SoCal classic movies, Sept. 4-11: ‘Stranger and the Fog,’ ‘Bad Sleep Well,’ ‘Mysterious Skin’ and more
Classic films, film festivals, event screenings, restorations and revivals
Welcome to the latest edition of TV or Not TV’s curated guide to classic movies, events and revivals, film festivals and more screening in LA and OC this week. I’m Matt Cooper, former listings coordinator for the Los Angeles Times’ Calendar.
Roll ’em!
‘Paris, Texas’ 40th anniversary screenings of director Wim Wenders and screenwriter Sam Shepard’s evocative 1984 drama starring Harry Dean Stanton as a drifter reconnecting with his family. Dean Stockwell and Nastassja Kinski also star. Laemmle Royal, 11523 Santa Monica Blvd., West L.A. 1, 4 and 7:10 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, Sept. 5-6. $7-$16. laemmle.com
‘Blow Out’ with ‘Snake Eyes’ This double bill of Brian De Palma flicks pairs the director’s 1981 thriller starring John Travolta with his 1998 thriller starring Nicolas Cage. New Beverly Cinema, 7165 Beverly Blvd., L.A. 7:30 and 9:50 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, Sept. 4-5. $14.25; advance purchase recommended; limited tickets available at the door. thenewbev.com
‘The Exorcist’ The devil’s in the details as See It on 16mm screens a rare 16mm print of William Friedkin’s still terrifying 1973 supernatural thriller based on the William Peter Blatty novel. With Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Jason Miller and Max von Sydow. The Art Theatre of Long Beach, 2025 E. 4th St., Long Beach. 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 5. $9-$13.50. (562) 438-5435. arttheatrelongbeach.org
‘Wings’ A film series tied to the new exhibit “Hollywoodland: The Origins of the Studios” takes flight with the first-ever Best Picture winner: William A. Wellman’s silent 1927 WWI romantic drama starring Clara Bow, Charles “Buddy” Rogers and Richard Arlen. Academy Museum, Ted Mann Theater, 6067 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. 7:30 p.m. thursday, Sept. 5; 2 p.m. Sunday-Monday, Sept. 8-9. $5-$10. academymuseum.org
‘The Bad Sleep Well’ Toshirô Mifune re-teamed with master filmmaker Akira Kurosawa for this gripping 1960 tale of corporate chinacery and murder. In Japanese with English subtitles. Presented in 35mm. New Beverly Cinema, 7165 Beverly Blvd., L.A. 7 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 6-8. $14.25; advance purchase recommended; limited tickets available at the door. thenewbev.com
‘Heat’ Al Pacino and Robert De Niro play cops and robbers in Michael Mann’s atmospheric 1995 L.A.-set crime drama. Val Kilmer and Ashley Judd also star. Presented in 35mm. Vista Theatre, 4473 Sunset Blvd., Los Feliz. 3 and 7:30 p.m. Friday-Wednesday, Sept. 6-11. $13.50, $16. vistatheaterhollywood.com
‘Mysterious Skin’ Two teens — one a gay prostitute, the other obsessed with alien abductions — come to terms with a dark episode from their shared past in Gregg Araki’s potent yet sensitive 2004 indie drama. With Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Brady Corbet. Brain Dead Studios at the Silent Movie Theater, 611 N. Fairfax Ave., L.A. 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6. $12. studios.wearebraindead.com
Also at The Frida Cinema, 305 E. 4th St., Santa Ana. 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6. $13. thefridacinema.org
‘The Stranger and the Fog’ A lonely widow takes up with the mystery man who drifted ashore in her small coastal village in a new 4K restoration of legendary Iranian New Wave director Bahram Beyzaie’s hallucinatory 1976 fable. With Parvaneh Massoumi. In Farsi with English subtitles. Laemmle Royal, 11523 Santa Monica Blvd., West L.A. 1, 4 and 7 p.m. Friday-next Thursday, Sept. 6-12. Also at Laemmle Town Center 5, 17200 Ventura Blvd., Encino. 6:50 p.m. Friday-next Thursday, Sept. 6-12. $7-$13. laemmle.com
‘Chicago’ Renée Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones paint the town in Rob Marshall’s Oscar-winning 2002 adaptation of the classic Kander & Ebb musical about two 1920s-era showgirls/murderesses. With Richard Gere, Queen Latifah and John C. Reilly. Cinespia at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, 6000 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. Gates: 6:15 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7; movie: 8 p.m. $22. cinespia.org
‘Citizen Kane’ Orson Welles directs and stars as megalomaniacal media mogul Charles Foster Kane in this mythic 1941 black-and-white drama co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. Old Town Music Hall, 140 Richmond St., El Segundo. 2:30 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7. $10, $12. (310) 322-2592. oldtownmusichall.org
‘Sweet 16mm: Jazz Rarities and Cartoons’ A selection of vintage shorts from the 1930s-40s includes some of your favorite animated characters plus performances by Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, et al., all presented in 16mm. Vidiots Eagle Theatre, MUBI Microcinema, 4884 Eagle Rock Blvd., Highland Park. 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7. $11. vidiotsfoundation.org
‘Pride & Prejudice’ It is a truth universally acknowledged that Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen make a cute couple in Joe Wright’s sumptuous adaptation of novelist Jane Austen’s beloved Regency-era romance. Gardena Cinema, 14948 Crenshaw Blvd., Gardena. 2, 5 and 8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 8. $14.64. eventbrite.com
‘The Princess Bride: An Inconceivable Evening With Cary Elwes’ The actor will be on hand for a post-screening discussion of Rob Reiner’s beloved 1980 fantasy tale that also starred Mandy Patinkin, Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn, André the Giant, Peter Falk and Robin Wright. Cerritos Center, 18000 Park Plaza Drive, Cerritos. 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 8. $29-$150. (562) 916-8500. cerritoscenter.com
‘A Woman Under the Influence’ A month-long salute to the late great Gena Rowlands includes the actress opposite the aforementioned Peter Falk in John Cassavetes’ devastating 1974 drama about a suburban housewife’s struggles with mental illness. American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, 7 p.m. Sept. 8. $10, $15. americancinematheque.com
‘A Scanner Darkly’ They just should have said “no” to this one particularly addictive and paranoia-inducing psychotropic drug in director Richard Linklater’s Rotoscope-animated 2006 adaptation of the Philip K. Dick thriller. With Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Woody Harrelson and Robert Downey Jr. The Frida Cinema, 305 E. 4th St., Santa Ana. 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 11. $13. thefridacinema.org