LAist Film Calendar 03/10-03/13: Charlie Sheen Goes Downtown & Cinefamily Goes Cassavetes

The Downtown Independent has a winning line-up this weekend! Everyone's favorite Adonis warlock has been booted from the small screen, but Charlie Sheen truly explodes on the big screen! The Charlie Sheen Weekend Bender features Wall Street on Friday night, and a tenacious trio of The Chase, Hot Shots & Major League on Saturday! Between films, the Bender boasts #tigerblood competitions & a Charlie Sheen Lookalike contest. Fans of the Downtown Independent have also started a #wewantcharlie campaign on Twitter in an attempt to lure the actor away from his "goddesses" and into an appearance at the event.

What's your take on John Cassavetes? Whether you dub him misogynist or genius, Cinefamily continues a month-long tribute to the celebrated actor-writer-director. A true independent, Cassavetes remains influential for his pioneering, uncompromising lo-fi filmmaking style, marked by shaky cams, improvisational dialogue, and mortgaging his home so he wouldn't need to answer to a financier. This weekend, the theater welcomes Cassavetes collaborator Ben Gazzara for a screening of Cassavetes' Husbands on Saturday night.

Gazzara guests again Sunday evening, leading a career retrospective featuring The Strange One (Gazzara's first starring role), Killing Of A Chinese Bookie (classic Cassavetes) and Saint Jack (a pulp-playboy film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, no stranger to '70s film fans). Outside the Cinefamily, Gazzara is best known for playing porn magnate Jackie Treehorn in The Big Lebowski. To truly appreciate his acting range, hustle to the Nuart's midnight screening of that film Friday night after you get out of Husbands.

Speaking of the Nuart, they've got the cure for all those dudes. Elektra Luxx stars Carla Gugino as its titular vixen, a retired, pregnant adult film star trying to make ends meet amidst intrusive sex bloggers, dead rockers & the Virgin Mary! Methinks Jackie Treehorn would approve of this quirky sex comedy (and so would Charlie Sheen). Cast members Malin Ackerman & Emmanuelle Chiriqui appear at the 7:30PM & 10PM Friday shows, joined by Carla Gugino & writer-director Sebastian Gutierrez for the 7:30PM & 10:30PM Friday shows.

Full list appears below. See you at the movies!

All Week

• Certified Copy (2010) (The Landmark)
  
• Elektra Luxx (2010) (Nuart Theatre)
  
• Jane Eyre (2011) (The Landmark)
  

Thursday 3/10

• The Adjustment Bureau (2011) (Arclight Beach Cities) (Arclight Sherman Oaks) (21+ screening)
  
• COINTELPRO 101 (2010) (w/ filmmaker Claude Marks & other guests) (REDCAT - Roy & Edna Disney/Calarts Theater)
  
• Dark of the Sun (1968) / Hell River (1964) (New Beverly Cinema)
  
• Hall Pass (2011) (Arclight Hollywood) (21+ screening)
  
• Ingredients (2009) (w/ panel discussion hosted by Slow Food L.A.) (Aero Theatre)
  
• The King's Speech (2010) (Arclight Hollywood) (21+ screening)
  
• Open Screen (Echo Park Film Center)
  
• The Princess of Montpensier (2010) (free event w/ director Bertrand Tavernier) (Melnitz Movies)
  
• A Romantic Papa (1960) (free event) (Korean Cultural Center) (1950s-60s Classic Films)
  
• Secret Sunshine (2007) (Egyptian Theatre)
  
• Shadows (1959) (w/ Lelia Goldoni) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (John Cassavetes)
  

Friday 3/11

• The Big Lebowski (1998) (Nuart Theatre) (Cine-Insomnia Midnight Movie)
  
• Death Wish (1974) / The Nightcomers (1971) (w/ Michael Winner's live show "My Life in the Movies") (Aero Theatre)
  
• Elektra Luxx (2010) (w/ cast members Malin Ackerman & Emmanuelle Chriqui at 7:30pm & 10pm shows) (Nuart Theatre)
  
• Eraserhead (1976) (Art Theatre of Long Beach) (Mondo Fridays)
  
• The Human Body (w/ discussion) (Ramo Auditorium @ Caltech)
  
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) (Old Town Music Hall)
  
• The Night of the Hunter (1955) / Witness for the Prosecution (1957) (Egyptian Theatre) (Charles Laughton Tribute)
  
• Reefer Madness (1936) (Regency Academy) (Insomniac Cinema Midnight Movie)
  
• Stone (1974) (midnight show) (New Beverly Cinema)
  
• To Shoot an Elephant (2009) (Echo Park Film Center)
  
• Too Late Blues (1961) / The Best of "Johnny Staccato" (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (John Cassavetes)
  
• Tribute to Tom Chomont (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum) (UCLA Festival of Preservation)
  
• The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) / Donkey Skin (1970) (LACMA) (The Early Films of Catherine Deneuve)
  
• The Unseen (1980) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Friday Night Frights)
  
• Wall Street (1987) (Downtown Independent) (The Charlie Sheen Weekend Bender)
  
• White Lightning (1973) / The Last American Hero (1973) (New Beverly Cinema)
  

Saturday 3/12

• The Chase (1994) / Hot Shots! (1991) / Major League (1989) (w/ #tigerblood games and Charlie Sheen lookalike contest) (Downtown Independent) (The Charlie Sheen Weekend Bender)
  
• The Dark Crystal (1982) (Devil's Night Drive In)
  
• Elektra Luxx (2010) (w/ director Sebastian Gutierrez and cast members Carla Gugino, Malin Ackerman & Emmanuelle Chriqui at 7:30pm & 10pm shows) (Nuart Theatre)
  
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) (Old Town Music Hall)
  
• Husbands (1970) (w/ Ben Gazzara) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (John Cassavetes) (An Evening With Ben Gazzara)
  
• The Last Metro (1980) (LACMA) (The Early Films of Catherine Deneuve)
  
• Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003) (w/ director Thom Andersen) (Aero Theatre)
  
• The Mechanic (1972) / Scorpio (1973) (w/ Michael Winner) (Egyptian Theatre)
  
• Millennium Mambo (2001) (Echo Park Film Center)
  
• On the Vitaphone, Program One (1927-30) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum) (UCLA Festival of Preservation)
  
• Rainbow Over Texas (1947) / Heart of the Rio Grande (1942) (w/ actress Fay McKenzie) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum) (UCLA Festival of Preservation)
  
• The Roachmobile (w/ discussion) (Ramo Auditorium @ Caltech)
  
• 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)
  
• Stone (1974) (midnight show) (New Beverly Cinema)
  
• White Lightning (1973) / The Last American Hero (1973) (New Beverly Cinema)
  

Sunday 3/13

• The Band Wagon (1953) / That's Entertainment (1974) (w/ book signing of MGM: Hollywood's Greatest Backlot) (Egyptian Theatre)
  
• Bob & Carol & Ted & Alica (1969) / Blume in Love (1973) (New Beverly Cinema)
  
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) (Old Town Music Hall)
  
• I'll Never Forget What's'isname (1967) / The Jokers (1967) (w/ director Michael Winner) (Aero Theatre)
  
• Images of Nature, or The Nature of the Image: Canadian Artists at Work (Egyptian Theatre) (Los Angeles Filmforum)
  
• Play of the Week: "Waiting for Godot" (1961) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum) (UCLA Festival of Preservation)
  
• The Strange One (1956) / The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976) / Saint Jack (1979) (w/ Ben Gazzara) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (John Cassavetes) (A Sunday With Ben Gazzara)
  
• This Is Your Life (1953-61) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum) (UCLA Festival of Preservation)
  
• The Wizard of Oz (1939) (The Bay Theatre)
  

That's all for this week. How ironic is it that two of the most misogynistic men around roll into town the week of International Women's Day? All we need now is Mel Gibson for three the hard way!