Around Town: Clint Eastwood and Italian classics
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Silent flicks, Italian masterworks, a chat with Clint Eastwood and an evening with longtime Los Angeles Times film critic Kevin Thomas are on tap this week.
The Silent Society of Hollywood Heritage pays tribute to silent-screen actresses all day Saturday at the Hollywood Heritage Museum. Films screening include 1925’s “Are Parents People?” with Betty Bronson and 1928’s “Lilac Time” with Colleen Moore and a young Gary Cooper. Michael Mortilla provides the accompaniment.
On Wednesday, Hollywood Heritage’s “Evening at the Barn” series hosts a tribute to Thomas, the longtime Times film critic and current contributor. www.hollywoodheritage.org
The New Beverly Cinema presents four films by the great Charlie Chaplin Sunday-Monday: 1919’s “A Day’s Pleasure” and “Sunnyside,” 1921’s “The Idle Class” and 1928’s “The Circus,” for which he won a special Oscar. www.newbevcinema.com
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences turns the clock back 100 years Monday evening with “A Century Ago: The Films of 1911 Heroes and Heroines,” at the Linwood Dunn Theater. Among the films screening are Mary Pickford in “The Dream,” G.M. Anderson in “Broncho Billy’s Christmas” and John Bunny and Flora Finch in “Her Crowning Glory,” as well as a newly preserved print of “Billy and His Pal.’ Most prints are 35mm and are drawn from several collections, including the Academy Film Archive, Library of Congress and UCLA Film & Television Archive. The films will be presented on a vintage hand-cranked Power’s Model 6 Cameragraph Picture Machine. Michael Mortilla will supply the live accompaniment. Wednesday, the Academy will salute veteran special effects makeup artist Dick Smith, a recipient this year of an honorary Oscar, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre. Smith, who won an Oscar for his makeup on 1984’s “Amadeus,” will appear in person for a screening of the 1973 horror classic “The Exorcist,” for which he supplied the groundbreaking makeup effects. Special effects makeup artist Rick Baker and the film’s cinematographer, Owen Roizman, will offer remarks. www.oscars.org
Film Independent at LACMA presents Luchino Visconti’s well-respected 1948 drama “La terra trema” Thursday evening at the Leo S. Bing Theatre. Director John Gray is the special guest. Friday’s conversation with Clint Eastwood and screening of his latest film, “J. Edgar,” is sold out. Saturday afternoon, Viola Davis -- a two-time Tony Award winner, Oscar nominated for “Doubt” and likely contender for lead actress and supporting actress for “The Help” and “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” -- will chat with New York times reporter Brooks Barnes.
Later that afternoon, Oscar winner Christophe Waltz and John C. Reilly chat with New York Times writer Charles McGrath about their roles in Roman Polanski’s upcoming “Carnage.” The Tuesday matinee is the 1953 Oscar-winning best film “From Here to Eternity,” directed by Oscar-winner Fred Zinnemann and starring Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, Montgomery Clift and supporting Oscar winners Frank Sinatra and Donna Reed. www.lacma.org
Comic/actor Patton Oswald will appear Thursday at the Cinefamily’s Silent Movie Theatre for a sneak preview of cable’s Adult Swim live-action comic soap opera “The Heart, She Holler.”
Cinefamily presents two screenings Friday evening of a new 35-mm print of Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1965 first color film, “Red Desert,” with Monica Vitti and Richard Harris, along with his 1966 multi-Oscar-nominated mystery “Blow-Up,” with David Hemmings. Both films are also screening Saturday and Sunday. www.cinefamily.org
UCLA Film & Television Archive’s “Days of Glory: Masterworks of Italian Neo-Realism” features two by Vittorio De Sica on Friday evening at the Billy Wilder Theatre: 1951’s “Miracle in Milan” and his acclaimed 1952 drama “Umberto D,” which was released in the U.S. in 1955. On tap for Monday is Vittorio De Seta’s 1961 drama “Bandits of Orgosolo.
The archive’s “L.A. Rebellion: Creating a New Black Cinema” features a Charles Burnett double bill Saturday evening: his seminal 1977 drama “Killer of Sheep” and his 1969 short “Several Friends.” Sunday evening’s offering is a free screening of Pedro Daniel Lopez’s 2009 documentary ”The Little Seed in Asphalt.” Lopez will appear in person.
The archive’s Wednesday double bill at the Million Dollar Theatre in downtown Los Angeles are two by director William Friedkin: 1985’s thriller “To Live and Die in L.A.,” with William Petersen, and 1971’s “The French Connection,” which won the best picture Oscar as well as lead actor for Gene Hackman and director for Friedkin. www.cinema.ucla.edu.
The American Cinematheque’s Aero Theatre ushers in the weekend with a screening of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 Oscar-winning best film “The Godfather,” starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Diane Keaton and James Caan. Director Gore Verbinski will do a Q&A at the Aero on Saturday after a screening of his 2011 animated comedy “Rango,” which featured the voice of Johnny Depp. The two worked on the first three “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies.
The Aero kicks off its Terry Gilliam retrospective Sunday with a double bill: 1975’s “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” which marked his feature directorial debut (he co-directed with Terry Jones), and 1991’s “The Fisher King,” with Jeff Bridges, Robin Williams and Oscar winner Mercedes Ruehl
Anton Yeltchin and Felicity Jones will discuss their acclaimed new indie love story, “Like Crazy,” Tuesday at the Aero. And on Wednesday the Aero welcomes Wim Wenders with screenings of 1984’s “Paris, Texas” and 2008’s “Palmero Shooting.” www.americancinematheque.com
Noah Hathaway is set to appear in person Friday at midnight at the Nuart for a screening of his 1984 fantasy film, “The Neverending Story.” www.landmarktheatres.com
The Sundance Institute and the Autry National Center have teamed up for a new series, “Sundance Institute at the Autry Presents Native American Film.” The first screenings kick off Saturday during the Autry’s American Indian Arts Marketplace weekend. Films scheduled include Billy Luther’s short, “Grab,” and Blackhorse Lowe’s short, “Shimasani,” as well as Andrew Okpeaha MacLean’s feature suspense drama, “On the Ice.” The event is free but reservations are recommended. To reserve a seat email phannah@theAutry.org
Gene Autry stars in two musical westerns screening Saturday afternoon at -- where else? -- the Autry’s Western Legacy Theater: 1936’s “The Old Corral” and 1952’s “Wagon Team.” www.theautry.org
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