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SHIN GODZILLA Stomps Its Way to NoHo, Pasadena, and West LA with Special Screenings October 11th – 18th!

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Due to overwhelming demand, we’ve added even more screenings of Toho’s latest installment of Godzilla!

SHIN GODZILLA, also known as Godzilla Resurgence, reimagines the origins of the classic kaiju in modern-day Tokyo. Hideaki Anno (Neon Genesis Evangelion) and Shinji Higuchi (Attack on Titan) co-direct!

SHIN GODZILLA screens once daily October 11th – 13th, 15th, 16th, and 18th at the NoHo 7, Playhouse 7, and Royal!

Click here for showtimes and tickets.

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“The Original Gangsta Lizard gets a largely satisfying reboot in SHIN GODZILLA, a surprisingly clever monster mash best described as the BATMAN BEGINS of Zilla Thrillers.” – Joe Leydon, Variety

“Shin Godzilla provides a new origin for the legendary kaiju, establishing its own unique style while taking inspiration from the classics in all the right ways.” – Mike Rougeau, IGN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgyq6YKeIms

KATE PLAYS CHRISTINE Filmmaker in Person Opening Weekend at the NoHo 7.

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A gripping, nonfiction psychological thriller, Robert Greene’s KATE PLAYS CHRISTINE follows actress Kate Lyn Sheil (House of Cards, The Girlfriend Experience, LISTEN UP PHILIP) as she prepares for her next role: playing Christine Chubbuck, a Florida newscaster who committed suicide live on-air in 1974. As Kate investigates Chubbuck’s story (long rumored to be the inspiration for the classic Hollywood film NETWORK), uncovering new clues and information, she becomes increasingly obsessed with her subject. Winner of a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, KATE PLAYS CHRISTINE is a cinematic mystery that forces us to question everything we see and everything we’re led to believe.

KATE PLAYS CHRISTINE filmmaker Robert Greene will participate in Q&A’s after the 7 PM screenings at the NoHo 7 on Friday and Saturday, September 16 and 17. The Friday Q&A will be moderated by Sundance Documentary Film Program Director Tabitha Jackson. The Saturday Q&A will be moderated by filmmaker Jeff Malmberg (MARWENCOL) and will include Keegan DeWitt, who composed the music for KATE PLAYS CHRISTINE . These Q&A’s are sponsored by the Murray Center for Documentary Journalism.

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https://vimeo.com/174542987

Fantastic Female-Centric Films from All Over the World this Fall at Laemmle Theatres: FATIMA, CAMERAPERSON, AS I OPEN MY EYES, SAND STORM, THE EAGLE HUNTRESS.

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Two months from today we Americans might, finally, elect our very first female President, so it’s appropriate in the weeks leading up to that day we will be screening a series of excellent movies by and about girls and women filmed and set in places as diverse as the Negev Desert in Israel, Lyon, France, Mongolia, Tunisia and the USA.

First up is FATIMA, which we open September 16 at the Royal. The title character lives in Lyon with two daughters: fifteen-year-old Souad, a teenager in revolt, and 18-year-old Nesrine, who is starting medical school. Fatima speaks French poorly and is constantly frustrated by her daily interactions with her daughters. Her pride and joy, they are also a source of worry. While recovering from a fall, Fatima begins to write to her daughters in Arabic thoughts she has never been able to express in French. Writing in the New York Times, Stephen Holden called it “a small miracle of a film.” In the Hollywood Reporter, Leslie Felperin wrote that “FATIMA offers a gentle, affecting celebration of the fortitude and intelligence of an Algerian cleaning lady struggling to raise her two daughters in contemporary France.” The film won the Cesars Awards for Best Film and Best Adapted Screenplay and was nominated for Best Actress this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9Gbm8vfkkk

The next week, also at the Royal, we’ll open the gorgeous documentary CAMERAPERSON. Look through the lens of master American documentary cinematographer Kirsten Johnson (“Darfur Now,” ‘The Invisible War,” “Fahrenheit 9/11,” “Citizenfour”) at a Brooklyn boxing match; life in postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina; the daily routine of a Nigerian midwife; an intimate family moment at home: these scenes and others are woven into the film, creating a tapestry of footage collected over Johnson’s 25-year career. Through a series of juxtapositions, she explores the relationships between image makers and their subjects, the tension between the objectivity and intervention of the camera, and the interaction of reality and crafted narrative. “Cinematographer Kirsten Johnson delivers a uniquely insightful memoir-cum-critical-treatise on the nature and ethics of her craft.” (Nick Schager, Variety) “Surprisingly emotional and heartfelt … CAMERAPERSON is a stunning achievement…makes a strong argument to assert the person behind the camera – who they are, how they live, and how they interact with others as a crucial focal point in the process of filmmaking.” (Katie Walsh, The Playlist)

https://vimeo.com/179496166

On October 7th we’ll open AS I OPEN MY EYES at the Royal and Playhouse. The film depicts the clash between culture and family as seen through the eyes of a young Tunisian woman balancing the traditional expectations of her family with her creative life as the singer in a politically charged rock band. Director Leyla Bouzid’s musical feature debut offers a nuanced portrait of the individual implications of the incipient Arab Spring. “Like so many of the finest portraits of real life political events, the director has cleverly kept the story small, while hinting at a much bigger picture…Bouzid has joined the ranks Arab female filmmakers worth keeping tabs on.” (Kaleem Aftab, indieWIRE) “Leyla Bouzid displays considerable talent for dramatizing how young people eroticize peril and risk due to a lack of experience.” (Chuck Bowen, Slant Magazine)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws-yrRADTZg

Also on October 7 at the Royal and Playhouse we’ll begin screening SAND STORM. Set in a Bedouin village in Israel, the movie follows a mother and daughter trapped by their community’s social norms. As Jalila, a 42-year-old Bedouin woman, must host her husband’s marriage to a second, younger woman, she uncovers her daughter’s affair with a boy from her university — a liaison that’s both forbidden and could shame the family. A moving film about two generations of Arab woman negotiating their identities and desires, SAND STORM is at its core a powerful story of resistance and female empowerment. “Filmmaker Elite Zexer…quickly immers[es] us in her Bedouin village setting and deftly manipulating our emotions so that our sympathies are torn and turned on a dime. Building on her award-winning short “Tasnim” – whose character here is minor but, in keeping with the film’s complexity, hints at more than one possible future – Zexer’s first feature deservedly took home the World Cinema Dramatic prize at Sundance earlier this year.” (Amber Wilkinson, Eye for Film) “One of the most-admired films at this year’s Sundance…a lovely, deeply affecting film.” (Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfzr3QAfI8s

And, ending the year on a high note, a film you can bring young daughters, granddaughters and nieces (and their male counterparts) to, THE EAGLE HUNTRESS. The film follows Aisholpan, a 13-year-old girl, as she trains to become the first female in twelve generations of her Kazakh family to become an eagle hunter, and rises to the pinnacle of a tradition that has been handed down from father to son for centuries. Set against the breathtaking expanse of the Mongolian steppe, the film features some of the most awe-inspiring cinematography ever captured in a documentary, giving this tale of a young girl’s quest the force of an epic narrative film. Narrated by Daisy Ridley, who played the heroine in “Star Wars: the Force Awakens”) “Aisholpan offers a real-life, profoundly inspiring testament to disregard age-old societal constraints and forge ahead with your passion.” (Jordan Raup, The Film Stage)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfi5JS6HTH0

DANCER’s Sergei Polunin, filmmaker Steven Cantor and artsmeme.com’s Debra Levine at the Monica Film Center September 9 for two Q&A’s.

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We are thrilled to open the new documentary Dancer next week at the Monica Film Center and Playhouse 7. Dancer Sergei Polunin, the film’s subject, and Dancer director Steven Cantor will participate in a Q&A after the 5:20 and 7:40 PM screenings at the Monicas on Friday, September 9 and the 12:40 and 3 PM shows on Saturday the 10th. Dance critic Debra Levine, founder of artsmeme.com, will moderate the Friday Q&A’s.

Party animal, bad boy, ballet genius – Sergei Polunin confounds stereotypes just as his dancing defies belief. Blessed with impossible talent, he was born to be an international star but it was a destiny that nearly eluded him. After an unprecedented rise to the top, the Royal Ballet’s youngest ever principle stunned the dance world when he walked away from a seemingly unstoppable career at the age of 22. The rigors of ballet discipline and the burden of stardom drove this vulnerable young man to the brink of self-destruction. Saved – if not tamed – by his mentor Igor Zelensky, Polunin is dancing again and dazzling audiences in Russia. But now he is ready to enter a bigger stage. Urban rebel, iconoclast, airborne angel, Polunin will turn ballet, “a dying art form,” on its head.

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Directed by award-winning documentarian Steven Cantor, Dancer offers a uniquely personal portrait of a most singular man and dancer. From archive footage of Polunin training at the age of six to be an Olympic gymnast, to intimate material shot by his parents, and in-depth interviews with family, friends, colleagues through to footage of Sergei’s life on and off the stage now, we witness every step of Sergei’s journey. We also interview his detractors – those who say that his training methods and preference for practicing alone, do not make him a company player. Polunin is a controversial, divisive character and he is shown in all his complexity.

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The film is also a showcase for his extraordinary physical and emotional range. Dance features throughout. The centerpiece of the film, as seen through the lens of David LaChapelle, shot in Hawaii: Polunin dancing to Hozier’s song “Take Me to Church” was leaked online during the Dancer production in February 2015 and generated over 10 million YouTube views within two months.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCwc265NnDI

Director’s statement:

“How do you come to terms with a life definition that was created for you? When you’re the greatest in the world, what else is there left to achieve? To live for? Twenty-five-year-old, world-renowned ballet star, Sergei Polunin, has defined his life through his art, only to question his existence at the opportunity to become legendary.  Dancer is an intimate reflection of a talented and charming, but also complex and enigmatic ballet star at a vulnerable crossroads. By tracing through the memories of his life— particularly family and childhood sacrifices in destitute Ukraine— his complicated story unfolds, revealing a young man on the brink. Dancer weaves its narrative arc through archival footage, passionate dance sequences and present day verite scenes and interviews with important figures in Sergei’s life, as well as a remarkable stockpile of family photos and footage taken mostly by Sergei’s hard-driving mother, Galina. Ultimately, the film reveals a complicated, tattooed, young man, with skeletons, a sad past, and a beautiful artistic talent. As Sergei faces an uncertain future of his choosing, does he stick with dance or does he retire on top? The raw, remarkable dancer who captivates our eyes on screen and stage, will show the world where he ultimately decides to turn.”

Modern classics returning to big screens: Merchant Ivory’s HOWARDS END, Antonioni’s BLOW-UP and LA NOTTE and a Chabrol retrospective.

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Some of the production company Merchant Ivory’s greatest triumphs are adaptations of E.M. Forster novels. There are three of them: A Room with a View (1985), Maurice (1987) and Howards End (1992), which is one of their undisputed masterpieces. Based on Forster’s 1910 novel, Howards End is a saga of class relations and changing times in Edwardian England. Margaret Schlegel (Emma Thompson, who won the Best Actress Oscar for this performance) and her sister Helen (Helena Bonham Carter) become involved with two couples: a wealthy, conservative industrialist (Anthony Hopkins) and his wife (Vanessa Redgrave), and a working-class man (Samuel West) and his mistress (Niccola Duffet). The interwoven fates and misfortunes of these three families and the diverging trajectories of the two sisters’ lives are connected to the ownership of Howards End, a beloved country home. A compelling, brilliantly acted study of one woman’s struggle to maintain her ideals and integrity in the face of Edwardian society’s moribund conformity. We played Howards End to packed, rapt houses in 1992 and are thrilled to open this fully restored digital version September 2nd at the Royal, Playhouse, Town Center and Claremont.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNJdbu4p1Fg

antonioni_notteWe’ll also soon screen two by Michelangelo Antonioni: Blow-Up (1966) and La Notte (1961). The latter, just restored by our friends at Rialto Pictures and opening at the Royal and Playhouse on September 16, takes place during a day and a night in the life of a troubled marriage, set against Milan’s gleaming modern buildings, its gone-to-seed older quarters, and a sleek modern estate, all shot in razor-sharp B&W crispness by the great Gianni di Venanzo. With Marcello Mastroianni and Jeanne Moreau starring, Antonioni creates his most compassionate examination of the emptiness of the rich and the difficulties of modern relationships. Writing in his book Devotional Cinema, Nathaniel Dorsky said of La Notte, “the real beauty of the film, the real depth of its intelligence, continues to lie in the clarity of the montage — the way the world is revealed to us moment by moment. The camera’s delicate interactive grace, participating with the fluidity of the characters’ changing points of view, is profound in itself.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEEmVghrypo

Blow-Up, Antonioni’s first English-language production, is widely considered one of the seminal films of the 1960s. Thomas (David Hemmings) is a nihilistic, wealthy fashion photographer in mod swinging London. Filled with ennui, bored with his “fab” but oddly desultory life of casual sex and drugs, Thomas comes alive when he wanders through a park, stops to take pictures of a couple embracing, and upon developing the images believes that he has photographed a murder. Vanessa Redgrave and Sarah Miles co-star. In his review at the time, Bosley Crowther of the New York Times recognized just the film’s prescience, calling it “a fascinating picture, which has something real to say about the matter of personal involvement and emotional commitment in a jazzed-up, media-hooked-in world so cluttered with synthetic stimulations that natural feelings are overwhelmed.” Blow-Up came out 50 years ago, so we are celebrating it on September 13th at the Monica Film Center as part of our Anniversary Classics series with film critic Stephen Farber.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INIhrT8MYyU

Beginning September 30th at the Royal we are pleased to screen Chabrol 5 x 5, a series featuring five of Claude Chabrol’s best, all fully restored and digitally remastered: Betty, The Swindle, Torment, Color of Lies and Night Cap. A founding father of French New Wave cinema, Chabrol’s fascination with genre films, and the detective drama in particular, fueled a lengthy and celebrated string of thrillers, which explored the human heart under extreme emotional duress. Chabrol began as a contributor to the celebrated film magazine Cahiers du Cinema alongside such film legends as Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard before launching his directorial career in 1957. He quickly established himself as a versatile filmmaker whose innate understanding of genre tropes informed the complex triangular relationships at the center of many of his films, which frequently served as a prism through which commentary on class conflict could be obliquely addressed. The talent he displayed in depicting these dark deeds, as well as his status among the pantheon of French New Wave cinema, underscored his significance as one of his native country’s most prolific and wickedly gifted craftsmen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lqr2PIDvMKo

AMAZING AUGUST Every Throwback Thursday in August at the Laemmle NoHo!

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Join Laemmle and  Eat|See|Hear for AMAZING AUGUST at the NoHo 7 in North Hollywood! Every Thursday in August our Throwback Thursday (#TBT) series presents films hand-picked by two renowned, local comic book shops, Emerald Knights Comics and Blastoff Comics! Doors open at 7PM, trivia starts at 7:30PM, and films begin at 7:40PM! It all starts Thursday, August 4th with SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE (1978). Check out the full schedule below. For tickets and our full #TBT schedule, visit laemmle.com/tbt!

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August 4: SUPERMAN

Sponsored by EMERALD KNIGHTS COMICS.
Just before the destruction of the planet Krypton, scientist Jor-El sends his infant son Kal-El on a spaceship to Earth. Raised by kindly farmers Jonathan and Martha Kent, young Clark discovers the source of his superhuman powers and moves to Metropolis to fight evil. As Superman, he battles the villainous Lex Luthor, while, as novice reporter Clark Kent, he attempts to woo co-worker Lois Lane. Buy Tickets.

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August 11: THE IRON GIANT

Sponsored by BLASTOFF COMICS.
This is the story of a nine-year-old boy named Hogarth Hughes who makes friends with an innocent alien giant robot that came from outer space. Meanwhile, a paranoid U.S. Government agent named Kent Mansley arrives in town, determined to destroy the giant at all costs. It’s up to Hogarth to protect him by keeping him at Dean McCoppin’s place in the junkyard. Buy Tickets.

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August 18: BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM

Sponsored by EMERALD KNIGHTS COMICS.
Batman, the costumed crime-fighter who prowls the night skies in Gotham City, soon finds there’s another vigilante in town knocking off prominent mob figures. Despite the scythe-like blade for a hand, a mechanical voice and the cloud of smoke that follows the figure wherever it goes, the police and outraged officials mistake the homicidal crusader for Batman himself and demand that the city’s longtime hero be brought to justice. Meanwhile, Andrea Beaumont returns to town. She is the lost love of Bruce Wayne, the billionaire playboy who is Batman’s alter ego, and was an integral part of Wayne’s decision ten years earlier to don the cape and cowl. Now, she is back in his life and is no less a disruption than the return of his old archenemy, The Joker, who has a stake in seeing the annihilation of this new vigilante, whoever it proves to be. Buy Tickets.

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August 25: FLASH GORDON

Sponsored by BLASTOFF COMICS.
Flash Gordon is an American football hero who is skyjacked aboard Dr. Hans Zarkov’s rocketship along with his beautiful girlfriend Dale Arden. The threesome are drawn into the influence of the planet Mongo, ruled by Emperor Ming the Merciless. The evil Ming has been testing Earth with unnatural disasters, and deeming our world a threat to his rule. He also intends to take Dale as his concubine, attempts to execute Flash and intends to destroy Earth. Flash must avoid the amorous attentions of Ming’s daughter, and unite the warring kingdoms of Mongo to rescue Dale and save our world. Buy Tickets.

ON MEDITATION opens August 12 at the Fine Arts. Three screenings will feature guided meditation.

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On Meditation is a compilation of portraits that explore the practice of meditation in all its forms. Practiced for thousands of years, meditation is at once profound and simple: the focused attempt to move beyond conditioned thinking into a deeper state of awareness. Yet what does that path, one of the inner journey, which is above all a private, interior one, really look like? On Meditation conveys firsthand experiences of those who have developed meaningful practices and are willing to share their experiences.

Meditation is a part of yoga and deals with mental relaxation and concentration techniques. If you are fascinated by all things meditation and want to deepen your knowledge of yoga, you might also be interested in attending a yoga teacher training course. For more information about what you can expect and to find out how to book your place, go to siddhiyoga.com.

We open the film August 12th at the Fine Arts and several screenings will feature guided meditation with the following people:

8/12, 5pm screening- Jana Roemer. Ms. Roemer is a teacher, wellness advocate, and contributing writer to lifestyle website Sonima. She has traveled the globe as a student of spirituality, prayer and meditation. She believes her experiences and way of Being best communicates her ideology. She is a yoga and meditation teacher, wellness advocate, and contributing writer to lifestyle website Sonima. http://www.janaroemer.com

8/14, noon screening- Scott Schwenk. Mr. Schwenk is a master coach and professional consultant who teaches leadership development through meditation. His expertise comes from his training with MIT’s Sloan School, Landmark Education, and several years of immersive study in a monastery. Scott has been an avid meditator for over 25 years and has studied under master instructor Sally Kempton. scottschwenk.com

8/14, 8pm screening- Jessie Barr. Ms. Barr is an actor and accomplished yoga teacher who shares her passion through instruction and her critically acclaimed web series OM City. After training as a dancer, she received her certifications in Yoga and Reiki — studying under renowned coaches Elena Brower and Brenda Villa. Jessie shares her passion through instruction and her critically acclaimed web series OM City, in which she co-created and stars. http://omcityseries.com and http://jessiebarryoga.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1_g5F_mp14

WESTERN WEEKEND: A Five Film Round-up ​of Celebrated Westerns August 12-14 at the Ahrya Fine Arts

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ac-western-weekend-posterLaemmle’s Anniversary Classics presents our tribute to the sagebrush genre with the Anniversary Classics Western Weekend, a five film round-up of some of the most celebrated westerns in movie history.

The star-studded lineup features John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Kevin Costner, Montgomery Clift, Natalie Wood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef and others.

The films include John Ford’s masterpiece THE SEARCHERS, popular Oscar winner DANCES WITH WOLVES, spaghetti western supreme THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY, and rediscoveries of the irreverent THE PROFESSIONALS and the elegiac THE MISFITS.

So saddle-up for a three day celebration August 12-14; the stagecoach stops at the Ahrya Fine Arts in Beverly Hills. Each program will be introduced by Sheriff Stephen Farber, President of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.

Schedule:

Date Title Tickets
08/12 at 7:30PM THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (1966) Available
08/13 at 2:15PM DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990) Available
08/13 at 7:15PM THE PROFESSIONALS (1966) Available
08/14 at 2:15PM THE SEARCHERS (1956) Available
08/14 at 5:15PM THE MISFITS (1961) Available

Tickets:

Tickets for individual shows are available NOW on Laemmle.com and at the Ahrya Fine Arts box office:

  • Single Ticket: $13
  • Premiere Card Holders (Single Ticket): $11

Anniversary Classics Western Weekend Ticket Specials (Available only at Box Office):

  • All FIVE films for $40
  • Saturday or Sunday Double Feature: TWO films for $20.
  • Premiere Card Holders Saturday or Sunday Double Feature: TWO films for $18.

Movies:

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY – 50th Anniversary

ac-good-bad-uglyWe open our sagebrush weekend with the “third and best of Sergio Leone’s ‘Dollars’ trilogy… the quintessential spaghetti Western,” according to Leonard Maltin. The trilogy became the most popular of the hundreds of European Westerns made in the 1960s and 70s. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, set during the Civil War in New Mexico, is actually a prequel to A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More, all of which starred Clint Eastwood as Blondie, or the Man with No Name. Leone and his screenwriters considered the film a satire with its emphasis on violence and deconstruction of Old West romanticism.

Made in 1966 and released in the U.S. at the end of 1967, the movie was propelled to big box office when composer Ennio Morricone’s main theme became a hit instrumental recording for Hugo Montenegro in 1968. The film had mixed critical reaction in its day but has been reevaluated and embraced through the decades, and is now considered one of the great Westerns. Also starring Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach, with cinematography by Tonino Delli Colli.

Screens in a 4K digital restoration on Friday, August 12, at 7:30 PM.

DANCES WITH WOLVES – 25th Anniversary

ac-dancesThis film won seven Oscars in 1991, including Best Picture and Best Director Kevin Costner. (It was the first Western to be named Best Picture since Cimarron took the prize in 1931.) It remains one of the most popular Western films of all time, with one of the few positive and honest portrayals of Native American culture. And it is a genuine historical epic that deserves to be seen on the big screen, where its spectacular battle scenes and buffalo hunt can be fully appreciated.

Time magazine’s Richard Schickel praised the film by saying, “As a director, Costner is alive to the sweep of the country and the expansive spirit of the western-movie tradition.”

Special guest speakers at this showing will include actress Mary McDonnell, who was Oscar-nominated for her performance in the film and earned a second nomination for John Sayles’ Passion Fish two years later. Screens Saturday, August 13, at 2:15 PM.

THE PROFESSIONALS – 50th Anniversary

ac-profThe film was nominated for three Academy Awards in 1966, including Best Director and Best Screenplay for Hollywood veteran (and past Oscar winner) Richard Brooks. This irreverent Western boasts plenty of sardonic humor and turns many of the values of the genre upside down, but it does not skimp on production values or striking cinematography (by Oscar winner Conrad Hall). “Taut excitement throughout” was the verdict of Leonard Maltin.

The four “professionals” of the title are played by Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, and Woody Strode, with an outstanding supporting cast headed by Jack Palance, Claudia Cardinale, and Ralph Bellamy. And be sure to stay to savor the movie’s last line, drolly delivered by Lee Marvin, one of the great kickers in Western film history. Screens Saturday, August 13, at 7:15 PM.

THE SEARCHERS – 60th Anniversary

ac-searchOne of the finest collaborations of John Wayne and director John Ford is also one of the most influential and admired Westerns in history. At the time of its release, The New York Times’ Bosley Crowther called it “a ripsnorting Western,” but its reputation grew in later years.

In 2008 the American Film Institute named it the greatest of all Westerns. Its story of obsession and revenge influenced many later directors, including Martin Scorsese and Paul Schrader, and one of the most haunting scenes in the film was imitated in George Lucas’s Star Wars. Wayne plays Ethan Edwards, a bitter Civil War veteran who is determined to track down the Comanches who murdered his brother’s family and abducted his two nieces.

The Monument Valley locations where the movie was filmed are now iconic, and Wayne’s portrayal of the relentless, bigoted Edwards is one of his richest performances. The supporting cast includes Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond, and Natalie Wood. Special guest speaker will be Wood’s younger sister, Lana Wood, who plays little Debbie, the girl kidnapped by the Comanches in the film’s opening section. Wood’s other credits include many popular TV series and her role as a Bond girl in Diamonds Are Forever. Screens Sunday, August 14, at 2:15 PM.

THE MISFITS – 55th Anniversary

ac-misfitsWe close the weekend with a modern take on the oater genre. This 1961 film’s themes of outsiders and non-conformists misplaced in contemporary society, with no new undiscovered frontiers, provide a fitting elegy to the Western.

Directed by John Huston from an original screenplay by playwright Arthur Miller, with apt black-and-white cinematography by Russell Metty, this drama took on a heightened valedictory tone when it became the final film for both co-stars Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe (married to Miller at the time).

Monroe’s portrayal of a lonely divorcee is among her best roles, and Gable’s aging cowboy is considered the greatest performance of his career. He died 12 days after completing filming. A superb ensemble includes Montgomery Clift, Eli Wallach, and Thelma Ritter.

Although a box office failure at the time, the British Film Institute notes that The Misfits “scores…in the remarkable intensity of the performances and the delineation of the characters’ complex relationships. It remains one of the finest works of all involved.” Screens Sunday, August 14, at 5:30 PM.