The Cinema Lounge
On Monday, August 15 at 7:00pm please join the Cinema Lounge, the DC Film Society's monthly film discussion group. We will be online again.
TOPIC: Mel Brooks: Hail to the King
"It's good to be the king," Mel Brooks exclaimed in History of the World, Part I. He would know, as Brooks has been the king of comedy for more than 60 years. First, he conquered TV as a writer on Sid Caesar's "Your Show of Shows," and then as the co-creator of the legendary spy spoof "Get Smart." Then he made hit records as the 2000-Year-Old Man. He quickly moved to film, winning an Oscar for The Producers, satirizing Westerns with Blazing Saddles, horror with Young Frankenstein, silent films with the aptly titled Silent Movie, Hitchcock with High Anxiety, and sci-fi/fantasy with Spaceballs. At the age when most would have long retired, he turned to Broadway with the stage version of "The Producers," winning multiple Tonys.
Brooks made New York Jewish humor mainstream and took on subjects such as Nazism and racism long seen as taboo for comedy. He got away with it because he took such joy in making us laugh. Brooks was the naughty uncle or Grandpa we wished we had.
Thankfully, Brooks is still with us at age 96, with his autobiography dropping just last year. He's stayed hilarious and relevant these many years. We all must pay tribute. Long live the King!
Please RSVP to atspector@hotmail.com and you'll get the Zoom link 1-2 days before the discussion.
The Cinema Lounge, a film discussion group, meets the third Monday of every month (unless otherwise noted) at 7:00pm at Teaism in Penn Quarter, 400 8th St., NW in Washington, DC (closest Metro stop is Archives, also near Metro Center and Gallery Place). NOTE: We will meet in the downstairs area. WE ARE MEETING ONLINE THIS MONTH. You do not need to be a member of the Washington DC Film Society to attend. Cinema Lounge is moderated by Adam Spector, author of the DC Film Society's Adam's Rib column.
Adam's Rib Honors James Caan, the All-Too-Human Sonny Corleone
James Caan died on July 6 at the age of 82. While Caan played many roles over a 60-year career, for me he will always be Santino “Sonny” Corleone in The Godfather. The way Caan played him, Sonny would have fit right in on a James Cagney movie. Caan’s Sonny was the connective tissue between the old and the new gangster films. His physicality, explosiveness, and humor made an indelible mark. Caan also added to what was in the script, which made many of his scenes pop. Fifty years later, Sonny remains such a vivid, funny, dangerous and, finally, tragic character, thanks in no small part to the man who played him. I pay tribute in my new Adam's Rib column.
We Need to Hear From YOU
We are always looking for film-related material for the Storyboard. Our enthusiastic and well-traveled members have written about their trips to the Cannes Film Festival, Karlovy Vary Film Festival, London Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, Edinburgh Film Festival, the Berlin Film Festival, the Palm Springs Film Festival, the Reykjavik Film Festival, the Munich Film Festival, and the Locarno Film Festival. We also heard about what it's like being an extra in the movies. Have you gone to an interesting film festival? Have a favorite place to see movies that we aren't covering in the Calendar of Events? Seen a movie that blew you away? Read a film-related book? Gone to a film seminar? Interviewed a director? Taken notes at a Q&A? Read an article about something that didn't make our local news media? Send your contributions to Storyboard and share your stories with the membership. And we sincerely thank all our contributors for this issue of Storyboard.
Calendar of Events
FILMS
We list in-person films and events. Many other locations are still closed or online. Note that some locations require proof of vaccination and masks for entry.
American Film Institute Silver Theater
"AFI Life Achievement Award Retro: Julie Andrews" (July 15-September 14) pays tribute to some of her best roles. Titles in August are Thoroughly Modern Millie and Torn Curtain. Two more in September.
"Screwball Summer" (July 15-September 21) is a great opportunity to see "screwball comedy" films, mostly from the 1930s. Titles in August are Ball of Fire in 35mm; Bringing Up Baby; Easy Living; His Girl Friday; The Lady Eve; Libeled Lady; Nothing Sacred; The Palm Beach Story and Sullivan's Travels More in September.
"Peter Bogdanovich Remembered" (July 19-September 19) takes a look at the eight of the director's films. Titles in August are Paper Moon; a Director's cut of Nickelodeon; 50th anniversary of What's Up Doc?; Saint Jack; and They All Laughed. One more in September.
"Looney Tunes" (July 16-September 5) shows selections of Warner Bros. classic cartoons. Programs #3 and #4 are in August with #5 in September. See the website for the list of cartoons in each program.
"Three Colors Trilogy--4K Restorations" (August 19-25). Krzysztof Kieslowski's trilogy Blue (1993) with Juliette Binoche; White (1994) with Julie Delpy and Red (1994) with Irene Jacob.
"Toshiro Mifune Retrospective" (July 15-September 20) Titles in August are The Bad Sleep Well in 35mm; Hidden Fortress with an introduction by Michael Jeck; I Live in Fear in 35mm; Samurai Assassin in 35mm; Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo in 35mm and introduced by Michael Jeck; A Wife's Heart in 35mm; Sanjuro and Yojimbo. The series concludes in September.
"New York's Postwar Film Renaissance" (July 17-September 21) Titles in August are City Across the River in 35mm; Fourteen Hours in 35mm; The Glass Wall; Guilty Bystander; It Should Happen to You in 35mm; Jigsaw (1949); The Killer That Stalked New York; Killer's Kiss; a concert film Jivin' in Be-Bop in 35mm starring Dizzy Gillespie; Little Fugitive (1953); Lost Boundaries in 35mm; On the Waterfront (1954); The Naked City (1948); The Marrying Kind in 35mm; Side Street (1950); The Sleeping City with introduction by film historian Richard Koszarski; The Thief (1952) with guest introduction; and So Young, So Bad.
Lots of "Special Engagements" this month: 12 Monkeys (1995); Apocalypse Now final cut; Black Narcissus (1947); Blade Runner final cut; Blade Runner 2049; "CatVideo Fest 2022"; Casablanca (80th anniversary); Creepshow (1982) hosted by Count Gore de Vol; Dune (1984); Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie; a new 4K restoration of Giant (1956); Free Col Soo Lee with guest Q&A; The Godfather (50th anniversary); The Goonies; Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom; Lawrence of Arabia; Lost Highway; Mulholland Drive; Panda! Go Panda! (50th anniversary); Tron (1982); Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (4K restoration); and The Lost Record with filmmaker Q&A.
Freer Gallery of Art
On August 3 at 2:00pm is Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (Kenji Misumi, 1972) part of the series of Japanese classic films.
The series "Made in Hong Kong: Icons" concludes in August. On August 5 at 7:00pm is Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain (Tsui Hark, 1983); on August 7 at 2:00pm is Once Upon a Time in China (Tsui Hark, 1991); on August 12 at 7:30pm is Drunken Master (Yuen Woo-ping, 1978) shown outside and with food, music and curator talks preceding the screening; on August 14 at 2:00pm is The Young Master (Jackie Chan, 1980) shown in 35mm.
On August 19 at 7:00pm is an autobiographical documentary Crows Are White (2022) with director Ahsen Nadeem in person.
On August 26 at 7:00pm is Samurai Rebellion (Masaki Kobayashi, 1967) starring Toshiro Mifune and shown in 35mm. See the AFI for more Toshiro Mifune films.
National Gallery of Art
The series "Dark Mirrors: The Double in Cinema" continues in August. Titles are Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954) on August 6 at 2:00pm; Obsession (Brian De Palma, 1976) on August 7 at 2:00pm with an introduction by Susan Felleman, professor, art history, film, and media studies; William Wilson (Louis Malle, 1968) followed by Mr. Klein (Joseph Losey, 1976) on August 14 at 2:00pm; Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966) on August 20 at 2:00pm; and The Man Who Haunted Himself (Basil Dearden, 1970) on August 27 at 2:00pm. All are shown in the East Building Auditorium, registration is required.
Goethe Institute
On August 19 at 6:30pm is I Was I Am I Will Be (Ilker Catak, 2019).
The Avalon
On August 3 st 8:00pm is "Programmer's Choice" Benediction (Terence Davies, 2021).
For "Avalon Docs" on August 10 at 8:00pm is Fiddler's Journey to the Big Screen (Daniel Raim, 2022), a documentary about the making of Fiddler on the Roof.
Lost Illusions (Xavier Giannoli, 2021) is the French Cinematheque film showing August 17 at 8:00pm.
On August 24 at 8:00pm is Golden Voices (Evgeny Ruman, 2021) as this month's Reel Israel.
On August 31 at 8:00pm is Back Then (Kinga Debska, 2021) for Cinema Polska.
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress holds its fifth annual "Summer Movies on the Lawn" this summer. On August 4 is Wall-E (2008). Location and time: sundown (approximately 8:15pm on the southeast lawn of the Thomas Jefferson Building.
Wolf Trap
On August 11 at 7:30pm is Encanto, a sing-along film concert.
Landmark's E Street Cinema
"Retro Replay" is a series of classic films shown Tuesdays at 1:30pm and 7:30pm. This month's theme is "Happy Birthday, Mr. Hitchcock." On August 2 is North By Northwest (1959); on August 9 is Strangers on a Train (1951); on August 16 is The Birds (1963); on August 23 is Shadow of a Doubt (1943); and on August 30 is Vertigo.
Old Greenbelt Theater
On August 1 at 1:00pm is The Music Man (Morton DaCosta, 1962).
Angelika Film Center Mosaic
"Angelika Classics" are on the first Monday of each month at 7:00pm. On August 8 at 7:00pm is The Shining.
The Studio Ghibli Festival (June 22-September 1) is on Wednesdays at 7:00pm with English subtitles; on Thursdays at 11:00am films are shown with English language dubbing. On August 3-4 is Princess Mononoke (1997); on August 10-11 is The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013); on August 17-18 is Castle in the Sky (1986); on August 24-25 is From Up on Poppy Hill (2011); and on August 31-September 1 is Spirited Away (2001).
On August 22 at 7:00pm is Close Encounters of the Third Kind for "Sci-Fest."
Embassy of the Czech Republic
On August 4 at 6:00pm is Occupation (Michal Nohejl, 2021), an award-winning dark comedy starring Milos Forman's granddaughter Antonie Formanova. Register here. Czech Embassy is located at 3900 Spring of Freedom Street, NW.
