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Melnitz Movies at UCLA
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What I miss most about college (besides treatises on gender in the Friday the 13th films) is low/no-cost special events. Live theatre, indie bands, speakers, and movies, movies, movies. UCLA keeps this latter tradition alive through its free Melnitz Movies Series. A mixture of advance screenings, foreign affairs, classics and forgotten gems, the series featured indie darling Synecdoche, New York, global genre cuts Let The Right One In and Timecrimes, and prestigious previews of Benjamin Button and The Class last season.
Midway through the Winter 2009 season, Melnitz Movies just featured all the Oscar-Nominated Shorts, Best Documentary nominee (and Sundance winner) Trouble The Water, and a focus on the Francophile. With a couple weeks left in the season, there's still plenty to enjoy.
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Tonight, see just what those naked guys with guns really have to do with gangsters in Italian crime-drama Gomorrah. Nominated for Best Foreign Language Oscar, winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes, and Best Film, Director, Screenplay, and Actor at the 2008 European Film Awards. LAist Staff Writer Farley Elliott reviewed the film, noting that it was "shot quite beautifully".
This Thursday, February 12th, stay in Italy but take a trip back in time to Post-WWII reconstruction for Roberto Rossellini's Paisan. A cornerstone of Italian Neo-Realism (which also included The Bicycle Thief, Umberto D. & Ossessione), this rare theatrical presentation is perfect for those kicking off a well-worn Valentine's weekend.
Next Tuesday, February 17th, join director Darius Marder for his documentary Loot. Treasure-hunter/used-car salesman Lance Larson and two fading WWII veterans confront demons old and new on a journey for treasure buried an ocean away. LAist Film Editor Josh Tate gave a glowing review during last year's LA Film Festival, calling it "equal parts stunned amusement and genuine joy and pain".
Next Thursday, February 24th, the Winter season closes with 24 City. Nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes, the Chinese film melds fiction, documentary and generations over an apartment complex in pre-earthquake Chengdu.
Each screening is free, open to both the UCLA Community and the greater public. You don't have to be a student to get in. Just get in line. More details available at the Melnitz Movies website and Facebook page.
Compiled by the amazing and diligent Edward Yerke-Robins
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Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
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