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 ...
Honoring Curtis Hanson: actress Kim Basinger @ ‘Confidential’ screening
May
3
2017
In a tribute to Oscar-winning writer-director Curtis Hanson, who sadly passed away in September 2016, lovely actress Kim Basinger will appear in person for a 20th anniversary screening of the film noir masterpiece, L.A. Confidential (1997) hosted by Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series. Basinger’s luminous, Oscar-winning performance as a hooker with a heart, ...
Docu-worthy: Yvonne Rainer in ‘Feelings Are Facts’
Oh jeez, in our nightmarish ‘new normal,’ an American existence in which mediocrity — so painful in a society in which political freedom enables the pursuit of excellence — rises to unimaginable levels; in which lies and blather pollute our air; in which values that can only be called contemptible predominate, into this setting enter ...
Sergei Polunin’s glowing moment in Southern California
We all seek our place in the sun don’t we? Sergei Polunin, the balletic wunderkind who has been much viewed on youtube, will soon seize his in southern California’s extended summer. A true exemplar of a glorious classical technique, Polunin will be among us, on screen and on stage, stretching into September. First, the movie. ...
Robert Frank doc, ‘Don’t Blink,’ opens soon in L.A.
Jul
19
2016
Robert Frank, now 91 years old, is among the most influential artists of the last half-century. His seminal volume, The Americans, published in 1958, records the Swiss-born photographer’s candid reactions to American poverty and racism. It helped define the off-the-cuff, idiosyncratic elegance that are hallmarks of Frank’s artistry. Director Laura Israel (Frank’s longtime film editor) ...
A b*stard by any other name: Robert Cenedella
The painter of the work above, Robert Cenedella, is the subject of a new documentary, ART BASTARD, soon to open in Los Angeles. Film is touted as the tale of a rebel at odds with today’s art world. Directed by Victor Kanefsky, “Bastard” is a portrait of New York artist, a contemporary of Andy Warhol who ...
Zsigmond’s “McCabe” cinematography revisited
Feb
19
2016
Pauline Kael memorably described Robert Altman’s McCabe & Mrs. Miller as “a beautiful pipe dream of a movie.” This poetic, revisionist Western is set in the Northwest at the turn of the 20th century and stars Warren Beatty and Julie Christie (Oscar-nominated for her performance). The screening is presented as a tribute to Oscar-winning cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond ...
Life is sweet: “La Dolce Vita” turns 55 1
Feb
6
2016
Laemmle Theatres celebrates one of the first foreign films to figure prominently in the Academy Award voting. La Dolce Vita earned four Oscar nominations in 1962, including Best Director Federico Fellini and Best Original Screenplay and it won the Oscar for Piero Gherardi’s elegant costumes. Fellini’s sardonic epic about the decadence of modern Rome was ...
“Spartacus” meets its maker, Dalton Trumbo
Oct
26
2015
In honor of the film’s anniversary, Laemmle Theatres and Reel Talk with Stephen Farber are pleased to present SPARTACUS (1960) in a screening Friday, November 6 at the Royal Theater in West Los Angeles. On the same day that Trumbo opens in theaters, depicting the life of blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, enjoy a tribute of his ...
Los Angeles talent highlighted in “A Ballerina’s Tale”
Misty Copeland grew up in Los Angeles. So did Robyn Gardenhire. Both are beautiful black ballerinas, Misty, of course, is the first African-American principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre. And in the 1990s, Robyn danced in the company’s corps de ballet. Robyn, a very active, admired and even beloved member of the Los Angeles dance ...