LAist Film Calendar: The Ups & Downs of Documentaries

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Australia's least-scary horror villain -- Bandageman. | Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing

I don't know if I've gotten even nerdier, or if documentaries have gotten even better, but half the films I've seen or wanted to see this year are non-fictional in nature. Which is why I'm stoked for DocuWeeks 2009, playing through the end of August at the Arclight. Sponsored by the International Documentary Association, the festival features compelling characters & stranger-than-fiction stories in first-look Academy-qualifying runs. Each week is a different program; this week features a look at ecology from the ground up, Up With People, the uphill struggle of Congolese & Nepalese refugees, and the uppest of the up, His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

If you'd rather spend time down under, there's the sublime beauty of Lake Eyre, and the rampant "Ozploitation" of Not Quite Hollywood at the Nuart. Plumb the depths of humanity & spirituality in a rare 70MM screening of the breathtaking Baraka. Or drown in the brutality beneath the crimson tides of The Cove (check out LAist's review here). Wow - information can be depressing. Let's click our heels back to fantasyland with The Red Shoes. When's somebody going to do a Powell & Pressburger program?

Full list appears below. See you at the movies!

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Looks like a perfect place to go wake-boarding! | Photo courtesy of sunrise.seven via flickr

All Week
The Cove (2009) (The Landmark)
The English Surgeon (2007) (Laemmle's Music Hall 3)
House of Numbers (2009) (Laemmle's Town Center 5)
Local Color (2006) (Laemmle's Fallbrook 7) Laemmle's Music Hall 3) (Laemmle's Town Center 5)
Lorna's Silence (2008) (Laemmle's Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle's Playhouse 7) (Laemmle's Royal Theatre) (Laemmle's Town Center 5)
Not Quite Hollywood (2008) (Nuart Theatre)
Shrink (2009) (Laemmle's Town Center 5)
Thirst (2009) (Laemmle's Sunset 5)

Thursday 7/30
Afghan Star (2009) (Nuart Theatre)
Godzilla, Mothra & King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) / Battle in Outer Space (1959) (Egyptian Theatre) (Giant Monsters and Japanese Sci-Fi Night!)
The Goonies (1985) (Universal CityWalk) (Big Free Outdoor Movie Night)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) (Arclight Sherman Oaks) (21 plus screening)
Julie & Julia (2009) (Aero Theatre)
The Limits of Control (2009) / Broken Flowers (2005) (New Beverly Cinema)
Pardon Us For Living But The Graveyard Is Full (2009) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Don't Knock The Rock)

Friday 7/31
5 Fingers (1952) / The Deadly Affair (1966) (LACMA) (James Mason on Film)
The Awful Truth (1937) / Theodora Goes Wild (1936) (New Beverly Cinema)
The Big Lebowski (1998) (Regency Fairfax) (Insomniac Cinema Midnight Movie)
The Cove (2009) (w/ Captain Paul Watson of "Whale Wars" @ 7:30PM show) (The Landmark)
The EPFC Filmmobile Summer Screening Series (Echo Park Film Center)
Faust (1926) (w/ live accompaniment) (Nuart Theatre) (Cine-Insomnia Midnight Movie)
Goin' to Town (1935) (Old Town Music Hall)
Indepdent Television Festival 2009 (Laemmle's Sunset 5)
International Documentary Association: DocuWeeks 2009 (Arclight Hollywood)
* Salt (2009) / Far From Gone (2009) (12PM)
* Smile 'Til It Hurts: The Up With People Story (2009) (12PM, 5:40PM)
* Sunrise/Sunset: Dalai Lama XIV (2009) (1:35PM, 7:30PM)
* DIRT! The Movie (2009) (1:45PM, 7:35PM)
* The Solitary Life of Cranes (2009) / Point of Entry (2009) / Ingelore (2009) (3:15PM)
* The Sari Soldiers (2009) (3:40PM, 9:45PM)
* Sweet Crude (2009) (5:15PM, 9:30PM)
Muppet History 101 / Muppet Music Moments (w/ Muppeteer Dave Goelz) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Muppets, Music & Magic)
A Night at Earl Carroll's (1940) / The Big T.N.T. Show (1966) (w/ Domenic Priore and special guests) (Egyptian Theatre) (Riot on the Sunset Strip Vol. II)
Not Quite Hollywood (2008) (w/ director Mark Hartley @ 7:30PM & 10PM shows) (Nuart Theatre)
The Red Shoes (1948) (newly restored print) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum)
Stunt Rock (1978) (New Beverly Cinema) (New Beverly Midnights)
Ten Canoes (2006) (free noon matinee) (Fowler Museum at UCLA)
The Terminator (1984) / Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) (Aero Theatre)

Saturday 8/1
The Awful Truth (1937) / Theodora Goes Wild (1936) (New Beverly Cinema)
Baraka (1992) (70MM) (Aero Theatre)
The Dungeonmaster (1985) (New Beverly Cinema) (New Beverly Midnights)
Experiments in Nature (w/ live score by Moonrats & Warpaint) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Nature's Symphony)
Food, Inc. (2008) (morning show) (Laemmle's Monica 4-Plex)
Goin' to Town (1935) (Old Town Music Hall)
Herb and Dorothy (2009) (morning show) (Laemmle's Monica 4-Plex)
Indepdent Television Festival 2009 (Laemmle's Sunset 5)
International Documentary Association: DocuWeeks 2009 (Arclight Hollywood)
* The Solitary Life of Cranes (2009) / Point of Entry (2009) / Ingelore (2009) (12PM)
* The Sari Soldiers (2009) (12PM, 5:40PM)
* Sunrise/Sunset: Dalai Lama XIV (2009) (2PM, 9:35PM)
* Smile 'Til It Hurts: The Up With People Story (2009) (2PM)
* Sweet Crude (2009) (3:40PM, 7:15PM)
* DIRT! The Movie (2009) (3:45PM, 9:45PM)
* Salt (2009) / Far From Gone (2009) (5:40PM)
Irene in Time (2009) (morning show) (Laemmle's Monica 4-Plex)
It's a Bikini World (1967) / Angel, Angel, Down We Go (1969) (w/ Domenic Priore) (Egyptian Theatre) (Riot on the Sunset Strip Vol. II)
Lolita (1962) (LACMA) (James Mason on Film)
Magic BMX / Rad (1986) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (HFS: Summer "Camp")
Not Quite Hollywood (2008) (w/ director Mark Hartley @ 7:30PM & 10PM shows) (Nuart Theatre)
Pygmalion (1938) (morning show) (Laemmle's Music Hall 3) (Laemmle's Playhouse 7) (Laemmle's Town Center 5)
The Red Shoes (1948) (newly restored print, 2PM & 7:30PM) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum)
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) (Sins O' The Flesh Midnight Show) (Nuart Theatre)
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) (Midnight Insanity Midnight Show) (Warner Grand Theatre)
Shanghai Express (1932) / The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933) (The Starlight Studio)
Some Like It Hot (1959) (w/ DJ Carlos Nino) (Hollywood Forever Cemetery) (Cinespia Screenings)

Sunday 8/2
And Now, My Love (1974) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Comedy Death-Ray Night: Fred Armisen)
Food, Inc. (2008) (morning show) (Laemmle's Monica 4-Plex)
Herb and Dorothy (2009) (morning show) (Laemmle's Monica 4-Plex)
Goin' to Town (1935) (Old Town Music Hall)
Indepdent Television Festival 2009 (Laemmle's Sunset 5)
International Documentary Association: DocuWeeks 2009 (Arclight Hollywood)
* Sunrise/Sunset: Dalai Lama XIV (2009) (12PM, 7:15PM)
* DIRT! The Movie (2009) (12PM, 5:40PM)
* Salt (2009) / Far From Gone (2009) (1:40PM)
* The Sari Soldiers (2009) (1:55PM, 7:35PM)
* Sweet Crude (2009) (3:15PM, 9:15PM)
* Smile 'Til It Hurts: The Up With People Story (2009) (3:55PM, 9:45PM)
* The Solitary Life of Cranes (2009) / Point of Entry (2009) / Ingelore (2009) (5:15PM)
Irene in Time (2009) (morning show) (Laemmle's Monica 4-Plex)
Modern Times (1936) / The General (1926) (New Beverly Cinema)
The Monster Squad (1987) (w/ live commentary by director Fred Dekker and special guests) (Aero Theatre)
Pygmalion (1938) (morning show) (Laemmle's Music Hall 3) (Laemmle's Playhouse 7) (Laemmle's Town Center 5)
The Red Shoes (1948) (newly restored print, 11am and 7pm) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum)
Uncle Meat (1987) / Cafe L.A.: The Beat Generation in Los Angeles (w/ Domenic Priore) (Egyptian Theatre) (Riot on the Sunset Strip Vol. II)
What's Up, Doc? (1972) (The Bay Theatre)

That's all for this week. Pardon me for ending, but the listing is full.

Compiled, as always, by the diligent and amazing Edward Yerke-Robins and his patient, understanding wife.