/Film LA: Scorsese/DiCaprio Retrospective, Live Donnie Darko Commentary, Four Lions, Darren Bousman's Abattoir, Elm Street

/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...

  • Director Darren Bousman appears with co-writers Rob Levin and Troy Peteri to promote the release of their new comic book Abattoir
  • A Nightmare on Elm Street with composer Charles Berstein in person
  • A 2-Day 4-film retrospective of the collaborations between director Martin Scorsese and actor Leonardo DiCaprio featuring a live conversation with the two.
  • A free sneak preview screening of Four Lions with director Chris Morris in attendance
  • Donnie Darko screening in one of the locations from the movie featuring live commentary with writer/director Richard Kelly
  • Hit the jump to find out more!

    Tuesday, October 26th 2010: Cinefamily is holding a sneak preview of Four Lions with director Chris Morris in attendance to answer questions following the film, plus a reception to follow on the backyard Spanish patio. And guess what — it is a free screening. You can't beat free.

    To attend, one must one must RSVP. One RSVP per person. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Your RSVP does not guarantee you a seat. You will receive a confirmation email of your RSVP 24-48 hours before showtime. Early arrival is highly recommended. Doors will open 30 minutes before showtime. No one will be admitted after the film has begun.

    Here is the official plot synopsis:

    Chris Morris' Four Lions is a whip-smart, laugh-out-loud comedy that illuminates the war on terror through satire and farce. Four Lions proves that while terrorism may be about ideology, it's also about idiots. In a British city, four men have a secret plan. Omar (Riz Ahmed) is disillusioned about the treatment of muslims around the world and is determined to become a soldier. This is the most exciting idea Waj (Kayvan Novak) has ever heard. Better still it's a no brainer because Omar does his thinking for him. Opposed to Omar and everyone else on earth is the white islamic convert Barry (Nigel Lindsay). He'd realize he joined the cell to channel his nihilism – if he had half the self knowledge of a duck. Faisal (Adeel Akhtar) is the odd man out. He can make a bomb – but he can't blow himself up just now coz his sick dad has "started eating newspaper". Instead he's training crows to fly bombs through windows. This is what Omar has to deal with. They must strike a decisive blow on their own turf but can any of them strike a match without punching himself in the face? Four Lions plunges us beyond seeing these young men as unfathomably alien. It undermines the folly of just wishing them away or, even worse, alienating the entire culture from which they emerge. The film is neither pro nor anti religious. The jokes fly out of the characters' conflicts, excesses and mistakes. Crackling with wit and tension, Four Lions is the essential response to our failure to engage with reality and a high toast to the idea that laughter is better than killing.

    Wednesday, October 27th at 7:30pm: American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre Presents a screening of Donnie Darko with writer/director Richard Kelly in person to provide live director's commentary throughout the film. And that isn't all — remember that some scenes from the film were actually shot at the Aero Theatre, so you'll not only get to watch the film with live commentary from the director, but you'll be sitting in one of the locations the film was shot. How meta. Tickets are now on sale on Fandango.

    Wednesday, October 27th 2010 at 5:00pm: Director Darren Bousman (Saw 2-4, Repo! The Genetic Opera, Mother's Day) will be appearing with co-writers Rob Levin and Troy Peteri at Golden Apple Comics (7018 Melrose Ave) to promote the release of their new comic book Abattoir from Radical Comics. Radical's strategy is to create comic book properties that are pre-packaged for adaptation to film and other media, so this could eventually become a movie (which explains Bousman's involvement – he is attached to write/direct a Abattoir feature).

    Wednesday, October 27th 2010 at 7:30pm: American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre Presents a screening of A Nightmare on Elm Street with composer Charles Berstein in person for a post screening discussion. Here is the listing from AC:

    A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, 1984, Warner Bros., 92 min. Director Wes Craven created one of his most famous movie milestones with this supremely entertaining horror opus. Dead child-killer/dream demon Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) proves a formidable homicidal antihero but finds a more than worthy opponent in feisty, brainy teen Heather Langenkamp. With Johnny Depp.

    You can preorder tickets now on Fandango.

    The American Cinematheque will present a two-day retrospective of the film collaborations of director Martin Scorsese and actor Leonardo DiCaprio on November 13th and 14th at the Egyptian Theatre. The two-day event will feature screenings of Gangs of New York, The Departed, The Aviator and Shutter Island. The presentation is an attempt for award publicity for Shutter Island, which was released early 2010. As part of the retrospective, on November 14th Scorsese and DiCaprio will participate in a conversation where DiCaprio will attend in person and Scorsese will take part via satellite from London. Read the full press release below:

    AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE PRESENTS SCORSESE AND DICAPRIO A TWO-DAY RETROSPECTIVE OF THE FILM COLLABORATIONS FROM THE PROLIFIC DIRECTOR-ACTOR PARTNERSHIP NOVEMBER 13TH & 14TH AT THE HISTORIC EGYPTIAN THEATRE IN HOLLYWOOD INCLUDING A CONVERSATION WITH LEONARDO DICAPRIO IN PERSON AND MARTIN SCORSESE SATELITTED IN FROM LONDON

    Hollywood, California, October 21, 2010 – The American Cinematheque announced today that it will feature a two-day retrospective of the film collaborations of Academy Award® winning director Martin Scorsese and three-time Academy Award® nominated actor, Leonardo DiCaprio on November 13 and 14 at the historic Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. The two-day event will feature screenings of the four acclaimed films on which Scorsese and DiCaprio have collaborated: GANGS OF NEW YORK, THE DEPARTED, THE AVIATOR and this year's hit SHUTTER ISLAND. As part of the retrospective on November 14, Scorsese and DiCaprio will participate in a conversation where DiCaprio will attend in person and Scorsese will take part via satellite from London.

    Tickets to the event are available online at the WWW.EGYPTIANTHEATRE.COM. A full program description follows:

    SCORSESE AND DICAPRIO

    November 13 – 14 at the Egyptian Theatre.

    After productive ongoing relationships with Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel in the 1970s, '80s and '90s, Academy Award® winning director Martin Scorsese found a new muse in the 2000s in the form of TITANIC star Leonardo DiCaprio who had already earned his first Oscar® nomination at the age of twenty for his breakout role in WHAT'S EATING GILBERT GRAPE. Starting with GANGS OF NEW YORK in 2002 and continuing through three more films (including THE DEPARTED, THE AVIATOR and this year's hit SHUTTER ISLAND), DiCaprio and Scorsese have found a common language and created a body of work that stands alongside the best actor-director partnerships. The Cinematheque is proud to present a complete series of their collaborations.

    Saturday, November 13 – 5:00 PM SCORSESE & DICAPRIO?Double Feature: THE DEPARTED, 2006, Warner Bros., 151 min. Dir. Martin Scorsese. Scorsese returns to crime and the streets, though this time the mean streets are in Boston, not New York. Leonardo DiCaprio is an undercover cop pretending to be a crook and Matt Damon is a gangster (a protege of crime lord Jack Nicholson) passing himself off as a cop; as both men get deeper and deeper into their false identities, the danger to their bodies and souls increases exponentially. Scorsese finally got his Oscar for this riveting thriller that also stars Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, and Alec Baldwin.

    GANGS OF NEW YORK, 2001, Miramax Films, 167 min. Martin Scorsese's most ambitious epic uses the visual language of the American Western to tell a very urban story: the history of New York's development in the wake of the Civil War. Leonardo DiCaprio is a young man bent on vengeance whose nemesis, the evil but seductive Bill the Butcher (Daniel Day Lewis), leads his city's anti-immigrant "nativist" movement.

    Sunday, November 14 – 1:00 PM SCORSESE & DICAPRIO?Double Feature: SHUTTER ISLAND, 2010, Paramount Pictures, 138 min. Dir. Martin Scorsese. Adapted from a Dennis Lehane novel, an investigator who enters a mental institution to solve a crime and is quickly immersed in a tale of haunting mystery and psychological suspense that unfolds entirely on a fortress-like island housing a hospital for the criminally insane. Leonardo DiCaprio heads up an all-star cast (Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo, Max von Sydow, Patricia Clarkson) in this chilling compendium of mid-20th century horrors.

    THE AVIATOR, 2004, Miramax Films, 170 min. Dir. Martin Scorsese. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Howard Hughes in this biopic that earned him an Academy Award® nomination for Best Actor. The gripping drama focuses largely on Hughes' adventures in Hollywood – a time frame that allows Martin Scorsese to construct a grand old-fashioned entertainment in the tradition of the classic studio system. Recreations of the Cocoanut Grove and other Hollywood landmarks, along with expert turns by Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn and Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner, make this a feast for movie fans.

    Discussion at 1pm with actor Leonardo DiCaprio in person and director Martin Scorsese via satellite from London.

    About American Cinematheque

    Established in 1981, the American Cinematheque is a 501 C 3 non-profit viewer-supported film exhibition and cultural organization dedicated to the celebration of the Moving Picture in all of its forms. At the Egyptian Theatre, the Cinematheque presents daily film and video programming which ranges from the classics of American and international cinema to new independent films and digital work. Exhibition of rare works, special and rare prints, etc., combined with fascinating post-screening discussions with the filmmakers who created the work, are a Cinematheque tradition that keep audiences coming back for once-in-a-lifetime cinema experiences. The American Cinematheque renovated and reopened (on Dec. 4, 1998) the historic 1922 Hollywood Egyptian Theatre. This includes a state-of-the-art 616-seat theatre housed within Sid Grauman's first grand movie palace on Hollywood Boulevard. The exotic courtyard is fully restored to its 1922 grandeur. The Egyptian was the home of the very first Hollywood movie premiere in 1922. In January 2005 the American Cinematheque expanded its programming to the 1940 Aero Theatre on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica.

    Other Upcoming Events (previously featured in /Film LA:

  • Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday this Fall: ElecTRONica at Disney California Adventure
  • October 25th 2010: Brian Posehn presents The Blob
  • October 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 2st)
  • 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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