Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Amy Nicholson and Wade Major review this weekend’s new movie releases. We also play an excerpt from our post-screening conversation about the making of 'The Artist' with FilmWeek critics Lael Loewenstein and Wade Major as well as film historian Marc Wanamaker.
FilmWeek: ‘Escape Room,’ ‘Communion,’ ‘The Vanishing’ and more
Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Amy Nicholson and Wade Major review this weekend’s new movie releases.
- " Escape Room " in wide release
- " Communion " at Laemmle's Playhouse & Laemmle's Monica Film Center (January 5th only) & Laemmle's Glendale (through January 10th)
- " The Vanishing " at AMC universal CityWalk
- " The Distant Barking of Dogs " at Laemmle's Royal Theater (January 5th & 6th and January 12th & 13th) & AMC Sunset (January 5th and January 8th)
- " State Like Sleep " at Laemmle's Music Hall
- " Mojinn:The Worm Valley " at AMC Atlantic Times Square & AMC Puente Hills
- " American Hangman " at Galaxy Mission Grove
CRITICS' HITS:
Amy: "Escape Room" & "The Distant Barking of Dogs"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dSKUoV0SNI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dsnRsybtXM
Wade: "Communion"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daNmTaJc6sw
MIXED FEELINGS
Amy: "The Vanishing"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyFlfN4dD14
Wade: "American Hangman"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jhMTs7RDxg
MISSES
Amy: "State Like Sleep"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xwzwmc2AZYg&t=
Wade: "Mojin: The Worm Valley"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rgmj92dAyoQ
Guests:
Amy Nicholson , film critic for KPCC, film writer for The Guardian and host of the podcasts ‘ The Canon ’ and ‘ Unspooled ’; she tweets
Wade Major , film critic for KPCC and CineGods.com
FilmWeek Screening Series: A conversation on ‘The Artist’
The era of the silent film made way for sound and talkies in 1929, which was the first and last year a silent film won best picture at the Academy Awards.
That is until Michel Hazanavicius’s 2011 film “The Artist,” a love letter in the style of those black-and-white silent movies, won best picture – along with four other Academy Awards, three Golden Globes, seven BAFTAs, and a slew of other critical honors. How poetic that a silent movie depicting the end of the silent film era would win such a distinction more than 80 years later.
Audiences joined Larry Mantle on December 2 at The Theatre at Ace Hotel for another installment of FilmWeek Screenings, where he showcased the movie and hosted a post-screening conversation with special guests. The FilmWeek Screenings series – selected and hosted by Mantle – is dedicated to movies set in Southern California.
“The Artist” takes place in Hollywood in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and is shot entirely in Los Angeles. It follows silent film star George Valentin as he copes with a career that is fading along with the silent film era. Along the way, he encounters and develops a relationship with actress Peppy Miller, whose own star is rising along with the talking picture.
Today on FilmWeek, we’ll play an excerpt from our post-screening conversation about the making of the film with FilmWeek critics Lael Loewenstein and Wade Major as well as film historian Marc Wanamaker, who consulted on “The Artist.”
Guests:
Lael Loewenstein , KPCC film critic; she tweets
Wade Major , film critic for KPCC and CineGods.com
Marc Wanamaker, film historian and consultant on “The Artist”