West Coast Repertory Cinema

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senseabove
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Re: West Coast Repertory Cinema

#76 Post by senseabove » Thu Jun 10, 2021 6:04 pm

beamish14 wrote:
Thu Jun 10, 2021 5:26 pm
I was lucky to not have to worry about work today and that I could devote so much time to refreshing screens! I chuckled over them removing one bill at the last minute to "MAKE ROOM FOR AN AMAZING SCREENING WE HAVE TO KEEP SECRET FOR RIGHT NOW". That's a total Cinefamily move, people.
And I guess I'm lucky my job is one where I'm already sitting at a computer refreshing things all day!

I'd assumed the event they're replacing it with is some sort of launch party for the OUaTiH book release, which comes out that day, but I can't see why they'd have to keep that a secret...

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senseabove
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Re: West Coast Repertory Cinema

#77 Post by senseabove » Fri Jun 18, 2021 11:06 pm

For folks in and around SF, we have our very own pseudo-Screen Slate now: https://sfbayfilm.com

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The Elegant Dandy Fop
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Re: West Coast Repertory Cinema

#78 Post by The Elegant Dandy Fop » Mon Jul 05, 2021 3:53 pm

It seems the Quentin Tarantino has bought The Vista theater. Apparently it won’t be a repertory theater, but a theater for playing 35mm prints of new films. Sort of sad to see it go away from what it was and hope they keep the same staff as they’re all very nice. Their manager would have a habit of cosplaying for movies and they even featured him on a poster outside. It makes sense he would purchase it was one of the few theaters in town playing film and in 2019, I saw Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Marriage Story, and Joker there on 35mm. Not sure if I understand the need for 35mm prints of films shot digitally, but it seems Tarantino likes it. They’ll have to update their projection system for sure as it’s currently running off a platter system.

Also seems like the Hollywood Legion Theater is cranking out screenings. It got a lot of publicity for installing 35mm projectors for its drive-thru open this Summer. Not a drive-thru person, but got tickets to see Blade Runner out of curiousity. They’re also having indoor screenings now and I will be there to watch one of the noir double-features this weekend. I went to visit the space while it was being constructed and it’s spectacular.

The Bootleg Theater was purchased as a joint effort between LA Film Forum, Poetic Research Bureau and an experimental music promoter to turn it into a new arts space. Seems they’ll be converting the rear theater into the first permanent home for the LA Film Forum. After decades of screenings, it’s nice to see them get a real space.

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Ribs
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Re: West Coast Repertory Cinema

#79 Post by Ribs » Mon Jul 05, 2021 4:20 pm

My impression is that one of the reasons for doing this is that the New Bev will no longer have to take a week of its programming from time to time to show new movies like Gunpowder Milkshake and it can become an actual proper just rep theater.

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senseabove
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Re: West Coast Repertory Cinema

#80 Post by senseabove » Tue Jul 20, 2021 5:07 pm

SFMOMA announced this week that they're ending their film programming after the Fall 2021 season (along with a few other programs that directly support and engage local artists and critics). Their public statements have said it's due to "reduced attendance, growing expenses, and constrained budgets," but an internal email from Director Neal Benezra that's quoted in an email being forwarded around states that "the financial savings are minimal at best." Apparently a consulting firm, Bain & Company, advised them on the decisions.

There's a petition to save these programs being circulated, and probably more importantly, their biannaul public "Sunshine" Board of Trustees meeting takes place tomorrow, where the public can offer opinions about the decisions.

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Re: West Coast Repertory Cinema

#81 Post by CJG » Tue Jul 20, 2021 5:43 pm

That's a shame. I have fond memories of going to their screening of Nenette and Boni and Sweet Movie (strange pairing of films, but whatever) a few years ago.

beamish14
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Re: West Coast Repertory Cinema

#82 Post by beamish14 » Wed Jul 28, 2021 12:02 am

The Academy Film Museum has announced its inaugural screenings. You can't buy tickets in advance unless you spring for a membership, but there is some great stuff, including Haile Gerima's features, the almost-complete works of Jane Campion (no Two Friends!), Anna May Wong, and more. They're doing celluloid whenever possible, and already have one 70mm print lined up. Hoping they show some nitrate in the near future, too.

beamish14
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Re: West Coast Repertory Cinema

#83 Post by beamish14 » Thu Sep 30, 2021 1:52 pm

I was so excited for the New Bev to screen The Day of the Locust, a film that had frequently been shown there when the theatre was under the ownership of the Torgan family. Unfortunately, word came back from every person who saw it during its first of two screenings that it was a completely unprojectable print that was beyond the mauve shade that characterizes most original-release copies that were not printed in Technicolor, and had moved into purple and blue for certain shots. Electing to screen this would have been completely unacceptable for their previous management. Beyond that, the theatre didn't even post a notice of the condition on social media or their website, which is even more infuriating. I've decided in the future to continue just planning for the second nights of screenings so I can gauge reviews of the prints they screen, but I'll probably just be going there less frequently due to the Academy Museum and the Secret Movie Club.

As an aside, has anyone here heard any rumblings about the Billy Wilder reopening? I've supported them through their sporadic online screenings, which have been very enjoyable.

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The Elegant Dandy Fop
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Re: West Coast Repertory Cinema

#84 Post by The Elegant Dandy Fop » Thu Sep 30, 2021 3:55 pm

beamish14 wrote:
Thu Sep 30, 2021 1:52 pm
I was so excited for the New Bev to screen The Day of the Locust, a film that had frequently been shown there when the theatre was under the ownership of the Torgan family. Unfortunately, word came back from every person who saw it during its first of two screenings that it was a completely unprojectable print that was beyond the mauve shade that characterizes most original-release copies that were not printed in Technicolor, and had moved into purple and blue for certain shots. Electing to screen this would have been completely unacceptable for their previous management. Beyond that, the theatre didn't even post a notice of the condition on social media or their website, which is even more infuriating. I've decided in the future to continue just planning for the second nights of screenings so I can gauge reviews of the prints they screen, but I'll probably just be going there less frequently due to the Academy Museum and the Secret Movie Club.

As an aside, has anyone here heard any rumblings about the Billy Wilder reopening? I've supported them through their sporadic online screenings, which have been very enjoyable.
The issue with the New Beverly is that nearly every film they play is from Tarantino's personal archive of prints owned mostly by deceased collectors. A perfect example of this hit-or-miss quality was my experience with Rolling Thunder there. I saw this at Cinefamily back in 2012 on a gorgeous print owned by Universal pictures with rich color and no issues, but when I saw this at the New Beverly a few years ago, it was one of the most worn out, trashed prints missing numerous frames at the start and end of each reel that was beyond pink. I am oddly sort of okay with the experience and can usually put up with it. Reminds me of being 20 and seeing rare films that only existed in such quality. And I can't stomach Secret Movie Club. The owner spends thirty minutes introducing each film and just rambles. I appreciate that he's doing screenings at the Los Angeles Theater, but how does he fund these?

I know someone at UCLA. They were supposed to reopen in the Fall, but they're sort of the most nervous about COVID. It's unofficial at the moment, but I had heard that it was potentially going to finally reopen late this year.

beamish14
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Re: West Coast Repertory Cinema

#85 Post by beamish14 » Thu Sep 30, 2021 5:12 pm

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote:
Thu Sep 30, 2021 3:55 pm
beamish14 wrote:
Thu Sep 30, 2021 1:52 pm
I was so excited for the New Bev to screen The Day of the Locust, a film that had frequently been shown there when the theatre was under the ownership of the Torgan family. Unfortunately, word came back from every person who saw it during its first of two screenings that it was a completely unprojectable print that was beyond the mauve shade that characterizes most original-release copies that were not printed in Technicolor, and had moved into purple and blue for certain shots. Electing to screen this would have been completely unacceptable for their previous management. Beyond that, the theatre didn't even post a notice of the condition on social media or their website, which is even more infuriating. I've decided in the future to continue just planning for the second nights of screenings so I can gauge reviews of the prints they screen, but I'll probably just be going there less frequently due to the Academy Museum and the Secret Movie Club.

As an aside, has anyone here heard any rumblings about the Billy Wilder reopening? I've supported them through their sporadic online screenings, which have been very enjoyable.
The issue with the New Beverly is that nearly every film they play is from Tarantino's personal archive of prints owned mostly by deceased collectors. A perfect example of this hit-or-miss quality was my experience with Rolling Thunder there. I saw this at Cinefamily back in 2012 on a gorgeous print owned by Universal pictures with rich color and no issues, but when I saw this at the New Beverly a few years ago, it was one of the most worn out, trashed prints missing numerous frames at the start and end of each reel that was beyond pink. I am oddly sort of okay with the experience and can usually put up with it. Reminds me of being 20 and seeing rare films that only existed in such quality. And I can't stomach Secret Movie Club. The owner spends thirty minutes introducing each film and just rambles. I appreciate that he's doing screenings at the Los Angeles Theater, but how does he fund these?

I know someone at UCLA. They were supposed to reopen in the Fall, but they're sort of the most nervous about COVID. It's unofficial at the moment, but I had heard that it was potentially going to finally reopen late this year.

If a film is coming directly from WB (which has an iron grip on the prints they allow to screen; they confiscate collector's copies, or so I've heard), MGM/Park Circus, or Universal (which has made new prints of virtually their entire catalog since the 2008 fire), I can often count on the quality being high, but I'll definitely continue to play wait-and-see with the New Beverly now.

I do agree with you regarding Secret Movie Club's Craig Hammill. He really is a bit too much with his introductions, and he's not the greatest projectionist, but they've been pretty solid with getting nice prints. I similarly wonder about how they're not in the red-they recently showed a four film bill of Cronenberg movies for a single night. What kind of profit margin can they get from this? Still, he's using Janus prints for their ongoing Fassbinder and Kurosawa screenings, which are always great.

Thank you for the update regarding UCLA. I figured there are multiple levels they need to get the green light from before they can turn the lights back on.

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senseabove
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Re: West Coast Repertory Cinema

#86 Post by senseabove » Thu Sep 30, 2021 6:17 pm

UC Berkeley's BAMPFA has been very slow to reopen as well. They began screenings this month, but only one screening per week in two alternating series through mid October. Weirdly the very first screening was packed, as if they weren't enforcing any capacity restrictions, but a reportedly "sold out" screening last night was definitely not at full capacity. They have additional screenings in October beyond those two series, but all are in affiliation with the Mill Valley Film Festival and over two weekends, so it definitely makes me wonder if the UC system is being extra cautious about public-facing indoor gatherings in general, and NorCal is just in a slightly better situation than SoCal, case-wise. The Nov/Dec calendar is supposed to be released soon, and I'm very curious if they'll be back to a full schedule or still limited.

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The Elegant Dandy Fop
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Re: West Coast Repertory Cinema

#87 Post by The Elegant Dandy Fop » Fri Oct 08, 2021 1:51 pm

beamish14 wrote:
Thu Sep 30, 2021 5:12 pm
I do agree with you regarding Secret Movie Club's Craig Hammill. He really is a bit too much with his introductions, and he's not the greatest projectionist, but they've been pretty solid with getting nice prints. I similarly wonder about how they're not in the red-they recently showed a four film bill of Cronenberg movies for a single night. What kind of profit margin can they get from this? Still, he's using Janus prints for their ongoing Fassbinder and Kurosawa screenings, which are always great.
Does he project his films at their new venue? I know when he did screenings at the Vista, the Janus prints were important as they were one of the few places that apparently allowed him to run prints off their platter system. Back when I used to help organize screenings, the Los Angeles Theater and Palace Theater (the same owners) forced you to use their in-house projectionist who was sort of a character, but a terrible projectionist. He was already old back in 2015 and was severally over-weight so he had issues getting around, which is an issue when the projection booth for the Los Angeles Theater is four stories above ground level with no elevator. He also hated you telling him to do anything including small requests like "make it louder".

Have you been to the Secret Movie Club venue? It's in the Arts District, right? I work near there, but that area is such a blackhole for parking, I try to avoid it. My final straw with Secret Movie Club was when I got tickets to see High and Low on 35mm at the Vista, he rambled on-and-on before this 10am screening and then as soon as the film began, discovered he was playing a Blu-ray of the film instead in the wrong aspect ratio. Instantly, it put me on my shit list and sort of vowed to never go back to my screening. His programming has never been excited enough for me to break this vow.

For the adventurous viewer, the New Beverly Cinema is playing their first adult film tomorrow night since Tarantino took over the venue, Dracula Sucks, at midnight tomorrow. Adult films were sort of one of the mainstays of their grindhouse nights in the pre-Tarantino era when Brian Quinn and Eric Caidin used to program those nights, so I was surprised to see one on the calendar. I was shocked the pre-sale online allotment of tickets are already sold-out. Sort of excited this is happening again.

beamish14
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Re: West Coast Repertory Cinema

#88 Post by beamish14 » Fri Oct 08, 2021 2:04 pm

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote:
Fri Oct 08, 2021 1:51 pm
beamish14 wrote:
Thu Sep 30, 2021 5:12 pm
I do agree with you regarding Secret Movie Club's Craig Hammill. He really is a bit too much with his introductions, and he's not the greatest projectionist, but they've been pretty solid with getting nice prints. I similarly wonder about how they're not in the red-they recently showed a four film bill of Cronenberg movies for a single night. What kind of profit margin can they get from this? Still, he's using Janus prints for their ongoing Fassbinder and Kurosawa screenings, which are always great.
Does he project his films at their new venue? I know when he did screenings at the Vista, the Janus prints were important as they were one of the few places that apparently allowed him to run prints off their platter system. Back when I used to help organize screenings, the Los Angeles Theater and Palace Theater (the same owners) forced you to use their in-house projectionist who was sort of a character, but a terrible projectionist. He was already old back in 2015 and was severally over-weight so he had issues getting around, which is an issue when the projection booth for the Los Angeles Theater is four stories above ground level with no elevator. He also hated you telling him to do anything including small requests like "make it louder".

Have you been to the Secret Movie Club venue? It's in the Arts District, right? I work near there, but that area is such a blackhole for parking, I try to avoid it. My final straw with Secret Movie Club was when I got tickets to see High and Low on 35mm at the Vista, he rambled on-and-on before this 10am screening and then as soon as the film began, discovered he was playing a Blu-ray of the film instead in the wrong aspect ratio. Instantly, it put me on my shit list and sort of vowed to never go back to my screening. His programming has never been excited enough for me to break this vow.

For the adventurous viewer, the New Beverly Cinema is playing their first adult film tomorrow night since Tarantino took over the venue, Dracula Sucks, at midnight tomorrow. Adult films were sort of one of the mainstays of their grindhouse nights in the pre-Tarantino era when Brian Quinn and Eric Caidin used to program those nights, so I was surprised to see one on the calendar. I was shocked the pre-sale online allotment of tickets are already sold-out. Sort of excited this is happening again.

Yep, Hammill does his own projecting at the Secret Movie Club, and I assume at the Million Dollar Theater as well. I'm not a projectionist, but his changeovers between reels always result in big jumps, which I know is not right. He mentioned that he'll be running a projectionist "boot camp" to train some fresh staff(!). I've only been to their venue, which is indeed located off in an alley in the arts district and is completely inaccessible for people with mobility challenges. I've never paid for parking at least, save for giving a few singles to a homeless gentleman who acted as an unofficial valet and urged me to back into a spot I hadn't noticed.

I had a similar "switcheroo" experience at the Aero a few years ago when they showed a Blu-Ray of Loves of a Blonde instead of the advertised 35mm print. They made no comment about it at all. I only stuck it out because Ivan Passer was there, but it really pissed me off.

The Nuart showed a 3-D adult film many years ago, which was a lot of fun. I don't think their midnight series is coming back, but they got some cool guests when it was running, and the ambience certainly improved after Mark Heuck was gone...

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Re: West Coast Repertory Cinema

#89 Post by OldBobbyPeru » Fri Oct 08, 2021 2:21 pm

I went to the Secret Movie Club screening of Eraserhead earlier this summer, and had a great time. I could be wrong, but I think they had a union projectionist at the Million Dollar Theater for that one. It was grand, the print was excellent, and I was glad I made the effort. Don't harp on Craig--at least he's doing this.

Parking in DTLA has always been absurd. I live in Palm Springs, so I drove to San Bernardino, and bought a one day weekend pass for the Metrolink. $10. Rode the train to Union Station, got on the Metro two stops to walking distance to the theater. It was fun, and less than I would have paid for parking downtown. Parking at the SB Metrolink station is free.

It was a fun day. I'm going to do it again when they have another matinee I want to see. I skipped La Dolce Vita because the Delta variant was tearing through the area at the time, but now things are better.

beamish14
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Re: West Coast Repertory Cinema

#90 Post by beamish14 » Fri Nov 05, 2021 11:32 am

Has anyone here had a chance to visit the Academy Museum? The venue itself is quite lovely, although they really haven't maximized the space yet. For example, there is a "Tea Room" that is essentially vacant, and I think they intend to use it for meetings as opposed to installing a restaurant. The current exhibits are really interesting. There is a whole room dedicated to materials loaned by Spike Lee that includes a sample of his extraordinary signed poster collection (I was particularly impressed with a Porgy and Bess one-sheet that had inscriptions from Brock Peters and Sidney Poitier, and Terrence Malick personalized a Days of Heaven poster for him, if you're interested in seeing what Malick's signature looks like). There is a hand-drawn fight diagram made by Bruce Lee, a preparatory sketch for the Xanadu matte painting from Citizen Kane, Spielberg's Rosebud sled, and a cast used to alter Charlize Theron's face in Bombshell. I also loved seeing index cards that Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski used to map out The People Vs. Larry Flynt. Less impressive is the Miyazaki exhibit, which is primarily comprised of reproductions of art and has nothing loaned out from the Ghibli Museum. I just don't understand why they couldn't have focused on the studio as a whole as well. The museum was billed as truly the first of its kind, but the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria has a similar scope and eclectic array of artifacts.

One facet of the the museum that is truly bizarre is its lack of parking. It's likely that they simply wasn't feasible to put in an underground lot, but it's a headache. They encourage patrons to utilize the Peterson Automotive Museum ($16), but I've had success with street parking on Wilshire.

On to their screening rooms. The Museum has two, the massive David Geffen Theatre, which can fit 1200, and the comparatively tiny Ted Mann Theatre, which houses about 225. The Ted Mann is also used by Dolby as a sound lab, and according to one of the docents I met, the Museum is apparently home to the most advanced motion picture sound systems ever installed. I've already seen 35mm projections in both, and they're both equipped for 70mm as well, but the Geffen can also do nitrate.

In the last few weeks, I've seen beautiful presentations of Poltergeist, Haile Gerima's Teza, and a subtitled print of Kiki's Delivery Service across the three screens. Despite buying tickets well in advance, none of them have been in danger of coming close to selling out, and you'll enjoy the freedom to sit far away from anyone else. They have an upcoming Jane Campion retrospective that looks wonderful, and they're showing off their gorgeous restorations of Satyajit Ray's work soon.

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The Elegant Dandy Fop
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Re: West Coast Repertory Cinema

#91 Post by The Elegant Dandy Fop » Sun Nov 07, 2021 1:44 pm

I have some personal beef with the Academy Museum and some of their staff, so I have deliberately avoided the place despite some of their exciting programming. I have also heard a lot of internal things about how chaotic the museum's opening was. At some point, the opening special exhibition was a photo booth using the original bullet time rig used for The Matrix and the Wachowskis decided to take it back after it was installed to use on the new Matrix movie and are not giving it back. One of their original planned shows was a teamLab exhibition, which is NOT cinema. It's a tech industry connected collective from Japan that does very hokey immersive experiences of CGI nature. The museum bought six-figures worth of equipment, then the board of directors met and got mad at the curatorial team for not planning an exhibition directly related to film. Most of the shows, other than Ghibili, were quickly planned and assembled as a direct response to the outcries of diversity and representation in media last year and it shows. And for a while, though this may have changed, they were hiring important staff who directly work with art objects on a contractual basis meaning no benefits and the choice of them to not renew your employment after six-months or a year. Everyone seems overworked and people are figuring out in real time how a museum functions.

But back to screenings! Like my connection said, UCLA Film and Television Archive is opening this month and due to a very generous anonymous donation, will be free for a year. The initial programming isn't anything super rare (a specialty of theirs), but I did get tickets to the James Wong Howe double as I've never seen Seconds and a screening of The Red Shoes, a film I've never seen on 35mm, with UCLA professor and famous choreographer Peter Sellars presenting.

One of my post-COVID resolutions was to go to less screenings as I used to go several times a week and need to focus on other things, but I couldn't resist getting a ticket to Nagisa Oshima's The Ceremony at the Los Feliz 3. It's a shame this isn't playing at the Aero as I'm sure it would look gorgeous on 'scope in that venue, but regardless it's an incredibly bold choice for their series of films from 1971. This was one of the Oshima films I missed during the huge retrospective in 2009 and it's one of his major works. They also played Floyd Mutrux's Dusty and Sweets McGee last night with an encore this Friday. Mutrux is a very underrated talent and his first film could've only been born out of the post-Easy Rider Hollywood where studios like Warner Bros. had no clue what to finance. They're also playing McCabe and Mrs. Miller on 35mm on the 15th of this month and would be curious to see what the print looks like. I saw it at the New Beverly years ago on a pretty muggy looking print. When UCLA ran it during their Altman retrospective after inheriting his collection, it apparently was a very worn, very pink print.

The New Beverly has had some unusually tame programming since they reopened, but their James Bridges retrospective is very much their classic style of presenting works of directors who aren't in the upper echelon's of the film canon (J. Lee Thompson, Jerry Schatzberg, Frank Perry, Paul Newman) and I'm intrigued. If I had more time I would go as this is exactly the programming I love there, but sadly, November is a busy month for me. But I will be seeing Seven Samurai as I've only seen it once on DVD as a teenager. And Tarantino must have a real thing for Barbara Stanwyck as he keeps programming these double-features of her work, this time two of her best pre-code films, Baby Face and Night Nurse, each a breezy 75-ish minutes.

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Re: West Coast Repertory Cinema

#92 Post by cdnchris » Sun Nov 07, 2021 3:16 pm

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote:
Sun Nov 07, 2021 1:44 pm
I have some personal beef with the Academy Museum and some of their staff, so I have deliberately avoided the place despite some of their exciting programming.
Image

beamish14
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Re: West Coast Repertory Cinema

#93 Post by beamish14 » Sun Nov 07, 2021 4:44 pm

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote:
Sun Nov 07, 2021 1:44 pm


One of my post-COVID resolutions was to go to less screenings as I used to go several times a week and need to focus on other things, but I couldn't resist getting a ticket to Nagisa Oshima's The Ceremony at the Los Feliz 3. It's a shame this isn't playing at the Aero as I'm sure it would look gorgeous on 'scope in that venue, but regardless it's an incredibly bold choice for their series of films from 1971. This was one of the Oshima films I missed during the huge retrospective in 2009 and it's one of his major works. They also played Floyd Mutrux's Dusty and Sweets McGee last night with an encore this Friday. Mutrux is a very underrated talent and his first film could've only been born out of the post-Easy Rider Hollywood where studios like Warner Bros. had no clue what to finance. They're also playing McCabe and Mrs. Miller on 35mm on the 15th of this month and would be curious to see what the print looks like. I saw it at the New Beverly years ago on a pretty muggy looking print. When UCLA ran it during their Altman retrospective after inheriting his collection, it apparently was a very worn, very pink print.

The New Beverly has had some unusually tame programming since they reopened, but their James Bridges retrospective is very much their classic style of presenting works of directors who aren't in the upper echelon's of the film canon (J. Lee Thompson, Jerry Schatzberg, Frank Perry, Paul Newman) and I'm intrigued. If I had more time I would go as this is exactly the programming I love there, but sadly, November is a busy month for me. But I will be seeing Seven Samurai as I've only seen it once on DVD as a teenager. And Tarantino must have a real thing for Barbara Stanwyck as he keeps programming these double-features of her work, this time two of her best pre-code films, Baby Face and Night Nurse, each a breezy 75-ish minutes.


I immediately bought a ticket for The Ceremony as well. I, too, missed it at LACMA's unbelievable retrospective, although audiences at Harvard's theatre also got a chance to see Band of Ninja, which we didn't. I caught Dusty and Sweets at UCLA a while back; Mutrux was supposed to be there, but he canceled on the day of. The print looked gorgeous, and I hope you see the same one. He's actually a Cinefile Video customer. He was chatting with the cashier there a while back about his script revision work on Scarecrow (!)

McCabe screened at the Egyptian in 2016, and it was a gorgeous one. Not sure if it was IB Tech, but it was just perfect.

My jaw dropped when I saw the James Bridges retrospective at the New Bev. I can't believe I'm finally going to see Mike's Murder in celluloid. Probably won't be the pre-release version, but we DID get that when the Bev showed the Academy's print of Year of the Dragon, so maybe it truly will be a once-in-a-lifetime event. Hands on a Hardbody should be great as well.

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Re: West Coast Repertory Cinema

#94 Post by The Elegant Dandy Fop » Mon Nov 29, 2021 2:33 pm

beamish14 wrote:
Sun Nov 07, 2021 4:44 pm
My jaw dropped when I saw the James Bridges retrospective at the New Bev. I can't believe I'm finally going to see Mike's Murder in celluloid. Probably won't be the pre-release version, but we DID get that when the Bev showed the Academy's print of Year of the Dragon, so maybe it truly will be a once-in-a-lifetime event. Hands on a Hardbody should be great as well.
Was Year of the Dragon during the Cimino retrospective? I saw it then and don’t recall the differences between that and the final version. Anything you noticed?

New Bev has a pretty tame month again, but highly recommend Robert Butler’s Night of the Juggler. It plays at the Bev at least once a year, but it’s one of those incredible films that’s never made it to DVD and I’m not sure why. Relentless with very little room to breathe.

Cinematheque’s calendar is not totally up online yet, but I did see their last minute addition of Taking Off yesterday. One of those special movies I try to see whenever it plays in Los Angeles. My third time seeing it on film since 2013.

beamish14
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Re: West Coast Repertory Cinema

#95 Post by beamish14 » Mon Nov 29, 2021 4:36 pm

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote:
Mon Nov 29, 2021 2:33 pm
beamish14 wrote:
Sun Nov 07, 2021 4:44 pm
My jaw dropped when I saw the James Bridges retrospective at the New Bev. I can't believe I'm finally going to see Mike's Murder in celluloid. Probably won't be the pre-release version, but we DID get that when the Bev showed the Academy's print of Year of the Dragon, so maybe it truly will be a once-in-a-lifetime event. Hands on a Hardbody should be great as well.
Was Year of the Dragon during the Cimino retrospective? I saw it then and don’t recall the differences between that and the final version. Anything you noticed?

New Bev has a pretty tame month again, but highly recommend Robert Butler’s Night of the Juggler. It plays at the Bev at least once a year, but it’s one of those incredible films that’s never made it to DVD and I’m not sure why. Relentless with very little room to breathe.

Cinematheque’s calendar is not totally up online yet, but I did see their last minute addition of Taking Off yesterday. One of those special movies I try to see whenever it plays in Los Angeles. My third time seeing it on film since 2013.

Yes, Year of the Dragon was during the Cimino retrospective, and it was paired with The Sicilian. The final line about "sleeping with the enemy" that De Laurentiis/MGM hated was present, and I believe there were additional shots of violence during the restaurant shootout. Someone in the theatre also mentioned that the subtitles were different, but I can't say for sure if that was the case.

I'm with you in that their current month is very uninspired, but I'll try to make The Long Riders. Very annoying that some new releases like Red Rocketonly get single-evening showings (e.g. Shirkers at the New Beverly and The Other Side of the Wind at the Aero, which I've begged them to screen again).

I was at a screening of Taking Off with Buck Henry in person that you probably attended as well. I'll never forget what he said about the young girl who played the lead-"She took acting lessons and was never heard from again."

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The Elegant Dandy Fop
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 3:25 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Re: West Coast Repertory Cinema

#96 Post by The Elegant Dandy Fop » Mon Nov 29, 2021 5:37 pm

beamish14 wrote:
Mon Nov 29, 2021 4:36 pm
I'm with you in that their current month is very uninspired, but I'll try to make The Long Riders. Very annoying that some new releases like Red Rocketonly get single-evening showings (e.g. Shirkers at the New Beverly and The Other Side of the Wind at the Aero, which I've begged them to screen again).

I was at a screening of Taking Off with Buck Henry in person that you probably attended as well. I'll never forget what he said about the young girl who played the lead-"She took acting lessons and was never heard from again."
I don't understand the one-day screenings either. I tried to buy a ticket for Red Rocket the day they went on sale and it was sold-out. I am debating waiting in the stand-by line and seeing if I can get in.

Was the Buck Henry Q&A the one at Cinefamily or the Egyptian? I for sure have previously seen the film at the Cinefamily and the New Beverly, but neither unfortunately had a Buck Henry Q&A.

Also need to make a special note about the Licorice Pizza screening at the Westwood Village Regency. Going to the first screening on Friday would lead you to believe theaters are back to normal. Huge crowds around the block all day. PT Anderson introduced the screening to basically say clean up after yourselves and tell your friends to come early to make the lines go faster. It seems they're handing out merch at the Fat Bernie's Pinball popup too. I got a pin while a friend got a bumper sticker and shirt. Tons of people I know who are not regular movie goers went over the weekend and judging by the millions of images on IG, must've been quite a hit. I know it's also been playing around town at other venues in secret for Academy voters and studio employees. There's even been memes about driving to Westwood circulating the internet. Sort of exciting to see a film like this really excite the entire city.

beamish14
Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 3:07 pm

Re: West Coast Repertory Cinema

#97 Post by beamish14 » Mon Nov 29, 2021 6:42 pm

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote:
Mon Nov 29, 2021 5:37 pm
beamish14 wrote:
Mon Nov 29, 2021 4:36 pm
I'm with you in that their current month is very uninspired, but I'll try to make The Long Riders. Very annoying that some new releases like Red Rocketonly get single-evening showings (e.g. Shirkers at the New Beverly and The Other Side of the Wind at the Aero, which I've begged them to screen again).

I was at a screening of Taking Off with Buck Henry in person that you probably attended as well. I'll never forget what he said about the young girl who played the lead-"She took acting lessons and was never heard from again."
I don't understand the one-day screenings either. I tried to buy a ticket for Red Rocket the day they went on sale and it was sold-out. I am debating waiting in the stand-by line and seeing if I can get in.

Was the Buck Henry Q&A the one at Cinefamily or the Egyptian? I for sure have previously seen the film at the Cinefamily and the New Beverly, but neither unfortunately had a Buck Henry Q&A.

Also need to make a special note about the Licorice Pizza screening at the Westwood Village Regency. Going to the first screening on Friday would lead you to believe theaters are back to normal. Huge crowds around the block all day. PT Anderson introduced the screening to basically say clean up after yourselves and tell your friends to come early to make the lines go faster. It seems they're handing out merch at the Fat Bernie's Pinball popup too. I got a pin while a friend got a bumper sticker and shirt. Tons of people I know who are not regular movie goers went over the weekend and judging by the millions of images on IG, must've been quite a hit. I know it's also been playing around town at other venues in secret for Academy voters and studio employees. There's even been memes about driving to Westwood circulating the internet. Sort of exciting to see a film like this really excite the entire city.

This particular Taking Off screening was at the Aero. The Q&A moderator was Larry Karaszewski, and it was a double bill with Catch-22

I look forward to seeing Licorice Pizza this weekend.


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The Elegant Dandy Fop
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 3:25 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Re: West Coast Repertory Cinema

#99 Post by The Elegant Dandy Fop » Wed Jan 19, 2022 2:46 pm

I sometimes think how living in the Bay Area would be great just on how beautiful it is and the perfect weather, but it resembles nothing of what I knew it as when I was young. The tech industry basically gutted all the fun parts out and turned it into a cultural desert other than a few nice spots here and there. Aside from the Pacific Film Archive, it's a real dead zone for interesting screenings. It's a goddamned shame the most beautiful theater in that city is going to be another music venue. I still have memories of visiting the Castro whenever I was in the area and loving the organist who'd pop up from underground to serenade the audience before the films would play. It makes me tremendously sad whenever film theaters convert into anything but it was made for. Los Angeles is already filled with plenty of former theaters that have been gutted into things like condominiums and discount stores without the face changing much, but can't help but be extra sad when a venue like this changes into something there's already a million of. I'm sure they'll put a horrendous LED marquee outside.

I was determined in 2020 to finally attend the San Francisco Silent Film Festival and then COVID basically stopped those plans. Seems I'll never experience it as it was.

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DeprongMori
Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2014 1:59 am
Location: San Francisco

Re: West Coast Repertory Cinema

#100 Post by DeprongMori » Wed Jan 19, 2022 4:15 pm

The loss of the Castro for the San Francisco Silent Film Festival (and Noir City) is just devastating. Both those festivals played to packed houses in an aesthetically perfect environment for them.

Noir City has bounced to the Grand Lake this year (and subsequently cancelled due to the Omicron wave), and no word what will happen to the Silent Film Festival.

As much as I love the Grand Lake (capacity of main screening room only ~600+), it only has less than half the capacity of the Castro (capacity 1,400), leaving many usual attendees out in the cold, and the festivals perhaps less financially viable. The Paramount is too large for the vast majority of the programs for either festival (with rare exceptions such as Abel Gance’s Napoleon), with a seating capacity of 3,040. The Castro was really the sweet spot for ambiance, location, and especially capacity.

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