A virtuosic layering of physical theater, puppetry, dance and live music, this contemporary parable follows Little Branko, a faceless snowsuit transformed by puppeteers into a modern-day Everyman on a dark odyssey through the 20th century. The story takes Little Branko around the world, where he is confronted by other rootless figures—characters either too impetuous or not brave enough to be able to change the world. Show Your Face! is an award-winning collaboration by avant-garde Slovene physical-theater troupe Betontanc, Latvian object-theater masters Umka.lv, and the Slovene pop-electronic group Silence.
LAIFF celebrates the Irish passion for storytelling, a tradition that started around the hearth of every Irish household and has found its way onto the world stage through the medium of film. Coupled with the treasures of Ireland’s moviemaking past, LAIFF presents modern works as diverse as they are unique, creating a cinematic barometer for the cultural climate of Ireland in 2010.
Kicking off the festival is a double feature of the Los Angeles premieres of MY BROTHERS and SWANSONG: STORY OF OCCI BYRNE, both powerful coming-of-age dramas portraying the complexities of family ties. Also in store is A SHINE OF RAINBOWS, a delightful, family-friendly tale of a young orphan’s voyage to an enchanting island; CUP CAKE, a quirky comedy about an introverted 20-something inheriting his family’s cupcake shop; and THE YELLOW BITTERN, a fascinating documentary about Irish folk-singer Liam Clancy. Closing the festival is Jim Sheridan's THE FIELD, starring the illustrious Richard Harris as a willful, rough-edged farmer who refuses to auction off his family’s land to a wealthy American bidder.
Come muse, explore, celebrate and be entertained with the LAIFF... and bring an umbrella just in case! Some programs for this festival are not at theAero Theatre. It kicks off September 30 at the Motion Picture Academy's Linwood Dunn Theatre. There will be an industry seminar on Friday, October 1st in the afternoon.
End the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in Oz with a family matinee of the enduring (70 years so far!) musical favorite. Follow the Yellow Brick Road to the Aero Theater in Santa Monica... THE WIZARD OF OZ - 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!
*Come in costume and participate in the WIZARD OF OZ costume contest before the screening.
Sunday, November 29 - 4:00 PM 1939, Warner Bros., 101 min. Dir. Victor Fleming
It's hard to believe it's been 17 years since Mike Judge's cultural icons Beavis and Butt-head played their first game of frog baseball on MTV's Liquid Television, spreading their message of nachos and fire. The Beavis and Butt-head decade culminating in a big screen movie was followed by television's second longest running animated show, "King of the Hill," an innovative Emmy-award- winning cartoon that does not stray far from real life. Judge, the Austin, Texas-based creator, writer and director, also supplied his unique vocal talents to both shows, bringing to life everyone from champion father Hank Hill and the clarity-impaired Boomhauer to teenage metal heads Beavis and Butt-head as well as the liberal community college administrating dad in his latest show "The Goode Family." A true champion of animation, Judge, along with fellow animator Don Hertzfeldt, run a very successful touring animation festival called "The Animation Show," which screens shorts including the works of many independent filmmakers. Not new to live action, Judge's 1999 cult comedy, OFFICE SPACE, has become one of film history's most quotable movies, a sharp satire needling the numbing existence of office life. The hilarious and bold satire of the future of the American dream, IDIOCRACY, was unfortunately given a limited release but has become an underground hit based on it's own merit. More Here....
In Play Time, Tati's character, M. Hulot, and a group of American tourists attempt to navigate a futuristic Paris constructed of straight lines, modernist glass and steel high-rise buildings, multi-lane roadways, and cold, artificial furnishings. In this environment, only the irrepressible nonconformity of human nature and an occasional appreciation for the good old days breathe life into an otherwise sterile urban lifestyle.
DR. STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB, Berserk military honcho Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) sends off the code to Strategic Air Command bombers to start WWIII. Against a gallery of unforgettable comic grotesques, including Hayden’s fluoride-hating general and George C. Scott’s oversexed Commie killer, Peter Sellers stands out in arguably his greatest role(s) – as the befuddled U.S. president, the veddy British commander Mandrake and the maniacal Dr. Strangelove. (Interestingly, Sellers was supposed to play a fourth role – Slim Pickens’ B-52 pilot – before illness forced him to drop out!)
1964, Sony Repertory, 93 min. Dir. Stanley Kubrick.
Director, screenwriter, and actor Jules Dassin first gained recognition for a series of tough, realistic urban action movies during film noir’s glory years: the prison thriller BRUTE FORCE (1947), the police docudrama THE NAKED CITY (1948) and the riveting crime picture THIEVES’ HIGHWAY (1949). One of Dassin’s best films was NIGHT AND THE CITY, a 1950 classic starring Richard Widmark as a shady wrestling promoter; unfortunately, it was also the director’s final film before his exile from Hollywood. The blacklist sent Dassin, who had old ties to the Communist Party, to Europe for the rest of his career. Barely able to speak French, Dassin relocated to Paris in 1953 and helmed the masterful heist film RIFIFI (1954); in 1955, he won a directing award for the film at Cannes. Other classics followed, including the comedy NEVER ON SUNDAY (1960) and another heist classic, TOPKAPI (1964). Dassin’s work was marked by a blend of gritty reality and poetic expressionism; as critic J. Hoberman wrote in the New York Times, "Dassin’s characteristic movies combine Pop Front sentimentality and pulp fiction violence; his directorial style is at once overtly theatrical and cannily neo-realist. The hybrid was his forte." The Aero will screen six of Mr. Dassin’s most acclaimed films.
West Coast premiere!
