West Coast Repertory Cinema

[beamish14]

Mostly uninspired programming at the New Beverly throughout September/October, but the double bill of Bobby Rory’s Heartbreakers (1984) and Alan Rudolph’s Choose Me shouldn’t be missed. Absolutely beautiful prints of both, and Roth had a crisp, thoughtful, and entertaining Q & A on night 1 and will return for tonight’s encore screening. The New Beverly knows they can get away with programming a title like Woo’s The Killer for 3 consecutive nights without a second feature and sell out all of them, and I’m disappointed with this practice

The high point of the Academy Museum’s forthcoming events is undoubtedly an in-person tribute to the fantastic independent animator Sally Cruikshank, who is screening shorts like Quasi at the Quackadero on October 24th. The Academy is also doing a tribute to the “new extreme” Korean cinema, with titles like Thirst and R-Point bring exhibited

[beamish14]

UCLA/The Hammer are hosting a huge Theo Angelopoulos retrospective between October and December, with nearly every title being in 35mm. I can’t remember seeing a major revival of his works in Southern California over the last 20 years.

[senseabove]

Frequent reader but never planned to post. Didn't know where to put this. There is an estate sale in Portland, Oregon claiming to be the "Owner of the Finest 35mm & 16mm Home Theatre in the Country", here are the addresses to the sale and the website with information:
https://www.estatesale-finder.com/views ... leid=11583
https://www.garyhoselton.com/

Included in this estate sale is a print of Preminger's Porgy & Bess, which they're screening on Friday for a small audience.

[beamish14]

Frequent reader but never planned to post. Didn't know where to put this. There is an estate sale in Portland, Oregon claiming to be the "Owner of the Finest 35mm & 16mm Home Theatre in the Country", here are the addresses to the sale and the website with information:
https://www.estatesale-finder.com/views ... leid=11583
https://www.garyhoselton.com/

Included in this estate sale is a print of Preminger's Porgy & Bess, which they're screening on Friday for a small audience.

Holy shit. I hope that print finds a great home and gets a larger audience

[beamish14]

Mini Seijun Suzuki retrospective in collaboration with the Japan Foundation at the American Cinematheque. I implore you to see Kagero-Za and A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness, both of which looked phenomenal when I saw them at UCLA’s massive retrospective from some years back.

I am a bit annoyed that the 40 minute long Love Letter is playing by itself, and at full price

[senseabove]

Does it help if I tell you it's Suzuki with a Sirk/Visconti twist and I assure you it is entirely worth it? The highlight of the three new Suzukis I caught (it, Tale of Sorrow..., and. Satan's Town) when this came through town by far.

[beamish14]

Does it help if I tell you it's Suzuki with a Sirk/Visconti twist and I assure you it is entirely worth it? The highlight of the three new Suzukis I caught (it, Tale of Sorrow..., and. Satan's Town) when this came through town by far.

You sold me. I was definitely planning on Satan’s Town, too, which was not at the UCLA retrospective. I don’t pretend to completely understand the economics behind repertory filmgoing, but I recognize the amount of labor and money it takes to ship in prints from the across the country and placate rights holders. However, I still can’t fathom why they couldn’t have attached this to some of the other films.

Tale of Sorrow…. My god what a film. That has maybe the best car crash sequence ever. The most intense work of his that I’ve seen, and it revolves around golf.

[senseabove]

Satan's Town is an early-career curio, worthwhile if you're a fan though unlikely to make new ones, and a bit of a let-down with its fizzle of a feint toward one of the most famous Hollywood noir endings. I liked Tale of Sorrow a good deal, and while it didn't quite gel for me, it's definitely one to not miss. But Love Letter is an absolute walloping surprise. I sincerely hope someone can save it from obscurity—I don't think it's even mentioned in the book that warranted the last Suzuki retrospective!

[beamish14]

Huge, week-long Abel Farrara retrospective at the American Cinematheque in June. The man himself will be in-person for every screening, and several shows will feature live music from Joe Delia. Disappointed that The Funeral and The Blackout aren’t there, but they got the prints of New Rose Hotel, Go Go Tales, and Mary

[yoloswegmaster]

The American Cinematheque will be hosting a 70mm festival throughout July and will be showing the following:

LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, BOOGIE NIGHTS, TENET, THE UNTOUCHABLES, SPARTACUS, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, THE MASTER, THE WILD BUNCH, LAST ACTION HERO, ROMA, INHERENT VICE, APOCALYPSE NOW, BABYLON, ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD, YEAR OF THE DRAGON, LICORICE PIZZA, MALCOLM X and ZOOT SUIT

They will also be hosting the Jean Eustache retrospective next month.

[beamish14]

Very curious to hear about how much color is left in that 1981 print of Zoot Suit. I’m willing to bet that Apocalypse Now is from its 1987 reissue; I saw an IB Technicolor print of the Redux version at the New Beverly last year.

[hearthesilence]

The American Cinematheque in Los Angeles is holding a retrospective of Victor Nunez's work on July 8 and 9.

Nunez will appear in person along with actors from his films including Ashley Judd, Ed Harris, Todd Field, and Lori Singer. One event has sold out, but the other three have not so if you're interested, you should get your tickets now.

[beamish14]

Once-in-a-lifetime screening of Penelope Spheeris’ unreleased Ozzfest 1999 documentary/unofficial Decline of Western Civilization entry We Sold Our Souls for Rock ‘n Roll at the Academy Museum with Spheeris in person

[beamish14]

The American Cinematheque/Netflix’s Egyptian Theatre is finally set to reopen on November 7th with a “business attire” screening of Singing in the Rain

[Drucker]

New restoration of The Searchers at the Aero/Egyptian in LA on April 28. Approved by Film Foundation, scanned in 13K, and airing a new 70MM print.

[beamish14]

First public screening in over a decade of Richard Williams’ last work-in-progress cut of The Thief and the Cobbler that he managed to snatch from WB before losing control of the film in 1992

[yoloswegmaster]

The American Cinematheque will be hosting a 70mm festival throughout July and will be showing the following:

LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, BOOGIE NIGHTS, TENET, THE UNTOUCHABLES, SPARTACUS, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, THE MASTER, THE WILD BUNCH, LAST ACTION HERO, ROMA, INHERENT VICE, APOCALYPSE NOW, BABYLON, ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD, YEAR OF THE DRAGON, LICORICE PIZZA, MALCOLM X and ZOOT SUIT

Another 70mm festival being hosted this year with the following films:

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, OPPENHEIMER, HOWARD THE DUCK, INCEPTION, TENET, IN THE LINE OF FIRE, NOPE, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, TOP GUN, DAYS OF THUNDER, JOKER, THE REMAINS OF THE DAY, THE WILD BUNCH, STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY, BARAKA, READY PLAYER ONE, ROMA, THE DOORS, FAR AND AWAY, VERTIGO, GLORY, LIFEFORCE, HAMLET, STREETS OF FIRE, HOOK, AIRPORT, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, SPARTACUS, LICORICE PIZZA, THE MASTER, BOOGIE NIGHTS, INHERENT VICE

[Drucker]

So...The Vista...what's the deal with people taking bathroom breaks and sprinting as loudly and heavy-footed as possible during a movie to do so?

Saw Sorcerer last night while I was in town for work. The theater is gorgeous and the seating is wonderful, but people sprinting down the aisle was quite bizarre!

[beamish14]

So...The Vista...what's the deal with people taking bathroom breaks and sprinting as loudly and heavy-footed as possible during a movie to do so?

Saw Sorcerer last night while I was in town for work. The theater is gorgeous and the seating is wonderful, but people sprinting down the aisle was quite bizarre!

Haha! I’ve seen that as well. Unlike the New Beverly, it actually has comfortable restrooms. I like Pam’s Coffee.

[Drucker]

Maybe it's just that from a layout perspective you have a very long walkway which sort of invites sprinters? Never seen anything like it. Only in New York, baby.

[beamish14]

Maybe it's just that from a layout perspective you have a very long walkway which sort of invites sprinters? Never seen anything like it. Only in New York, baby.

Was the print of Sorcerer nice? I saw a beautiful archival one at the New Beverly over a decade ago, but I think Tarantino shows a faded one that he owns

[Drucker]

You're on the money. It was definitely faded. Not the most faded print I've ever seen, but a noticeable red veil over every scene. Which was really a shame and a bummer.
It's only ever played on DCP in NYC as long as I've been paying attention (except maybe recently at the Paris theater?)

[senseabove]

I was also there for the first time this past week, and yeah, it's a small screen for the length of the theater, so most people will have a waaaaaays to go to get back to their seat. It's also got a weird rake that goes up from the lobby, then slopes down at a slightly steeper-than-usual angle for 2/3 of the theater, then back up for the front 1/3, so I'd guess people aren't anticipating the severity of the rake or the points it changes slope, which might lead to some stomping.

And yeah, the print had some pretty bad red-shift, and while they were touting a rare "4 track mag" print both on social media and before the screening, it kinda sounded like they had an impedance mismatch that prevented low-volume sound from being produced at all.

[beamish14]

I was also there for the first time this past week, and yeah, it's a small screen for the length of the theater, so most people will have a waaaaaays to go to get back to their seat. It's also got a weird rake that goes up from the lobby, then slopes down at a slightly steeper-than-usual angle for 2/3 of the theater, then back up for the front 1/3, so I'd guess people aren't anticipating the severity of the rake or the points it changes slope, which might lead to some stomping.

And yeah, the print had some pretty bad red-shift, and while they were touting a rare "4 track mag" print both on social media and before the screening, it kinda sounded like they had an impedance mismatch that prevented low-volume sound from being produced at all.

Yes, it’s definitely an odd venue to put a 70mm projector in. It seems to be doing very well with first-run releases.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

I've been profoundly disappointed by the new Vista. I wish it was still one of the best first-run venues in town, but now just feels like it's meant to please only Quentine Tarantino and his fans and nobody else. The aesthetic redesigns are appalling including the glass case dedicated to his memorabilia and the faux vintage snack stand. I don't drink soda, but even I think it's demented they only sell RC Cola and not Coca-Cola. And the purple up-lights added to the statues inside the auditorium itself are terrible. They don't disappear the way red and green exit signs do. I have to sit close to avoid the light in my periphery. I was also there once when they were getting a delivery of food and snacks and couldn't pay the bill as no one had a clue how to do it and who's job it was. They clearly are figuring it all out still.

I also hate that it's become the horror movie theater. It only serves the Rucking Fotten types who are into the novelty of seeing a first-run horror film on 35mm. And the non-horror films they've picked too have been pretty pathetic options. I don't think they've played something I've been truly interested in since The Zone of Interest, and that was a time when seeing the 35mm print, I wish I had been seeing it digitally. There was a strange, green aliasing effect around figures, the subtitles were almost unreadable due to size and position, and the Mica Levi soundtrack really struggled coming out of that optical track. The last few new films they played have been Cuckoo, Longlegs, and Maxxxine and frankly am exhausted by these options.

And yeah, the print had some pretty bad red-shift, and while they were touting a rare "4 track mag" print both on social media and before the screening, it kinda sounded like they had an impedance mismatch that prevented low-volume sound from being produced at all.

My last time there was on a whim with a friend who wanted to see Death Wish during their IB Tech fest. The festival keeps toting the awful cliché I see everywhere around town that says "glorious 35mm", but other than the color being pretty good, the print was battered beyond belief and clearly warped as any time the Herbie Hancock soundtrack would play a sustained note, you'd get insane pitch shift. It was truly one of the most unwatchable prints I had ever seen. I think I've said on the forum before that I'd always rather see a pink, faded print over any digital version, but this was too far for me. For a place that's trying to tote the beauty of celluloid as the ideal cinematic film presentation, it isn't doing a very good job. I can't imagine anyone enjoying this!

Last projection issue, but they aren't even equipped for aspect ratios other than 1.85 and scope. Whenever they play their cartoon at the start in 1.37, it drives me crazy that they can't mask the image properly. It's a joke considering the space is supposed to be dedicated to the damn format.