Weekly Movie Picks: Grindhouse, Decline of Western Civ, Spirit of the Beehive, Jodorowsky Films & More

Poster for The Chinese Hercules Grindhouse
There probably isn’t a single night I wouldn't enjoy going to the Quentin Tarantino-curated Grindhouse Festival at the New Beverly. On Monday & Tuesday it’s a double bill of Rolling Thunder, a revenge flick about a Vietnam vet who goes on the warpath after his wife and son are killed by thugs, and The Town That Dreaded Sundown, a 1977 film that's set in 1946 about a hooded killer stalking the terrified residents of a small Texas town. Wednesday and Thursday it's pair of martial arts flicks, Chinese Hercules and Black Dragon. Thursday and Friday features a trio of sexploitation films that will let you take your pick of vintage hotties: Sex on the Run (Britt Ekland, Marisa Berenson, Marisa Mell), Sex with a Smile (Barbara Bouchet) and The Oldest Profession (Raquel Welch).

WHEN: Monday, March 12-Sunday, March 18; various times
WHERE: The New Beverly, 7165 Beverly Blvd. (1 block West of La Brea)

The Decline Of Western Civilization
Penelope Spheeris' seminal 1981 documentary about the Los Angeles punk scene features interviews with and performances by a host of legendary bands including Black Flag, Catholic Discipline, Circle Jerks, Fear, The Germs, The Alice Bag Band and X. Spheeris will be on hand for a Q&A following the screening.

WHEN: Thursday, March. 15 at 7:30pm
WHERE: Melnitz Movies at the James Bridges Theater, UCLA Campus

Off-Screen Vide & Performance
Organized by artist and independent curator Darin Klein this is live performance will integrate found film and video footage by a variety of Los Angeles-based filmmakers and art collectives: F-Stop Serenade, Ryan Heffington, Lucas Michael, New Energy Encounter Group, Lawrence Rengert, and Kelly Sears. These artists employ disparate technical practices and aesthetic sensibilities, rich with references to both contemporary art and popular entertainment, to bridge the gap between images on the screen and actions on the stage. This presentation is organized by Darin Klein.

WHEN: Thursday, March 15 at 8:00 p.m.
WHERE: The Hammer, 10899 Wilshire Blvd. (at Westwood Blvd.)

The Spirit of the Beehive
The plot description doesn't do justice to this beautiful Spanish drama that's rich with emotion, symbolism and beautiful visuals. Directed by Victor Erice in 1978 but set in 1940 just after the Spanish Civil War, the film is about Ana and Isabel, two young girls who are determined to find the monster after a traveling picture show screens James Whale's Frankenstein in their small, isolated village. Instead, they find a wounded Republican soldier hiding out in a nearby barn. The film is slow and not at all flashy but it makes a good companion piece to Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth. The Spirit of the Beehive screens as the second half of a double-bill with Jean Cocteau's 1945 film Beauty and the Beast, which begins at 7:30 p.m.

WHEN: Friday, March 16 at 9:10 p.m.
WHERE: LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., (a few blocks East of Fairfax)

El Topo Alejandro Jodorowsky Films at the Nuart
A pair of psychedelic, surreal, avant-garde films from cult Spanish director Alejandro Jodorowsky. El Topo (1971) is a bizarre Western about a gunslinger and mystic on the twisted path to self-enlightenment. The Holy Mountain (1973), which was reportedly funded by John Lennon and George Harrison, follows a thief who travels with seven powerful mortals representing different planets to Lotus Island where they hope to learn the secret of immortality from the mystics living on the holy mountain.

WHEN: Friday, March 16-Thursday, March 22
WHERE: Nuart Theater, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd. (at Sawtelle Blvd., West LA)

Sid Grauman Birthday Tour
In honor of the 128th birthday of Sid Grauman, the failed prospector who founded the Chinese and Egyptian theaters, the American Cinematheque will offer a special presentation about Grauman's colorful life hosted by Mark Simon of Samuel French Bookstores and followed by an abbreviated tour of the Egyptian Theatre. This will occur in lieu of the regular tour. Five years before he launched the Chinese, Grauman opened the first movie palace on Hollywood Boulevard, the Egyptian, which hosted the first Hollywood movie premiere when it opened with Robin Hood starring Douglas Fairbanks on October 18, 1922.

WHEN: Saturday, March 17, 10:30 a.m.
WHERE: American Cinematheque at The Egyptian Theater, 6712 Hollywood Boulevard, (just east of Highland Ave.) in Hollywood