LAist Film Calendar: 'Boobs and Blood' and Armenian Independence Film Festivals

Never has an event been more tailored for the LAist Film Staff than the Boobs and Blood International Film Festival at the New Beverly. These connoisseurs of carnage and cleavage curate several incredible (and incredibly rare) programs. The fest opens Friday night with Suicide Girls Must Die!, the "reality horror" film that begs the question: aren't they technically Homicide Girls if they're disappearing during a calendar shoot in the woods? Saturday boasts the afternoon's biggest pair of '70s throwbacks, with nature-run-amok cash-in Mega Piranha, starring '80s starlet Tiffany and Greg Brady, and Russ Meyer tribute Pervert!, with former gubernatorial nominee Mary Carey.

Saturday evening marks a double-feature of "pink films" (psychotronic Japanese softcore) The Japanese Wife Next Door parts I & II, screening with the director and star for the first time outside Japan. Sunday features the Euro-lesbian-sex film Vampyres and 3-D nudie clips (take that, James Cameron!), two more "pink" premieres for S&M Hunter & Twilight Dinner, and closes out with the sole 35mm print of '80s trash-slasher Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers and an exclusive preview of Nude Nuns With Guns.

Each screening is overflowing with scintillating shorts, tantalizing trailers and gushing guests. Note that this isn't a New Beverly presentation, so each program requires a separate ticket. But the gonzo line-up, nutso crowd, and extensive extras are well worth your $10. If you're still on the fence, Boobs and Blood also supports Bowling for Boobies and the Busted Foundation, which provides financial support to Southern California women fighting breast cancer.

Chase the chauvinism with classy counter-programming at the Egyptian, where the ambitious Arpa International Film Festival also runs through the weekend. In celebration of Armenian Independence Day, the festival presents a restoration of the silent epic Namus (Honor), alongside Armenian productions and co-productions, many making their North American premieres. Another festival program chronicles the continuing struggle to recognize the Armenian genocide with documentaries Orphans of the Genocide, The Blue Book and the award-winning German film Aghet: A Genocide. The festival reaches out with a Francophone-Fest line-up featuring the US premiere of Palme d'Or winning French/Turkish short Barking Island, Lebanese music documentary Sounds of Beirut, and narrative features from Switzerland, Belgium, North Africa and even Quebec. Other programs feature European shorts, Asian animation and even an American horror film from Disney animator Wes Sullivan.

Full list appears below. See you at the movies!

All Week

• Enter the Void (2009) (Nuart Theatre)
  
• Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo (2009) (Downtown Independent)
  
• Waiting for "Superman" (2010) (The Landmark)
  
• A Woman, A Gun, and a Noodle Shop (2009) (Art Theatre of Long Beach)

Thursday 9/23

• Arpa International Film Festival (Egyptian Theatre)
  
• Flood Tide: Remixed (2010) (free event) (Hammer Museum)
  
• Machete (2010) (Arclight Hollywood) (21+ screening)
  
• Open Screen: How I Spent My Summer Vacation (Echo Park Film Center)
  
• A Prophet (2009) / Read My Lips (2001) (New Beverly Cinema)
  
• Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010) (Arclight Pasadena) (21+ screening)
  
• Starship Troopers (w/ director Paul Verhoeven) (1997) (Aero Theatre)
  
• Sweetie (1989) / Miracle Mile (1988) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Staff Picks)
  
• The Town (2010) (Arclight Sherman Oaks) (21+ screening)

Friday 9/24

• Arpa International Film Festival (Egyptian Theatre)
  
• Boobs and Blood International Film Festival (New Beverly Cinema)
  
• Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill (1965) (Art Theatre of Long Beach) (Mondo Fridays)
  
• Manhattan (1979) / L.A. Story (1991) (Aero Theatre)
  
• The Misfits (1961) (Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences) (A Centennial Salute to Composer Alex North)
  
• Mr. Hulot's Holiday (1953) / Mon Oncle (1958) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (The Films of Jacques Tati)
  
• Project A (1983) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Staff Picks: Midnight Shows!)
  
• Rabbit Proof Fence (2002) (Echo Park Film Center)
  
• Way Down East (1920) (Old Town Music Hall)

Saturday 9/25

• Arpa International Film Festival (Egyptian Theatre)
  
• Babies (2010) (Warner Grand Theatre)
  
• Boobs and Blood International Film Festival (New Beverly Cinema)
  
• Burma VJ (2009) (free event) (Getty Center) (Witnesses in Action)
  
• Chasing Mummies Episode 5: SUNKEN / The Mummy (1932) (w/ archaeologist David Cheetham) (Aero Theatre)
  
• Deadbeat at Dawn (1988) / The Manson Family (2003) (w/ Jim Van Bebber) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (HFS: Gang Wars)
  
• Duck, You Sucker (1971) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum) (ĄViva la Revolucion! The Mexican Revolution on Film)
  
• Dukot (2009) (Art Theatre of Long Beach)
  
• Jurassic Park (1993) (Regency Westwood Village Theater) (Insomniac Cinema Midnight Movie)
  
• Manufactured Landscapes (2007) (free event) (Getty Center) (Witnesses in Action)
  
• Mischief (1985) (New Beverly Cinema) (New Beverly Midnights)
  
• Monsieur Verdoux (1947) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (The Chaplin Talkies)
  
• Repo Man (1984) / Searchers 2.0 (2007) (w/ director Alex Cox) (Aero Theatre)
  
• 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)
  
• Soul Power (2008) (free event) (Skirball Cultural Center) (Passport Screenings)
  
• Valley Girl (1983) (Devil's Night Drive In)
  
• Way Down East (1920) (Old Town Music Hall)
  
• Wedding Crashers (2005) (Outdoor Cinema Food Fest) (Exposition Park)

Sunday 9/26

• Arpa Internation Film Festival (Egyptian Theatre)
  
• Boobs and Blood International Film Festival (New Beverly Cinema)
  
• Channel 101 (Downtown Independent)
  
• The Film Registry Show Returns! (Los Angeles Filmforum) (Egyptian Theatre)
  
• Kids and Money (20080 (free event) (Getty Center) (Witnesses in Action)
  
• Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985) (Aero Theatre) (Tribute to Eiko Ishioka)
  
• Pedro Páramo (1966) / La Soldadera (1966) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum) (ĄViva la Revolucion! The Mexican Revolution on Film)
  
• Streetwise (1984) (free event) (Getty Center) (Witnesses in Action)
  
• The Warriors (1979) (The Bay Theatre)
  
• Way Down East (1920) (Old Town Music Hall)

That's all for this week. Don't even get me started on Paul Verhoeven!