EXCLUSIVE ENGAGEMENTS AT ARENA CINEMA HOLLYWOOD STARTING MAY 6 FOR THOSE PEOPLE; BLING; THE OFFERING; BEAUTIFUL SOMETHING; SACRIFICE
Those People. Directed by Joey Kuhn. Written by Kuhn and Grainne Belluomo. Produced by Kuhn, Kimberly Parker and Sarah Perlman Bremner. From Wolfe Releasing. Color, 2016, USA, 89 minutes, not rated. Romance. Starring Jonathan Gordon, Jason Ralph, Haaz Sleiman, Britt Lower, Meghann Fahy and Chris Conroy. On Manhattan's gilded Upper East Side, a young gay painter is torn between an obsession with his infamous best friend and a promising new romance with an older foreign pianist.
Winner- Out On Film, Atlanta
"Invigortaing....witnessing a filmmaker with as distinctive a voice as Kuhn come out of the gate with something so accomplished."---Moveable Fest
IN PERSON: JAMES FRANCO MODERATES MAY 8 Q&A SCREENING OF
THOSE PEOPLE AT ARENA CINEMA HOLLYWOOD
James Franco will appear in person at Arena Cinema Hollywood to moderate a Q&A with
Those People writer-director Joey Kuhn, producer Kimberly Parker and film cast members Haaz Sleiman, Britt Lower
following the Sunday, May 8, 2016 at 7:20 p.m. screening.
Bling. Directed by Kyung Ho Lee and Wonjae Lee. Written by Kyung Ho Lee, Chris Denk and Hyunjoong Kim. Produced by Jongsoo Kim and Joshua Sohn. From Momentum Pictures. Color, 2016, South Korea/USA, 82 minutes, rated PG. Animation. Starring the voices of Taylor Kitsch, Jennette McCurdy, James Woods, Carla Gugino, Tom Green and Jon Heder. Lowly theme park mechanic Sam dreams about his childhood sweetheart Sue. With the mistaken belief that only a bling ring can win the girl of his dreams, Sam plans the most perfect night to propose to his one true love. But when super villain Oscar shows up with his own evil ring that could destroy the city, Sam's plans are thrown into utter disarray. Mistaking each other's rings for their own, Sam teams up with his robot super heroes to track down his engagement ring and save the city... learning that it's not about the size of the bling, but the size of your heart.
"A sweet film."---Urban Cinefile
The Offering. Written and directed by Kelvin Tong. Produced by Kat Goh, Peter Poon and Leon Tong. From Entertainment One. Color, 2016, Singapore/USA, 95 minutes, not rated. Horror/Mystery. Starring Matthew Settle, Elizabeth Rice, Pamelyn Chee, Jaymee Ong, Elizabeth Lazan and Adina Herz. When young and successful reporter Jamie finds out that her sister has died in mysterious circumstances, she travels to Singapore to uncover the truth. There, she discovers multiple deaths linked to her sister's and must join forces with her sister's husband in order to defeat a demonic entity that is using new technology to complete an ancient mission.
Beautiful Something. Written and directed by Joseph Graham. Produced by Leilani Goode. From Ariztical Entertainment. Color, 2016, USA, 97 minutes, not rated. Romance. Starring Brian Sheppard, Zack Ryan, Colman Domingo, John Lescault, David Melissaratos and Grant Lancaster. Four diverse gay men navigate art, sex and love in one sublime night.
"Poetic and mesmerizing. It's something beautiful indeed."---YNOT at The Movies
Sacrifice. Directed by Peter A. Dowling. Written by Dowling and S.J. Bolton. Produced by Peter Lewis, Tristan Lynch, Aolfe O'Sullivan and Arnold Rifkin. From IFC Midnight. Color, 2016, Ireland, not rated. Thriler. Starring Radha Mitchell, Rupert Graves, Ian McElhinney, David Robb, Liam Carney and Peter Vollebregt. Sacrifice is the story of consultant surgeon, Tora Hamilton, who moves with her husband, Duncan, to the remote Shetland Islands, 100 miles off the north-east coast of Scotland. Deep in the peat soil around her new home, Tora discovers the body of a young woman with rune marks carved into her skin and a gaping hole where her heart once beat. Ignoring warnings to leave well alone, Tora uncovers terrifying links to a legend that might never have been confined to the pages of the story-books.
"Exciting car chases, lovely landscapes and competent performances."----Horror Freak News
May 6- May 12, 2016. Contact venue for show times. Admission: $12 each feature.. Information:
(323) 306-0676. Online ticketing:
http://arenascreen.com
At Arena Cinema Hollywood, 1625 N. Las Palmas Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028. Discounted parking is available with validation at lots adjacent to the venue and across the street. Arena Cinema is Hollywood's new home for independent films, powered by Voltaire Media. Ranked among Top 5 Indie Movie Theatres in Los Angeles by CBS2.
Starting the week of May 6, Arena Cinema Hollywood inaugurates a series for the summer of outdoor film screenings in its courtyard. For more information, go to http://arenascreen.com or call
(323) 306-0676.
Los Angeles Filmforum presents
The Birth Film
on Sunday May 8
LOS ANGELES, April 18 - In celebration of Mother's Day, Los Angeles Filmforum is thrilled to present a special selection of historical experimental films engaging with the subject of birth, from filmmakers Stan Brakhage, Marjorie Keller, and Maya Deren & Alexander Hammid.
Cinematic records of childbirth date far back in the history of cinema, though for decades it was treated, unsurprisingly, as a subject of nearly abstract, purely medical interest. The implicit taboo of filming childbirth for personal, artistic, symbolic, or otherwise creative purposes was a fierce one, making Stan and Jane Brakhage's decision to film the birth of their first daughter Myrrena in November of 1958 a remarkable one.
Since this groundbreaking film - the iconic Window Water Baby Moving (1959) - numerous other artists have considered the cinematic portrayal of birth, including Brakhage himself four more times. As material for cinema, the subject matter has certainly become dramatically less taboo, but its depiction remains a singularly and disarmingly powerful experience, especially in the hands of a sensitive filmmaker.
This program features a modest selection of extraordinary birth films by some equally extraordinary artists. Showing in a restored print from New York Public Library, Marjorie Keller's psychologically rich and complex experimental documentary Misconception (1977) is an acclaimed multi-part work in which "the birth is the crisis of the film and its center", in Keller's words. Brakhage's ecstatic and kinetic
Thigh Line Lyre Triangular (1961), depicting the birth of the Brakhages' third child, is a lesser-known and very different birth film that foregrounds the filmmaker's own subjective witness. Gunvor Nelson's little-seen
Kirsa Nicholina (1969) largely eschews superficial lyricism in favor of a very direct, documentary approach that nevertheless finds startling power and emotion in its subject. Rounding out the program is a truly remarkable 1944 film from Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid on feline birth, demonstrating an uncannily human tenderness in both its subject and treatment. This film
, The Private Life of a Cat, normally shown in a shorter silentversion, will be featured in an extremely rare presentation of the film's original longer cut (courtesy of Anthology Film Archives), with its original release soundtrack featuring narration by Deren herself.
Program approximately 90 minutes.
What:
The Birth Film
When: Sunday, May 8, 7:30pm.
Where: At the Spielberg Theatre at the Egyptian, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90028
or at the door.
For more information: lafilmforum@yahoo.com or 323-377-7238.
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This program is supported by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission; the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles; and Bloomberg Philanthropies. We also depend on our members, ticket buyers, and individual donors.
Los Angeles Filmforum is the city's longest-running organization screening experimental and avant-garde film and video art, documentaries, and experimental animation. 2016 is our 41st year.