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Film
![Summer Lovin’ [Special Screenings, May 24-31]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/screenings-grease_paramount-6-348x180.jpg)
Summer Lovin’ [Special Screenings, May 24-31]
Kiss the Joy: The Story of Joan Lind Van Blom. Jean Strauss’ documentary is about a flag girl who walked into a Long Beach boathouse to learn how to be a sculler. Even though she had never before been a competitive athlete, Blom rose to the top of U.S. women’s rowing before taking on the […]
Lebowski Fest Brings Saddam, the Real Dude and Logjammin! Car to Fountain Bowl
Saddam, Jesus Quintana’s bowling teammate Liam, Karl Hungus’ convertible, a whole bunch of Dudes and the real-life inspiration for Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski gather at Fountain Bowl in Fountain Valley Saturday night. That is when and where part two of Lebowski Fest LA, the celebration of all things The Big Lebowski, will be held–and […]
Film Adaptation Breathes New Life Into The Seagull
How do you breathe new life into a play Anton Chekhov wrote in 1895? First, you have it adapted by a relatively young but talented writer. Next, you turn the project over to a hungry director. Finally, you assemble a talented cast of veteran actors and acclaimed newcomers. That strategy was employed for a thoroughly […]
![He Had It Coming [Special Screenings, May 17-24]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/screenings-chicago_miramax-7-348x180.jpg)
He Had It Coming [Special Screenings, May 17-24]
Let the Sunshine In. Claire Denis co-wrote and directed the 2017 rom-dramedy about a divorced Parisian artist and mother (Juliette Binoche) looking for true love. In French with English subtitles. Directors Cut Cinema at Regency Rancho Niguel, 25471 Rancho Niguel Rd., Laguna Niguel, (949) 831-0446. Thurs., May 17, 11:15 a.m., 1:50, 4:40, 7:15 & 9:30 […]
Penny Slinger: Out of the Shadows Tracks the Career of the Lost Surrealist Artist
In a moment when forgotten artists and iconoclasts are finally getting their due through documentary films, Penny Slinger: Out of the Shadows sheds light on an underrated artist who created most of her seminal work during the 1960s and ’70s. Slinger was most active in the London art scene and presented a series of surrealist […]
![A Musician In the Motor City [Special Screenings, May 10-17]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/screenings-american-dream_detroit_fathom-events-2-348x180.jpg)
A Musician In the Motor City [Special Screenings, May 10-17]
The Death of Stalin. Armando Iannucci (Veep, In the Loop) sets his latest political satire in Moscow in early 1953, when Soviet leader Joseph Stalin collapses unexpectedly from a brain hemorrhage. That sets off a mad scramble of potential successors. Steve Buscemi, Paddy Considine and Jeffrey Tambor star. Art Theatre, 2025 E. Fourth St., Long […]
How We’d Launch Starship Frida: 12-Hour Intergalactic Sci-Fi Marathon
Starship Frida: 12-Hour Intergalactic Sci-Fi Marathon launches Friday night at the Frida Cinema in Santa Ana with Joss Whedon’s Serenity before splashing down after the end credits of Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element Saturday morning. But Frida wants the other four movies in between to be a surprise, so we put on our crash-helmet thinking […]
![That Is Not a Golden Snitch [Special Screenings, May 3-10]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/screenings-puffs_courtesy-fathom-events-10-348x180.jpg)
That Is Not a Golden Snitch [Special Screenings, May 3-10]
The Endless. Filmmakers Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s sci-fi mind-bender has them star ring as grown brothers who escaped a death cult as children. A cryptic video message inspires them to but return 10 years later. Cue the freakiness. The Frida Cinema, 305 E. Fourth St., Santa Ana; thefridacinema.org. Thurs., May 3, 1:30, 4 & […]
Documentary on TV Composer W.G. Snuffy Walden Leads a Strong Newport Beach Film Festival Music Program
The first time I recall reading the name W.G. Snuffy Walden was in the fall of 1987, in the credits for the then-new ABC drama series thirtysomething, which followed a group of friends in their thirties coping with love, careers and parenthood in Philadelphia. I don’t recall now if I read the name because I […]
Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami Showcases the Amazonian Work of Art
The Normal classic “Warm Leatherette” from 1978 made it onto the mixtapes of many listeners of “The Rock of the Eighties” on KROQ. How could it not? Those siren-like instrumentals. Those monotone vocals by Daniel Miller. Those ultra-dark lyrics. A tear of petrol Is in your eye. Quick, let’s make love Before we die. “Warm […]
![Cleaning Up at This Parenting Thing [Special Screenings, April 26-May 3]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/screenings-like-arrows_courtesy-fathom-events-9-348x180.jpg)
Cleaning Up at This Parenting Thing [Special Screenings, April 26-May 3]
November. Rainer Sarnet’s award-winning surrealist fantasy drama is set in the 19th century in his home country of Estonia, where peasant girl Liina longs for village boy Hans, who has eyes for a visiting German baroness. Things grow ever more complicated—we’re talking spirits, plagues, thieves, werewolves and an appearance by the Devil himself—in this black-and-white […]
Newport Beach Film Festival Presents Its Funniest Lineup in 19 Years
I have sat through so many films while on the Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) beat. Because so many friends and family members know that, I am invariably asked to name my favorite NBFF film. It beats the hell out of me; that would be like choosing a favorite toe. However, to deal with the […]
Fantastic Films You Don’t Want to Miss at the 2018 Newport Beach Film Festival
A genre that has been skyrocketing in popularity in the past year is science fiction, evident in the steady rise of television shows, films and programs available through online-streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime: Blade Runner 2049, Bright, The Lure, The Void, Altered Carbon, Legion and The Handmaid’s Tale are just a number […]
Our Guide to the 2018 Newport Beach Film Festival’s Tasteful Culinary Film Series
For the first time in its epic 19-year history, the Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) will include a slate of documentaries and films revolving around the illustrious world of cuisine and the culinary industry. Many of the Culinary Film Series’ eight films are global and West Coast premieres, all of them scattered throughout other showcases […]
![Lasso of Hell Yeah [Special Screenings, April 19-26]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/screenings-wonder-woman_Warner-Bros-18-348x180.jpg)
Lasso of Hell Yeah [Special Screenings, April 19-26]
Borg vs McEnroe. Janus Metz Pedersen’s multilanguage, internationally co-produced, 2017 sports biopic is set during the 1980 Wimbledon Championships, at which Björn Borg (Sverrir Gudnason), the placid, No. 1 professional tennis player in the world, was challenged by John McEnroe (Shia LaBeouf), a volatile, rising star. The Frida Cinema, 305 E. Fourth St., Santa Ana; […]
The Handmaid’s Tale Starts Season 2 Just as Intense; Plus, a Writer Comes to Town
Based on the intense first three episodes of the second season of The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu, it is obvious why Elisabeth Moss and Ann Dowd were Emmy winners for Outstanding Actress and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series respectively. The Handmaid’s Tale was also the Emmy winner for Outstanding Dramatic Series, and among the […]
Did ’70s Sci-Fi Cinema Nail Our Looming Brave New World?
In the 1970s, Hollywood was hell-bent on scaring the bejesus out of audiences with futuristic dystopias, churning out iconic, outrageous, science-fiction stories that imagined—and warned of—horrific “things to come.” But just how accurate were these filmmakers’ visions, most of which were believed far too insane to ever come to pass? Hold our Moscow mule! ROLLERBALL […]
![Who Are You Really? [Special Screenings, April 12-19]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/screenings-imitation-girl_illium-pictures-7-348x180.jpg)
Who Are You Really? [Special Screenings, April 12-19]
Isle of Dogs. Wes Anderson’s latest animation has, by executive decree, all the canine pets of Megasaki City exiled to a vast garbage dump called Trash Island. That sends 12-year-old Atari off alone in a miniature turbo prop to find his bodyguard dog, Spots. He is assisted on his epic journey by a pack of […]
A Look At the Most Memorable Music DJs in Film
In the roughly 112 years that Hollywood has been churning out feature-length films, radio disc jockeys have made for some interesting, if not iconic, cinematic characters. Record spinners really started appearing onscreen in the 1970s—back when DJs were still able to pick their own music—and here are some of the best. Stevie Wayne, The Fog […]
![No More Hammer Time [Special Screenings, April 5-12]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/screenings-basket-case_basket-case-productions-1-348x180.jpg)
No More Hammer Time [Special Screenings, April 5-12]
Psiconautas, los niños olvidados (Birdboy: The Forgotten Children). Alberto Vázquez and Pedro Rivero’s darkly comic animated feature is based on Vázquez’s graphic novel and is not intended for children. Stranded on an island in a post-apocalyptic world, teenager Dinky and her friends hatch a dangerous plan to escape for a better life. Meanwhile, her old […]
Edie Falco and Jay Duplass Are Star-Crossed Lovers in Outside In
Brothers Jay and Mark Duplass have carved themselves an interesting niche of indie cinema that has consistently examined mid-30s age malaise as reflected in interpersonal relationships in the 21st century. Together—and separately—they’ve embarked on making character-driven films in which the main protagonists are flawed, uncertain individuals working through some type of anxiety and confusion during […]