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Thousands of years ago, the pharaohs revered the scarab. This weekend, the Egyptian Theatre comes together to worship The Beatles. A Celluloid Celebration of John Lennon's 70th Birthday begins Thursday with the premiere of Nowhere Boy, a dramatization of Lennon's early life and the formation of Beatles proto-type The Quarrymen. The surviving Quarrymen still perform together 40+ years on, and cross the pond for a rare live performance. They're joined by the film's director Sam Taylor-Wood and Lennon-as-a-lad Aaron Johnson. Should you prefer the real deal, vintage documentaries and Fab Four feature Help! screen on double-bills throughout the weekend. Particularly noteworthy is Friday's feature, What's Happening! The Beatles in America. Helmed by the Maysles Brothers (Grey Gardens, Gimme Shelter), this backstage pass to The Beatles' first U.S. tour was shelved due to legal issues, and has never been released uncut on DVD. Note that the Nowhere Boy premiere/concert has a $25 ticket, while the other nights are standard prices.
Perhaps you'd rather hail to The King. The Cinefamily sports a weekend of Stephen King adaptations. Some of the best are from Masters of Horror Brian De Palma (Carrie), John Carpenter (Christine) and Mick Garris (Riding The Bullet), playing Friday & Saturday nights. Then Mistress of Horror Mary Lambert appears alongside her two Pet Sematary films on Sunday. But the real treat is two programs of "dollar babies". These come from budding and student filmmakers to whom King licensed his works for a single dollar. These shorts cannot be screened commercially, so this one-of-a-kind event is free, but be a sport and donate to Cinefamily at the door. For more freebies, bring out your dead! Every Sunday this month, the Echo Park Film Center's Filmmobile stalks the night, bringing free outdoor screenings to persons living and... not-so-much. Counting down to Halloween, the center joins with Ghost Hungers of Urban Los Angeles (GHOULA) to cherrypick choice haunts around the city. The series kicks off with Haunted Honeymoon, a horror-musical-comedy starring Gene Wilder (who also wrote and directed), Dom DeLuise (in drag) and Gilda Radner (in her final film role), at "Hollywood's most famous haunted landmark". Speculation abounds, but until we unearth the location, only three know the secret, and two are dead. Check GHOULA's website, EPFC's Facebook page or follow @EPFCfilmmobile on Twitter for updates.
That's all for this week. See you at the movies!
All Week
Thursday 9/30
Friday 10/1
Saturday 10/2
Sunday 10/3
That's all for this week. Best worst column!