L.A. is the greatest city on earth to watch movies. Here are this week’s best picks.
1) Blue Velvet and All That Heaven Allows at The Aero (FRIDAY 1/18 7:30PM)
Now this screening is what living in L.A. is all about. I’ve already had friends in other parts of the country threaten my sanity if I don’t attend. What better city to screen these two classics of subterranean suburban strife than sunny Los Angeles? Screened as part of the American Cinematheque‘s Motion Picturesque series, this double feature will be projected in its full glory, in 35mm. Buy your tickets here.
2) Caravaggio at LACMA (SATURDAY 1/19 5PM)
As a latecomer to the avant-garde genius of director Derek Jarman, this is a screening I’m particularly looking forward to. Screened as part of the exhibit Caravaggio and His Legacy and film program Cinema after Caravaggio at the L.A. County Museum of Art, this film is one of several that reflect the visual influence of that Renaissance-era Baroque painter. Above is a still from Jarman’s film, a fictionalized biography of the painter’s life that recreates one of Caravaggio’s most famous works, Boy with a Basket of Fruit. The Italian’s dramatic use of light and shadow are stunningly cinematic, a style that lends itself inevitably to filmic adaptations. Buy your tickets here.
3) The Last Temptation of Christ at LACMA (SUNDAY 1/20 1PM)
My next pick is the second I’m cribbing from LACMA’s Cinema After Caravaggio series. (Notice the similarities between Dafoe-as-Christ as the screenshot from Caravaggio, above). But, hey, who wouldn’t want to see a movie about Jesus Christ featuring David Bowie as Pontius Pilate? Deeply controversial when it was released, Last Temptation remains a divisive and nakedly personal film in the celebrated Scorsese filmography. Tickets are free! Just show up!
4) Gilda at The Cinefamily (MONDAY 1/21 7:30PM)
Now, this is pretty cool. Comedian/film-lover/snappy dresser Greg Proops has a cinema series where he waxes exultant about his favorite flicks and then has a big, gushy chat about them with this audience. (Believe me, I went to one for Point Break and it was uproarious and delightful). Greg’s pick tonight is the queen of the femmes fatale, Gilda herself. The film is still one of the sexiest, most deliciously twisted love & hate stories in the history of the movies. And 70 years later, Rita Hayworth still has no competition as the most desirable, sultry and sexual women ever on-screen. Is she decent? Who, her? Never! Screened in 35mm from a restored print. Buy your tickets here.
5) Black Orpheus and Sansho the Bailiff at The Aero (THURSDAY 1/24 7:30PM)
This screening wraps up The American Cinematheque’s triumphant Motion Picturesque series. I have to admit, I haven’t seen either film, which makes this double feature a high priority on the watch-list. These two classics of mid-century international cinema are rarely screened in L.A., which in itself means you should be there when they do. The first is a re-telling of the classic Greek myth set during Carnaval in Brazil, French director Marcel Camus scores Greek tragedy to the sultry sounds of bossa nova. Suffering doesn’t get much more exquisitely beautiful than in Kenji Mizoguchi’s classic Japanese film of humiliation and redemption, Sansho the Baliff. Set in medieval Japan, Sansho features stunning black and white photography and a hauntingly poetic sadness sure to stay with you long after you leave the theater. Buy your tickets here.
If you make it out to any of these screenings or have a suggestion for future screenings around town, let us know how it went in the comments section. Happy viewing, Los Angeles!
