It’s Oscar week in Hollywood, which shuts down a good deal of activity, but there are still some solid programs to catch if you’re in the market for them.
The New Beverly is offering an exceedingly-rare chance to see Marcel Carné’s Children of Paradise(1945, 35mm) on 35mm this Friday and Saturday. If you have the space in your schedule, it is absolutely essential viewing. Not just a landmark film, but a really moving, funny, beautiful and rich experience as well.
UCLA wraps up its spotlight on female filmmakers of the ‘70s and ‘80s with Barbara Loden’s Wanda(1971, 35mm) on Friday, Yvonne Rainer’s A Film About a Woman Who…(1974, 16mm) on Saturday, and Joyce Chopra’s Smooth Talk(1985, 35mm), featuring a young Laura Dern, on Monday. I can vouch for Wanda, one of the great films of the New Hollywood era, and I’ve heard nothing but the best about Smooth Talk, which I greatly look forward to seeing. The Rainer is a big question mark, but UCLA’s description (“a meditation on ambivalence that plays with cliché and the conventions of soap opera while telling the story of a woman whose sexual dissatisfaction masks an enormous anger”) sounds super promising.
Now is also a good time to mention that UCLA’s biennial Festival of Preservation starts next Friday, March 3rd. It’s put on to showcase the recent restoration work the UCLA Film & Television Archive has accomplished. Boasting 19 programs, 26 feature films, 7 archival TV shows, and what must be dozens of shorts, it promises to be a really remarkable month, and easily the furthest you can stretch $50 (the measly cost of a pass that gets you into everything) in today’s rep market. Plus, buying the pass gives you an excuse to see all kinds of movies you wouldn’t normally otherwise. I’ll detail their programs each week as they come, but for now, check out the festival page and see what’s ahead.
Cinefamily has Claire Denis’s Beau Travail(1999, 35mm) twice on Sunday and once next Tuesday. I keep meaning to get into Denis’s work a little bit more, but dammit, that will not be this week.
They’re also replaying California Split(1974, 35mm), which I detailed in last week’s column, on Saturday.
LACMA’s Tuesday matinee is Preston Sturges’s The Lady Eve(1941, 35mm).
The Old Town Musical Hall has Titanic(not that one, but 1953, format unspecified) on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
