Corruption, extremism, politics, decadence. Washington D.C.? No, ‘Babylon Berlin’
Sep
28
2017
Berlin in the 1920s was a time when German arts, culture and sciences flourished with immense liberty. It was also a time of decadence. A new German-made television series, Babylon Berlin, features the full spectrum of Berlin life, fueled by drugs and music, corruption and politics, and murder and extremism. Sounds much like a day ...
REVIEW: ‘Bobbi Jene,’ life-and-love in contemporary-dance lane
Bobbi Jene Smith, Or Schraiber in “Bobbi Jene” Tropes and customs of the world of contemporary dance are on view in the new dance-documentary, Bobbi Jene, soon to open in Los Angeles. Rarefied and bizarre rituals, notably a naked dancer, that would be the titular Bobbi Jene, masturbating against a sandbag before a roomful of ...
Our review: TULIP FEVER from A to Z 1
arts·meme friend and avid movie fan Owen Simon contributes a boiled-down film review that tours his gamut of emotions, from A to Z, for TULIP FEVER recently released by the Weinstein Company. Tom Stoppard’s screenplay depicts a 17th-century painter in Amsterdam who falls in love with a married woman whose portrait he has been hired ...
Let Anniversary Classics entertain you … with GYPSY
Sep
5
2017
Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a 55th anniversary screening of GYPSY, the 1962 film adaptation of one of the masterworks of the American musical theater, renowned for its hummable Stephen Sondheim-Jule Styne score. The film version stars Natalie Wood as burlesque queen Gypsy Rose Lee, Rosalind Russell as Momma Rose, the ultimate ...
Smart, independent, passionate: Jeanne Moreau’s film personae on view in Cinematheque series
Sep
1
2017
Well, I didn’t even know she died. I can be forgiven as my own mother died the prior day. I was preoccupied. Still this eternal artist was not meant to perish. The magisterial French actress, the queen of assertive intellect and a noble sensuality, film star Jeanne Moreau (Jan 23, 1928 – July 31, 2017) ...
Anniversary Classics: From ‘Cape Fear’ to ‘Sudden Fear’
Aug
19
2017
From the people who just brought you ‘Cape Fear,’ a doubling down on the same theme: a 65th anniversary screening of ‘Sudden Fear.’ Those would be the folks at Anniversary Classics (produced and hosted by film critic Stephen Farber for Laemmle Theatres). This screening will prove that anything Donald Trump or Kim Un Jong can ...
Mission: Possible! Lalo Schifrin 85th birthday concert 2
Musicians at Play, Music Fund Los Angeles, and Varèse Sarabande are honored to present Lalo Schifrin’s 85th Birthday Concert at the historic Alex Theatre in Glendale. The evening will be hosted by Robert Townson. Guest Conductor Chris Walden will lead an all-star big band in celebrating Lalo’s life, artistry, and esteemed body of work. Lalo ...
Tough guys have centenaries. Robert Mitchum feted on his 100th
Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series, curated and hosted by film critic Stephen Farber, celebrate the centennial of Hollywood icon Robert Mitchum (b. August 6, 1917) with two of his best roles. Out of the Past (1947, 70th anniversary) and Cape Fear (1962, 55th anniversary). The double bill is playing at Laemmle Theatres in ...
Patricia Morison remembers … Martha Graham, Kiss Me Kate, more 6
We so enjoyed a charming conversation with Broadway and Hollywood doyenne Patricia Morison at her Los Angeles home July 6, 2017. The originator of the role of “Kate” in Kiss Me Kate, still vivacious and chatty at age 102, shared happy memories of her career. She took special care to describe the role that dance ...
Summer fun: ‘Il Boom’ lost De Sica comedy comes to town
Jul
5
2017
IL BOOM is a rare and undervalued example of director Vittorio De Sica’s long and fruitful collaboration with screenwriter Cesare Zavattini — a canon that includes other landmark neo-realist films Shoeshine, Bicycle Thieves and Umberto D. IL BOOM is considered a minor masterpiece of the commedia all’italiana, a mordant form of film comedy that arose ...