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Jean-Claude Vannier, French pop’s great arranger
08.23.2011
02:32 pm
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Another stellar only-in-Los Angeles evening courtesy of the mighty Cinefamily, with a live appearance by French music great Jean-Claude Vannier, arranger of Serge Gainsbourg’s Histoire de Melody Nelson and so many other classics.

“Vannier’s string and choral arrangements have a total sense of OTHERNESS and are indeed unlike anyone else’s.” — Tim Gane, Stereolab

If you’ve ever in your life heard French pop music from the last four decades that moved you, then you’ve been touched by the genius of Jean-Claude Vannier. JCV’s not only responsible for arrangements for virtually every Gallic pop star of note (from Gainsbourg to Francoise Hardy, Michel Polnareff, Brigitte Fontaine, Jane Birkin and Gilbert Becaud, to name but a handful), but also for several startling and wholly unique albums under his own name, and countless French film and television soundtracks to boot! Jean-Claude’s done it all, has collaborated with all, knows everyone in the whole of French music — and (can you believe it?) will be with us live on the Cinefamily stage, for an in-depth Q&A moderated by Andy Votel of Finders Keepers Records that takes us on a guided tour of his impeccable career. You’ll also see clips from films Jean-Claude has scored, his early-’70s work with fashion maven Yves St. Laurent, and you’ll hear some exclusive tracks from Jean-Claude’s two new LPs on Finders Keepers. No tried-and-true music fan can go without missing this one-of-a-kind special night!

Make sure to see Jean-Claude Vannier, appearing with Beck, Sean Lennon, Mike Patton, and more at the Hollywood Bowl on the Serge Gainsbourg Tribute, Sunday, August 28!

Co-sponsored by B-Music
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Below, watch Jean Claude Vannier’s “L’Enfant La Mouche Et Les Allumettes” accompanying early 70s Yves Saint-Laurent fashions:
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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08.23.2011
02:32 pm
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‘The Last Circus: ‘Saving Private Ryan’ meets ‘Santa Sangre’
08.03.2011
01:52 pm
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“I’m making this film to exorcise a pain in my soul that just won’t go away, like oil stains. I wash my clothes with movies.” — Alex de la Iglesia

Friday at Cinefamily in Los Angeles, there is a special FREE midnight screening of Alex de la Iglesia’s new film, The Last Circus. This looks amazing:

From the hyperdrive mind of one of Europe’s most ruthless cinematic satirists comes The Last Circus: a wicked tragicomic deconstruction of the terribly bloody Spanish Civil War as seen through the eyes of a benevolent-turned-psychotic Sad Clown vs. an evil alcoholic wifebeating Happy Clown! Alex de la Iglesia uses his nation’s greatest historical horror as the backdrop for an uncompromising tale of two equally damaged circus performers manically vying for the heart and soul of their joint obsession: their circus’s alluring female acrobat. Hysterically funny without watering down even a fraction of its harrowing message, the film matches its operatic, wildly unpredictable twists with the equally chaotic reality of life under Franco’s dictatorial rule of Spain in the 1970s. Equal parts Saving Private Ryan and Santa Sangre, The Last Circus is one helluva unique and thrilling time. 35mm, 107 min.

Register for the free Cinefamily screening of The Last Circus here. And make sure you get there on time. Seriously.
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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08.03.2011
01:52 pm
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Watch Neil Hamburger & Firesign Theatre streaming LIVE from the Everything Is Festival!
07.03.2011
04:28 pm
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If you couldn’t make it to Los Angeles this holiday weekend for the INSANE five-day long Everything Is Festival! taking place at Cinefamily, fret not because you can watch today’s festivities live beginning at 2:30 PST.
 

 
At 2:30, America’s funnyman Neil Hamburger will be doing his special tribute to Dora Hall, the septuagenarian grandmother who turned entertainer with TV specials and record albums paid for by her rich husband, who owned the Solo cup company. Not to be missed!
 

 
Then at 4:30, there will be a special Firesign Theatre mini-film festival with Peter Bergman and Phil Proctor of the Firesign Theatre, in attendance. Films include the only film visual record of one of their legendary radio shows, Martian Space Party and a new 5.1 surround version of Everything You Know is Wrong.
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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07.03.2011
04:28 pm
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Martian Space Party: Firesign Theatre mini-film festival
07.01.2011
09:01 pm
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On Sunday as part of the grand experiment in entertainment excess that is the five-day long Everything Is Festival! held at Cinefamily here in Los Angeles, there will be a Firesign Theatre mini-film festival starting at 4:30p.m. (just after Neil Hamburger’s Dora Hall tribute, which starts at 2:30).

The event will feature two Firesign Theatre shorts that have not been shown theatrically in many, many years (probably not since the mid-70s, in fact) and that are not currently available on home video (yet), plus other previously unseen goodies and rarities.

First up will be the only cinematic documentation of their legendary free-form radio shows, Martian Space Party. The “Martian Space Party” show was the final program in the “Let’s Eat” radio series of 1972 and was staged for cameras and a small audience.

Everything You Know is Wrong, which is a lip-sync’d visual interpretation of their 1975 album of the same name, will be premiering in a new 5.1 surround sound presentation, prepared from a digital dupe of the film supervised by famed cinematographer Allen Daviau (E.T. Bugsy, The Color Purple).

Plus some other SUPER SECRET Firesign Theatre films and videos and a live Q&A with Peter Bergman and Phil Proctor of the Firesign Theatre, EYKIW director Allen Daviau and Firesign Theatre archivist Taylor Jessen, author of the new book and DVD-ROM Duke of Madness Motors. Yours truly will be asking the questions.

Below, the trailer, which is already in progress…
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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07.01.2011
09:01 pm
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Once upon an old lady: Neil Hamburger’s Dora Hall tribute!
06.30.2011
03:32 pm
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Tonight is the opening night of the incredible five-day long Everything Is Festival! here in Los Angeles at the Cinefamily theater on Fairfax.

Getting the first night off to a great start will be the “Conan O’Brien” writers retrospective panel, featuring a live gathering of Conan writers past and present, followed by a live appearance from IFC’s Thu Tran, host of the delightfully surreal Food Party show.

One event that I’m certainly jazzed for is Neil Hamburger’s tribute to the one and only Dora Hall:

America’s Funnyman finally returns to the Cinefamily, for a program celebrating one of his all-time favorite entertainers — and one of Cinefamily’s fave found footage personalities! Long ago, a handful of enigmatic VHS tapes, adorned with watercolor illustrations of an old lady amidst a generic cast of smiling faces — and the Solo disposable cup company logo — fell into our hands. On these tapes were wonderfully cracked ‘70s variety specials starring septuagenarian starlet Dora Hall; who was this woman? A long-forgotten pop star reclaiming past glory? A wrinkled studio creation meant to appeal to the AARP set? Someone in power’s ambitious relative? WHO?!?!

Neil finally explains it all:

“The undisputed queen of vanity entertainment, Dora Hall was married to Leo Hulseman, the founder of the immensely successful Solo Cup Company — a man quite happy to delve into Solo’s apparently bottomless coffers to finance dozens of record releases by Dora, all given away free of charge with packages of plastic cups and plates during the ‘60s! Not content with her “success” in the record biz, Dora branched out in the ensuing two decades with several full-blown Solo-financed TV specials designed to make her a star — despite the fact that she was an elderly grandmother with limited show business experience!”

Sunday afternoon, Neil Hamburger will appear in person to present a psyche-shattering afternoon of vintage Dora TV variety special highlights, along with other special treats! More info and tickets here.

Below, an excerpt from Hall’s Once Upon a Tour TV special. How could you miss this?
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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06.30.2011
03:32 pm
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Negativland: Adventures in Illegal Art
06.29.2011
02:00 pm
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Negativland’s Mark Hoesler will be delivering the keynote address at the big Everything Is Festival this Friday night at Cinefamily in Los Angeles:

Is Negativland a “band”? Media hoaxers? Activists? Artists? Musicians? Filmmakers? Culture jammers? Comedians? An inspiration for the unwashed many? A nuisance for the corporate few? Decide for yourself in this video & storytelling presentation from founding Negativland member Mark Hosler that uses films and stories to illustrate the many creative projects, hoaxes, pranks and “culture jamming” that Negativland has been doing since 1980. Whether you’re a hardcore Negativland fan, or even unfamiliar with the band (but interested in a highly entertaining and informative jaunt into the evolving landscape of art vs. ownership), Hosler’s EIF! keynote presentation is essential, and we can’t recommend it enough. As well, stick around for a Q&A with Mark Hosler after the presentation!

If you can’t actually make it in person, fret not, Hoesler’s EIF address will be webcast on Stickam! More information on the Everything Is Festival here.

Below, an excerpt from a past Mark Hoesler lecture:
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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06.29.2011
02:00 pm
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Everything Is Festival! Preview
06.28.2011
12:37 pm
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This weekend is the big Everything Is Festival here in Los Angeles. Cinefamily’s Hadrian Belove and Dimitri Simakis of Everything is Terrible preview the five day fest, which will feature Mark Hosler of Negativland, Neil Hamburger dipping into his personal collection of obscure TV specials made by a 70-year-old grandmother, Andrew W.K. with a motivational lecture, a Firesign Theatre tribute, TV Carnage and others who’ll appear amidst the cinematic mayhem they plan to hurl at the audience. Full schedule here. Get a festival pass before it’s too late!


READ ON
Posted by Richard Metzger
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06.28.2011
12:37 pm
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Super Cuts and Trash Compactors at the Everything Is Festival!
06.27.2011
09:39 pm
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If you live in Los Angeles and you love weird, insane, hilarious underground shit—like, say, the kind of fare you might find on the popular Everything Is Terrible! blog—then the second annual Everything Is Festival! is going to be better than your Christmas, Halloween and birthday combined. It’s the film, video and music festival that feels like a holiday. But a really fucked up holiday in a really fucked up country. Or a fucked up planet. (I was there last year, trust me on this one).

Co-sponsored by Cinefamily, Indie Printing and Everything Is Terrible! there is five solid days of mayhem, carnage and video mischief scheduled from June 30 to July 4.

Let’s take, for instance, the “Super Cuts and Trash Compactors” show. According to Cinefamily programmer Hadrian Belove, a “trash compactor” is “when you take a film and distill it to its essence”:

Cinefamily’s grabbing the zeitgeist by the nutsack and squeezing the video juice out of the YouTube for all of our viewing pleasure! Tonight we celebrate two of our favorite memes in the viral video world: “supercuts” and “trash compactors.” You know, like when TV Carnage cut together every “Gimmie your badge…and your gun” moment from every shitty cop movie ever made, or when FourFour did a mashup of every time someone said “I’m not here to make friends” on a reality TV show — that’s a “Supercut.”

And when that anonymous editor compressed 120 minutes of Wicker Man Nic Cage insanity into a high-powered two-minute H-bomb of hilarity — that’s a “Trash Compactor.”

This show features our favorite pre-existing classics in these two categories, and a group show bursting full of brand-new premieres by Everything Is Terrible, FourFour, Cinefamily’s own Mondo Squad, and more. I tube, you tube, we all tube for YouTube! Tonight’s show features a live appearance by online video mashup maven FourFour!

Watch the now-classic Trash Compactor featuring every dumb pun delivered by Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Mr. Freeze” in Batman & Robin:
 

 
More on the Everything Is Festival all this week on DM, but you can go here for more information and ticket purchase. Here’s a two-minute version of horror film, Incubus, in which John Cassavetes seems obsessed with sperm.
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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06.27.2011
09:39 pm
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Cold Fish: Sion Sono film festival at Cinefamily
06.09.2011
02:20 pm
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I’ve been raving about the work of Japanese film director Sion Sono for a few days here on the blog. This weekend at Cinefamily in Los Angeles, several of Sono’s films will be shown and there will either be an introduction or else a post-film Q&A with the director. Friday night there will be a special free screening of Sono’s latest film, Cold Fish:

Right from its sucker-punch opening with its jagged hand written titles and razor editing, Sion Sono’s Cold Fish grabs you by the hair and drags you through an intense narrative of betrayal, infidelity and murder. Ostensibly inspired by the story of a real-life Japanese serial killer (who raised dogs, rather than fish), Cold Fish has all of Sono’s trademark brilliance and nihilism in its tale of sad-sack Shamoto (Mitsuru Fukikoshi), who’s stuck with a failing fish store and a family who hates him. When Shamoto meets the the charismatic and rich Murata, owner of a popular high-end fish shop and a hot-red Ferrari (Denden, in one of the greatest serial killer portrayals of the last few decades), his life changes irrevocably. Easily manipulated and coerced into progressively worse situations, it’s not long before Shamoto realizes that not only has Murata car-jacked his life, but he’s also shut the windows, locked the doors and is driving them full-speed off of a cliff.

Series co-presented by Giant Robot and Bloody-Disgusting
 

 
Watch the trailer for Cold Fish blow. Register for free tickets to the screening here.
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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06.09.2011
02:20 pm
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Samurai Cop
05.19.2011
01:54 pm
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This weekend, as some await the Rapture, fans of mutant movies in Los Angeles are looking forward to another Everything Is Terrible! presentation at Cinefamily with a special VHS screening of Samurai Cop:

Even in an era when action sludge was more common than shoulder pads or skinny ties, 1989’s Samurai Cop stood out as a true anomaly. Perhaps living legend Joe Bob Briggs summed it up best: a “recently unearthed, soon-to-be-classic kung-fu action-comedy skin flick with gratuitous gore elements.” That’s a good start, and yet there’s so much more! Ex-Stallone bodyguard Matt Hannon stars as Joe Marshall, a rock of a man who will do literally whatever it takes to punish the guilty—even if that means taking dozens of innocent lives in the process!

Teamed up with truly hilarious black sidekick Frank (his race and genitals are mentioned waaaay more than once), Joe embarks on an adventure so psychedelically violent and sex-tastic, there’s a chance Hunter S. Thomson will return from his “space ashes” just to drool along with us. Oh, and fear not, Robert Z’Dar fans, you’ll see plenty of the chin that made the Z famous, in rare bearded form. What’s that, you say? One cop ain’t enough to flog ‘yer fists? Fine, we’ll also add demented Samurai Cop auteur Amir Shervan’s Hollywood Cop into the mix—if you can handle it!

The Samurai Cop/Hollywood Cop double feature commences at 10pm on May 21 at Cinefamily, 611 N Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles, $10
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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05.19.2011
01:54 pm
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Phenome-Con 2011 this weekend at Cinefamily in Los Angeles
03.24.2011
09:18 pm
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Mondo movie fans, take note: Our friends at Cinefamily, here in Los Angeles are programming another of their weird and wonderful weekend festivals. Focusing on the cheesy paranormal docs and TV shows of the 1970s like In Search Of, the two-day (and night) Phenome-Con 2011 features some outrageous “psychic” fare, that was once surprisingly commonplace in American culture:

In the ‘60s, baby boomers looked for God in a sugar cube, The Beatles seeked enlightenment in India and hippies freaked over Jesus. As the post-summer of love, pre-New Age ‘70s rolled in, it seems everyone went searching for the mysteries of life. Is there a higher power? Is there life after death? Where lies the lost empire of Atlantis? Can plants read your thoughts? How do I bend a fork with my mind? Does yogurt have feelings? Psychic surgery, hypnosis, ESP, UFOs, The Bermuda Triangle—it all held a fascination for Mr. and Mrs. America. It was a Phenomena Phenomenon, if you will. Reflecting these various crazes, a host of “speculative documentaries” quickly cropped up in grindhouses and drive-ins. This weekend, not only will we watch a crop of mind-marinating films, but we’ll also explore pyramid power, mind reading and we’ll search for Bigfoot. Cinefamily invites you to investigate with us the mysteries of our universe—join us for Phenome-Con!

The schedule for Day One, Saturday, March 26:

4:00pm Phenome-Con Saturday Afternoon Party (feat. The Best of “In Search Of…”)

7:30pm-ish The Amazing World Of Ghosts

10:00pm-sh A Bigfoot Celebration (feat. The Legend of Boggy Creek)

Midnight-ish Journey Into The Beyond

2:00am-ish The Devil’s Triangle

Day Two, Sunday March 27:

4:00pm Sunday Afternoon Part feat. more selections from The Best of “In Search Of…”, a casual Sunday patio hang-out, and then it’s time for…

6:00pm-ish The Pyramid

8:00pm Concluding the Phenome-Con will be a special screening and Q&A with director Don Como (hosted by Process Media’s Jodi Wille) featuring his 1978 film, Unknown Powers.

Get tickets at Cinefamily.org
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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03.24.2011
09:18 pm
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Chris Morris retrospective at Cinefamily
03.03.2011
10:23 pm
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Beginning tonight in Los Angeles, the might Cinefamily is presenting a three-day encore run of Chris Morris’s Four Lions, and a full retrospective of his classic British television shows:

The word “genius” is thrown around rather casually these days when describing talented folks who do a very good job of what they do—but Chris Morris is one of those rare people to whom the term genuinely applies, and we absolutely mean it when we say Chris Morris is a comedic genius. For twenty years, he’s been the foremost boundary-pushing satirist in British comedy, giving us savagely funny fare like the proto-Daily Show news parodies The Day Today and Brass Eye, the Lynch-meets-SNL absurdity of Jam, and the acidic hipster/Vice Magazine critique of Nathan Barley—and now, his riotous feature directorial debut, which skewers the modern-day jihadist movement! Chris’s unshakeable wit is often aimed at topics deemed controversial, but it always provides a social criticism underneath the sensationalism, lampooning hysteria and groupthink with heroic levity. We here at the Cinefamily have been Morris fans since before we can remember, and we’re thrilled to present not only an encore three-day run of Four Lions, but a full retrospective of Morris’s creations in British television!

My fellow Los Angelenos, don’t miss this rare chance to see Four Lions in a cinema setting, but gosh, which TV series to catch? The Day Today? Brass Eye? Jam? Nathan Barley? That’s hard because I’m such a big Chris Morris fan. I’ve shoved DVDs of all these shows into the paws of many a friend for about a decade now, but I still think I’d give Nathan Barley the (slight) edge when it comes to picking which of his series to watch in a room full of people. A communal experience of Jam would be great, too, but Nathan Barley’s vicious hipster satire would go down quite well with the Cinefamily audience, I think. No matter how you slice it, it’s an embarrassment of riches. The man can do no wrong in my eyes.
 

 
Below, my December 2010 interview with Chris Morris:
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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03.03.2011
10:23 pm
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Breen-damage: Meet ‘outsider cinema’ auteur (and real estate broker) Neil Breen
02.15.2011
06:26 pm
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You snobby trash-o-philes out there, despairing of ever finding another film quite as good/bad as Ed Wood’s Plan Nine From Outer Space or something the late David F. Friedman produced, have been able to breathe a sigh of relief in recent years, haven’t you? The relatively low cost of pro/am video equipment has allowed people who would never otherwise be able to jump through the hoops of the Hollywood system, a chance to make a movie. Neil Breen is startling new entrant in the burgeoning genre of “outsider cinema.” Along with Tommy Wiseau (The Room) and James Nguyen (Birdemic: Shock & Terror), Neil Breen is doing something truly new. To be clear, I’m not saying it’s any good, merely that it’s “truly new.”

This weekend, at Cinefamily in Los Angeles, the evil overlords of holy fucking shit will have Neil Breen in person:

Many of Cinefamily’s HFS connisseurers have crashed up on the rocks trying to describe Las Vegas real estate agent cum visionary independent filmmaker Neil Breen. Inevitably, words and high-concept references fail, and one is reducing to just pressing a copy of actor/director/writer/producer/caterer Breen’s first feature Double Down into the confused hands of a future Breen-iac. The only way to understand Breen’s work is to just see it. Here…now…he’s graced us with another full-length excursion into his completely unique universe. This time around, Breen plays a messianic alien Being angered at the greed and corruption of the human species, particularly our lack of renewable energy and environmental consciousness—oh, and business-man crucifixions and time-stopped gang wars..and…well, as Neil put it himself, “This thought-provoking supernatural film is filled with surprising mystical metaphors, exciting twists….and a stunning dramatic conclusion.”

It’s imperative that you, the Cinefamily-goer, understand how sweetly insane this Saturday’s HFS show really is. Neil Breen has become one of our favorite filmmakers. Why? Basically, he turns the laws of physics inside-out, startles you with images you could never conceive of yourself, and delivers a left-field version of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s cracked worldview on the budget of a Troma film. Oh, yeah—and for his day job, he’s a Las Vegas real estate broker. Get ready to be Breen-damaged!

Saturday, February 22, 10:15pm. Come join The Man Who Four-Walled The Earth for a Q&A after the film! Get tickets here.
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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02.15.2011
06:26 pm
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My Mondo Valentine at Cinefamily
02.14.2011
02:36 pm
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If you’re looking for an unusual way to spend this Valentines Day—and are lucky enough to live in Los Angeles, where it’s presently sunny and in the high 60s—I can’t think of a more unusual place to take your date than to the special My Mondo Valentine screening at Cinefamily:

Anyone hoping to melt faces instead of hearts this Valentine’s day, take note—you’ve found your mutant soulmate in the Cinefamily. Come watch us give love a bad name in another signature Cinefamily Mondo night, in which we plumb the depths of impossibly rare film and video vaults for the craziest love-themed clips on the planet. This mix features everything from misguided educational sex ed films to weirdly romantic TV ads, homemade atrocities to our favorite skeezy “how to score” films! The rapturous proceedings will cap off with the incredible mentally-challenged ‘70s movie-of-the-week romance Like Normal People, starring Linda Purl and Shaun Cassidy. Impress your date with a night like no other, or bring a raincoat and impress yourself!

 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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02.14.2011
02:36 pm
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Oodles of Udo: Udo Kier live in person at Cinefamily
01.27.2011
08:08 pm
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Attention Los Angeles film fans, actor Udo Kier will be IN PERSON Friday night at Cinefamily as part of their month long “That Guy!” celebration of character actors:

There is no other human on earth who looks like, moves, speaks and acts like Udo Kier—and many of the world’s top film directors are intimately aware of this. Frequently cast to give a film that extra indefinable oooompfh, Udo nails it every time, with a mixture of camp, chills, commitment, charm and sex! His penetrating blue eyes are like laser beams aimed through the soul; his gravitas can skew either warmly funny or deadly serious; his physical appeal is that of a sensual dark overlord; his that-guy-ness—electrifying, as his appearance in over 200 film/TV roles, from arthouse to grindhouse, have inspired a deeply devoted cult. This Teutonic two-headed titan of both top-shelf cinema classics and trashy exploitation fare has simply been one of our favorite on-screen performers for forever—and besides, how could Von Trier, Fassbinder, Herzog, Paul Morrissey, Rob Zombie, Argento, Carpenter, Van Sant, Wenders, Michael Bay, Guy Maddin and Uwe Boll all be wrong?

Tonight, we’re thrilled to welcome Udo for a lively discussion about his wild and prolific filmography, an oodles-of-Udo presentation of some of his greatest movie moments, and two incredibly rare films: the legendary 2002 short film Mrs. Meitlemeihr (which features Udo as Adolf Hitler hiding out in post-war London…in drag!), and 1996’s United Trash. Directed by Udo’s good friend, the late Christoph Schlingensief (a director whose outrageously outré is-it-art-or-is-it-exploitation satirical style made Kier his perfect frequent collaborator), the film is an incredible holyfuckingshit masterpiece not to be missed. And it stars Kitten Nativdad! Seriously, don’t miss this. JUST ADDED: the evening’s show will also feature the world premiere of new short films directed by Guy Maddin that star Udo, ones filmed simultaneously with Guy’s new feature Keyhole!

Starts at 8pm. Co-presented by Badass DIgest.

Below, Udo Kier’s memorable cameo in My Own Private Idaho.
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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01.27.2011
08:08 pm
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