Wishlist...

If I could be anywhere at anytime then these are the movies I would be watching this week. 

1. The Shoot Horses Don't They? February 27-March 5

Northwest Film Forum Seattle, WA

2.Husbands February 27-28

Film Streams Omaha, NE

3. Birdsong February 25- March 3

Anthology Film Archive New York, NY

4. The Films of Marie Menken February 27-28

Harvard Film Archive Cambridge, MA

5. Aparajito February 25

Pacific FIlm Archive Berkeley, CA 

Wishlist...

1. Me and My Brother Feb 18-19

Northwest Film Forum Seattle, WA

2.Great Speeches from a Dying World Feb 16-17

Anthology Film Archive New York, NY

3. An Evening with Pat O'Neil Feb 19

Walker Arts Center Minneapolis, MN

4. The Devil is a Woman Feb 20

Pacific Film Archive Berkeley, CA

5. Two of Three Things I Know About Her through Feb 24

Film Forum New York, NY 

Wishlist...

If I could be anywhere at anytime then these are the movies I would be watching this week. 

1. New Documentaries Shot on Super 8 February 12

MOMA New York, NY

2. Pillow Talk February 10-11

Brattle Theatre Cambridge, MA

3. Lithuania and the Collapse of the USSR February 9-15

Anthology Film Archive New York, NY

4. Valley Girl February 14

Clinton Street Theater Portland, OR

5. Amarcord February 13-19

Nuart Los Angeles, CA

Picture Show: Let the Right One In

Location: Regency Fairfax

7907 Beverly Blvd.

Hollywood, CA 90048

Just shy of being first run, the Regency Fairfax is a second run venue for recent art house cinema. The historic space has housed movie theaters since the 1920s and maintains a classic asthetic and free standing ticket booth (one of the last in the city).  On rainy days it is drafty and the ceilings leak with the temperatures in the screening rooms dropping significantly. However, like all old movie theaters the space recalls a Los Angeles that is rapidly disappearing and I hope that the theater maintains its history and wear and does not reemerge as plush or modern. 

Picture Show: Che

Location: Laemmle Sunset 5

8000  Sunset Blvd. 

West Hollywood, CA 90046

In high school, Laemmle Sunset 5 was where I discovered the foreign films and 90s indies that were prerequisites for the film student I was becoming. Now, newer theaters like the Arclight and Landmark have overtaken the market, nearly eliminating my regular visits. I watched Steven Soderbergh's Che over the course of two days. During the film's four hours I was relieved that Soderbergh's extensive project avoided the typical pitfalls of a Hollywood biopic. The measured meditation on the life and death of Che Guvara took advantage of  duration and allowed for the development of secondary figures and relationships. Instead of forcing the material into a curt, linear narrative Soderbergh allows for exploration, nuance and variation. Despite my declared resistance to biopics and Soderbergh I was deeply effected by both the elliptical narrative and interrogation of capitalism. 

Amarcord (Coming to a Theatre Near You...)

Janus Films has restored new prints of Fellini's meditation on fascism in 1930s Italy. The film takes place in the costal town of Rimini, a series of beaches now filled with tributes to the famous director. Nostalgic for my real and imagined memories of Italy I am eager to encounter Fellini's.

January 14 & January 23

Pacific Film Archive Berkeley, CA

February 13 - 19

Nuart Los Angeles, CA

February 27 - March 5

Landmark Ken San Diego, CA

February 27 - March 5

Castro Theatre San Francisco, CA

March 13 - March 19

Landmark E Street Washington, DC

March 27 - April 2

Landmark Lagoon Minneapolis, MN

April 2- 5

Cleveland Cinematheque Cleveland, OH

April 17-23

Ritz at the Bourse Philadelphia, PA

May 8-14

Landmark Midtown Art Cinema Atlanta, GA

May 10-12

Cinestudio Hartford, CT

June 19-21

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth Fort Worth, TX

What A Series: Great Directors: Cassavetes

Film Streams 

Omaha, NE

February 6- March 26

There is no one like John Cassavetes.  In Thom Andersen's essay-film Los Angeles Plays Itself he describes him by saying: "His films face up to tragedy and reject it."  There is an unsettling awareness of human behavior, desperation and need. The passionate desires to be understood, to be close to someone and to laugh are all painfully articulated. His films are the representations of self that we so desperately need and yet are afraid to look at. However, despite all the fear or anxiety that he might inspire I will never stop looking. 

February 6

Shadows/ Faces

February 7 

Shadows/ Faces

February 13

An Evening with Seymour Cassel

Rushmore

February 13- 19

Minnie and Moskowitz

February 20-26

Gloria

February 20-21

Too Late Blues

February 27- March 5

Husbands

February 27- March 5

A Woman Under the Influence

March 6- 12

Opening Night

March 6-12

Killing of A Chinese Bookie