Los Angeles is a film town -- maybe the film town. Like the Hollywood district contained within it, the name "Los Angeles" a metonym for American film industry in the minds of many. "La La Land," "The Entertainment Capital of the World" and all that. I love movies; however, in my mind, the Hollywood film thing actually ranks pretty low in the long list of what makes Los Angeles the greatest city in the world. This is possibly (probably) shocking to hear/read if you're a cog in the blockbuster factory or a celebrity worshipper but better you find that out now than never. Luckily, Los Angeles doesn't just make movies, it also shows them. There are few cities in the world with as robust a film culture as Los Angeles.

For those who love celebrity-driven, gazillion dollar CGI superhero franchises you're in luck; there are multiplexes in every mall and Redboxes at every 7-11. Thankfully for other varieties of cinéastes, there's a lot more to Los Angeles’s mise en scène than that. There are architecturally beautiful picture palaces, romantic drive-ins, dingy dollar theaters, high profile revival houses, low profile smut houses, and actual art house chains. Additionally there are all sorts of special screenings and festivals that take place every week of the year.

Yes, Christmas came early and Santa brought me sciatica. (Even though I specifically asked for a pony. With sciatica.)

What is sciatica? It is a set of symptoms including pain that may be caused by general compression or irritation of one of five spinal nerve roots that give rise to each sciatic nerve, or by compression or irritation of the left or right or both sciatic nerves, the source of which typically stems from tiny devils prodding the inside of your bowels after the neighborhood witch has cursed you.

Ever since word of the 2012 remake of the 1990 movie Total Recall (starring Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, and Bryan Cranston) began circulating via various publicity vehicles including the above movie trailer, it begged (no screamed) the question, why? Why, Hollywood? Why do you need to remake already well-made movies like this one? The original Total Recall, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside, and Ronny Cox, and loosely based on the 1966 Philip K Dick short story We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, was made only 22 years ago and was just fine to begin with...better than fine in fact since any movie strong enough to distract from Arnold's poor acting is one very good movie!  Additionally, it is not like the original Total Recall was a foreign language film that needed an English language/Americanized version. Of course that excuse for remaking foreign language films based on the premise that Americans won't read subtitles is ridiculous anyway, but even so why not simply dub foreign movies into English for Stateside release? The rest of the world sits through American blockbusters dubbed in their native tongue, so why not the other way around?

Already, movie fans - all of whom have not seen the new version - are slamming the remake saying that Hollywood should have left well enough alone. Meanwhile, the new movie's makers contend that Total Recall Version 2012 is not simply a straight remake; it alters the storyline, leaving out all the Mars scenes and adding more of a modern era international political backdrop. Personally, I am with these other movie fans in believing that they should not have remade Total Recall. Why not just adapt another good SciFi story to the big screen? There are so many great SciFi novels that should be given the film treatment.

YOU ARE INVITED to our April screening series in Hollywood! We're bringing back our Monday Movie series at Space 15Twenty (up the street from Amoeba). Every Monday night in April you can see a different music-related film that we have selected and it's FREE! 

Sign up for the Amoeba newsletter at Space15Twenty on Monday Movie Nights and you could win our April Shopping Spree $100 gift certificate!!

What:  FREE Weekly Monday night films, curated by Amoeba Music

When:  Every Monday at 8pm – from April 2nd through April 30th

Where:  In the courtyard of Space15Twenty
1520 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028

Why: A neighborhood collaboration and a great way to spend a Monday night in Hollywood… and it's FREE!
 

April 2, 2012 – RE:GENERATION MUSIC PROJECT The Re:Generation Music Project follows five electronic DJs/producers - DJ Premier, Skrillex, Pretty Lights, Mark Ronson and The Crystal Method - as they remix, recreate and re-imagine five traditional styles of music (Rock, R&B, Country, Jazz, and Classical). These five distinctive DJs collaborate with some incredibly talented (and some unlikely) partners - The Doors, Martha Reeves, Erykah Badu,Trombone Shorty, Mos Def, Zigaboo Modeliste, Nas,Leann Rimes, Dr. Ralph Stanley - to discover how our musical past is influencing the future. The documentary was produced in association with the Grammys and presented by Hyundai Veloster.

Last night I had the pleasure of introducing the boyfriend to the 1971 film Harold & Maude. How he managed to make it to age thirtysomething without ever seeing it sooner shows an utter lack of regard from his friends and family, and we can only praise Allah that I showed up in his life.

Oddly enough, we seem devoted to cinema circa ’71 this week, as the films featured in our fetching living room all hail from that year. Before Harold & Maude was The Andromeda Strain, a movie which may well be the most boring sci-fi thriller ever to be shot, but was so beautiful we couldn’t stop looking. Oh, so boring! Imagine the longest, highest budget, fantastically designed instructional video ever, or if Stanley Kubrick had decided to make 2001: A Space Odyssey without all that pesky meaning.

Before that was Ciao! Manhattan, the enigmatic art film that accidentally became a biographical piece on tragic, subculture superstar, Edie Sedgwick. I hesitate to comment further on this particular work, because it presently consumes me in my career and I’m sure I’ll be devoting an entire blog to it someday soon. But if you’re a fan of all-things-touching Warhol’s Factory, the film is a must-see. Or if you just want to see a lot of full frontal nudity from a former Vogue model who’d recently gotten a boob job, there’s that.