[Special Screenings] Local Showings of The Seven Samurai, The Business of Being Born, More

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

The Seven Samurai. This movie sent shockwaves across the world, inspiring generations of filmmakers and rousing filmgoers with its dynamic action, density of detail, moral clarity, diamond-sharp pictorialism and intricate design. Without its example, one of the basic dramatic templates of postwar moviemaking—the disreputable team sent on an impossible mission—would never have seen the light of day, and scores of moviemakers, from Sam Peckinpah to Francis Ford Coppola, would have taken very different paths. UC Irvine, Humanities Instructional Building 100, Campus & W. Peltason drs., Irvine, (949) 824-7418; www.filmandvideocenter.com. Thurs., Feb. 28, 7 p.m. $3-$5.

ALSO SHOWING

The Business of Being Born. Rikki Lake produced and stars in this documentary about the birthing business and the way American women give birth. There will be a discussion with Oasis Child (no relation) after the program. Admission includes refreshments. Limited seating, so make reservations. The Road Less Traveled, 2202 1/2 N. Main St., Santa Ana, (714) 836-8727; www.roadlesstraveledstore.com. Sat., 5:30 p.m. $15; $20 per couple.

Son of Paleface. Frank Tashlin directs Bob Hope, Jane Russell and Roy Rogers in a great western comedy often overlooked by film societies, but not by anyone who likes to laugh. The Friday Film Forum will present a preshow program of shorts, cartoons and surprises. Long Beach School for Adults, 3701 E. Willow St., Long Beach, (562) 997-8000. Fri., 7 p.m. $1 materials fee.

La Strada. Federico Fellini, known as one of the top screenwriters in Italian cinema and then a promising young director, poured everything he had into this film—physically and psychologically—and in the process, he created what he called "the complete catalog of my entire myhtological world." When La Strada premiered in Venice in 1954, it was celebrated by Catholic critics and subsequently scourged by leftists as a betrayal of Neorealism, edging it over the precipice into magic realism. Was this tale of the simple Gelsomina sold to a travelling strongman an end to Neorealism or an evolution? The question is irrelevant when compared to the galvanic effect this movie had on viewers. UCI, Humanities Instructional Building 100, Campus & W. Peltason drs., Irvine, (949) 824-7418; www.filmandvideocenter.com. Thurs., Feb. 21, 7 p.m. $3-$5.

Mail your press releases (and a videotape or disc, if available) to Special Screenings,OC Weekly, 1666 N. Main St., Ste. 500, Santa Ana, CA 92701-7417. Or send e-mail to tchild@ocweekly.com. All materials must be received at least two weeks before the screening.