Happy 75th birthday, Laemmle Theatres!

Film
At arts·meme, we love movie theaters and none has sustained us better over the past two decades than the wonderful seven-location art-house chain Laemmle Theatres. Over the next week, the Laemmles are celebrating a significant birthday, with great screenings and charitable donations. Two of the screenings here, Monday, December 16, Noho Seven, North Hollywood: Wim ...

Nureyev returns to Los Angeles 1

Dance · Film
It takes a village to bring back a prince. And that’s exactly what happened on Thursday, December 5, 2013, when Dance Camera West hosted a tribute to the twentieth century’s greatest male ballet dancer, Rudolf Nureyev. The peerless Nureyev performed in Los Angeles on many occasions — primarily at the Shrine Auditorium with the Royal ...

Victor to Hedy: Let’s do brunch.

Film
Join Hollywood Heritage at the Hollywood Heritage Museum (the historic Lasky-DeMille Barn at 2100 N. Highland Ave.) for a catered brunch at 11:30 am at the birthplace of the Hollywood motion picture industry!  The brunch will be followed at 1:30 pm by a guided walking tour to the Egyptian Theatre and a screening of DeMille’s SAMSON ...

Who was Sally Forrest? Let’s watch her dance. 2

Dance · Film
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Katherine Sally Feeney, the daughter of amateur ballroom dancing parents, was born on May 28, 1928. Her father, Michael Feeney, a U.S. Navy career man moved his family to various naval bases, finally settling in San Diego where little Sally was born and began dance classes with Marguerite Ellicott at the age of 12. “Miss ...

Koehler Clips: Sondheim, Fosse, Nicolas Rey

Film
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For those of us who think that the decline of the American musical theater (putting aside “The Book of Mormon,” coming back soon to the Pantages) is a pretty sad spectacle, we have a nice fix of the real thing with “Six by Sondheim,” an ingeniously conceived look at Stephen Sondheim’s art directed by his ...

“Inside” a portrait of the artist as his own worst enemy 1

Film
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One of the most interesting things about the reaction to “Inside Llewyn Davis” (Arcight, Hollywood; The Landmark, Westwood) is puzzlement over whether writers-directors Joel and Ethan Coen intend a sarcastic portrayal of the early ‘60s folk music scene in Greenwich Village. The question isn’t baseless. Sarcasm has sometimes been a potent tool for the brothers ...

Something to celebrate: Marc Platt turns 100! 4

Dance · Film
One of the greats, Marc Platt, a veteran of the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo (as Marc Platoff), Agnes de Mille’s original Broadway cast of “Oklahoma,” “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” and “Tonight and Every Night,” just turned 100. And his friends are throwing a party him in northern California this weekend. Dance lovers invited! ...

The 11th Commandment: Honor DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments” (1923)

Architecture & Design · Film
Tomorrow night, Wednesday December 4, 2013, a fantastic event: the 90th anniversary of Cecil B. DeMille’s THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, in a special screening accompanied by live music. The screening will commemorate the 15th anniversary of the grand re-opening of the Egyptian Theatre. Part of the Lasky-DeMille Centennial Celebration co-presented with Hollywood Heritage, with the support ...

TCM salutes Hollywood’s distinguished costume designers

Fashion · Film
We like Deborah Nadoolman Landis. She’s pretty, she’s nice, she wears spectacles, she has a cool husband, and she’s an arts·meme subscriber. Hey, she’s a Deborah! What’s not to love? More importantly, Ms. Nadoolman Landis is a huge expert in a super interesting field. She earned a Ph.D. in history of design from the Royal ...

“La Passion Noureev” to premiere in Los Angeles for Dance Camera West

Dance · Film
The beautiful and moving documentary, La Passion Noureev, a labor of love by Fabrice Herrault, a filmmaker who is also a respected New York City dance instructor and himself the product of the French ballet academy, will have its American premiere in Los Angeles on Thursday December 5, 2013. The film was previously screened in ...