The Moviegoer, May 13-19
Mother’s Day Matinee Julie Andrews won an Oscar in her feature film debut as Mary Poppins, a lovely, inventive, firm yet loving nanny who brings efficiency and magic to the London home of the Banks family in the 1964 adaptation of P. L. Travers’ books, directed by Robert Stevenson. Dick Van Dyke is wonderful as Mary’s cockney-accented, chimney sweeping friend Bert, who sings the Oscar-winning song, “Chim Chim Cher-ee.” American Cinematheque, Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica, (310) 260-1528. May 13, 3 p.m. $8-$12. (For a more adventurous Mother’s Day movie, director Patty Jenkins’ 2017 blockbuster Wonder Woman, starring Gal Gadot, will screen at 7 p.m. in 70 mm. $13-$15.) www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/
Mother’s Day Double Feature Not all mothers can be June Cleaver or Carol Brady, as evidenced in this double bill. Grey Gardens, the Maysles brothers’ now-legendary 1975 documentary, is a revealing look at the reclusive and eccentric mother and daughter, “Big Edie” and “Little Edie” Bouvier Beale, erstwhile socialites (and relatives of Jacqueline Kennedy) living in squalor in their once-elegant Hamptons mansion. With the 1981 camp classic, Mommie Dearest, based on the memoir of Joan Crawford’s eldest daughter, Christina, recounting the screen legend as an alcoholic and abusive mother. The “camp” tag is largely because of Faye Dunaway’s memorable portrayal of a wildly over-the-top Joan. American Cinematheque, Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, (323) 466-3456. May 13, 7:30 p.m. $8-$12. www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/
Best in New Iranian Cinema The final film from Iran’s most famous filmmaker, the late Abbas Kiarostami, 24 Frames (2017), features two dozen still images (mostly Kiarostami’s own photographs) each turned into a vignette. Ahmad Kiarostami, who oversaw the completion of the film after his father’s 2016 death, will attend the screening. UCLA Film & Television Archive and the Farhang Foundation, Billy Wilder Theatre, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 206-8013. May 13, 7 p.m. $8-$10. The series continues through May 19. www.cinema.ucla.edu/events
Laurel & Hardy Festival A selection of silent and sound shorts from one of the 20th century’s most popular comedy duos, the lanky and malleable-faced Stan Laurel and the stout and mustachioed Oliver Hardy. Old Town Music Hall, 140 Richmond St., El Segundo, (310) 322-2592. May 18, 8:15 p.m.; May 19, 2:30 and 8:30 p.m.; May 20, 2:30 p.m. $10; $8 for ages 62+. No credit cards. www.oldtownmusichall.org
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