cast & crew) (Echo Park Film Center)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) (Nuart Theatre) (Cine-Insomnia Midnight Movie)
Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie (2011) (midnight show w/ cast member) (Art Theatre of Long Beach)

Saturday 4/21
Alice in Wonderland (1976) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Alices in Wonderland)
All Star Comedy Festival (Old Town Music Hall)
Barcelona (1984) / The Last Days of Disco (1998) (New Beverly Cinema)
California, 90420 (2012) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
Cartoon Head Trip (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Jerry Beck’s Cartoon Afternoons)
Doctor Detroit (1983) (New Beverly Cinema) (New Beverly Midnights)
Films by Lewis Klah and Laida Lertxundi (Echo Park Film Center)
Khachaturian (2003) / Jascha Heifetz: God’s Fiddler (2012) (w/ director Peter Rosen & executive producer Dora Kuhn) (Aero Theatre)
The Manzanar Fishing Club (2012) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Noho 7) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Naked Alibi (1953) / Suddenly (1954) (w/ special guests) (Egyptian Theatre) (Noir City: Hollywood, 14th Annual Festival of Film Noir)
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) (Live Shadowcast Midnight Show) (Art Theatre of Long Beach)
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) (Sins O’ The Flesh Midnight Show) (Nuart Theatre)
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) (Midnight Insanity Midnight Show) (South Coast Village Regency Theaters)
Three and a Half (2011) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum) (UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema)

Sunday 4/22
Act of Violence (1948) / Cape Fear (1962) (New Beverly Cinema)
All Star Comedy Festival (Old Town Music Hall)
Blazing Saddles (1974) (The Bay Theatre)
Boudu Saved From Drowning (1932) / Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986) (Skirball Cultural Center)
California, 90420 (2012) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
Chinatown (1974) (Arclight Beach Cities)
Dead End (1977) (w/ filmmaker Parviz Sayyad) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum) (UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema)
First Position (2011) (w/ director Bess Kargman) (Aero Theatre)
Jaws (1975) (Arclight Hollywood)
The Man From London (2007) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (The Aching Beauty of Bela Tarr)
The Manzanar Fishing Club (2012) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Noho 7) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Oceans (2002) (free event) (Hammer Museum) (Family Flicks)
ONE Queer Film Festival (REDCAT - Roy & Edna Disney/Calarts Theater)
Phantom Lady (1944) / Black Angel (1945) / The Window (1949) (w/ special guests) (Egyptian Theatre) (Noir City: Hollywood, 14th Annual Festival of Film Noir)

Maggie Grace & Guy Pearce escape from space in LOCKOUT. Courtesy Open Road Films.

TGI Friday the 13th! Today, we stalk a group of friends into the forest to meet certain doom - not from hockey-masked hero villain Jason Voorhees, but The Cabin in the Woods. The internet loves the long-delayed picture. No surprise there, as writer/director Drew Goddard is a longtime collaborator of film/comic icons JJ Abrams & Joss Whedon.

Whedon produced & cowrote Cabin on the way to assembling The Avengers. If that’s not a strong enough comic book connection, the mighty Thor himself Chris Hemsworth headlines the cast, which also includes Gray’s Anatomy heartthrob Jesse Williams, Fran Kranz (of Whedon’s Dollhouse & droll satire The TV Set) and relative newcomers Kristen Connolly & Anna Hutchinson. For a film already touted as a game-changer, the trailer’s a bit spotty, but it’s got mad scientists, monsters & laser fences, so I’m in.

The Cabin in the Woods is a walk in the park compared to Lockout. The over-the-top action film requires Guy Pearce (Memento) to break into the world’s most secure prison to rescue the President’s daughter (Maggie Grace, Taken again…) after the inmates take over the asylum. The kicker? The world’s most secure prison is in outer space! With its outlandish mercenary-on-a-mission scenario and flamboyant prisoner gangs, Lockout recalls the 1981 classic Escape from New York (or, if you’re locally inclined, its 1996 sequel Escape from LA). Let’s hope this film is as big, dumb & fun.

The Woman Who Wasn’t There chronicles a stranger-than-fiction New York escape that’s truly shocking. Tania Head worked on the 78th floor of the World Trade Center, and was one of a handful of lucky souls to survive the September 11th attacks. Her miracle quickly turned to sorrow when she learned her fiancee never made it out of the other tower. But by far the greatest tragedy is that none of this actually happened. Alicia Head, better known as “Tania”, was a Spanish business student who entered our country for the first time in 2003. How was she able to deceive a nation - and why?

Documentarian Angelo Guglielmo began filming interviews with Head, then the face of 9/11 survivors, for what he thought would be a truthful tribute to resilience. When she was exposed as a fraud, his cameras kept rolling, allowing unprecedented access to a web of lies as it comes unraveled. The Woman Who Wasn’t There opens exclusively at Laemmle’s North Hollywood, in advance of its television premiere Tuesday on Discovery ID.

That’s all for this week. Remember, a theater’s nice, warm & dry.

Wide Release
The Cabin in the Woods (Reviews) (Showtimes)
Lockout (Reviews) (Showtimes)
The Three Stooges (Reviews) (Showtimes)

Limited Release
All-In: The Poker Movie (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye (Reviews) (Nuart Theatre)
Blue Like Jazz (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Fallbrook 7)
The Hunter (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
Keyhole (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Noho 7) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
The Lady (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7) (Laemmle’s Town Center 5)
Losing Control (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
Monsieur Lazhar (Reviews) (The Landmark) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7) (Laemmle’s Town Center 5)
Scenes of a Crime (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3)
Unraveled (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3)
The Woman Who Wasn’t There (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)

Michel Piccoli in WE HAVE A POPE, opening exclusively at The Landmark. Courtesy Sundance Selects. Photo Credit: Philippe Antonello.

Seeing as the nineties begat Hollywood’s high-concept nostalgia/remake trends, it’s fitting that a wave of nineties nostalgia hits theaters this weekend. American Reunion brings together every major cast member of American Pie, from Jim, Michelle & Stifler to John Cho’s “MILF Guy” for a Bar Mitzvah high school reunion. The fresh faces are writer-director-duo Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg of the Harold & Kumar franchise, so maybe we’ll get a Neil Patrick Harris cameo too.

Speaking of NPH, there’s an entire generation for whom How I Met Your Mother will be explained with “making out during Titanic, retrofitted her in 3D & cast her off again. Save a single edit, it’s the epic you remember, in more dimensions than you can ever imagine. If you’re unfazed by the ballad of Jack & Rose, you can always trust Cameron to unlock the mystery of ocean depths while preserving its menace.

In limited release, it’s hard out there for a Pope, when there’s millions counting on you for their hope. That’s the chorus of We Have a Pope, opening exclusively at The Landmark. Italian director Nanni Moretti’s film boldly presents the religious leader (& his potential successors) as a fallible human being. The story concerns a conclave of cardinals gathered in secret (albeit besieged by media) to elect a Pope, the anxiety of Papa-to-be Cardinal Melville (Michel Piccoli, Belle de Jour) who bolts before his first address, and the Vatican brass who has to save face to save faith. This is neither a smear on the Pope nor critique of Catholicism, but a good-natured satire that shows those revered as closest to God may be the most human of us all.

To illustrate, We Have a Pope opens with Cardinals from all corners of the world marching in solemn procession, narration naming each one & speculating on their likelihood of getting elected. It’s soon revealed this comes from a thick-headed reporter on the scene, discussing global consequences with the gravitas of a sports draft. When a Vatican spokesman asks them to leave, the reporter’s “story” shifts to faux outrage that the news media aren’t even allowed to sneak a shot of the Sistine Chapel. The sequence neatly demonstrates the struggle to maintain secret, thoughtful processes in a 24/7 transparent culture that wants everything 15 seconds ago. It’s enough to drive anyone batty, particularly a quiet, older man who already has misgivings about how his life has gone.

But its deliberate pacing put me in the uncomfortable position of leaning towards the reporter’s mentality. The art direction is rich, the dialogue ponderous, the Buñuelian absurdity of a papal volleyball tournament hilarious. But must we sit through an entire procession? Why can’t they go next down the line - doesn’t the presence of a huge crowd spur solutions now? Ultimately, We Have a Pope is touching, pointed & worth the wait, but be warned that there is a wait, especially on the front-end.

That’s all for this week. What will you sink your money into this weekend?

Wide Release
American Reunion (Reviews) (Showtimes)
Titanic 3D (Reviews) (Showtimes)

Limited Release
ATM (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
The City Dark (Reviews) (Downtown Independent)
Damsels in Distress (Reviews) (Arclight Hollywood) (The Landmark)
Delicacy (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7) (Laemmle’s Town Center 5)
The Island President (Reviews) (Nuart Theatre)
MIS Human Secret Weapon (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
Shakespeare High (Reviews) (Downtown Independent)
We Have a Pope (Reviews) (The Landmark)

Bruce Willis steals the show in HUDSON HAWK, playing this weekend as part of the inaugural “Something Old, Something New” series at the New Beverly.

Way back when I was a Northern Californian touring colleges, I snuck into a screening at UCLA for students only. I can’t remember what it was, but I’ll never forget how that print sparkled. Now, UCLA’s Student Chapter of the Association of Moving Image Archivists brings that same magic off-campus with the monthly series “Something Old, Something New” at the New Beverly.

The first screening is this weekend’s “Reluctant Cat Burglars” double-bill featuring Alfred Hitchcock’s To Catch A Thief (Cary Grant and Grace Kelly at their finest!) and cult caper Hudson Hawk (story by and starring a post-Die Hard, pre-Pulp Fiction Bruce Willis!). Screenwriter Daniel Waters has a history of off-kilter comedy and action - Heathers, Batman Returns and Demolition Man - and appears Friday night to discuss all that and more. In keeping with the experience and importance of preservation, all films in the series will screen in 35mm, with Hudson Hawk in particular coming fresh from Sony’s archives. Can’t wait to see that sparkle again!

Speaking of things old (and new), the documentary Shakespeare High charts the Drama Teachers Association of Southern California Shakespeare Competition. The annual event (the film was shot in its 90th year) enables local teens to reinvent the Bard and rewrite their own, often troubled stories. Alumni Kevin Spacey (who executive produced), Val Kilmer and Richard Dreyfus share their experience with the program, but in a time of dwindling arts programs (as with most modern documentaries, there is an advocacy piece) its true importance is detailed through the former gang members, skinheads and survivors of violence and poverty who take the stage. The film plays all week at Downtown Independent, with cast and crew at select screenings.

Of course, another resurrection is front and center this weekend, and the Aero’s got an interesting Easter line-up. Good Friday, they screen Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ, with actress Barbara Hershey (Mary Magdalene) in person. Hugely controversial upon its initial release (and still suppressed in several countries), this is followed on Sunday by the first alt-Easter screening I can recall, a pairing of the Jimmy Stewart classic Harvey and Donnie Darko. For a more faithful seasonal screening, rejoice at the Egyptian on Saturday for the epic Ben-Hur.

Full list appears below. See you at the movies!

MIRROR MIRROR courtesy Relativity Media.

Two fractured fairy tales face off in wide release this weekend. Mirror Mirror is the first of two live-action Show White films this year. With The Blind Side’s Lily Collins in the lead, Julia Roberts as a campy Queen & a screwball streak, don’t expect anything grim in this adaptation. But as with Immortals last fall, I’m willing to bite the apple if director Tarsem & cinematographer Brendan Galvin produce the fairest visuals in the land.

Clash of the Titans earned an ungodly amount of money at the global box office, so it’s no surprise Wrath of the Titans has emerged to wreak more 3D havoc. Rather than rush the conversion, this round director Jonathan Liebesman (Battle: Los Angeles) scoped out the 3D from the beginning. Sam Worthington (Perseus), Liam Neeson (Zeus), Ralph Fiennes (Hades) & Danny Huston (Poseidon) return from Olympus. Édgar Ramírez plays new myth on the block Ares, who’s looking to set up Zeus to get thunderstruck. Rosamund Pike (Pride & Prejudice) also joins the cast as Andromeda, though it’ll be quite a strain to get ladies in the theater for this one.

Harvey Weinstein’s wrath is as legendary as his marketing genius. He employed both in the lead-up to Bully, while picking on someone his own size: the MPAA. Their public feud over the social documentary’s rating - the MPAA said teen swearing merits an R, Weinstein said teen subjects merit a PG-13 to enable a safe viewing experience - threatened to eclipse the film itself. (Ultimately, Bully will be released unrated.) The film looks at the modern tragedy of teens being bullied to suicide, through kids’ daily experience with bullying (from peers brazen enough to push, shove & curse in front of a camera crew) and parents who forge a movement of their own after losing children to indifferent school authorities. Bully opens exclusively at ArcLight Hollywood, The Landmark & in Century City.

That’s all for this week. What will you fight for the right to see this weekend?

Wide Release
Mirror Mirror (Reviews) (Showtimes)
Wrath of the Titans (Reviews) (Showtimes)

Limited Release
Bully (Reviews) (AMC Century City 15) (Arclight Hollywood) (The Landmark)
Dark Tide (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
Goon (Reviews) (Nuart Theatre)
Hot Flash Havoc (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3)
The Manzanar Fishing Club (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
Musical Chairs (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7) (Laemmle’s Town Center 5)

Jane Fonda in a still from Dino De Laurentiis’ BARBARELLA: QUEEN OF THE GALAXY (1968). Courtesy Paramount Pictures.

The late Dino De Laurentiis’ legacy as producer extraordinaire spans decades, continents and genres. This weekend, USC’s Visions and Voices Initiative offers a fittingly epic tribute. Friday kicks off the festivities with a classic Italian cheese and beefcake buffet, when Barbarella: Queen of the Galaxy (1968) is paired with the original Conan the Barbarian (1982).

While we often see career retrospectives of actors and directors, Saturday presents a rare day-long look at the evolution and reinvention of a producer, the man behind the men behind the camera. Screenings start at 10:30AM with Italian neo-realist works Bitter Rice (1949) and The Great War (1959), while afternoon screenings of Serpico (1973) and Death Wish (1974) transplant that gritty aesthetic to the struggling American streets. That evening, Laurentiis’ work transitions into full-on blockbuster with King Kong (1976), closing out with cult favorite Army of Darkness (1992) at 9:30PM.

After a full night’s sleep (something the prolific Laurentiis must not have seen too often), Sunday’s festivities open at 10AM with his last epic, U-571 (2000). At high noon, the day takes a turn toward the monstrous with Blue Velvet (1986), a perfect synthesis of the different Dinos. From here, the day is consumed by Hannibal Lecter, whom Laurentiis brought to life in his later years. Manhunter (1986) screens at 2:30PM while Hannibal (2001) plays at 7:30PM.

All events are free and open to the public, although reservations are required (each screening requires a separate one). Full list appears below. See you at the movies!

All Week
3 (2012) (Laemmle’s Fallbrook 7)
The Artist (2011) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Bully (2011) (Arclight Hollywood) (The Landmark)
Dark Tide (2012) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
The Deep Blue Sea (2011) (Laemmle’s Fallbrook 7)
Footnote (2011) (Laemmle’s Fallbrook 7) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
Goon (2011) (Nuart Theatre)
Hot Flash Havoc (2012) (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3)
Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2011) (Laemmle’s Fallbrook 7)
Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011) (Downtown Independent) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Town Center 5)
The Kid With a Bike (2011) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
The Manzanar Fishing Club (2012) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
Musical Chairs (2011) (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7) (Laemmle’s Town Center 5)
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011) (Laemmle’s Fallbrook 7) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
The Trouble With Bliss (2011) (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3)

Thursday 3/29
L’Amour Braque (1985) / David Lynch’s Crazy Clown Time (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (The Unbelievable Genius of Andrzej Zulawski)
Attenberg (2010) (free event w/ costume designer Thanos Papastergiou) (Melnitz Movies)
Bullitt (1968) / The Hunter (1980) (Egyptian Theatre) (Low Rider: The Super-Charged Cinema of Steve McQueen)
Extinction Number Six (2011) (free event w/ filmmaker Rachel Thompson) (USC School of Cinematic Arts)
The Holy Mountain (1973) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
L.A. Air: Margie Schnibbe (Echo Park Film Center)
The Makioka Sisters (1983) / An Autumn Afternoon (1962) (New Beverly Cinema)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962) (Aero Theatre)
Showgirls 2: Penny’s From Heaven (2011) (w/ filmmaker Rena Riffel) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
El Topo (1970) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktavists (2012) (free event w/ discussion) (Cinema Speakeasy) (Crawford Family Forum)

Friday 3/30
Annie Hall (1977) / Radio Days (1987) (Aero Theatre)
Barbarella: Queen of the Galaxy (1968) (free event w/ special guests) (USC School of Cinematic Arts) (A Tribute to Dino De Laurentiis)
Conan the Barbarian (1982) (free event) (USC School of Cinematic Arts) (A Tribute to Dino De Laurentiis)
Dune (1984) (Downtown Independent)
Filmmakers Alliance (Echo Park Film Center)
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum) (Spencer Tracy: That Natural Thing)
The Important Thing is to Love (1975) / David Lynch’s Crazy Clown Time (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (The Unbelievable Genius of Andrzej Zulawski)
Madcap Modernism: Mid-Century Cartoons from UPA and Beyond (w/ special guests) (LACMA)
Papillon (1973) / Soldier in the Rain (1963) (Egyptian Theatre) (Low Rider: The Super-Charged Cinema of Steve McQueen)
Standing Ovation (2010) (w/ writer/director Stuart Raffill) (Nuart Theatre) (Cine-Insomnia Midnight Movie)
The Ten Commandments (1941) (Old Town Music Hall)
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) / Orlando (1992) (New Beverly Cinema)

Saturday 3/31
Army of Darkness (1992) (free event) (USC School of Cinematic Arts) (A Tribute to Dino De Laurentiis)
Bitter Rice (1949) (free event) (USC School of Cinematic Arts) (A Tribute to Dino De Laurentiis)
Bottle Shock (2008) (w/ filmmakers) (LACMA)
Channel 101 (free event) (Downtown Independent)
Cinema Paradiso (1988) (Aero Theatre)
Death Wish (1974) (free event) (USC School of Cinematic Arts) (A Tribute to Dino De Laurentiis)
Dutch Seventies (Echo Park Film Center)
The Great Escape (1963) (Egyptian Theatre) (Low Rider: The Super-Charged Cinema of Steve McQueen)
The Great War (1959) (free event) (USC School of Cinematic Arts) (A Tribute to Dino De Laurentiis)
King Kong (1976) (free event) (USC School of Cinematic Arts) (A Tribute to Dino De Laurentiis)
Kino-Eye (1924) / Kino-Pravda No. 23 (1925) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum) (Kino-Eye: The Revolutionary Cinema of Dziga Vertov)
The Manzanar Fishing Club (2012) (w/ writer/producer Richard Imamura & guests at the 7:30pm show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
The Most HFS Movie of 2011 (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (HFS)
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) (Live Shadowcast Midnight Show) (Art Theatre of Long Beach)
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) (Sins O’ The Flesh Midnight Show) (Nuart Theatre)
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) (Midnight Insanity Midnight Show) (South Coast Village Regency Theaters)
Serpico (1973) (free event) (USC School of Cinematic Arts) (A Tribute to Dino De Laurentiis)
Szamanka (1996) / David Lynch’s Crazy Clown Time (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (The Unbelievable Genius of Andrzej Zulawski)
The Ten Commandments (1941) (Old Town Music Hall)
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) / Orlando (1992) (New Beverly Cinema)

Sunday 4/1
Blue Velvet (1986) (free event) (USC School of Cinematic Arts) (A Tribute to Dino De Laurentiis)
Boris Godounov (1989) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (The Unbelievable Genius of Andrzej Zulawski)
Bugs Bunny Cartoon Classics (w/ egg hunt) (Aero Theatre)
Cambodia Journey (free event w/ Q&A) (Long Beach Cinematheque) (Douglas MacArthur Park)
Hannibal (2001) (free event) (USC School of Cinematic Arts) (A Tribute to Dino De Laurentiis)
Manhunter (1986) (free event) (USC School of Cinematic Arts) (A Tribute to Dino De Laurentiis)
The Manzanar Fishing Club (2012) (w/ writer/producer Richard Imamura & internee fisherman Mas Okui at the 3:10pm show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
The Manzanar Fishing Club (2012) (w/ writer/producer Richard Imamura & guests at the 5:20pm show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
Possession (1981) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (The Unbelievable Genius of Andrzej Zulawski)
The Ten Commandments (1941) (Old Town Music Hall)
The Three Stooges Meet Hercules (1962) / The Outlaws is Coming (1965) (Aero Theatre)
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) / The Getaway (1972) (Egyptian Theatre) (Low Rider: The Super-Charged Cinema of Steve McQueen)
A Tribute to Dino De Laurentiis Panel Discussion and Dedication (free event) (USC School of Cinematic Arts) (A Tribute to Dino De Laurentiis)
U-571 (2000) (free event) (USC School of Cinematic Arts) (A Tribute to Dino De Laurentiis)