Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman is a new documentary series by Jennifer Fox. She asks many questions and tries to get answers by interviewing women around the world. Told in 6 chapters, you can catch all of them at the Aero in Santa Monica this month.

One of the questions: "What is this strange modern female life we are living?"

I contemplate this lazily pretty much every evening watching Sex & The City reruns and trying to figure out if I'm more Carrie than Miranda. Recently I've experimented molding myself into a more girlfriend friendly model by curbing the shoe shopping fantasies and turning to modern sitcom wives, the ones that don't complain about their fuck buddies and might even actually have to budget their paychecks to feed the kids rather than their Chrsitian Dior habit. I don't idolize them for their housewifey-ness. At first glance the little domestic scenes with a laugh track set us all back twenty years where we heteros might as well sleep in separate twin beds.

After years of mind-numbing after-school syndicated bliss I know I've always been attracted to the moxie of say a Carrie Heffernan who get away with criticizing her oafish husband just to end every night with a kiss and a content smile deep in the habit of domesticity. Even the radiating motherhood of a Jill Taylor is admirable as she still glows surrounded by sons and men who act the same age. These women know how to stand their ground in the role of the straight-woman and accept their partners for all their doofy faults. How comforting to know there are pretty women out there for the loveable fuck-ups.

Numerous papers have been written on the role of wives in television and this is not meant to start a debate, it's just where my pop-culture soaked mind goes to when a filmmaker like Fox starts to ask good questions. ..."Why are women's real lives hidden?".... "Why is female sexuality taboo?" ... "Why do Charlotte and Samantha appall and entice me all at once?" ...

That last question is mine.

Jennifer Fox will be at the screening of the first two chapters tonight to answer more questions. In Chapter 1 Fox turns the camera on herself and her two relationships, one an affair with a married South African, and the other her Swiss boyfriend, who she's mot so sure she's really attracted to. Then she glances into the lives of her girlfriends, also middle-aged women, in various significant-other stages from divorce to multiple make-up sex. Fox attempts to define a familiar condition in our modern lexicon - the "commitment-phobe". I can't wait to see the results.

Chapter 2 is all about the Biological Clock. No matter our age I think we can all identify to Fox's predicament. She's lived a life of sexual freedom and discovery but has she missed out on not conceiving, that purely unique woman thing? Not a ground-breaking feminist debate, I know. The chapters seem to simplify it all at first but it is the level of intimacy a documentary that turns the show on itself gets to explore that makes Fox's work seem so intriguing.

Chapters 3 & 4 pick up next week also in double feature mode, and then the following Wednesday concludes the series in Chapters 5 & 6. The Aero hosts more screenings throughout the next few weeks, but taking a Wednesday night off for the next three weeks feels like just the sort of workshop a middle-aged woman would take, so I'm going to try it too. Those baby boomer feminists can't hog all the spotlight nor the Swiss boyfriends.


Wednesday, Sep. 5 7:30pm
Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman
Chapter 1 - No Fear of Flying: Living the Free Life
Chapter 2 - Test Piloting: Tick Tock the Bilogical Clock

Wednesday, Sep. 12 7:30pm
Chapter 3 - Experiencing Turbulance: The Price of Sexual Freedom
Chapter 4 - Crash and Burn: The Things All Women Share

Wednesday, Sep. 19 7:30pm
Chapter 5 - Walking Away From The Wreck: The Secret of Male Power
Chapter 6 - Breaking The Sound Barrier, Female Life Backwards: New Technology for the 'New Woman'


Aero Theater
1328 Montana Ave. at 14th Street
Santa Monica, 90403
$10 general admission
check American Cinematheque for more showtimes

Labels: events, film, television

One can't really say that filmmaker Guy Maddin has burst onto the mainstream scene. His work still falls heavily in the esoteric film club category. Every once in a while chances pop up for the general public to be awed by his one-of-a-kind work. In 2000 critics took notice when his short film Heart of The World, actually a promo for the Toronto Film Festival, preceded the film festival screenings.




I was introduced to his work in film school with the unparalleled Careful. Like all of Maddin's films, Careful was shot on a single sound stage in his native Winnepeg, Canada. It hearkens back to the days of early European films. Maddin still uses silent film techniques, like tableau style acting, in-camera effects, forced perspective, and hand colors the film. An homage to the German Mountain Film genre of the 1920s, Careful veers off its narrative track into a much more dark place examining censorship, sexual repression, and incest. The color scheme is haunting, the faces of the actors unforgettable; in fact every film of Maddin I've seen I've walked away with several strong images in my mind and been unable to shake them. I dare anyone to copy the vampire's kiss in Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary (2002) or Isabella Rosellini's beer filled glass legs from The Saddest Music in The World (2003).




Now Maddin has a new masterpiece, and his first film shot outside of Winnipeg. Taking liberties with his own childhood, Maddin has re-created a silent film era spectacle. Brand Upon the Brain is meant to be a live show, with a narrator, full orchestra, and Foley artist all on stage while the movie plays along. The show comes to the Egyptian Cinematheque this weekend. So far two celebrity narrators have jumped on board: cult -fave '60s vampire babe Barbara Steele on Friday and Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snickett) on Saturday. More will be announced soon on the Brand Upon The Brain myspace page. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity as DVDs don't do these films the justice. Abstract and antique, melodramatic for sure, messy and meticulous all at once; once you've seen a Guy Maddin film you won't really be the same, or at least not have the same affinity for color talkies.


Brand on The Brain Live Show
Egyptian Cinematheque
6712 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, 90028
Advance Tickets: $25
General Admission at the door: $30, $22 Students & Seniors

Friday, Jun. 8 7:30pm - Narrated by Barbara Steele

Saturday, Jun. 9 7:30pm - Narrated by Daniel Handler
10:00pm - Narrator TBA

Sunday, Jun. 10 7:30pm - Narrator TBA

Monday, Jun. 11 7:30pm - Narrator TBA

Labels: events, film

Hollywood Forever Cemetery Screenings are back. That means summer's right around the corner and my Saturday nights are taken. Start getting the picnic basket out of the closet. The good people of Cinespia already have a killer line-up. The drive-in movie experience, minus the cars and add a bunch of tombstones, is not to be missed.

A popular spot for the industry crowd and their dates, no one will be disappointed as the screenings season kicks off with Robert Altman's The Player and carries on with some recognized classics. Someone at Cinespia must be a huge Altman fan 'cuz they show at least one of his flicks each year. This year the number one spot serves as a tribute to the late great director and you get to watch The Player with a crowd who'll get all the Hollywood in-jokes.

Cemetery Screenings '07
Hollywood Forever Cemetery
6000 Santa Monica Blvd.
Hollywood, 90038
Gates at 7:00pm
Show at 8:30pm
$10 per person

Saturday, May 19
The Player








Saturday, May 26
Vertigo











Saturday, June 2
Gilda













Saturday, June 9
Harold and Maude










more to follow... check their fabulous new website each month.

Labels: film

For the bohemian eastsider who has everything, get her tickets to the Silver Lake Film Festival kick-off party tomorrow night.

Not only will parties pop up all over town plus musical acts at all the usual suspects til next Saturday along with a huge list of new films, but Thursday Night will honor filmmaker Hal Hartley and Parker Posey in their new film Fay Grim.

The sequel to Hartley's critically acclaimed, offbeat, original, low budget, little seen 1997 indie Henry Fool Posey revives the role of Ms. Fay Grim in all her indie queen glory. Fay a seemingly normal unhappy housewife has to outwit the CIA to save her husband, or something. (Sorry, still waiting for my Henry Fool Netflix to show up). I hope Ms. Posey shows up rockin' that Jew-fro she had going on a couple years back. I will know she will look great and act adorably aloof. Hartley will eat up more critical accolades, and why not, he's one of the few writer/directors/composers we got out there.




Silver Lake Film Festival
May 3-12

Fay Grim Screening with Hal Hartley & Parker Posey
Thursday, May 3 7:30pm
Barnsdall Art Center
Tickets here
or call 1.800.838.3006

Labels: events, film, local

The LA Phil has put together quite an impressive show spanning the next month and a half. The Shadows of Stalin exhibition showcases films, music and art born out of Russian communist oppression. Tonight and tomorrow two of the most acclaimed recent Russian historical films show at the Arclight.

Burnt by The Sun won the 1995 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Set in an idyllic countryside on the verge of WWII, an ex-Bolshevik officer's family faces Stalin's regime through extremely intimate circumstances. No other recent film has captured Russia's political conflict with as much compassion. Audiences may remember the touching scenes between Sergei, the aging officer, his young wife Mourissa and their 6 year old daughter Nadia as well as the rest of the cast of eccentric family and friends. The delicate balance of power within the family shrewdly shifts when a man from Mourissa's past visits, echoing the transfer of political influence from one generation to the next and its tragic ramifications.

Russian Ark is a mammoth feat of filmmaking. The bi-line explains it all: 2000 cast members, 3 live orchestras, 33 rooms, 300 years of Russian history, all in one take. Russian Ark is truly the only film to accomplish the movie in one take without hidden cuts. Special cameras were made to handle the amount of film and seamlessly blend one take. As for the condensed history lesson, the entirety of the action takes place in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersberg. A cryptic tour guide takes the viewer from room to room, unfolding major events in Russian history by period tableaus. An actress plays Catherine the Great watching an Opera and later we're privy to Czar Nicholas and his children. The main building of the vast Hermitage Museum is in fact the Winter Palace, the Czar's last home and the milestone for the start of the October Revolution. An impressive setting for sure for an impressive cinematic project. Constantly one is asking are the actors recreating historical moments or walking the decadent hallways as ghosts?

Shadows of Stalin Film Festival
Arclight Cinemas

Monday, Apr. 30 7:30pm
Russian Ark
$11.00 general admission

Tuesday, May 1 7:30pm
Burnt by The Sun
$11.00 general admission

Labels: film

My favorite fanzine (a magazine devoted to movements with a fan following) of the moment is Dumb Angel Magazine - an LA publication dedicated to all the fun post-war modernist stuff in California like surf movies and '60s beatnik culture. You can virtually leaf through the blog or order issues online. This week hosted a bunch of obscure Jan & Dean recordings.

Tonight Dumb Angel's editors Dominic Priore & Brian Chidester host a very special screening of a very anomalous film. 1961's Night Tide stars a young, rebellious Dennis Hopper as a wayward sailor strolling Venice beach. He meets a girl (Linda Lawson) who might be an actual mermaid but for the time being plays one in a circus sideshow. Apart from the plotline which flies off the mainstream radar, the film depicts life in Santa Monica as it was in the '60s - a sleepy counterculture community now taken for granted. Filmmaker Curtis Harrington and Dennis Hopper will be at The Egyptian for a Q & A.
Also plays with a short "Venice in the Sixties" plus a slideshow of rare shots from the Beatnik era.

Friday, Mar. 30 7:30pm
Egyptian Theater
6712 Hollywood Blvd.
$10 General Admission

Beatnik Beach Nite continues at the Egyptian Cinemateque...

Saturday, Mar. 31 7:30pm
Double Feature: The Beat Generation & The Connection (A very loose adaptation of Jack Kerouac's "The Subterraneans" - not available on DVD)
In person: Mamie Van Doren
$10 General Admission

Labels: events, film

The concessions and box office staff at the Arclight wear those little nametags with their favorite films. I can't help but comment anytime one of them takes my ticket.
The little exchange goes something like this.

Arclight staff member: "Theater 3 on your left. Enjoy the show."
(riiippp)
Me: "Oh, hey. Willow is one of my favorites too."
Arclight staff member: "...."

Yeah. They rarely respond. Sometimes you can get the box office clerks to bite your witty small talk hook and you might engage in such conversations as which film has a better cheerleading routine, Bring It On or American Beauty, like I have. These people are the closest we have to the video store geeks of my youth. You know, the dudes working the counter who once they found out you liked "independent movies" would scoff at your rental choices and then berate you into a David Lynch debate until you rented something worthy like Dune or Gummo.

The closest experience we will to this is Arclight's very own staff picked movie night. Every Monday night in April will feature a film from yester-year that some Arclight staff member has watched at least a dozen times. They're calling it the "Share The Experience Celebration". While the event's name recalls pyramid scheme seminars listed in the Learning Annex, these films are crowd favorites, so I hope an explanation isn't necessary. They're 21 and up screenings too so you can take that beer in with you. I've seen The Goonies too many times to count but never with Stella Artois and caramel corn. Should be great.

Monday, Apr. 2 8:00pm
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

Monday, Apr. 9 8:00pm
The Warriors

Monday, Apr. 16 8:00pm
The Goonies

Monday, Apr. 23 8:00pm
Monty Python and The Holy Grail

Labels: events, film

...and it kicked off Sunday. Until May 1 the New Beverly Cinema will host Quentin Tarantino'sGrindhouse Movie Festival. Practically every day will feature a double (sometimes triple) feature of the grittiest exploitation hits from the '70s. That's over 50 titillating titles, most from QT's private collection. Tarantino has said he would love to be at every screening personally, if he wasn't cutting his feature with Robert Rodriguez, their highly anticipated Grindhouse.

For those of us too young or too old to remember, the Grindhouse cinema was slang for movie houses dedicated to showing the most hardcore exploitation genres. From biker babes to axe murderers; from kung-fu masters to vigilante pimps - the tickets were cheap and the films usually shown on double bills. This was the only place some studios could get away with releasing such despicable titles. Hollywood Boulevard was once littered with these movie houses and the fantastically sleazy one-sheets. Tarantino has taken it upon himself to recreate that magic at an old movie house and even deck it out with the original paraphernalia. There will be rare lobby cards and other memorabilia throughout the festival. Prepare to rub elbows with every film sicko in town including, possibly, Tarantino's.

Find the full line-up & guide at Dennis Cazillo's blog.

My personal picks:

Tonight - Tuesday Mar. 6
7:30pm
The Mack & The Chinese Mack - Blaxploitation at its highest artform with Richard mother-fuckin' Pryor and its kung-fu counterpart.

Sunday Mar 11 - 3:45; 7:30pm
Monday & Tuesday Mar 12, 13 - 7:30pm
Rolling Thunder - Tarantino's namesake for his early production company - A revenge tale Paul Schrader wrote between Taxi Driver and Raging Bull.


Friday & Saturday Mar 23, 24 - 7:30pm
Coonskin - The controversial blaxploitation animated spoof leads a cartoon triple bill.


Sunday Mar 25 - 5:15; 9:20pm
Monday & Tuesday Mar 26, 27 - 9:20pm
Revenge of The Cheerleaders - David Hasselhoff plays a character named Boner. That's all you need to know.


Thursday April 5 - TBA
Grindhouse sneak preview





Sunday Apr 29 - 3:55; 7:30pm
Monday Apr 30 - 7:30pm
Tuesday May 1 - 7:30pm
A Bruce Lee tribute wraps up the festival with a rarely seen documentary The Real Bruce Lee & Lee Lives Within.

Labels: events, film

The Academy Awards are a second Christmas around these parts. I'm one of those hopeless movie lovers who will sit through the entire grueling pace of a show and ooh and aw through the pre-show even. ABC's pre-show lacked that certain panache - mainly showing any piece of the red carpet. Did everyone show up late this year? Were the cameras blocked by cameras from other networks? It didn't make any sense to keep cutting back to Randolph Duke talking about the gowns and never actually see the gowns. Even Seacrest over at E! had a hard time getting some face time with the nominees. Personally, I liked J-Hud's get-up when no one else seemed to. J-Lo's Marchesa goddess/60s throwback frock was my favorite. Helen Mirren proves actresses over a certain age are still hot. Ellen was a hilarious host but a safe host. The gospel number at the beginning could have been a page from her talk show but the myspace shots with Spielberg and Eastwood were incredibly charming. It would truly be incredible if the producers of the Super Bowls ever got their hands on the Oscar telecast. I don't think the country will sit through another yawnfest of poorly picked clip montages. The antics of modern dance troupe Pilobolus were ingenious. Please give an Emmy to the writers behind the song sung by Will Ferrel, Jack Black and John C. Reilly. Rhyming "Ralph Nader" with "gay coal mining movie with James Spader"? Genius.

The gallery.




Some more trivial trivia to impress the water cooler crowd:

- The Departed is a remake of the film Infernal Affairs, a Chinese film, not Japanese as mis-announced over the crowd when the best screenplay winner accepted his trophy.

- Peter O'Toole is now the most nominated actor to not win a trophy with 8 attempts. He did however receive a lifetime achievement statuette in 2002.

- Kate Winslet is the youngest most nominated actress at 31 with 5 to her name.

- You are more likely to win a best actor/actress award if you play someone famous. (Idi Amin, Ghandi, The Queen, June Carter Cash, Aileen Wuornos, etc..)

Trivial trivia gathered from the Academy Awards database.

Labels: film, reviews, television, videos

From the man that brought you the Cremaster cycle and the woman who brought swan dresses to the public eye - Art superstar couple Matthew Barney and Bjork teamed up in 2005 to make Drawing Restraint 9. Like Barney's Cremaster films, this exists as a part of a whole art installation (#9 of 12). The Drawing Restraint series focus on the concept of athlete as artist. Barney was influenced by Houdini and continues his quest into human body manipulation, also reminiscent of Cremaster. The only cinematic part in the series, Drawing Restraint the film explores Japanese traditions at an extreme-mundane pace.

Barney's passion for petroleum jelly and fetish exploration are here along with elaborate costumes as he uniquely depicts whale hunting, pearl diving and tea ceremonies. Bjork provides the soundtrack. Fans of the Icelandic princess will not be disappointed. Her haunting melodies go hand in hand with Barney's disturbing behavior. Bjork and Barney take center stage also as the film's protagonists. Simply known as the Occidental couple, they are the audience's portal to the strange Eastern ceremonies and fall in love through precise choreography aboard a whaling ship. The ship ultimately swallows the couple when it becomes a giant teacup. Should one need explanation, the making-of documentary, No Restraint, plays along with the feature all weekend.

American Cinemateque Egyptian Theater
6712 Hollywood Blvd.

Thurs. & Fri. Feb. 15/16 Spielberg Theatre
No Restraint (documentary) 7:30 & 9:30pm
2006, 72 min.

Sat.& Sun. Feb. 17/18 Spielberg Theater
No Restraint 5:00 & 9:30pm

Drawing Restraint (feature) 7:00pm
2005, 135 min.

Labels: art, events, film

Those of you still recovering from your Sundance sniffles and hangovers will be happy to know the fascinating documentary screenings do not stop in Utah. This Thursday night join the filmmakers of Frank & Cindy, for a free screening of this new documentary. Frank & Cindy is a film of the cinema verite flavor. Filmmaker G.J. Echternkamp turned the cameras on his stepdad Frank, a one-hit wonder pop song writer who now lives in the basement of the filmmaker's mom's house "drinking zinfandel all day and peeing into coffee cans". The Grey Gardens references are already flying as the doc's premise becomes a much more intimate portrait of human nature and inescapable family ties. Ira Glass' new "This American Life" TV show will be devoting an entire episode to Frank's story. Showtime starts airing the show March 22.

Thursday, Feb. 8
Frank & Cindy - Free Screening
7:30pm Sharp
Fine Arts Theater
8556 Wilshire Blvd.
Beverly Hills

Free Parking at the Flynt Building
8484 Wilshire Blvd.

Labels: events, film, local

The iconic design on the movie poster for Hitchcock's Vertigo is instantly recognizable. What's not so widely known, outside of certain circles, is the man behind the graphics was a talented filmmaker himself and responsible for the striking and iconic look of 1950s cinema. Saul Bass still influences the graphic designers of opening title sequences and one sheets everywhere. Bass started in advertising design concepts, moved on to animation, and soon entered every design aspect of the film industry and directing, encouraged by his contemporary Otto Preminger. With the partnership of his wife Elaine, the Basses made over 50 opening title sequences. The Skirball Cultural Center is proudly displaying Bass' original posters, as well as hosting film nights for more of his iconic works. Patrons will have the chance to see rare artifacts, like the story boards for Psycho's infamous shower scene (conceived by Bass and Hitchcock) as well as Bass' feature film Phase IV, where with the help of some clever special effects, giant ants declare war on a small town.

Film Schedule
Tuesday 2/6
Anatomy of A Murder 1:30pm
Free

Thursday 2/22
Phase IV 7:30pm
$5

Tuesday 2/27
Bonjour Tristesse 1:30pm
Free

Skirball Cultural Center
2701 N. Sepulveda
(310) 440-4500
Museum admission free on Thursdays 12:00-9:00pm
Saul Bass Exhibition runs to April 1.

Labels: art, events, film

Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt's 3rd Animation Show kicks off today. The travelling show brings the year's best animated shorts to your city hand-picked by animators Judge (Beavis & Butthead, King of The Hill) and Hertzfeldt ("Everything Will Be OK"). Each evening promises an eclectic mixture of Oscar nominees and festival favorites as well as Hertzfeldt's latest cartoon.

Tickets are onsale now. Schedule and line-up found here.

The California tourdates:

1/16/07
Arlington Theater, Santa Barbara
Mike Judge in attendance

1/25/07
Castro Theatre, San Francisco
Special Guest VJ set by Max Hattler who's short "Collision" appears in this year's program + pre-show by students of the SFSU Animation Dept.

1/26/07
California Theater, San Jose
VJ set by Max Hattler + a show by Shrunkenheadman, San Jose State's animation/illustration club.

1/27, 1/28/07
Wheeler Auditorium, Berkeley
VJ set by Max Hattler

2/7/07
UCLA Royce Hall, Los Angeles
Gallery Nucleus store

2/8/07
Spreckels Theatre, San Diego

2/9/07
Crest Theatre, Sacramento

2/15/07
Rialto Theater, South Pasadena

Labels: comics, events, film

Starting tonight, even if you're not a guild member or Academy voter you have the chance to see all of the Golden Globe nominees for Best Foreign Language Film. Take in Apocalypto, Letters from Iwo Jima, The Lives of Others, Volver, and Pan's Labyrinth at the Aero Theater through Jan. 13 and then on Sunday afternoon join the FREE roundtable discussion with all of the filmmakers (minus Mel Gibson) at the Egyptian Cinemateque. At the end of the weekend you'll really feel like a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press.

Sunday, Jan. 14
1:00pm
Golden Globes Foreign Language Nominees Seminar
with Pedro Almodovar, Guillermo Del Toro, Clint Eastwood, and Florian Henckel von Donnersmark.
Egyptian Theater
6712 Hollywood Blvd.
Free admission and parking. Tickets will only be available the day of the event.

Labels: events, film

Spike Lee will be on hand at Borders in Westwood tonight to sign copies of his newly released DVD When The Levees Broke. I gotta say, this is one of the most important, and unique documentaries to come out this year. It raises and answers so many questions left after the Hurricane Katrina disaster. For those of you unable to see it on HBO when it aired earlier this year, now is your chance. It doesn't heal any wounds. In fact, watching it may open new ones, but it is worth it and never more relevant.

Wednesday, Dec. 20
7:30pm
Spike Lee in-store appearance
Borders bookstore
1360 Westwood Blvd
310.475.3444

Labels: events, film, reviews

Maverick Award Winner from Method Fest 2005 and Midnight Extreme Award from Spain 2006 doesn't read like your basic Sundance entry. That's because this is a movie starring actors with down syndrome from the mind of Crispin Hellion Glover.

Glover has gained a cult following since bursting on the scene as George McFly. When not donning the Thin Man persona from the Charlie's Angels movies can be found playing with rats in the Willard re-make, writing/illustrating books of the macabre, collecting antique medical equipment, attending the Church of Satan, and directing feature films.

Already in post-production on the sequel, Glover will attend all three screenings of "What Is It?" this weekend at the Egyptian Cinemateque conducting a Q&A and signing his books. Before the show will even be an hour-long slide show narrated by Glover of his illustrations and various creations.

Jane Ganahl from the San Francisco Examiner describes "What Is It?": "Scenes with naked women in elephant masks, Shirley Temple, Glover being lowered deus-ex-machina style into a Maxfield Parrish scene...It's like Fellini on psychedelics -- wildly creative but completely twisted."
Don't miss out. General Admission $18.

"What Is It?" & Crispin Hellion Glover's Big Slide Show
Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Dec. 8-10
8:00pm
Egyptian Theatre
6712 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood
323.466.3456

Labels: events, film

This Saturday and Sunday marks the closing weekend of Takeshi Murata's strange and hypnotic video installation "Untitled (Silver)". Murata takes the 1960 Italian horror film, Mask of Satan and deconstructs it pixel by pixel with an original soundtrack by Robert Beatty and Ellen Mollé. Already a hit in San Francisco and New York the pixels swarm, morph and swirl before your very eyes with amazing affects. Art Forum described the experience as trippy and compared it to the Old Masters' melting paintings with the random computer connectedness of John Cage pieces.

"Untitled (Silver)" by Takeshi Murata
b&w single channel video on DVD
10 minutes
at The Machine Project
1200 D N. Alvarado
213-483-8761

Sat & Sun open 12 - 5pm

Labels: art, film, videos

Vice Magazine, known for promoting global hedonism (not to mention their dos and donts page I'm re-obsessed with) is coming out with a new DVD this month. The Vice Guide to Travel. It's not a lonely planet guide on film by any means, more like a primer to where the largest illegal arms dealers are in the world, or where drug lords go to party in Rio de Janeiro, or what really is going down in Chernobyl right now. Johnny Knoxville and David Cross round out a group of celebrity and daring journalists' journeys to the center of these non-vacation destinations. The mini-trailer is enough to scare me away from Pakistan for a while longer.
I Heart Comix hosts this FREE screening at Safari Sam's tomorrow night. Get there early for a seat or show up late for the bands that will play afterwards and stand wherever you can.

Vice Guide To Travel Advance Screening
Tuesday, Nov. 21
Safari Sam's
5214 Sunset Blvd.
7:00pm doors, 7:30pm film
Music afterwards by
Eastern Conference Champions,
The Rinse and DJ Paparazi

Labels: bars, events, film, music

The Silent Movie Theater has opened its doors once more as L.A.'s premiere spot to see classic silent films. The theater's long history started out in 1942 as a couple from Oklahoma's dream to have their own movie theater play the silents. Now in the hands of its fourth owners, Dan and Sammy Harkham are two brothers in their 20s who bought the theater this summer. I am excited to know there's more silent movie fans out there than just those who were alive when the movies first ran. I am disappointed there's no more trivia contest and vaudevillian song at the opening of each show, like the old manager used to do. But the seats remain small, the music live, and the line-up cycles classics for all tastes. The brothers will dedicate at least one night a week to silents only and hope to bring in "Talkies" for the rest of the week. Highlights from this month include some spooky flicks for Halloween like Nosferatu and The Phantom of The Opera as well as Felix the Cat cartoons where he battles some witches. But really, I'm going for the rare Buster Keaton pictures, like Haunted House (above).

Silent Movie Theater
611 N. Fairfax Ave.
323.655.2520

Silents always @ 8:00pm. Always $9. Metered and street parking available after 6:00pm as well as pay lots across the street by Fairfax High School for $6.

Labels: film, newsworthy

John Cameron Mitchell told Dan Savage recently, "There's weird pressure in a big city to know exactly who you are. You can wind up feeling more lonely because everyone else seems to know who they are."

That quote goes out to many a friend of mine, who I urge to not feel alone. And go see Shortbus. And go rent Tarnation. I'm not going to send you out to see Hedwig And The Angry Inch because those songs will be stuck in your head for days, and no one needs more songs stuck in their heads. But John Cameron Mitchell has an uncanny capability to be both sensitive and titilating. His choice in material is delectable and sparse, only releasing a couple films so far, but prolific supporter of the arts nonetheless. When lonely, the important thing to remember is "everyone else seems to know who they are."

Shortbus showtimes:
(1 hr 42 min)

Laemmle's Sunset 5
8000 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles
11:45am, 2:20pm, 4:55, 7:30, 10:00

Laemmle Playhouse 7
673 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena
11:45am, 2:20pm, 5:00, 7:40, 10:15

Laemmle Town Center 5
17200 Ventura Blvd., Encino
11:55am, 2:30pm, 5:05, 7:40, 10:10

Labels: film

The cemetery screening season at Hollywood Forever is coming to a close. Tomorrow and next Saturday will see the last movies of the summer season. If you haven't been to a cemetery screening, you are truly missing out on a growing LA summer night tradition. Cinespia sponsors the event, selecting the DVDs, DJs and pre-show movie poster slide show. Yes, they actually screen movies in a cemetery, but not just any cemetery. Hollywood Forever is right behind the Paramount lot and is the resting place of many stars as well as backdrop to many shoots. The biggest draw is you can bring in as much picnicking supplies as you can carry. No, you don't roll out a picnic blanket on someone's grave. The films are projected on the large mausoleum and everyone packs in to the large lawn in front of it. The sound from surrounding speakers has gotten better, the movie line-up is always in steady rotation, from the classic to classically obscure. The most popular movies from this year were Breakfast At Tiffany's (preditably) and a humungous turnout for Pee Wee's Big Adventure.
This Saturday hosts Preston Sturgess' first picture The Great McGinty. The finale show on Sep. 30 is the original Dawn of The Dead.
Gates promptly open at 6:30pm and the movie gets started around 8:00pm. Show up before 7:00pm to claim a good piece of grass. The $10 admission price includes parking, but eager fans park nearby and line up outside the gates before they open. Veterans bring plenty of food and wine as well as candles, pillows and low chairs - any high backed lawn chairs could get you booed if you block someone's view. Blankets for the crisp evening air are also a must. This is Hollywood's verison of a drive-in so don't get offended if a neighboring party keeps the party going through the movie. Like a drive-in this is also the top date night spot - small PDA warning.

Hollywood Forever Cemetery
6000 Santa Monica Blvd. & Gower

photo collage courtesy of hollowlift

Labels: events, film

Ever since I saw the trailer I've been awaiting Michel Gondry's new film The Science Of Sleep with fist-clenching anticipation. Will it be another sentimental Amelie or will Gondry bring to the silver screen the magic he's previously created in Bjork's music videos? Gael Garcia Bernal plays Stephane, a worker at a calendar factory and vivid daydreamer. He comes up with the wacky idea to create a calendar of disasters - one for each month. Gondry called on his Nanny's brother, Baptiste Ibar, to create these "disastrology" paintings. So when you've overloaded on Bernal's cute face you can puruse Ibar's gallery, like the earthquake painting (above). Look familiar? Limited release start its run Sep. 22.

Labels: art, film

Vons has just started stocking the shelves with candy corn and pumpkins, but I already know what I want for Christmas. Pre-sales are in effect for the ultimate Criterion Collection. 50 DVDs come packaged in a beautiful coffee table quality book called Essential Art House: 50 Years of Janus Films. Janus is responsible for bringing foreign films to the art houses. Now is your chance to impress every person who thinks they really know what Godard films are all about. Or knock the socks off your Fellini loving friends when you show them Polanski's first feature. Scorsese writes the introduction. Order now through Criterion get a freebie t-shirt and save $200 (that's only $650 before the retail price!) Take note, Santa.

Labels: film, shopping

Toronto International Film Festival kicks off today. Yes, yes, it's in Toronto, not Hollywood - but I need to plug a very important film by some very nice filmmakers - No Place Like Home by Perry Henzell. I was fortunate to once meet Perry at a party. He is the man responsible for introducing the mainstream western world to reggae in his debut film The Harder They Come. Jimmy Cliff's soundtrack quickly became a chart-topper and a classic. The film's loving sensitivity to the Jamaican culture brought American audiences into Kingston's inequalities before Bob Marley recorded on U.S. shores.
Henzell only made one other film, incomplete for many years until now. No Place Like Home is a poetic companion film, and a collage of multiple trips to Jamaica, not to mention a reconstructed negative and decades between re-shoots. A familiar fish out of water tale takes deeper roots as the film follows a white woman's trip into rural Jamaica. Expect topless sunbathing, killer ganja and rock steady and expect to not see anything else like it. Grace Jones' first time on film is history making enough. The Toronto film festival recognizes it as a new film and a time capsule; the island of 1970s free love does not exist anymore. The journey in Henzell's films are fitting. His journey to get them financed and seen are definitely part of the bigger picture. Congratulations to all those involved. I'm so jealous I can't be in Canada this week.
Festival guide & full article.

Labels: film, reviews

L.A. International Short Film Festival is going on all this week at the Arclight - full schedule here - a couple shout-outs on the program today:

"Solus" - A prideful Haitian woman struggles with her past while facing her present. Directed by promising newcomer Richard Heller.
1:00pm with five others.

"Quarter to Life" - Will Moore and Chad Matthews bring the quarter-life crisis to fruition.
5:15pm shown as part of the L.A. Filmmakers showcase







"Grace" - Young woman meets young girl on the beach in a beautiful meditation on life and death. By accomplished and graceful VFX Producer Camille Cellucci.
8:00pm Finale in a program with 13 others

Labels: events, film

This Film is Not Yet Rated
Documentary
97 min.
Limited Screening Opening Night, Nuart Theater, Santa Monica, Friday 9/1/06

Did you know there are two secret policy influencing organizations in the U.S? One is the CIA and the other is the Motion Picture Association of America's Raters board. Eight people decide what rating to give (G, PG, R etc..) every major released film in the U.S. and their identities remain a secret ... until now.
Filmmakers Kirby Dick and Eddie Schmidt were on hand at the Nuart yesterday night to promote their new documentary. Soapbox-y at times, but incredibly informative, the film not only documents the MPAA's shady mission and history but exposes the Raters' identities by hiring a private investigator. The 30-day stakeout, captained by Becky the PI, is the most entertaining part of the film. There are also cartoons comically illustrating the MPAA's list of no-nos, such as non-traditional sex acts, drug use, and violence against children. Michael Moore (Fahrenheit 9/11) and Morgan Spurlock (Supersize Me) fans have seen the stick before. In fact, Kirby Dick comes off as a Michael Moore wannabe, putting himself in the role of valiant muckraker to the heinous acts of censorship and blatant contradictions by the MPAA officers. Nonetheless, I am thankful the Hollywood expose is out, especially when Dick and Schmidt detail the process of avoiding the dreaded NC-17 stamp. We are familiar with the double standard game the ratings board plays for studio pics vs. art house film when it comes to taboo topics like masturbation, homosexual sex, drug use, and gratuitous violence. Dick and Schmidt also identify, through other filmmakers' testimonies, there is not set standard the MPAA follows - so bloodless violence in big budget action flicks receive less severe ratings than war documentaries. Also a boy can masturbate into a pie but a girl can't show any sign of pleasure from oral sex for a prolonged amount of time. Puppets can't even simulate any position other than the approved missionary (see Team America - even when we all know the raunchier "uncut" version can be bought at Best Buy.) Most informative is Kimberly Peirce's tale of cutting the orgasm scenes in her directorial debut Boys Don't Cry. The board deemed Brandon's post cum shot too racy but the scene when he's beaten to death acceptable. Most applaud goes to Kevin Smith (Clerks) for stating on camera that the most despicable act of violence often slipping by as an R or even PG-13 is violence against women and would like to see any rape or woman-in-peril plot device struck from the filmmaking language. Right on.
The limited engagement starts up this month - but help them get the word out by requesting This Film in your local theaters and sign their petition to revise the ratings system.

Labels: film, reviews