The L.A. Rep-port: 9/23 to 9/29, by Scott Nye
The Rep-port is a weekly series highlighting the best and most compelling repertory screenings in the city.Cinefamily’s epic series on 1980s independent cinema might have come to a formal end back in April, but they’re following up on their promise to show Wayne Wang’s era-defining Chan is Missing (1982, 35mm) Friday at 7:30 with Wang in person.As current series go, they’ve got Frederick Wiseman’s Basic Training (1971, 16mm), the documentarian’s visit to boot camp in the Vietnam era. And their Hangover Matinee run of Paris-set musicals concludes with René Clair’s lovely sound debut, Under the Roofs of Paris (1930, 35mm), on Sunday at 1:00 and Vincente Minnelli’s An American in Paris (1951, 35mm) on Wednesday at 7:30. In the middle of those, continue your foray into France with René Clément’s Talented Mr. Ripley adaptation, Purple Noon (1960, 35mm), shown as part of the ongoing Greg Proops Film Club. I ignored his screenings for far too many years, but suffice to say the chance to see Proops introduce any film is a real treat.The New Beverly posted their October calendar this past week, and while it doubtlessly looks great to many horror friends, well….I’m glad I’m taking my vacation that month. Just as much tension can be found in J. Lee Thompson’s Cape Fear (1962, 35mm), playing Friday and Saturday at 7:00 on a double bill with Thompson’s Return From the Ashes (1965, 35mm), about which I know very little but which looks flat-out awesome.Their kiddie matinee this week, Time Bandits (1981, 35mm) plays Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 in conjunction with Art House Theater Day, a nationwide celebration about which I wrote more for the American Cinematheque’s blog. I doubt I need to tell all you how great Terry Gilliam’s adventure film is. If you go on Saturday, the first 100 patrons get a Time Map!Speaking of Art House Theater Day, the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica has a killer Jean Renoir double bill consisting of The Rules of the Game (1939, 35mm) and The River (1951, 35mm) to celebrate. I recently revisited The Rules of the Game, and man, you want to talk about a film that just gets better and wilder and more electric with time…can’t beat it in many ways.The Egyptian has an interesting program the evening before, showing a DCP scan of some rare prints sourced from collectors. It includes color footage of the Marx Brothers, the last surviving film of Greta Garbo and Humphrey Bogart (presumably not together, but I guess we’ll see), Judy Garland’s costume test for Valley of the Dolls, and more.The UCLA Film & Television Archive concludes their tribute to documentary distributor Kartemquin over the weekend. First, on Friday at 7:30, three films (a two-hour program altogether) by Gordon Quinn and Jerry Blumenthal – The Last Pullman Car (1983, digital video), Taylor Chain I: A Story in a Union Local (1980, digital video), and Taylor Chain II: A Story of Collective Bargaining (1983, digital video). Based on their titles, I doubt I need to recap their subjects. Two more works by Quinn play Sunday at 7:00 – Golub: The Late Works are the Catastrophes (2004, digital video) and Inquiring Nuns: 1st & 2nd Series (1968, digital video). Quinn will be there in person both nights. Finally, on Monday, Steve James’s The Interrupters (2011, DCP) screens, with James and Quinn in person.Lastly, LACMA’s Tuesday screening series brings in Masaki Kobayashi’s Kwaidan (1964, 35mm), in case you need to follow up last week’s Fanny and Alexander with another three-hour art film.
I don’t really think of Kwaidan as having anything in common with Fanny & Alexander (although I saw the even longer miniseries version of the latter). Kwaidan is essentially an anthology of ghost stories, and aside from being in a foreign language not terribly inaccessible.
Only relationship I meant was in their long running times. ALTHOUGH they are being shown in a series of films selected by Guillermo Del Toro from films that inspired him.