Quentin Tarantino In Person, The Beaches of Agnes, In the Loop Just Added to February Calendar

Just when you finished circling all the programs you wanted to attend at the American Cinematheque this month, we went and added more shows...

Quentin Tarantino In Person

Monday, February 8 - 6:00 PM
Quentin Tarantino In-Person! Double Feature!
PULP FICTION, 1994, Miramax, 153 min. Director Quentin Tarantino's dazzling, nitro-fueled homage to 1930's crime fiction, Elvis Presley flicks, Los Angeles diners, Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Melville is arguably the most audacious and exciting American film of the 1990's. The movie's brilliant, against-type casting includes John Travolta (in a career-reviving performance), Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Harvey Keitel, Eric Stolz, Maria de Medeiros, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Christopher Walken and Ving Rhames. Winner of LAFCA Awards for Best Picture, Actor (John Travolta) and Screenplay (Tarantino and Roger Avary).

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, 2009, Universal Pictures, 153 min. Tarantino's most recent cinematic achievement blends the director's trademark fetishism of film history with an emphatically violent, gung-ho pop culture assault against the 20th century's greatest villains: the Nazis. When a beautiful Jewish film projectionist recognizes the SS general (a magnetic Christopher Waltz) who riddled her family with bullets several years earlier, she brews a plan that involves revenge and celluloid. Meanwhile, a guerilla clan of Jewish-American soldiers and their twangy lieutenant (Brad Pitt) have plans of their own for the venomous Nazis. Nominated for 4 Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture, Director, Screenplay, and a win for Waltz for Best Supporting Actor. 8 Oscar nominations. Discussion following each film with director Quentin Tarantino, moderated by Todd McCarthy.


Tuesday, February 9 - 7:30 PM
Double Feature: Cannes Film Festival Version!
KILL BILL: Vol. 1, 2003, Miramax, 111 min. Dir. Quentin Tarantino. With Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Vivica Fox, Darryl Hannah, Michael Parks, Sonny Chiba. Kill Bill is both an homage and a reimagining of the genre films that Quentin Taratino has seen and loved: spaghetti westerns, Chinese martial arts films, Japanese samurai movies and anime. The film is conceived in chapters, each with the characteristic look and pulse of a specific genre and then interwoven with references from pop culture. It is the tale of Beatrix Kiddo (a perfectly cast Uma Thurman) and her quest for bloody justice after being left for dead on her wedding day.

Cannes Film Festival Version!
KILL BILL: Vol. 2, 2004, Miramax, 136 min. The second and final installment in Tarantino's pulsating KILL BILL epic, Vol. 2 finds Beatrix Kiddo (Uma Thurman at her most raw and empowering) waking from a lengthy coma and having the devastating realization that the baby she was carrying has died. This loss only serves as more fuel to her vengeful fire, and The Bride begins hunting down the final three people on her to-kill list: Budd (Bill's brother), Elle Driver (a one-eyed doozy), and Bill himself. Hyperbolically innovative death sequences, punchy color and a first-rate score by Wu-Tang Clan's The RZA make this one of the best action films of the new millennium - and also so much more than an action film. Also starring David Carradine, Michael Madsen, and Daryl Hannah.


Read about this event on our website.



Critics Buzz

We're bring some films back to the big screen that we don't think got enough time on the big screen when they were initially released - and the critics think so too. See the films that were mentioned on a number of Critic's end of year lists...
Get tickets

FEBRUARY 11 - 14:
Critic's Buzz Special Screenings:


THE BEACHES OF AGNES [Spielberg Theatre]
Thursday, February 11- 7:30 PM THE BEACHES OF AGNES
Friday, February 12 - 9:30 PM IN THE BEACH OF AGNES
Saturday, February 13 - 7:30 PM THE BEACHES OF AGNES
Sunday, February 14 - 4:00 PM THE BEACHES OF AGNES

THE BEACHES OF AGNÈS (LES PLAGES D’ AGNÈS), 2008, 110 min. "If you opened people up, you would find landscapes," Varda says in the opening voiceover of her new film. "If you opened me up, you would find beaches." Varda’s latest work is an autobiographical essay that takes a nostalgic yet penetrating look back at her life and films. Using photographs, recreations and scenes from her films, Varda illustrates the various stages of her life, from her marriage to Jacques Demy and his death in 1990 to her childhood memories of Sète, the fishing village that would become the subject of her first film. Woven through these reminiscences are lonely, dreamlike sequences shot on the beaches that have influenced and inspired her. View Trailer
Get Tickets

Read about this event on our website.


FEBRUARY 10 - 13:
Critic's Buzz Special Screenings:
Oscar Nominee for Best Adapted Screenplay
IN THE LOOP [Spielberg Theatre]

Wednesday, February 10 - 7:30 PM
IN THE LOOP

Thursday, February 11- 9:30 PM
IN THE LOOP

Friday, February 12 - 7:30 PM
IN THE LOOP

Saturday, February 13 - 9:30 PM
IN THE LOOP

IN THE LOOP, 2008, IFC Films, 106 min. Dir. Armando Iannucci. With Anna Chlumsky (Liza), Chris Addison (Toby), David Rasche (Linton), Gina McKee (Judy), James Gandolfini (General Miller), Mimi Kennedy (Karen), Olivia Poulet (Suzy), Peter Capaldi (Malcolm Tucker), Steve Coogan (Paul Michaelson), Tom Hollander (Simon Foster) and Zach Woods (Chad).

"See if this sounds familiar: A U.S. president is pushing for a war in the Middle East, going for a U.N. resolution though there's no reliable intelligence to back him up. And the Brits are staying carefully neutral, to give their prime minister room to maneuver.
Been there, seen that, you say? Not like this, you haven't. In the blistering British political satire In the Loop, bureaucratic bungling in the run-up to war is played for scabrous laughs, not a few of which will be pained laughs of recognition."
- Bob Mondello, All Things Considered (In the Loop: Wartime Fever As Screwball Tragedy)

"...a sharply written, fast-talking, almost dementedly articulate satire on modern statecraft..." - A.O. Scott, The New York Times (more)
View Trailer | In the Loop review on "All Things Considered"
Get tickets

Read about this event on our website.

Updates & Trailers at: www.americancinematheque.com

Strike TV Webisodes with a Panel of Guests, Including Actor Timothy Dalton!

It's time once again for American Cinematheque to blow up the internet -- blow it up on the big screen, that is. Friday, January 15th, we'll be screening strike.tv's webisodes on the Egyptian's massive 60-foot wide screen!

Strike TV was created by screenwriters during the Writers Guild of America’s strike of 2007. Since then, it has grown to house more than 200 independently financed web series from writers of "The Office," "The Daily Show," "Friends," "The Larry Sanders Show," "Saturday Night Live," "Robot Chicken," and many more. In addition to the webisodes this Friday night, special guests will join us in person for a discussion panel.

Hosted by Bob Kushell (writer and producer, "The Simpsons")



Panelists include:

Peter Hyoguchi: CEO of strike.tv

Ken Lazebnik: Writer, A Prarie Home Companion, Star Trek: Enterprise, Touched by an Angel. Writer / Producer of "Harmony" (screening)

Matt Enlow: Producer of "Mountain Man" (screening)

Timothy Dalton: Actor, James Bond. Starring in "Unknown Sender" (screening)

Steven de Souza: Writer, Die Hard, Tomb Raider. Creator of "Unknown Sender" (screening)

Dan de Souza: Producer/Editor of "Unknown Sender" (screening)

Mindy Sterling: Actor, Austin Powers and "Unknown Sender" (screening)

Ellen Sandweiss: Actor, Evil Dead. Actor/Producer of "Dangerous Women" (screening)

Anthony Farrell: Writer, "The Office." Creator of "Dwelling" (screening)

Christopher Barrett: COO of strike.tv

Lester Lewis: Writer, "The Office" and co-founder of strike.tv

Ian Deitchman: CCO of strike.tv

Susan Miller: Writer, "thirtysomething", "The L Word," Creator of "Anyone But Me" (screening)

Tina Cesa Ward: Co-creator of "Anyone But Me" (screening)

Lorin Wertheimer: Writer, "Girlfriends." Creator of "Speedie Date" (screening)

Patricia Scanlon: Creator of "Hildy, Hildy" (screening)

Keu Reyes: Creator of "Caesar & Chuy" (screening)

Magnus Janson: Creator of "The Goob" (screening)

Renaissance Pleasure Fair, Ed Harris In Person, Elvis' 75th Birthday

Wow, January is off to a rampaging start. This weekend alone at the Egyptian, we'll time travel from the Renaissance (a mini Original Renaissance Pleasure Fair is cropping up in the Courtyard Saturday as part of our Kings, Queens, Knights and Jesters film series, which includes a Saturday screening of KNIGHTRIDERS with actor Ed Harris in person) to 'Graceland East' when we celebrate The King's 75th Birthday with Elvis karaoke, films, music, foods, birthday cake and special guest, actress Francine York who appeared in TICKLE ME with Elvis.

Come to the Elvis Presley 75th Birthday press conference at Elvis' star (at Hollywood Blvd. & La Brea) and compete to win a pair of tickets to the event. Friday, January 8 at AM sharp!

Here are the details:

Kings, Queens, Knights & Jesters co-presented with the Original Renaissance Pleasure Fair Through Saturday, January 9 at the Egyptian Theatre
See the full schedule.

Saturday, January 9 – Noon - 5:00 PM (free admission)

The Original Renaissance Pleasure Faire: The Egyptian Courtyard is magically transformed into an Elizabethan village with food and merchants, performers and craft demonstrations courtesy of the original Renaissance Pleasure Faire (April 10 - May 23, 2010). Wares will include fine clothes form Muscovy Trading Co. & great games and toys from Hallowed Tree as well as other wonderful artisans from our Faire. Traditional and humorous music will fill the air with the likes of Brigid’s Daughters, Sportive Tricks, Ad Hoc Consortium, and Willie Banger. Villagers, Games, and sweet chocolates from Lady Rowley Sweets all will help create a sampling of what the Faire offers during its regular season (April 10 - May 23, 2010).

Saturday, January 9 – 1:00 PM

THE SECRET OF KELLS, 2009, 75 min. Dir. Tomm Moore. Magic, fantasy, and Celtic mythology come together in a riot of color and detail that dazzle the

eyes, in this sweeping s

tory. Best Animated Feature nominee, 2009 Annie Award and European Film Awards. Winner 2009 Annecy Int'l Film Festival. "Absolutely luscious to behold!"-Variety. "Visually ravishing"-Screen Daily. Trailer | Listen to KPCC interview with animation critic Charles Solomon and host John Rabe!

Saturday, January 9 – 5:00 PM

Double Feature:

EXCALIBUR, 1981, Warner Bros., 119 min. Director John Boorman’s retelling of the Arthur legend brings the story of Arthur’s court to life via a series of stunning images and rich performances by, among others, Nicol Williamson, Helen Mirren, Nigel Terry, Gabriel Byrne, Liam Neeson and Patrick Stewart. Trailer

KNIGHTRIDERS, 1981, Taurus, 145 min. Dir. George Romero. George Romero’s most underrated and personal film, a haunting tale of Camelot transposed to a modern-day Pennsylvania renaissance fair, where knights joust on

motorcycles. Ed Harris is mesmerizing as the doomed king, Amy Ingersoll is the Guinevere figure, and Gary Lahti stands in for Lancelot. Make-up/effects artist Tom Savini is a standout in a rare acting role. Trailer Ed Harris in person with KNIGHTRIDERS.

Elvis 75th Birthday Celebration
More information on our website.

Sunday, January 10 – 5: 30 PM

Elvis Presley 75^th Birthday Celebration:
Join us for a celebration of what would have been Elvis' 75th birthday, with films, special guest Francine York, music and karaoke from Roarshack, the biggest Elvis Mix 'n Mingle trivia game west of Memphis from Wise Guys Events (and Elvisy Prizes), food vendors including banana-peanut butter pancake bites from Buttermilk Truck, BBQ from BarbiesQ and to top it all off, birthday cake from La Morenita Bakery for the entire audience. Plus, Elvis merchandise from Hollywood Book & Poster. Fabulous prizes from Warner Bros. and Bettie Page Clothing. Dress to im-Presley!
Then at 7:30 PM, an
Elvis Presley Double Feature:
ELVIS '56, 1987, 61 min. Dir. Alan & Susan Raymond (AN AMERICAN FAMILY). A chronicle of Elvis' breakthrough year when he rose from naive rock singer to world famous superstar. Featuring rare performance footage and most of the 22 songs he recorded in 1956... "Heartbreak Hotel," "Hound Dog," "Love Me Tender" and more. Band member Levon Helm narrates. [SD/DMX Digital Cinema Presentation]

JAILHOUSE ROCK, 1957, Warner Bros., 96 min. Dir. Richard Thorpe. Elvis Presley is serving a term for manslaughter. Once the King is released from jail, he quickly rises to the top as a rock 'n' roll singer. Trailer Special Guest Francine York.

More films and more guests...

THE LOSS OF A TEARDROP DIAMOND: Sneak Preview Screening, Costume Display, and Bryce Dallas Howard and Jodie Markell In Person!

It's not every day that a new film written by Tennessee Williams is released. William's 1957 screenplay for THE LOSS OF A TEARDROP DIAMOND was supposed to be his third collaboration with director Elia Kazan (after Baby Doll and A Streetcar Named Desire), but when plans to make the film fell through, the screenplay was lost and forgotten -- until young, Memphis-born director Jodie Markell recently picked it up.

We celebrated Mr. Williams earlier this month at the Egyptian with a double feature of the Suddenly Last Summer and Cat on A Hot Tin Roof; now, join us for a sneak preview of THE LOSS OF A TEARDROP DIAMOND at the AERO THEATRE! Director Jodie Markell and star Bryce Dallas Howard will be there for a Q&A discussion after the screening. We'll also have a display of costumes from the film in the Aero lobby! Costume designer Chrisi Karvonides will be on hand to answer questions about the costumes, in the lobby.


Wednesday, December 16 - 7:30 PM
Aero Theatre
1328 Montana Ave at 14th St
Santa Monica, CA 90403
Sneak Preview: THE LOSS OF A TEARDROP DIAMOND, 2009, Paladin, 102 min. Dir. Jodie Markell. This new drama based on a recently rediscovered original screenplay by Tennessee Williams is set in the Roaring Twenties and tells the story of Fisher Willow (Bryce Dallas Howard) a headstrong young southern heiress who rebels by asking the impoverished but handsome Jimmy Dobyne (Chris Evans) to escort her to the major social events of the season. The relationship is purely a business arrangement, with Fisher paying for Jimmy’s time and attention, but when she discovers she really loves him, she finds it impossible to earn the affection she tried to buy. Also starring Ellen Burstyn, Ann-Margret and Will Patton.

Discussion following with director Jodie Markell and actor Bryce Dallas Howard. There will be a display of some of the beautiful 1920s era costumes from the film on display in the lobby as well. Special thanks to Palace Costume and Revamp Vintage Reproduction Clothing.

Chris Evans and Bryce Dallas Howard in THE LOSS OF A TEARDROP DIAMOND

Funny Or Die Presents "Internet 3.0"

The American Cinematheque had this idea to "blow up" these popular Webisode things on our giant screen, because, well, that's just the way we do things here at the Cinematheque. We like our filmed entertainment big and beefy and with our Dr. Horrible and The Guild event, we saw that 600+ other folks liked them better giant too. We don't believe that you can enjoy something that is only 2 inches square the same way you can at nearly 60 feet across. So there you go, Funny or Die thought they might be extra funny at 60 feet across so we promise you, Friday night WILL be funny. The folks at Funny or Die are just crazy enough to stray from their usual format of videos for the internet, to produce a live show about which they will only say this:

"A Live Show Featuring Surprise Guests And Premiere Videos at the Egyptian Theatre on Friday, December 11, 2009. We don't want to spoil the surprise but if you are a fan of Funny Or Die and comedy in general this show will blow you away. Comedic performers include Brett Gelman, Jordan Peele, Brandon Johnson, Charlie Sanders, and a really big comedian who likes to sit between two ferns and interview famous people. Plus, Astronaut Buzz Aldrin."

Buzz Aldrin you say? What's the deal. Well apparently Buzz conspired with Snoop Dogg and Talib Kweli to produce this (click to see "Buzz Aldrin's Rocket Experience").
Buzz Aldrin's Rocket Experience from Buzz Aldrin

Friday night is one of those not to be missed, once-in-a-lifetime experiences at the American Cinematheque. Don't miss it. Tickets are on sale now at www.fandango.com

Friday, December 11 - 7:30 PM WEBISODES
The American Cinematheque Blows Up the Internet: Funny or Die presents The Internet 3.0
Since its launch in 2007 with the now-classic video THE LANDLORD, Funnyordie.com has become the Internet's premier place for comedy. Combining shorts by noted Hollywood celebrities and filmmakers with user-generated submissions, Funnyordie is both a forum for established comic geniuses and a launching pad for up-and-coming talent. Join us at the Cinematheque for a special live program that brings together Funny or Die favorites, premiere videos, celebrity guests and surprise hosts. This is a Funny night you do not want to miss. Official Website

Added Events: SERIOUS FILMMAKING: A Coen Brothers Retrospective

SERIOUS FILMMAKING: A Coen Brothers Retrospective

From their electrifying debut with BLOOD SIMPLE in 1984 to their Academy Award-winning triumph NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN in 2007 and the recent masterpiece A SERIOUS MAN, brothers Ethan and Joel Coen have established themselves as a formidable creative force. Join us at both the Aero and Egyptian Theatres for triple features of the Coens' best films, movies that traverse the worlds of comedy, film noir, and domestic melodrama with immense wit and style. One admission price for all 3 films.

Coen Bros Triple Features

Monday, December 14, 2009 - 5:30 PM at the Egyptian

5:30 PM: RAISING ARIZONA at the Aero Theatre, 1987, 20th Century Fox, 94 min. Dir. Joel Coen. This staggeringly hilarious chronicle of the romance between inept bad boy Nicolas Cage and straight arrow cop Holly Hunter was an unexpected follow up to the Coen Bros.' chilling BLOOD SIMPLE. The kidnap scheme that follows when the loving couple learn they can't conceive kids is guaranteed to provoke more laughs per minute than any American comedy since the heyday of 1930's screwball cinema.

7:30 PM: A SERIOUS MAN at the Aero Theatre, 2009, Focus Features, 105 min. Dir. Ethan Coen, Joel Coen. Jewish physics professor Larry Gropnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) can't catch a break: his wife (Sari Lennick) wants a divorce, his malady-laden brother (Richard Kind) is living on his couch, and his tenure is endangered by a small misunderstanding that snowballs into a fiasco. Only the Coen brothers could make such a modern-day Job's plight so painfully hilarious; their return to the world of Minnesota academia in which they grew up yields one of their richest, most personal films to date.

9:30 PM BLOOD SIMPLE at the Aero Theatre 1984, MGM Repertory, 99 min. Joel and Ethan Coen's first feature film is one of the most assured moviemaking debuts in recent history. Hangdog Texas bar owner Marty (Dan Hedaya) hires a corrupt and corpulent detective (M. Emmet Walsh) to kill Abby, his unfaithful wife (Frances McDormand) and her lover (John Getz). Winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize-Dramatic.

"...it's the noir-style humor, not the violence, that makes this tribute to James M. Cain and Alfred Hitchcock so good." - Desson Thomson, The Washington Post;

"Grisly, stylish and often weirdly funny, BLOOD SIMPLE is a reminder of how rarely an original artistic sensibility is announced to the world and how much better movies are when that sensibility is allowed to keep going its own way." - Anne Hornaday, The Baltimore Sun

Egyptian Theatre Details



Tuesday, December 15 - 5:30 PM
5:30 PM
FARGO at the Egyptian Theatre
1996, MGM Repertory, 98 min. One of Joel and Ethan Coen's most acclaimed films, winning their first Oscars (Screenplay) as well as a Frances McDormand victory for best actress. Cool, calm, collected (and pregnant!) policewoman Marge (McDormand) tracks the kidnappers of a used car salesman's wife in North Dakota's snow-covered wasteland. Salesman Jerry's (William H. Macy) inept plot to get out of debt by staging the hoax unravels in gory fashion when his two bizarrely mismatched henchmen (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) have a falling out. That hulking Stormare's nonchalant, bloodcurdling use of a woodchipper at the limax emerges as both chilling and hilarious testifies to the Coen's complete mastery of tone in the filmmaking process. "...an illuminating amalgam of emotion and thought. It glimpses into the heart of man and unearths a blackly comic nature, hellishly mercurial and selfish, yet strangely innocent. If it weren't so funny, it would be unbearably disturbing." - Arnold Wayne Jones, The Dallas Observer "A crime gem that is darkly funny even when it's chilling - and certain to become a classic." - Peter Stack, The San Francisco Chronicle

7:30 PM
A SERIOUS MAN at the Egyptian Theatre
2009, Focus Features, 105 min. Dir. Ethan Coen, Joel Coen. Jewish physics professor Larry Gropnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) can't catch a break: his wife (Sari Lennick) wants a divorce, his malady-laden brother (Richard Kind) is living on his couch, and his tenure is endangered by a small misunderstanding that snowballs into a fiasco. Only the Coen brothers could make such a modern-day Job's plight so painfully hilarious; their return to the world of Minnesota academia in which they grew up yields one of their richest, most personal films to date.

9:30 PM: BARTON FINK at the Egyptian Theatre
1991, 20th Century Fox, 116 min. Winner of best director, best actor and a Unanimous winner of the.Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival. In the Depression Era, naïve and ridiculously idealistic New York playwright Barton Fink (John Turturro, in a tour-de-force performance) is brought out to tinseltown by an egocentric movie mogul (hilarious Michael Lerner) to write a "wrestling picture for Wallace Beery." Joel and Ethan Coen engineer an escalating case of existential dread for Fink in his quiet hotel room when he is afflicted with a terrifying case of writer's block. The few people Fink meets fuel his mushrooming paranoia: a William Faulkner-type writer (John Mahoney) too drunk to work, the writer's tragic mistress (Judy Davis) and last, but not least, the only guy he's been able to make friends with - a sweet-natured traveling salesman (John Goodman) from next door who may just turn out to be the notorious serial killer, Madman Muntz. "What RAISING ARIZONA was to baby lust, BARTON FINK is to writer's block -- a rapturously funny, strangely bittersweet, moderately horrifying and, yes, truly apt description of the condition and its symptoms." - Rita Kempley, The Washington Post

Aero Theatre Details

Wizard of Oz Costume Contest at the Aero Theatre

Dress in your best Munchkin, Flying Monkey or Toto costume and have a chance to take home the Wizard of Oz Ultimate Edition DVD set!


HTML clipboardSunday, November 29 - 4:00 PM
at the Aero Theatre
THE WIZARD OF OZ, 1939, Warner Bros., 101 min. Dir. Victor Fleming. Judy Garland is Dorothy in this sublime, candy-colored adaptation of L. Frank Baum's children's favorite, one of the most beloved film classics of all time. Take a surreal stroll down the yellow brick road with Dorothy as she encounters the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, Glinda the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West. But there's no place like home! Don't miss the display of Wizard of Oz artwork at Every Picture Tells A Story! Trailer

Come in costume and participate in the WIZARD OF OZ costume contest before the screening and win a Blu-ray DVD (courtesy of Warner Home Video).

The 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition contains nearly four hours of all-new bonus material, plus Digital Copy, and come in numbered packaging.

Supplemental highlights include the original extended version of If I Only Had a Brain; the documentary MGM: When the Lion Roars; The Dreamer of Oz, (a 1990 TV bio-pic about Oz author L. Frank Baum); Victor Fleming, Master Craftsman, a new documentary about the director); Hollywood Celebrates It's Biggest Little Stars, a featurette dedicated to the life and times of the actors who played the Munchkins; two 1914 silent films, The Magic Cloak of Oz and The Patchwork Girl of Oz, both produced by Baum, a sing-along track; promotional artworks; 52-page miniature book, and a numbered Wizard of Oz 70th Anniversary watch!