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Los Angeles Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Agatha All Along' and ‘The Studio' star Kathryn Hahn still doesn't feel like a ‘Hollywood person'
Kathryn Hahn has had a big year, staring in Marvel Studios' 'Agatha All Along' and the Apple TV+ comedy, 'The Studio.' Here, she sits with L.A. Times reporter Mark Olsen to discuss the journey of playing a witch and a Hollywood executive.
Los Angeles Times
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
The return of ‘Bleak Week,' plus the 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. Following its recent premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, 'The Phoenician Scheme,' the new film by Wes Anderson, opens in Los Angeles this weekend. Each new Anderson picture still feels like something of an event, simply because it is so fun to see what he is up to this time, what idiosyncratic subset of the world will he explore and make his own. Personally, I have been taken with how densely packed his last few films have become. 'The French Dispatch' and 'Asteroid City' had a layered approach to storytelling that took some time to fully unpack. So it is likely 'The Phoenician Scheme' has yet to reveal itself, in need of some extended unraveling of its energetic story of an ambitious 1950s international businessman, Anatole 'Zsa-zsa' Korda (Benicio del Toro, who we spoke to for our summer preview), and his estranged daughter, Liesl (Mia Threapleton), on an a series of business deals. The cast, typical for Anderson, is packed, also including Michael Cera, Scarlett Johansson, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Richard Aoyade, Riz Ahmed, Charlotte Gainsbourg and many more. (Never fear, Willem Dafoe and Bill Murray are in there somewhere.) In a review of the film, Amy Nicholson wrote, 'Lately, Anderson has been on a tear of using his perfectionist aesthetic to defend the act of ambition itself — to honor artisans who create masterpieces in a world of philistines. The only thing he loves more than a carved credenza (and here, they're decorated with hieroglyphics) is the craftsperson who made it and the aesthete who bought it, instead of settling for something disposable. I was never a fan of Anderson's until 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' clicked him into focus. It was hard to believe he knew what he was talking about when his earlier movies tried to sell us on love between human beings. But a hotelier's love of his linens? That I'll buy.' Amy added, 'It's not that you have to believe that there is a force out there more powerful than Zsa-zsa, or heck, even money itself. But if that doesn't move you, at least Anderson deserves reverence for negotiating how to get all these A-list talents to act in his movie for peanuts. He's managed to build yet another dazzler, a shrine to his own ambition and craft. And while it sometimes feels a bit drafty in the corners, the accomplishment itself is plenty.' The fourth edition of the American Cinematheque's 'Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair' program begins Sunday with screenings at all three of its local venues through Saturday, June 7. Having already expanded to the Paris Theatre in New York last year, Bleak Week is now spreading to several more cities and venues: the Hollywood Theatre in Portland, Ore.; the Music Box Theatre in Chicago; the Texas Theatre in Dallas; Trylon Cinema in Minneapolis; Coolidge Corner Theatre in Boston; and the Prince Charles Cinema in London. 'We look to expand our never-ending film festival whenever possible,' said Grant Moninger, artistic director of the American Cinematheque, via email, of the program's ongoing expansion. This year's series will open with a 35mm screening of Akira Kurosawa's 1952 'Ikiru' at the Egyptian Theatre introduced by Bill Hader. French filmmaker Claire Denis will be present for screenings of a handful of her titles, including a 35mm presentation of 2001's 'Trouble Every Day' with a Q&A moderated by Barry Jenkins. Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold will be present for a tribute, including films they have made together and Corbet's separate acting work. To be screened: Michael Haneke's 'Funny Games,' Lars von Trier's 'Melancholia,' Fastvold's 'The World to Come' and Corbet's 'The Childhood of a Leader' and 'Vox Lux.' Other Bleak Week highlights include John Hillcoat's 2005 'The Proposition' with a Q&A with the filmmaker and cast, Michael Curtiz's 1950 'The Breaking Point' in 35mm and Carl Theodor Dreyer's 1943 'Day of Wrath' screened from a nitrate print. What may once have seemed a slightly cracked idea has grown into one of the Cinematheque's signature programs. And there is no end in sight. 'After year one, which had 33 films, we had the worry that maybe we would have no titles left for next year — if there even was a second edition,' said Chris LeMaire, senior film programmer, via email. 'But each time we start programming the next Bleak Week, there seem to be endless possibilities.' 'Our lineup this year in L.A. has 55 films and we probably cut another 50 titles from our initial list,' added LeMaire. 'Across all the venues, Bleak Week includes over 100 titles this year, from all corners of the world and all eras of cinema history, from as early as 1919 to 2025. We're never going to run out because many of the greatest films deal with the human condition, which naturally leads to some difficult truths.' Alan Arkin's 1971 'Little Murders' will screen in 35mm with a Q&A with star Elliott Gould moderated by screenwriter Larry Karaszewski. A screening of the black-and-white director's cut of 2007's 'The Mist' will be followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Frank Darabont and actor Thomas Jane. Filmmaker Costa-Gavras and producer Michèle Ray-Gavras will be present for a double-bill of 1982's 'Missing' and 1970's 'The Confession.' Actor Gabriel Byrne will be at a 35th anniversary screening of Joel and Ethan Coen's 1990 'Miller's Crossing.' I will be moderating a Q&A with Gus Van Sant following a screening of 'Last Days.' There will also be the U.S. premiere of a 4K restoration of 'Christiane F.' and the West Coast premieres of 4K restorations of 'Withnail and I,' 'Forbidden Games,' 'The Sweet Hereafter' and 'Happiness.' (A Q&A for 'Happiness' will feature performers Lara Flynn Boyle and Camryn Manheim, moderated by Vera Drew.) Where downbeat entries like Mark Romanek's 'Never Let Me Go,' Ryan Coogler's 'Fruitvale Station,' Narcisco Ibáñez Serrador's 'Who Can Kill A Child?' or Elem Klimov's 'Come and See' more obviously fall within the thematic concept of 'Bleak Week,' titles such as Bennett Miller's 'Moneyball' or Boaz Davidson's 'The Last American Virgin' do not make such an apparent fit. 'We work outside of academic and algorithmic models,' said Moninger. 'This allows for an emotional reaction to films and a more expansive Bleak Week program. The festival is a tapestry of bleak moments and feelings that can be presented in all types of cinema, including the occasional comedy. We are not measuring the hopelessness of each film but creating something by bonding together a wide variety of challenging, unpromising cinema, which I hope builds to something positive.' This weekend the UCLA Film & Television Archive will be hosting ''Going My Own Way' Celebrating Ivan Dixon,' a tribute to the actor and filmmaker, including the local premiere tonight of a new 35mm print of the restoration of his 1973 film, 'The Spook Who Sat by the Door.' The film tells the story of the first Black CIA officer (Lawrence Cook), who leaves his token position at the organization to use what he learned there to train a Black guerrilla fighting force in Chicago. 'The Spook Who Sat by the Door,' which was added to the National Film Registry in 2012, had a truncated release with it first came out due to its revolutionary politics, with some accounts that the FBI became involved in suppressing it. 'It's just one of the most powerful meditations on the meaning of freedom that I've ever seen,' said UCLA programmer Beandrea July. 'It's so nice to see a movie that really knows what it is and doesn't apologize for it. It doesn't equivocate, it's not trying to explain itself to people who aren't interested in really understanding. It's so satisfying to watch because it's like finally someone actually speaks to the thing with the same oomph that the thing demands.' On Saturday, along with the second screening of the film, there will be a showing of Christine Acham and Clifford Ward's 2011 documentary 'Infiltrating Hollywood: The Rise and Fall of 'The Spook Who Sat by the Door,'' which examines the long saga of the film, its reception and release. Acham will be present at screenings throughout the weekend as will Nomathande Dixon, Ivan Dixon's daughter, as well as Natiki Hope Pressley, daughter of Sam Greenlee, author of the book on which the film is based. Dixon, who died in 2008 at age 76, was best known for his role as Sgt. James Kinchloe on TV's 'Hogan's Heroes,' a part he left before the show had ended to move behind the camera and begin a prolific career directing for television. Also screening will be the 1964 film 'Nothing but a Man' starring Dixon and directed by Michael Roemer, who died just last week at age 97. The film tells the story of racial tension in a small town; Dixon considered the film his favorite of his performances. The film will be paired with a 1960 episode of 'The Twilight Zone' starring Dixon and Kim Hamilton. The series will conclude Sunday with two pieces Dixon directed for television, 1983's 'Frederick Douglass: Slave and Statesman,' starring 'Blacula's' William Marshall, and an adaptation of Philip Hayes Dean's 'The Sty of the Blind Pig' starring Mary Alice and Scatman Crothers. The Dixon family lived for many years in Altadena. What was once their home was destroyed in the January fires, a circumstance that gives the weekend an even greater emotional resonance. 'It's special for the family because his wishes were never to have a memorial,' said Nomathande Dixon. 'And this is something that feels like a tribute to him in our hometown of L.A. So we're very appreciative of that. And I think he would've been thrilled.' 'Michael Clayton' in 35mm At Vidiots on Saturday will be a 35mm screening of 2007's 'Michael Clayton' with writer-director Tony Gilroy in person. The film marked the feature directing debut for Gilroy, who previously had a successful career as a screenwriter and has gone on to be showrunner of the recent series 'Andor.' George Clooney stars in the film as a fixer for a powerful New York City law firm. He finds himself drawn into an already complicated situation involving defending an agricultural conglomerate in a class-action lawsuit when one of the firm's top lawyers (Tom Wilkinson) has a nervous breakdown. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, with Tilda Swinton winning for supporting actress for her role as the conglomerate's chief counsel. In his original review of the film, Kenneth Turan wrote, 'Watching this film makes you feel that Gilroy, best known for writing credits on all three 'Bourne' films, has poured the energy pent up during a decade and a half in Hollywood into this strong and confident directorial debut about desperate men searching for redemption in a cold and ruthless world. … As a director, Gilroy has an unmistakable instinct for the emotional jugular and a breakneck storytelling style that pulls you through his movie, no stragglers allowed.' Sofia Coppola and Kirsten Dunst with 'The Virgin Suicides' On Sunday afternoon, the Academy Museum will screen Sofia Coppola's 1999 feature debut, 'The Virgin Suicides' with the filmmaker and star Kirsten Dunst in person. (There will also be a signing for Coppola's new book of Corinne Day's on-set photos from the film.) The story of five sisters in 1970s Michigan who all die by suicide, the film set the stage for Coppola's gently incisive explorations of female interiority and a recurring collaboration with Dunst. In his original review of the film, Kevin Thomas wrote, 'Sofia Coppola shows an impressive maturity and an assured skill in adapting Jeffrey Eugenides' novel 'The Virgin Suicides' to the screen for her directorial debut. As the title suggests, it's a challenging undertaking that requires a smooth passage from pitch-dark humor to a stark finish. The result is a highly affecting film unafraid to exact an emotional toll. … While subtle in the utmost, Coppola leaves us with an understanding of how things could turn out as they did.' 'Frances Ha' and 'Girlfriends' The New Beverly will host a double feature of Noah Baumbach's 2012 'Frances Ha' and Claudia Weil's 1978 'Girlfriends,' two sharply insightful portraits of female friendship, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 'Frances Ha' was the first screenplay co-written by Baumbach and Greta Gerwig, both who would (of course) go on to collaborate on the script for the mega-successful 'Barbie,' directed by Gerwig. In 'Frances Ha,' Gerwig plays a 20-something woman coming to grips with life as an adult while struggling to accept the end of a friendship by which she has long defined herself. In his original review of the film, Kenneth Turan declared it 'Effortless and effervescent, 'Frances Ha' is a small miracle of a movie, honest and funny with an aim that's true.' Of Gerwig and Bambach's collaboration, he noted, 'For the actress, a quicksilver presence with a fluid face who couldn't be more natural on screen, 'Frances' is an opportunity to build a character of unexpected complexity. For the director, having a gifted collaborator able to be so completely present adds a lightness his films have not always had and has made possible an irresistible command of the moment.' I spoke to Baumbach and Gerwig about the film when it was premiering at film festivals in Telluride and Toronto. 'The writing of it and the acting of it were separate for me,' Gerwig said at the time. 'The writing of it was such a huge thing, but the acting of it was scary. I really was worried I wouldn't be right for it.... It didn't feel like, 'I wrote this great part, and I'm perfect for it.'' 'I can say I totally had Greta in my head,' Baumbach said. 'I always thought, 'I can't wait for Greta to play this part.'' 'Girlfriends' stars Melanie Mayron as Susan Weinblatt, a young photographer in New York City, who finds her life starting to unravel when her best friend (Anita Skinner) moves out of the apartment they share together. The supporting cast also includes Christopher Guest, Bob Balaban and Eli Wallach. Selected for the National Film Registry in 2019, the film was praised by Stanley Kubrick when it was originally released; he declared it 'one of the very rare American films that I would compare with the serious, intelligent, sensitive writing and filmmaking that you find in the best directors in Europe.' Lena Dunham likewise sparked to the film, once recalling of her first viewing, 'It felt eerie, in the true sense of the word, how familiar this film was to me. … I almost thought, 'Have I seen this and been gently ripping it off for the last five years?''
Los Angeles Times
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Ang Lee and Zhang Ziyi with ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,' plus the 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. Hollywood was shocked last weekend with the announcement by President Trump of a plan to impose a new 100% tariff on films produced outside the United States. The exact logistics of the plan were unclear; determining which projects would be subject to the tariff would itself be extremely complicated. As one film executive said in a story by Meg James and Samantha Masunaga, 'Nobody knows, and I don't suspect we will for awhile. Is it on domestically funded foreign productions? Is it on foreign-funded ones? Is the tariff on film revenues or film costs on those projects, or both?' Though many seemed to disagree that a tariff was the solution to Hollywood's problems concerning runaway production, as the week went on there was a turn toward hoping that this could nevertheless be the start of something positive. 'It's great that the president is starting to pay attention,' producer Jeffrey Greenstein said to Ryan Faughnder. 'So let's have a real conversation about it and figure out the best way to start bringing movies back.' One thought is that perhaps some kind of federal tax incentive could get things moving in the right direction. In a separate story, Masunaga and James looked at California Gov. Gavin Newsom's efforts to create such a program. 'Right now the industry is teetering,' UCLA professor George Huang said. 'This would go a long way in helping right the ship and putting us back on course to being the capital of the entertainment world.' Tonight the Academy Museum will host a 35mm screening of 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,' with director Ang Lee and star Zhang Ziyi present for a conversation with Academy president Janet Yang. Released in 2000, the film still holds the distinction of being the highest-grossing, non-English-language film of all time in the U.S. and also won four Oscars. Set in 19th century China, the movie kicks off with a warrior (Chow Yun-Fat) giving his sword to his lover (Michelle Yeoh) but it is soon stolen, setting them on a journey to retrieve it. In his original review of the film, Kenneth Turan wrote, 'Films we can categorize, that's what we're used to. Good or bad, fiascoes or masterpieces, we put them in their place, every one. What we're not used to, what we haven't had much of at all, are films that transcend categorization, that remind us — simply, powerfully, indelibly — what we go to the movies for. Ang Lee's 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' is that kind of a picture. 'A delightful one-of-a-kind martial arts romance where astounding fight sequences alternate with passionate yet idealistic love duets, 'Crouching Tiger' is a fusion film from top to bottom,' Turan added. 'By joining emotional sophistication to the most thrilling kind of Hong Kong-style acrobatic action, by having classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma and preeminent fight choreographer Yuen Woo-ping in the same film, 'Crouching Tiger' brings a specific national cinema fully into the world spotlight. It can do all this so successfully because Lee reconciles these opposites in his own life and work.' Scarlet Cheng spent time on the set of the film as it was shooting in China, capturing the scene as Chow was prepped to perform one of the film's dazzling wire-work stunts. Action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping explained why it was worth the extra effort to do the stunts for real rather than assisted by computer effects, saying, 'It never looks quite right. It still requires people doing it.' Writing about the film in 2023, Justin Chang said, 'If you were among those who saw the movie on its initial release, lured by reports that Lee had made the most kick-ass action picture in years, you might have felt a twinge of impatience at those first 15 minutes of dialogue-rich, action-free scene-setting. Or perhaps you were drawn in by the classical refinement of the filmmaking, the understated gravity of the performances, the realistic sense of grounding in an utterly fantastical world. Operating by his own laws of cinematic physics, Lee must first establish gravity before he can defy it.' The American Cinematheque is paying tribute to versatile genre director Ted Kotcheff, who died recently at age 94. Though 'First Blood,' the film that introduced Sylvester Stallone's character of John Rambo, has already screened in the series, there are still some delights to come. Tonight and tomorrow, the Los Feliz 3 will screen 35mm showings of 1989's 'Weekend at Bernie's,' starring Jonathan Silverman and Andrew McCarthy as two low-level salesmen who get invited for the weekend to the luxury house of their shady boss, Bernie (Terry Kiser). When Bernie winds up dead, they concoct a scheme to convince people he is still alive, in part to keep the party rolling. (Kotcheff has a cameo as father to one of the boys.) In his original review of the film, Kevin Thomas wrote, 'It can't in fact be accused of possessing so much as a shred of subtlety, but as a broad farce its not only cleverly sustained but frequently hilarious. What's more, a weekend among the rich, the jaded and the corrupt is just the right cup of tea for an acid social satirist as Kotcheff.' 'Fun With Dick and Jane,' the director's 1977 film starring George Segal and Jane Fonda as a middle-class couple who turn to crime when they find themselves out of work, will screen on Thursday and May 17 at the Los Feliz 3. 'The Magnificent Ambersons' in 35mm On Sunday afternoon, the American Cinematheque will screen Orson Welles' 1942 'The Magnificent Ambersons' in 35mm. Adapted from a novel by Booth Tarkington, the film concerns a wealthy Midwestern family who see their family's fortunes diminish as time passes them by. The cast included Joseph Cotton, Dolores Costello, Anne Baxter, Tim Holt and Agnes Moorehead. On July 8, 1942, Edwin Schallert wrote in the paper, 'Whatever Hollywood powers-that-be have in mind about the future of Mr. Orson Welles as a picture-maker, there could be no outcome more ghastly, to my way of thinking, than to let him slip away from these purlieus and back to the confines of the stage. 'The Magnificent Ambersons' is proof positive that he should be retained in active service. Whatever values it might lack in humanness — and I'm sure I don't know what they are — it is a splendid technical achievement — indeed, one all but justifying the re-use of the 'magnificent' of its title.' However, on Aug. 24, 1942, Norbert Lusk wrote, 'Apparently there is a desire on the part of some to hail Mr. Welles as the savior of the screen or at least one of its most brilliant trailblazers, but he refuses to come through quite. Actually, his picture is a dull, pretentious bore which in essence states nothing except the folly of scoffing at new inventions like the automobile and that if one is arrogant to one's fellow man one is bound to get his 'come-uppance.'' 'Vox Lux' Now might be a good moment to revisit the early works of Brady Corbet, with his recent 'The Brutalist' having won three Oscars. On Wednesday, Brain Dead Studios will be screening Corbet's 2018 film 'Vox Lux.' Natalie Portman gives a wickedly unhinged performance as an aging pop star trying to navigate her faltering career while also raising her teenage daughter in a world increasingly marked by senseless violence. I spoke to Corbet and Portman, along with actors Jude Law and Raffey Cassidy, for a story about the film when it was initially released. Perhaps hinting at the even grander ambitions to come in 'The Brutalist,' Corbet said at the time, 'And I think that we actually have to reach for bigger ideas in order to move anyone, because we're all just so accustomed to seeing the same thing over and over and over again. It's rare that something really shoots for the moon. And since things are so tough right now, we should really attempt to try and make stories better and be bolder.' Keep an eye out for a tribute to Corbet and his partner Mona Fastvold as part of the upcoming 'Bleak Week,' including another screening of 'Vox Lux' on Thursday, June 5. 'Pavements' at the Nuart The new documentary 'Pavements' is opening in Los Angeles this weekend. Directed by Alex Ross Perry, the film captures the spirit of the '90s indie rock pioneers Pavement by including documentary footage of their 2022 reunion tour along with a stage musical, a museum and a biopic all created just for the project. The result is genuinely unique, all the parts of the film coalescing into a vibe that a more straightforward telling of the band's story could never approach. There will be Q&As at multiple weekend shows at the Nuart with Perry, band member Scott Kannberg, actors Jason Schwartzman, Tim Heidecker and Logan Miller. John C. Reilly will moderate a Saturday night Q&A. I wrote about the film and its unconventional approach to the rock doc. In explaining the film's overall strategy, Perry said, 'I wanted to make a movie from the perspective of Pavement [being] — as we say onscreen in the film — the world's most important and influential band, because that is literally true to 100,000 white Gen-X nerds. So what if the movie takes that not as a premise but as a fact? And builds a fictional world where this music has inspired these other things people build as shrines to their favorite musicians — a museum, a Broadway show, a crappy biopic? Let's just do that and presume that is the cultural footprint of Pavement.' The film plays well to longtime fans and newcomers alike. But for anyone hung up on what is true or not from the film, band member Bob Nastanovich offers, 'If it confuses people, then I'm pretty easy to contact. I can tell them what's real and not real.' Reviewing the movie for The Times, Scott Tobias wrote, 'At a little over two hours long, 'Pavements' can feel a little like the band's notoriously misshapen 1995 opus 'Wowee Zowee,' a double album with only three sides. Yet the perfectly imperfect shape of 'Pavements' is similarly tailored to those who appreciate the band's creative unruliness. It also feels like an apt companion to Perry's last fiction feature, 2018's 'Her Smell,' which strongly alludes to the life of Hole lead singer Courtney Love and pays off a chaotic two-hour drama with a breathtakingly lovely final act.'
Los Angeles Times
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
‘Nashville' and the movie year 1975, 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. Tim Grierson paid a visit to the Criterion Mobile Closet last weekend, as the cinephile totem made its first ever stop in Los Angeles, parked in front of Vidiots. Fans began lining up at 5 a.m. and the line was cut off at 9:30 a.m., before things had even opened. Folks waited in the rain for hours, with the closet staying open an extra hour to accommodate everyone. What were they all waiting for? A chance to spend three minutes surrounded by every available title from the venerable home video label, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last year. (Attendees could choose three discs to purchase at a discount.) Videos of celebrities stopping by the supply closet of the company's New York offices — Ben Affleck recently dropped in — have become an online phenomenon. The Mobile Closet extends that enthusiasm to everyday fans. 'For the 40th anniversary, we've been talking about, 'What could we do that truly engages all the people that love film?'' Nur El Shami, Criterion's chief marketing officer, explained about the Mobile Closet's origins. 'Somebody said, almost as a joke, 'What if we put the Closet in a truck?' We were like, 'You know what? Maybe that's exactly what we should do.'' The truck will be at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica on May 6 and 7. Plan to arrive early. The Egyptian Theatre is launching a series celebrating the movies of 1975. And it was quite a year. On Monday there will be a 35mm screening of Sidney Lumet's 'Dog Day Afternoon,' which won the first Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. award for best picture (shared with 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,' a tie). The screening will be introduced by LAFCA member Peter Rainer. Werner Herzog will be present for a screening of 'The Enigma of Kasper Hauser,' which won the grand jury prize at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival. A screening of 'Cooley High' will welcome director Michael Schultz and actors Glynn Turman and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs. A Tuesday screening of Robert Altman's 'Nashville' will be introduced by Ronee Blakley, who plays country music queen Barbara Jean and wrote several songs for the film. Keith Carradine, who won an Oscar for his original song 'I'm Easy' from the film, will be there for a Q&A after the film moderated by critic and programmer David Ansen. In true Altmanesque fashion, 'Nashville' features 24 main characters woven together over five days leading up to a benefit concert for an outsider presidential candidate, all intersecting off one another across the city. The cast includes Lily Tomlin, Ned Beatty, Karen Black, Timothy Brown, Gwen Welles, Shelly Duvall, Michael Murphy, Geraldine Chaplin, Keenan Wynn, Scott Glenn and Henry Gibson. In many ways the crown jewel of Altman's sprawling, prodigious filmography, 'Nashville' is a biting satire, by turns rollicking and disturbing, with a still-relevant perspective on the intersection of politics, celebrity and entertainment. From the moment the film first came out, there has been a debate as to whether it is a cynical put-down of Nashville as an institution and a place, or a celebration of all its gaudy glory. Either way, the film is clearly intended as a broader metaphor for America at a moment when the country was racked by turmoil and transition. 'I think it could be all those things, depending on your viewpoint,' said Blakley in a phone interview this week. 'But at the time, I stuck with what I considered it to be — a tribute. I didn't consider it sarcasm. I thought it was profound and in some ways very deeply respectful of Nashville.' As for what made the film so special and why its legacy has lasted for 50 years, Blakley said, 'I think it's the concurrence of a bunch of gifted people at that time and place. Nixon was resigning. Altman, I think might be called a genius. It was just a bunch of talent put together by a bunch of great people. And I don't think you could put your finger on any one thing. You would have to say [cinematographer] Paul Lohmann did beautiful photography. The editing was superb. The performances were just beyond. And the political message, such as it was, is resonant even today.' Other films in the series include Francis Ford Coppola's 'The Godfather Part II,' Roman Polanski's 'Chinatown,' Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws,' Stanley Kubrick's 'Barry Lyndon,' Hal Ashby's 'Shampoo,' Joan Micklin Silver's 'Hester Street,' Mel Brooks' 'Young Frankenstein' and Chantal Akerman's 'Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles.' The Academy Museum will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Judd Apatow's 'The 40 Year-Old Virgin' with a 35mm screening tonight with Apatow and star and co-writer Steve Carell in-person. Apatow's debut feature as a director, the film was a key title in the 2000s comedy boom. Carell stars as a grown man who is, indeed, still a virgin and is desperate to find someone not only to be physically intimate with, but also to forge a romantic and emotional connection with. The cast, which features Jane Lynch, Romany Malco, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Nancy Walls, Jonah Hill, Mindy Kaling, Leslie Mann, Catherine Keener and others, is truly stacked, and the film's finale is so riotously joyful and unexpected that it alone is worth the price of admission. I actually spent two days on the set of the film, seeing the shooting of a nightclub scene and the now famous poker scene. (I nearly ruined a take by laughing out loud.) 'The Office' had only just started to air and Carell's star was obviously ascendant. As Carell described the film at the time, 'The name is misleading to a degree. … Just based on the title, you think it's going to be this extremely bawdy, over-the-top summer comedy. There are elements of that — really funny set pieces and craziness — but we really wanted something that was grounded in a sense of reality.' Carell added, 'I've certainly played a few characters that have been rather broad. With this, I didn't want to do that. We'll see. I hope it plays.' In a review of the film, Carina Chocano confirmed Carell's hopes, writing, 'Not to scare away the kids or anything, but what's best about 'The 40 Year-Old Virgin' isn't the business with a plastic medical model of a vagina, the projectile vomit or even the onanistic interlude set to the strains of an old Lionel Richie hit (though that constitutes one of the movie's most enjoyable moments). What's best about it — aside from the fact that it's very funny — is that, for a movie in which the most sophisticated jokes are variations on 'you're so gay,' it's refreshingly grounded in reality and (dare I suggest?) emotionally mature.' 'Kingdom of Heaven' director's cut in 4K Tonight the Egyptian Theatre will host the world-premiere screening of a new 4K restoration of the director's cut of Ridley Scott's 2005 adventure epic 'Kingdom of Heaven,' co-presented by the American Cinematheque and Beyond Fest. As with the extended cut of Scott's 'The Counselor,' the director's cut of 'Kingdom of Heaven' brings a clarity of focus to the film and is vastly preferred to the theatrical version. Set in the 1100s, the story follows a French blacksmith, Balian (Orlando Bloom), as he joins up with the Crusades and travels to Jerusalem. The cast includes Liam Neeson, Edward Norton, Eva Green, Jeremy Irons, David Thewlis, Brendan Gleeson and Marton Csokas. In his 2005 review of the original theatrical cut, Kenneth Turan wrote, ''Kingdom of Heaven' is not one of those cheerful combat movies that believe bloodletting is the answer to everything. It is a violent movie that laments a peace that didn't last, a downbeat but compelling epic that looks to have lost faith in the value of cinematic savagery for its own sake. If you combine this film with Scott's [2001] 'Black Hawk Down,' you find the director in a place where he is no longer exulting in his ability simply to put violence on screen; he wants you to feel its searing effects as well.' 'Kingdom' screenwriter William Monahan also wrote the script for Martin Scorsese's 'The Departed,' which happens to be playing at the New Beverly on Saturday and Sunday. 'M. Butterfly' in 35mm On Sunday there will be a 35mm showing of David Cronenberg's 1993 adaptation of ' — presented by Hollywood Entertainment and Skylight Books — to celebrate the release of Violet Lucca's book 'David Cronenberg: Clinical Trials.' Lucca will be there to introduce the film and sign books. Screenwriter David Henry Hwang will send in a video introduction. This is said to be the film's first L.A. showing since 2022. Hwang, who also wrote the libretto for the opera 'Ainadamar' currently at the L.A. Opera, adapted his own play. In the film Jeremy Irons plays a French diplomat in 1960s China who begins an ongoing affair with an opera performer (John Lone) who he believes to be a woman and, it turns out, is also a spy for the Chinese government. In her book, Luca describes the film as 'frequently overlooked in Cronenberg's filmography' while adding, 'it also stands out as the director's most overtly political work.' Lucca continues, 'This tension is perfectly suited to the inexplicable nature of love and sex, the messiness that exists between the spark of desire and its carnal expression. It shatters the illusion that we really do know a partner, or even ourselves — a difficult lesson learned every every day, quietly and loudly, by all sorts of people under far more quotidian circumstances.'
Los Angeles Times
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
‘Bound,' the Wachowskis' dynamic debut, 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. There are so many exciting events happening in Los Angeles this weekend, folks will face some inevitable hard decisions about scheduling, travel times, ticketing, etc. But it will also be a hearty reminder of why Los Angeles, for all its issues, is still such a vibrant, vital place to live and/or visit. The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is celebrating its 30th edition on Saturday and Sunday at the USC campus. Among the many events and guests, I will be hosting a panel on Saturday titled 'Hollywood in the Golden Age: Sex, Scandal and the Making of an Industry' with authors Kenneth Turan, Claire Hoffman and Mallory O'Meara There are many other events of interest for film fans, including a panel of Times journalists Ryan Faughnder, Vanessa Franko, Meg James and Stacy Perman discussing 'Is Hollywood Poised for a Comeback?' Elsewhere, a panel about covering the Oscars and other award shows will feature Matt Brennan, Nicolas Ducassi, Glenn Whipp and Mary McNamara. Authors Griffin Dunne and Matthew Spektor will be in conversation with David Ulin about their books on growing up around Hollywood. 'Wicked' director John M. Chu will discussing his new book with The Times' Ashley Lee. Patt Morrison will lead a conversation with Lili Anolik, Alissa Wilkinson and Katherine Bucknell on Hollywood-adjacent literary figures Joan Didion, Eve Babitz and Christopher Isherwood. Already underway, having launched on Thursday with a 45th anniversary screening of 'The Empire Strikes Back' with writer-director George Lucas in attendance, the TCM Classic Film Festival will bring many top titles, rare prints and special guests to Hollywood over the weekend, proving there is still new life in old movies. Also on Thursday was 1933's 'Moonlight and Pretzels,' which may be one of my new favorite titles for a movie. Among the highlights of this year's festival are a series of prints from the British Film Institute to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the BFI National Archive, including a nitrate print of 1945's 'Mildred Pierce,' the premiere of a newly restored 35mm print of 1933's 'The Private Life of Henry VIII' and a rare 1975 Technicolor dye-transfer release print of 'Jaws.' Other highlights include a conversation with director Michael Schultz followed by a screening of 'Car Wash,' a 35mm screening of Josef von Sternberg's 'Morocco,' a world premiere 4K restoration of Sidney Lumet's 'The Wiz,' a world premiere restoration of Herbert Brenon's 'Beau Geste' with live musical accompaniment and a 30th anniversary screening of 'Heat' with filmmaker Michael Mann and actor Al Pacino. Plus, the Criterion Mobile Closet will make its L.A. debut with the first of two upcoming local stops, appearing outside Vidiots on Saturday and Sunday. The truck celebrating physical media and film history will also be at the Aero Theatre on June 6 and 7 for the American Cinematheque's 'Bleak Week' festival. When the truck appeared in New York City last fall and at South by Southwest in March, the lines to get in were many hours long, with fans waiting patiently for their three minutes to browse the selection of Criterion Collection titles. (They're being sold at 40% off.) I spent some time hanging around the truck and talking to people in line in Austin, Texas, during SXSW and it was such a positive and inspiring experience soaking up the energy of people so jazzed about movies. Filmmaker Lily Wachowski will be at Vidiots on Saturday for a Q&A after a screening of 1996's 'Bound,' a first feature made with sibling Lana Wachowski before their career-defining success just a few years later with 'The Matrix.' Lily Wachowski will also be introducing a 9:45 p.m. screening of 2006's 'V for Vendetta' on Saturday. Similar in a way to the relationship between Quentin Tarantino's 'Reservoir Dogs' and 'Pulp Fiction,' the Wachowski's 'Bound' set the stage for much of what was to come with 'The Matrix,' displaying the roots of an exuberant visual style, a playful attitude toward genre storytelling and a complex relationship to depictions of identity. In the film, Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly play Corky and Violet, two women who become entangled in an illicit, erotic affair that becomes even more complicated when Violet introduces a plan to steal $2 million from her gangster boyfriend, Caesar (Joe Pantoliano). In his review Kevin Thomas called the film a 'zesty, gratifying little picture.' He referenced films such as the Coen brothers' 'Blood Simple' and John Dahl's 'Red Rock West,' adding, 'Above all, it's a good thing that the Wachowskis are as darkly hilarious as they are because they go in for the Quentin Tarantino-style, in-your-face brutality. 'Bound' is not for the faint of heart. In short, 'Bound' is admittedly derivative, but it's such an amusing low-down entertainment it really doesn't matter.' Written and directed by Preston Sturges, 'Sullivan's Travels' is both a satire of Hollywood and an earnest exploration of the human spirit, as one man attempts to find meaning in his life. The film is showing at the Academy Museum in 35mm on Wednesday. Successful Hollywood film director John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea), having grown dissatisfied with making moves such as 'Ants in Your Plants of 1939,' wants to make a serious picture about the human condition, to be titled 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' As research, he heads out on the road dressed as a hobo and experiences much more than he bargained for. Writing about the film in 1942, Richard Griffith said, 'It is, in fact, the most serious, earnest and convincing representation of Hollywood, of moviemaking and the motives behind it that we have ever had.' Griffith added that if anyone thinks Hollywood is only good for making superficial entertainment, ''Sullivan's Travels' is in itself a refutation of that tiresome theory. It is serious enough to move a philosopher and entertaining enough to reach the most superficial. Realistic, touching, hilariously amusing by turns, it make the spectator live in its world and experience the adventures of its characters.' Writing about the film before a single screening in 1974 at LACMA's Bing Theater, Kevin Thomas said, 'It's hard to recall a film that makes more drastic shifts in tone — a film that manages with complete success to have it both ways, as a sparkling madcap comedy part of the way and a stinging social satire the rest.' 'Sinners' box office reactions Ryan Coogler's 'Sinners' opened last week to overwhelmingly positive reviews and a strong showing at the domestic box office, bringing in $48 million. Yet some of the coverage of the film's robust take took an unexpectedly sour view, citing international box office, marketing costs, the specifics of Coogler's deal with Warner Bros. for the movie and other factors to dampen any growing enthusiasm. Conversely, Ryan Faughnder noted that following the success of 'A Minecraft Movie,' this was particularly good news not just for embattled Warners studio heads Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy but potentially for the industry at large. As Faughnder wrote, 'It's a bright spot for an industry that has been struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, even as Broadway and concerts bounce back. 'Sinners' has stellar reviews, an 'A' CinemaScore (the first for a horror movie) and viral momentum online, so it should have a long and healthy run.' Stepping back to look at a broader picture, Faughnder added, 'If franchise-type films like 'Minecraft,' 'Superman' and 'The Batman' keep working, it gives De Luca and Abdy the ability to take more chances on filmmaker-driven projects. You know, the types of films everyone complains that Hollywood doesn't make anymore.' Coogler himself celebrated the film's success with an open letter expressing his 'eternal gratitude' to those who bought tickets to the movie. Coogler's letter added, 'I believe in cinema. I believe in the theatrical experience. I believe it is a necessary pillar of society. It's why me and so many of my colleages have dedicated our lives to the craft. We don't get to do what we do if you don't show up.' The letter concluded, 'Every time you show up to theaters you allow us to come back and do it again. And together maybe we can expand the definition of what a blockbuster is, what a horror movie is, and of what an IMAX audience looks like. I'll see you at the movies, popcorn bucket in hand!' Coogler's letter also included a list of cinematic influences that would itself make for a dazzling film education, 'including but not limited to Spike Lee, John Singleton, Ernie Barnes, Steve McQueen, Ava Duvernay, Euzhan Palcy, Eudora Welty, Oscar Micheaux, Robert Rodriguez, Barry Jenkins, Quentin Tarantino, Nicolas Roeg, Andrea Arnold, Jeremy Saulnier, Paul Thomas Anderson, Joel and Ethan Coen, Bill Gunn, Jordan Peele, John Carpenter, Boots Reilly, Shaka King, Nia Dacosta, Terence Nance, Rian Johnson, Bradford Young, David Cronenberg, David Lynch, Chris Nolan, Emma Thomas, Theodore Witcher, Francis Coppola, Julie Dash, Steven Spielberg, Kahlil Joseph, Mati Diop, Ben and Josh Safdie, Stephen King, Robert Palmer, Amiri Baraka, Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, George Lucas, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Walter Mosley, Stephen Graham Jones, Joel Crawford, Wes Craven, and many others.' Honestly, that is just the kind of expansive, inclusive, international and generation-spanning cinematic worldview we try to encourage and follow with the recommendations that come from this newsletter. And it is stirring to see those names all laid out together.
