Rainy Day at the Movies Part 3

The conclusion of the three-part exploration of the rich Los Angeles film and movie-going scene.

Favorite home-town filmmaker: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
You may know him from Angels in the Outfield or Third Rock from the Sun, or more recently from 10 Things I Hate about You and (500) Days of Summer. In any event, this guy is awesome, and a seemingly endless stream of creativity. Check out the great stuff he posts on Twitter and his film below, Morgan M. Morgansen's Date with Destiny, which screened at Sundance. Of the film, Gordon-Levitt writes, "I'm as proud of this short film as I am of any work I've ever done." On his collaborative film-making website, hitRECord.org, he describes it thus:

Morgan M. Morgansen's Date with Destiny started as a simple idea for a collaboration. "Let's try to write with made up words," proposed Albert. Metaphorest wrote the short story. I RECorded a voiceover reading. Jenyffer started drawing the characters, Tori started animating the drawings. Lula and I RECorded a live action rendition in front of white walls. Lawrie Brewster picked that up and created the stunning visual landscape. And along the way there's been, I don't know, a hundred (?) or two contributions from all over the hitRECord community.

Opportunities to See New Films

• GENART members get to see world-premieres of films from talented new artists, and oftentimes these screenings are paired with after-parties and Q & A's with those involved. The Yellow Handkerchief, starring Kristen Stewart, will debut February 18, 2010 at the Pacific Design Center. Read more here.
• NewFilmMakersLA often hosts screenings of short and long films from new directors. These events are also followed by Q & A periods and cocktails. The next event is scheduled for February 24, 2010. Not to be missed!
• LACMA's Muse membership hosts the annual Young Directors Night, and functions as a sort of mini film festival of its own as each film is screened and then an overall winner is voted by the audience and judges. Crazy-good stuff. This year YDN will be March 6, 2010.
• Los Angeles Film Festival is happening this year from June 17-27, 2010
• LA Shorts Fest will taken place sometine in late July 2010.

Rainy Day at the Movies Part 2

An exploration of Los Angeles' film gems continues.

Gorgeous Historic Theaters

• The best way to experience these masterpieces is to subscribe to the Los Angeles Conservancy's Last Remaining Seats series, now in its 24th year, which screens classic films in the various historic theaters of Los Angeles. The preliminary schedule for this season is below. Tickets will go on sale March 31 for Conservancy members. As if the movies themselves weren't excellent enough to draw out the masses, the sheer beauty of these architectural landmarks will knock you out.

May 26           How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967)         Los Angeles Theatre

June 2             Strangers on a Train (1951)                                                        Million Dollar Theatre 

June 9             American Graffiti (1973)                                                             Orpheum Theatre

June 16           The Graduate (1967)                                                                   Los Angeles Theatre

June 23           Flor silvestre (Wild Flower) (1967)                                             Million Dollar Theatre

June 30           Peter Pan (1924)                                                                         Orpheum Theatre

Film Club of Note

• LACMA's Film Club, newly minted after some controversy over the suspension of the museum's film programming, has roused the support of director Martin Scorsese, among hundreds of other Los Angeles film enthusiasts and cinephiles. LACMA is promoting the Film Club this February by giving away tickets to two Clint Eastwood screenings of your choice. Screenings of The Essential Clint Eastwood series begin February 12, 2010.

Giving Is the New Buying

Pepsi and Los Angeles-based GOOD have recently forged a relationship whereby the soft drink company will sponsor several funded projects facilitated by GOOD, the burgeoning change-agent platform for "people who give a damn".

In a recent report, Pepsi has announced it will forgo a $20 million dollar ad during this year's Super Bowl in order to divert those funds toward its "Pepsi Refresh Project", a charitable sponsorship in partnership with GOOD. This, to me, seems like a brilliant way for the company to not only keep Pepsi's brand in the public eye, but to associate it with cutting-edge efforts that are working to make the world better.

As a member non-profit world, its exciting to see a global power like Pepsi take the helm toward innovative ways to make a difference that is both profitable and sustainable. I hope other corporations take notice and follow suit. Often, these partnerships are charity-driven, such as in the UNICEF France doll project in which all the huge brands of France sponsored the creation of dolls to be auctioned for charity, and as in the Susan G. Komen Foundation's tie-ins with everything from yogurt to Major League baseball.

I like the hands-on approach Pepsi has taken, especially since the expertise is in the hands of GOOD. Pepsi will be giving away $1,300,000 a month - and the public can vote where those funds go. All you need to do is submit your email and create a password, and you can vote for up to 10 different projects in a day. (See below for some Los Angeles-based projects.) Read more about how it works.

Vote to support these local projects up for grants:

• EAT LACMA According to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's twitter feed, LACMA is "in the running for a grant to fund artists' projects, on-site gardens & public programs." For more information about this project, visit the LACMA website and follow Fallen Fruit on Twitter.
• SABEResPODER Create a digital handbook to the American Dream.
• LA CAUSA YouthBuild Send East L.A. dropouts to a green residency program at UCLA.
• Community Services Unlimited, Inc. Grow food, health, jobs and justice at an urban farm in South Central Los Angeles.
• Imagine LA Allow five families to permanently exit homelessness and poverty.
• Robert Essertier Manufacture a proven, extraordinarily efficient wind turbine.
• Give Your Sole Attend marathon races and collect shoes to give people in need in the U.S.
• FirstGlance Film Festivals KidFest Create a traveling children's film festival
• Ashley Lara Provide 6 Smartboards for for minority, low-income first grade classrooms
• West Valley Pop Warner Pay field usage fee for 175 football players and 50 cheerleaders.
• Springboard Biodiesel Build a network of low-cost, multifeedstock biodiesel production sites

As a sidenote to be explored in further depth in a future post, I'd like to also recognize Disney for it's "Give A Day, Get A Day" volunteer incentive program that has produced a tremendous response of volunteers at The Wellness Community-West Los Angeles, where I work. Like PepsiCo, Disney is utilizing not only it's substantial resources for good, but also spreading awareness for so many great causes. Bravo!

"This place certainly reeks of hospitality and good cheer, or maybe it's this cheese."

(Quote in honor of Jean Harlow's birthday today)

Tonight I'll be checking out some new places in Silver Lake and downtown, so my reviews will be forthcoming!

Also, I'm a bum and missed LACMA's "Vanity Fair" exhibit, so to make up for it I'm planning to check out "Art of Two Germanys" soon!

[This post was kind of lame, but I liked the quote and the picture so I went with it anyway. Tscha! -I.M.]

"The Kings" are King

Some things I'm interested in right now:


Dan Flavin at LACMA. I studied this artist in my Contemporary art history class at Notre Dame and loved the simplicity of his light sculptures. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is exhibiting a retrospective now through August, I believe. I definitely want to check this out. http://www.lacma.org/art/ExhibFlavin.aspx

Mandy Moore's new album. Though I'm not a fan of her previous work, I have heard that she collaborated with Rachael Yamagata on this album, and I'm intrigued.


The Kings of Leon, especially their new album Because of the Times. It's awesome. I can't get enough. Favorite tracks: On Call, the Runner, Knocked Up, Arizona, Black Thumbnail. The first three are so powerful and Caleb's voice is very transportive. Black Thumbnail is rough and wild. Off their previous albums I enjoy: Molly's Chambers, Wasted Time, Milk, Soft, the Bucket, King of the Rodeo, Trani, & California Waiting. Good British video interviews of Caleb Folowill are somewhere on the web. I'll try to post a link.

Kite surfing. Kites + surfing = whimsical exhilaration.

Surfing with a paddle? Saw this at the beach the other day. Looks very Polynesian. Probably trickier than they made it seem.


Moroccan Mint Green Tea. So refreshing! I love this brewed with boiling hot water and then poured over ice. A great summer sipper. http://www.stashtea.com/index.shtml (I noticed that How's Market carries just about every flavor of Stash Tea, including organic varieties, except the Moroccan Mint! I'll speak to them about this.)


The color lavender. I painted my toes lavender and I'm liking a dusty shade of violet on my eye lids. It looks good with a fresh bit of sun on your skin.

Elizabeth Gilbert. I read her book Eat, Pray, Love over Christmas break and it was stunningly beautiful. She's coming to Diesel June 10th, I believe. I'll be sure to be there.

W. Somerset Maugham. I read the Moon & Sixpence and adored the tight writing and the descriptive characterization. Saw the Painted Veil on the plane ride home last week and thoroughly enjoyed the love story. Moving performance by Ed Norton. Naomi Watts was great, as well. I've picked up the Razor's Edge and am finding it a pleasant, thought-provoking read. Brilliant writer.

Horizon plain yogurt with PomWonderful pomegranate juice spritzed in. Delicious!


Old Navy's summer palette. Lots of deep colors that are exotic rather than suburban. Bravo! I'm loving my new striped shorts and wine-colored bikini.

Green cars. That's eco-friendly, not grassy. I'm in the market for a car, and I am looking at the options available to me. Too bad they don't sell those tiny European cars here in the States... I don't really like the look of them that much, but they certainly do save on energy. I'm thinking I'd prefer shiny white paint with lots of chrome and a camel-colored interior.

Malibu Yogurt. A bit overpriced, but a fun splurge now and then with my brother and sister. I had the vanilla with strawberries and it was delish! Too bad they don't take credit cards. I am so bad about carrying cash.