George Chakiris honored @ UCLA Film & Television Archive 1
UCLA Film & Television Archive salutes the extraordinary career of actor, singer and dancer in “An Evening with George Chakiris,” an exciting screening and discussion on Saturday, November 16, 2013. Trained in Los Angeles, Chakiris first distinguished himself as a dancer in Hollywood films, displaying an athleticism and grace that helped bring renown to West Coast ...
3-D Wizard of Oz at the Chinese 1
Sep
22
2013
We’re pleased to re-publish this wonderful essay by guest writer, Jan-Christopher Horak, Director of the UCLA Film & Television Archive, who first wrote it for his blog at the Archive. * * * Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Blvd. is an iconic landmark of the studio era. Any day of the week you can find ...
Koehler on Cinema: Clips
A week’s run of the deliriously cataclysmic and violent “Drug War” by Johnnie To is simply not enough. But Cinefamily, bless ‘em, has it through Sept. 26. It’s easily the best of the week’s new releases—and certainly one of the year’s most essential movies. To’s incredible achievement in action mise-en-scene must be seen to be ...
Koehler on Cinema: How to watch movies in Los Angeles and how to watch Los Angeles at the movies 1
The most important film screening in a weekend full of interesting ones (see this week’s “Clips” column for more on that) is the American Cinematheque’s Friday night presentation of Thom Andersen’s new and improved version of his influential, paradigm-shifting and pretty damn funny essay film, “Los Angeles Plays Itself, ” on how the city has ...
A la française: food & fashion films
If you are me, you’re going to the movies this weekend. You’re going to skip “Rush,” but there are two oh-so-French movies opening, one which I have seen and recommend highly. I loved “Haute Cuisine.” Hortense Laborie (Catherine Frot), a renowned chef from Perigord, is astonished when the President of the Republic (Jean d’Ormesson) appoints ...
Koehler on Cinema: “Rush” It Ain’t
In lieu of original material, Hollywood continues to borrow (Spike Lee’s “Old Boy”), copy (the sequel tsunami that never ends), or adapt better non-Hollywood writers (“Life of Crime”). Or, in a favored mode of where we are right now, which is the start of the official Oscar season, turn actually interesting true stories into hopefully ...
Visit Spain, Czech Republic, both on Wilshire Boulevard
Sep
10
2013
Two European films, both from a similar era, will enjoy screenings soon, along the Wilshire corridor: “Goya” at the Goethe Institut and “Closely Watched Trains” at the Academy. Having attained boundless wealth and iconic status as a painter in the court of King Carlos IV, Goya falls head over heels for a beautiful princess while ...
Koehler on Cinema: The Salinger Spectacle
Ever since “The Catcher in the Rye” was published in 1951, America has had a J.D. Salinger problem. It’s partly the author’s own making, but mostly due nation’s relentless quest for the next “Great American Novel,” that always-elusive White Whale of fame, the ultimate American measure of artistic worth. “Catcher” made Salinger famous alright: As ...
Rod Alexander’s “The Birth of the Blues” dance number rediscovered 3
Please, please God, don’t let the world blow up before Sunday night. Because Sunday night at 9 pm, I get to see choreographer Rod Alexander‘s brilliant dance number, “The Birth of the Blues” from THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE (20th Century-Fox 1956), at CINECON Classic Film Festival — in a new 35mm print, ...
Koehler on Cinema: Clips
Filmmaking team Allison Anders and Kurt Voss have been programming and producing the Don’t Knock the Rock film festival in Los Angeles for over a decade, with Cinefamily providing a steady home base after years of vagabonding around town. Focused (pure rock n’ roll, usually at the margins, with a taste for the overlooked and ...