Movie Alert - 7/30/2023
Here's all the good shit I highly recommend checking out.
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Honey West: TV Private Eye
This is a screening so rare it deserves its own section in the Substack. The Billy Wilder Theater inside the Hammer Museum (one of my favorite venues) will be showing some prints of a TV show called Honey West from 1965. They have 35mm and 16mm network prints, including two episodes with commercials. The show is a vibe and absolutely rules. It shares some writing staff with Columbo and Murder, She Wrote if you like that kind of thing (and you should).
Lady in a Cage
The wildest thing to me about this Honey West event is that they will be screening the show’s pilot, directed by Walter Grauman. Walter Grauman is mostly known for directing Lady in a Cage, a film I got to screen while studying post-WW2 film at USC. It’s a horrifying little movie where Olivia de Havilland (the woman who helped take down the studio system) plays a woman who gets trapped in her house elevator while intruders break in. It’s an unhinged movie and critics at the time called it “reprehensible.” Time Magazine literally called Olivia de Havilland a freak for starring in it. The original trailer is extremely worth watching.
Grindhouse in 35mm
My go-to movie theater, the Lumiere Cinema, continues to dip its toes into the repertory world with a Grindhouse festival in August. A lot of the films they have on deck are ones I’ve never seen screened in 35mm. I got to see Pieces in 35mm at Cinefamily a decade ago (it screens at New Beverly occasionally as well) and it’s one of my favorite Grindhouse horror movies. They also have Cannibal Holocaust, The Beyond, Don’t Go in the Woods, and others screening. I’m obligated to go to the 35mm presentation of Night Train to Terror because I’ve made it my personal goal to see every train-related horror movie.
An ode to the Lumiere
I talk about how much I love the Lumiere a lot in this Substack, not only because it’s walking distance for me and always has my favorite horror releases, but because I really want them to succeed. The current ownership (who were former Laemmle employees) bought the Music Hall and re-opened it in 2019 after the Laemmle there closed, keeping it alive through the pandemic. An indie distribution company leased it in 2021 and helped fund renovations. This theater first opened in 1937 and it’s a miracle it’s still standing.
Some other random ones
Most of these aren’t particularly rare, but if you haven’t seen these movies you may as well catch them in an interesting format.
To Live and Die in L.A. in 35mm at the Academy Museum
The Conversation in 35mm at New Beverly
Phranc’s Adventure in Plastic / Shinjuku Boys in digital video at Billy Wilder Theater (free) - this is part of an ongoing series on gender-nonconforming heroes, and I will add that this one is probably not something you’ll be able to see often
Rosemary’s Baby in 35mm at the Los Feliz 3
Do the Right Thing 4K Restoration at Academy Museum