Around Town: Movies from Mexico, France
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It’s a foreign affair this week with screenings around town of movies from Mexico, Slovenia and France.
Thursday through Sunday at the American Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theatre is Mexican Cinema: Guadalajara International Film Festival in Los Angeles. Among the films set to screen are the dramas ‘The Prize’ and ‘Jean Gentile’ and the comedy ‘Between Us.’ The opening night program is ‘Tequila: The Story of a Passion.’ Director Sergio Sanchez and actress Daniela Schmidt are expected to attend.
The Egyptian moves to France on Wednesday with two comedies from comic actor-writer-director Dany Boon : 2010’s ‘Nothing to Declare’ and 2008’s ‘Welcome to the Sticks.’ Boon is scheduled to be on hand to discuss his box office hits. www.americancinematheque.com
Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theatre welcomes the weekend with New Wave French director François Truffaut’s award-winning 1959 film debut, ‘The 400 Blows,’ on Friday evening. Jean-Pierre Léaud stars as Truffaut’s alter-ego, Antoine Doinel, Also screening is ‘Johnny Tough,’ Horace Jackson’s 1974 film about a troubled kid in L.A. www.cinefamily.org.
‘Slovenia Begs to Differ,’ the UCLA Film & Television Archive’s latest series, offers films from the republic that was once part of Yugoslavia. The programming begins Friday evening at the Hammer Museum’s Billy Wilder Theatre with 1956’s ‘Valley of Peace’ and 1951’s ‘Kekec.’ Saturday’s offerings are 1953’s ‘Vesna,’ which is so beloved that the country’s highest film honor is named after the movie, and 2005’s ‘100% Slovenian.’ www.cinema.ucla.edu The Cinematheque’s Aero Theatre takes a walk on the noir side Thursday evening with a double dose of Bogie mystery thrillers: 1941’s ‘The Maltese Falcon,’ which marked the film debut of director John Huston, in which Bogart plays San Francisco gumshoe Sam Spade, and 1946’s ‘The Big Sleep,’ directed by Howard Hawks and starring the beloved actor as L.A. private eye Philip Marlowe. The latter film also marked Bogart’s second pairing with wife Lauren Bacall.
Friday evening, the Aero is the site of a tribute to ‘Gilligan’s Island’ and ‘The Brady Bunch’ creator Sherwood Schwartz, who died in July at age 94. Screening is the hit 1995 film version of ‘The Brady Bunch.’ Special guests include the film’s director, Betty Thomas, as well as Shelley Long and Gary Cole, who played Carol and Mike in the movie.
Silence is golden on Saturday at the Aero with a silent comedy shorts program. There’s also the Sunday matinee event at the Aero: the 25th anniversary screening of the Steven Spielberg-produced animated film ‘An American Tail.’ Screening Sunday evening is a tribute to actor Beau Bridges, hosted by ‘Ed Wood’ screenwriter Larry Karaszewski. Opening the tribute is Hal Ashby’s 1970 directorial debut, ‘The Landlord,’ with Bridges and the late, great Diana Sands, followed by the 1989 musical drama ‘The Fabulous Baker Boys,’ in which Bridges teamed with brother Jeff and with Michelle Pfeiffer. www.americancinematheque.com
The New Beverly is celebrating the career of Peter Falk, who died in June. On Friday and Saturday the theater will show the two German films Falk made with director Wim Wenders, the angelic 1987 fantasy romance ‘Wings of Desire’ and the 1993 sequel, ‘Faraway, So Close!’ On Sunday and Monday it will screen his two Neil Simon comedies: 1976’s ‘Murder by Death’ and 1978’s ‘The Cheap Detective.’ Saturday’s midnight screening is the 1985 comedy ‘Gotcha!,’ with Anthony Edwards and Linda Fiorentino. Tuesday evening the New Bev’s Grindhouse Film Festival features two films directed by Matt Cimber -- the last husband of Jayne Mansfield -- 1983’s ‘Hundra’ and 1975’s ‘The Candy Tangerine Man.’ Cimber is expected to appear in person. Scheduled for Wednesday are 2010’s ‘The Myth of the American Sleepover’ and 2010’s ‘Submarine.’ www.newbevcinema.com
Steven Soderbergh’s underrated period drama ‘King of the Hill,’ starring Jesse Bradford, screens Saturday evening at Cinefamily. Schedule permitting, both Soderbergh and Bradford are expected to attend. Cinefamily is set to screen two ‘Peanuts’ animated features early Sunday evening, but the titles won’t be announced until showtime. And set for Wednesday is Ray Ashley, Morris Engel and Ruth Orkin’s low-budget 1953 indie delight, ‘Little Fugitive.’ www.cinefamily.org
The Downtown Independent’s drink-along beer bong Friday night is a double bill of two cult flicks from the 1980s: 1985’s ‘The Goonies’ and 1987’s ‘The Lost Boys.’ www.downtownindependent.com
The Skirball Center offers a free screening Saturday afternoon of the 2008 documentary ‘Cachao: Uno Mas,’ the story of bassist Israel ‘Cachao’ Lopez.’ And Tuesday’s free matinee features the 1940 Alfred Hitchcock war chiller ‘Foreign Correspondent,’ starring Joel McCrea and George Sanders. www.skirball.org
Saturday evening at Hollywood Forever, Cinespia presents Nicholas Ray’s acclaimed 1955 drama, ‘Rebel Without a Cause,’ starring James Dean as a troubled, middle-class teenager, along with Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo and Dennis Hopper. www.cinespia.org
Filmmaker Robert Kaylor is expected to be on hand Sunday evening at the UCLA Film & Television Archive’s screening of two of his films’ 1972’s ‘Derby’ and 1970’s ‘Max Out’ at the Billy Wilder. www.cinema.ucla.edu
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Tuesday matinee series continues with 1950’s comedy ‘Born Yesterday,’ directed by George Cukor, for which Judy Holliday won the lead actress Oscar for her turn as the not-so-dumb-blond Billie Dawn. www.lacma.org
Wednesday evening the Hammer Museum presents the 2011 documentary ‘Miss Representation,’ which looks at how media convinces young women that their value lies more in their appearance than in their capacity to think and lead. hammer.ucla.edu/programs/
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A Weekend With Francois Truffaut
-- Susan King
