/Film LA: Back To The Future, Grant Morrison, Freaked, The S*** Show, Horrifying Anthology Of Horror Anthologies With Tommy Wiseau, Monsters In Movies, The Blob, Seed Of Chucky And Fringe

/Film LA is my attempt to highlight the coolest film screenings and events happening in Los Angeles. In today's edition, we tell you about...

  • An advance screening of the documentary Grant Morrison: Talking to Gods with the director in attendance
  • Special presentation of "Monsters in the Movies" featuring a panel of industry guests including director Jon Favreau
  • Seed of Chucky reunion screening with writer/director Don Mancini, actors Jennifer Tilly and Brad Dourif, master puppeteer Tony Gardner, and producers David Kirschner and Corey Sienega
  • Director/Star Alex Winter screens Freaked at Kevin Smith's Smodcastle
  • A Horrifying Anthology Of Horror Anthologies with The Room director Tommy Wiseau in person to present his brand-new short film
  • Two night only presentation of a newly restored print of Back to the Future
  • Rob Huebel hosts The S*** Show, a collection of the worst (real) pilots, movies, and projects you've ever seen presented by the actors who regret doing them (including Justin Long and Will Sasso
  • Comic actor Brian Posehn presents a screening of the 1988 remake of The Blob
  • Fringe series star John Noble and executive producers Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman appear in person.
  • Hit the jump to find out more!

    Thursday, October 21st 2010 at 8:00pm: Meltdown Comics (7522 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood) is hosting an advance screening of the documentary Grant Morrison: Talking to Gods. The documentary explores the life of the writer, and Director Patrick Meaney will be on hand after the screening for a Q&A session with a "special guest". Here is the official info:

    Be among the first to check out the feature length documentary on one of comics' most popular and enigmatic writers at this exclusive LA preview event! See the entire feature length documentary featuring Grant and many of his closest collaborators and friends.

    Tickets are $10 at the door. Thanks to Robert Peterson here of CC2K for the tip.

    Thursday, October, 21st 2010 at 7:00pm: Special effects makeup artist and animatronics effects supervisor Shane Mahan will host the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' "Monsters in the Movies" event at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater, which will feature a panel of special guests that include director Jon Favreau (Iron Man), Visual Effects Artist Phil Tippett (Jurassic Park), Makeup artist Greg Cannom (Bram Stoker's Dracula), Actor David Naughton (An American Werewolf in London) and Producer Lou Arkoff (The 13th Warrior). Here is information from the Academy:

    Film clips will trace the evolution of creature technology, from "King Kong" (1933), "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935), "Creature from the Black Lagoon" (1954), "Horror of Dracula" (1958), "One Million Years B.C." (1966), "Planet of the Apes" (1968), "The Exorcist" (1973), "An American Werewolf in London" (1981), "Aliens" (1986) and "Jurassic Park" (1993) through the digital age of "Zathura: A Space Adventure" (2005) and "King Kong" (2005). The evening will include conversations with some of the films' creative teams who will discuss the role art and technology play in shaping creature design in feature films. Complementing the presentation will be a lobby display of historic and contemporary artifacts used to create the visually stunning effects for a range of aliens and creatures from classic monster movies.

    You can order tickets online for $5 for general audiences, $3 for members or students.

    Thursday, October 21st 2010 at 7:30pm: The New Beverly Cinema is showing a double feature of Seed of Chucky and Orphan. In attendance for the Seed of Chucky screening will be writer/director Don Mancini, actors Jennifer Tilly and Brad Dourif, master puppeteer Tony Gardner, and producers David Kirschner and Corey Sienega. The double feature costs $7 and tickets can be purchased at the box office, which opens 15 minutes prior to the first film and remains open until the second film starts.

    Freaked

    Friday, October 22nd 2010 at 7:00pm: Alex Winter and Tom Stern's cult classic Freaked will screen at Kevin Smith's Smodcastle with a post screening Q&A with Alex Winter. Here is the info from Smodcastle:

    A company that produces a toxic chemical tries to improve its image via a popular spokesperson, Ricky Coogan. Ricky travels to South America to get a first-hand look at the chemical's effects and finds himself at a mutant freak farm. Elijah, who runs the farm, is only too happy to have new subjects on which to try his freak machine. The very chemical that Ricky is supposed to promote is the one responsible for creating the great variety of freaks. Directed by Alex Winter and Tom Stern. Starring Alex Winter, Randy Quaid and Brooke Shields.

    Here is the trailer:

    Buy tickets now on Smodcastle.com for only $10.

    Friday, October 22nd 2010 at 7:00pm: Cinefamily is hosting The Diabolical Dr. Cinefamily's Horrifying Anthology Of Horror Anthologies, which features Night Train To Terror, Creepshow and more with The Room director Tommy Wiseau in person to present his brand-new short The House That Dripped Blood On Alex. Here is the official description from Cinefamily:

    Most movie all-nighters have five movies, six movies, tops — that means, at most, maybe half a dozen bloody finales, three or four twist endings, and a cool premise or two. That's nothing. How about SIXTEEN different horror stories, one after another? You don't like one? Wait half an hour, it's gone! They said it couldn't be done, but we've found a way: our dark secret is the "omnibus" movie, in which several short films (often with different casts and directors) are bundled under one umbrella. The Diabolical Dr. Cinefamily is gonna stitch together several of these anthology films, exhibiting classic five-for-one winners (like Creepshow) in their entirety or just grabbing a favorite single short from another, to create one gruesome, mammoth ass-to-mouth cinematic centipede of horror films! Plus, we've got Tommy Wiseau (The Room) in person, to present his brand-new short The House That Dripped Blood On Alex! To kick off the night, we promise a rare 35mm screening of –

    Night Train To Terror: What would happen if God and the Devil decided the fate of mankind while on a train ride? This is a question that has plagued us for eons, a question that the producers of 1985's horror anthology Night Train To Terror felt compelled to answer. Well, OK, maybe what they felt compelled to do was take three trashy, unreleasable horror films they collectively owned, stitch 'em together haphazardly and re-release them as an anthology. The result is a barely comprehensible jumble of scenes and story threads that ends up feeling like an experimental piece filtered through an '80s horror cheese sensibility. MTV-reject rock bands, occult Nazis, stop-motion giant insects, Cameron Mitchell — you just never know what this crazy movie is going to throw at you next. It's the most holyf***ings*** of all horror anthologies: that rare blend of the inexplicable and the highly entertaining. This will likely NEVER screen again in 35mm in the U.S., so make sure you catch it while you have the chance!

    Tickets are $10 or free for members. Purchase now on brownpapertickets.com.

    Saturday, October 23rd 2010 at 10:00pm: Rob Huebel (Human Giant, I Love You Man, Children's Hospital) hosts The S*** Show at Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.

    A collection of the worst (real) pilots, movies, and projects you've ever seen. Presented by the actors who regret doing them.

    The October 23rd show will feature Justin Long (Live Free or Die Hard), Will Sasso (Mad TV, $#*! My Dad Says), Sarah Burns (Life as We Know It, Going the Distance, I Love You Man) and Kate Micucci ('Til Death, When in Rome). Tickers are only $10 and can be purchased now on UCBTheatre.com. The venue is small (only 95 seats), so arrive early to ensure good seating.

    October 23rd and 25th: In honor of the 2th anniversary, a newly restored digital "print" of Back to the Future is being rereleased on the big screen for two nights only. You can see a list of participating AMC Theatres at this link. All guests will receive a full-sized poster commemorating the 25th Anniversary limited-release of the movie with their ticket purchase, while supplies last. Each theatre will also have special movie-related giveaways prior to the movie as a part of the experience.I had the opportunity to see this restored presentation while I was in London, and it is remarkably clean. I've seen this movie hundreds of times over the past 25 years and I was able to see things in this new print that I had never been able to see before. The presentation is so clear, almost to a flaw — Theeffects make-up they used to make the 1985 counterparts (Marty's parents, Doc, Biff) appear 30 years older are now clearly apparent. I saw the film in a half full theater, and everyone had an amazing time. This movie really holds up, even decades later.

    Sunday, October 24th 2010 from 5:00pm-9:00pm: Fringe series star John Noble and executive producers Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman will be appearing at Meltdown Comics in Hollywood to meet fans and auction off five special items from the series — five alternate-universe versions of classic comic book covers created by DC Comics artists that appeared on-screen in  the season two finale. The auction will benefit Autism Speaks. Also, props from the show will be on display, including Newton's laser scalpel, an alternate universe inhaler, Nixon coin and Martin Luther King $20 bill. Read more information about the event on cincity2000.

    Monday, October 25th 2010 at 8:00pm: Brian Posehn (The Sarah Silverman Program, Mr. Show) presents a screening of one of his favorite '80s horror flicks: 1988's remake of The Blob at Cinefamily's Silent Movie Theatre. Here is the official description from Cinefamily:

    The Blob transforms the slow, harmless looking puddle from the original '50s camp classic into a fleshy and fast-moving force of pure appetite that's impossible to escape from—even pulling a victim through a kitchen sink in one of the film's best-remembered moments. Grisly, witty, and incredibly fast-paced, this is one of the great unsung B-movie gems of its time! Dir. Chuck Russell, 1988, 35mm, 95 min.

    Tickets are $14 for general public, $10 for members, $36 for a two-person couch, or $54 for a three-person couch. Buy tickets on brownpapertickets.com.

    Other Upcoming Events (previously featured in /Film LA:

  • Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday this Fall: ElecTRONica at Disney California Adventure
  • October 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, 29, 30, 31: Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights
  • October 21st – 31st 2010: The Nightmare Before Christmas in 4D (composer Danny Elfman in appearance on the 21st)
  • November 1st 2010: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: Q&A hosted by Guillermo Del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth), featuring filmmaker Edgar Wright and Bryan Lee O'Malley (the creator of the graphic novel, which the film is based upon).
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