This is the Weekend to Watch "The Thing"

If you've been wanting to go back and watch various versions of the classic horror story, The Thing, then this is your lucky weekend. There are two, count em, two! screenings of The Thing: the 1982 John Carpenter version at the Egyptian on Friday, and the 1951 Christian Nyby version at LACMA on Saturday.

Both films follow a team on an air base fighting off an alien in the Arctic. And both will leave you with a craving for horror. So go to one and have a blast, or go to both and compare and contrast. I really didn't mean for that to rhyme and for me to sound like some morning radio jockey. My apologies. But you should attend, nonetheless.

The Thing (1982) 109 min - Egyptian Theatre Friday, July 15, 7:30 PM, general admission: $11
(preceded by The Fly in a thrillingly creepy double-feature, combined 209 min)
6712 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028

The Thing (1951) 89 min - LACMA (Bing Theatre) Saturday, July 16, 2:00 PM, general admission: $5, LACMA members: free
5905 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles California 90036

Sullivan Travels to LACMA

Preston Sturges' funny, and surprisingly heartwarming screwball comedy Sullivan's Travels is playing at LACMA this Friday, July, 15 at 7:30 PM. The movie follows Sullivan (Joel McCrea), a disenchanted Hollywood director decides to leave light comedies behind for something more substantial. His new project: O Brother Where Art Thou?. (Yes, the Coen Brothers are big Sturges fans.) Sullivan decides to hit the road and live like a hobo in Depression-era America, and along comes Veronica Lake as his insanely beautiful companion. As if a newsboy cap and some ratty clothes could ever hide that stunning face...


Tickets are $10 general admission, $7 for seniors, students with ID, and museum members in the Bing Theatre 7/15 at LACMA (5905 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90036).

Feeling Guilty About Food at the Aero

Agnes Varda, a pioneer of the French New Wave movement, made a documentary about gleaning from cast-offs in France and explores the people surrounding the issue. The Gleaners and I is beautifully put together and mixes interviews, personal experience, ideas on aging and death into a wonderful tapestry. You might think the kids dumpster diving behind Trader Joe's are fascinating, or obnoxious, or worse, but these people have so much need and integrity that it's hard to look away as they pick through heaps of potatoes and fields of wheat. And Varda is just so delightfully weird!

The Aero Theatre is screening Varda's portrait of life in world where there exists both excess and deprivation. Jeremy Seifert's
45 min. exploration into gleaning, American-style, in Dive! beforehand.

Following the film, our guests/panelists [Timothy Vatterott (DIVE! producer and composer), Rick Nahmias (founder and executive director of Food Forward, and Felicia Friesema (an L.A. County Master Food Preserver and a contributor to L.A. Weekly] will elaborate on several of the issues raised in the films to present a local perspective. Q&A moderated by Lisa Lucas Talbot, co-leader of Slow Food Los Angeles and Slow Food USA regional governor for Southern California. - Aero Theatre

Do your guilty middle-class conscience a favor and check these out Wednesday, July, 13 at the Aero Theatre (1328 Montana Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90403). The screening starts at 7:30 PM and general admission is $11. Find out about memberships on the American Cinematheque website.

Rear Window Screening at LACMA. Let's get artsy!

I know I am prone to exaggeration, but when it comes to Rear Window, I refuse to believe that anything I say will be over-the-top. If you haven't seen this film, then you've probably seen some kind of parody of rip-off: "Bart of Darkness" (The Simpsons), Disturbia. That's all I can think of right now, but give me a break.

Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 movie Rear Window is on the outside a thriller about a wheelchair-bound photographer and his gorgeous girlfriend becoming entranced by his view into the neighbor's windows, but Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly play these parts with bravado. The view from Stewart's window becomes a screen that allows him to sit in the darkness and quietly observe the tenants from the comfort of his seat, looking through the lens of his camera like we see through the filmmaker's lens.

I won't tell you how it ends, but you'll want to be at LACMA tomorrow (7/12) at 1:00 PM to find out. And guess what? Admission is only $2! Only $1 for senior citizens, who I don't think read my blog, but if you do then pull out a crisp dollar bill from your grandson's birthday card and tell him to suck it, cause you've got a date with Hitchcock.

LACMA: 5905 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90036

Insidious! Free! With Q&A!

Free things are almost always great. Sometimes they give you food poisoning or a weird rash on your neck that won't go away, but most of the time it's rad. This is one of those times. Cinefamily is proud to present a free screening of Insidious, the new horror film by the creators of Saw. (Remember that wildly successful movie that unfortunately spawned a chain of unending disasters? Well, the same thing happened with Jaws, so let's all agree to not dismiss it so blithely.)



This movie looks pretty terrifying, so whether you already saw it in theatres or are watching it for the first time, what better way to experience it than with the writer (Leigh Whannell) and director (James Wan) present? They will be accepting questions through Facebook and Twitter beforehand so send in your questions. And if you can't make it to the screening, (after all, it is a Monday night) then watch the Q&A streaming on-line. You just can't lose! You could try, but it's not gonna happen. Just remember that if you're going to attend, register on-line beforehand or else you won't qualify to get in. It's on a first-come, first-serve basis so try to get there early. Seating will begin half an hour before the screening, the movie starts at 7:30.

Address: 611 N Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles, 90036

La di da, la di da, la la, Annie Hall at Cinespia

Don't worry, I haven't abandoned you! After a little over a month of technical difficulties, the blog has resumed for all of your LA movie needs. And tonight things are bumpin'.

For the new post of the month, Annie Hall (winner of the Oscar for Best Picture, Director, Actress, Original Screenplay 1977) is playing at Cinespia! I have to admit, this is my favorite movie of all time, so I may be biased, but YOU HAVE TO GO SEE THIS MOVIE. Midnight in Paris may be the darling of 2011, but Annie Hall is a classic that never loses its touch. Woody Allen writes a love letter to psychoanalysis with this broken up, impulsive, totally self-aware tale of a relationship that just can't seem to work out.

In the opening scene, we see Woody Allen, the comedian and filmmaker speak directly to us across the camera lens, but then he suddenly becomes the fictional Alvy Singer, lamenting his break-up with Annie and bringing us into the world of the movie. From here on, we move backward and forward through time, and weave in and out of Singer's desires and shames.

It's a fantastically funny movie, a romantic comedy that anyone can enjoy, and watching it on a big screen with other Woody Allen fans is pure delight. Bring a blanket and some wine to 6000 Santa Monica Blvd at Gower, the gates open at 7:30 and the movie starts at 9. The suggested price is $10, parking is $10. Have fun!

Battleship Pretension Live Tonight!

Tonight is the night, ladies and gentlemen. I took a week off of blogging due to sad laziness, but here I am to tell you about a great event going on at 8 pm at Meltdown Comics, now home to the Nerdist Headquarters. Tyler Smith and David Bax, hosts of weekly movie podcast Battleship Pretension, are doing the show live. And it's not just your ordinary movie chats, there will be live comedy and then panel/free-flowing discussions.

The comedians billed for the night are Susan Burke (Small Pond), Josh Fadem (30 Rock), Mike Schmidt (Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!), and Kyle Kinane (John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show). The previous live shows are up on iTunes if you want to see what it's all about, but it's a great show with hilarious comedians. I highly recommend you come out to Meltdown Comics and see them in action. It's only $10, BYOB, and it's a great way to spend a Saturday night. And if you miss the show tonight, listen to it later on iTunes and subscribe to the show.