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Los Angeles Times
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Two local festivals launch for their second year, plus the week's best films in L.A.
Hello! I'm Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies. The Los Angeles Festival of Movies launched its second edition on Thursday with the West Coast premiere of Amalia Ulman's 'Magic Farm,' starring Ulman, Chloë Sevigny and Alex Wolff. The festival runs through Sunday with events at venues all east of Hollywood. Though there are several new films in the lineup, including Andrew DeYoung's 'Friendship' starring Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd, Neo Sora's 'Happyend,' Grace Glowicki's 'Dead Lover' and Charlie Shackleton's 'Zodiac Killer Project,' I wrote something focused on the two restorations in the lineup, both from 1981, Jessie Maple's 'Will' and Robina Rose's 'Nightshift.' Maple was among the first Black women to direct an independent feature film. 'Will' is a powerfully direct drama about a former all-American basketball player (Obaka Adedunyo) attempting to move forward in his life from drug addiction, in part through the support of his wife (Loretta Devine) and a local boy (Robert Dean) he takes in and calls 'Little Brother.' 'Nightshift' is based on Rose's own experiences working at a West London hotel, where overnight events could be unpredictable. Shot at the Portobello Hotel for a few days over a Christmas break, the film takes on a fantastical quality, exploring the zone between waking and dreaming. Both films fit right in alongside the festival's other offerings, signaling a connection to previous notions of counterculture and alternative methods of production and distribution. As the festival's artistic director and co-founder Micah Gottlieb put it, 'With revivals, we're trying to make an implicit argument that these independent films — each of them a triumph of strong vision and limited resources — should also be more widely recognized and seen as part of a broader tradition of bold and visionary work.' Also in its second year will be American Cinematheque's 'This Is Not a Fiction' documentary series, launching Wednesday with the world premiere of Season 2 of the travel series 'Conan O'Brien Must Go.' By spotlighting television work made with a documentary sensibility alongside more conventional documentary features, the festival expands the definition of nonfiction filmmaking. 'It's not a traditional documentary festival,' said Chris LeMaire, senior film programmer at the Cinematheque and co-founder of the festival with Cindy Flores. 'We really think of what are the different forms of nonfiction and then when you get to those boundaries of what nonfiction is, I think that's when fun things can happen.' Among the series highlights will be two 2024 films from Radu Jude, 'Eight Postcards From Utopia' and 'Sleep #2.' There will be a 35mm screening of Godfrey Reggio's 1982 'Koyaanisqatsi,' as well as the L.A. premiere of the 4K restoration of Charles Burnett's 'Killer of Sheep.' Alek Keshishian's 1991 tour film 'Madonna: Truth or Dare' will play at the Egyptian, while the Los Feliz 3 will host a double bill of John Heyn and Jeff Krulik's 1986 'Heavy Metal Parking Lot' and Todd Phillips' 1993 'Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies.' Errol Morris will be present at screenings for a number of his movies, including a double bill of 1978's 'Gates of Heaven' and 1981's 'Vernon, Florida' with a Q&A moderated by Bill Hader. Morris will also be at a double bill of 1988's 'The Thin Blue Line' and 1991's 'A Brief History of Time' as well as at a screening of his recent 'Chaos: The Manson Murders.' Elsewhere during the week, he'll introduce a screening of Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho.' Following a screening of Kazuo Hara's 1987 'The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On,' Morris and Hara will appear together for a Q&A. Also as part of the festival's consideration of work made for television, there will be tribute to the reality TV show 'Survivor' featuring host Jeff Probst, and a 10th anniversary event for the show 'Documentary Now!' with Hader, Fred Armisen and other collaborators on the series that affectionately spoofs famed documentaries. The festival's closing night on April 17 will feature the L.A. premieres of Richard Green's 'I Know Catherine, the Log Lady,' about 'Twin Peaks' icon Catherine Coulson, Season 3 of '100 Foot Wave' and Courtney Stephens and Michael Almereyda's 'John Lily and the Earth Coincidence Control Office.' 'It's such a huge lineup,' said LeMaire. 'We also really wanted to make sure we had something that would interest everyone. There's a certain preconceived idea often with traditional documentary what that means in terms of a specific form of storytelling and a specific form of delivering information. Which we really appreciate and give space to in this festival, but we also really want to make it seem exciting and fun across the board, something that feels very different going on every night and at opposite venues too. So we're proud of it and I think we really took it to the next level in year two.' On Sunday the UCLA Film and Television Archive will launch a new series called 'Beyond Barbie' that will run through early June. Opening with Ana Rose Holmer's 2015 film 'The Fits,' the series will look at recent depictions of adolescent girlhood from around the globe. Holmer and editor Saela Davis will be there for a Q&A, and the evening will have an introduction from writer-director Natalie Jasmine Harris, represented by the 2024 short 'Grace.' Programmer Beandrea July explained the double meaning of the series' title, saying in an email, 'Yes, it's definitely a nod to the 'Barbie' movie — undeniably one of the biggest box office events related to girlhood in recent years. While the film isn't exactly about adolescent girls, it has become emblematic of mainstream feminist storytelling and sparked a wave of cultural conversation. 'That said, I also felt like some of those conversations were limiting. 'Barbie' brought these ideas into the spotlight, but the series is an opportunity to go deeper. The title is a little tongue-in-cheek, but it also signals that we intend to engage with some of the same questions in a more expansive and textured way.' Other films in the series include Deniz Gamze Ergüven's Oscar-nominated 2015 'Mustang,' (with Ergüven present for a Q&A), Maïmouna Doucouré's 2020 'Cuties,' Debra Granik's 2018 'Leave No Trace' (with Granik for a video Q&A), Nora Fingscheidt's 2019 'System Crasher' and Shireen Seno's 2017 'Nervous Translation,' with Seno in person. With films from the Philippines, Turkey, Spain, Germany and France as well as the United States, the program looks at how many young women are facing similar issues that cross borders and cultures. 'Many of the most compelling films I encountered were made by non-American directors, and I wanted to reflect that,' said July. 'There's a universality to the themes these films explore — identity, self-esteem, autonomy — but each one is shaped by its specific cultural and national context. … Many of the most daring portrayals of girlhood right now aren't coming from Hollywood, and I wanted to highlight that. And that said, Debra Granik and Anna Rose Holmer are two American filmmakers in the series who both present fascinating portraits of girls that feel very fresh.' Kenneth Turan and Justin Chang talk 'Bombshell' On Saturday the UCLA Film and Television Archive will screen Victor Fleming's 1933 'Bombshell,' starring Jean Harlow, in 35mm. The event will also include a conversation between former Times film critics Kenneth Turan and Justin Chang. Before the movie, Turan will also be signing copies of his new book 'Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg: The Whole Equation.' I will also be leading a conversation with Turan at the upcoming Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on April 26 as part of a panel titled 'Hollywood in the Golden Age: Sex, Scandal, and the Making of an Industry' along with authors Mallory O'Meara ('Daughter of Daring: The Trick-Riding, Train-Leaping, Road-Racing Life of Helen Gibson, Hollywood's First Stuntwoman') and Claire Hoffman ('Sister, Sinner: The Miraculous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson'). 'Bombshell' is a great jumping-off point for these conversations. The film satirizes the star-making machinery of Hollywood, with Harlow playing a popular actress attempting to find romance amid the madness of the industry that surrounds her. On Oct. 29, 1933, Norbert Lusk wrote in The Times, 'The picture is too merciless in stripping illusion from life behind the scenes of Hollywood. … In this it is represented as farce, a travesty of insincerity, and that is pretty strong fare for those who cherish illusions.' Just a few days earlier, on Oct. 27, 1933, columnist Grace Kingsley said of the film in The Times, 'If movie stars, indeed, have that turbulent time in their private lives, no wonder they get nervous breakdowns. I nearly got one just watching it. Everything that ever happens to a film celebrity happens to Jean in 'Bombshell.' … But it's all in fun, and you're going to have a gay time seeing it.' 'Play It as It Lays' in 4K On Sunday, the American Cinematheque will host the L.A. premiere of the new 4K restoration of Frank Perry's 1972 'Play It as It Lays' with an introduction from screenwriter Larry Karaszewski, an avowed Perry fan. One of those films that for too long was very difficult to see in any format, the movie was adapted from the Joan Didion novel of the same name by Didion herself and her husband, John Gregory Dunne. 'Play It as It Lays' is likely the best cinematic distillation of Didion's distinctive sensibility and perspective on Los Angeles. Tuesday Weld plays a woman struck by intense dissatisfaction with all the wealth and privilege her life affords her, estranged from her film-director husband and uncertain of her future. Reviewing the film in 1972, Charles Champlin wrote, 'Joan Didion's neurotic, disintegrating heroine, pacing and reminiscing through the stately grounds of a private mental institution as we meet her and leave her, is drawn from a sub-sub-culture. She is from a rarefied part of Hollywood, which is rare enough to begin with and distinct from Southern California, which is in turn distinct from anywhere else. … [The world] Frank Perry has filmed with such conscientious and hard-working craftsmanship is at once so special and so confining that 'Play It as It Lays' is interesting as technique and almost wholly unmoving as documentary or drama. But women whose perceptions I admire are moved by it and find it — and Miss Weld — correlatives for their own dissatisfaction.' 'Secret Mall Apartment' The documentary 'Secret Mall Apartment' was one of my favorite films at the South by Southwest Film and TV Festival last year, and it is only now reaching theaters, playing in L.A. at the Alamo Drafthouse and Vidiots. Directed by Jeremy Workman, with Jesse Eisenberg as a producer, the film tells the saga of how a group of artists in Providence, R.I., built a secret apartment in hidden, unused space within the infrastructure of a sprawling local shopping mall. Transforming the space also changed their sense of purpose about it, as what started as a lark turned into a cherished meeting place, de facto clubhouse and indeed a living space that they maintained for years until they were eventually discovered. What might seem to be little more than an extended prank comes to take on a deeper meaning, as the apartment comes to symbolize something greater: how to live a creative life and something of a last stand against the ways in which society can crush the artistic spirit of adventure. Val Kilmer dies at 65 Even though it was widely known that actor Val Kilmer had long been battling throat cancer, there was still something quite shocking this week about the news of his death at age 65. From his debut in 'Top Secret!' to roles in 'Real Genius,' 'Top Gun,' 'Tombstone,' 'Kill Me Again,' 'The Doors,' 'Batman Forever,' 'Heat,' 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' and 'Top Gun: Maverick,' Kilmer always brought an intensity and vitality to his roles. When the documentary 'Val,' drawn largely from decades of Kilmer's own home video footage, was released in 2021, I had the opportunity to interview the actor via email. Of his reputation for being difficult to work with, he answered, 'I thought, naively, that the quality of the work would outweigh the perception of me being difficult. One can only hope, but it is the hope that 'kills' you.'
Los Angeles Times
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
A cutting-edge film festival returns, shining a light on two lost works
Last year, the inaugural Los Angeles Festival of Movies brought a much-needed jolt of energy to the city, conjuring just the right mix of in-the-know hipness and welcoming inclusivity. Running from Thursday through Sunday, LAFM's second edition aims to keep the party rolling by screening more than 20 films at a circuit of venues all east of Hollywood. The festival, presented by Mezzanine and Mubi, opens with the West Coast premiere of Amalia Ulman's satirical 'Magic Farm,' starring Chloë Sevigny, Alex Wolff, Simon Rex and Ulman. A special screening of Andrew DeYoung's comedy 'Friendship,' starring Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd, and the closing-night selection of Neo Sora's coming-of-age story 'Happyend' will both also have their West Coast premieres. The festival will include live-action shorts, a new program of animated shorts and artist talks including novelist-filmmaker Dennis Cooper in conversation with author Tony Tulathimutte, and another with costume designer Shirley Kurata and comedian John Early. Other features in the program include Grace Glowicki's campy horror film 'Dead Lover,' Alexandra Simpson's atmospheric, Florida-set 'No Sleep Till,' Cooper and Zac Farley's unpredictable family story 'Room Temperature' and Charlie Shackleton's self-reflexive documentary 'Zodiac Killer Project.' 'For LAFM, we're always trying to celebrate films that feel personal and are clearly going against the grain of commercial filmmaking in some way,' said Micah Gottlieb, LAFM's co-founder and artistic director, via email from Los Angeles. But even with the festival's emphasis on new work, its selection of revivals is an important part of the program. 'With revivals, we're trying to make an implicit argument that these independent films — each of them a triumph of strong vision and limited resources — should also be more widely recognized and seen as part of a broader tradition of bold and visionary work,' said Gottlieb. Among the highlights of this year's program are the West Coast premieres of new restorations of two films from 1981, Jessie Maple's 'Will' and Robina Rose's 'Nightshift.' Both have only ever had limited theatrical distribution and these screenings should bring their filmmakers, both of whom recently died and rarely enjoyed such a showcase during their lifetimes, into a brighter spotlight. 'New restorations are a really important part of this and the L.A. film scene, so we are proud to continue to include a selection to highlight within the larger program,' said Sarah Winshall, festival co-founder, via email. Among the high points of last year's festival was a screening of Bridgett M. Davis' 1996 film 'Naked Acts,' an exploration of identity and the movies that was initially self-distributed. That film's restoration and release were championed by Maya Cade, creator and curator of the Black Film Archive. Cade will be back at this year's festival to introduce the screening of 'Will.' 'It was an honor to have 'Naked Acts' play at LAFM last year because it felt as if I was on the groundswell of a breakthrough in Los Angeles's film community,' said Cade via email from Los Angeles. 'The festival, even in its earliest iteration, negated so many assumptions about what film gatherings can do in the city where every other part of film creation and exhibition happens. Why couldn't there be a festival too? 'Naked Acts' was so warmly received here because the festival honored revivals alongside contemporary films as the discovery of both exalt us forward to new cinematic possibilities.' Maple, the first Black woman to join the cinematographers union in New York and among the first Black women to direct an independent feature film with 'Will,' died in 2023 at age 86. Set in Harlem, 'Will' is a story with deep emotional power as it follows a former all-American basketball player (Obaka Adedunyo) who has fallen into drug addiction. With his wife (Loretta Devine in her film debut) patiently by his side, he attempts to get his life back on track, taking in a boy from the streets (Robert Dean) whom he affectionately refers to as 'Little Brother.' E. Danielle Butler was Maple's assistant and collaborator during the last years of her life and co-wrote Maple's 2019 memoir, 'The Maple Crew.' Butler thinks Maple would be pleased to see her film finding a new, younger audience. 'A lot of the conversations that we had during her latter years were about legacy — what does it mean now?' said Butler in a call from Atlanta. 'And so I think that even though she's not here to see it, I believe that she would be pleased with the opportunity for another generation, a new generation, to take part in it.' Tony Best is an archivist and contractor with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who conducted an Academy oral history interview with Maple in early 2020 and remained part of her circle. Best noted the do-it-yourself ethos that ran through Maple's work and life. She opened a coffee shop and bakery to raise money for her films. When she couldn't find places to show her work, she opened a movie theater in her Harlem brownstone, which became a long-running venue known as 20 West that was also part of a distribution circuit and a small archive for other filmmakers. 'With 20 West being in itself a kind of micro-cinema, community cinema, it's interesting that her films are being screened in those spaces now,' said Best in a call from Los Angeles. 'And I know she would really dig that at LAFM. She really believed in the community and how filmmaking can bring the community together.' The 4K restoration of 'Will' is a joint project between the Black Film Center and Archive at Indiana University and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. The 4K restoration of 'Nightshift' was undertaken by the Lightbox Film Center in collaboration with the British Film Institute and Cinenova. Where 'Will' is told with a straightforward directness, confronting practical realities, 'Nightshift' is a film of ambiguous evocation, existing in an interzone between waking, dreaming and nightmare. The film follows a London hotel clerk (the monomonikered Jordan, a famed part of London's punk scene) across one very eventful night, exploring a liminal space of nocturnal reveries that seem to open a portal to all sorts of behavior from an assortment of unusual guests including punks, businessmen and magicians. Rose, who died in January at age 75, worked at the time at the Portobello Hotel in West London. The hotel would close over Christmas and so the production had the run of the place from a Monday morning to a Saturday morning. Filmmaker Jon Jost, who was the project's cinematographer, loaned the production his 16mm camera and donated a stash of high-contrast reversal film stock he had bought on sale at a steep discount, helping give the film its distinctively unreal look. 'The film stock just happened to fit the context of that particular rather funky, slightly old-fashioned hotel,' recalled Jost in an phone interview from India, where he has recently been living and working. 'And the hotel itself was quirky because it was what we would call today a boutique hotel. It was known that each room was its own fantasy. So we shot in different rooms and got the sense of the fantasy. That quality was maybe enhanced by the film stock.' Charlotte Procter, part of feminist distribution and preservation organization the Cinenova Working Group, first met Rose in 2018 for a screening of Rose's 1977 film 'Birth Rites' and recalled the filmmaker as 'witty and sharp and a little contrary.' Procter remarked that a 1983 entry in the journals of acclaimed British filmmaker Derek Jarman noted that unlike their European counterparts, most British avant-garde filmmakers went largely unheralded. Among the few names he listed along with his own was Rose. 'He spoke of a deeply personal cinema, shaped by direct experience, often overlooked by the mainstream,' said Procter from London. 'Robina's films embody this — distinct, compelling and often made in collaboration with the people around her.' The film also serves as a snapshot of the creative and artistic energies of its moment in early-'80s London. Among those counterculture figures who collaborated or appeared in the film are Jost, co-writer Nicola Lane, Jordan (who also appeared in Jarman's 'Jubilee'), filmmaker Anne Rees-Mogg, philosopher-activist Mike Lesser, writer Max Handley and poet Heathcote Williams. The restorations of both 'Will' and 'Nightshift' fit nicely within the broader program of LAFM, providing historical context for the newer films that are the bulk of the festival. That sense of experiencing something special for the first time is part of the key to the event's success, giving off an energy of invention and revelation. 'We were so lucky last year to be able to debut the festival with such a bold program,' said Winshall. 'This year, going into the curation, we followed some of the guidelines from last year, prioritizing premieres for our local audience, keeping things eclectic in content, finding the films from a variety of sources, all the while trusting our curatorial noses. The program is full of discoveries, films I hadn't heard of before we programmed them.'
