Posts tagged laist

Set sail with ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT. Promotional image courtesy Blue Sky / 20th Century Fox.

Pretty soon there’ll be as many Ice Age movies as Land Before Times. Ten years after the first film (that’s a scary thought), Ice Age: Continental Drift doesn’t drift from the series’ core leads. Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary & screwball saber-toothed squirrel Scrat - are all back. This time they’re joined by even more musical mammoths - Keke Palmer, Heather Morris (Glee), Nicki Minaj & Drake - and saber-toothed singer J-Lo. Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) voices the villain, a prehistoric pirate ape.

Easy Money joins contemporaries Girl With The Dragon Tattoo & Headhunters in a slick Scandinavian cycle of violent crime. The thriller was a swimming success in its native country (where it’s soon to receive a sequel), and may make a Killing on our shores given lead Joel Kinnaman’s success on that AMC show. Here, Kinnaman plays JW, a business student who becomes a drug-runner to keep up with his elitist upperclassmen. But his greatest struggle comes when his Muslim-Albanian gang draws the ire of rival Serbian enforcers. Martin Scorsese (who knows a thing or two about violent crime thrillers) is already an avowed fan. Easy Money opens exclusively at the Nuart.

Full list appears below. Take further advantage of our fantastic film culture by taking in a revival screening, midnight movie or outdoor screening!

WIDE RELEASE

Ice Age: Continental Drift (Reviews) (Showtimes) (3D Showtimes)

LIMITED RELEASE

Ballplayer (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3)
Cocktail (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Fallbrook 7)
Easy Money (Reviews) (Nuart Theatre)
Farewell, My Queen (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Royal Theatre)
Top Priority: The Terror Within (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
Trishna (Reviews) (The Landmark)
Union Square (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7) (Laemmle’s Town Center 5)

No terminal is safe from Angelina-nonymous in HACKERS (1995). Screen capture courtesy MGM Home Entertainment.

One of my wife’s dream double features is a “Damn The Man!” night pairing counter-culture classics Hackers & Empire Records. Thanks to Something Old, Something New, the Association of Moving Image Archivists’ monthly series at the New Beverly, half her dream will come true. Friday & Saturday, their “Tales of Technology” program screens Hackers (1995) in glorious 35mm, accompanied by 711 Ocean Drive (1950), ripe for rediscovery from Sony’s archives. In a time when hacking a mainframe would’ve required a three-hole punch, this techno noir leveraged then-emerging technologies of phone-tapping & local broadcasting for its “expose of the $8,000,000,000 gambling syndicate” (& that’s in 1950s money!). Speaking of local, sequences shot in & around the Sunset Strip show vintage landmarks like Sherry’s Restaurant (now The Key Club).

After hacking the planet, take advantage of the Friday the 13th & hack some people. When we posted Jon D.A.’s horror short Hipster Holocaust a few weeks back, Arcata-based filmmaker William Burgess was quick to inform us that he had already made a feature-length Hipster Holocaust (2011) horror flick…wait for it…before it was cool! When two uninvited guests disrupt a vapid mansion party of sex & drugs & vintage clothes, the hedonism hits the skids & the hip hits the fan! Burgess’ work gets the (Laemmle’s) Royal treatment at its midnight premiere, with the director in person & the cast in pieces! Make your own double feature by streaming D.A.’s short while waiting in line for Burgess’ feature!

Full list appears below. See you at the movies!

ALL WEEK

Ballplayer (2011) (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3)
Cocktail (2012) (Laemmle’s Fallbrook 7)
Easy Money (2010) (Nuart Theatre)
Farewell, My Queen (2012) (Laemmle’s Royal Theatre)
The Intouchables (2011) (Laemmle’s Fallbrook 7) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
Top Priority: The Terror Within (2012) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
Trishna (2011) (The Landmark)
Unforgivable (2011) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
Union Square (2012) (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7) (Laemmle’s Town Center 5)
Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait (2006) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre)

THURSDAY 07/12

Channel 101 (free event) (Downtown Independent)
Damsels in Distress (2011) / Kicking and Screaming (1995) (New Beverly Cinema)
The Do-Deca-Pentathalon (2012) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre)
Fat Kid Rules the World (2012) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Gimme Shelter (1970) (Egyptian Theatre) (This Must Be the Place: Music on the Big Screen)
Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) (free 3D screening w/ producer Lori Forte) (USC School of Cinematic Arts)
Mini Cinema (w/ free popcorn & drinks) (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3)
People vs. The State of Illusion (2012) (w/ director Austin Vickers) (Art Theatre of Long Beach)
RAWcross America (2012) (free premiere screening) (Downtown Independent)
A Star Is Born (1954) (Aero Theatre) (Classics and Restorations on the Big Screen)
You Only Live Twice (1967) / A View to a Kill (1985) (LACMA)

FRIDAY 07/13

711 Ocean Drive (1950) / Hackers (1995) (New Beverly Cinema)
Battle Royale (2001) (Nuart Theatre) (Cine-Insomnia Midnight Movie)
Beauty and the Beast (1946) / La Nuit Fantastique (1942) (LACMA) (French Film Fridays)
Blind Revenge (2010) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
Deep Blue Sea (1999) (w/ director Renny Harlin) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Friday Night Frights)
Farewell, My Queen (2012) (w/ Diane Kruger at 7pm screening) (Laemmle’s Royal Theatre)
Ghost (1990) (Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences) (Oscars Outdoors)
Hipster Holocaust (2011) (midnight show) (Laemmle’s Royal Theatre)
Hook (1991) / The Princess Bride (1987) (Downtown Independent)
The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001) / A Simple Plan (1998) (w/ Billy Bob Thornton) (Egyptian Theatre)
Nipples and Palm Trees (2011) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
The Pact (2012) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
Poppy (1936) (Old Town Music Hall)
Seven Men From Now (1956) / Decision at Sundown (1957) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum) (Ride Lonesome: The Films of Budd Boetticher)
Stitch in Time (2012) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
Taxi Driver (1976) / The Collector (1965) (Aero Theatre) (Classics and Restorations on the Big Screen)

SATURDAY 07/14

711 Ocean Drive (1950) / Hackers (1995) (New Beverly Cinema)
Baseball, Dennis, and the French (2011) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Bernie (2011) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Bill W. (2012) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
Cat Ballou (1965) (Autry National Center) (What is a Western?)
Gone With the Wind (1939) (Aero Theatre) (Classics and Restorations on the Big Screen)
Hairspray (1988) (Hollywood Forever Cemetery) (Cinespia Screenings)
I Heart Shakey (2012) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
The Matchmaker (2010) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
The Moderns (1988) (Egyptian Theatre) (Staff Pick)
Party Girl (1995) (w/ director Daisy von Scherler Mayer) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (CinemaDiscotheque)
PeeWee’s Big Adventure (1985) (Eat See Hear) (Bloch Field at The Port of Los Angeles)
Poppy (1936) (Old Town Music Hall)
Prank (2012) (premiere screening w/ cast & crew) (Downtown Independent)
The Princess Bride (1987) (Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences) (Oscars Outdoors)
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)
Rollerball (1975) (New Beverly Cinema) (New Beverly Midnights)
Silent Serials (Egyptian Theatre)
The Tall T (1957) / Buchanan Rides Alone (1958) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum) (Ride Lonesome: The Films of Budd Boetticher)
Your Sister’s Sister (2011) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)

SUNDAY 07/15

Baseball, Dennis, and the French (2011) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Bernie (2011) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Bill W. (2012) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
I Heart Shakey (2012) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
Jason and the Argonauts (1963) (Aero Theatre) (Classics and Restorations on the Big Screen)
The Leopard (1963) (Aero Theatre) (Classics and Restorations on the Big Screen)
The Matchmaker (2010) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Poppy (1936) (Old Town Music Hall)
Shane (1953) (The Bay Theatre)
South Pacific (1958) (w/ special guests) (Egyptian Theatre) (The Egyptian at 90)
Tokyo Olympiad (1965) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (The Body Athletic)
Tour de France (Art Theatre of Long Beach) (Bike Film Fest)
El Velador (2011) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum) (Archive Documentary Spotlight)
Your Sister’s Sister (2011) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)

Andrew Garfield swings low, webbed chariot, in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. Promotional image courtesy Sony Pictures.

It’s customary for studios to release films on a Wednesday during summer holidays to maximize box-office earnings. Since the 4th of July fell on a Wednesday this year, Sony opened superhero tentpole The Amazing Spiderman even earlier, with some theaters even screening it Monday at midnight. According to Box Office Mojo, the web-slinger’s used the extra time to net nearly $60M.

If you haven’t seen Spidey yet, here’s the scoop. Andrew Garfield takes over for Tobey Maguire as the titular hero & his high school alter-ego Peter Parker. Director Marc Webb ((500) Days of Summer) takes it back to the beginning - but this time it’s a little different. Peter’s trying to unravel what happened to his missing parents, and it sticks him in a whole web of trouble, from anti-vigilante police captain George Stacy (Denis Leary), the mysterious OsCorp. & the monstrous Lizard (Rhys Ifans, previously of Peter Pan prequel Neverland). Classmate cum crush Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) proves to be Peter’s only ally in this darker take on the classic character.

Should you desire an unfriendly neighborhood slinger, move close to the border & even closer to the edge with Savages. Here, the swinging comes from a menage-a-trois relationship between two marijuana growers (Kick-Ass’ Aaron Johnson & Taylor Kitsch, who’s looking to turn 2012 around after headlining its most famous flops) and their muse Ophelia (Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively). The masked man is no hero, but Lado (Benicio del Toro), a murderous enforcer for cartel queenpin Elena (Salma Hayek). Oliver Stone (Born on the Fourth of July) directs from a screenplay written by himself, Shane Salerno (the 2010 Hawaii Five-O) & Don Winslow (adapting his novel of the same name).

In limited release, counter-programming comes courtesy of bittersweet romance Take This Waltz, starring Michelle Williams & Luke Kirby (Mambo Italiano) as neighbors who fall for each other despite her happy marriage to Seth Rogen. Canadian actress Sarah Polley (Go!) directs from her own original script. The film plays in West LA at The Landmark & Laemmle locales in Pasadena & Encino.

More sentimental romantics should seek out The Magic of Belle Isle, the latest from director Rob Reiner (When Harry Met Sally). The downhome romance stars Morgan Freeman as a fallen Western writer who finds a new life with Virginia Madsen (Sideways) as he helps care for her kids. The film opens at the Laemmles in Beverly Hills & Encino. If you can’t make it out, it’s also available on VOD.

Full list appears below. For festivals, revival screenings & midnight movies, be sure to check out The Amazing Film Calendar, man!

WIDE RELEASE

The Amazing Spiderman (Reviews) (Showtimes) (3D Showtimes) (IMAX 3D Showtimes)
Katy Perry: Part of Me (Reviews) (Showtimes) (3D Showtimes)
Savages (Reviews) (Showtimes)

LIMITED RELEASE

Bol Bachchan (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Fallbrook 7)
Crazy Eyes (Reviews) (Nuart Theatre)
The Do-Deca-Pentathalon (Reviews) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
The Magic of Belle Isle (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3) (Laemmle’s Town Center 5)
Never Stand Still (Reviews) (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3)
Take This Waltz (Reviews) (The Landmark) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7) (Laemmle’s Town Center 5)

These ain’t sparklers! BATTLESHIP plays Thursday at the Cinefamily as Doug Benson’s latest Movie Interruption. Publicity photo courtesy Universal.

Who says the fireworks have to stop tonight? Doug Benson sets off one of 2012’s biggest bombs tomorrow at the Cinefamily for his latest Movie Interruption. The first in a slate of board game adaptations that reportedly includes Candy Land, Monopoly & Ouija, Hasbro’s Battleship (2012) sailed over budget & sank like a stone, the perfect target for a volley of jokes from the good ship Benson. For more fun pitting Americans against aliens, New Beverly Midnights celebrates another 4th this Saturday - Rocky IV (1985). Dolph Lundgren’s iconic villain Drago “must break” Rocky for the Soviet Union, but our Sly boxer wields the power of red, white, blue…AND VENGEANCE!

Trim the testosterone & triple the terror with the Viscera Film Festival’s Bloody Carpet Kick-Off at the Egyptian. The fest honors female genre filmmakers past & present - embodied in its main events, an opening preview of Danielle Harris’ (the Halloween & Hatchet franchises) directorial debut Among Friends and closing presentation of their first Inspiration Award to Mary Lambert (Pet Sematary). Between those two, the all-night event features 13 shorts (many of which are local or world premieres) screening in competition alongside coming attractions (among the trailers is Lambert’s own Dark Path Chronicles). All that & an after-party at the Roosevelt Hotel will set you back a scant $11.

Full list appears below. See you at the movies!

ALL WEEK

Bernie (2012) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
Bol Bachchan (2012) (Laemmle’s Fallbrook 7)
Crazy Eyes (2012) (Nuart Theatre)
Downtown Film Festival (Downtown Independent)
The Do-Deca-Pentathalon (2012) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Katy Perry: Part of Me (Reviews) (Showtimes)
The Magic of Belle Isle (2012) (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3) (Laemmle’s Town Center 5)
Neil Young Journeys (2011) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
Never Stand Still (2012) (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3)
Safety Not Guaranteed (2012) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
Savages (2012) (Laemmle’s Noho 7) (The Landmark)
Take This Waltz (2011) (The Landmark) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7) (Laemmle’s Town Center 5)
To Rome With Love (2012) (Laemmle’s Fallbrook 7) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
Your Sister’s Sister (2012) (Laemmle’s Fallbrook 7) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)

THURSDAY 07/05

Doug Benson’s Movie Interruption: Battleship (2012) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre)
Goldfinger (1964) / From Russia With Love (1964) (LACMA)
Jules and Jim (1962) / Vivre Sa Vie (1962) (Aero Theatre)
The Omega Man (1971) / The Last Man on Earth (1964) (Egyptian Theatre)

FRIDAY 07/06

The Apple (1980) (Nuart Theatre) (Cine-Insomnia Midnight Movie)
The Battle of Algiers (1966) / Pépé le Moko (1937) (New Beverly Cinema)
Contempt (1963) / Mississippi Mermaid (1969) (LACMA) (French Film Fridays)
Crazy Eyes (2012) (w/ director Adam Sherman and actors Lukas Haas & Madeline Zima at 7:30 & 9:50 shows) (Nuart Theatre)
Harold and Maude (1971) (The Bay Theatre)
Never Too Young to Die (1986) (midnight show) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Heavy Hitter Midnites)
The Pretty Things: Midnight to Six 1965-1970 (2010) / The Small Faces: All or Nothing 1965-1968 (2009) (Egyptian Theatre) (This Must Be the Place: Music on the Big Screen)
Sherlock Jr. (1934) / The Cameraman (1928) (Aero Theatre)
Stagecoach (1939) (Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences)
Trás-os-Montes (1976) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum) (The Films and Legacy of António Reis and Margarida Cordeiro)

SATURDAY 07/07

2012 Viscera Film Festival (Egyptian Theatre)
Ana (1985) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum) (The Films and Legacy of António Reis and Margarida Cordeiro)
The Battle of Algiers (1966) / Pépé le Moko (1937) (New Beverly Cinema)
Bernie (2012) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
The Big Leboski (1998) (Devil’s Night Drive In)
Bill W. (2012) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Bringing Up Baby (1938) (Hollywood Forever Cemetery) (Cinespia Screenings)
Crazy Eyes (2012) (w/ director Adam Sherman and actors Lukas Haas & Madeline Zima at 7:30 & 9:50 shows) (Nuart Theatre)
Dazed and Confused (1993) (Eat See Hear) (FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising) / Grand Hope Park)
First Position (2011) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
Guns and Guitars (1936) / Riders in the Sky (1949) (Autry National Center) (Saturday Matinee)
North Shore (1987) (w/ cast & crew) (Aero Theatre)
The Nutty Professor (1996) (Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences)
Paul Williams: Still Alive (2011) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Rocky IV (1985) (New Beverly Cinema) (New Beverly Midnights)
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)
Turn Me On, Dammit (2011) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)

SUNDAY 07/08

Bernie (2012) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Bill W. (2012) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Cruzin’ (Art Theatre of Long Beach) (Bike Film Fest)
First Position (2011) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
In the Heat of the Night (1967) / Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) (w/ producer Walter Mirisch) (Aero Theatre)
The Love Parade (1929) / The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum) (Archive Treasures)
Paul Williams: Still Alive (2011) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
San Pedro Labor Fest (Warner Grand Theatre)
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) / All the Right Moves (1983) (w/ director Howard Deutch & actress Lea Thompson) (Egyptian Theatre)
T.J. Miller’s Hangover Matinee feat. The Forbidden Zone (1982) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre)
Turn Me On, Dammit (2011) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)

Can Mark Wahlberg & Mila Kunis bear the presence of TED? Screencap courtesy Universal Pictures.

In the last decade, Seth MacFarlane has built a comedy kingdom of TV shows, web series & even a big-band album. With Ted, he takes his styling to the big screen. It hits all his notes - buffoon everyman (Mark Wahlberg) with talking nonhuman friend, MacFarlane voicing said friend (a walking, talking, smoking, drinking teddy bear) and Family Guy alumnus Mila Kunis. Only this time they can launch f-bombs - and if the official trailer & Twitter feed are any indication, do they ever!

From bear to bare, something else gets launched in Magic Mike. Actually, two things: lots of money at Channing Tatum & all his clothes at appreciative ladies. Tatum stars as a superstar male stripper trying to leverage his other talents, sandwiched between protege Alex Pettyfer (I Am Number Four) & MC Matthew McConaughey. The film is inspired by Tatum’s early experiences as part of a gentleman’s revue in Florida. Looks like he’s still got the moves! Sometimes-studio, sometimes-indie director Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s Eleven, sex, lies and videotape) helms from a script by newcomer Reid Carolin (who previously worked with Tatum as associate producer on military drama Stop-Loss).

In limited release, be it Porky’s or Superbad, there are too many films about teen boys trying to get laid. But if a girl just wants to have fun, she finds herself pregnant (Juno), a punchline (“this one time at band camp…”), or punished for “sluttiness” (every slasher ever made). Norwegian coming of age dramedy Turn Me On, Dammit!, opening at Laemmle locales NoHo, Pasadena & Santa Monica, is a refreshing counterpoint. Guys aren’t the only ones getting hot & bothered this summer.

Turn Me On, Dammit! opens with 15-year old Alma (Helene Bergsholm) masturbating to a phone sex line. She & the operator are on a first name basis, and the call is a birthday gift to her as a frequent customer. It’s one of many trips below the belt pursuing sensual, often awkward fantasies. A close encounter with longtime crush Artur (Matias Myren) is her most sensual dream come true - and it may in fact be. When he denies anything happened, Alma’s friends & community turn on her (dammit). As she tries to piece together what happened & how to fix it, her hormones only rage further out of control.

Alma (Helene Bergsholm) prepares for a party in TURN ME ON, DAMMIT!, a film by Jannicke Systad Jacobsen. Photo courtesy of New Yorker Films.

Despite its title & frank sexuality, Turn Me On, Dammit! never feels exploitative. Director Jannicke Systad Jacobsen applies her documentary background to a casual intimacy that gets inside Alma’s head, not her pants. The film has a sweet charm to it, particularly Bergsholm’s performance as Alma. It’s easy to relate to her frustration in small-town Scandinavia; sometimes getting off is the only way to get out. Turn Me On, Dammit! plays at Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex, NoHo 7 & Playhouse 7.

WIDE RELEASE

Magic Mike (Reviews) (Showtimes)
People Like Us (Reviews) (Showtimes)
Ted (Reviews) (Showtimes)
Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection (Reviews) (Showtimes)

LIMITED RELEASE

Beasts of the Southern Wild (Reviews) (ArcLight Cinemas) (The Landmark)
Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story (Reviews) (Laemmle Theaters)
The Last Ride (Reviews) (Laemmle NoHo 7)
The Matchmaker (Reviews) (Laemmle Theaters)
Neil Young Journeys (Reviews) (Nuart Theatre)
Turn Me On, Dammit! (Reviews) (Laemmle Theaters)
Unforgivable (Reviews) (Laemmle Theaters)

FROM DUSK TILL DAWN (1995) plays Friday at the New Beverly as part of the Vampire-Con Film Festival. Screencap courtesy Dimension Films.

The summer months aren’t kind to vampires, although the season does bring the Vampire-Con Film Festival to the New Beverly. This year’s blood-sucking bonanza begins Friday with Robert Rodriguez’ From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), paired with Mexican horror The Vampire’s Coffin (1958). The coffins keep coming Saturday with House of Dark Shadows (1970), the original big-screen version of the supernatural soap, alongside Grave of the Vampire (1974). There’s no better sanctuary than a dark theater!

Celebrate the sunlight at Cinefamily with Saturday’s Island Summer Party. The all-day affair sets sail with Disney’s Swiss Family Robinson (1960) at 4, the infamous Blue Lagoon (1980) around 7, “Bullets, Bombs & Babes” flick Hard Ticket to Hawaii (1987) around 9:30 and a midnight screening of Danny Boyle’s The Beach (2000). Hard Ticket producer Arlene Sidaris will appear to introduce that film. Of course, a Cinefamily special event always goes beyond mere movies. Polynesian musicians, fire dancers and a limbo competition between films ensure you’ll have as much fun out of your seat as in it.

Then there are times you need to get out of the theater altogether. This weekend’s Eat|See|Hear outdoor screening brings Zoolander (2001) to Paul Revere Charter Middle School in Brentwood (check out our intro to the series here). Even the biggest screen looks like it was built for ants compared to this behemoth. Self-described “real raunchy flower punk” band The Orwells kicks off the walk off at 7, with food trucks from Border Grill, Buttermilk, Fatburger, Jogasaki Burrito, Nom Nom, Shrimp Pimp, Steel City Sandwich and Vizzi peddling really really good looking treats.

Full list appears below. See you at the movies!

ALL WEEK

Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) (Arclight Hollywood) (The Landmark)
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Children Who Chase Lost Voices (2011) (Nuart Theatre)
A Drummer’s Dream (2010) (Downtown Independent)
Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story (2012) (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3)
The Intouchables (2011) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
The Last Ride (2012) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
The Matchmaker (2010) (Laemmle’s Fallbrook 7) (Laemmle’s Music Hall 3) (Laemmle’s Town Center 5)
Neil Young: Journeys (2011) (Nuart Theatre)
Safety Not Guaranteed (2012) (Laemmle’s Town Center 5)
Ted (2012) (Arclight Hollywood) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
Turn Me On, Damnit! (2011) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Noho 7) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Unforgivable (2011) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7) (Laemmle’s Royal Theatre) (Laemmle’s Town Center 5)
Your Sister’s Sister (2011) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)

THURSDAY 6/28

71 Into the Fire (2010) (Korean Cultural Center)
Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010) (midnight show) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre)
The Carter (2009) (free event) (Aero Theatre) (This Must Be the Place: Music on the Big Screen at the American Cinematheque)
Crazy Eyes (2012) (free event) (USC School of Cinematic Arts) (Outside the Box (Office))
Don’t Look Back (1967) (Aero Theatre) (This Must Be the Place: Music on the Big Screen at the American Cinematheque)
LA Air: Nancy Jean Tucker (Echo Park Film Center)
OC87 (2010) (Art Theatre of Long Beach)
Opening Night (free event) (LACMA) (Dance Camera West 11th Annual Dance Media Film Festival)
Rebellion (2011) / La Haine (1995) (w/ actor-director Mathieu Kassovitz) (Egyptian Theatre)
The Salt of Life (2011) / Mid-August Lunch (2008) (New Beverly Cinema)

FRIDAY 6/29

Adult Swim: Black Dynamite Premiere (free event) (Downtown Independent)
Arachnophobia (1990) (midnight show) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Friday Night Frights)
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) / The Vampire’s Coffin (1958) (New Beverly Cinema) (Vampire-Con Film Festival)
The Last Ride (2012) (w/ filmmaker Harry Thomason & special guests at the 7:10 screening) (Laemmle’s Noho 7)
Long Shorts Program (free event) (LACMA) (Dance Camera West 11th Annual Dance Media Film Festival)
Morocco (1930) (Old Town Music Hall)
Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982) / When the Wind Blows (1986) (Aero Theatre) (This Must Be the Place: Music on the Big Screen at the American Cinematheque)
She (1935) (w/ Holly Woodlawn) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Queer/Art/Film)
Soul Train Tribute (free event) (LACMA) (Dance Camera West 11th Annual Dance Media Film Festival)
A Star is Born (1937) (Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences) (Oscars Outdoors)
Thunderbirds are Go (1966) / Thunderbird Six (1968) (Egyptian Theatre)
The Warriors (1978) (Nuart Theatre) (Cine-Insomnia Midnight Movie)

SATURDAY 6/30

Bill W. (2012) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Channel 101 (free event) (Downtown Independent)
Cinefamily Summer Island Party (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre)
Enter the Void (2009) (New Beverly Cinema) (New Beverly Midnights)
First Position (2011) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story (2012) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
Going Somewhere (2011) (free event) (Hammer Museum) (Dance Camera West 11th Annual Dance Media Film Festival)
The Goonies (1985) (Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences) (Oscars Outdoors)
House of Dark Shadows (1970) / Grave of the Vampire (1974) (New Beverly Cinema) (Vampire-Con Film Festival)
Labyrinth (1984) (Hollywood Forever Cemetery) (Cinespia Screenings)
Morocco (1930) (Old Town Music Hall)
National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978) (w/ producer Matty Simmons and actors Stephen Furst & Martha Smith) (Egyptian Theatre)
OC87 (2010) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Palms (1993) (Echo Park Film Center)
Paul Williams: Still Alive (2011) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
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)
Stop Making Sense (1984) / Stax Revue 1967 (2007) (Aero Theatre) (This Must Be the Place: Music on the Big Screen at the American Cinematheque)
Thunderbirds Episodes Part 1 (Egyptian Theatre)
Zoolander (2001) (Eat|See|Hear) (Paul Revere Charter Middle School)

SUNDAY 7/1

1776 (1972) (w/ director Peter H. Hunt) (Egyptian Theatre)
Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre)
Bill W. (2012) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
First Position (2011) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story (2012) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex)
Lolita (1962) (The Bay Theatre)
Monterey Pop (1968) (Aero Theatre) (This Must Be the Place: Music on the Big Screen at the American Cinematheque)
Morocco (1930) (Old Town Music Hall)
National Theatre Live: Frankenstein (Downtown Independent)
OC87 (2010) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Paul Williams: Still Alive (2011) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle’s Playhouse 7)
Pink Ribbons Inc (2011) (Art Theatre of Long Beach)
Saul Bass on Film: Phase IV (1974) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre)
Thunderbirds Episodes Part 2 (Egyptian Theatre)

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)

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)