Saturday, August 19 - 7:30 PM
Surf And Sand Double Feature:

BEACH PARTY, 1963, MGM Repertory, 101 min. Dir. William Asher. The film responsible (some might say "guilty") of starting the whole beach movie cycle had this bizarre tagline: "The perfect summer when the urge meets the surge!" We suppose they meant the ocean waves as "the surge", but whatever could they have meant by "the urge"? Answering that question are hot-to-trot sand-and-surf-loving teens, Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, John Ashley, Jody McCrea. Reluctantly saddled with chaperoning the lovable kids are traumatized grown-ups Bob Cummings, Dorothy Malone and Morey Amsterdam ("The Dick Van Dyke Show"). With Harvey Lembeck in his first appearance as madman biker, Eric Von Zipper. Dick Dale and The Del Tones supply the music! >> Also showing at the Egyptian Theatre, August 5.

THE GIRLS ON THE BEACH, 1965, Paramount, 80 min. Dir. William Witney. "The jet action surf-set hits the beaches and captures a love-load of bikini beauties!" The girls from Alpha Beta need to raise a staggering amount to save their sorority house, so they plan a beauty contest and other fundraising activities. When three guys appear claiming to know The Beatles, the girls decide a benefit concert with the moptops would be the best bet at saving their sinking fortunes. Little do they know these bragging boys are full of hot air. Who will step in to save the day? Why, The Beach Boys (singing "Little Honda" and "Lonely Sea"), Leslie Gore and the post-Buddy Holly Crickets. Starring Martin West (LORD LOVE-A-DUCK), Noreen Corcoran, Ahna Capri (PAYDAY), Mary Mitchel (SPIDER BABY, DEMENTIA 13), Lana Wood (Natalie’s sister) and Dick Miller as a grouchy bartender! NOT ON DVD! >> Also showing at the Egyptian Theatre, August 5.

Sunday, August 20 - 7:30 PM
Elvis Double Feature:
VIVA LAS VEGAS, 1964, Warner Bros, 84 min. George Sidney (PAL JOEY, BYE BYE BIRDIE) directs what is certifiably one of Elvis’ better middle-period pictures. A great deal of the credit for it’s exhilirating verve can also be laid at the feet of fiery leading lady, Ann-Margret, who is more than up to the challenge of going head-to-head with The King. Elvis arrives in Vegas trying to get his car ready for The Las Vegas Grand Prix. In the meantime, he does some courting of his distinctly hard-to-get co-star. Formula and fluff are the order of the day, but whenever these two are together, you don’t mind. They are that good as a pair, especially at the knock-out finale where they perform the title tune, Elvis singing and Ann-Margret shimmying for all she’s worth. The closest Elvis got to really rockin’ in mid-sixties cinema. Elvis also sings Ray Charles’ "What’d I Say," "Come On Everybody" and more. Ann-Margret smokes on the smoldering "Appreciation." >> Also showing at the Egyptian Theatre, August 16.

KING CREOLE, 1958, Paramount, 116 min. Director Michael Curtiz (CASABLANCA) directs yet one more of The King’s better films. Although the studio and The Colonel toned things down a bit, this adaptation of Harold Robbins’ bestseller A Stone For Danny Fisher remains surprisingly good. Young New Orleans punk and high school dropout, Danny (Elvis) quits his busboy job and wrangles his way into performing a song in front of duly-stunned patrons. Before long, he is in demand and being pressured by mobster club owner, Maxie Fields (Walter Matthau) to sign an exclusive contract. Elvis once again receives grand support from such pros as Carolyn Jones, Dolores Hart (his leading lady in LOVING YOU and a future real-life nun!), Dean Jagger, Vic Morrow and Paul Stewart. Songs include the title ditty as well as "Hard Headed Woman," "Trouble" and more! >> Also showing at the Egyptian Theatre, August 12.

MODS AND ROCKERS PRESENTS - A CELEBRATION OF ROCK DOCUMENTARIES

From the 1960’s through the present, a prodigious, steady stream of documentaries dedicated to all things rock has flowed into the public eye and ear. Pioneering, award-winning efforts such as D. A. Pennebaker’s chronicle of Bob Dylan’s mid-sixties British tour, DON’T LOOK BACK and his record of the Monterey Pop and Jazz Festival, MONTEREY POP, set the bar pretty darn high. We’re excited to present these two masterpieces as well as the Maysles Brothers GIMME SHELTER, Frank Zappa’s long-out-of-circulation BABY SNAKES (!), Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed PBS Dylan documentary, NO DIRECTION HOME, Jim Brown’s solid gold glimpse at folk combo, The Weavers, ISN’T THIS TIME? and, last but not least, an essential staple in any rock-lover’s diet, the extended director’s cut version of Michael Wadleigh’s WOODSTOCK.

Wednesday, August 23 - 7:30 PM

Los Angeles Premiere! Salute To Harry Nilsson!

WHO IS HARRY NILSSON (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?), 2006, LSL Productions, 118 min. Dir. John Scheinfeld. This brand-new documentary by the team behind the award-winning Brian Wilson film BEAUTIFUL DREAMER and the forthcoming THE U.S. VS. JOHN LENNON is a portrait of the enigmatic and beloved singer-songwriter, the late Harry Nilsson - who the Beatles once proclaimed as their "favorite group." The film traces Nilsson’s rise and his turbulent life – seen through the perspective of his many illustrious friends including Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Brian Wilson, Randy Newman, Richard Perry and Robin Williams. Nilsson hits, unreleased recordings, home movies, archival footage and rare performance clips are combined to deftly answer the question posed in the title - with humor, heart and tender poignancy. Discussion following with filmmakers John Scheinfeld and David Leaf – and several of Nilsson’s celebrated pals.

Thursday, August 24 - 7:30 PM
Brand New Print! DON’T LOOK BACK, 1967, Pennebaker Hegedus Films, 96 min. The young Bob Dylan -- scathingly brilliant, arrogant, rude, witty - is followed by doc filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker on his triumphant concert tour of England in 1965, accompanied by legendary manager, Albert Grossman, folk singer Joan Baez, various groupies, journalists and hangers-on in a no-holds-barred, thrilling, landmark of a documentary. With Donovan, John Mayall, Alan Price, Allen Ginsburg, Marianne Faithfull, Bobby Neuwirth.

Friday, August 25 - 7:30 PM

Double Feature:
MONTEREY POP, 1968, Pennebaker Hegedus Films, 78 min. Dir. D.A. Pennebaker. Widely considered the high-water mark of the 1960’s West Coast music scene, the Monterey Pop Festival was the brainchild of the Mamas & Papas’ John Phillips and Michelle Phillips and producer Lou Adler, and featured stunning performances by Jefferson Airplane, the Who, Simon & Garfunkel, Otis Redding, Eric Burdon & the Animals, Country Joe & The Fish and Ravi Shankar. Standout moments: Jimi Hendrix’s epochal "Wild Thing," and Janis Joplin’s take-no-prisoners "Ball & Chain." The 1969 Woodstock Festival and subsequent movie were directly inspired by this pioneering event and its groundbreaking film - both now belatedly enjoying their rightful places in rock history.

GIMME SHELTER, 1971, Janus Films, 91 min. Dir. Albert and David Maysles. What was conceived initially as just a Rolling Stones concert film became, by unhappy circumstance, a riveting eyewitness document of the Day The Music Died (again.). It captured on celluloid the ugly events that transpired when the ‘Prague Spring’ of the free-love sixties crashed into the ugly, unreconstructed reality that lay beneath the surface. The Rolling Stones’ free concert at the Altamont Speedway in December 1969 was the Dionysian downer that sneered at, and ultimately destroyed, the Apollonian highs of 1967’s Monterey Festival and the 3-day love-fest held at Woodstock just 5 months prior to Altamont - in July of 1969. It was the wake-up call that told the hippie generation that their Dream was over. An astonishing insight into a tragic turning point in the burgeoning counter-culture. It was the baby-boomers’ own "JFK" moment – and the Maysles film is the Zapruder footage of that tragedy. Amidst the searing footage is a classic performance by the Stones at their most dangerous and Jagger at his most demonic. "No angel born in hell - could break that Satan's spell…" Also including performances by The Jefferson Airplane and The Flying Burrito Brothers.

Saturday, August 26 - 7:30 PM
WOODSTOCK (The Director’s Cut), 1970, Warner Bros., 228 min. Dir. Michael Wadleigh. In THE OMEGA MAN, it’s no wonder that Charlton Heston, sole survivor of the human race, spends his days endlessly watching WOODSTOCK, the ultimate time capsule of the Love Generation. If any film captured the heady idealism, the free-form partying, drug-taking and love-making, and above all the great music of the late 1960’s, this is it. The Who, Crosby Stills & Nash, Sly & The Family Stone, Richie Havens, Joan Baez, Joe Cocker, Carlos Santana - need we say more? We’ll be screening the much-extended Director’s Cut of the film, featuring many songs and performers not included in the original release version.

Sunday, August 27 - 7:30 PM
Los Angeles Theatrical Premiere! NO DIRECTION HOME: BOB DYLAN, 2005, Paramount Home Video, 201 min. Do not miss the first Los Angeles theatrical screening of NO DIRECTION HOME, Martin Scorcese’s captivating portrait of the protean Bob Dylan’s transformation from self-described Woody Guthrie "jukebox" to anthem-penning protest singer to fiercely independent, surrealist rock and roll star at the center of a musical and pop cultural revolution. The 200-plus-minute documentary is rich with little-seen and unseen footage of Dylan in his salad days, 1961 to 1966, including the historic ’66 acoustic/electric U.K tour that crowned this period of unbridled and explosive creativity. Little pleasures abound, including a strange, wonderful scene of Dylan on a deserted British street corner one morning improvising off the odd wording on a shop window sign; the moment offers a glimpse into his Joycean linguistic genius. Also delightful are recent interviews with Joan Baez (her Dylan impression will make you laugh out loud) and the man himself (he gives the camera a coy remark and a Mona Lisa smile when a question touches on his love life). In addition to classic concert footage, Scorsese was able to access previously unseen film from the Dylan archives, including press conferences and recording sessions. He also uses interviews with Dylan's friends, ex-friends and fellow artists to provide a portrait as enlightening, eccentric, contradictory, and ultimately irreducible as its subject.

Wednesday, August 30 - 7:30 PM
Los Angeles Premiere! ISN’T THIS TIME! A TRIBUTE CONCERT TO HAROLD LEVENTHAL, 2004, Seventh Arts Releasing, 90 min. In 1981, director Jim Brown’s critically acclaimed documentary WASN’T THAT A TIME took a winsome look at the seemingly last reunion of the legendary folk group The Weavers – revealing how their authentic roots music and fearless social activism changed American culture. Nearly two decades later, The Weavers are suddenly and surprisingly back on film – now well into their 70’s and 80’s, yet as outspoken and inspirational as ever. This time it’s to take part in an extraordinary evening at Carnegie Hall organized by Arlo Guthrie, and featuring many of folk music’s leading lights, to honor an unsung American hero: music impresario Harold Leventhal, without whom The Weavers and many other icons of folk and protest would never have emerged into the mainstream. Jim Brown is back, too, capturing the night’s unexpected performances. Brown also forges a new story from this magical evening of music: that of a deeply united, multi-generational family of artists who have stuck together through tumultuous times – never stymied by hardship, censorship or even generation gaps -- to bring songs of simple and powerful humanity to the world. The result is an intoxicating, heart-stirring brew of American history, political chronicles and powerful music. "We never would have thought in our wildest imaginations that we would make another film with The Weavers after WASN’T THAT A TIME, but when we heard that this concert was happening, it was just too phenomenal to let it pass unrecorded... I saw this as one last incredible gathering of people who really stood for something and forged a legacy of using music to achieve positive change – and that is something that deserved to be captured." - Jim Brown

Thursday, August 31 - 7:30 PM

Only Surviving 35mm Print!