American Cinematheque

Double Feature tribute to Screenwriter Alan Sharp.  Screenwriter Howard Rodman and Actress Jennifer Warren in person.

NIGHT MOVES / ULZANA’S RAID

Thursday, May 23rd - 7:30PM Aero Theatre

Come celebrate the work of Screenwriter/Director/Producer Alan Sharp who passed away this past February.  His body of work includes DAMNATION ALLEY, LITTLE TREASURE (his only directing credit), THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND, ROB ROY and these two films NIGHT MOVES and ULZANA’S RAID.

Actress Jennifer Warren who starred with Gene Hackman in NIGHT MOVES will be on hand for a discussion between films, moderated by Screenwriter and WGAW President Howard Rodman.

Both films are 35mm prints.

NIGHT MOVES

1975 / Warner Bros. / 95 minutes / Directed by: Arthur Penn

Gene Hackman plays an ex-football-star-turned-private eye whose life unravels when he finds his wife (Susan Clark) has been unfaithful. Adding to Hackman’s midlife crisis, his job finding a missing teenager (a young Melanie Griffith) goes abruptly sour in a nightmarish labyrinth of betrayals and sudden death, crafted by screenwriter Alan Sharp. With Jennifer Warren.

ULZANA’S RAID

1972 / Universal / 103 minutes / Directed by: Robert Aldrich

When Ulzana (Joaquin Martinez) and a small band of Apaches escape from an Arizona reservation and begin killing settlers, a green cavalry lieutenant (Bruce Davison) is assigned to capture them with the help of a veteran scout (Burt Lancaster). The desert pursuit that ensues is both a tense tactical game and an unflinching look at how ethnic conflicts brutalize both sides. An underrated Western, expertly directed by Robert Aldrich (THE DIRTY DOZEN) from Alan Sharp’s intricate screenplay.

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Sally Kellerman in Person

BACK TO SCHOOL / MASH

Thursday, May 16 - 7:30PM Aero Theatre

Actress Sally Kellerman pays a visit to the Aero this Thursday to discuss her work in the 1986 comedy BACK TO SCHOOL and 1970 Robert Altman film MASH.  She will also be signing copies of her book READ MY LIPS: STORIES OF A HOLLYWOOD LIFE in the lobby at 6:30pm.

Both films are 35mm prints. 

BACK TO SCHOOL

1986 / Orion / 96 minutes / Directed by: Alan Metter

Rodney Dangerfield can’t get no respect as a father whose son has decided that he doesn’t want to go to college. Determined to show him the importance of education, Dangerfield enrolls at the university as well. He’s instantly popular due to his wild parties, but literature professor Sally Kellerman inspires him to crack the books. There are lots of laughs, of course, as well as a cameo by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. and a soundtrack by former Oingo Boingo frontman Danny Elfman.

MASH

1970 / Twentieth Century Fox / 116 minutes / Directed by: Robert Altman

Director Robert Altman’s breakout film defines black comedy and the pushing-the-envelope, pioneering spirit then blossoming in the New Hollywood of the 1970s. Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould are hilarious as Hawkeye Pierce and Trapper John, newly arrived surgeons at the 4077th MASH unit located in a Korean War battle zone. They’re anarchic spirits with no patience for hypocrisy, bureaucracy or stupidity. Timeless, with a dream cast of standout performers, including Robert Duvall, Sally Kellerman and Tom Skerritt.

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The American Cinematheque celebrates a different side of Motherhood this Mother’s day…

PSYCHO / MOMMIE DEAREST

Sunday, May 12 - 7:30PM Aero Theatre

Celebrate Mom with two movies that will make you glad your mothers aren’t like this.

First, Anthony Perkins has some mother issues while running his out-of-the-way motel, and Janet Leigh finds out about them the hard way in Alfred Hitchcock’s horror classic PSYCHO.

Then Faye Dunaway goes for mother of the year as legendary movie star Joan Crawford making daughter Christina Crawford’s life a living hell in MOMMIE DEAREST.

Just remember to take the following motherly advice.  Keep your eyes peeled for knife wielding maniacs while showering and by all means, NO WIRE HANGERS!!!

PSYCHO

1960 / Paramount (via Universal) / 109 minutes / Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

Coming off the comparatively big budget NORTH BY NORTHWEST, director Alfred Hitchcock decided he wanted to make a nice little, low-budget black-and-white film for a change of pace. This was the result, and the shock waves are still reverberating. Lovely embezzler Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) takes refuge from a rainstorm off the beaten track on a lonely California highway. Unfortunately, she checks in at the Bates Motel, presided over by young Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), a strange fellow living with his mother in a nearby mansion. Hitchcock used the small crew from his popular TV show for this hair-raising example of California Gothic, and it remains one of the most influential chillers ever made. With Vera Miles and John Gavin.

MOMMIE DEAREST

1981 / Paramount / 129 minutes / Directed by: Frank Perry

“Don’t fuck with me, fellas. This ain’t my first time at the rodeo!”Faye Dunaway scorches as Joan Crawford in this blistering exposé of the icon’s troubled and abusive relationship with her adopted daughter, Christina Crawford (who penned the memoir on which the film is based). Told from the perspective of grown-up Christina (Diana Scarwid) remembering her traumatic upbringing, “Mommie” Joan crumples under the pressures of alcohol, men and show business, and turns into an emotionally manipulative domestic monster. Though a critical disaster on its initial release, earning an abundance of Razzie Award wins and nominations, the film has since become a cult touchstone, thanks to a ferocious performance by Dunaway and no-holds-barred direction by Frank Perry (THE SWIMMER, PLAY IT AS IT LAYS). With Mara Hobel as young Christina, Steve Forrest as Joan’s Hollywood lawyer boyfriend, hopelessly loyal to MGM, and Howard Da Silva as the screaming studio titan himself, Louis B. Mayer.

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May the power of Christ compel you!

William Friedkin in person on Friday and Saturday.

THE FRENCH CONNECTION / TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. on Friday

THE EXORCIST on Saturday

The William Friedkin series continues tonight and tomorrow at the Aero, and Mr. Friedkin will be on hand to sign copies of his book The Friedkin Connection: A Memoir at 6:30 in the lobby, and will participate in a discussion about the films.

If you’ve never seen William Friedkin speak about his movies live, you’re missing out.  He’s passionate about his work and is fascinating.  He also doesn’t pull any punches.  I once saw him do a Q&A about THE FRENCH CONNECTION at the Academy and when an audience member asked him a bizarre question about what he viewed to be a gaffe in the movie, Friedkin entertainingly defended it.

Tonight, Friday, May 10th - 7:30PM Aero Theatre

William Friedkin has both New York and Los Angeles covered with an action packed double feature, each with an outstanding car chase.  One has Gene Hackman chasing a killer on a New York subway, the other has William Peterson driving the wrong way on a busy L.A. freeway.

Both films are 35mm prints.

THE FRENCH CONNECTION

1971 / 20th Century Fox / 104 minutes / Directed by: William Friedkin

Arguably the greatest American crime film ever made. Gene Hackman stars as Detective Popeye Doyle, who’s muscling minor hoods in NYC (the “You ever pick your feet in Poughkeepsie?” scene is still a classic) when he catches the trail of a huge shipment of French heroin. With partner Roy Scheider, Hackman dogs drug-kingpin Fernando Rey through the concrete jungle - highlighted by a brain-jangling car chase that still hasn’t been topped.

TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A.

1985 / MGM Repertory / 116 minutes / Directed by: William Friedkin

Director William Friedkin’s startling, exhilarating thriller stars William Petersen as a hot-shot Federal agent out to bust ruthless counterfeiter Willem Dafoe (in a revelatory, tour-de-force performance). Along the way, they collide with John Turturro as a drug mule addicted to Pepto Bismol and Dean Stockwell as Dafoe’s morally ambivalent mouthpiece. As dynamic and unnerving as THE FRENCH CONNECTION a decade earlier, TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. is Friedkin at his very best - a turbo-charged ride through an imploding, morally-corrupt American landscape.

Saturday, May 11 - 7:30PM Aero Theatre

Quite possibly the scariest movie ever made.  It’s a horror movie that even I have trouble making it through and still gives me nightmares.

This presentation is a DCP.

THE EXORCIST

1973 / Warner Bros. / 121 minutes / Directed by: William Friedkin

Friedkin adapted William Peter Blatty’s bone-chilling best-seller into the classic American horror film in which Catholic priests Jason Miller and Max von Sydow go head-to-head with the unholy one, inhabiting the body of young Linda Blair. “I auditioned 500 girls and went with Linda because I felt she was the most intelligent, most pulled-together youngster I had ever met.” - Friedkin. With Ellen Burstyn.

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William Friedkin in Person!

SORCERER / CRUISING

Thursday, May 9 - 7:30PM Aero Theater

Academy Award winning director William Friedkin (THE FRENCH CONNECTION) will be on-hand to discuss his work on these two films as well as sign copies of his book  The Friedkin Connection: A Memoir in the lobby at 6:30pm.

An American remake of Henri-Georges Clouzot 1953 film THE WAGES OF FEAR, SORCERER is a solid effort that continues to be a highly requested film by fans of Friedkin’s work - especially for a Blu-ray Disc release (a DVD was issued in 1998).  Here is a chance to see it on the big screen with the director in person, on a double bill with CRUISING which features Al Pacino as an undercover cop who ventures into the New York City gay S&M scene in search of a serial killer.  Both are 35mm prints.

This is a rare chance to catch SORCERER that shouldn’t be missed.

SORCERER

1977 / Paramount / 122 minutes / Directed by: William Friedkin

Friedkin’s most visually awesome film follows small-time crook Roy Scheider from Brooklyn to the sweltering South American jungles, where he lands a job hauling nitroglycerine with hard-luck losers Bruno Cremer and Francisco Rabal. Rather than simply remake Henri-Georges Clouzot’s famed THE WAGES OF FEAR, Friedkin re-imagined the story as a cosmic vision of man vs. nature, climaxing in the mind-bending image of Scheider and crew literally pushing a loaded truck across a spindly rope bridge.

CRUISING

1980 / Warner Bros. / 106 minutes / Directed by: William Friedkin

A bleakly chilling emotional travelogue of desperation, loneliness and spiritual hunger, CRUISING stars Al Pacino as a naïve undercover cop who descends into the leather-bar underworld of New York’s gay S&M scene. Widely condemned and misinterpreted on its release, CRUISING emerges today as one of Friedkin’s major works - it succeeds as a police procedural, horror film (there are scenes every bit as terrifying as THE EXORCIST), and saga of one seemingly “decent” man’s inability to face the truth about himself. Featuring a terrific score by composer Jack Nitzsche, with songs by The Germs.

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Los Angeles Children’s Film Festival

Chuck Jones Creativity Center Presents…

DRAWING ON IMAGINATION

Saturday, May 4th - 2:00PM Aero Theatre

One of the great animation directors, Oscar-winner Chuck Jones directed more than 300 cartoons during his 60-year career, creating such classic characters as the Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote and Pepe LePew, and making Dr. Seuss’s “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” a holiday TV tradition. Join us for a demonstration of animation techniques along with a screening of a small sample of his cartoons.

Show your ticket stub to any of our Los Angeles Children’s Film Festival screenings to receive admission to this free event!

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See our e-flyer for all the festival info in one place!

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Los Angeles Children’s Film Festival Continues with Jamie Lee Curtis in Person!

FROM UP ON POPPY HILL

2011 / Studio Ghibli / 91 minutes / Directed by: Goro Miyazaki

Friday, May 3 - 7:30PM Aero Theatre

Co-presented with New York International Children’s Film Festival

The highly anticipated new film from Studio Ghibli was written by legendary studio founder Hayao Miyazaki and directed by Goro Miyazaki, the first feature film collaboration between father and son. In Yokohama in 1963, high school kids Umi and Shun work together to save a dilapidated Meiji-era club house from demolition. But as their tentative romance begins to blossom, a buried secret from their past emerges to pull them apart. Richly evocative of time and place (and the optimism in Japan in the run-up to the Tokyo Olympics), FROM UP ON POPPY HILL boasts a star-filled voice cast including Jamie Lee Curtis, Christina Hendricks, Ron Howard and Anton Yelchin. Recommended ages: 9 and up.

Like Los Angeles Children’s Film Festival on Facebook!

See our e-flyer for all the festival info in one place!

Buying tickets in support of your participating school? Visit our page for School Fundraising to select your school and make your purchase!

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POSSESSION 

1981 / Bleeding Light Film Group / 127 minutes / Directed by: Andrzej Zulawski

Monday, April 22 - 7:30PM Aero Theatre

In this controversial, unclassifiable cult film, secret agent Mark (Sam Neill) reunites with Anna (Isabelle Adjani) and their young son only to be asked for a divorce. But it’s not because his wife has been seeing another man - when Mark hires a private investigator to follow her, he learns she’s been spending time with a strange, tentacled creature (designed by famed special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi). Director Andrzej Zulawski was in the midst of his own difficult divorce when he came up with this nightmarish mix of domestic distress, bloody violence and bio-horror. Adjani’s performance in dual roles (she also plays Anna’s doppelgänger, Helen) earned a César as well as a Best Actress award at Cannes.“POSSESSION starts on a hysterical note, stays there and surpasses it as the film progresses.” – Variety

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