comedy film blowout, all throughout june!
An epic laff-a-thon, featuring not only the genius of Jerry Lewis, Mitch Hedberg and Laurel & Hardy, but also live Cinefamily apperances by Sarah Silverman, Bobcat Goldthwait, Patton Oswalt, Tim & Eric, and Bob Odenkirk!
more live scores to silent films!
at the silent movie theatre
The UK duo In The Nursery returns to the Cinefamily, in addition to a collaboration between internationally-renowned sitar player Nishat Khan and guitarist Jimmy Rip, and a true first: live sound effects tracks to silent shorts provided by Police Academy’s Michael Winslow!
f is for folk, all may and june!
A vetting of song, string and songwriter, featuring films with Vashti Bunyan, Joan Baez, Sandy Bull and Earl Scruggs!
the gritty tales of abel ferrara!
Double features celebrating the shadowy milieu of one of America’s most dangerous auteurs!
may - june 2009
illustration of The Ladies’ Man (playing June 27) by Dan Zettwoch
the return of the five minutes game!
Undiscovered gems, booze ‘n BBQ on Memorial Day!
The cinefamily at the silent movie theatre 611 n. fairfax avenue, los angeles, 90036 323.655.2520 cinefamily.org
join the cinefamily! We want you to go to the movies. A lot. We want to show you the movies we love. We want to turn you on, because it’s just better on the big screen. So here’s the deal: you support The Cinefamily by paying $25 a month-that’s the cost of two tickets and a bucket of popcorn-and we’ll let you come as much as you want. Something look interesting? Check it out. Bored? C’mon by. L.A. sunshine getting you down? Hey, you’ve got an all - access pass to the most classy, air - conditioned living room you can find. The movies are always great and your first bucket of popcorn is free.
what is the cinefamily?
The Cinefamily is an organization of movie lovers devoted to finding and presenting interesting and unusual programs of exceptional, distinctive, weird and wonderful films. The Cinefamily’s goal is to foster a spirit of community and a sense of discovery, while reinvigorating the movie - going experience. Like campfires, sporting events and church services, we believe that movies work best as social experiences. They are more meaningful, funnier and scarier when shared with others. Our home is the Silent Movie Theatre, one of Hollywood’s most beloved and beautiful cultural landmarks. There, The Cinefamily will provide a destination spot for Los Angelenos and others to rediscover the pleasures of cinema. So here’s the breakdown:
for $25 a month, you get:
· One free admission to all of our screenings. · Free admission to private members - only screenings. · A handy membership card. · One free bucket of popcorn. · Free parking at the lot across the street.
for $40 a month, you get: · One free admission to all of our screenings. · Two guest passes, good for any screening. · A handy membership card. · Two free drinks of any kind. · Two buckets of popcorn. · Free parking at the lot across the street. please note: Seating is always first - come, first - served. Special events are not included in the membership. Memberships are non - transferable. Memberships can be purchased at the box office before each screening or online at www.cinefamily.org/joinus.html General admission tickets - $10 (unless otherwise noted)
what is the silent movie theatre?
Built in 1942 by John and Dorothy Hampton, The Silent Movie Theatre ran for decades as the only fully functioning silent movie theatre in the country. It has been fully restored to its original, vintage 1940s art deco design, along with a brand new screen and sound system, to help a new generation enjoy the pleasures of cinema in a beautiful theatre.
the films of abel ferrara friday double features in may
noticing the whole town’s increasingly creepy lockstep. The real stars of the film, besides Ferrara’s off-kilter yet intuitive handling of the material, are the absolutely killer widescreen cinematography of Bojan Bazelli, and Meg Tilly as the evil stepmother, in a performance so originally and genuinely unnerving that you’ll wish she’d revive the character in a spin-off TV show, so you could enjoy it every week.
Dangerous Game, May 22
Abel Ferrara is a filmmaker of contradictions. He is a Godard-worshipping auteur that could make a Times Square classic called Driller Killer, a wild and loose improviser whose films result in rigid formal and thematic coherence, and a man who can find humanity and tragedy in the most debauched of characters. Ferrara’s filmmaking is a mixture of the lowest and the highest of impulses—he is the meeting point between the art-house and grindhouse, a philospher of the mud. He delivers the goods, but also makes films with weight, depth, and artistry. One of America’s true modern masters, he has spent almost his entire thirty-year career outside of Hollywood, making masterpieces about the fringe while on the fringe.
the funeral
shown with... ms. 45 driller killer may 8 - 8pm Ferrara’s first feature has risen to infamy based almost entirely on its title, but offers out-of-left-field stylish moments and Ferrara’s developing quirky sense of humor in addition to its despairing Taxi Driver-like portrayal of gritty NYC life in the late ‘70s. Starving, irritated artist Reno (played by Ferrara himself) lives in a squalid tenement surrounded by drunken derelicts, one of whom happens to be his father. Plagued with nightmarish visions, Reno tenuously clings to sanity thanks to his girlfriend (Carolyn Marz), currently separated from her husband and also with a live-in lesbian lover. Reno works desperately on a huge painting of a buffalo which he hopes will earn some money, but his concentration is shattered when a punk band moves next door and plays around the clock. Reno soon snaps, and darts around the nocturnal city streets, picking off bums with his electric hand drill. Driller Killer strikes a terrific balance between atmosphere and shock, and features some of the most repulsive onscreen pizza eating ever.
9:45pm Ferrara displays an amazing command of the film medium in this, only his second legit feature. Pitched as a kind of Death Wish vigilante/rape-revenge flick, Ms. 45 far exceeds the limitations of any genre— it is an endlessly transforming piece of art, evolving past any simple exploitation satisfaction model, going from potentially uncomfortable misogyny up through feminist vengeance fable, and finally ending up in a nihilistic world in which no one’s fantasies are satisfied. Thana (the late, great Zoë Tamerlis), a mute garment district worker, has the ultimate bad day (one night, two rapes). After killing her second attacker in self-defense, she finds herself wandering the streets at night, looking to “defend” herself against any upright creature with a penis. It is an incredibly orchestrated mixture of tones and tropes, from black comedy to nihilist theatre, stylized central park shootouts and unforced low-key surrealism. Increasingly dreamy until its incredible Halloween party massacre climax, Ms. 45 is Ferrara’s finest example of scuzzy 42nd Street fare with a poetic soul. Driller Killer Dir. Abel Ferrara, 1979, Digibeta, 96 min. Ms. 45 Dir. Abel Ferrara, 1981, 35mm, 80 min.
may 15 - 8pm Ferrara and Christopher Walken teamed up on crime turf again six years later after the surprise success of King of New York for this far more haunting tale of ‘30s mob corruption with a potent Big Apple spin. After the death of a mobster named Johnny, his three brothers (Walken, Chris Penn and Vincent Gallo—how’s that for diversity?) and the rest of the family (including Isabella Rossellini and Benicio Del Toro) unite for the funeral and, hungering for emotional closure and release, deal with their own screwed-up psychoses until the blood starts flying. This film, from the director’s most productive and fascinating period, is part character study, part violent exploitation, part cerebral study in morality and politics, and pure Ferrara.
shown with... body snatchers 10pm It’s rare that a film remake matches the artistic success of the original, but Ferrara impressively made a great film under the shadow of not one, but two fantastic preceding versions (Don Siegel’s in ‘56 and Philip Kaufman’s in ‘78) of this now-classic tale. In his first and only big-budget studio venture, Ferrara and his team of writers (which included horror heavies Larry Cohen and Stuart Gordon) smartly relocated the paranoia-heavy Pod People setting to a sun-drenched military base, and placed at the film’s center a rebellious teenage girl (Gabrielle Anwar) already attuned to questioning authority, one who has no problem
bad lieutenant may 22 - 8pm After a decade of cult adoration for his grimy and piercingly intelligent low budget masterpieces, Ferrara finally broke into the big time with this shattering NC-17rated plunge into the darkest recesses of human behavior. Harvey Keitel gives one of the all-time fearless performances as the titular lieutenant, a heavily tainted NYC cop who indulges in every vice under the sun and has a very twisted way of dealing with young girls he pulls over to the side of the road. The brutal rape of a nun in his precinct, however, forces him to confront his own demons (with the nun offering her own surprising take on the idea of vengeance) on the way to the cathartic finale. Infused with Catholic symbolism, stylistic bravura, and a powerhouse soundtrack, Bad Lieutenant also contains an unforgettable junkie turn by Tamerlis, Ferrara’s muse from Ms. 45, before her untimely death. Come see this essential entry in extreme cinema up on the big screen where it belongs.
shown with... dangerous game 9:45pm Throughout his career, Ferrara has repeatedly attempted to combine high art tendencies with a level of sleaze lower to the ground than a Polynesian limbo routine—and perhaps he’s never been more successful at it than with Dangerous Game, known to most as “that one with Madonna in it” but better understood as one of the most thematically complex and ultimately rewarding films in Ferrara’s rollercoaster filmography. Harvey Keitel portrays the Ferrara stand-in Eddie Israel, a director who leaves his wife and child behind in New York to make a grimy Hollywood flick with aggro leading man Francis Burns (James Russo) and no-talent sexpot Sarah Jennings (Madonna). In the chaotic spirit of Ferrara’s own loony productions, the abrasive film-within-the-film threatens to unravel from rampant drug use, directionless direction, manipulative sex and volcanic creative tensions—and on the meta level, the viewer is never sure whether or not what plays out in the subject matter is informing the making of Dangerous Game, or vice versa. Famously maligned by Madonna for purposefully making her out to be a “bad” actress (even though it’s by far her best performance), Dangerous Game is a brutal Godard-like condemnation of Hollywood antics, and a skeezy good time. Bad Lieutenant Dir. Abel Ferrara, 1992, 35mm, 96 min. Dangerous Game Dir. Abel Ferrara, 1993, 35mm, 108 min.
early fridays in may
The Funeral Dir. Abel Ferrara, 1996, 35mm, 99 min. Body Snatchers Dir. Abel Ferrara, 1993, 35mm, 87 min.
thursdays in may and june
f is for folk of in the first place. A lyrical, modern day road movie, From Here To Before is a wonderfully evocative film that retraces Vashti’s extraordinary trip across the British Isles. and sets it against the backdrop of her first high profile London concert. Featuring rare interviews with music luminaries Andrew Loog Oldham, Joe Boyd and Robert Kirby and musicians such as Devendra Banhart, Max Richter and Adem Ilhan. Dir. Kieran Evans, 2008, DigiBeta, 87 min.
earl scruggs: his family and friends
Celebration at Big Sur, June 25
Series co-presented by (((folkYEAH!))), McCabe’s Guitar Shop, L.A. Record and Don’t Knock The Rock. No matter which continent, festival, protest, or campfire, solo storytelling through verse and lyrical accompaniment has spun the everlasting tales that line the fabric of our planet’s history. Historians and musicologists seek to categorize its subtlety in style (blues, folk, traditional) or intent (political, comic, mystical), while filmmakers struggle in desperation to document fleeting moments of pure expression, before they are lost forever. Thankfully, as Led Zeppelin said, the song remains the same and it has no ending, according to the Incredible String Band. Join the Cinefamily in our annual vetting of song, string and songwriter, from sea to shining sea. Each selected film honors the unfolding journey and
june 18 - 8pm Earl Scruggs is a banjo. Born under a foggy mountain top straight out of Cleveland County, North Carolina, no other name in the history of mountain music is more directly associated with three-finger pickin’ (“Scruggs-Style”) than Earl. Originally part of Bill Monroe’s “Blue Grass Boys”, Earl built on earlier musical traditions and formulated a singular style known for being smoother than glass and never wavering in syncopation or uninterrupted flow. Most know Earl as the picker behind the “Dueling Banjos” riff in Deliverance, but thankfully the 1972 PBS documentary Earl Scruggs: His Family and Friends offers a more complex portrait of the man behind the hand. Featuring Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, the Byrds (Clarence White and Skip Battin!) and Charlie Daniels, Earl and his banjo embark on a personal renaissance, taking the instrument where it has never gone before. Unmissable highlights include Earl playing for anti-war protesters, battling a mini-Moog (which cannot keep up with his style!), and Earl visiting the Morris brothers’ garage to hear them sing their hit song “Salty Dog” and pick a tune together. Dir. David Hoffman, 1972, DigiBeta, 90 min.
rediscoveries of a wide swath of musicans that individually act as their own counterweight in form and approach. From the sweat of the honky tonk, to the cobblestones of Oxford Town to jivetalkin’ down by the river, follow the song all summer long and feel the wind as it cries. Please note that special events in this festival denoted by alternate ticket prices are not included in monthly memberships.
music thursdays
sing-sing thanksgiving: inside the joint with joan baez and b.b. king may 7 - 8pm Throughout the 1960s, only one singersongwriter was synonymous with the Peace movement. Born in Staten Island to Mexican and Scottish parents, Joan Baez sang loud and proud, bringing song and melody to anti-war, pro-union, pro-integration and women’s lib protest marches around the world. In recent years, fans were impressed when she flat out called her old partner Bobby Zimmerman an asshole in Scorsese’s Dylan doc No Direction Home. No one else could get away with it, and when Joanie sings, if you can’t hear what she’s saying, you’re not listening. Sing-Sing Thanksgiving is a landmark example of what artists can achieve together at the height of their powers. An unusual blend of folk and blues, the two musicians win over the hardened prisoners with each breakdown, lick and phrase. How often do you hear prisoners, male and female, wearing Black Power t-shirts, cheer while listening to the blues? You can’t sell this stuff today, even at the House of Blues. Special appearances by The Voices of East Harlem singing Nina Simone’s “Young, Gifted and Black” and Joan’s little sis Mimi Farina who, it could be argued, was the most beautiful woman of her generation.
their own fun singing and dancing down by the river in bikinis and short shorts at hootenannies, big jam sessions with great musicians. These were taken so seriously that B-movie mogul Sam Katzman (Rock Around The Clock) capitalized on the phenomenon with Hootennany Hoot. In it, two randy Madison Ave. ad men travel up the Hudson River Valley in search of fresh faces and become betwixt’d by the Hoot. The frivolity is fun and goes down easy, but the reasons not to miss HH are the key performances: Johnny Cash sings “Frankie and Johnny” from out of the back seat of his car, Judy Henske (“Queen of the Beatniks”) taps the root and awakens the beast within for “Wade In The Water”, and suggestive ballads by Joe and Eddie hint at how the times would be a-changin’. Tickets to this special screening include a booze-’n-BBQ reception on our patio after the film! Dir. Gene Nelson, 1963, 16mm, 91 min. (Print courtesy of UCLA Film & Television Archive)
folk shredders night, feat. sandy bull: no deposit, no return blues with live performance by
guy blakeslee
may 28 - 8pm tickets - $12/$8 members Knowing the notes and where to put your fingers is the simplest way of defining what a great guitarist does each time they lay down a weary tune. Whether part of declaring an Avatar or completing a sun cycle, devotees of the six-string player achieve bliss by just the pure act of listening with their eyes and following along with their ears. Tonight, get shredded by key selects of rarely screened footage by the likes of UK giants Bert Jansch, Ralph McTell, Jan Akkerman and Stefan Grossman hanging out and riffing hard together. Then, enjoy the testementary documentary Sandy Bull: No Deposit No Return Blues, made with loving care by his daughter KC Bull. For the uninitiated, Sandy Bull elevated the folk guitar scene of the ‘60s (centered primarily in Greenwich Village’s Washington Square Park) by uniting cross-continental sounds with the ravagings of the ongoing psychedelic movement. End the night with a performance from Guy Blakeslee of The Entrance Band, and frolic beneath the black hole sun.
f is for folk mix night
heartworn highways
may 14 - 8pm tickets - $14/$10 members We had so much fun last year with Hootenanny Hoot, we’re bringing it back—with a full-on Hootenany ourselves. Moonshine, gingham dressed pie-cooks, and bales of hay. It’s gonna be a party to remember! What’s the movie? Well, far away from the smoky boho coffee klatches of New York, wild college kids of the early ‘60s had
Dir. James Szalapski, 1981, Digibeta, 92 min.
Sandy Bull: No Deposit, No Return Blues Dir. K.C. Bull, 2003, digital presentation, 44 min.
Dir. David Hoffman, 1972, DigiBeta, 90 min.
hootenanny hoot
and engaging the audience on their terms, dixie-fried, southbound and down.
may 21 - 8pm God bless James Szalapski for crafting Heartworn Highways (shot in ‘75, released in ‘81) because today’s audience is more receptive than the one that existed during its bleak original theatrical release. Heartworn is for music lovers that like to jam tunes, get wasted and watch dogs bark and trucks pass by, for people who like to hyper-analyze Charlie Daniels’ wardrobe. You can check out Steve Earle, just past being a teenager, rail on “Mercenary Song”. Follow Townes Van Zandt on a guided shotgun tour of the gargantuan rabbit holes on his property, then pay attention as David Allen Coe chews out some prisoners and delivers them gospel. At the time Heartworn Highways was released, the music was labeled New Country, but the reality is that this is country music at its finest, teetering on the edge of relevancy
june 4 - 8pm Every music film festival, we put together a mixtape of our favorite ephemera, and few of our festivals lend themselves more poetically to this than the under-recorded history of folk and country musicians. We’ve lovingly poured through our own collections, traded tapes with fellow travellers and hunted through bootlegger catalogues in our odyssey to find the most transcendental and perfect moments of acoustic beauty and soulful balladeering existant. On this warm, early summer night we will share a compendium of live performances and interviews wherever they could be found, television appearances, concert film highlights, surprise cameos in feature films, foreign documentaries and more.
vashti bunyan: from here to before june 11 - 8pm For many cult artists, rediscovery comes too late; they never live to know their art has been reappraised, and is being loved by generations not even born when they were at work. In the case of Vashti Bunyan, the “Godmother of Freak Folk”, thirty years of obscurity ended in 2000 with the rediscovery of her lost classic album “Just Another Diamond Day”—inspired by an end-toend journey across the U.K. by horse and carriage--and her subsequent reintroduction into a mainstream she was never part
festival in the forest
(special sneak preview!) june 25 - 8pm tickets - $14/$10 members Sex! Drugs! Rock and Roll! In September of 2008, the San Francisco and Los Angeles scenes converged under the ancient redwoods of Big Sur to make music, make merry, and make love. Performers included local favorites Megapuss, Entrance Band, Fool’s Gold, The Parson Redheads, as well as fantastic sets from Port O’Brien, Beach House, Sleepy Sun, Sam Flax Kenner and more, all capped by a grand send-off from The Silver Jews [the brilliant, brooding presence of David Berman in one of the band’s final performances was worth the price of admission alone]. With attendance for this Big Sur Fire Brigade benefit capped at a mere 400(!) campers, the event retained a remarkable purity and intimacy. Festival In The Forest captures this soon-tobe-legendary (((folkYeah!))) show, and the zeitgeist of the California folk/rock scenes, much as Celebration at Big Sur did some thirty years prior. A true gem of a film, Festival in the Forest is not to be missed by music lovers or documentary enthusiasts.
shown with... celebration at big sur
9:15pm In 1971, everyone did it. And they did it for love. Filmed at the legendary West Coast philosophical retreat The Esalen Institute (which gave birth to EST and which counted Henry Miller as a regular guest), the very rarely-screened Celebration At Big Sur is a terrific document of this formerly annual concert, featuring the sounds of CSNY, Joan Baez and her sister Mimi Farina, Dorothy Morrison, John Sebastian and Joni Mitchell, all performing on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Like Woodstock, the Celebration was a free festival that had major quirks that made for great filmic moments. Highlights include Steven Stills getting into a fight with a heckler, experimental Jordan Belson-like bits during Joni’s piano playing, and David Crosby skinny-dipping with Carl Gottlieb (the film’s producer and the co-writer of Jaws) in the infamous Esalen baths while chanting up a storm. Purify yourself at the sea of madness! Festival In The Forest Dir. Alexander Klein, 2009, HDCAM, 60 min. Celebration At Big Sur Dirs. Baird Bryant & Johanna Demetrakas, 1971, 16mm, 82 min.
louise brooks silent wednesdays in may
Dir. G.W. Pabst, 1929, 35mm.
it’s the old army game may 20 - 8pm It’s The Old Army Game is a rare chance to see Brooks doing madcap comedy, cast opposite a hilariously screwy W. C. Fields in an adventure set during the Florida land boom. It’s wonderful to see the darkly ravishing Brooks appear in such an unlikely vehicle. She lights up the screen as young Mildred Marshall, the assistant to Fields’ small-town apothecary. Director Edward Sutherland, who married Brooks around the time this film was made, was as enamored with her as audiences were, as evidenced by a va-va-voom gratuitous tableau of the star leaning languidly in a bathing suit. According to an avid fan, “There’s a memorable tracking shot of Louise striding down a country lane towards the camera that’s worth the price of admission!” Dir. A. Edward Sutherland, 1926, 16mm, 70 min.
There’s a reason the name Louise Brooks elicits sighs every time it’s mentioned at the Cinefamily. Her ferocious charisma and otherworldly beauty cemented her status as an icon well before she retired from the silver screen, at the age of 32, with only 25 screen credits to her name. From her comic role opposite W.C. Fields to multiple turns as troubled, willful heroines in the films of legendary German director G.W. Pabst, Brooks shines as an actress capable of endless nuance and versatility. She understood the impact both her inner and outer beauty could bring to the screen; “The great art of films,” she once said, “does not consist in descriptive movement of face and body, but in the movements of thought and soul transmitted in a kind of intense isolation.”
pandora’s box may 6 - 8pm Louise Brooks took naturally to the life of an ex-pat actress, breaking her Hollywood ties after a salary dispute with Paramount and linking up with Bohemian director G. W. Pabst for a film as beautiful and haunting as the actress herself. Brooks cemented her legendary status as the willful, silent muse of German Expressionist cinema with 1929’s Pandora’s Box. As conflicted femme fatale Lulu, the girl whose luscious sexuality is fraught with a ruin beyond
diary of a lost girl may 13 - 8pm Brooks’ second collaboration with German Expressionist auteur G.W. Pabst is in some ways an answer film to Pandora’s Box—it builds on the tantalizing scandal of the latter, but instead of guiding its central character into a spiral of inevitable tragedy, it follows the sumptuous, troubled character of Thymiane through a similar tale of sexuality and brutality, to an ultimately inspiring conclusion. The film vacillates confidently between decorous high society and the destitute life of an innocent girl forced into a reformatory, then sold into a brothel. Pabst’s escalating nightmares are heightened by Brooks’ sensitive portrayal of a truly lost girl whose hard-earned redemption is as beautiful a vision as the star herself. Dir. G.W. Pabst, 1929, 35mm.
beggars of life may 27 - 8pm Brooks gave one of her strongest performances during her brief stint within the Hollywood system in Beggars of Life, William A. Wellman’s 1928 portrait of transient life. Brooks plays Nancy, who must go on the run with her friend Jim after killing her scumbag stepfather in self-defense. A daring story with an outstanding supporting cast, Beggars of Life echoes the dark atmospherics of Brooks’ other films, but it stands out for its markedly American narrative. As Nancy, Brooks’ fierce heroine disguises herself as a boy, and engages in train-hopping, hobo-fighting, and carstealing, all while on the lam. A rare, perfect blend of melodrama and naturalism in the storytelling enhances this performance, for which Brooks did all of her own stunts. Dir. William Wellman, 1928, 16mm, 100 min.
soul hustlers friday midnight shows in may
trick baby Willie Dynamite, May 22
While the threads may be fine and the music funky, there was nothing campy about the best blaxploitation movies. These were hard, edgy films about street life, with smart, ambitious protagonists who hustled and scrapped their way to the top—because when the game is rigged, you got to play by your own rules. In this series, we offer four great crime dramas about con men, pimps and thieves; anti-heroes (or just plain heroes to some) who captured the rebellious energy of an audience that didn’t feel like the system was working for them— an audience ready to root for the robbers over the cops and pimps over preachers. With their fur coats, fur hats and fur-lined telephones, these four characters rocked ‘70s cinema with dignity and a non-conformist edge.
the mack may 8 - midnight Initially written on toilet paper rolls by an incarcerated convict, made with equal amounts of influence from Oakland’s Ward underworld family and the Black Panthers, The Mack transcends its boilerplate “they made me a criminal” storyline with authentic atmosphere, music, legitimate political debate and a refreshing amount of improvisation and whimsy. Max Julien is Goldie, who revenges his time in the joint (framed by The Man, of course) by becoming not just the biggest purveyor of flesh and narcotics, but of community influence; his ability to drive away criminals and corrupt cops
and pacify the streets frustrates his more politically active brother (Roger E. Mosley). But Goldie’s main squeeze (Carol Speed, actual girlfriend of “technical advisor” and local crime boss Frank Ward) and his best friend (Richard Pryor) just love the high living. The Mack has it both ways: it is the seminal film for almost all aspects of classic and modern pimp culture (the “Players’ Ball” was a fictional event created by Pryor for the film until real-life pimps decided to turn it into an actual ceremony following the film’s release), and it has a genuine conscience and thoughtfulness that takes it way beyond the confines of mere exploitation. Dir. Michael Campus, 1973, 35mm, 110 min.
may 15 - midnight As monumentally influential as the novels of Robert Beck (aka Iceberg Slim) are, unbelievably there has only been one movie adaption to note—the overlooked and underated little gem of a con man movie, Trick Baby. Subverting the racial paradigms that were already getting stale in other movies, Trick Baby presents two genial con artists—Blue, and his young white protegee Folks—who eagerly play into their marks’ prejudices to take their cash. But their long-anticipated big con takes a bad turn, and as the pair flee from vengeful mobsters and a two-faced detective, they are faced with the prospect of either keeping the cash or their lives. With much of Iceberg’s Slim’s metered prosody intact in the the dialogue and subtle performances by non-stars, there’s much to revisit for repeated viewings in this crackerjack crime drama. A proto-Mamet-ian primer in pigeon drops and diamond hustles, Trick Baby depicts how two liars can only find truth in their friendship, and how in a polarized era, black and white can make green. Dir. Larry Yust, 1973, 35mm, 89 min.
willie dynamite may 22 - midnight When Willie Dynamite (Roscoe Orman) first appears on screen, he’s got it made— huge purple pimpmobile, seven broads at his feet (a lineup of ‘70’s hotties including Marcia McBroom, Juanita Brown, Judy Brown, and Mary Charlotte Wilcox), and a bulletproof reputation. He’s also, to paraphrase real-life gangster Frank Lucas,
wearing a costume with a big sign on it that says “Fuck with me,” and outside forces are taking the invite. In as short a time as it would take to adjust a plume on his feathered hat, his girls are getting arrested, his car is getting repeatedly towed, his game is being stolen by a rival pimp, and to top it off, a reformed hooker-turned-socialworker (Diana Sands) is deep-sea-diving in his Kool-Aid, trying to unionize his girls and break his stride. Willie didn’t get the memo from Super Fly to get out while the gettin’s good, and now the Dynamite empire is imploding. It’s impossible to view this film without thinking of Orman’s 180-degree turn later as kindly Gordon on “Sesame Street”, and in fact it provides a fitting post-script to this story of one pimp’s reckoning. Dir. Gilbert Moses, 1974, 35mm, 102 min.
super fly may 29 - midnight Unjustly accused as one of the most blinged-out, glorified views of of street life, there’s a grimy and real center to Super Fly’s hardcore, amoral hunt for the American Dream. It’s true that our hero, Youngblood Priest, is an unapologetically ambitious coke dealer who flouts his cool with a customized Caddy, great threads, and a helping hand from Curtis Mayfield’s legendary score—but there’s no question about the subtext of his desire to get out. Priest is smart enough to realize he can’t hang with the pushers and stay alive, and he’ll have to figure out how to be even smarter to assemble all the coke, cash and protection he needs to make his last deal and escape. Director Gordon Parks, Jr., as if perhaps reacting to a challenge laid down by his father (Shaft director Gordon Parks, Sr., who helped finance Super Fly), made his directorial debut by essentially one-upping the dramatic strengths of his father’s film, and Ron O’Neal brought years of stage training to create the majesty that is Priest, a performance that is now immortal. Dir. Gordon Parks, Jr., 1972, 35mm, 93 min.
may silents and late fridays
her control, Brooks makes increasingly twisted, tragic plot turns (shooting her lover, fleeing the country with her lover’s son, becoming a “lady of the evening” and having everyone around her perish) seem totally inevitable, for a beauty that burns that brightly cannot burn for too long. As Brooks’ outrageous autobiography “Lulu in Hollywood” attests, the movie’s effect was so powerful on audiences that the character’s name stuck with her for life.
early saturdays in may
fuzzy felt films side. Literally. There will be cauldrons of mac and cheese. Mmmmmmm....what were we showing again?
The Red Balloon Dir. Albert Lamorisse, 1956, 35mm, 34 min.
The Red Balloon, May 23
Fuzzy Felt films elicit ecstatic pangs of nostalgia from folks who weren’t even born in the ‘70s, when these films played on 16mm projectors rolled into classrooms, libraries, and wood-paneled dens across the USA. We’re celebrating every hand-quilted patch of the grainy, color-saturated stories that make up these awww-inspiring time capsules, which are often trippy, usually adorable, and at times tinged with the creepy awkwardness of a bell-bottomed uncle. From the meandering bike-basket adventures of precocious latchkey kids to stop-motion childrens’ films clearly inspired by (and advocating) ingestion of psychedelics, these films occupy a perfect slot between the grilled cheese recipes and macrame collections of our past. And since this is a Cinefamily Fuzzy Felt-ing, each screening will be followed by a Mac and Cheese & Juicebox reception on the patio. Bring your blanket-fort skills and a signed permission slip from mom. (PS: Thanks to Jonny Trunk for coming up with the term Fuzzy Felt, and do buy his great CD compilation, Fuzzy Felt Folk). a childhood’s worth of Indian summers. We’ve searched all the world’s attics and public libraries for comfort films custommade for our inner kid. We’ve got Oscarwinning shorts that’d make Dick Cheney’s frown turn upside down, and educational films so cute you’ll vomit rainbows. This is gonna be more escapist than a school-skipping, sick-faking “snow day” of the heart, with mac n’ cheese on the side. And that’s why we’re giving you mac n’ cheese on the
saturdays in may
fuzzy felt film party, with macn-cheese on the side may 9 - 7:30pm Come run away with us to a world of magic pancakes and condiment-based kitchen lab experiments—a 16mm movie-blankie haven that’ll make you feel warmer than
late saturdays in may
from the mixed-up files of mrs. basil e. frankweiler may 16 - 7:30pm Adapted from E.L. Konigsberg’s beloved children’s classic, From The Mixed-Up Files Of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler retains all of the elements that have made it a longtime favorite of precocious youngsters and adults alike. Twelve year old Claudia Kincaid and little brother Jamie discover childhood paradise in the ultimate hide out: the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Featuring a sardonic Ingrid Bergman in the title role, the film captures all of the frustration and heightened sensitivity of that age when adults don’t ‘get’ you and just being on your own is thrilling. Rare and charming performances by child leads Sally Prager and Johnny Doran complete this fanciful article of nostalgia. So hunker down with your crackers and juice boxes, and get ready for FTMUFOMBEF! Dir. Fielder Cook, 1973, 35mm, 105 min.
Please note that special events in this festival denoted by alternate ticket prices are not included in monthly memberships.
the red balloon with live film score by
asdsska & lucky dragons also with... l.a. ladies’ choir sing-along may 23 - 7:30pm tickets - $12/$8 members Co-presented by Dublab and L.A. Record With its magical storyline, spare dialogue, and gorgeous technicolor cinematography of Paris in the ‘50s, The Red Balloon lends
x-rated animation night featuring
once upon a girl Once Upon a Girl, May 23
Series co-presented by Pimpadelic Wonderland. Sung to the tune of “That’s Entertainment”: There’s a cock...no, it’s a hand in a sock! / And the crux, is a puppet that fucks! / She gets wet, from a marionette / That’s fuckin’-tain-ment! The twat, that is talking a lot / Pussy lips, that are quick with the quips / It’s bizarre, ‘cuz that vag is FUBAR! / That’s fuckin’-tain-ment! The plot can be hot, simply teeming with sex / A gay divorcee who is after her ex / It could be Oedipus Rex / Or a Chinese-scholar-trades-his-penis-with-a-donkey-in-an-elaborate-andfunny-acrobatic-surgery-slapstick-scene! / The world is a stage; the stage is a world of fuckin’taaaaaaaaaaaaainment! may 9 - 10:15pm While most Americans got their first taste of Hong Kong filmmaking from John Woo and Tsui Hark, a few brave souls got a taste of something much more perverted in the form of Sex and Zen, a 1991 bizarro sex fantasia that made an instant name of the stunning Amy Yip, star of numerous “Category III” (i.e., really, really twisted) Hong Kong films. Based on the ancient Chinese classic “Prayer Mat of the Flesh,” it charts a husband’s unwise decision to ignore a monk’s discouraging of adultery. After some nuptial mishaps, he attempts to satisfy his lusts by any means necessary—this of course means wild, acrobatic, wholly ridiculous sex scenes and the infamous,
melody may 30 - 7:30pm Nothing could be more fuzzy, or more felt, than the flute-filled, floppy-haired ode to young love that is Melody. This 1971 British children’s film is Cruising, about that honest, Apr 3 awkward period of youth when friendships are fast, and love is just wanting to be with someone all the time. It’s also about buying goldfish (just to release them into the river), pre-disco Bee Gees ballads, and young girls practicing kissing on a Mick Jagger poster. Or feel this: when Melody challenges whether Daniel will love her as long as a married couple’s tombstone depicts, Daniel says, “Why not? I’ve loved you for a whole week already.” We dare you not to get misty-eyed, we double-dog dare you. But for a few warm and beloved 16mm prints, Melody was nearly lost under the sands of time, but it lives on in the memories of all who saw it at that impressionable age, when they were small, and Christmas trees were tall, and we used to love while others used to play. Dir. Waris Hussein, 1971, 16mm, 103 min.
holyfuckingshit : that’s fuckin’! understandings, pratfalls and twatfalls, and anything else that once could call “beyond erotica”. You’ll feel embarassed, shocked, amused and vaguely removed, just like your last sexual experience—but without the crying in the shower afterwards. Oh, and the night will culminate with the entire incredible and bizarre porn directed by adult film legend Gerard Damiano (Deep Throat), made with anatomically correct marionettes, called Let My Puppets Come!
sex & zen
itself perfectly to whimsical musical accompaniment, and we’re very excited to present the film with a beautiful, nostalgiasoaked new live score by AsDSSkA (the classically-trained Aska Matsumiya) and experimental sound masters Lucky Dragons. Tapping into our childlike inclination to personify objects, Albert Lamorisse’s 1956 children’s classic The Red Balloon has mesmerized audiences of all ages for decades with its tale of a young boy (played by the director’s son) whose newest toy becomes his best friend. Upon its release, it was the darling of both Cannes and the Oscars, and has since gone on to charm all those with a sense of wonder. Once you’ve settled into the warmth and fuzziness, stick around for a sing-a-long with the Los Angeles Ladies’ Choir!
startling sequence in which he decides to replace his paltry human manhood with a giant horse cock. Still the defining Eastern erotic film despite years of imitations, this is one gorgeous-looking skin-packed epic of wacky sex unlike any other. Dir. Michael Mak, 1991, 35mm, 99 min.
mondo sexo mix night may 16 - 10pm Sex is comedy. At least to sick twists like us. For this “Mondo” mix night of found footage insanity, we will cull our stacks of sex educational stoopidity, instructional videos that you won’t wanna try at home, cheeseball porn and soft-core smut to create a night of full of screw scenes gone screwy and delightful slapstick-it-in mis-
may 23 - 10pm Some fantasies are too...uh, elastic, for live action to possibly fulfill, so tonight we present a poon-toon dickelodeon full of cell-acious dirty drawings, carnal cartoons and amoruous animations. The night’s gonna be lascivious, libidinous, lecherous...and loony, shooting by twenty-four filthy frames per second. After the shorts are done, we settle in for the looooong haul, with an X-rated feature made by animator ex-pats from Disney and Hanna-Barbera. Once Upon A Girl is a filthy fairy tale omnibus film featuring “bedtime stories for grownups”, in which Mother Goose is put on trial for obscenity, and the evidence is animated bawdy bowdlerizations of “Jack and the Beanstalk”, “Cinderella”, “Snow White” and “Little Red Riding Hood”, in what eventually descends into an orgy of enchanted proportions. Once Upon A Girl Dir. Don Jurwich, 1976, 35mm, 77 min.
pussy talk may 30 - 10pm A pioneering film in the short-lived French ‘70s hardcore wave (the logical successor to the French New Wave, natch), this funny, fast-paced, and incredibly weird smut epic runs with the throat-clit concept of Deep Throat all the way to its absurd conclusion: a talking vagina. But this isn’t just any vocal genitalia: this miracle belongs to pretty Joëlle, much to the consternation of her husband. Soon she sparks a media frenzy while everyone around her bangs their brains out, with the jaw-dropping trauma behind it all coming to light along with scenes involving puppet sex, a horny female painter molesting her models, POV shots from inside the, uh, magic cavern, and even a twist ending. Is this a clever,
sex-packed satire on the gender wars? A tacky, mind-bending aberration in porn history? Or something else entirely? Come see and decide for yourself with this defining film from director Claudio Mulot (under his nom de screw, Frederic Lansac.)
shown with... chatterbox
midnight This delirious rip-off of Pussy Talk goes the softcore comedy route and ups the freak show value exponentially under the directorial hand of Tom DeSimone, who has the weirdest resumé in history, ranging from exploitation classics like Reform School Girls, all the way to 3-D gay porn. This time he goes for the funny bone with the tale of Penny (the late, gorgeous Candice Rialson), an often-nude beautician whose life gets a lot more complicated when her “special place” starts talking out at the most awkward times. Oh, and it sings, too! Featuring Rip Taylor, a Neil Sedaka disco theme song (“Wang Dang Doodle”), and inventive camerawork by ace cinematographer Tak Fujimoto (The Silence of the Lambs), this is the kind of drug-fueled, sexcrazed insanity that could only have been made in 1977. Pussy Talk Dir. Claude Mulot, 1975, digital presentation, 90 min. Chatterbox Dir. Tom DeSimone, 1977, digital presentation, 73 min.
cinefamily.org
The cinefamily at the silent movie theatre 611 n. fairfax avenue, los angeles, 90036 323.655.2520
may
midnight - super fly
28 8 pm - folk shredders night (feat. sandy bull: no deposit no return blues + live performance by guy blakeslee)
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6 pm - the 5 minutes game + cinefamily memorial day bbq
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8 pm - heartworn highways
8 pm - it’s the old army game
8 pm - wholphin no. 8 dvd release party
8 pm - a page of madness (w/ live score by in the nursery)
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8 pm - beggars of life
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8 pm - diary of a lost girl
8 pm - cinemad’s short film alamanac
8 pm - a throw of dice (w/ live score by nishat khan and jimmy rip)
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8 pm - hootenanny hoot + cinefamily backyard bbq
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midnight - willie dynamite
8 PM - bad lieutenant + dangerous game
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midnight - trick baby
8 PM - the funeral + body snatchers
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midnight - the mack
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8 PM - driller killer + ms. 45
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8 pm - sing-sing thanksgiving: inside the joint with joan baez & b.b. king
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6 8 pm - pandora’s box
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8 pm - dublab labrat matinee VI: selections from an astral projectionist
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4:30 pm - orphans symposium: program 5 8 pm - orphans symposium: program 6
2 pm - orphans symposium: program 4
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10 pm - pussy talk + chatterbox
7:30 PM - melody
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10 pm - x-rated animation night (feat. once upon a girl)
7:30 PM - the red balloon (w/ live score by asdsska & lucky Dragons
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10 pm - mondo sexo mix night (feat. let my puppets come)
7:30 PM - from the mixed-up files of mrs. basil e. frankweiler
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10:15 pm - sex & zen
7:30 PM - fuzzy felt Film party
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9:30 pm - orphans symposium: program 3
8 pm - orphans symposium: program 1/2
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Hootenanny HootenannyHoot, Hoot,May May14th, 14th 8pm
june
The cinefamily at the silent movie theatre 611 n. fairfax avenue, los angeles, 90036 323.655.2520 cinefamily.org
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The Disorderly Orderly, June 20th, 8:15 pm
8 pm - brian dewan: focus
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8 pm - laurel and hardy shorts
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8 pm - f is for folk mix night
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midnight - funky forest: the first contact
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6:30 pm - the nutty professor + THE patsy
10:45 pm - tv carnage night
13 8 pm - pffr night
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8 pm - michael winslow: man of 1000 voices
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8 pm - vashti bunyan: from here to before
midnight - zebraman
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midnight -hausu
10:30 pm - everything is terrible night
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10:30 pm - mondo MONDO mix night (feat. dangerous men)
7 pm - the bellboy + THE errand BOY
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8 pm - earl scruggs: his family and friends
6:30 pm - who’s minding the store + THE disorderly orderly
8 pm - mack sennett shorts
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midnight - god of cookery
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10:30 pm - found footage battle royal
6:30 pm - cinderfella + the ladies’ man
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8 pm - true stories (hosted by tim & eric)
8 pm - god told me to (hosted by patton oswalt) 8 pm - an evening with bobcat goldthwait (feat. shakes the clown)
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8 pm - festival in the forest + celebration at big sur
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8 pm - our gang shorts
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8 pm - tv tuesday: unaired tv pilots night
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8 pm - real life (hosted by bob odenkirk)
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8 pm - where’s poppa? (hosted by sarah silverman)
s m t w t f s 8 pm - winnebago man (special sneak preview)
14 8 pm - mitch hedberg tribute night
21 1 pm - chaplin father’s day matinee: the kid 8 pm - family books presents: a tribute to jules feiffer
28 3 pm - mondo jerry bbq (feat. cracking up)
jerry lewis : the total filmmaker early saturdays in june cinderfella
The Patsy, June 6
Series co-presented by The Sound of Young America. It’s time to reclaim Jerry Lewis from the French. It’s hard to overstate the scale of Jerry’s popularity, the level of his influence or the range of his talents. Few filmmakers outside of the silent era could claim as much total authorship of a film as Jerry Lewis does at the peak of his
shown with... the ladies man
powers—as a director/producer/writer/star, he oversees every aspect of production. He is a genius of physical space, both as a performer and as choreographer of some of the most incredibly controlled and elaborate setpieces of color and movement in Hollywood’s golden era. But, most of all, no one before or since has pushed the envelope further of what’s funny—his jokes are as elastic as they are cartoonish. Too slow, too long, too strange, too
lesson that literally brings down the house. The last of Jerry’s big-budget Paramount pictures, The Patsy closes out an era in style....and with plenty of laughs.
It’s also Jerry’s love letter to filmmaking— shot all over the Paramount lot, it’s a virtual documentary of the industry that could have been called “A Day at the Studio”. The film gives you riffs on every aspect of filmmaking, from ADR sessions to test-screenings, and every profession is gently mocked from the mailroom schlubs all the way up to the starlets.
The Nutty Professor Dir. Jerry Lewis, 1963, 35mm, 107 min. The Patsy Dir. Jerry Lewis, 1964, 35mm, 101 min. (Prints courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences)
The Bellboy Dir. Jerry Lewis, 1960, 35mm, 72 min. The Errand Boy Dir. Jerry Lewis, 1961, 35mm, 92 min. (Print of The Bellboy courtesy of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences)
insane...but somehow always incredibly funny in the end. Influencing a generation, from Steve Martin to the Zucker Brothers, he is the one and only King of Comedy.
Cinderfella Dir. Frank Tashlin, 1960, 35mm, 91 min. The Ladies Man Dir. Jerry Lewis, 1961, 35mm, 106 min. (Print of Cinderfella courtesy of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences)
the nutty professor june 6 - 6:30pm The crown jewel of all the Jerry lewis movies, The Nutty Professor is his most undeniable masterpiece—the film to thrust upon Jerry doubters and dare them to deny its perfection. With meticulous and awesome color coordination, it is a visual feast, and Jerry creates not just one, but two brandnew, completely original characters that are each miracles of meticulous acting craft. Just creating the iconic klutzy Professor Kelp would be enough, a personage so memorable in appearance and voice as to haunt all of our subcortexes forever, if only second-hand through a staple character from the “Simpsons” stable (Professor Frink). But then you’ve also got Kelp’s frighteningly funny and terrifyingly sexy alter ego Buddy Love: the suave, greazy rat pack incarnation of Lewis’ Id. Every molecule of Buddy Love’s body, every inch of his movement, is completely realized, a kind of comedic acting ballet that will have your jaw on the floor. So wipe off our lipstick, slide over here, and let’s get started.
shown with... the patsy
8:15pm In one of the most self-reflexive films in the Lewis cannon (originally conceived as a sequel called Son of the Bellboy), The Patsy chronicles the life of a young bellboy chosen at random to be transformed into a famous actor, Pygmalion-style, by an out-ofwork entourage who just lost their movie star employer in a freak accident. What transpires is a stage-by-stage satire of the Hollywood machine, and some of Jerry’s best signature fake-bad performance pieces—a hapless and hilarious attempt at lip-synching, the ultimate cringe-inducing, cricket-chirping standup act, and a singing
8:15pm There is no better argument for Jerry Lewis’s visual and technical genius than The Ladies Man. After the wild success of The Bellboy, which was the climax of a long string of box office hits, he was given unprecedented budgetary freedom—and boy, did he put it to good use. As a filmmaker, Jerry loved his toys, and in this big-budget brain-boiler, he built the biggest, coolest playpen of them all—a four-story, sixty-room, openfaced dollhouse so large they had to break down the wall between two sound stages, each room armed with its own lighting kit and closed-circuit sound system, a working elevator, the world’s largest crane, and a battery of video monitors secreted around the set so he could check his own performance at all times. Populating his dollhouse with (what else?) “dolls”, he put this coterie of gorgeous dames to use in a series of hilarious, incredibly choreographed setpieces that could only be compared to the best of Buster Keaton or Jacques Tati, but with his own signature cartoonish mania. Color, girls, dance, hilarity—this is comedy as spectacle, and it miraculously works as both!
SPECIAL SUNDAY SCREENING:
mondo jerry bbq featuring
cracking up the bellboy june 13 - 7pm Walking too many dogs? Carrying too many suitcases? Too many phones aringin’? Well, join the club! Jerry’s directorial debut was conceived, written, shot and released in just six months as a promise to Paramount to deliver a summer film after the production of Cinderfella. With no actual story, no real plot, a main character that utters only one line of dialogue, and a baggage cart full of surreal jokes, The Bellboy remains Lewis’ most experimental endeavor. A true testament to Lewis’ love of the great silent clowns (Stan Laurel in particular), the Miami hotels he played in his youth, and every schlub who could never get a word in edgewise (not even a “Hey, ladeeee!”), The Bellboy is an eruption of cinematic talent that proved Lewis wasn’t just a comedian, but a total filmmaker.
shown with... the errand boy
8:30pm The perfect companion piece for The Bellboy, The Errand Boy is both its mirror and its opposite. Again, we’re given a minimally-plotted series of outrageous gags riffing on the misadventures of a lowly schlemiel in a big, pretentious institution—but whereas The Bellboy was a quiet film, a silent film homage in an environment of luxury and relaxation, The Errand Boy is more like a noisy, manic movie wrap party capturing all the crazed energy of the biz.
frank tashlin double feature featuring
who’s minding the store? june 20 - 6:30pm
shown with... the disorderly orderly 8:15pm The only director with a style wild and wacky enough to match Lewis’ manic energy and rubber-limbed physicality (along with the experience and savoir faire to earn his personal respect), Frank Tashlin directed the best Jerry Lewis films not directed by the King of Comedy himself. “Tash”, as Lewis affectionately called him, was also a bit of a mentor; he said Tashlin taught him “everything I ever learned” about filmmaking. And he knew a lot: his resumé included creating classic cartoons for Disney and Warner Brothers, and writing gags for Bob Hope and the Marx Brothers. So we present a double-bill of two great Lewis films he directed. First off, we have Who’s Minding The Store?, a series of ridiculously loopy, genius gags set in a mammoth department store, with Lewis failing all the way to the top of the business. Then, we have the inimitable The Disorderly Orderly, set in a hospital where all the patients seem to be insane, along with at least one orderly to boot. Who’s Minding The Store? Dir. Frank Tashlin, 1963, 35mm, 90 min. The Disorderly Orderly Dir. Frank Tashlin, 1964, 35mm, 89 min. (Print of The Disorderly Orderly courtesy of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences)
june 28 - 3pm-10pm tickets - $12/members - free To enter the world of Jerry can be like entering the world of Joyce or Shakespeare— you can spend a long time there, without ever running out of fascination. To close out our Jerry Lewis retrospective—the first in LA ever!—we’re celebrating with a Jerrython, an all-day (and we mean it!) blowout of all the assembled rare Jerry footage we could find, including our own mash-up of our favorite moments. Then, to closeout the fest we’ll show Jerry’s directorial swan song, Cracking Up, a minimally-released follow-up to his surprise comeback hit Hardly Working. The film is a series of setpieces revolving around Jerry as a middle-aged weakling in extensive therapy, as he tries to figure out what went wrong with his pathetic life. He’s an open nerve, with all of life’s minor indignities and petty pains driving him nuts; it’s the very mechanism of life that’s cracking up here. We can’t say what Jerry’s intent might have been beyond getting some yucks, but what he concocted is not just an assault on filmic conventions and comedy norms, but reality itself. It comes off as so formally brazen that the end result of this Airplane!-style gag-fest was avant-garde enough to appeal to academically inclined critics and Lewis lovers—Jonathan Rosenbaum, for example, sandwiched Cracking Up between Bresson’s L’Argent and Kiarostami’s Fellow Citizen on his list of best films of 1983 (the only English-language pick on the list).
early saturdays in june
june 27 - 6:30pm This gender-bending take on the Cinderella story is the most extravagant of the Frank Tashlin-directed Jerry Lewis films— a big-budget, glorious Technicolor musical for the whole family. Lewis has always said music was the spine of his comedy, and Lewis’ and Tashlin’s attention to rhythm and movement is exemplary here: watch Lewis make breakfast in perfect time to music, and enacting every note with a goofy physicalization. And then there’s the legendary “Cinderfella dance”, in which a Dean Martin-suave Jerry smoothly descends a six-foot staircase with grace and style—and he nailed it in just one take! The beginning of a golden era of Jerry Lewis classics, this is a rare chance to see it in a gorgeous IB Tech print from the Academy Film Archive—don’t miss it!
early fridays in june
comedy death ray real life presented by... bob odenkirk
Real Life, June 12
Series co-presented by The Sound of Young America and UCB Theatre. Known as Los Angeles’ best comedy night, Comedy Death-Ray, held every Tuesday at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, is famous for offering world-class comics in an intimate and revealing setting. Now those same comedians are coming to the Cinefamily to show YOU the films that influenced them! Each night, a different comedian will not only showcase their feature selection in 35mm, but also share short films & various videos that they’ve either made, star in, or just love. Great comedies presented by great comedians, plus a beer-and-hot dogs break on our back patio—we think we’ve got the perfect Friday night!
Please note that events in this festival denoted by alternate ticket prices are not included in monthly memberships.
where’s poppa? presented by... sarah silverman june 5 - 8pm tickets - $14/$10 members According to tonight’s host, Sarah Silverman, “I chose “Where’s Poppa?” because
I saw it once, and it blew my mind.” We can vouch for the virtues of Carl Reiner’s 1970 jet black comedy, which, along with being an absolute classic of crass, loud, tush-baring tastelessness, is also a period piece. George Segal stars as a turn-ofthe-century schlamazel dying to throw his nutty, senile mom (Ruth Gordon, perfect as always) off a proverbial train. Matters are complicated when he meets the woman of his dreams, played to WASP-y perfection by Trish Van Devere. Says Sarah: “It’s so hardcore and silly, and funny in a way that I think is emerging now. I was surprised it existed then. Also, I only saw it once, and to be honest I fell asleep at the end. It wasn’t the movie’s fault, it just happens when I watch movies in bed. So it will be nice to know how one of my favorite movies ends.” Come find out how it ends (and begins) tonight—you haven’t lived until you’ve seen Ruth Gordon wack a gorilla-suited George Segal in his hairy, hairy balls. Dir. Carl Reiner, 1970, 35mm, 82 min.
fridays in june
friday midnights in june
june 12 - 8pm tickets - $14/$10 members Thirty years before the stealthy steadycams of reality TV infested the livingrooms of America like so many brain-sucking termites, this note-perfect satire of selfserious documentaries (specifically the hit television show “An American Family”) prophesied the exact extent to which the genre would derange both the subjects of faux vérité schlock and the audiences that hung on every artificial (re)enactment. We were more than a little excited when we found out that tonight’s presenter, Bob Odenkirk, chose to screen Albert Brooks’ 1979 directorial debut for this series. Odenkirk writes: “Real Life is one of the first ultra-smart, dry-as-a-bone comedies that I ever saw in my life, and it’s still one of the funniest and most perceptive. It’s a great, hilarious movie, but sadly, no one farts in it or is brazenly un-PC to a woman. Still, it’s genius!” Those who need more convincing should refer to depressive Charles Grodin, at his most Grodiny, facing off against manic Brooks in the bi-polar comedy Jew-Off of the century. There’s also the demented visuals, including cameramen who, in an effort to be less invasive, wear beach-ball sized cameras that cover their whole heads, and which make them appear, in the words of reviewer Eric Shulte, “like hydrocephalic stormtroopers.” Dir. Albert Brooks, 1979, 35mm, 99 min.
god told me to presented by... patton oswalt june 19 - 8pm tickets - $14/$10 members Prolific filmmaker Larry Cohen’s written a lot of movies based around gonzo satirical high concepts, from killer babies to killer Aztec dragon gods, to killer creamy desserts—heck, he probably wrote another one, dictated loudly into a microcassette recorder while stuck in L.A. traffic, before I could finish this sentence. But even by Mr. Cohen’s high standards, God Told Me To is quite a feat of convoluted daring-do. Starting with a Charles Whitmore-style sniper, people all around New York are killing off strangers, calmly admitting their guilt, and offering only one explanation, “God told me to”. From there, any possible attempt
to say what happens in this wildly unpredictable mystery would easily qualify as a spoiler, but let me tempt you with a glowing, hermaphroditic yellow hippy with dreadful powers, played by a scar-faced Richard Lynch. Patton says: “I picked “God Told Me To” because I’ve never seen it—and I’ve always wanted to see Andy Kaufman go on a shooting rampage.” That does happen, by the way. Dir. Larry Cohen, 1976, 35mm, 91 min.
true stories presented by... tim & eric june 26 - 8pm tickets - $14/$10 members Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, your tour guides through the trippy world of Adult Swim’s breakout hit “Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!” bring to the Cinefamily a sneak preview of some of their latest sketch work, along with one of their favorite films—which also maps for you a wonderful, wiggly world. Ever the kindly off-kilter narrator in colorful garb, spinning tales of oddballs and their neuroses, Talking Heads frontman David Byrne, after the success of his band’s 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense, got the filmmaking bug himself and directed True Stories, a proto-”This American Life” look at the quirky side of Texas. Tim & Eric told us: “We used to watch this movie all the time when we were roommates back in Philly. It’s always been an inspiration for us and has definitely influenced our sense of humor.” Byrne’s long-standing Americana fetish never shined more boldly than here, and with his warm, down-home persona, he charmingly winds us through kooky story strands featuring one of the most fun ensemble casts of its decade (John Goodman, Swoosie Kurtz, Pops Staples, Tito Larriva and the always-fascinating Spalding Gray.) Dir. David Byrne, 1986, 35mm, 90 min.
far east funnies
hausu
Funky Forest, June 5
Series co-presented by The Sound of Young America. There’s no thesis here. Just four flamboyantly funny films from the Far East. And we’re not talking subtle restraint in the vein of Ozu, or quirky rom-coms by Wong-Kar Wai wannabees. We’re talking wild, SFX ridden gag-packed sillies, each with a strong dose of parody and perversion, culled from their own unique brand of pop culture detritus—cooking competitions shot like kung fu movies, nonsensical Asian superheroes in the Ultraman mold, Japanese schoolgirl surrealism, and....and....we don’t even know how to describe Funky Forest: The First Contact properly. Just come every midnight and laugh your ass off at these imports from the East.
funky forest: the first contact june 5 - midnight “This is film as pure experience, pure joy, childlike wonder laced with just a trace of the disturbing other that most of us are just too damn jaded to recognize in the world around us any more.” — Twitch.com Our American fascination with the warped absurdities of Japanese television has brought us the joys of “Iron Chef” and “I Survived A Japanese Game Show”, but nothing you’ve ever witnessed will prepare you for Funky Forest: The First Contact, simply one of the most hyper-fluctuating
artistic explosions on record and a shit-hot ode to the 500-channels lifestyle. Maintaining an absurdly high level of entertainment for every second of its 150-minute running time, this film pulverizes the conventional bonds of sketch comedy, giving us rapidfire, vaguely connected strands featuring an imbecilic variety show duo, Cronenberg-inspired oozing slime, student-teacher sexy relations and J-pop dance numbers, to name a few. Come join the communal spectacle with us, as Funky Forest will epoxy you to your seat and blissfully haunt you for years to come. Dirs. Katsuhito Ishii, Hajimine Ishimine & Shunichiro Miki, 2005, 35mm, 150 min.
june 12 - midnight A delirious pop-horror fantasy from one of Japan’s foremost cult filmmakers, Hausu could be the most legendary horror film you’ve never seen. Former experimental filmmaker Nobuhiko Obayashi twists ghost story expectations inside-out by utilizing a multi-colored candy-coated visual style that pulls equally from TV commercials, soap operas and the avant-garde. The plot, such as it is, follows Oshare (Kimiko Ikegami) and six schoolgirls as they take an ill-advised summer trip to visit her spinster aunt. Obayashi uses the thin story to cram in as many dazzling experimental effects as the human retina can absorb. Humans turn into piles of bananas, pianos devour their players, animated demons spew blood and appendages—Hausu is a gleeful melee that smashes genres together with more force than the Hadron Collider! Dir. Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1977, HDCAM, 87 min.
zebraman june 19 - midnight Lowly teacher Ichikawa (Takashi Miike regular Sho Aikawa), ignored by his children and cuckolded by his wife, has one secret joy: putting on his homemade superhero costume and patrolling the city at night. His masked alter ego is based on “Zebraman”, a Power Rangers-style TV show from his youth that was canceled after a handful of episodes were aired. What he doesn’t know is that the series was intended to be a warning to the world about a real alien invasion. When green slime monsters begin killing people on the school grounds, Ichikawa has to man up and become the hero he always longed to be. With loving recreations of old kaiju shows, fantasies about defeating a crab monster via the aid of Zebra Nurse, and scenes demonstrating the difficulty of practical superheroing,
this is one of Miike’s funniest films. Plus, zebra-striped Pegasus vs. giant alien amoeba. How can you resist? Dir. Takashi Miike, 2004, 35mm, 115 min.
god of cookery june 26 - midnight Those familiar with Chinese box office powerhouse Stephen Chow only through his recent import releases Kung Fu Hustle, Shaolin Soccer and now CJ7, will be in for a pleasant surprise with this rare showing of his comedy masterpiece. God of Cookery, a send-up of the Triad gangster genre in the gag-a-second style of Mel Brooks, is shot through with a lethally black sense of humor, full of delirious wildly-paced physical comedy and dense pop culture references, and is filmed in gorgeous 35mm ‘Scope. Chow plays the ultimate Iron Chef, a culinary con humiliated by a competitor and deposed (literally) from his throne. From there, it’s a steep climb back to the top, as Chow navigates culinary gangs, Shaolin monks, hit men and divine intervention itself in this one-of-a-kind slapstick genre stir fry. Dirs. Stephen Chow & Li Lik-Chi, 1996, 35mm, 95 min.
was also the pace of their timing, a steady, patient waltz as opposed to the manic ragtime of most other slapstick, that elevated Laurel and Hardy’s already powerful comedy to genius level. This program is not only a total joy, but is your chance to witness the lightning-fast stylistic evolution of the artists whom J.D. Salinger described as “two heaven-sent artists and men”.
michael winslow: man of 1000 voices
Laurel and Hardy Shorts, June 3
Series co-presented by The Sound of Young America. In the earliest days of cinema, the comedian was king: in their time, masters of pantomime and slapstick were the biggest stars around. And not just the big four of Chaplin, Keaton, Langdon, and Lloyd—the talent pool was overflowing with a plethora of clowns who mastered every pratfall, expression, and goofy set piece in existence. Silent-era audiences went
june 10 - 8pm tickets $14/$10 members You know him best as Officer Larvell Jones, the irrepressible burbling, beep-borping human Foley machine that was a mainstay character in the Police Academy repertory company. Be it helicopters, electric guitars, cop sirens, the inner workings of robots, barking dogs, squishing soggy sneakers, roaring jets, spine-tingling scratches on a chalkboard, screaming guitars, cell phones, kung fu dubbing—he is truly the man of a thousand noises, at the very least. He captured the juvenile fascinations of a generation with his uncanny talent for imitation, and tonight, Winslow takes the Cinefamily stage to embark on a new venture: a neverbefore attempted challenge that only he could possibly fulfill. Yes, Winslow will be providing a live music-and-effects track to a varied sampling of classic and not-soclassic shorts from the silent era. Not so silent anymore!
gaga for the antics of Mack Sennett, Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang, and the Keystone Kops,
our gang shorts
and this series shines a light on the geniuses who found innovative ways to coax smiles, chortles, and ear-splitting guffaws from the crowds. Please note that events in this festival denoted by alternate ticket prices are not included in monthly memberships.
laurel and hardy shorts june 3 - 8pm Can you believe that the Cinefamily has never done a Laurel and Hardy program before? Neither can we, so let’s fix that. The most instantly recognizable, iconic and uproarious duo in silent film, this comic pair actually made only a few dozen shorts together for Hal Roach before they seamlessly transitioned into the talkie era, but virtually all of them are sparkling golden. One can point to the universality of their foibles as the root of their massive appeal, their birdbrained, dimwitted antics being a mirror of our own travails--but it
Arbuckle, Harry Langdon, Gloria Swanson and the awesome cross-eyed no-necked Ben Turpin! With the help of this coterie of stars, Sennett laid down the early rules for American slapstick comedy, with his films’ sharp comic timing and heaping doses of infectious silliness. Often playing by their own completely loopy rules of logic and casting disapproving nods to authority figures, Sennett’s shorts awaken the kid in us all, and tonight we delve into his ocean of material (he directed over 300 shorts and produced at least twice as many) to bring you a night of guffawing, giggling, tittering and cackling.
mack sennett shorts june 17 - 8pm Banana peels, car pileups, dangling damsels, oh my! For fans of silents, the name of writer/director/everything-elser Mack Sennett instantly conjures up images of his infamous Keystone Kops, the oafish, incompetent boobs in blue—but Sennett was equally responsible for bringing about the film debuts of Charlie Chaplin, Fatty
june 24 - 8pm We all remember the beloved set of Our Gang characters—Spanky, Alfalfa, Buckwheat and the rest—from frequent airings of shorts on local TV, but did you know that there were also 88 silent shorts produced in the 1920s featuring those Little Rascals? Created by film pioneer Hal Roach, the Our Gang shorts make for endlessly fun viewing, as we watch these scraggly, streetwise, mischievous kids do their thing: tussling with snotty rich kids, making trouble, and having a good time. Noted for the naturalism and surprising comedic agility of the children’s performances (Roach started the series with the offspring of his various employees at the studio) and their multiracial cast, the Our Gang films continue to charm both kids and their parents.
silents and saturdays in june
silent clowns silent wednesdays in june
holyfuckingshit : found footage freakout late saturdays in june reconvene to watch One Man Force, a film rife with documentary-like, brilliantly nuanced aspects of the human condition. It stars John “The Tooz” Mantusak as Jake Swan, a renegade cop on several missions occurring all at once for no particular reason. If you have a penchant for Asian gangs, renegade cops, murdered partners, a by-the-book crotchety police chief and an ex-football player who applies his “offensive lineman” knowledge to the world of “offensive one-line man” acting, then this shit’s for you. One Man Force Dir. Dale Trevillion, 1989, digital presentation, 92 min.
TV Carnage Night, June 6
Series co-presented by The Sound of Young America and Pimpadelic Wonderland. Picture all of the world’s audio and video, in every form—home movies, Third World TV shows, ads for extinct products, the instructional tape that comes with your new food dehydrator—as a sprawling ocean of fathomless depth, with all the swirling pieces of media silt slowly sifting down to the inky, lightless floor, where it makes a thriving breeding ground for accidental surrealism and unintentional ready-made comedy gold. There, bottom-feeders crawl over every inch, looking for edible, recyclable bits of crap that can be reconstituted into nourishment for the hilarity-starved. We are the lobsters and shrimp of the comedy kingdom. No longer content with our monthly Mondo mix nights, The Cinefamily and two of our other favorite shellfish will serve up a gluttonous pile of media droppings every HFS Saturday, climaxing in a found footage battle royale featuring friends and luminaries from the comedy world. It’s our found footage happening, and it really freaks us out! Please note that events in this festival denoted by alternate ticket prices are not included in monthly memberships.
tv carnage night featuring
one man force june 6 - 10:45pm For TV addicts, watching one of TV Carnage’s distilled and potent DVDs is the equivalent of buying a grip of crack co-
caine and locking yourself in your apartment for the weekend, or like a mystical night of channel-flipping, in which every single click of the remote lands you on that bizarre something that stops you in your audiovisual tracks. Tonight, TV Carnage barfs up its frenetic celebration of the human thought process with a magical odyssey of alternative judgment calls and creative decision making. Humans RULE! Once the odyssey is over, we will
mondo mondo mix night featuring
dangerous men june 13 - 10:30pm tickets - $12/8 members Over the past year, The Cinefamily has thrown its hat in the ring of found footage collagery with a series of “Mondo” mixes of the wildest and weirdest clips we could find on themes like Christmas, Kids’ Movies, Christploitation, Homemade Horror, and Love....each one a one-time only, seeit-now-or-never-see-it assault of mugmelting, eye-searing goodness. ‘Till now! We’re gonna bring back our best and favorite moments from past Mondo nights, in a meta-mix of hyper-distilled media terrorism. And to top it off, just some of our favorite showstoppers from our secret stash. Since we’ve asked all our guests in this series to bring a flick, we’ll bring one too—another dose of Dangerous Men, our in-house favorite piece of HFS awesomeness. Dangerous Men Dir. John S. Rad, 2005, 35mm, 80 min.
everything is terrible night featuring
dinosaur island june 20 - 10:30pm The daily postings of the website Everything Is Terrible!, consisting of genuinely ridiculous videos and out of context movie
scenes ripped from old VHS releases, has been hailed by BoingBoing, Time, Buzzfeed, WFMU, Videogum, Best Week Ever, The Soup Blog, and Jezebel—while the CBC deemed it simply “the best site ever.” The entire EIT gang will appear in person to present their new feature DVD release: Everything Is Terrible!: The Movie, along with prizes for everyone, plus some very special top secret guests. Viva la VHS!!! Also playing is quite possibly the first theatrical screening of the 1994 softcore classic Dinosaur Island. When three misfit deserters crash land on an uncharted island, they find a primitive society of gorgeous cave women who haven’t seen a man in thousands of years. These barbarian ‘Babe-alonians’ sacrifice virgins, battle dinosaurs, and ask remarkable questions such as “What is a... kiss?” With director Fred Olen Ray in person! Dinosaur Island Dirs. Fred Olen Ray & Jim Wynorski, 1994, digital presentation, 85 min.
found footage battle royal june 27 - 10:30pm The name says it all. This is a battle royale of viral video insanity—16 contestants, each with their own style of web fu, will be handpicked by the Cinefamily for their fortitude, attitude, and Youtube-a-tude, and will bring the wildest and weirdest videos they can find on the web. You, the audience for this net-and-circuses event, will vote with your applause—or jeers. Losers will be called LOSERS, loudly, and winners will earn the admiration and approbation of us all. Let the games begin! Be forewarned: this could, and should, get ugly. (For those in the know, we fully acknowledge this is a blatant rip-off of the now defunct New York Underground Film Festival’s “Tube Time” event. What can we say? It sounded awesome.)
throughout may
special events
Wholpin No.8 DVD Party, May 18
Please note that special events are not included in monthly memberships.
a page of madness with live film score by
may special events
in the nursery
dublab labrat matinee vi: selections from an astral projectionist may 1 - 8pm tickets - $14/$10 members This matinee has transcended the afternoon and traveled to nighttime. Leave your body behind and join us for rarely seen music videos (Animal Collective, Daedelus, Flying Lotus, Lucky Dragons, Nite Jewel, Rainbow Arabia...), new dublab VisionVersion films (Adventure, Busdriver, Rio en Medio, Erlend Oye...), comedy clips (Bob Odenkirk, Tim & Eric, Zach Galifianakis...), out-there animation and other eye melting magic. After the films, stick around for a Friday night party featuring a live performance from one of dublab’s favorite bands, plus Labrat DJs playing soundtrack selections on the Cinefamily Spanish patio. Oh yeah, there will be some free beer too! Don’t miss these visions burning bright!!!
orphans west symposium throughout may 2-3 tickets - $13/$9 members symposium festival pass - $65 Co-presented by Los Angeles Filmforum, NYU Tisch School of the Arts and the MIAP Program This early May, The Cinefamily is the proud host of a best-of presentation of orphaned films, co-curated by L.A.’s own Filmforum! “Orphan” works are those which are outside of the mainstream and often have no known origin or copyright, or were at one point considered “lost” and without a formal repository to preserve it. These include home movies, amateur and educational films, industrial and sponsored films, experimental films, and newsreels. The Orphan Film Symposium has had six incarnations since its start in 1999 at the University of South Carolina, and founder Dan Streible has since developed it into a favorite of AMIA members, filmmakers, and historians. The event is now held at NYU as a project of their Moving Image Archiving and Preservation program, and draws sold out crowds from around the world (18 nations were represented at the last symposium). Our Cinefamily presentation will consist of films hand-picked from all six symposiums!
a throw of dice with live film score by
nishat khan & jimmy rip may 10 - 8pm tickets - $15/$11 members Co-presented by The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, Dublab and L.A. Record Nishat Khan, one of the world’s greatest
living sitar virtuosos, accompanied by consummate guitarist and bandleader Jimmy Rip (returning to the Cinefamily stage after his triumphant night with Tom Verlaine), provides a live score for this recently restored 1929 silent classic. A Throw of Dice is the third film in a pioneering trilogy of silent films made through a unique partnership between German director Franz Osten and Indian actor-producer Himansu Rai, whose films combined documentary techniques with narratives derived from Indian myths and legends. Based upon a section of the epic poem The Mahabharata, A Throw of Dice follows royal cousins Sohat and Rajit, neighboring rulers who have in common a love of gambling, tiger hunting....and same damsel Sunita. Soon they’re friendship turns to rivalry. Shot on location in Rajasthan with an extravagance that could only be matched by Cecil B. Demille, the film features over ten thousand extras and an impressive array of horses, elephants and tigers. Its star actors all had major careers in Indian cinema and remain legendary and much-loved figures. A Throw Of Dice is both a sumptuous epic and an intimate romantic drama, and Nishat Khan’s new score for the film will transplant you to lush, faraway kingdoms of the imagination.
may 17 - 8pm tickets - $14/$10 members Co-presented by Los Angeles Filmforum and L.A. Record The U.K. group In The Nursery returns to the Cinefamily to score another silent classic, Teinosuke Kinugasa’s A Page Of Madness. The most modern, challenging Japanese silent to survive the WWII firebombings, A Page Of Madness throws the viewer into a maelstrom of hallucinations and obsession, and easily stands way out amongst its kabuki and jidai-geki contemporaries. A haunted man takes a job as a janitor in an insane asylum where his wife is committed; his fantasies of liberating her blend into the mad, confounding visions of the inmates. Told without intertitles, the narrative takes a back seat to pure visual expression. Kinugasa synthesizes every available experimental technique known at the time: his use of superimpositions, flashbacks, rapid montage and complex subjective camerawork rival the innovations of Murnau and Gance for sheer audacity. Lost for half a century after its completion and rediscovered in the early ’70s, A Page of Madness is a stunning, singular work, and the live score provided by In The Nursery’s twin brothers Klive and Nigel Humberstone is equally as captivating, incorporating the latest music technology with traditional Japanese instrumentation and percussion. Dir. Teinosuke Kinugasa, 1926, 35mm, 60 min. (Print courtesy of the George Eastman House)
Dir. Franz Osten, 1929, digital presentation, 74 min.
wholphin no. 8 dvd party
cinemad’s short film almanac may 11 - 8pm tickets - $12/$8 members Avant-garde. Cult. Experimental. Indie. Underground. Sticks and stones. Since 1998, Cinemad has been covering films thrown into the avant gutter, interviewing unusual filmmakers that don’t fit neatly into academics or preconceived genre terms. First as a photocopied zine and now as a website, Cinemad tries to spread the word about great films that are ignored by traditional distribution and magazines. And, out of all Cinemad covers, shorts may be the most ignored. This almanac of past Cinemad short subjects is a mix of wild styles and unusual atmospheres, from the frenetic lesson in heroic cinema in Virgil Widrich’s animated wonder Fast Film, to a nuanced look at reality by Sam Green and the stark desolate worlds of Jake Mahaffy or Jennifer Reeves. Watch first, think second.
may 18 - 8pm tickets - $12/$8 members Join us for Wholphin’s return to the Cinefamily, to celebrate the release of their latest DVD edition, Wholphin No. 8, which begins with actor James Franco defying Martin Sheen’s Apocalypse Now performance as he meticulously explores the outer reaches of his psyche while trashing a bedroom. The issue goes on to feature the award-winning Lauren Greenfield’s deeply disturbing, hilarious, and timely documentary kids + money, which examines the spending trends of teenagers in L.A. Next comes this year’s Sundance Short Award winner, the touching Short Term 12, followed by a powerhouse collaboration between celebrated playwright Patrick Marber and British contemporary artist, Sam Taylor-Wood, on a short film produced by the late Anthony Minghella, which follows the burgeoning romance of two British teens over their mutual appreciation of the Buzzcocks’ “Love You More.” For the piece de resistance, we present Carlos D. from Interpol’s gorgeously photographed surrealist dreamscape My Friends Told Me About You.
the five minutes game & cinefamily memorial day bbq may 25 - 6pm tickets - $10/$6 members Summer’s around the corner, and you know how we here at the Cinefamily love
two things: busting out the patio grill, and The Five Minutes Game. What’s all this about a game, you ask? We’re firm believers in “Every movie is interesting for at least its first five minutes”, those fascinating moments when you’re still entering the new world a film presents you, and trying to figure out what the hell’s going on. What we’re gonna do is choose fifteen movies you’ve likely never seen before (with most, if not all the films unavailable on DVD), line ‘em up, and only show you the first five minutes of each, not counting their opening credits. After all that, you, the audience, gets to vote on which film out of the fifteen we all then watch in its entirety. So, bring something to cook on our grill, and let’s get started!
the cinefamily
executive director: Dan Harkham head programmer: Hadrian Belove programmers: Bret Berg, Tom Fitzgerald (Pimpadelic Wonderland) director of operations: Amalia Levari program designer: program cover illustration: Dan Zettwock director of marketing: Sean O’Shea program editors: Bret Berg, Hadrian Belove assistant editor: Amalia Levari contributing writers: Scott Aukerman, Hadrian Belove, Bret Berg, Suki-Rose Etter, Tom Fitzgerald, Marc Heuck, Steve Knezevich, Amalia Levari, Mike Plante, Nathaniel Thompson, David Viola. website: Mark Burrier projectionists: Gariana Abeyta, Brandon Bojanowski, Aaron Gyarfas, Genevieve Heinemanm, Fred Kiko, Mark Robinson, George Wagner silent film accompanists: Bob Mitchell, Rick Friend, Cliff Retalick sound engineer: Eric Layer photographer: Olivia Wright The Cinefamily also includes David Chien, SukiRose Etter, Lainna Fader, Ed Freese, Bob Giordano, Christian Hernandez, Zac Hopkins, Phaedra Kolias, Rebecca Levine, Mara LaFontaine, Alex McDonald, Craig Miller, Piper Semerau, Matt Sniegoski, Maureen Stone and Melissa Stone. special thanks to: Alison and Tiffany Anders (Don’t Knock The Rock), Scott Aukerman (Comedy Death Ray), Nico B. (Cult Epics), Victor B. (Media Blasters), Jerry Beck, Brian Belovorac (Janus), Brian Block & Cary Haber (Criterion Pictures), Dan Bursik, Neil Campbell (UCB), Vernon Chatman (PFFR), Larry Cohen, Sean Domachowski & Merilee Womack (Warner Bros.), Leeann Duggan (Eastman House), Skip Elsheimer (A/V Geeks), Joana Fang (Lion’s Gate), Paul Ginsberg (Universal), Britt Govea (Folk Yeah!), May Haduong (AMPAS), Emily Horn (Paramount), Adam Hulin, Adam Hyman & Stephanie Sapienza (Los Angeles Filmforum), Mikki Itzigsohn (McCabe’s), Steve Knezevich, David Kramer (Family Books), Graham Leader, Cecilia Lee (Red Rocket Films), Amy Lewin (MGM), Chris Lewis, Jules McClean, Marc McNeil (Dublab), James Nice, Lars Nilsen (Alamo Drafthouse), Laurent Ouaknine (Weinstein Co.), Jake Perlin, Mike Plante, Malcolm Pullinger, Caitlin Robertson (Fox Archive), Jared Sapolin (Sony), Lynn Shawcroft, David Spencer & Matt Jones (UNCSA), Dan Strebil (Orphans) Quentin Tarantino, Shio Toyoda (Viz Pictures), Todd Weiner & Joe Hunsberger (UCLA), Samira Wenzel. cinefamily affiliates: CineFile, A/V Geeks, Don’t Knock The Rock, Family Books, Pimpadelic Wonderland, Dublab, APB Media, CineMad, Los Angeles Filmforum, Part Time Punks.
special events throughout june Please note that special events are not included in monthly memberships.
Brian Dewan: Focus, June 2
brian dewan: focus june 2 - 8pm tickets - $12/$8 members Co-presented by Los Angeles Filmforum Many of us grew up watching educational filmstrips from our constricting, wooden school-house desks. Who can forget the whir of the projector fan as the teacher’s pet slowly cranked each frame into place when she heard “Boop!” on the soundtrack? Since 1986, Brian Dewan has made over a dozen of his own filmstrips, with each frame skillfully hand-painted and lettered. These remarkable images are accompanied by his deep, resonant narration and musical accompaniments. But the world these filmstrips describe is a mysterious one, in which an unnamed and strict authoritarian dictates “moral” lessons of dubious origin. These filmstrips are familiar, bizarre, humorous, but also dark and troubling—in their own way, the most educational of them all. Themes vary from straight interpretations of “Grimm’s Fairy Tales” to Bible stories (“Deuteronomy”) to fictional “histories” that are in turn surreal, satirical and hilarious (“Before the White Man Came”). Brian is a natural storyteller, who inhabits voices from a stern past but evokes an uncertain, but optimistic future. We’re delighted to have Brian himself in town to show original filmstrips from his personal projector, including his latest creation “Williams Meadow.” He will also delight us with his musical performances of traditional folk songs and original scores on the autoharp and accordion.
Steinbauer takes on the seemingly impossible task of tracking down Jack, and his journey turns into a fascinating exploration of viral video culture, and what it means on a personal level to its sometimes unwilling subjects. When he finally tracks down Rebney, the real man is more savvy, irrascible (of course), deep, weird, and cool than you could have possibly hoped for, and turns out to be more than able to hold his own in the modern media culture. In short, he is a star. A lovely and hilarious look at one man’s response to Internet humiliation, and how that so-called “humiliation” can become a beacon of light to many. All hail Jack Rebney: the patron saint of our collective frustrations.
surrealist snippets and ingeniously obvious wordplay, where the only real set-up needed for any joke, which rarely lasted more than a few seconds, was your becoming in-tune with his personality. Whereas Wright’s delivery is incredibly dry and snail-paced, Hedberg’s was fast ‘n furious, spoken to the floor while he hid behind a pair of sunglasses, in a captivating drawl halfway between “stoner” and “beat poet”. Hedberg died prematurely in 2005 at the age of 37, and is remembered with admiration and affection by his fellow comedians and friends. The Cinefamily, with generous assistance from Mitch’s widow and fellow comedian Lynn Shawcroft, has gone through her voluminous archives to unearth rare footage of live performances, TV appearance, and his unreleased MTV reality pilot (“The Mitch Hedberg Project”). The night will climax with a screening of Mitch’s lone directorial effort, the autobiographical 1999 feature film Los Enchiladas.
featuring
little murders
an evening with bobcat goldthwait shakes the clown
pffr night
(special sneak preview!) june 7 - 8pm tickets - $12/$8 members Jack Rebney, aka “the angriest RV salesman in the world”, has delighted and fascinated millions of viewers with the hilariously foul-mouthed and ill-tempered outtakes from a Winnebago promotional video he made in the 80s—one of the first and best underground videos to be passed hand-tohand, before the internet turned him into a full-blown phenomena. Filmmaker Ben
Dir. Charles Chaplin, 1921, 16mm, 68 min.
family books sunday: a tribute to jules feiffer
Dir. Ben Steinbauer, 2009, HDCAM, 90 min.
featuring
winnebago man
sidekick in a variety of schemes and cons. A moving and hilarious film about paternal love, or as Chaplin’s first title says, “A picture with a smile, and perhaps a tear...” Children under 18 get in half price to this special “kiddie” matinee.
june 9 - 8pm tickets - $12/$8 members “Wonder Showzen” and “Xavier: Renegade Angel” are simply two of the funniest and most psychedelic shows to have ever aired on American television. Their creators are the team known as PFFR, and the Cinefamily is havin’ them on down to present a night of their high-voltage, slap-happy stuff, including the theatrical premiere of their psychosexual porn prank film, Final Flesh. From the desk of PFFR: “Multihyper shine collective, and thrice acclaimed electro funk outfit PFFR (Vernon Chatman, John Lee, Alyson Levy, and Jim Tozzi) are the award-caressing creators of such comedical zaz as MTV’s “Wonder Showzen”, [adult swim]’s “Xavier: Renegade Angel”, “Snoop Dogg’s Doggy Fizzle Televizzle” and production entitty behind Ben Jones’s (of Paperrad) “Neon Knome”. On this night of wonderment, the belly of their colossus will be sliced open, allowing the hilariously writhing guts of their yucks to sluice out and stick to your visual ribs. Good luck.”
mitch hedberg tribute night featuring
los enchiladas june 14 - 8pm tickets - $12/members - free Much like his obvious antecedent, Steven Wright, the late Mitch Hedberg dealt in
june 16 - 8pm tickets - $12/$8 members The inimitable Bobcat Goldthwait will be in person at the Cinefamily to present a selection of his favorite found footage from his private collection, in addition to his infamous directorial debut, which also happens to be one of the most underappreciated films of the 1990s. One can only imagine the horror of unsuspecting mothers who took their children to see Shakes The Clown, expecting to see the cuddly Bobcat of Hot to Trot and the Police Academy franchise, and who were instead treated to ninety minutes of clowns snorting yayo, discussions on the merits of “peanut butter pussy” and mime-bashing. Goldthwait has said he based the clowns’ dysfunctional and self-destructive behaviors on the backstage antics of fellow stand-up comedians. Fittingly, the film is populated with a who’s who and who will-be of comedy: Adam Sandler, Blake Clark, Robin Williams, Tim Kazurinsky, Kathy Griffin, and Tom Kenny (future voice of Spongebob Squarepants). If you didn’t think the backstage of The Laugh Factory on Sunset Blvd. circa 1988 was a scary place, we promise you will now. Dir. Bobcat Goldthwait, 1992, 35mm, 87 min.
charlie chaplin father’s day matinee: the kid june 21 - 1pm tickets - $12/$8 members In celebration of Father’s Day, The Cinefamily presents one of Chaplin’s most moving and beloved films. The Tramp adopts an abandoned baby he discovers in an alley, and raises him to become his
june 21 - 8pm tickets - $14/$10 members Cinefamily hosts another “Family Sunday”, where our good friends at Family Bookstore will bring in one of their favorite people to curate and introduce a night of films. This time around, Family brings us Pulitzer Prize-winning author/ cartoonist Jules Feiffer, whose pieces appeared in the Village Voice for over 40 years, and whose film adaptation of his stage collaboration with Elliott Gould resulted in one of the funniest, most vicious social satires of the ‘70s. A bitter black comedy caked in post-’68 disillusionment, Little Murders is an off-the-wall cocktail of fairy-tale, farce, paranoia thriller and comedy of errors. As Alfred Chamberlain, a shut-in photographer so resentful of his own success that he’s turned to taking photos of feces, Gould personifies the deep ambivalence of the era, delivering a performance both poignant and irreverent. Alfred improbably falls in love with Patsy, a waspy Manhattanite whose unwavering determination to happiness in a crumbling society gives Alfred a reason to believe—at least, until random acts of terror shatter their dreams. Hilarity does eventually ensue, thanks in part to some unforgettable appearances by Alan Arkin (who also directed the film) as a hysterical detective, and Donald Sutherland as a hippie priest officiating what is easily the greatest wedding sequence in cinema. Feiffer will also be screening excerpts from his little-seen 1985 TV movie Grown-Ups, starring Charles Grodin. Dir. Alan Arkin, 1971, 35mm, 110 min.
tv tuesday: unaired tv pilots june 23- 8pm tickets - $12/members - free TV Tuesday is back, this time with things never actually played on TV! For every series that makes it on the air, there’s a gaggle of dream projects that lie on the junkpile. Every season, “pilots”—a sample debut episode of a show most likely to be rejected by the network that commissioned it—are made by the score, and end up sitting on a shelf, gathering dust. In a way, every comedian of note has their own “The Day The Clown Cried”, a labor of love virtually unseen by anyone except those in the inner circles of Hollywood. Come check out with us a night of alternate television history, in which K-CINE TV presents a night of new-to-you shows made anytime in the last four decades.
june special events
Shakes the Clown, June 16