<<< September 2008 >>>

Also see Outfest Wednesdays!

STAR!, 1968, 20th Century Fox, 176 min. Director Robert Wise and star Julie Andrews reunited after THE SOUND OF MUSIC for this ambitious musical biopic. Andrews plays Gertrude Lawrence, a legendary British stage performer whose real-life excesses are a perfect match for Wise's opulent visual style (the film's costume changes alone make it worth seeing on the big screen in 70mm). Andrews performs songs by Gershwin, Cole Porter and others in a series of glorious set pieces that are a must for any musical lover. 20^th Century Fox’s latest restoration -- do not miss this brand-new 70mm print! View Trailer

THE FLY, 1958, 20th Century Fox, 94 min. "If she looked upon the horror her husband had become... she would scream for the rest of her life!" Director Kurt Neumann’s classic sci-fi thriller with David Hedison (TV’s "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea") as the pioneering Canadian scientist Andre Delambre who experiments on himself with his new teleportation device. But in the process, a tiny fly enters the chamber with him, producing a horrifying result. Patricia Owens is Hedison’s faithful wife trying to deal with the terrifying consequences, with the help of Hedison’s brother, Vincent Price. Herbert Marshall is the incredulous police inspector. View Trailer

RETURN OF THE FLY, 1959, 20th Century Fox, 80 min. "Blood-curdling giant fly creature runs amuck!!!"Although it was released only a year after the original, this sequel takes place 15 years later when Andre Delambre’s son Philippe (Brett Halsey), takes up where his father left off. Unfortunately, there’s an industrial spy working with him. The villain purposely places an unconscious Philippe in the teleporter with a fly and sends him through, re-creating another horrid human/fly hybrid. Uncle Vincent Price is in more fragile health this time around, but can rely on Philippe’s faithful girlfriend (Danielle De Metz) and a sympathetic police inspector (John Sutton) to help put things right. Discussion between films with actor David Hedison (THE FLY) and Brett Halsey (RETURN OF THE FLY). The LA Opera presents Howard Shore’s "The Fly" directed by David Cronenberg, September 7-27, Six Performances Only. Cinematheque members are eligible for a 20% discount on opera tickets. Use the code 9605 when ordering to get a discount on your tickets. View Trailer Also go to: http://www.theflytheopera.com

THE YES MEN, 2003, MGM Repertory, 83 min. Dir. Chris Smith, Dan Ollman, Sarah Price. According to their website, The Yes Men are "a genderless, loose-knit association of 300 imposters worldwide" who plan mildly subversive interventions and benign mischief at international meetings. The film follows two of these satirists to Finland for a conference on "Textiles of the Future." Disguised as representatives of the World Trade Organization, they deliver an unexpected -- and genuinely hilarious -- address. With Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno.
AMERICAN MOVIE, 1999, Sony Pictures Classics, 107 min. The film that put Midwestern filmmaker Chris Smith on the indie film map after accolades at Sundance 1999. "...combines a wildly charismatic subject with an elegant structure." - The New York Times It takes a village to make a movie, but when that village is Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, the results are at times bizarre, comical, and very American. With the help of his mother, his 82-year old uncle, and a local cast of hilarious and lovable characters, filmmaker Mark Borchardt fights his way through internal and external roadblocks to achieve his goal. Discussion between films with director Chris Smith who releases his latest film THE POOL (Vitagraph Films), 9/19. Chris Smith Official Website

THE FLEET’S IN, 1942, Universal, 93 min. Director Victor Schertzinger’s last film was this charming wartime musical comedy. William Holden is a bashful sailor who is accidentally photographed with a famous actress. His shipmate buddies, including impetuous Eddie Bracken, engineer a bet that Holden can thaw the icy exterior of a glamorous nightclub singer (Dorothy Lamour) known as the Countess of Swingland. Betty Hutton nearly steals the film as Lamour’s capricious roommate. Originally premiered at the Egyptian. NOT ON DVD

MAITRESSE, 1976, Janus Films, 112 min. Director Barbet Schroeder examines the line between fantasy and reality, decadence and deprivation and the distance one will go for love. The film originally provoked controversy because of its graphic depiction of sadomasochistic behavior and now has an NC-17 rating. The costumes were designed by Karl Lagerfield, one of the most successful couturiers, both then and now. It is claimed that Parisian masochists didn't merely volunteer for treatment in the dungeon scenes, but actually paid for the privilege. Burglar Gérard Depardieu falls for dominatrix Bulle Ogier when he breaks into her apartment. Stars Ogier and Depardieu, combined with Schroeder’s direction and subject matter, and Lagerfield's rubber and fetish costumes, make this the perfect film for the premiere of our Fetish Film Nights series. This is a once-monthly series at the Spielberg Theatre hosted by Rick Castro of Antebellum Gallery. Each screening will be followed by an informal discussion and debate with the audience. All screenings for this series will have fetish as the main theme and subject matter. Rick Castro is an independent curator, filmmaker and photographer working and living in Los Angeles his entire life. Castro explores the world of fetish and fringes of culture. Rick’s photography is in the permanent collections of the Alfred Kinsey Institute and the Tom of Finland Foundation. His books and magazines are archived at the UCLA Library and the Leather Museum in Chicago. Rick co-directed and wrote the cult film HUSTLER WHITE (1996) and the documentary PLUSHIES AND FURRIES (2001) for MTV. (See www.rickcastro.com and www.antebellum.us.ms for more information.) (Screened from a digital source.) This series is for audiences 18 and over.

For the total “Old Hollywood” experience take a docent-led tour of the legendary 1922 Egyptian Theatre. See what it would have been like to be in a Grauman stage show with a visit to the dressing rooms and singers' boxes. Check out our state-of-the-art projection booth and more! Discover the painstaking restoration work and the marriage of modern technology with a landmark of Hollywood history. Tours will start promptly at 10:30 AM at the box office. Tours are approximately 60 min. Wear your walking shoes! You will see the old dressing rooms, the singer's boxes and the projection booth (not normally included on our tours). Reservations are not required, we have room for everyone. You can check our website or our voicemail for emergency cancellations. Tours will be held rain or shine.
Tickets: $5. Tour & movie: $10.

ROSEMARY’S BABY, 1968, Paramount, 136 min. Dir. Roman Polanski. A young New York couple (Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes) move into a new apartment building, where they’re quickly befriended by lovable Ruth Gordon and husband Sidney Blackmer. All is not as it seems, though – and Farrow soon comes to suspect that her neighbors have truly sinister plans in store for her and her unborn baby… This eerie supernatural thriller builds shivery atmosphere through each successive scene, right up until the shattering climax. View Trailer

CHINATOWN, 1974, Paramount, 131 min. Dir. Roman Polanski. Jack Nicholson gives his greatest performance as 1930s private eye J.J. Gittes, maneuvering through a nightmarish L.A. netherworld of cheating husbands, stolen water rights, incest and murder, as he desperately tries to save beautiful Faye Dunaway from her raptor-like father John Huston. Writer Robert Towne’s magnificent, labyrinthine portrait of Los Angeles has been widely hailed as the best script of its era. Booksigning at 6:30 PM preceding the screening with Christopher Sandford, author of the new book, Polanski: A Biography. View Trailer

For the total “Old Hollywood” experience take a docent-led tour of the legendary 1922 Egyptian Theatre. See what it would have been like to be in a Grauman stage show with a visit to the dressing rooms and singers' boxes. Check out our state-of-the-art projection booth and more! Discover the painstaking restoration work and the marriage of modern technology with a landmark of Hollywood history. Tours will start promptly at 10:30 AM at the box office. Tours are approximately 60 min. Wear your walking shoes! You will see the old dressing rooms, the singer's boxes and the projection booth (not normally included on our tours). Reservations are not required, we have room for everyone. You can check our website or our voicemail for emergency cancellations. Tours will be held rain or shine.
Tickets: $5. Tour & movie: $10.

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER, 1938, Disney, 77 min. Dir. Norman Taurog. Writer Ben Hecht once told David O. Selznick, "The trouble with you, David, is that you did all your reading before you were twelve." And lucky for us he did! This picture represents a milestone in motion picture art direction as it brought together, for the first time as collaborators, art directors Lyle Wheeler and William Cameron Menzies. They would go on to design a series of pictures together for Selznick International, culminating in their historic collaboration on GONE WITH THE WIND. This was the fourth attempt and is regarded by many as the best adaptation of Mark Twain’s classic novel about the world of his childhood, growing up along the Mississippi in rural Missouri. The climactic cave sequence with Injun Joe (Victor Jory) is unforgettable, and it was described at the time as "too horrible for children." Shot in Technicolor by James Wong Howe, ASC, whose work and subdued color capture so angered Technicolor that he was barred from using their system for more than 10 years after. With Tommy Kelly, Jackie Moran, Walter Brennan. 15 minute DVD presentation precedes the screening. Discussion after the film with a panel of highly regarded industry professionals on the significant legacy of these three leading film narrative artists, moderated by designer and ADG Film Society co-chair Tom Walsh.

CHICAGO 10, 2007, Roadside Attractions, 110 min. Mixing animation with archival footage and using the voices of Nick Nolte, Roy Scheider, Hank Azaria, Mark Ruffalo and others, director Brett Morgen explores the build-up to and unraveling the 1968 Chicago Conspiracy Trial. A parable of hope, courage and challenge as it portrays the struggle of young Americans speaking out and taking a stand in the face of an oppressive and armed government during the Vietnam War. Discussion following the screening. Panelists to include: Mona Cadena - Deputy Director, West at Amnesty International USA and Brian De Shazor - Archives Director at Pacifica Radio Archives. Free admission! First come, first served. About ITVS Community Cinema: ITVS, the co-presenter of Independent Lens, presents ITVS Community  Cinema, a free monthly screening series, offered in over 50 cities throughout the U.S. www.itvs.org www.pbs.org/independentlens