Spend Friday the 13th with ‘Rosemary’s Baby,’ now 50 years old
Apr
3
2018
To provide shivers and thrills on Friday the 13th, Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a 50th anniversary screening of one of the most terrifying movies of all time, Rosemary’s Baby. Ira Levin’s ingenious best-selling novel imagined a witches’ coven hiding in plain sight in contemporary Manhattan and hatching a plot to bring ...
Roman Polanski, film curator
Cineaste Roman Polanski has conceived a new documentary for the Prada Foundation, whose spawling new arts facility in Milan includes a Cinema building — so fitting for Italy the bastion of great 20th century filmmaking. The doc, directed by Laurent Bouzerau, considers Polanski’s auteur-inspirations by analyzing some of the films that have most influenced him. ...
Oh, COL•COA!
Apr
18
2014
The wonderful French film festival in Los Angeles turns 18 this year. A big draw amongst the 41 feature films on view in the festival: Roman Polanski‘s riveting direction of “Venus in Fur” with a killer courageous performance by Emmanuelle Seigner. A little disappointing that it’s not a truly auteur film; instead, it’s based on ...
Koehler on Cinema: “Between Us”
As Roman Polanski’s decidedly awkward “Carnage,” his 2011 adaptation of Yasmina Reza’s “God of Carnage” reminded, faithfully transferring plays to the screen more often than not fails. Dan Mirvish’s “Between Us,” his not-so-obeisant screen version of Joe Hortua’s play (commissioned but never produced by Costa Mesa-based South Coast Repertory), also deals with two married couples ...
Forget it, Jake, it’s China[town].
Robert Towne’s great line was my mantra on the recent China trip. At least one time every day, there was good reason to say it. Not one of the 20-something dancers on the bus knew the meme — or the film reference.
Catherine la Grande: Deneuve in person at LACMA 1
Mar
6
2011
Preparing to see Catherine Deneuve appear in person in conjunction with a screening of “Potiche,” her new film directed by François Ozon, we swung by the museum late Friday night to see Roman Polanski’s “Repulsion” . . . a perfect movie. Ian Birnie, film curator responsible for the museum’s Deneuve retrospective, shares his view on ...