This month we're launching a new series: Repertory Corner. Each month, we'll highlight the best screenings around Los Angeles (or other cities). There are a lot of reasons to check out a film on the big screen - we'll sift through the noise and pick out the best spots to invest your hard-earned cash.
Week of August 1st
Where: Academy Museum Theater
When: Saturday, August 6th at 11am
Where: The Aero Theater
When: Saturday, August 6th at 7:30pm
Spend your Saturday in the dark with this theater-perfect double feature.
Jacques Tati’s Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday might not scream “must be seen on a big screen,” but there’s more to the theater experience than the size of the picture. Tati’s off-kilter comedies weaponize negative space, and in this introduction to the bumbling Monsieur Hulot, the big screen is the best place to experience Tati’s long shots with countless characters winding in and out of frame. Perhaps more importantly, Tati’s dry, absurdist humor is enhanced three-fold when watching with a crowd. Giving you permission to laugh is one of an audience’s greatest virtues.
You’ll have plenty of time to get to Santa Monica for David Lean’s 1962 epic historical drama Lawrence of Arabia. The inspiration to filmmakers like Steven Spielberg and Kathryn Bigelow, film lovers can draw a direct line between Lawrence and movies like Star Wars, Dune, and Mad Max: Fury Road. Besides, don’t you want to see that famous match cut on the silver screen?
Week of August 8th
Where: Los Feliz 3
When: Thursday, August 11th at 7pm
Where: Alamo Drafthouse DTLA
When: Friday, August 12th at 3pm Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi was recently arrested and sentenced to six years in prison after showing up outside a local prison prosecutor’s office to inquire about the arrest of two other Iranian filmmakers – Mostafa Al-Ahmad and Mohammad Rasoulof – for speaking out against government corruption. His landmark 2015 film Taxi, a docufiction filmed on the streets of Tehran despite the government’s two-decade ban on Panahi from making films, will be playing courtesy of the American Cinematheque. Discussing the lack of dialogue in Koyaanisqatsi, director Godfrey Reggio noted that “…our language is in a state of vast humiliation. It no longer describes the world in which we live.” Only images can do that. The opportunity to see this film the way it was meant to be seen – which was out of print for over a decade after its initial 1982 release – are few and far between. Take this one.
Week of August 15th The Deer Hunter
Where: Braindead Studios
When: Friday, August 19th at 8pm
The cinema can wow us with its visuals. It can offer up an intense sonic experience. But more than anything, it unites us in a shared emotional journey. When that journey is as harrowing and raw as The Deer Hunter, it’s nice not to take it alone – even if the others are a large group of strangers. If you’re going to catch this movie, share it with the incomparable crowds of Braindead Studios.
Week of August 22nd
Where: Academy Museum Theater
When: Tuesday August 23rd at 7:30pm
Sherlock Jr. Where: Old Town Music Hall
When: Sunday, August 28th at 2:30pm Speaking of visceral – if you're an Angeleno who hasn't seen John Singleton's explosive, masterful debut...don't miss the chance to see it with an introduction by Nia Long. The Academy's theater is one of the best-equipped in the city.
Finally, end the month with some lighter fair – Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr. It's not every day you get to catch a silent comedic masterpiece with accompaniment on the Mighty Wurlitzer organ, and the Old Town Music Hall is one of the underrated gems in the city.