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Movie Picks: Bonjour Tristesse, Tarkovsky, Resnais, NY Indie Fest, Verhoeven, Thai Westerns, Grindhouse + more!
Bonjour Tristesse
As part of its ongoing Saul Bass mini-tribute, the Skirball Center will screen Bonjour Tristesse, a drama directed by Otto Preminger that stars David Niven as a suave playboy-turned-father and Jean Seberg as his pixie-ish daughter. Their dissolute existence of tromping across Europe from nightclub to cocktail party to casino is upended when Niven falls for the hopelessly upright Deborah Kerr. I also highly recommend the mildly smutty book by Françoise Sagan on which the film was based; translated as "Hello Sadness," the book was written by Sagan when she was only 18 and was an immediate international success upon its release in 1954.
WHEN: Tuesday, February 27 at 1:30 p.m.
WHERE: Skirball Center, 2701 N. Speulveda Blvd. in W. Los Angeles
The Mirror & The Sacrifice
It's a double bill of Andrei Tarkovsky films at the New Beverly. I don’t even know where to begin to describe Tarkovsky's films, so I'll just tell you this story. The first time I saw The Sacrifice years ago (at the Nuart by the way) I sat there for the bulk of the 2.5-hour movie baffled and angry at the director and the incomprehensible movie he had made, but by the end I was weeping. I have returned to see this movie ever since. Made in 1986 in the midst of the Cold War by a Russian filmmaker, The Sacrifice stars Swedish actor (and Bergman regular) Erland Josephson as a journalist and former philosopher who in despair turns to God after World War III breaks out on the night of his birthday. He offers God everything to "take back" the war, which requires a huge sacrifice on his part. If you've never seen a Tarkovsky film, be prepared to see all sorts of iconic images that have been aped in music videos, movies and pop culture. The Mirror is also awesome.
WHEN: Wednesday Feb. 28-Thursday, March 1, at 7:30 & 9:35 p.m.
WHERE: The New Beverly, 7165 Beverly Blvd. (1 block West of La Brea)
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Last Year At Marienbad and Hiroshima Mon Amour
The American Cinematheque presents a double feature of dreaminess from French Director Alain Resnais. First up is Last Year At Marienbad (1961), a non-linear narrative (that's a fancy way of saying the plot doesn’t run in a straight line) about an affair between a husband, a wife and her lover who roam aimlessly through a baroque castle. But for my money it's the second half of this double bill that's the best. Written by Marguerite Duras, Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959) tells the story of a French actress (Emmanuelle Riva) and a Japanese architect (Eiji Okada) who become lovers in post-war Hiroshima. The film juggles their relationship in the present with their horrific experiences during World War II, which are revealed through flashbacks.
WHEN: Thursday, March 1 at 7:30 PM.
WHERE: American Cinematheque at The Aero Theater, 1328 Montana Ave. (at 14th St.) in Santa Monica
New York International Independent Film and Video Festival
The New York International Independent Film and Video Festival (NYIIFVF) returns to Los Angeles, March 1-8, for its bi-annual showcase of independent films from around the globe. NYIIFVF will showcase 100 films from more than 15 countries including…
Valley of Angels, a drama about a West Los Angeles drug dealer who desperately wants a way out of the life. Starring George Katt and Danny Trejo. (Saturday, March 3rd at 4:00pm, Screen 4)
Heart to Heart, a documentary about a 12-year old girl whose heart is giving out while doctors race to save her life with a procedure that's not normally allowed in the United States.
Little Bruno, a suspense thriller about a man who (Ryan Burgess) begins working for his uncle Nick (Larry Laverty) and seems to leave a trail of death behind him.
WHEN: Thursday, March 1 - Thursday, March 8
WHERE: Laemmle Sunset 5 Theatre, 8000 Sunset Blvd. (at Crescent Heights) in West Hollywood
Paul Verhoeven at the Cinematheque
Dutch director Paul Verhoeven is best known in the United States as the director of such mega-budget Hollywood fare as Robocop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Showgirls and Starship Troopers, but before that he was the director of such films as the romantic drama Turkish Delight and the profane mystery The 4th Man. Both of these will be screened along with Robocop, Flesh + Blood and Verhoeven's upcoming film Black Book, a drama about the Dutch Resistance during WWII that will be released in the U.S. on April 4. Verhoeven will attend Black Book for a post-screening Q&A.
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WHEN: Thursday, March 2 - Sunday, March 4
WHERE: American Cinematheque at The Aero Theater, 1328 Montana Ave. (at 14th St.) in Santa Monica
Tears of the Black Tiger
What happens when you cross a Spaghetti Westerns with nouveau Thai cinema? You get Tears of the Black Tiger, Wisit Sasanatieng's languorous, wildly colored, homoerotic film, which is both a send-up and homage to the Western genre. The story involves the unconsummated love affair between a high-class girl and her childhood friend, who grows up to become The Black Tiger, the country's most feared gunslinger.
WHEN: Friday, March 2 - Thursday, March 8 at 4:30, 7:15 and 9:50 p.m.
WHERE: The Nuart, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd. (at Sawtelle) in West L.A.
Grindhouse Festival at the New Beverly
The New Beverly kicks off two months of Quentin Tarantino-programmed Grindhouse madness with a double feature from the early 70s: blaxploitation film The Mack, starring Max Julien as a recently released ex-con who becomes king of the pimps, meets chop-socky flick The Chinese Mack, which stars "Bruce Lee's girlfriend, Ting Pei" and culminates in an excruciatingly long and brutal fight scene.
Click here for the full schedule.
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WHEN: Sunday, March 4 at 3:30/5:40/7:30/9:40 p.m.
WHERE: WHERE: The New Beverly, 7165 Beverly Blvd. (1 block West of La Brea)
Our Daily Bread
A limited engagement of Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s acclaimed documentary about the surreal ways our food is processed: landscapes plasticized and optimized for tractors and agricultural machinery, clean rooms in cool industrial buildings designed to ensure logistic efficiency, machines that require uniform materials for smooth processing.
WHEN: Sunday, March 4
WHERE: American Cinematheque at The Aero Theater, 1328 Montana Ave. (at 14th St.) in Santa Monica
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