/Film LA: Alamo Drafthouse Eyes Los Feliz/Silverlake, 12-Hour Horror Marathon, Scott Pilgrim, Point Break Live And More

Last January I moved to Los Angeles, and over the past eight months I've been surprised at just how many cool film events are going on in this city (and it seems that film geeks like you and me just don't know about half of them). Some of the local blogs have listings of screenings, and the weekly newspapers have that never-ending list of events which is a pain to sift through, but none of them fill my needs. I've wanted for a long time to start a weekly listing of my own to try to fill this hole, but never had enough time to do so. With the recent hiring of Germain Lussier, I'm hoping this will allow me to do more features like this on the site.

Let me warn you: I'm not quite sure what /Film LA will be, but I expect it to be something that will evolve over time. To be honest, I'm not even sure this will be a weekly feature — I might end up posting /Film LA a couple times weekly, or maybe even one every other week... we'll see. It might also depend on how much stuff content we have to disperse.

After the jump I bring you stories which include the Alamo Drafthouse's plans to expand into Los Angeles (they are currently considering the Los Feliz/Silverlake and downtown areas), Point Break Live's viral street advertising, Arclight's Halloween Horror series and the New Beverly Cinema's 12-Hour All Night Horror Marathon.

The header photo: I have yet to see the stage adaptation of Academy Award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow's 1991 cult classic Point Break, but I did spot these awesome viral street posters handing around the neighborhood.

When Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim League was named CEO of the Alamo Drafthouse brand, I wished out loud that the Alamo would invade Los Angeles. I said:

Now if only League could open a Drafhouse in Hollywood. Don't get me wrong, I love the New Beverly Cinema — but it lacks the comfortable seating and in theater food options of the Drafthouse. I'd love to see what League could do with his signature events in a town where prints and special appearances from actors and directors would be a short car ride away.

Since returning to power, League has relaunched the Rolling Roadshow, announced an Alamo Drafthouse Films distribution arm, and even revealed that yes, Alamo is planning to expand to New York City and Los Angeles in 2011 and 2012. But where in Los Angeles? League gave a fantastic interview to my friend Jen Yamato at Wall Street Journal, which gives us an idea:

We're going to focus on it after Fantastic Fest; we've done a little research and real estate scoutings but we're sensitive about making sure that the first one that we do in Los Angeles is the right spot. It's fairly complicated; there are some arcane rules about how you can get film. You can't just plop down a theater anywhere and expect to get movies from a studio. There are geographic boundaries, so if you plop in a mile down from the Arclight you won't be able to get movies. It's really bizarre, it's the only industry I know of that has this system, but we have to play within the rules. ... We're looking at several spots. We'd love to be somewhere within range of the Los Feliz/Silverlake area because it feels the closest to Austin and our core, but there are lots of areas that could work. Downtown is kind of interesting. We'll see.

While downtown is becoming a much cooler place to hang out than it use to be, it's still a hike for most of the people that live in this city. I personally wish they could build the Drafthouse in a location more central to Hollywood, but obviously that isn't likely to happen. The Los Feliz/Silverlake area has a very young/hip community, but location and parking are key.

Also, I hope that the Alamo doesn't hike their tickets/food prices. The thing I always loved about the Alamo is that it was never marketed as a premium theatre experience. The ticket prices are the same as any other theater in Austin, and the food is moderately priced. Thus, the fact that you can order food during films is seen as an added value. Although it will be interesting to see if Alamo adapts to the pre-purchased seating trend which is big in this city. Right now the Austin-based Alamo theaters remain general admission venues.

The New Beverly Cinema is holding their third annual All Night Horror Show on Saturday October 9th, a 12-hour movie marathon beginning at 7:30pm and ending on October 10th at 7:30am. The New Bev Fundraiser includes 7 Films for only $20.

1982, Italy

written & directed by Dario Argento, starring Anthony Franciosa, Christian Borromeo, Mirella D'Angelo, Veronica Lario, Eva Robins, John Saxon, Daria Nicolodi

1980, Italy, 93 minutes

directed by Lucio Fulci, starring Christopher George, Catriona MacColl, Carlo De Mejo, Antonella Interlenghi, Giovanni Lombardo Radice

1978, USA, 89 minutes

35mm print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive

directed by Gus Trikonis, starring Richard Crenna, Joanna Pettet, Andrew Prine, Cassie Yates, George O'Hanlon Jr., Victor Buono?

?????????????

1957, USA, 75 minutes

directed by Fred F. Sears, starring Jeff Morrow, Mara Corday, Morris Ankrum, Louis Merrill, Edgar Barrier, Robert Shayne

1986, USA, 77 minutes

written & directed by Tim Kincaid, starring Teresa Farley, Lance Lewman, Frances Raines, Natalie O'Connell, Amy Brentano, LeeAnne Baker

1987, USA, 87 minutes

directed by Tom Daley, starring Deborah Winters, James Huston, Andra St. Ivanyi, Scott Bankston, Mark Mitchell

You can preorder tickets at BrownPaperTickets. Schedule subject to change.

Also, the Arclight is celebrating October with a Halloween Horror! Series:

POLTERGEIST (R), 1982

Monday, October 4 at 8:00PM

THE RING (PG13), 2002

Tuesday, October 5 at 7:30PM

HOUSE OF WAX (NR), 1953

Wednesday, October 6 at 7:45PM

I'm considering checking out Poltergeist if I get time.

And the New Beverly Cinema has added two more midnight screenings of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Comedian Doug Benson will moderate a Q&A for both screenings featuring director Edgar Wright and "perhaps more guests still." So you never know what cast and crew may appear live next to Wright.

November 12th is already sold out with only the standby line on the night for more tickets, but November 13th is still available — on sale now on BrownPaperTickets.com.

If you have any tips or suggestions for future /Film LA updates, please e-mail us at orfilms@gmail.com. Be it movie screenings, events, crazy photos of film related awesomeness found around LA — send it to us! If what you send us is cool, we promise to share it with the readers in the next edition!