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14th Annual Los Angeles Film Noir Festival Continues!

Posted by Mr. Chadwick, April 27, 2012 12:30pm | Post a Comment

This Friday, April 20th was the kick off for the 14th annual Los Angeles Film Noir Festival @ the Egyptian Theatre. Opening night's Alad Ladd double played to a full house and for good reason! The newly restored print of the long lost Great Gatsby was a delight as was seeing the classic This Gun For Hire. Night number two , Naked Alibi / Suddenly, was given an interesting analysis by Charles Reece in his most recent posting, click here to check it out. Sunday's triple, featuring Cornell Woolrich based films, topped off one of the best weekends of film that I've had in many years. There was a bonus showing of Suddenly on Sunday for those who had been disappointed with the lousy digital projection the night before.

Week number 2 starts off with a Arlene Dahl pairing in Scene Of The Crime / Reign Of Terror. Norman Lloyd will be on hand to discuss his part in Scene of the Crime. A Mid 50's take on the trials and tribulations of life on the Manhattan docks is offered on Saturday. Actress Julie Adams will be on hand to discuss her adventures in making Slaughter on 10th Ave. Sunday offers a gangster double featuring Dick Powell & George Raft, Wednesday brings us a great "corrupt cop" double and Thursday packs a pre-code punch with a couple of "proto-noir" gems.

Hollywood Swinging: a primer for the neighborhoods of Hollywood

Posted by Eric Brightwell, March 26, 2012 09:42pm | Post a Comment

HOLLYWOOD

Hollywood Boulevard in 1927 at the opening of Hells Angels at Grauman's Chinese

Hollywood is famous around the world as the one-time center of the American film industry. Although Hollywood isn't the original home of the west coast film industry (nearby Edendale in Echo Park and Sycamore Grove in Highland Park both have stronger claims to that distinction), Hollywood has for almost a century continued to serve as a metonym for that industry (and inspire portmanteaus like Bollywood, Dollywood, Ghallywood, Kollywood, Mollywood, Nollywood, Tollywood, etc); even though that most of the film industry mostly long ago abandoned the neighborhood, primarily for the San Fernando Valley. Hollywood has done an excellent job of branding though. After all, you don't have other countries referring to their film industries as "Bedendale," "Nycamore Grove", or "the Ghalley."

The Hollywood neighborhood has expertly continued to pimp its association with the American film industry that formerly called it home where the other neighborhoods did not. In Edendale, the oldest studio was torn down and is now a vacant lot where the 2 Freeway meets Glendale. The old Mack Sennet Studio where Charlie Chaplin and Keystone Cops movies were made is now a public storage facility unceremoniously tucked behind a Jack in the Box. Hollywood, on the other hand, continues to bill itself as "The Entertainment Capital of the World" and adds industry-related tourist attractions like the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which was installed long after the last pieces of tinsel in tinseltown had blown over the hills.

Today there are relatively few vestiges of Hollywood's cinematic past not installed merely to attract tourists -- of the film studios, only Paramount remains. Of the major label music industry, only Capitol Records remains. The aforementioned Walk of Fame -- to me, at least -- serves primarily as a testament to the ephemeral nature of stardom. Not to be hopelessly cynical but the first time I saw the names like Bryan Adams, Sean "Diddy" Combs, and Paula Abdul, I felt nothing but disinterest. However, for roughly ten million annual visitors it's presumably something terribly exciting and I honestly don't want to disparage that.

Hollywood's Hypocrisy on Piracy Meme

Posted by Charles Reece, March 5, 2012 09:34am | Post a Comment

[Thanks to Stephen Parkes for finding this.]

Love Her Or Hate Her, LA's Uncontainable Karen Centerfold is the Engaging Subject of New Documentary

Posted by Billyjam, September 21, 2011 12:00pm | Post a Comment

Star of forthcoming documentary: Karen Centerfold, poses beside rented Mercedes (one of her demands for appearing in the film) - photo by Sean Carnage

Folks outside of the LA rock scene may not know the individual that is Karen Centerfold. But that should all change with the release of the documentary Centerfold Centerfold.
The subject of this forthcoming documentary is the unique, uncontainable, enigmatic Hollywood/LA rock scene fixture Karen Centerfold - known mainly for her presence on LA cable public access TV and at local rock shows (in addition to political activist, adult model, and office worker).

"If you spent any time at weird rock and roll shows in LA you probably have a Karen Centerfold story. As for me she always insisted on introducing one of my bands everytime we played. She would then always get the name wrong and spend most of the show smacking us on the ass.," my friend Brandon Perry (aka WFMU DJ Marty McSorley & fka KXLU DJ Paula Poundstone) from the defunct band Explogasm [mispronounced "Explorgasm"] recently told me. Perry continued that the "gender-bending destroyed puzzle of a human that only LA could create" is exactly as she appears in the documentary trailer below and that she typically will "show up, be loud, sometimes try to take over shows, and just try to cause a scene in general!". The film is directed by Eckse, with production and editing duties handled by Xenia Shin, Angie Meng, and Margot Padilla. Responsible for the film is longtime LA underground promoter Sean Carnage - the documentary's executive producer. This week I caught up with Sean Carnage to ask him about himself, his film, and of course its colorful subject. That interview follows the trailer for the film below.

13th Annual Los Angeles Film Noir Festival Final Week!

Posted by Mr. Chadwick, April 16, 2011 03:35pm | Post a Comment

It's hard to believe that we've reached the end of the 2011 festival! I'm so glad I was able to squeeze in as many screenings as I did. Thursday's Robert Ryan double was certainly the high point for me-- Caught has one of the most bizarre endings I've seen in any pre-1970's film.

Tonight features a Glenn Ford double alongside a visit from Mr. Ford's son, Peter. Framed is primo James M. Cain penned paranoid pulp while Mr. Soft Touch is more lighthearted fare. Sunday looks to be a great crime picture double; Cry Tough features a very young John Saxon while Down Three Dark Streets features beautiful LA locations and Broderick Crawford as an FBI agent. Wednesday closes the festival out with a couple of female led thrillers; Gaslight is an absolute classic and brought Ingrid Bergman an Oscar for her portrayal of a woman haunted by the unsolved murder of her aunt. My Name is Julia Ross ends it all with great B-movie suspense from director Joseph H. Lewis of Big Combo & Gun Crazy fame.

13th Annual Film Noir Festival @ the Egyptian Theater
6712 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90028-4605
(323) 466-3456

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